Marie's 2013 Challenge (2)

Welcome to my second 2013 thread! My introduction can be found here. This year I am not committing to any challenges beyond reading as many books as I can. This suits my eclectic reading habit.

Previous Threads:

50 Books Challenge in 2009
75 Books Challenge in 2010
75 Books Challenge in 2011
75 Books Challenge in 2012

Books Read In 2013:
January
1. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
2. Little Bee: A Novel by Chris Cleave
3. Hidden America: From Coal Miners to Cowboys, an Extraordinary Exploration of the Unseen People Who Make This Country Work by Jeanne Marie Laskas (Early Reviewer)
4. An Arranged Marriage by Jo Beverley
5. Across the Universe by Beth Revis
6. A Million Suns by Beth Revis
7. Shades of Earth by Beth Revis
8. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
9. Marketing Your Library: Tips and Tools That Work by Carol Smallwood
10. The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

February
11. Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews
12. Just One Day by Gayle Forman
13. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
14. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
15. The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

March
16. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
17. Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
18. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
19. Thieftaker by D.B. Jackson
20. Beautiful Disaster by Jaime McGuire
21. World's Strongest Librarian by Josh Hanagarne

April
22. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
23. Wonder by R.J. Palacio
24. This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith
25. Walking Disaster by Jaimie McGuire
26. Angels Watching Over Me by Lurlene McDaniel
27. Lifted Up By Angels by Lurlene McDaniel
28. Until Angels Close My Eyes by Lurlene McDaniel

May
29. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
30. Rebel Angels by Libba Bray
31. The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
32. Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris
33. The Librarian's Book of Lists by George E. Eberhart
34. How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr
35. Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham
36. Both Sides of Time by Caroline B. Cooney
37. How They Croaked by Georgia Bragg
38. Letters to Skye by Jessica Brockmole

June
39. The Flamethrowers: A Novel by Rachel Kushner
40. What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
41. Life Below Stairs by Alison Maloney
42. The Time of My Life by Cecelia Ahern
43. On the Noodle Road: From Beijing to Rome, with Love and Pasta by Jen Lin-Liu
44. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

July
45. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
46. Wither by Lauren DeStefano
47. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
48. Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan
49. Fever by Lauren DeStefano
50. Sever by Lauren DeStefano
51. The Cuckoo's Calling by "Robert Galbraith"
52. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
53. Wicked Charleston by Mark Jones
54. Wicked Charleston: Volume 2 by Mark Jones

August
55. Serena by Ron Rash
56. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
57. Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune by Bill Dedman
58. Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein
59. January First by Michael Schofield
60. The Giver by Lois Lowry
61. The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

September
62. Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
63. Maddaddam by Margaret Atwood
64. Messenger by Lois Lowry
65. The Boy on the Bridge by Natalie Standiford
66. Love Overdue by Pamela Morsi
67 - 78. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Volumes 1 - 12 (Renewal Editions) by Naoko Takeuchi
79. Dark Souls by Paula Morris
80. Sailor Moon Short Stories 1 by Naoko Takeuchi
81. Storm Front by Jim Butcher

October
82. This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales
83. Divergent by Veronica Roth
84. Hopeless by Colleen Hoover
85. Unteachable by Leah Raeder
86. Turn Around Bright Eyes by Rob Sheffield
87. Insurgent by Veronica Roth
88. Just One Year by Gayle Forman
89. Losing Hope by Colleen Hoover
90. Easy by Tammara Webber
91. Allegiant by Veronica Roth
92. Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay
93. Grumpy Cat by Grump Cat
94. One Summer by Bill Bryson
95. Isms: Understanding Religion by Ronald Allen Geaves
96. The Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters
97. Sins and Needles by Karina Halle

November
98. Shooting Scars by Karina Halle
99. Bold Tricks by Karina Halle
100. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
101. The Wives of Los Alamos by TaraShea Nesbit
102. Film Isms by Ronald Bergan
103. The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp
104. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
105. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
106. Deeper by Robin York
107. Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan
108. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
109. Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

December
110. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
111. Vicious by V.E. Schwab
112. Six Months Later by Natalie Richards
113. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
114. Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

I thought I would stop at a nice even 200 and continue on to a new thread for the year.

It's been an interesting month. I've been applying for a few different jobs. I applied to be a Children's Librarian as well as a Visual Materials Archivist. Of the two, the archival job sounds most appealing, but either way I am ready to put my degree to work. With sequestration fully kicked in, my current job has left me very unsatisfied though I love the patrons and staff members.

On the family front, my younger sister just told us she is getting a divorce from her high school sweetheart whom she married last year. We're all very heartbroken to say the least, but I know in time they will both be happy.

And though it has nothing to do with me, I've been royal baby crazy all week. I love British royalty. I find it so fascinating, so congrats to William and Kate!

Love the pun in your cartoon up top, Marie. Wishing you much luck with the job hunt! I know how much that can suck.

The cartoon made me snort. I hate it when I do that. A thousand lashes with a wet noodle!

Hi Marie!

I like your cartoon opener, Marie! Jumping back to your last thread, I was interested in your comments on Cuckoo's Calling. I had remembered reading a review, but it hadn't struck me & I didn't order it for the library collection... until the news broke that it was really J.K. Rowling who wrote it. Now there are over 400 holds in our library system, and I'm sure more than one library in the same boat who ordered it only to find it backordered. Anyway, I enjoyed your review and you've convinced me to add it to my TBR list. Like Morphy, I haven't been interested in The Casual Vacancy at all.

