I decided I needed something a little bit light so I picked up The Stolen One, a YA book that we probably plucked off of the shelf at the last minute, right before our library closed for a month. I wasn’t expecting a lot so I was very pleasantly surprised. I liked it a lot. What DID happen to Katherine Parr’s daughter, Mary Seymour? Did she die at the age of two? Or was she stolen away?
I bet Mystery at the Ski Jump makes the PETA people very unhappy. Furs. Furs. Furs. Youch. I, on the other hand, enjoyed it quite a bit. I apparently enjoyed it quite a bit as a child too, since I practiced writing my name several times on the inside of the front jacket.
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If you’re expecting The Prince of Mist to be anything like Shadow of the Wind or Angel’s Game, change your expectations before you start reading. This is not a book in this series and the writing is completely different from the series. It’s a YA novel – a scary YA novel with a clown. A very evil clown. It’s not the best scary YA novel I’ve ever read nor is it the worst YA novel I’ve read (scary or otherwise). It was good. I enjoyed it. I read it straight through last night and was glad. The use of the home videos was brilliant. The scary doggone clown pretty brilliant, too. I’d read another YA novel by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. He’s not out of his element, though his forward explaining that this book is YA was trying a little too hard. I kept picturing Neil Gaiman adding some sort of explanation to the front of his YA/kids books. It’s just not necessary and if I was a teen, I’d probably wonder what the heck the guy’s problem was….
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I was really pleasantly surprised by Blue Plate Special. I reserved it purely because it was a Cybils shortlist book and I knew nothing about it. The first few pages, I wasn’t sure what I was getting to – three different characters, set in slightly different time periods, in slightly different places. All of the girls were about the same age 16-18. All of them were in difficult situations, related to their relationships with their mothers – and with guys.
There were two big surprises for me, both of which really made me love the book. First, it has a Gainesville story line and I had no idea! Gainesville, Cedar Key, Ocala all mentioned in part of the story and I’m a sucker for books that talk about places I’ve lived (and loved.) Second surprise… I won’t tell you. You need to read the book to see how all of these girls’ stories come together. Brilliant work.
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I loved Jane Slayre – a lot more than I liked Pride & Prejudice & Zombies. Maybe because I liked Jane Eyre more than I liked Pride & Prejudice? Or maybe because it was about zombies and vampires and werewolves and not just zombies? I don’t know, but I liked it – a lot. I didn’t want to put it down. I think Charlotte Bronte would have been amused by it.
I did not want to read Wintergirls and for a long time I thought I was going to get away with not reading it – or just put down my foot and say “No. I’m not reading any more books like Wintergirls.”
Hah. No. That’s not what happened.
It kept calling to me and I don’t think it’s just because I’m a stickler for reading all of the Cybils short list books. Then again, I don’t really understand the call so it could have been something as simple as that in which case I should never vow to read the Cybils again because…
Damn it, I’m tired of this story. I’m tired of it because it is real. Because there’s a little bit of wintergirl in every woman or girl I’ve ever met. Because I have four daughters all of whom have experienced some tiny (or not so tiny) bit of this story.
Laurie Halse Anderson is a brilliant writer and storyteller but I’d really like it if she didn’t have to tell these particular stories anymore.
I stayed up way too late reading Maybe This Time. I could not put it down – this might just be my favorite Jennifer Crusie book…. It’s certainly my favorite solo book. Agnes and the Hitman is probably still my favorite… Crusie fans have to read this one immediately. Non-Crusie fans, what are you waiting for? Read this one and then go back and read everything else she’s written – you’re in for a lot of fun. A wee bit longer post here.
I saved Tiger Moon for last, from the Cybils shortlist YA Science Fiction & Fantasy list, because I was afraid I wouldn’t really like it. I don’t know what caused me to feel that way – but I did. Sure enough, I had a really hard time getting into it. After two days, I was only on page 59 (and it’s a pretty long book.) On day three, I didn’t even pick it up. Day four – I finished it. It improved. Or maybe my mood improved? Or I wasn’t as tired – nah, couldn’t be that because I’m really tired. I think the story improved as the “hero” grew into his hero status. The story had more depth, the characters more interesting, the storytelling more compelling. In the end, I did like it – but this wasn’t much competition for the others in the category.
Ah I loved this one, The Clue in the Crumbling Wall. No idea why, really. But I did. I remember loving it when I was a kid too. I think it was Salty. I like Salty old seamen.
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Book two in the A Resurrection of Magic series was better than the first book. Much, much longer which scared me at first. Sometimes book two isn’t so great, particularly when it’s more than twice as long as book one. But Sacred Scars was excellent. I couldn’t put it down and of course I’m dying to find out what happens in the third book. I love how it ended. (Sassymonkey is in shock right now…)
Huh. I just went to peek to see if I could find out when the third book will be out and there’s a note from the author on her Amazon page saying someone complained about the language in this series… there isn’t much profanity at all. In fact, almost none particularly if you compare it to most other YA books published now. I will say that on the rare occasion that a Damn or a Shit appears – it’s glaring because there’s so little of it. And… I like that. It felt real, not like gratuitous profanity.