What are you reading in May 2012?

Here's a new thread for the month of May!! Share with us what YA novel you're reading this month!

I have so many on my list, but here are the ones up next:

Chosen Ones by Tiffany Truitt
Dark Kiss by Michelle Rowan
Endure by Carrie Jones
Any Love But Mine by Debbie Davies
Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross

If you haven't read Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins, it is amazing!

Just finished The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan. It's technically not YA, but won an Alex Award for Adult fiction with YA appeal. It was a quick, enjoyable read and I can certainly see the YA appeal. It had me laughing out loud a couple of times.

I'm currently reading Zahra's Paradise, quick, but definitely a much more serious book, and Froi of the Exiles. I'm enjoying Froi, but it's also pretty intense.

Just picked up my B&N pre-order of The Serpent's Shadow and I'm about to get started on it. I'm personally not as crazy about "The Kane Chronicles" as I am the "Camp Halfblood" series (I love Clarisse and in the new Roman series I especially like Hazel), but The Serpent's Shadow wraps up the trilogy and I can give all three as a package to a church friend when I'm done. She teaches fifth or sixth grade at an inner-city school, so Carter and Sadie's biraciality should have a good multicultural appeal for her students.

I'm reading The last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle.

4. Aww Bell, that's very nice of you! Those inner city school children definitely needs some loving, especially in the form of new books.

5. Do you like the book so far, Sandy?

I had trouble getting through The Last Unicorn. I enjoyed the movie more than the book.

Some movies are just easier to digest. Like Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I watched the movie, then I read the book but the book was just totally hard to get through even though I forced myself to read to the end.

I'm starting with Insurgent, after that I'm not sure yet.

Oooh I want to read Insurgent so bad!!

I am reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern at the moment. I was really looking forward to it, but I have to say I am feeling quite dissapointed so far. Maybe it will pick up.

I just finished up with Carter and Sadie in The Serpent's Shadow and I'm really disappointed in the trilogy. Overall, I'll give it 3***, which isn't really bad, but it's nowhere comparable to Camp Halfblood. In fairness to Riordan, this may partly be my own lesser familiarity with Egyptian mythology (compared to Graeco-Roman), but I think that's probably going to be true of most readers, which complicates the large assemblage of characters that he throws in. Another problem, I think, is the greater reliance on divinities in this series (though the lesser deities Bes and Bast are particularly attractive, and Anubis of course is particularly important), as opposed to the much wider range of child/halfblood characters in his other series. Also, The Kane Chronicles tends to be wa-a-a-ay to cutesy for my own taste, though Camp Halfblood has also started toward a little too much cutesiness in its most recent Roman book.

Still, kids should like this series, and it's a good one for introducing Egyptian mythology in a classroom. Due to most people's lesser familiarity with Egyptian mythology, though, The Kane Chronicles may particularly benefit from The Kane Chronicles Survival Guide.

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This is really just a minor SPOILER, but the conclusion of The Serpent's Shadow hints that the world of The Kane Chronicles may very soon be intersecting that of Camp Halfblood.

12> I enjoyed Night Circus but not nearly as much as I expected to enjoy it based on the hype.

I often wonder how much expectations affect my enjoyment of certain books. I didn't want to read The Hunger Games. I didn't expect to enjoy, but I felt like I had to give it a try. I was ready to put it down after the first page, but I didn't, and of course I ended up devouring the series.

I recently finished Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel. It's marketed to adults, but teens would enjoy it. It's a steampunk, zombie love story.

Finished Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles Probably my least favorite of the series. Now reading Kindred Souls by Patricia MacLachlan for Early Reviewers and then next is How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr

I'm currently reading Code Name Verity and while the writing and the story are excellent, I have the feeling things are not going to end well and I'm probably going to end up bawling like a baby. That's not much incentive to finish a book.

I'm also re-reading The Blue Sword based on the discussion in the April thread. Love me some Harry and Corlath.

Hahahah I love Harry and Corlath too!! I want to marry that man. He's so hot. Well, in my mind he's really hot

I'm re-reading The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. I'm really looking forward to The Serpent's Shadow as well.

The Neverending Story movie was so darn epic. I've never read the book but I'm assuming it's got to have been pretty good for them to make a movie out of it.

Insurgent was sooo good!!

I really enjoyed Insurgent. I know that some people were annoyed by Tris' attitude and focus on her sense of guilt. But I thought that given the circumstances, it was appropriate to the story to look at the different ways the characters handled the guilt and trauma. I also found the theme of trust to be pretty powerful. Everything revolved around trust. But who could you trust? Even someone you would normally trust would become a threat under simulation. I've written a full review for our library website and I need to wait for it to appear there before I release it elsewhere.

