I recently read a blog post I wanted to
discuss today. But I really wanted to do my seasonal book list too. In an act of supreme indecisiveness, I'm
doing both!
Here's the link to the blog post:
Are you careful about things like this as
you write? I have one scene--where two of my characters meet. And dangit,
that's the way they meet! I can't change it, just because I disapprove. But
that doesn't mean I can put it in the book. I try to write books I wouldn't be embarassed to let my children read. I'm still not sure how I'm going to
handle that in revisions. Feel free to discuss...
Wow. I've read a lot in the past 4 months.
Here are the highlights. To keep things simple, if I liked it, I wrote: "I
liked it." If I loved it, I wrote, "I loved it." J If I
didn't like it, I'll mention why.
1. The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling
Unfinished. It wasn't my
cup of tea. No likable characters and terrible language is a bad combo for me.
2. The Grand Tour: Or the Purloined Coronation Regalia
by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline
Stevermer
(The sequel to Sorcery and Cecelia) I liked it. It's the story of Kate, Thomas, Cecy and James's shared honeymoon, where they thwart a plot to take over Europe.
3. Legend by Marie Lu
Imagine Hunger Games as a
mystery, with a (slightly) faster blooming romance. Yep. It was that good. I
loved it.
4. Insurgent by Veronica Roth
I liked it better than
Divergent, and I'll keep reading the series.
5. The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
Sarah finally convinced me
to read this one, even though I don't like sad stories. Which is silly, because
this isn't really a sad story, although you won't believe me until you've read
it yourself. Loved it.
6. Red Glove by Holly Black
(sequel to White Cat)--I
liked this one. In fact, Black Heart is the next book in my stack.
7. Kill Switch by Chris Lynch
I was extremely disappointed by
this book. The characters were amoral and unlikable. I kept reading it because it
had such an awesome premise, but it never came through.
8. The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson
(sequel to Girl of Fire and
Thorns!!!)--If you haven't read Girl of Fire and Thorns, drop everything and
read it. If you've read it, you've got to read The Crown of Embers. I'm in love
with these books!
9. The Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus book 3)
by Rick Riordan
I really
liked this book. I'm not as crazy about The Heroes of Olympus
as I was about the Percy Jackson series, but it's still a lot of fun.
10. Reached by Ally Condie
The final
book in the Matched trilogy. It was my favorite book of the series. I liked it.
11. His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik
Being a
connoisseur of all things Horatio Hornblower, when I heard about this book, I
had to give it a try. It was pretty
brilliant, but nonetheless I'm not in a huge hurry to read the next one.
Someday.
12. Scarlet! By A.C. Gaugen
I couldn't
stand the way she used the word "were" whenever she meant "was"
but other than that, I enjoyed this book--it's a Robin Hood story told as
though Will Scarlett was actually a girl, and only Little John and Robin Hood
know.
by Christopher Healy
This
might be my favorite book this year.
It's middle grade heaven. I loved it!
14. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
This was a
reread. I liked it. If I had liked the ending more, I would have loved it. As
it is, I'm saving my opinion until I know if there's a sequel or not.
15. Screwing
Up Time by C.M. Keller.
This is one of my favorite books I've found for my kindle so far. Right now, it's only 99 cents. AND the
sequel (Screwing Up Bablylon) just came out.
16. Blue Eyes and Other Teenage Hazards
I read this book, and then my daughter read it, and she pointed out
something I had missed--this story is set in the world of Logan
17. Masquerade--
Sometimes LOVING books by
Janette Rallison can be embarrassing when you're in your forties. Hurray for Masquerade! It's all that
trademark silly romance that I love so much, but the characters in Masquerade
are all grown up. I liked this one too.
My Winter 2013 Reading
1. Black Heart by Holly Black (Book 3 in the Curse Workers
series)
2. Persuaded by Jenni James
3. Palace of Stone (Princess Academy2) by Shannon Hale
4. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
5. Ruins by Orson Scott Card (Book 2 of Lost Gate series)
6. The Outcasts by John Flanagan (this has been on my list
for a while.)
7. Screwing Up Babylon
8. Prodigy by Marie Lu (sequel to Legend)
9. Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George (sequel to Princess of the Midnight Ball)
10. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
Would you like to add a book? Please do.
And don't forget to tell me your thoughts on Janette
Rallison's post.
Wow, you are a prolific reader! And now I've got a whole new crop of books to try out :)
ReplyDeleteFrom your to-read list, I absolutely loved/cried through Code Name Verity. Also loved Black Heart and Princess of Glass (to me, Jessica Day George and Shannon Hale seem to be kindred spirits in the way they write).
I've never read Janette Rallison. What book would you suggest as a first read? And for an Austen-ish romance, have you tried Edenbrooke yet? I think I mentioned it earlier this summer.
Great list!
I read a little more than usual this time around because I travelled across the country by myself. Also, most of those books are pretty easy reads.
ReplyDeleteAs for Janette Rallison books, there are so many different varieties--I really liked All's Fair In Love and High School. Just One Wish is a (little) less fluffy than the others, but still funny. My Fair Godmother is hilarious, (though it does have a really slow spot midway through). You'll have to let me know what you think. :)
I remember you mentioning Edenbrooke--I don't know why it never got added to my list. Adding it now!
All's Fair in Love, WAR and High School. Oops.
ReplyDeleteGreat list, I'll have to add some of those to my never ending TBR pile. I'm currently reading Legend right now. I'm really enjoying it. I agree with Susan, you certainly are a prolific reader especially over the holiday season.
ReplyDeleteAlready requested a bunch of those from the library. :)
ReplyDelete