Best Of: One Year Ago

Last June, I only posted twice, but I reviewed four books between the two posts. It's not easy to choose a favorite among the books I reviewed; I feel like comparing the genres/bookstore categories alone is near impossible.

That said, the one that I talk about the most often is Dr. Franklin's Island by Ann Halam. I do love peril, and I do love saving oneself, and I do love science fiction, so this is up my alley to start. I have a vague memory that Semirah is the narrator, and that the story doesn't swap between her and her close friend, Miranda, and a boy, Artie, that they are stranded with. I particularly liked the ambiguity in the relationship between Semirah and Miranda; the nature of their feelings for one another can be read from several angles, from friends to frenemies to romantic. I found this noteworthy because I get cranky when I feel like someone's trying to keep all the character options open in order to please everyone, or because I feel like the author thought that it was just easier to be ambiguous about relationships than to be specific about them, or because I feel like an author is trying to be "cool"; here, I felt like the ambiguity was natural, an organic part of the story, and I appreciated that very much. (Hey, I can read for myself. Thanks for letting me.)