I also finished The Serpent's Shadow this week. I guess I'm in the minority, but I really enjoyed The Kane Chronicles. I listened to the audio of the first two books and I think that helped. I really liked the banter back and forth between the two narrators and I was able to continue that mentally as I read this one. For the YALSA Best of the Best Challenge I finished Under the Mesquite and Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition. Under the Mesquite was nicely written but didn't blow me away. Maybe I've just read too many books about parents dying of cancer recently. Bootleg was both well-written and quite interesting. I enjoyed it a lot and came away with a much better understanding of how such an incredible Constitutional Ammendment actually was enacted.

>16 Cailiosa:, Cailiosa

I definitely bawled like a baby reading Code Name Verity but it was just so so good...

@Carmellunacy: I finished Code Name Verity and I was blown away by the awesomeness, though my tear-ducts definitely got a workout from all the crying I did. I think I'm going to get it for my dad for his birthday, since he enjoys the WWII novels. I just won't tell him it's YA (he's prejudiced against 'kiddie' books).

Reading my early reviewers copy of Soulbound, which I'm so far enjoying a lot more than I expected to! Very fun, and it's been awhile since I've read anything fun. No word on when I'll have time to read it, but hopefully I'll finish it before the month is out :)

Hey Yummy! I just started reading Soulbound as well and I'm currently on chapter 3 lol. But I just started last night so hopefully I'll have it finished in the next two days or so.

Yeah, I got like 70 pages in a pretty short amount of time, but my free reading time is preeetty limited at the moment... it's term paper season. How are you liking it so far?

I'm at the part where she just kissed her parent's foreheads and went to go pack. I kind of wish the front cover was a bit more....colorful and less dark and haunting looking because when I first saw this book, I rolled over it and kept going. It wasn't until my second run through that I even thought about reading the description. I think this idea of Healer/Barron is a good one. Let's see how it pans out ;)

Do any of you YA readers know of any YA books that are "jane austen like" that you would recommend?
Thanks,
Eli

Can you clarify what you mean by "Jane Austen like" so we can help you better? Set in the early 19th century and concerned with themes of marriage? Or something else?

Try A Breath of Eyre by Eve Marie Mont. I haven't personally read it myself but I know it's got aspects of Jane Eyre. I've always liked Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte's novels because I find that they're similar in taste, if not style and plot.

Or how about The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer? It's another classic so I guess it's not really YA but I hear good things about it :)

Enthusiasm by Polly Shulman

32 - That looks like a really good recommendation for Eli, Unruly! Good choice!

27 - I totally agree! Really not a fan of the cover, but the story sounded intriguing and is enjoyable so far.

I just finished Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers. The protagonist is a young girl who finds her way to a convent of sister assassins. It's historical fantasy. The setting seems English to me but it is never specified. It was a unique and great read.

Jane Austen "like":
There's a nice subsection of fantasy/historicals that tend to have a similar flavor with a bit of magic thrown in

Sorcery and Cecelia by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer (and sequels The Grand Tour and The Mislaid Magician

and our very own Marissa Doyle's charming Leland Sisters duology Bewitching Season and Betraying Season

Really great YA novel! In my opinion, Heather Brewer did a wonderful job of creating a story that appeals to YA readers. She weaves an intricate story with adventure, action, romance, betrayel and rebellion, all of which were essential and added depth to the story.

Soulbound by Heather Brewer is set in a different time and different world, where two forces fight, one to save mankind while the other focuses on destroying it. There are two groups of people unknown to regular humans, Barrons (those who wield katanas to fight for the survival of humankind) and Healers (people who are bound to Barrons in order to heal them in the midst of battle). Kaya, born from the unlawful union of two Barrons, is summoned to Shadow Academy to train as a Healer. Through injury and death of close friends and death threat to her parents, Kaya realizes that she must learn how to fight even though Healers are forbidden to learn the art of combat and must rely on their Barrons for protection, though her bound Barron will hear none of it. So she turns to the only person with the skills to help her, Darius, the Academy's foremost combat instructor and expert, and her Barron's best friend. However, Darius holds a secret so big that it may completely destroy his friendship with Kaya and his best friend.

What I Liked: I really enjoy the cursing. At first I thought it was stupid for the characters to say "fak" and "dek" but those words grew on me and worked into the story well. I also enjoyed that Brewer didn't overdo the Melanie/Kaya jealousy over Trayton, Kaya's Barron and that their interactions were believable. I think Brewer did an excellent job with everyone's personalities and kept everyone in character through the whole book. I still had no clue how the Grapler's were getting into the school and was totally not expecting the answer to that question so that was very interesting and a good twist. The ending was great! HUGE cliffhanger. I slightly wanted to shake Brewer because I want the second novel to be out already!! Even though I know this one isn't even out yet XD. You know a book is good when you get to the last page and you think to yourself, "What?? No, no, no, I want to know what happens next!!!" And that was definitely my feeling when I turned to the last page. I kind of already guessed Darius' secret but at the same time I was hoping it's not true because it would complicate the relationships between Kaya/Trayton/Darius. I kind of was rooting for Kaya to like both of them because Trayton is such a nice, loving guy yet Darius is more suited to Kaya's personality. But I know she'll have to choose someone and I'm afraid!! Because I don't want any of them to get hurt. But I think I may have my favorite. The next book "Soulbroken" is very aptly named.

