Book Review: "Why We Took the Car" by Wolfgang Herrndorf

One thing I remember vividly my high school years is being one of THOSE kids. The kid that, no matter how small my class size (one year there were only about 25 of us) I didn’t get invited to anything. I can remember thinking why, if there were only 25 kids in my grade, I didn’t get invited to things. Freshman Mike Klingenberg is also one of those kids, which is one reason I love him so much. The other reason is his family is twisted that at one point he ended up with the nickname Psycho. I originally checked out “Why We Took the Car” by Wolfgang Herrndorf because European authors tend to be a little odd and who doesn’t love a good car-stealing joy ride? It’s a lot cooler and more interesting than just that, though, and has managed to become one of my fave books of this year. 

Summer break is supposed to awesome, filled with all sorts of wild and fun things. Unfortunately, Mike’s mom just went back to her spa (a.k.a. rehab), his dad took off for two weeks with his hot assistant (a.k.a. mistress), and Tatiana (a.k.a. Mike’s massive crush) didn’t invite him to her birthday party. Out of nowhere the weird new Russian student, Tschick, decides he and Mike should be friends and this is where the car-stealing joy ride comes in. They have $200, a barely functioning Lada, and no idea where they’re going; all they know is that they need to do something amazing and interesting and now’s the time to do it. The rest of the book is filled with odd balls, a random romance, two car crashes, a crazy man with a shotgun, and several run-ins with the police.

Book Review: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

If you like dystopias, then the 5th Wave is for you.

The war was over before it even started.  Earth's human population was decimated in just a few short months by four strategic waves of alien attacks.  Cassie is only 16, but she plans to stay alive as long as she can, and go down fighting.  Rule number 1 is trust no one, no matter what they look like.  There's no way to tell who's really human, and who just looks like one.

And then there's Zombie.  Who he was before the First Wave is dead, and there is only Zombie now.  Saved from the brink of death by what remains of the U.S. military, Zombie begins his training to hunt down and kill the alien invaders.  Fueled by guilt and rage, he's ready to exact revenge at any cost.

Cassie and Zombie deal with the invasion in different ways, but they are both bound by a promise, and the desire to save what's left of the human race.  Action packed, full of guns, explosions, twists, and lies within lies, it's the story of saving more than just a group of people.  It's about saving the things that really matter.

~gothbrarian