LLA Reads: Magic & Science
At Louisville Literary Arts, we all love to read. But our interests in literature are as varied as hats on Derby Day. Some of us gravitate toward poetry, while others prefer an epic novel. A few of us love reading creative nonfiction. In this space, we recommend recent books we've read, and hope that you'll find something just right for your reading list.
Roberta recommends: OBLIVION by Kelly Creagh (Atheneum, 2015)
Genre: Young Adult
"The final installment of the Nevermore trilogy, Oblivion rewards readers with a phenomenal conclusion to this paranormal saga of romance, courage and determination. When the male protagonist Varen remains trapped within a terrifying dream world inspired by Edgar Allen Poe and born of Varen’s own inner demons, he's held captive by an evil entity who wishes to keep him and transform him into a dark, soulless version of his former self. But the heroine Isobel refuses to let Varen go and she risks everything, even her life, to try to save him. Within a setting steeped in romantic gothic mystery and suspense, Creagh creates sweeping, cinematic scenes like paintings come to life, and parallels the timeless beauty of Poe's legacy with a fastpaced, pageturning tale of forgiveness, friendship, selfdiscovery and love."
Kelly Creagh will be teaching a workshop at LLA's 2015 Writer's Block Festival
Amy recommends: NEVER LET ME GO by Kazuo Ishiguro (Knopf, 2005)
Genre: Fiction
"Never Let Me Go, a Man Booker Prize finalist, focuses on three students at an English boarding school called Hailsham. This is a school for special students, Kathy, Ruth and Tommy are constantly told. And yet, they don’t understand the nature of how special they are, until they are adults. Ishiguro approaches a troubling aspect of our accelerating biological knowledge by wisely choosing to concentrate on the relationship dynamics between these three students. If you don’t know why Kathy, Ruth and Tommy are special, I won’t spoil it for you. Suffice it to say, Ishiguro creates a powerful portrait of three people caught up in a new world class system."
Lynnell recommends: STATION ELEVEN by Emily St. John Mandel (Knopf, 2014)
Genre: Science Fiction
"I'm tired of YA having the market on dystopian fiction covered, so it was with great excitement that I happened on this National Book Award and PEN/Faulkner finalist novel. For those interested in a smart, all grown-up and literary imagining of a post-pandemic world, this is your next read. In the first quarter of the book a terrifyingly virulent super-flu annihilates ninety percent of the Earth's population in just a few months. The story that follows traces the plot lines of several surviving communities, twenty years later, individual members of which have a six-degrees of separation-like connection to the others. Throw in a charismatic cult leader that threatens to eliminate the little bit of recognizable humanity still persevering, a traveling symphony that performs the works of Shakespeare and bam! Carmac McCarthy with a heart and a soul and a hopeful ending like the glimmer of dawn after a long night. "
LOCAL AUTHOR
AUTHOR'S DEBUT
If you would like us to consider recommending your book, please contact LLA Reads editor Alice, who will let you know how to get your book to our readers.
