Life is good – I’ve got a three-day weekend, and a huge pile of books waiting to be read.  Some of the books are a bit dry (asthma books aren’t exactly thrilling reading, but they are necessary reading), but most of them are pretty exciting to me.  I splurged just before leaving work on Friday, and checked out two new books in our advanced reader section.  These two books have received great reviews, and I’ve been anxious to read them, but wanted to give the library patrons first shot at taking them home.  But heck, they were fair game for me when they were still on the shelf at closing time!  So here is one of the books on my agenda for this weekend:

Larklight  by Philip Reeve

I first heard of this book through the Booksense flyer that I picked up at Nantucket Bookworks in September.  Since then, I’ve read many enthusiastic reviews of Larklight, and Philip Reeve is the featured author in the November issue of School Library Journal.  One of the reviews I read said that this book is difficult to place into any one genre (wish I’d realized that before I slapped the SciFi/Fantasy sticker on the spine), which I love.  I’m always intrigued by books that push conventional boundaries.

The book flap describes Larklight this way:

“Art Mumby and his irritating sister Myrtle live with their father in a huge and rambling house, Larklight, which is traveling through space on an orbit far beyond the moon.  When, during an ordinary sort of morning, they learn that a gentleman is on his way to visit, a frenzy of preparation ensues.  But it is entirely the wrong sort of preparation, and a dreadful, terrifying and marvelous adventure begins.  Art, Myrtle, and the extraordinary space pirates they encounter journey to the farthest reaches of known space, where they desperately attempt to save each other – and the universe.   Utterly unique and devilishly witty, Larklight is a fantastic Victorian space adventure with a gravitational pull all its own.”

Tomorrow:  the other book…