Hi everyone! I couldn't resist some library humor...

7: I do hope you will enjoy it. I am not a big fan of straight mysteries, but this one really kept me intrigued. I swear she could write anything and I would love the way she writes it. That is really funny about the number of holds going up. At my small little library we didn't even have a copy and so now I've had to order one. I can't wait to see what people think.

What a cute cartoon! Good luck on the job hunt, Marie.

52. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

This was a re-read for me, but it had been so long that I really couldn't remember much of it. Also, I think there is a big difference between reading this as a teenager and reading this as a 26 year old. While I loved the language before, I felt like I really got it this time. I identified with Esther's jaded outlook on the world when she tries to decide what to do with her life after college. I don't know that I've ever had the bell jar drop over me, but I think I could relate more to the hopelessness she felt this time around. The character eventually drops down into a full out mental breakdown, but she does it so calmly that you aren't quite sure how to feel. Is she crazy? Am I crazy for relating? To me, it's a really ingenious book that could end on either a hopeful or sad note. I think knowing the author I feel like what happened to Plath would have happened to Esther, but that is just one reader's opinion.

Sidenote: After reading this I saw a lot of similarities between this and Girl, Interrupted. It felt like it had a few of the same characters. I won't go into it for fear of spoiling both that book and this, but now I need to go back and re-read that book as an adult.

I got Cuckoo's Calling for my Kindle about five weeks before The News that it was JK Rowling. Ironically, had I known, I probably wouldn't have bought it! I didn't particularly like The Casual Vacancy (not because it didn't have wizards and Muggles, but just because I didn't think it was all that well constructed as a novel), so I would have sought it out at the library. Ho hum...

I can relate re Plath. I read her diaries when I was slightly younger than you are now, or at least, started to read them. I stopped when I realized that I was starting to feel as if I wanted to kill myself -- a thick pall of despair settled over me that took weeks/months to clear. I have never dared open the book since, and it sits on my shelves as a reminder of the power of words.

The more comments I read about The Casual Vacancy the more I dread having to read it for one of the local library reading groups- it's the scheduled book for December I think. I will have to "grin and bear it." read it, and show up at the meeting, since I am the only male in the group.

HI Marie
I also would not have read The Cuckoo's Calling if it hadn't come out that it was written by Rowling (Unless of course it was an LT hit!)

I have books to add, but I am heading to my grandfather's funeral in Nevada. I never seem to get home under happier circumstances. :(

I am so sorry, Marie. The tenth anniversary of my grandma's passing is coming tomorrow, so I feel for you. I'll say some prayers for you, your family, and for your grandfather, too. *hug*

I'm sorry, Marie. My thoughts are with you and your family.

Thank you guys. I'm back in Charleston now. It was nice to see family although I wish it had been under better circumstances...

Nothing new here. Still working and job searching. This week has been particularly busy and stressful. UGH, why can't someone hire me at a different library?

Reviews to come...

53. Wicked Charleston by Mark Jones
54. Wicked Charleston: Volume 2 by Mark Jones

I applied for a job at a local historical society and read these to brush up on local history since I'm not from here and I'm sure they were looking for someone with a lot of Charleston knowledge. I had a whole other stack of books to read too, but then they told me they had gone with someone else and I abandoned my project. Sigh.

Anyways, these books have a lot of interesting information, but dear lord do they need an editor. I found grammar mistakes and misspellings all over the place. The second volume was particularly bad. They are written by a local tour guide and I'm sure he is great at his job since he knew so much, but in book form it didn't come across very well.

55. Serena by Ron Rash

The setting and indeed most of the plot of this book is rather bleak. The conditions are harsh, the people are harsh and the business of what they are doing is harsh. In this context we meet a lumber baron in the 1920s named Pemberton and his new wife, Serena. Pemberton got one of his workers pregnant which Serena is fine with until she finds out she herself cannot have children. What happens next is quite chilling and Serena is a cold, calculating character. I'm excited to see Jennifer Lawrence bring her to life.

That being said, the writing is superb, but I must not have been in the mood for this type of book because I didn't speed along loving it. It felt like rather a chore to finish it, which is weird because I knew I was reading a good book.

I saw Ron Rash a couple times while I was at Clemson (he's from the upstate so everyone there thinks he's the shit) and I wasn't impressed and haven't read any of his books. That one looks okay, though, and I do like reading books before the movie comes out.

20: Yeah, I'm not quite sure if I would read another of his books. The setting and plot just weren't my cup of tea, but I was impressed by his writing.

56. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

This was a re-read for me for book club, but I remembered loving it as an angsty teen. I idolized Lux Lisbon. She was sexy and mysterious and then portrayed by Kirsten Dunst, who I also was in love with. I read it with that same feeling of wanting to be closer to the girls in the story. I wanted to know why they chose suicide. This time though I cared more about the voice of the story which is told by a group of middle aged men looking back at this period of their lives. Suddenly I wanted to know, who are these men? Still a sentimental five star book for me.

57. Empty Mansions by Bill Dedman

Empty Mansions is the story of the American Clark dynasty whose patriarch, W.A. Clark would earn his fortunes in the copper, railroad and political worlds. That alone would have made for an interesting book, but the story winds down with his last surviving daughter, Huguette M. Clark who died when she was 104 and had been a recluse for most of her adult life. Who was this woman? What did she spend her money on?

