The City of Dreaming Books (Zamonia #4) by Walter Moers

First Impression: The title alone, and the idea of a whole city of books is enough to sweep me off my feet!

Characters: A plethora of imaginitive characters who make up Zamonia. My favorites were the Booklings. The endless names of fictitious authors and books became exhausting though...

World Building: A fully realized world built of its characters, Zamonia is unlike anything you've ever imagined.

Writing Style: Somewhere between Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, Moers has a lovely way with words. If only many of them weren't so distracting from the story.

What I Enjoyed: Fanciful and unique, with elements any book lover will adore. Who doesn't want to live in a city of books? The last half of this book is best, so if you find yourself getting bored you can always skip ahead.

Deal Benders: The endless prattling on about specific books or the inane history of one particular author or event removed me from the story long enough to walk away multiple times. I found myself really <i>wanting</i> to like this book, and I will try others by this author since I've heard good things.

Overall Rating: Somewhere between 2-2.5 stars. The elements didn't come together for me on this one.

The Invisible Library (The Invisible Library #1) by Genevieve Cogman

Quotable: "Heroic fiction had plenty of manly handclasps in it...but it had never gone into how you retrieved your hand afterwards, and whether there were any relevant squeezes or other manoeuvres."

Characters: The usual suspects in a fantasy series, with a hint at future romance between the main characters. The main villain is the most interesting personality, although they only appear towards the end of this first book. The others fell a bit flat for me.

World Building: The first half of the book primarily deals with creating The Library and alternate worlds. Some of these are magical and technological in varying balanced degrees, others have only one. Chaos and order ebb and flow in a never-ending battle, while creatures of lore carry the balance.

Writing Style: Young Adult level that picks up the pace in the last ten chapters or so. It seemed like Cogman wanted to share a wealth of information, then saved the intrigue for a grand finish.

What I Enjoyed: The final scenes, as I mentioned previously, redeemed this book for me. I hope to see more of this style in upcoming installments.

Deal Benders: Unfortunately, much of the first in this series felt like an info dump instead of slowly crafting the scene. This is a pit many authors fall into, and stories can be lost on the spikes. I am willing to give the next book a chance to see if these issues are resolved.

Overall Rating: 3.5 stars for an enjoyable adventure. The ending redeems wading through the slow starting tide.

For Fans of: Books about books, Sherlock Holmes mysteries

Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine

First Impression: A book about libraries, yes please!

Characters: When characters become like friends, you know an author understands how to create them. Unger brings depth and distinction to each character as the highlight of this first installment.

World Building: Visceral and chilling. A future where owning books is a crime, and society is afraid of the librarians.

Writing Style: Well-paced, beautiful prose. Plot pieced together with background information in the form of letters. I appreciate this type of story telling.

What I Enjoyed: This is not a happy tale, yet an important realization of a cold reality within the realm of possibility. Many times in history groups have attempted to control the reading of the masses. I'm reminded of when slaves and women in this country were not allowed to read. Times when books were banned in many nations, or even burned to silence a population.

Deal Benders: In the second book I would like to see some hope for these characters and the world. Although wonderful, it was a bit bleak.

Overall Rating: 4 stars - I haven't read anything quite like Ink and Bone, which is hard to accomplish. I'm going to buy the next one as soon as my queue clears.

For Fans Of: Books about books! The Giver, Fahrenheit 451