Never Let Me Go

by Kazuo Ishiguro. Knopf (2005), Hardcover, 304 pages.

A quiet yet potent tale about three young people who are fated to brief lives because of their role in a society now free of disease. This story unfolds in an alternate version of the near past and much of it takes place in the remembrances of an idyllic (and disturbing) boarding school in a scenic English countryside. This novel is a heartbreak and the questions it leaves a reader with is why I highly recommended this book.

Shades of Grey: The High Road to Saffron

by Jasper Fforde. New York: Viking, c. 2009. 309 pages. ISBN 9780670019632

First of a series. In Chromatacia, the Rulebook must be strictly followed. You must watch out for deadly swans and your spoon should be guarded with your life. What colors you can see decides your position in the social hierarchy of the Colortocarcy. Eddie Russett may be on his way up the social ladder if he turns out to have a high red perception. But will his curiosity in a certain defiant Grey named Jane and his interest in improving queuing get him devoured by a man-eating tree before he can marry into the Oxbloods?