The author of the book set to find out with help from one of Huguette's cousins. He goes to great length to paint us a picture of W.A. Clark, his children and his first and second wife, the latter being Huguette's mother. You also get the sense of Clark's immense empire and wealth through the descriptions of his homes, his travels and what happens when his wealth is dispersed after his death.

Next up is Huguette who is only seen through the glimpses of others since she rarely left her New York mansion even though she maintained estates in other states. Meticulous in her hobbies and passionate about art, Huguette only married once and was quickly divorced never to marry again or produce children. In her latter years she was moved to a hospital and though she was perfectly healthy after a time, she never moved back to any of her luxurious homes. Why?

We may never know, but I loved how the author sort of fell in love with the subject of his study. You can tell he found her fascinating and had wished he could have met her in person. He concludes his story with Huguette's death and the fight that ensues over her fortune. The contenders are family that never met her, a nurse that received millions after being randomly assigned to her and a number of organizations wanting a piece of the pie. It's truly sad.

Thanks LibraryThing for an advanced copy of this book.

58. Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

This is a companion book to Elizabeth Wein's Code Name Verity, which I received last year from LT's Secret Santa. It has a few of the same characters, but otherwise you wouldn't have to read Code Name Verity at all. For that reason it is very hard to compare the two because they really are night and day. This story follows another ATA pilot during WWII named Rose. She's a young American poet wanting to make a difference in the world, until she is taken prisoner and sent to a concentration camp where she does everything to survive. It is there that she meets a number of women who become a sort of family in trying to keep one another alive.

I tend to find concentration camp stories fascinating so I think my love of this book may be biased. The story isn't anything spectacularly new, but I really love Wein's way of making you love her characters. If you loved Code Name Verity give this one a whirl.

Thanks NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

>24 RosyLibrarian: Ahhhh I didn't know there was another one! I think I will wait awhile to read it though, since I'm still basking in the afterglow of Code Name Verity.

How you doing, Marie? Staying out of trouble?

26: Oh, trying to... still job searching, but I gave it up for the weekend and went to Myrtle Beach. This weekend we are going to go wander around Atlanta. I've been extra wanderlusty lately. How are you? I'm hoping to get to everyone's threads today.

59. January First by Michael Schofield

This book made me angry, which I was not expecting given that it is about a very sick little girl battling schizophrenia. In reading other reviews I can see that a lot of people really got into it and I can see why. I too raced through it trying to find out what happened to January and her family. But I just could not comprehend the actions and behavior of the father who is the author of the book. There was something just...off about him. It was like he couldn't get a grip on his own expectations of his daughter's "geniusness" in order to get her the help that she so desperately needed. I know there were a lot of obstacles in the way (health care, etc), but I think some of it came down to his inability to get over his own ego.

And what an ego it was... The things he says about his wife are maddening. I wanted to throw the book across the room because he kept putting her down and bad mouthing her. I think she was doing the best she could and truly had her daughter's well being in mind, but was met with so much resistance from her husband because he thought he was the only one who could help January. He was also a terrible father to their younger son who received little to no attention from him. UGH! It really all just made me so mad.

I guess the one good thing about this book is the awareness it brings to children battling mental illnesses, but it feels like a tool the father is using to gain attention for himself. He really plays up the martyr act and it left me feeling quite disgusted... I can only hope that January finds some peace in her life.

Thanks LibraryThing for an advanced copy of this book.

60. The Giver by Lois Lowry

A re-read for me, but I wanted to read the rest of the series, which I have never done before. There is not much to say except that I loved The Giver as a kid and now I appreciated it for its writing and craft.



61. The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

The third book in this series, Maddaddam, comes out on the third! I re-read Oryx and Crake earlier in the year and now I've just finished this one, which serves as a companion book. I LOVE these books and I am SO excited for Maddaddam to come out. Brilliant, brilliant writing. I can't wait to see how it ends.

Kind of meh. Been having some physical problems. Stomach pains causing urgent care/emergency room visit. Low potassium which means a doctor visit tomorrow. Coming down with a cold. Just yuck!

30: Super yuck, sorry to hear it. I'm sending you good vibes Morphy.

>29 RosyLibrarian: I loved The Giver as a kid. I'm glad to hear it holds up to a re-read as an adult, Marie. :)

Well, The Giver held up, but I am struggling with the next book, Gathering Blue. So far there have been no links between the two books and the plot is moving so slow. Has anyone read the rest of the series? Is it worth it? Should I give up?

In other news, I got an ARC of Maddaddam and it is SO GOOD.

And in more news, the husband and I are getting away this weekend for our second wedding anniversary. Yay! We're going to Atlanta and there just happens to be a big book festival going on. So excited! But just so he doesn't go crazy, we are going to an Atlanta Braves baseball game too. I'm looking forward to it...work is driving me mad.

Have a great Labor Day weekend everyone!

Ahhhh I'm so jealous of your ARC of Maddaddam!!! I'm first in line at my library so I shouldn't have to wait long, but still!!!

34: netgalley.com is where all the ARC action is!! I literally jumped up and down when I saw they picked me!!

Ah, I don't read e-books :-(

Is the January First the same little girl they feature on the Discovery Health Channel during mental health month? There are a few TV documentaries about her living with schizophrenia... she even has a little brother and last documentary I saw said they think he has it also. Wonder if it is the same family?