What I Didn't Like: Not a whole lot I didn't like about this book. I would have liked to learn a bit more about the Council and what their secrets are since they are portrayed as not evil, but doing things for the good of the council rather than making decisions that would benefit mankind. There are just questions that need answers so I hope the next few books will take more time to answer those questions.

I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT BOOK!!

I received this book from Librarything.com's Early Reviewer Giveaway.

Enthusiasm was a wonderful book!! And if it is historical YA you're looking for, then there's also Regina Scott's La Petite Four (disclaimer--she's my best friend :-) ) and Jennifer Bradbury's Wrapped. For slightly later into the Victorian era, there's Y.S. Lee's The Agency series.

And thank you, Caramellunacy. I'm on LT as a reader, not a writer, but do appreciate the mention. :)

>37 Danielle.Montgomery: Soulbound is next on my TBR because I also won it from ER, but your review suggests that it's not going to go the way I was hoping it would. Is it a Romance with Fantasy bits rather than the other way around? (To be honest, I thought that when I requested it, but I HOPED.)

In my opinion, it's about half and half. The romance isn't slap-you-in-the-face but it's definitely there and you feel the tension but there's also lots about expanding her knowledge and figuring out what she's fighting for and why she's fighting. I really enjoyed it because, for me, it was a nice balance of the two.

>40 Danielle.Montgomery: I feel better about it going into it then. I originally requested it because I like the idea of the binary fighters, which is something I've seen before and want to see more of.

41 I really hope there is more action in the next novel in the series because though this one was good, the author went about setting up the story and giving us background. I really can't wait for Soulbroken :)

I'm working on The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, the third book in the Song of the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce.

Marissa_Doyle, you're very welcome. I adored your Leland sisters stories and thanks for the reminder about Wrapped. I kept meaning to pick that one up, it's in my cart now!

>43 bluesalamanders:, bluesalamanders
I loved the Song of the Lioness series growing up (still do) - it's definitely got a special place in my heart and on my bookshelf. Let me know what you think! It may be time for a re-read :)

#43 I loved the Lioness books when I read them years ago, I went on to read all her books set in the Tortal world. I particularly liked the Protector of the Small books. I think she is a good writer to recommend to young female readers in particular, her strong interesting female characters are much better than the passive Bella Swan types you get elsewhere.

44 Caramellunacy - This is a reread ;) I think some of her newer books - Protector of the Small and Beka Cooper in particular - are significantly better written, but as you say, Song of the Lioness has a special place in my heart and every few years I pick them up for a reread. There's a bit near the end of Lioness Rampant that always brings tears to my eyes.

I adore Tamora Pierce's works. I think ya'll are definitely right. Need to revisit her worlds :)

I am about half way finished with Wicked Lovely and I am finding it just okay. The fact that I had 2 flights yesterday and I chose to play Sudoko over reading and finishing this book speaks volumes. Oh well, hopefully my summer reading will pick up. :)

48> I read Wicked Lovely when it first came out and I haven't read the rest of the series. As I recall (but in fairness, it's been a few years), I thought the girl was a little too much a plaything, not a strongly realized and independent character of her own. Don't know if I'm wording this right. It's obviously been quite a while since I've read it.

I had the same thought about Wicked Lovely, but liked Ink Exchange's protagonist much more.

Have any of you read Slammed by Colleen Hoover? I don't really like the main character, there's insta-love between her and this guy, and the book deals with a particular issue that I find squicky, and yet I can't stop reading it. Will someone please tell me what is wrong with me?

I wasn't much of a fan of Wicked Lovely either. I made myself finish the book but I haven't read any others in the series.

I haven't read Slammed so I don't know what's wrong with you, Cailiosa lol. Perhaps it's one of those things where it's so bad or so annoying that it keeps you coming back? I feel that way about several Eminem songs.

There are so many books I want to read and I really want to put Slammed on my reading list but I just received 6 ARCs for this month plus 5 e-books to read and review. At this rate, it'll be 3 months from now before I'll be able to read something off my to-be-read list |_|

I haven't read Slammed either, Cailiosa.

Bitterblue was excellent, and has ties to both Graceling and Fire. My short review is on the book page.

@Danielle.Montgomery: I don't know if I would exactly recommend Slammed (though thousands of Goodreads reviewers would beg to disagree) -- I think I'm just being a glutton for punishment. It's like this book is a trainwreck and I can't look away.

