Books You Should Be Reading, January Edition

So, I spent all of my lunch hour crafting a witty post, chock full of awesome book recommendations for Sarah (and anyone else in search of a good read). And then, just as I was about to post, all my work was laid waste by some sort of scheduled Blogger outage. No doubt my just punishment for clinging to Old Blogger like the Luddite I am. But I simply couldn't punish all of you by wittholding the following book recommendation for even one more day: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. I. I was so moved by this book that as soon as I finished it, I immediately sat down to write a thank-you note to the author, M.T. Anderson. But you don't have to take my word for it (Reading Rainbow flashbacks, anyone?)---it won a 2006 National Book Award. Further encouragement for the journey can be found here and here. Also, when you finish this novel at 2 o'clock in the morning, and find yourself absolutely dying to talk to someone about it, please don't call me. I will be asleep. Instead, I direct you to the commentary by the fine folks at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

In some bookstores you will find this title woefully mis-shelved under Sci-Fi/Fantasy. I have no idea why---it's straight-up historical fiction, the fruit of four years of research by the author. No wizards or spaceships, I promise. Also, please don't be put off by the "YA" classification---this book has more challenging language and themes than most of the grown-up literature out there.

More later, after Blogger and I kiss and make up...