Read, read, read...

Once again I've gotten behind on my reading updates. So, here are some of the highlights of my recent reading.

The Dark Is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper. Five books make up this series: Over Sea, Under Stone, The Dark Is Rising, Greenwitch, The Grey King, and Silver on the Tree. I chose to read it because the The Grey King is a Newbery Award winner and The Dark Is Rising is a Newbery Honor book. They fall into the fantasy genre with each book containing a quest of sorts and a battle of good vs. evil, or in this case light vs. dark. There are also elements of time travel, strange people and critters, and hints of Arthurian legend throughout. They were ok to read, but not my favorite. I was really glad when I finally finished the last one.

Illusion by Frank Peretti. I've been a fan of Frank Peretti for a long time, however, I read his newest book, Illusion, about a month ago, and I still haven't decided if I like it or not. It is a strange story involving magicians, an accident, government conspiracies, time travel and lots of other things that are hard to explain. It is definitely a compelling read, but also one that will leave you scratching your head and saying "what?"


The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Unseen Guest by Mayrose Wood. This is the third in the Incorrigible series, and if you haven't read any of them yet, you are really missing out on some fun reading. In this one, the wolf children head back into the woods to track down a runaway ostrich. Along the way we meet mama wolf and of course, more mystery involving the children's origins is brought up. Hopefully there will be a fourth book. I really want to know more.


 The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson. You can't really see it on the cover, but this book is subtitled Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears. This book teaches how to pray bold, specific prayers and to  literally and figuratively draw circles around our needs and dreams and not move from that circle until an answer is given. I know that sounds a little like circle-drawing voodoo, but it's not. Read the book to find out more. It's some powerful stuff.

The Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld. There are four books in this series: Uglies, Pretties, Specials, and Extras. This is a dystopian series, set some three hundred years in the future. When people turn 16, they are given plastic surgery to change them from an ugly to a pretty, and the sole purpose of a pretty's existence is to have fun and party. What people don't know is that in addition to making them pretty, the operation also messes with the brain, taking away the ability for deep and independent thinking. Of course, someone has to buck the system and as a result, chaos ensues. It takes four books to get things resolved, which is about two too many. If I were handing out stars and feeling generous, this series might get 2.5 out of 5. It's really kind of dumb. I can think of lots of ways it could be improved.

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler. If you don't know, Daniel Handler also writes under the name Lemony Snicket. I loved the Series of Unfortunate Events, so I thought I would give his newest young adult book a try. I don't know what I was expecting, but not this. It is the story of a high school couple who fall in love. He is a jock and she is from the artsy crowd, which apparently dooms their relationship from the start. Therefore, it is the story of why they break up. The story is whiny and too full of angst, drama, and bad decisions for my taste. Skip it.


The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes. This is a Newbery Honor book from 1945. It is the story of a poor polish girl who claims to have 100 dresses at home, even though she always wears the same faded and worn dress every day to school. The other girls tease her mercilessly, until it is too late. (Don't worry, there is a happy ending). It's a sweet book with charming illustrations. Check it out.


Ok, of those 14 books, I only heartily recommend 3. I need to find something better to read. What have you read lately that's good?

The Fault In Our Stars ~ John Green

Before reading The Fault In Our Stars by John Green, you'll need two things:
1. A large chunk of time, because once you start reading, you will want to keep reading.
2. A box of Kleenex, because, well, it's sad.

This is a story about kids with cancer. Hazel is 16 and losing her fight with thyroid cancer, although a new experimental drug has bought her a little more time. Augustus, around the same age, is a cancer survivor, having lost his leg because of a tumor, but nothing more.

They meet in a cancer support group, feel a strong connection, and somehow fall in love, in spite of knowing they can have no real future together.

I really like the way Mr. Green develops his characters in this book. Even though they are teenagers, their actions are often far from the typical teenage portrayal. They are respectful of others and have strong relationships with their parents. Their conversations are witty and intelligent. I quickly became attached to Hazel and Augustus and (kind of a spoiler ahead, but not really) was rather devastated when about half way through the book I realized where the plot was headed.

This book is a witty, sad, honest, and insightful portrayal of how cancer affects people. It will make you laugh. It will make you think. It will make you cry. Even though the target audience is young people, I think can be enjoyed by all ages.

Not to be missed. 5 stars.

Reading Round-up

I've gotten a little behind on my book reviews, so here is a condensed version of what I've read the past month or so.