Lol Cailiosa! Well, at least it's got that crazy interest factor to it I guess. I'm going to go look at it on Goodreads.

UPDATE:

Dang! A lot of people really like this book from what Goodreads says. I'll definitely have to read this. It's just moved to the top of my TBR list. I haven't seen a book with that many reviewers and have an above 4.5 rating. That's pretty amazing in and of itself.

Yep, I'm definitely the oddball out with my opinion, so I hope you enjoy Slammed more than me!

Waiting to start Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

Picking up Bitterblue AND Fire from the library tomorrow! So excited because I really loved Graceling. Tonight am uploading The Scorpio Races CDs to iTunes so I can download them onto my iPod, even though I JUST finished reading it on the Kindle a few weeks ago.

I just finished Immortal Rules and loved it!!!
I'm almost done with City of lost souls and then I'm starting Bitterblue.

I really wanted to win Bitterblue from the giveaway but I wasn't so lucky XD. I'll have to rent it from my library as well.

I've been reading The Sisters Grimm start-to-finish this past week to ten days. I'm now just about to start The Inside Story, book eight of nine. I'd stayed away from this one until just a couple weeks ago, when I saw the ninth book had been published as the finale. What was keeping me away was that I thought it was some kind of tediously interminable and cutesy little mystery series along the lines of Nancy Drew (sorry to Nancy Drew fans, but I don't really care that much for mysteries to begin with). I've discovered that it's not any such thing at all but rather a very intricately plotted coming-of-age story, and interestingly one in which it's the older sister who thinks she's taking care of her younger sister but it's really the older sister who's the "jerkazoid" and the younger one who's loveable and sensible (hmmm, most of the time).

I finished Wicked Lovely this morning before work so that I can start something different. :) I have one romancy type book from the library that I need to read and then I can start Insurgent! Woot! Woot!

Yay!! I can't wait to get my hands on Insurgent! I think I'm going to reread Divergent so I can refresh my memory, then I'll grab Insurgent :)

I think you both are going to love Insurgent -- it's pretty much amazing.

I finished up with Slammed last night and while it improved a bit, it wasn't enough to redeem it in my eyes. Oh, well, not every book is for every reader. I also finished The Shifter which is the first book in a fantasy series centered around people with healing abilities (it's better than my description makes it sound).

I just finished up with In the Forests of the Night, the second book in Kersten Hamilton's Goblin Wars trilogy. It started out a bit slowly, but I found myself not caring too much, since I enjoyed spending time with these fun characters regardless of what they were doing. If Irish mythology combined with modern-day Chicago sounds right up your alley, do check out Ms. Hamilton's work.

Have any of you read The Girl of Fire and Thorns? It appears to have received lots of good reviews from Amazon. I haven't checked this site or Good Reads yet....

@kwidhalm: The Girl of Fire and Thorns is awesome, so I definitely recommend you check it out. I believe the sequel comes out in September, so you won't have to wait too long for it.

Thanks, Cailiosa! I'm buying it for my Kindle. :)

I hope you enjoy it!

>65 Kwidhalm: I loved The Girl of Fire and Thorns! I've got a short review on my blog in one of my YALSA Best of the Best Challenge posts - I don't remember which week. My review of Insurgent also went out this week. I finished listening to Beauty Queens and thought it was a good book, though not entirely my cup of tea. I liked the themes and think it would make a good choice for a discussion or book club.

Currently reading The Returning by Christine Hinwood (for some reason the touchstone won't find the correct book) and Talisman of El by Alecia Stone and listening to Ghetto Cowboy by Greg Neri. I'm really enjoying The Returning and Ghetto Cowboy. I'm undecided about Talisman of El. It's an interesting story, but I'm having a little trouble keeping everything straight. It does seem to be coming together as the story progresses, so I think I need to give it more time before making a judgement.

4> CurrerBell,

I'm really bummed to hear how much you love the Camp Halfblood series b/c we haven't read it yet!! And the kids and I have so many other books in our pile that I'm not sure when we'll get to it. We would have done it right off but I didn't like the voice of the reader for the audio version.

Good on you for passing the Kane books on to your friend at the inner city. My kids go to an inner city school and I pass books on to the librarian there, esp the Harleuqin Teen and Kimani TRU books that I get as part of my work. She passes them on to kids who will enjoy them. I can't tell you how thrilled I was when I actually saw a BOY carrying around one of the books I had donated.

Penn

The kids and I are listening to The Legend of the Guardians (almost done), which might be children's and not YA. Next up, though will be The Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan, which we are looking forward to.

I might have to re-listen to the Song of the Lioness quartet again - it's been a few years and you all talking about it and Tamora Pierce have made me long for it.