I also need to re-read The Bell Jar. I read it *ahem* a few years ago in college and would be interested to see how I react to it now. I still have it on a shelf around here somewhere...

37: Yep, that is the one. I did some web searching after finishing the book and it nothing but make me feel more like the family is just off. I can't put into words why I feel that way, but the book just made me very uneasy about how the parents are putting the media spotlight on their kids. Book reviews have been very split down the middle. A lot of people love it and say that the dad is just being a human being and the other camp thinks he's an egotistical jerk just trying to use his kids to become an author. I don't know...I just feel bad for the kids.

Read The Bell Jar again! It's just so well written and I take away something different every time I read it.

62. Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

The second book in The Giver quartet, this one totally jumped characters and settings. Jonas is not mentioned at all which was surprising to me. I must admit I nearly abandoned this book. The plot was so very slow and I never felt compared by the main character, a girl named Kira. I stuck it out though because I want to finish the series and I've heard the next book sort of ties it all together.

Hmm. Here's my mini-review. I read it nearly three years ago. I gave it 7 out of 10 stars but from what I said, maybe I should have rated it lower.

Again, intriguing story and hard to put down, but overall depressing. I really liked the characters. They seemed likable and real. Yet again, the main character is mainly reactive rather than proactive and I questioned her decision at the end of the book. Would she really have done so?

SPOILERS!

40: I totally agree, she is a reactive character which is why I maybe did not connect with her. I was dumbfounded that she decided to stay and not go with her father. I read an argument that she wanted to stay and try to make the community better from within, but she is essentially a prisoner. Can prisoners really change their community? I'm not sure, but maybe that is resolved in the latter books.

Hi, Marie!

How are you? Looks like you've gotten a lot of reading done this year:)

Hi Bente, LONG time no see! How are you? I'm just living the good life as much as I like to complain about the woes of job searching. :)

63. Maddaddam by Margaret Atwood

I am so in love with this series - Oryx and Crake, A Year of the Flood and their conclusion, Maddaddam. I have a whole list of adjectives I could use: innovative, captivating, unique, etc, etc. I could go on forever. These would be five star books on plot and character alone, but Atwood writes the prose of legends. Every so often I would read a sentence and have to take a moment to savor it. I was so sad to end this book because as far as I know it's the last in the trilogy. If you love dystopians, or even if you don't, read these books.

64. Messenger by Lois Lowry

No, I'm afraid this series isn't doing it for me. I got to the end and didn't really feel much of anything. Maybe I'm just not in the right frame of mind to appreciate these books. Am I missing something?

65. The Boy on the Bridge by Natalie Standiford

I'm not usually one for pure YA romance, but this one had a unique set up and I appreciated that it wasn't about a high schooler. (I need a break from HS YA books.) It is set in Russia during the 1980s and is about an American girl - Laura - studying abroad. While there she meets a Russian man who goes by Alyosha and starts throwing everything away to be with him - her classes, her friends, etc. This is a very dangerous thing to do in Cold War Russia for both of them. She could be sent home and he could be interrogated by the KGB for fraternizing with a foreigner. I must admit I'm not very familiar with Russia or its government and history, but it added an element of suspense to the book.

As Laura's time in Russia winds down the couple is faced with the dilemma of what to do next. Should they break up? Will Alyosha propose? Is he using her to get to America? It's a book that keeps you guessing and had a unique ending that I could appreciate.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I really need to read Year of the Flood now that Maddaddam is (almost?) out! Glad to hear that it was just as good.

Okay, I'm not going to read The Boy on the Bridge but I have to know how it ends. Can you PM me?

47: It's out, read it, read it! It's so good!

48: PMing you now!

To bad The Giver-books wasn't your thing. I made a goal this summer of reading more Newbery Medal books and I saw Lois Lowry's Number the Stars won one year - and it is set in Denmark during WW2 - so I'm planning to read it. Have you read it - is it any good?

I also need to get to Atwood at some point - haven't read anything by her yet. Good reviews of her dystopian trilogy.

Hi Carsten, yeah...The Giver is amazing as a stand alone book but I couldn't get into the series. I didn't even attempt Son.

I read Number the Stars when I was quite young so I don't remember very much of it at all. I did like it at the time though. I should also give it a go again. I'm interested to see your review!

Read Atwood! Do it!

66. Love Overdue by Pamela Morsi

Love in a library, le sigh! I don't know what's up with me and romances lately, but I couldn't not read this one. It's about a librarian trying to act like the stereotype - stuffy, rigid, etc - but falling in love with a small town man where she has come to take over a library. It's pretty predictable, but it was a nice comfort read and I loved that the author did her research when it comes to being a librarian. She also wrote a pretty sweet little dedication to librarians everywhere.

Oooh a decent librarian romance that isn't a Harlequin. Onto The List! :D

Does anyone else love PostSecret? This was posted today and it could have been any one of us. :)

I read PostSecret on occasion. That confession is pretty cute. :)

67 - 72. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Volumes 1 - 6 (Renewal Editions) by Naoko Takeuchi

I LOVE Sailor Moon. While I wouldn't call myself an avid anime lover I used to watch this show constantly and still revisit it from time to time. The manga is beautiful and led to a pretty big drawing phase when I was younger. They recently republished the entire series with a new translation so I bought both box sets and read the first one over the weekend. Amazing! I love the art, the story line, the romance and the humor. I can't say enough good things about these books.

