WWW: Wake by Robert J Sawyer

Title: WWW: Wake
Author: Robert J Sawyer, who is apparently a famous sf author I've never read.
Series: WWW trilogy, book one
Genre: YA, science fiction.
Setting: Canada in the present day, world of blogs and net access.
Reason for Reading: I saw a positive review for the third book in the trilogy.
Finished In: Days
Pages: 368
Copyright Date: 2009
Cover: Both pretty and apropos. The face of a girl with her eyes closed seems to float in a sea of light.
First line: The very first line is a binary code which I was unable to transcribe correctly. Here's a link to the googlebook.
The first line in English is: "Not darkness, for that implies an understanding of light."
Epigraph: "What a blind person needs is not a teacher but another self." - Helen Keller
Themes: Blindness, the World Wide Web, Livejournal, primates, science, intelligence.
Best part: I loved the thread of science running through this book, talking about everything from types of blindness to interspecies communication to bicameralism.
Worst part: It doesn't have any that I noticed.
Imaginary Theme Song: "Naturally" by Selena Gomez and the Scene
Grade: A
Recommended for: I think everyone should read this fascinating, engrossing book but especially ceelove and serystarlight.
Related Reads: I am having difficulty thinking of anything comparable.

High school student Caitlin Decter has been blind from birth, and uses the Internet to connect to the world around her. Then a new chance comes - an operation that could give her vision. She knows it may fail but has to try. But something unanticipated happens - instead of seeing the world around her after the operation, Caitlin sees the World Wide Web. And she's not the only one who can see it...

This book is amazing. Read it.

Ash by Malinda Lo

Title: Ash
Author: Malinda Lo
Series: There is a prequel out now (Huntress) but I don't know what the series is called collectively, if anything.
Genre: YA, fantasy, fairy tale retellings.
Setting: A kingdom where magic may be dying out.
Reason for Reading: This book was so critically acclaimed in YA circles that I couldn't NOT read it.
Finished In: Days.
Pages: 264
Copyright Date: 2009
Cover: Another beautiful cover. A girl in a petticoat and bodice lies curled up on the grassy earth, in lovely sepia tones. The word Ash covers her skirt in fuschia. Up top is the line "The fairy tale you remember."
First line: "Aisling's mother died at midsummer."
Themes: Cinderella, hunting, fey folk, abuse, royalty, dysfunctional stepfamilies.
Best part: I loved the small fairy tales inset into the larger text.
Worst part: In some ways the ending seemed too easy.
Imaginary Theme Song: "White Horse" by Taylor Swift is the obvious choice.
Grade: B+. A really wonderful book but I'm not sure it's a genre-changer.
Recommended for: Anyone interested in fairy tale retellings or LGBT young adult fiction.
Related Reads: Briar Rose by Jane Yolen, Thomas the Rhymer by Ellen Kushner, Hero by Perry Moore, Patience and Sarah by Isabel Miller.