Penn

70,71>> Penn, when you're done The Serpent's Shadow, you really should try to get started on Camp Halfblood. The reason I say this is that (and this really isn't any kiind of SPOILER) it looks like Riordan is going to unite the Halfblood and Kane universes in the very near future.

By the way, I positively REFUSE to see the Percy Jackson movie, because they took out Clarisse and she's my xxxooo favorite! I admit, she really does kind of glamorize bullying ("Hey, losa, ya gotta problem wid dat? You wan' I rearrange yer dental work fer ya?"), being an ultimately likeable bully (unlike Draco Malfoy), but she really is a neat character and she has her own quest in the second book of the original (Greek) series. I look at it this way. Her father's Ares the war god, so it's not so much that she's a bully, she's just got some "parental issues"!

#70 -- I didn't care for the narrator of the Percy Jackson series, either. I tried doing a reread of the series via audiobook, and gave up on that when I realized that the narrator's voice was going to bug me all the way through.

I just started Catching Jordan - a YA contemporary about a girl who plays quarterback for (and captains) her high school football team and wants to go on to play in college. But not long before a big game, new student and excellent quarterback Ty Green shows up. Who is a boy. Which Jordan *notices*. Right when distraction is the last thing she needs.

I'm actually really enjoying it so far even though I don't care a jot about football...

I just finished The Council of Mirrors and posted a fairly lengthy review of the overall series. I gave the overall series, for personal reading, 4**** but I rate it a complete disaster for classroom use.

72>CurrerBell,

DH told me that the Percy Jackson movie just totally ruined anything from the books. He went on at some length (he had to take the kids when it came out) about all the things that the movie did wrong . . . more than just your reason, trust me. So re-read the books and enjoy and forget they even made a movie!! :)

Penn

I started and finished that romancy book that I had requested from the library so I was able to start on Insurgent last night! Woot! Woot! It picks up right where is left off in Divergent which is cool but now I'm trying to remember who everyone is.............I'm either getting forgetful in my old age OR I read way too much! Since one can never read too much I guess I'm just getting old! ;)

The Serpent's Shadow was decent but the ending wasn't as epic as I had become used to with Riordan's Camp Half-Blood series. Fewer books, though, so maybe the build up was not the same. The Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief movie was entertaining, but not a close adaptation. I think the producers may have been trying to make the first book into a one-off rather than having confidence in the series. However, the Sea of Monsters has been given a green-light and is currently filming...so we'll see.

I love the Sisters Grimm series and I'm so excited for when my hold on Council of Mirrors comes in! I'm battling through The Hunger Games. It's very well written, but I get so depressed reading it that I have to take it in chunks. I'm balancing it out with A.M. Jenkin's Repossessed, which ironically is a story written from the POV of a demon who has possessed the body of a teenager and is extremely funny!

77: One can never read too much so I think I'm getting old too since I'm having some memory issues as well XD.

I finished Catching Jordan, which I quite enjoyed - though I preferred the football parts to the romance parts (even though I don't care for or understand football). I think I may re-read Dairy Queen soon, now. It's put me in that kind of mood.

To prepare for a possible trip to Haworth next weekend (keep your fingers crossed for me!), I've just begun A Breath of Eyre by Eve Marie Mont - which I hope will turn out to be a cross between Wuthering High and The Eyre Affair...

80>> To prepare for a possible trip to Haworth next weekend....

How dare you! You're making me so-o-o jealous!!! ;-)

81>> I just wish you could show me around ;-)

80: Hey Caramel, lemme know how A Breath of Eyre turns out because I want to read it also!

Boy, reading this thread surely adds a load of books to my library 'wish' list!! :0)

Thanks all for the wonderful recommendations!!

Listening to Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. I read the book in February and loved it. I am finding even more reasons to love it as I listen! Reading In Zanesville by Jo Ann Beard. It's an adult book, but with loads of YA appeal.

84>>I love this thread too, Tina! Some awesome, awesome books get recommended here :)

I'm about halfway through The Enchantress (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel). Next up will be Flora's Fury.

#87 -- I'm looking forward to Flora's Fury, but plan to reread the first two books in the series first.

Right now, I'm rereading Divergent before tackling Insurgent.

>87 CurrerBell:: I'm so excited about Flora's Fury - seems as though we've been waiting for it forever. I look forward to hearing what you think of it.

I'm currently reading Throat by R. A. Nelson, which has (thankfully) evil vampires and a cool NASA base setting.

Flora's Fury was everything I wanted and more, especially after having to wait so long for it to come out. The ending was kind of ambiguous -- does anyone know if this is the last book in the series or if there will be more written?

I just finished up Blackout the final book in Mira Grant's Newsflesh trilogy. While it's not exactly YA, it's certainly awesome. It's got everything you could ever want: zombies, kick-butt (literally) bloggers, and government conspiracy.