Love your PostSecret image!

73 - 78. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Volumes 7 - 12 (Renewal Editions) by Naoko Takeuchi

Sailor Moon is my happy place right now with possible government shutdowns, my husband probably getting assigned to a three year special duty assignment and other craziness. I just love the purity of these stories. The good versus evil. The beautiful artwork and heartwarming romance. Le sigh.

I guess this also puts me over 75, so yay! I think I'm going to shoot for 100 this year.

Congratulations on blowing past the 75 book mark, Marie!!

Thank you, Roni! I've never hit 75 this early before, but I'm not sure if reading 12 graphic novels really counts. I need a victory though, so I'm going to take it.

I'm so stressed.

As I've been saying, I'm still job searching and it has not been going well. No one is hiring for librarian positions and the ones that have come up haven't been entry level. It's beyond frustrating and it's not as though I can move because my husband is in the military.

So in the mean time I have been working 40 hours in a federal library in a paraprofessional role and the hours have been crazy. I work 6 days straight every other week and it's killing me. I spoke with my director and I think I'm going to cut back to part time.

It seems like a stupid thing to do. Why take a pay cut when you don't have to? But I need to do something else... I need to go volunteer at a non-government library. I need to gain experience doing something else while I job search. The hours, the pay, the possible government shut down next week...it's just not what I want to do.

On top of this, my husband was just told he might have to take a three year special duty assignment which means moving in the next year or so. I feel two ways about it...on one hand, I do love Charleston. On the other, maybe I'd have better luck somewhere else and I'm always down for a new adventure. Either way, the decision is out of our hands.

I guess I'm just hoping I made the right choice in cutting back my workload. I hope it leads to another opportunity to learn something new while we wait for orders. Sometimes I just hate being in this weird limbo. I feel like I should have it together more.

Congrats!

I'm hoping your life gets a bit more settled soon.

61: Thank you!

I try not to vent on here, but hopefully you all will forgive me...

79. Dark Souls by Paula Morris

This was read for our October book club. We wanted something a little ghoulish and reading about a teen who can see ghosts seemed to fit the bill.

My co-workers and I are all in agreement though... this book was just so-so. Our heroine is kind of whiny and what made me so annoyed was that she didn't seem to care at all that she was spending a week in lovely England. How ungrateful! I guess if you kept seeing ghosts though it might make you enjoy your British vacation a little less... Yet, the history that the author intertwined into the narrative kept me interested.

Maybe our book club discussion will make me rethink it.

Question: I'm playing my husband in fantasy football this week. We want to bet something on the outcome of our teams. If I lose, I have to wash the car...something I dread.

What should I make him do if he loses?

Make him do the laundry? Or would that be dangerous?

65: He's pretty good at laundry since we both work weird hours and somehow it has to get done.

I finally went with no Sunday football the next week which is going to kill him. This may back fire though as that is when I do a lot of reading... Hmmm...

Thanks so much for delurking over on my thread. It's fun to find someone unexpected stopping by for a visit.

You sound very together to me, by the way. If I know anything (which I may not) it is to to ahead and do the thing your intuition says is right - and never put it off because of something that 'might happen'. If it does, you deal with it, but in the meantime you will have gotten the experience you need.

The PostSecret is very funny! Will have to check it out. So true about me, that one.

Hi Sibyx, thanks for stopping by! I seem to lurk in a lot of threads because the conversation moves on way before I have a chance to say anything meaningful, but thank you for visiting mine!

And thank you, it's really hard to follow your intuition sometimes. We shall see what happens...

PostSecret is amazing! It constantly makes me feel better about humanity.

80. Sailor Moon Short Stories 1 by Naoko Takeuchi

A collection of short stories about Sailor Moon. These are more cutesy than anything, but still fun and necessary to read for a completest like me. The second volume comes out in November. I also bought the two Sailor V mangas that are out. My wallet knows no limit when it comes to Sailor Moon...

81. Storm Front by Jim Butcher

So at the Naval Library I work at all the sailors come in requesting this book and the rest of the series. OMG, you'll love Jim Butcher, they say! I kept holding out thinking that a book about some kind of cowboy wizard would be uh...too much? I mean, in reality that should have been what got me so excited because Harry Dresden (the wizard) is awesome! This book was so funny, something I was not expecting. I loved the self depreciating humor and the fact that it didn't take itself very seriously. It was just fun. Now I see what all these sailors are talking about...

Stopping by to say hello! I also tend to lurk on threads, but am trying to change that. I've added a few books from your thread to my list; Love Overdue and The Boy on the Bridge sound like ones I'd enjoy!

71: Glad you stopped by! Both of those books were very cute and fun, something I've been totally into this whole month.

---

So...our library director called me today and said to report to work tomorrow at 8 because we'll likely spend a few hours shutting the library down before we're furloughed thanks to this government shut down. Awesome. So happy with our government right now... more reading time, I guess?

Yeah, they call that an "orderly shutdown". Government workers report to work for up to 4 hours to close-out whatever they can, turn on their "out-of-office" notices, etc.

Ha, I love that term. When talking about the signage we would put up I asked her if we could put up, "Library Closed. The Government Ain't Got No Dollah Bills Ya'll!" She laughed but thought our leadership might not appreciate it. :)

It's a sad day when a library closes for any reason at all.

