Ocean City Free Public Library Book Blog

Melissa Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson This fantasy story follows the main character, Vin, who is a young female thief trying to survive on the streets. When she gets saved by an ambitious leader of thieving crew, she gets swept away along with their plans to overthrow the unjust government and comes across something she never expected: people she can truly trust. The characters are realistic and the story shows how people can have hope even after experiencing horrible things. Quite simply, I loved this book. Shoot Like a Girl by Mary Jennings Hegar This is a nonfiction account of an Air National Guard’s experiences in three tours of Afghanistan piloting medevac missions. Told in her point of view, this story shows her - at times strenuous - journey to rescue her allies in the middle of a firefight despite being injured. Her story become a pilot, leading up to a intense mission where she still manages to she kept fighting for women’s rights back hom...

James Eragon   by  Christopher Paolini A great fantasy book for all ages. The story is written well and shares the life of a young farm boy who is cast into a world of magic and dragons without much say in it. Losing his family and loved ones while fighting off evil forces with his blade. The choices the main character has to make also makes the reader question what would be the best option, and how it’ll affect the story. My Hero Academia by  Kohei Horikoshi  A heart warming yet intense story of superheros and a sense of rags to riches is within this Japanese comic. The story of a young boy born without powers in a world where everyone is super, makes him lesser for being different. The story  is based off of him wishing to be a great hero. Eventually gaining the abilities to achieve his dream he embarks on a journey of entering a super school to learn how to become the best hero he can be. Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agen...

Taimi The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley This Newbery Honor recipient takes place in England during World War II. I enjoyed getting to know Ada, a 10 yr. old Londoner who is born with a club foot, and celebrated with her as she overcame many obstacles throughout this novel. Although technically it is a children's book, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction or titles that captures the strength of the human spirit. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel, "The War I Finally Won" which will be released this fall.  The Plot To Kill Hitler: Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Spy, Unlikely Hero  by Patricia McCormick This well-researched narrative describes not only the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, but also the German Resistance. McCormick also highlights important historical events occurring in Germany during this time period. I learned much about the German opposition to Hitler during this suspense...

      Nimona  is the printed published version of a popular webcomic by Noelle Stevenson, who goes by the screenname Gingerhaze   online. While Stevenson dabbles in webcomic presentations of multiple types (stand-alones, multi-pannel, fanart, etc.) Nimona  was a serial webcomic that she started posting in June of 2012 while attending Maryland Institute College of Art. It doubled as her senior thesis. It was published as a book earlier this year, in May 2015.       Nimona  follows the story of a disgraced knight turned mad scientist, Lord Ballister Blackheart, and his feisty shape-shifting sidekick, Nimona in their quest to overthrow the government through the means of supervillany--all the while being pursued by Blackheart's former friend and now nemesis, Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin. Through the course of the story the alliances and moral codes of the two men begin to warp as secrets, cover-ups, and conspiracies begin to come to light, ...

     What would you do if you could travel through time? Would you change the past or take a daring trip into the future?         The first book of the Trilogía Victoriana (Victorian Trilogy), The Map of Time is a time twisting, fantastic journey of the life of the famous author H.G. Wells and how his novel the “ Time Machine” influenced not only just the people of London but the world. The narrator, a time traveler perhaps or an all knowing being, guides the reader into three different stories that are all interwoven with each other. The snippets of Well’s life gives the reader a different dimension of the writer and the why he wrote the Time Machine. Also, it shows how Wells has gotten himself to be involved in all these lives, even if it was against his will  for some  of those moments.      This book has a little bit of something for everyone to enjoy including an alternate universe, a large dose of stea...

      The Hobbit: Or, There and Back Again  by J.R.R. Tolkien is by no means a new book, however with the release of the latest installment of the Hobbit movie trilogy, I find myself growing nostalgic for the original text. For many people, this book tends to hold a special place in their heart as it has become one of the classic introductions to the fantasy literature genre--a story to keep returning to when other sources of fantasy literature have become exhausted. ***       Tolkien originally wrote the story for his children, however after it was published in 1937 it attracted a large and enthusiastic following of adult readers. And it is absolutely clear why this is the case, as the story of magic, danger, adventure, and battle has the addition of a main character who so often seems so out of place in this world of magic, danger, adventure, and (eventual) war. As a principle character, Bilbo Baggins is small, unassuming, and ordinary; poss...

  *** The Bone Clocks is the latest novel from David Mitchell, the author who brought the world Cloud Atlas. Set up as a series of six 100 page novella sections, The Bone Clocks follows the life of a teenage runaway named Holly Sykes from her adolescence to her old age; while at the same time following the story of an ancient secret organisation twisting the laws of nature, science, and morality in order to perpetuate the ideals and hunger for eternal youth. *** A foray into the realm of realistic fantasy, this latest novel by Mitchell explores the idea of conscious reincarnation and randomly chosen rebirth--what happens when a select portion of the  population is born with a genetic predisposition to be able to transfer their consciousness from the body they currently occupy to either the body of a currently alive individual (temporary, and usually with the consent of the person) or an individual who has just died (permanent, and with the understanding that the...

        In the years following the death of J.R.R. Tolkien, his son Christopher (being named as literary executor to his father’s unfinished works) has been completing and publishing many of his fathers as-yet unpublished works. This includes The Silmarillion and The Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth (which Middle Earth fans would recognise as source material for some of the plot lines in the newer Hobbit movies) as well as The Tale of Sigurd and Gudrun, The Fall of Arthur, and most recently Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary. ***       In addition to writing The Lord of the Rings series (which has undoubtedly become one of the most well recognised staples of geek culture, having spawned movies, comics, cartoons, video games, and table games from just one trilogy and its prequel), John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was a renowned professor of English language and literature, holding multiple positions at Oxford. It is h...