Just finished 101 Things You Thought you Knew About the Titanic by Tim Maltin. Small, straightforward, packed with information (although, in fact, I did know quite a bit of it), and impressively researched and cited. Dispels a lot of myths with solid facts. I liked it.

Insurgent was excellent. Those of you looking forward to it have a great read ahead of you.

#92) I stayed up until 12:30am reading Insurgent last night. I'm exhausted today! Oh well, I kept saying "just one more chapter". Hopefully, I will finish it up by Saturday so I can get some rest. :)

88,89,90>> foggidawn's probably right. I really should reread the other two, or at least Flora's Dare. Flora's Fury's been four years in the waiting! And besides, even though I wasn't that crazy about the Wilce's first volume (it was alright, but not out of this world), the second book is one of my all-time favorites.

I haven't reread the earlier Nicholas Flamel volumes, though. It's not a bad series, but it seems to have dragged on a little. And there are really too many Immortals and other mythic characters so that it started getting difficult to keep track of anyone or be interested in most of them (other than a few -- for me, especially Scatty). I'm more at the point of reading this final volume to see how it all wraps up, and it does seem to be leading to an interesting wrap-up now that I'm halfway through.

>93 Kwidhalm: Hah! I feel your pain, Katie. It's so hard to put down. It starts out fast and then speeds up.

Just finished The Enchantress (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel) and it's definitely got an interesting twist of an ending, and it's an ending that I don't think is especially typical of YA fantasies. It also brings together several of the Immortals in different and sometimes surprising relationships with each other, with some of them becoming more important characters in this last volume than they were in the earlier ones (and vice-versa). Also, there's one very important "new" character who appears who creates an interesting twist and regarding whom I say no more to avoid SPOILER.

I guess I'll be getting on to Flora's Fury next, though I might give Flora's Dare a reread first.

ETA: Oh, and I gave The Enchantress four****, which was higher than any rating I gave any of the earlier novels (though I did 4**** to Billy the Kid and the Vampyres of Vegas, which was an only-on-eBook story, but that was mainly because of the prominent role of Scatty, whom I particularly love).

Oh, crap! I'm telling you that I am EXHAUSTED from Insurgent. I need my sleep and this staying up past midnight to ride this crazy roller coaster is taking its toll on me. I gave up coffee in April and now I have had 2 cups this week. Eek! If I have to stay up all night tonight to finish this book then that is what I am going to do AND then I think I'm going to read a Nora Roberts book for some much needed sleep. ;)

>97 Kwidhalm: Good thing it's a 3 day weekend!

>98 jnwelch: That is a plus but I have a 6am flight on Sunday so up for 3am.....Hopefully, I can sleep on the plane! :)

Ouch! Sorry about the early flight time, Katie. I'm terrible at sleeping on planes, but I'll have my fingers crossed for ou.

98>> I hope you can get some shut eye on the flight, Katie!

>100 jnwelch: and 101 - At least I received an email this morning that I was upgraded to First Class so I think sleep is definitely in my future. :)

Btw, Fire, is the next YA book that I am going to read after I finish the Nora Roberts book. :) Very excited for that book!

I'm in the middle of Insurgent now, and it is a roller coaster! I was up until 1:00 last night reading, and I'm defintiely glad for the long weekend, so I can finish the book and catch up on my sleep!

>104 foggidawn: Thank heavens that I am not the only one!!!! :D

>87 CurrerBell:-90 et al. Just finished Flora's Fury and enjoyed it, though I remember enjoying the first two books more. I'm betting there will be sequels. There are many more places mentioned that we haven't visited yet (is Porkopolis supposed to be Chicago?)

Anyone who likes the Flora Segunda books would probably also like the Flavia de Luce novels by C. Alan Bradley. Same kind of precocious, strong-willed, yet often naive heroine. There's a lot of dark humor in the Flavia books, too, which I really like.

103>>Fire, the book after Graceling?

106> I second that - The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie was wonderful.

Will someone on this awesome thread give me an opinion on how Divergent -- on my TBR stack (and it's sequel) stack up next to The Hunger Games? Just curious...

#109 -- I would certainly recommend Divergent to readers who enjoyed The Hunger Games. In fact, I think I enjoyed the two books about equally. Both have strong female characters and a lot of action. I haven't finished Insurgent yet, but am enjoying it very much so far!

Ditto. For me, The Hunger Games is better written, but they both are intricate and interesting and keep you racing through the pages.

Excellent news!! :)

I'm very glad to hear these opinions. Thanks for sharing!

107) Yes. :) The sequel to Graceling.

I have finished Insurgent and all I can say is: OH MY!!!! It will be absolute torture to wait until September 2013 for the next book. Oy!