Sorry to hear that you're stressed, Marie! I hope things work out.

I didn't really care about the government shutdown until now, but now I do.

Marie, I'm so sorry to hear about the lack of results for the continuing job search. I know how much you would love to be settled into a civilian library job!

{{{{Marie}}}}

At least they pulled it together so your husband will be paid. Not much, but something.

76: Thank you Kriti! It's a sad state of affairs.

77: Thank you Roni! Yes, I am very glad my husband will be paid. Things were looking pretty bad with 100% of our income being withheld. He's off to work tomorrow (he works 48 hours as a military firefighter) and it looks like I have the house to myself.

I'm sorry that the government yahoos have put you in this position. Is it a federal library? I'm assuming so. Ours is a county library.

79: Thanks Morphy, it is a federal library. We serve a navy base population so our sailors and their families are missing out until this whole thing is resolved. I'm making the most of it though...I enjoyed coffee and music this morning and now I'm off to the gym. C'est la vie!

82. This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

I don't know why I picked this book up, but I'm glad I did because it was outstanding. So many YA female characters fall flat for me. The authors make them too flawed, which makes them too perfect if that makes sense. (Does it?) So I must commend Leila Sales for crafting a character who is flawed, but not perfect and yet utterly charming. I loved Elise. Sixteen year old Elise knows she's not popular at school and doesn't have any grand ambitions of being popular. What she does want is a friend. So Elise spend an entire summer teaching herself what "cool" people do in order to meet new people. After a rough first day back in school, Elise decides there is only one other option: to kill herself.

The book could have gone to a very dark place, but it doesn't. It's not a spoiler to say that Elise survives her suicide attempt, and though her school life still depresses her, she stumbles upon a nightclub where she meets a group of friends and learns how to start DJing. I loved watching Elise learn how to become a friend to someone and trying her hand out at first love. It's a great coming-of-age novel with a lot of heart. I will be on the look out for more from this author.

83. Divergent by Veronica Roth

I re-read this because the third book is coming out this month. I actually read this book last year but I'm surprised at how much I forgot about some of the minor characters like Will and Al. I devoured this book when I first read it so I'm pretty sure I was focused more on the factions and plot. I'm starting the second book next and last year I remember not liking it as much, so maybe this time around it will be different.

>81 RosyLibrarian: Hmm, mental maybe list.

83: Just kick it over to the TBR list. You can punch me if you hate it. :)

So, excellent news on the furlough front! We were recalled and it's back to work tomorrow for me!

Yay! I bet all your patrons will be very happy to have their library back, too.

84. Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

This book had some pretty stellar reviews and I was in the mood for an intense romance book. Good lord, this book was pretty intense. It's about Sky and Holder, two 18 year olds with complicated pasts that will threaten to tear them apart. So, you spend the first 3/4 of the book trying to figure out exactly what happened to them in the past and if those events are somehow connected. And then you spend the last 1/4 going, what?!?!

I wanted to like this book more than the three stars I gave it, but the writing was pretty bad and her character Sky was sort of unbelievable at time. For example, she grew up with a technophobe for an adoptive mother and only started going to public high school for her senior year. And when a new friend gives her an e-reader, she has no idea what an e-reader is. I mean, really? But, the plot had a good twist and there were times when the melodrama took a backseat to a pretty sweet romance.

Boy, if that isn't a mixed review I don't know what is.

86: I hope so, they've been really supportive on our Facebook page.

Are you going to get paid though?

89: Not until Congress passes a budget. :(

85. Unteachable by Leah Raeder

So, I'd all but given up on the new-ish "New Adult" genre, which is to say Young Adult but 18+ and may contain more graphic content. I'm not a literature snob, but most of the relationships are unhealthy and written very poorly. That being said, the reviews for this one seemed to be good so I gave it a shot and I'm so glad I did.

The book follow Maise, an 18 year old high school senior, and an older guy she meets one night at a Summer carnival. They hook up for that one night and then Maise ditches him because she admittedly has some relationship issues. She is therefore surprised when she returns to school and he is one of her teachers. A passionate affair develops between the two of them and you race through the book wanting to find out what happens.

This book deals with a lot of issues. Parent issues, drug issues, teacher/student issues and more, but it isn't overly dramatic, which I really appreciated. It's also very well written and I got sucked into Maise's thoughts as she tries to navigate an adult world she knows she's not quite a part of yet.

Highly recommended if you love a good risque love story. I literally finished it in a day because I couldn't stop.

So, they recalled us this week only to tell us today that we were being furloughed again due to the government shut down. I'm just...I don't even know.

*big hugs* Time for chocolate/adult beverage of your choice. Or both!

It must be so unsettling.

I had no idea there was a 'New Adult' genre. What next?

I didn't know about the New Adult genre either.

Sorry to hear about the furloughing! That's so frustrating.

Thanks all. It is very unsettling... Thank goodness they are paying the military or we would be in a lot of trouble. With nothing else to do today my husband and I decided to go "rolfing". He golfs and I stay in the cart and read for hours. It's pretty awesome.

Yeah, "New Adult" seems to be the latest publishing fad. I'd be all for it if the writing was better.

86. Turn Around Bright Eyes by Rob Sheffield

Rob Sheffield can do no wrong in my eyes, so this is a completely biased review. I've said this before, but he's just an incredible writer who makes amazing connections between the music he loves and the people in his life. I love that one moment he can be exceptionally profound and then end on a hilarious note. I hope he keeps writing many more books. If you haven't tried him before start with Love Is a Mix Tape and then this one. For his 70s/80s childhood, try Talking to Girls About Duran Duran.

