I’m not a fan of “boy” YA and when the boy YA is also sportscentric, I know it’s either going to be a total snoozer for me OR it’s going to be one of the best books ever.
Boy21 — one of the best books ever.
I was worried, particularly at the beginning, but right about the time Finley met “Boy21” I had settled in and was hooked. I read the book straight through after that. Now I’m left wondering what happened to Finley, Erin and Russ. I hope they all three had good, happy lives.
I hadn’t planned on reading The Prayer Box but TW said it was good and nothing else looked very appealing so… I read it. Great chick lit. I enjoyed it. It was just the right easy, feel good, read for a busy few days.
Now I’m tempted to reserve The Sea Glass Sisters (a prequel to The Prayer Box…)
When TW started reading The Shambling Guide to New York City I noticed the author name on the book and I thought to myself, “that name is familiar, have we read other books that she’s written?” and then I promptly forgot about it until I started reading the book.
Then, all the way through it I wondered WHY that name was so familiar but I didn’t do anything to figure it out. I just kept reading and enjoying the book. A lot.
When I finished, I looked at the back cover. Huh. The books aren’t super familiar but… podcaster. Duh.
Mur Lafferty spoke at BlogHer many years ago and she wrote the Dear Daughter post that I really really like.
Duh.
If you like zombies and vampires and other demons as well strong female characters — read this one (and look for more Shambling Guides in the future… I will be.)
The Shambling Guide to New York City Read More »
I had planned to read Me and Earl and the Dying Girl last because it’s the book I’d meant to read before it actually hit the Cybils shortlist. But, Boy21 is still on my holds list and the other one I haven’t read isn’t available at my library and I’m either going to have to buy it or be content with not reading all of the books on the shortlist…
So, I read it ALMOST last and enjoyed it.
I was afraid I’d see too many similarities with The Fault in Our Stars but it’s not that book AT ALL. Not at all. Yea, a girl dies and these are teens and that’s pretty much the only similarity. I liked Earl an awful lot and I totally groked Greg. This one might make a better movie than a book… I can really see this as a film.
Good book, not the best — but good. Very good. I wasn’t disappointed at all.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl Read More »
(Just a note for myself: Finished in November and counted in November’s reading count.)
I spent a lot of time looking for a new book from the author of The Thirteenth Tale because that book was awesome. Right about the time I gave up on ever seeing a new book from her, I discovered Bellman & Black and reserved it right away. And then I forgot about it until I realized it was due back to the library and couldn’t be renewed. I hate it when that happens.
It wasn’t as good as The Thirteenth Tale but it wasn’t horrible. Rooks can be creepy, under the right circumstances — but whatever you do, don’t hit one with a damn slingshot, ‘k?
It was a rough month for reading — or for anything, really. Shouldn’t have been since I had a whole ass ton of time off of work (and mostly didn’t work) but there you go. I can’t read when my schedule is effed up. Hmph. Still, it wasn’t too bad. I stayed focused on getting the Cybils read, since I was so behind and really running out of time to finish that challenge.
Here’s how it panned out.
Total books read: 26
2 audio books
13 Middle Grade & YA fiction(12 were Cybil)
8 Non-fiction (6 were Cybil)
1 Graphic Novel (a Cybil book)
2 Fiction (adult)
Reading In November Read More »
I’m caught up with book blogging — and with reading the books from the Cybil short list. Thankfully since December is almost here giving me just a few very busy weeks to read three books. I can do this. Assuming those books are on my shelf… I should check, shouldn’t I?
Anyway, about these three. Some surprises, good surprises.
I expected to like The Theory of Everything. I like YA problem books and I’d seen some good reviews of this one. It was good. I liked the drawn journal type entries (the theories) — those were well done. Smart. I liked the happy ending where everyone cried. (And when I say happy I don’t really mean happy happy.)
The Storyteller. Oy. German. A lot of people die. And we’re supposed to maybe be confused by who was doing the killing. We’re also supposed to feel sympathy for the killer (which I did) and I think we’re also supposed to like Anna but I did not. Not one little bit. Which made it hard for me to really care about the rest of the characters as much as I should have.
Last but not least, the book I thought would be toward the bottom of my favorites list is now squarely in the top quarter – Endagndered. I didn’t expect to like Endangered nearly as much as I did. But I couldn’t help it. I liked Sophie and Otto (who is a bonobo). There were moments when I wanted to hate the book because NO WAY Sophie could have managed those things. NO WAY IN HELL. But I couldn’t help it — I liked her anyway and I cheered every time she made it past another obstacle.
Three Cybil YA Fiction Books Read More »
The last of the Cybils non-fiction about Temple Grandin. I was a little surprised since it seemed like Temple Grandin was every where a few years ago and I thought I’d probably be bored with this. I wasn’t. And, TW especially liked it, though that shouldn’t surprise anyone — Moo!
Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World Read More »
Another book I saw something about, in October, and since I was getting a little tired of Cybils, I decided I should go ahead and read Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer. It looked amusing and fast — and it was both of those. It also made me kind of glad to hear RJ’s French club isn’t going to France. When Marie Antoinette is pissed off, she’s really pissed off. Not that you can really blame her, right?
Marie Antoinette, Serial KIller Read More »
A few weeks ago, I saw a blog post that had a list of creepy books (or maybe it was creepy book covers?) for Halloween. Oh, well. Maybe it was a month ago, not a few weeks ago? Whatever. Time flies and I still haven’t caught up with book blogging. Whatevs. I’ll get there. Eventually.
Anyway, on this list were a couple of books that I realized I had not read. One of them was Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived In the Castle. I like Shirley Jackson. This one was available on audio and we didn’t have any other audios to listen to so… I reserved it.
Weirdest book EVER.
Very creepy.
I think TW and I will always say “Silly Merricat” and “Lazy Merricat”, just out of the blue, forever and ever. It’s that kind of book.
We Have Always Lived In the Castle Read More »