106, 108) I loved The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie! I read that book in January and it sure did start my new year off on the right foot. :)

Just finished A Hero for WondLa and gave it 4****. The story's perhaps a little bit trite and it's becoming a little bit New Age-y for my own personal taste, but it's still quite interesting and there's a great developing relationship between Eva Nine and Rovee. In fact, I like A Hero for WondLa better than I did The Search for WondLa, which I only gave three-and-a-half*** and hadn't necessarily planned on continuing with the series/trilogy, but I'm glad I did.

I'd actually planned on getting into Flora's Fury, but I misplaced the book under one or another of my Mount TaBoR piles. How do you misplace a book that's just about a week old? Oh well, I can do it. I just found it, though, so I'm going to get started. I've been so anxious to get into Flora's Fury that I've decided I'll just read it without going back and doing a re-read of the first two installments.

Ijust finished Black Dawn by Rachel Caine. I didn't really enjoy it. I find that the Morganville Vampire series has gotten repetitious and has dragged on for too long.

116>>Sorry to hear that Sandy :( I do agree that some series need to just end already. The more it goes on, the worse they get. Although I've never read Morganville Vampires but it's on my to read list. I have the second book but not the first one so I'm assuming I need to read the first before I move on.

>81 CurrerBell: CurrerBell
I was lucky enough to get to go to Haworth this weekend and see the parsonage and have a ramble about the moors. Most astonishingly, the weather was absolutely gorgeous and sunny. The Bronte Parsonage Museum was quite a lovely little place (before we were overrun with a tromping coach-full of cranky tourists) and they are currently featuring the period costumes from the 2011 Jane Eyre movie, which are just stunning. Lucky me!

>83 Danielle.Montgomery: Danielle.Montgomery

Here's a quick recap of A Breath of Eyre: It was a bit 'meh' for me, though it definitely had its share of interesting and good points.

1 Contemporary Re-telling of Jane Eyre
1 Time-slip (Maybe) into Jane Eyre leading to:
- Several Swaths of Text Only Marginally and Uninspiredly Taken from the Original
4 (!) Near-Death Experiences
1 Wholly Unnecessary Injection of Voodoo

2 Brooding Possibilities for Mr Rochester
0 Love Triangles (YAY!)
1 Irascible Roommate with Issues
1 Super-Creepy English Teacher
1 School Dance
1 Game of Poker Polygraph

2 Attempts at an Essay of which
- 1 Intriguing and Critical Thesis Regarding Source Material
2 Important Competitions
1 Pretty Bad Poem of Great Import
1 Disciplinary Hearing Threatening Expulsion

>118 Caramellunacy:: It's been several years since I last visited Haworth, but it is an amazingly atmospheric place. There are plans to build a wind farm on the moors immediately behind the village, which will totally change things for the worse, though. Glad you had a good visit.

I finished Throat and found it disappointing. I really wanted to love this one - girl with epilepsy is attacked by a vampire and has a seizure, which affects the process of the turning so she ends up a sort of human/vampire hybrid. About halfway through, the author started putting ellipses into all the dialogue . . . resulting in all the characters . . . speaking . . . like this . . . for no apparent reason. It really got on my nerves. However, there were some very cool scenes where the usual gender tropes were reversed - because the girl has amazing strength and speed, she sends her boyfriend to wait in safety while she fights off the attacking vampires! But overall, this wasn't nearly as good as Days of Little Texas by the same author, which I read and loved last year.

I finished up a galley of Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone this weekend. Since it doesn't come out until October, I don't want to give away any details, but I went into it expecting a Doctor Who type of time travel novel (you know, with lots of action and harrowing near death experiences) and it was nothing of the sort. I confess, my expectations left me a bit disappointed with this book, but I think if you go into it knowing that it's going to be a quieter, more intimate sort of story, then you'll find it quite an enjoyable book. It does have a lovely romance.

I just finished Past Perfect, a contemporary that is light, funny, and smart. I love an intelligent protagonist with a sense of humor!

118>>Well poop. Not so interested in A Breath of Eyre anymore. Though there are no love triangles which is a BIG plus. So maybe it's not completely off my list after all.

119>>That is....so....absolutely....annoying!!

Just finished Flora's Fury and give it four-and-a-half**** (I gave the first book 4**** and the second book 5*****). It looks pretty clear that Wilce is setting the stage for another sequel, and I just hope it doesn't take another four years to come out!

Started Daughter of Smoke and Bone on audio. So far (about 1.5 hours in), I am liking it.

123>>Glad you liked Flora's Fury, Bell! I'm a bit hesitant to read it because it looks almost like a middle grade book. Is it a true YA?

125>> It may be a slight bit closer to middle grade, but Flora's sixteen years old, which should appeal to a slightly older readership. Additionally, she does use the "F" word quite a bit (though it's "fike," not "f---"), including the use of "abso-fiking-lutely." There's also a very slight bit of kissy-kissy in this volume as well as a possible romantic triangle developing (and I don't want to say more to avoid SPOILER). All in all, Flora's a case a teenage rebelliousness.