Ha! Love it - "rolfing." I'd so do that.

87. Insurgent by Veronica Roth

You probably want to move along if you haven't read this series in case I spoil something.

This was a reread in anticipation of the third book in the series coming out this month. Last year I was disappointed by this book and reading it for the second time I can remember why. There are too many secondary characters and though she picks them off at a startling rate, I never felt that connected to them. In the midst of this our main heroine starts to kind of annoy me. I realize there is a war going on but I wanted her to calm down and stop throwing herself into needlessly dangerous situations.

So, my star rating remains the same, but it does leave off on a nice cliffhanger and now I'm ready for the conclusion.

88. Just One Year by Gayle Forman

SPOILERS, I'm going to totally ruin this book for you and possible the first one too because I have to talk about it!

Oh Gayle Forman, you tricked me! I thought this book would pick up where Just One Day left off and when it backtracked to the day Willem disappeared and continued through the entire year I felt a tinsy bit let down. Willem and Lulu only get half a page together at the very end and then nothing. It just ends. I went, what?! I mean, I know a year is in the title, but, but....

Okay, so it wasn't the book I expected. It is more of a coming of age, bridge the gaps in our family kind of book and that's okay too but it didn't hold my attention like Just One Day did. I can't quite explain why...it's not that I didn't like Willem even if he resorted to his womanzing ways for awhile. I guess I found it hard to relate to him. Even though I love moving and traveling around I learned a long time ago that problems follow you where ever you go and it seemed like that was the lesson he was trying to learn.

I know Gayle Forman does the book duet thing, which I love, but this series could benefit from a third book.

89. Losing Hope by Colleen Hoover

Man, I'm on a roll. If being furloughed has done anything positive, it has allowed for more reading time. I haven't really been reading anything "classy" though and this is another new adult romance novel. Actually, it is the sequel to Hopeless which I gave a pretty mixed review.

This time the story is told from the main guy's perspective - Dean Holder. I'm really torn on this tactic. Gayle Forman did it perfectly with If I Stay and Where She Went. Jamie McGuire did it terribly when she wrote Beautiful Disaster and Walking Disaster. I think it works okay when you tell a new story, even if it uses the same plot and characters. Hoover did a pretty good job in this respect. The plot might be the same, but we really get to know Holder's story before he met his love interest and it was enough for me to bump this one up a star from its predecessor.

Comfort reading is totally respectable, Marie. :)

103: Well in that case I'm a very respectable kind of gal! :)

90. Easy by Tammara Webber

More college-aged romance brain candy. Mmmm!

I added Easy to a reading list earlier this year, and noticed it over the weekend when looking through the lists...I could use some college-aged romance brain candy pretty soon!

106: It's pretty candy, but does deal with some very real themes such as rape and relationships. I would recommend it though if you are in a romance mood because it does feature a pretty hot love story and a swoon worthy guy. :)

Oh I love the rolfing!

And I think you are using your unexpected time off incredibly well!

Back to work tomorrow!

91. Allegiant by Veronica Roth

I can't even review this properly. Here is my review: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What?!

So did you hate it? Love it? Not understand it?

I hate/love it and I can't say why because it is a huge spoiler...

This is what I had hoped the second book would be like and that they had continued past this one. Damn you Veronica Roth! I'm seeing her next month at a book festival and I don't know if I can even talk to her now...

I don't mind spoilers. Send me a PM?

For those doing state challenges, I came across this cool infograph today.

That is a very nifty infographic. Although, I think my favourite now is one I saw last week which demonstrates how Avengers assemble in the film. :P

115: Where is this infograph you speak of? I want to see!

117: Awesome! I wish they would make another Captain America movie, though I might be the only one that thinks that. Iron Man just doesn't do it for me.

Edit: OMG, I spoke too soon!

>118 RosyLibrarian: Can't join you in your joy over that one, Marie. Cap isn't my type. I love me some Tony Stark snark. Also, Pepper's shoes.

That said, new Thor movie next month. Can we unite in mutual admiration of Chris Hemsworth's impossibly well-cut frame?

>119 MickyFine: admiration of Chris Hemsworth's impossibly well-cut frame
I'll join that club.

119 and 120: Hell yes, sign me up for that club!

I'd like to join both the Thor and the Captain America fan clubs. And the Iron Man one too. I don't really care about the Hulk though, although maybe I would if Mark Ruffalo had played him in the standalone movie.

Happy club formation!

122: Very true about the Hulk, though I like Norton in other movies.

123: Happy Friday to me! (OMG, those arms...)

92. Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay

This one started out very vague, which sort of drove me crazy. You knew something had happened to the main character that had completely changed her and caused her to stop speaking. You knew she had moved away from her family to complete her senior year of high school, but you didn't know what the reason was for any of these things. It builds very slowly, which at the conclusion I appreciated, but had me impatient at the beginning.

I'm really glad I stuck it out because even though the book had some plot issues the relationship between the main character and her love interest kept me devouring this book. I'm really excited for this author because it started out as a self-published title and was later picked up by a publishing company. I think it really speaks volumes that so many people loved her book that it was given a wider audience. Excellent read, I was sad to end it.