Crossed by Allie Condie. This is the second book in the Matched series. I didn't like it as well as the first - it's pretty bleak and much more violent. At times (like the first 2/3 of the book) I found it tedious to read because the plot moves very slowly. However, the story is compelling enough that I will be reading the third book, Reached, when it comes out in November.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Satran Foer. I really liked this book. It is the story of an extremely precocious 9-year-old named Oskar Schell. After his father is killed in 9/11, Oskar sets out on a quest which he believes will give him some answers to the reason for his father's death. Also, entwined with Oskar's chapters is the story of his grandparents - how they met, came together, were separated, and eventually reunited. Sad and funny at the same time. Check this one out. The movie is pretty good, too.

Ten Miles Past Normal by Frances O'roark Dowell. This one had been on my to be read list for a while, but after reading it, I'm not sure why. It is the story of a young girl, just starting high school, who lives on a small goat farm. Mild teen angst abounds: making new friends, getting made fun of, disagreements with the parents, discovering boys, but nothing too remarkable or memorable happens. 

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray. I read about this one on NPR's book page where they called it a "Lord of the Flies for girls." I hated that book when I was forced to read it in 9th grade English, so I don't know why I thought this one would be any better. It's the story of 12 or so contestants in the Miss Teen Dream beauty pageant who are the lone survivors of a plane crash carrying all 50 contestants, chaperones, and sponsors on a "desert" island somewhere in the tropical ocean. This one is definitely satirical and not for the easily offended. Also, it is way too long. Skip it.

The Goodbye Time by Celeste Conway. I picked this one up at the library because I liked the dress on the cover. Kind of like Ten Miles Past Normal, it's a cutesy young-people's book about growing up where nothing too remarkable happens.

Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith. In effort to fill the void of the missing Pulitzer fiction winner, I read the book that won for poetry. I'm sorry to report that modern poetry is lost on me. I didn't like any of the poems in this collection. They are mostly dreary and futuristic with allusions to popular culture that I don't get. Meh.

What It Is Like To Go To War by Karl Marlantes. This was a pick for the Huffington Post book club. I plodded through about 2/3 of it and gave up. Not my style of book at all.



The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman by Meg Wolitzer. This is a funny young people's book based around a national Scrabble tournament. It follows three players, all of whom have different reasons for being there, and of course there is lots of self-discovery along the way. And lots of fun scrabble tips, too. And the neatest thing I learned from this book is that the word maraschino is an anagram of harmonicas. Who knew?

Peculiar

I recently read a book by Ransom Riggs called Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. I really enjoyed this one, although it's kind of out there.

The story is interspersed with a lot of interesting old photographs of "peculiar children." The photos belong to the main character, Jacob's, grandfather. He assumes that the photos, along with the stories his grandfather tells about the people in them to be fake. He soon learns otherwise and sets off on a journey to discover the truth.

Here is the book trailer.

This book has the potential to be really creepy, but thankfully the author takes it in a different direction. An exciting, mysterious, and intriguing story. Check it out. 

Matched ~ Ally Condie

Apparently I didn’t get my fill of dystopian madness with the Hunger Games series, because the other day I came home from the library with Ally Condie’s Matched, another futuristic novel where the government controls all…or does it?

The story takes place in a bleak, futuristic world where everything from how much and what food you can eat, what you wear, what you do with your “free” time, where you work, who you will marry, and when you will die is controlled by the government.

People's knowledge of the world is limited to what the government tells them. It is a very minimalistic society and everything from past history has been pared down to 100: 100 books, 100 songs, 100 poems, 100 paintings, etc. Everything else has been destroyed.

Around a person’s 17^th birthday, he or she attends a special banquet where couples are matched through data that has been collected about each individual. This is the person you will marry, no questions asked. Each person is given a data card with information about their match, and when Cassia, the heroine of the book, receives her card, she is surprised to find not one, but two matches. One is her best friend Xander, while the other is Ky, a boy who has been classified as an aberration, and therefore cannot be matched.

This sends her on a quest to find out why she has two matches, even though the government is quickly tries to cover it up and warns her of trouble if she continues asking questions.

At the same time, Cassia's grandfather dies. Death happens on your 80^th birthday, no matter what, if you are still alive. But before he dies, Cassia's grandfather slips her a poem by Dylan Thomas that he has somehow saved that begins "Do not go gentle into the night / Old age should burn and rave at close of day; / Rage, rage against the dying of the light."The mixed-up match, along with her grandfather’s death, and the word of the poem telling her to fight seem to be the impetus needed for Cassia to begin to rebel against the system. And I can’t tell you where it leads, because that would ruin the end of the book if you decide to read it.

The story continues in Crossed, which I am going to have to read, because Matched kind of leaves you hanging at the end. Check it out if you want a calmer, less violent dystopian story than the Hunger Games.