It's not Hunger Games kind of YA, but then, there's a strong fantasy element to it which reduces that kind of Hunger Games grittiness. I'd say it's readable either by middle readers or by YA, perhaps somewhat like His Dark Materials (though I'd never put anyone on a level with my xxxooo Lyra).

But have you read the first two books? If you have, you should have a pretty good idea of what Flora's Fury is like. Otherwise, you do have to start at the beginning, with Flora Segunda.

One caution about this series, though (and it does look to be developing into something more beyond just this first trilogy). The heroic good-guys are an odd blend of Hispanic and Euro-Nordic settlers in "Califa" (California), while the evil guys are Azteco-Mayan imperialists. For that reason, it may be the kind of book that teachers would be reluctant to use in U.S. schools because of multicultural sensitivity.

>124 Storeetllr: I enjoyed Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Mary. (My review should be on the book page somewhere). I hope you continue to like it.

124,127>> I gave Daughter of Smoke and Bone a three-and-a-half*** LT review last October:

I've given this book three-and-a-half stars based on my own preferences. I don't at all particularly care for demon-angel-romance stories, and anyone who does is likely to give this book four-and-a-half or even five. I bought it (and I'll buy its sequel as well) because of the author, but I do hope Laini Taylor returns to her "Dreamdark" series soon.

A great book, in other words, but not entirely to my own personal taste. I just wish she would bring back Magpie and the fairies of Dreamdark, but I'm not sure that's Laini Taylor's issue or whether her publisher doesn't see enough of a Dreamdark market.

>127 jnwelch:, 128 ~ I'm not a huge fan of angel romances either, Mike, but the writing in Daughter of Smoke and Bone is just gorgeous, and the story is intriguing, plus I like the protagonist (though is she not just the tiniest bit TSTL? At least so far). I'll probably search out more from Taylor in the future. Good to know about the Dreamdark series. I try to avoid reading reviews before finishing a book, Joe (so I'm not discouraged from finishing it by a bad review or disappointed after reading it by a rave review), but will check yours out when I'm done. I'll be curious to know your thoughts.

>Danielle: I think the first book, Flora Segunda has more of a middle grade feel, with its focus on adventure, but each installment has gotten progressively more mature. I'd say Flora's Fury rests firmly in the YA category, but it doesn't include anything so outlandish that it would alienate any middle grade readers. I don't really go for middle grade books and I love this series, if that's anything to go by. It's wildly imaginative and just plain fun to read.

Dragon's Keep & Dragonswood by Janet Lee Carey (3 and 4 stars)
Dead Beautiful & Life Eternal by Yvonne Wood (4 stars)
Ender's Shadow by Orsen Scott Card (4 stars)
The Passage by Justin Cronin (4 stars but still mad at the author)
Witch & Wizard by James Patterson & Gabrielle Charbonnet (1 star)

126, 130>>I'll have to keep Flora in mind then because I definitely want to get in some good YA novels soon. I just received The Fairytale Keeper by Andrea Cefalo from the Goodreads.com early reviewer program so I'll be getting to that...after...3 more early reviewer novels that I have *sigh*. For some odd, super unlikely reason, I received 5 early reviewer novels last month and I'm doing all I can to read through them but it's taking FOR.EVER.

Every once in awhile I have to add in a romance novel to give me fuel so I can read other genres. I just finished Gabriel's Rapture by Sylvain Reynard. It's totally not a YA, but it's my dirty habit. What can I say ;)

If anyone is interested in what I'm reading, I have a thread on the 75 book challenge group: http://www.librarything.com/topic/133853

I also have book reviews of all the most recent novels I've read in that thread ^_^

As if I don't have enough books on the Kindle waiting to be read, I just ordered The Naming: The First Book of Pellinor by Alison Croggon for $1.99. I hope it's as good as the reviews I read here on LT say it is. Anybody read it?

#131 - I can't help it, I get a warm fuzzy feeling every time I see a James Patterson book given a 1 star review ;)

>131 KristinKingAuthor:
And I'm curious as to why you're mad at the author of The Passage? Do tell!

Just finished reading Hourglass and Timepiece, I really enjoyed them both and can't wait for the next in the series

133>> Yeah, I just ordered it too. I don't know if I'll like it or not, but I'll give it a try when I get through some other Mount TBRs. After all, it was only $1.99.

133, 137>>I've read The Naming: The First Book of Pellinor but I don't remember much about it. I think I read that book when I was in junior high and it's been awhile since I've been in junior high. I rated it 4 stars out of 5 back then so I'm guessing it's pretty good ^_^

Thread for the month of June is now up :)