Aldous Huxley's a Brave New World is simply one of the best, if not the best work of fiction of the twentieth century. So in other words, if your having any doubts as to whether or not you should buy this book, I'll make it easy for you and say quit wasting time reading this review and buy the book. Now, if your entitled to read on in this review, you will find that Brave New World is not a book about plot, or character development. It doesn't even have the most complex writing style, nowhere near as intricate and magnificent as Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. Brave New World is a relatively simple book to read and Huxley makes a point of keeping his writing style simple.

Click to read more ...

This is a riveting tale of a young teen from Malawi who manages, in spite of little formal schooling, grinding poverty, and near starvation to build a windmill and provide electricity for his family. Armed with little more than his own ingenuity and a physics text borrowed from a miniscule local library, Kamkwamba accomplishes what might be just short of a miracle. What would you do with discarded bicycle parts, scrap wire, some old pvc pipe and a few bottle caps?

 Many authors stuff their books with big words and deep meanings and lots of room for interpretation. George Orwell, author of Animal Farm, does no such thing. His cleverly-disguised satire of Stalin’s policies is a quick and easy read that nearly everyone can understand and appreciate.
Animal Farm is a 130-page novella about animals that rebel against their drunkard owner to create an all-animal, Communist-style society. The clever pigs, led by the aptly-named Napoleon, soon learn how to manipulate the other animals into working harder. Eventually the pigs begin collaborating with humans, and the line between animal and man becomes more and more blurry, until the pigs have adopted the ways of the humans and become what they once rebelled against. Even if you know very little about Stalin and the USSR, you will be able to appreciate Animal Farm for its clarity of writing. And if you do happen to be a history buff, you will be amazed at how Orwell manages to create so many metaphors between animals and historical figures. Overall, this is a well-written, to-the-point book that will leave you thinking even after you’ve finished.

First love, a giant squid and a psychic old woman are only part of Miles O'Malley's thirteenth summer. What more could there be in quiet Skookumchuck Bay? Well, how about a media blitz with Miles at the center, Rachel Carson, a dysfunctional family, insomnia, and a New Age cult? All this might not even be the best part of Jim Lynch's luminescent tale of a young boy living at the edge of this bay on the south end of Puget Sound. Lynch's almost magical descriptions of the sea and its myriad inhabitants nearly take center stage from the engaging and wise Miles.