NEW! Our stalwart new crewmate Stella Maris has a review of I, Coriander by Sally Gardner. Stella Maris calls this book "a true fairy story: it has tragedy, evil villains and a plucky heroine." Read all about it here!
It's February, the month when the crew's thoughts turn to love - love of great books, that is! We've got new reviews and even some new crew members, so welcome them aboard in piratey style by checking out what they have to say about these excellent February offerings.
John Carter McKnight is back with a review of Orbiter, a graphic novel by Warrren Ellis and Colleen Duran. He says it's "a love poem. Not the embarrassing kind the geeky kid in the back corner texted to your phone last Friday night, but the kind that speaks across centuries to the truth of the human heart." If you never thought space exploration could be the subject of a love poem - but especially if you did - read it here!
Some people love to explore (I can relate to that) and some people love to invent. New crewmember Mrs. Chippy (she takes her name from the cat who went to Antarctica with explorer Ernest Shackleton) brings us a review of Marvelous Mattie, a picture-book biography of real-life inventor Mattie Knight by author Emily Arnold McCully. What did she invent? Well, I think I have a couple of 'em around the cabin here... and you probably have a few nearby, too. Read the review here!
And in case you know anyone who thinks loving to read means you wouldn't be good at a real adventure (who thinks that any more? That's so sixteenth-century), you can prove them wrong with Hilari Bell's The Prophecy. Read new seadog Charlotte Doyle's review here!
Divinemum, who brought us news of the Travelling Pants in January, is also back and takes on vampires with a review of Stephanie Meyer's Twilight. If you're curious to see what all the buzz is about regarding this popular series, read what she thinks here!
New mate Terimaru arrives in style, reviewing not only a book but also a website and a computer game. All of them belong to The Softwire, the first book in a new series by P.J. Haarsma. Teri says this sci-fi adventure contains "interesting characters, sci-fi, computers, translator codecs, intrigue, action, adventure, betrayal, loss, and growth." Read about it and see links to the game and website here!
And I just had to review M.T. Anderson's awesomely amazing The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen. Snow leopards, quintuplets, bats, and a stream of binary information from the region of the Horsehead Nebula - and a lot about life, mysteries, and friendship. Read more here!