71. Title: [We Sinners] Author: Hanna Pylväinen Pages: 208 Genre: Fiction Medium: Hardcover Acquisition: LT rec from Padre, library book Date Completed: November 20, 2012 Rating: **** We Sinners follows a family of eleven who belong to a claustrophobicly-conservative Lutheran sect that bans everything from television to "music with a beat." Though their religion seems surreal from an outside perspective, the members of the family prove to be all too human. The father struggles with anger, stress, and anxiety, the mother struggles with making the right choices for her nine children, and the children find themselves split as they find their way through contemporary America. The characters are sympathetic and horrifying - and sometimes both. The story is compelling, and the narrative is clear and engaging. 72. Title: [The Girl in the Clockwork Collar] Author: Kady Cross Pages: 416 Genre: Steampunk Teen Medium: Hardcover Acquisition: Library book Date Completed: November 22, 2012 Rating: *** Highly predictable and self-indulgent, but distracting. I find that I can appreciate books of this sort more when they're borrowed rather than purchased.

70.
Title: The Girl in the Steel Corset
Author: Kady Cross
Pages: 480
Genre: Steampunk - just ask Cross
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: LT rec
Date Completed: November 11, 2012
Rating: ***

Everything about The Girl in the Steel Corset is, well, typical.  This is typical YA (poor estranged girl finds that she's special), typical romance (two handsome boys fight over the seemingly-plain girl), and typical steampunk.  The later is both the draw and downfall of the book; Cross attempts to include all elements that have been established as core features of the genre (clockwork, steam-powered technology, goggles, dirigibles), but many of the allusions are extraneous to the actual storyline - most of the references literally serve no purpose other than to shout "THIS IS STEAMPUNK!"  But despite these narrative faux pas, the book has some fun moments, and is worth a quick blustery-day look.