Fiction

Wednesday Wars

1 Comment / 2008, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Favorites, Fiction, Reading Lists, Young Adult /

I have been in bed almost all day. Sort of an accidental participation on Bring a Book to Bed Day due to some combination of exhaustion and a cold or something. I slept a good bit but I also read quite a lot.

I finished Wednesday Wars, which I discovered when I was looking at the list of YA finalists for Cybil Awards.

I laughed my way through it. I laughed a lot more than TW did when she read it. Possibly because of the “rats” or possibly because of the Shakespeare. Or maybe it was all of the death threats a 7th grader can get.

Great book.

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Peony in Love

2 Comments / 2008, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Women /

Way back in January when I created my From the Stacks challenge my mom sent me email (or maybe we talked on the phone?) and started questioning the books on my list. In doing so, she asked whether I had read this or read that and my response was either “No, should I” or “Duh, you don’t read my blog, do you?”

Peony in Love was one of the books she asked about. No, I hadn’t read it. Hell, I didn’t even know Lisa See had a new book. Once I found out, I reserved it. TW read it a couple of weeks ago, I finished it last night.

It was good. Not as good as Snow Flower and the Secret Fan but still very very good.

Lovesick girls. Women poets. Ghosts.

That ghost thing, particularly the hungry ghost thing, was an excellent idea for the lovesick girls/women poets story line that this book follows. Brilliant.

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Mister Pip

2008, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction /

Mister Pip is another book from the Booker short list from last year and it was fantastic. Thank goodness. I was afraid, after attempting Darkmans, that I was in for a lot of frustration as I move through the list.

I’m not really a huge Dickens fan but this book made me appreciate Great Expectations just a bit more. And also storytellers. And actors. Read this one.

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I have the right to destroy myself

2008, Books in Bed, Fiction /

No this isn’t a direct quote from the birthday girl, or any other teen in the house. I have the right to destroy myself is the title of the book I chose to read after attempting Darkmans. Ha. I went from one really weird book to another.

Thank goodness “I have the right…” was much shorter, much easier to read, and much more interesting. Also, the “message board member” in me is tempted to put “trigger” in the subject line, not because I’m going to write anything really triggering here but because the book could totally trigger self-harmers.

But it is interesting. Is there one “thing” – persona, spirit, angel from hell – who wanders around helping those who have decided to kill themselves? Some common “thing” guiding us, like a guardian angel, because we do have the right to make that choice and when we decide, we should have help.

It’s interesting, isn’t it?

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Darkmans

3 Comments / 2008, Books in Bed, Don't Read This, Fiction /

It was bound to happen, I should not be surprised. I should have known it was going to happen when my library did not have Darkmans even though it made the Booker short list. I should have known it was going to be like this when the thing came really quickly – all the way from Alabama via ILL. I should have known.

Darkmans. Sucks.

I tried, I swear I did. I get that it’s supposed to be weird and quirky and Gravity’s Rainbow-like (which in case you don’t remember, I never finished either because GR sucked the life out of me after 100 pages.) It’s far easier to read than Gravity’s Rainbow and for that reason alone, I attempted to stick with it. But as I started Part 2 I started thinking about just how old I am (Michelle will be 18 tomorrow, which makes me much older than dirt) and just how many books are on the shelf that I’m aching to read and the fact that I dislike every single character in the book – except maybe the lurchers (aka dogs).

So. I closed Darkmans. Gave it a little sigh. Put it back in the library bag. Today I’ll send it back home to Alabama. (I’d like to meet someone from Alabama who likes this book… I can’t see it.)

I have one more book two more books to read from last year’s Booker short list… and one is the book that won the prize. I’ll probably hate it, but at least I’ll know why it beat out Darkmans. (shudder)

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Fan Boy and Goth Girl

1 Comment / 2008, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Comics & Graphic Novels, Favorites, Fiction, Young Adult /

I ran upstairs and stole the audio version of The Astonishing Adventures of Fan Boy and Goth Girl from Prince J’s room since he wasn’t here to listen to it (though his cd player was coming on every afternoon and playing disc 2 over and over and over again.)

I’m so glad I trudged the stairs and braved the messy room to get it. Fantastic YA. Really great story. Great characters. About 10xs better than King Dork, (and there are an awful lot of similarities between the two stories.)

Please tell me there will be a sequel.

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My Dreams Out in the Street

2008, Books in Bed, Fiction /

The back cover, by the author of House of Sand and Fog, says “Kim Addonizio writes like Lucinda Williams sings….” My Dreams Out in the Street really does feel like that, once you get into it. Took me three days to get through the first chapter (they’re really long chapters) and another day to get through the second chapter… but then I was hooked. Williams’ music is a lot like that for me.

A happy unhappy ending, which is what you’d expect from a novel about people just trying to survive life.

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Monster

2 Comments / 2008, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Fiction, Printz Award Challenge, Young Adult /

Another book from my Printz Award challenge, Monster, was not my favorite book from 2000 but I understand how and why it won the award. It’s a good thing I’m not the one sitting on those award committees.

I was a little afraid I wouldn’t be able to enjoy Monster at all because it was written in the form of a screenplay, because the kid up for murder is into film making, and I really dislike reading screenplays. But the story was compelling enough and I cared about the kid enough to muddle through all of the screenplay-ese. The book reminded me a lot of Upstate, a book TW and I listened to on audio a few months ago. Another young black teen in jail and going to trial for murder, you know the type society tends to label as “monsters”…

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Deep Storm

2008, Books in Bed, Fiction /

Deep Storm was pretty darn good, even though that whole drilling rig thing near Iceland had me confused. (Confused because it wasn’t too long ago that we read Crawfish Mountain about drilling off of TX/LA – I kept waiting for the southern drawl and it didn’t come.)

Anyway, it’s one of those dramatic books where good guys (ex military) have to stop the bad guys (current military) from misusing science and technology and power. Interesting. Black holes. Under the ocean. In the MOHO. Very interesting.

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