>124 RosyLibrarian: Indeed.

93. Grumpy Cat by Grumpy Cat

Me: This book was cute!
Grumpy Cat: No. Don't read this.

94. One Summer by Bill Bryson

If you're looking for an unbiased opinion of Bill Bryson, then move along because he could write anything and I would love it to pieces. This was a solid read about the year 1927 (and events leading to and from it). There is something for everyone: aviation, politics, sports and more. Even better is listening to it on audio book so you can hear Bryson's incredulity at some of the things that happened. Love it.

95. Isms: Understanding Religion by Ronald Allen Geaves

Isms is a great series of books that gives you a simplified look at a particular topic. They have great books on the "isms" of art, cinema and more. They are very good for starting research papers when you want to get a wide view of the subject matter. I bought them for our library and cozied up with this one last night.

This is probably the hardest topic to streamline into an ism book because each religion has so much history and culture wrapped up in it. The author talked about this in his introduction and did a pretty good job of getting the big stuff into the book, but of course there is so much, much more. What I appreciated about it was the layout, the artwork and the recommended places to go to see more about these religions.

I spent the majority of the book daydreaming about all the places in Greece, India and the Middle East I wish I could go to. For instance, Mount Athos in Greece (pictured below) is home to a beautiful monastery which I will never be able to enter because I am a woman.



Maybe it's strange to daydream about monasteries, but I love stuff like this and would recommend this series to those wanting to know just a little bit more about the religions of the world.

By the way, look what I learned to do in another thread.

How cool is this?

How cool is what?

Post?

:D

131: Aw man, does it not show up as a spoiler for you?

Nope, don't see a thing.

133: Drat, it's supposed to be a clickable spoiler thing. It works in Chrome, but maybe you are using IE or Firefox?

>134 RosyLibrarian: Indeed, it works for me in FF22 but not in IE8.

I'm in FF20. Perhaps that's it.

It does work in Chrome and is pretty cool, imo.

96. The Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters

This was really my only scary book this October, which is sort of a let down for myself. I really meant to read Frankenstein, but I guess reading this book which features a character named Mary Shelley Black will have to do.

The best quality about this book is the atmosphere. It's 1918, WWI and the Spanish Flu is in full swing. Our protagonist finds herself in San Diego, living with her aunt after her father is incarcerated after saying some pro-German things. Her best friend Stephen, with whom she had started a romantic relationship with, has been shipped off to war. Suffice to say, the world is a crazy place.

This book is a jumble of elements. It's a ghost story, it's historical fiction and a bit of a mystery. It's also a debut novel so I am looking forward to what she does next.

97. Sins and Needles by Karina Halle
98. Shooting Scars by Karina Halle
99. Bold Tricks by Karina Halle

This series started off kind of fun and turned into a Mexican soap opera. Literally. The writing was never very good, but I was entertained in book one and then it slowly went downhill from there. The premise is that this is a new adult, contemporary romance series with a lot of grit thrown in. The main character, Ellie, is a con artist and trying to go clean, but not before she tries to rob her only friend from high school. Obviously it doesn't work out and she falls in love with him, but not before she gets roped back into her ex-boyfriend's world who, of course, is a Mexican drug lord. I know that sounds ridiculous, but in book one it worked. And then it book two it sort of didn't and in book three it all fell apart and I was bored by the end.

I hate when a premise starts off well and then falls off a cliff. Hopefully your next read is better, Marie.

I wonder how heavy that hammer really is? Styrofoam? Something a little bit denser? Just enough to get those muscles flexing?

141: Whatever makes those muscles flex is good with me. ;)

>141 sibylline: They actually talk about it in the special features and there are several hammers that come in a variety of weights depending on what Thor is doing in the scene. #nerd

100. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

I read this because I am seeing this author tomorrow at a panel and I know she's been highly recommended on here. I am so glad I did because this was a five star rating for me. I loved this book! The characters and their relationships were so refreshing amidst the books I have been reading lately which have featured bad writing and card board plots.

The premise is simple. It's about a girl, Cath, who goes to college and doesn't have the advertised experience of frat parties and hook ups. She's socially awkward and her biggest passion is writing fanfiction. I loved this because I could relate. I mean, I had fun in college but I went to art school where there were no frat boys. I had friends, but I wasn't out to hook up with anything that moved. And lastly, while I wasn't writing fanfiction I easily lived in the fictional worlds written for me. I got this girl and I loved watching her navigate a new college roommate, the changing dynamics of her family and a swoon worthy romance with a non-perfect guy.

A lovely, lovely read. I'm excited to see her tomorrow and have her sign my book.

And woo hoo, 100 books!

>144 RosyLibrarian: 1. Congrats on reaching 100. I don't think I'm going to get there this year. :( 2. I am so excited to get my hands on this book. Just checked my library holds and it's "in transit" which means I should be able to pick it up on Monday. Yay!

Congrats on your 100th book! And I recently read that one, too -- it's on my "to be reviewed" pile. How nice to get to meet the author!

145: I've never gone this far, but I've also never read 12 graphic novels in one year so I may be cheating. :) AND IT'S SO GOOD! I am excited to see what you think!

146: Thank you! I love meeting authors, but I never know what to say. Thank you? I worship you? I know what I'm going to say to Veronica Roth tomorrow though..."Why?!"

>147 RosyLibrarian: A book is a book is a book. Graphic novels aren't cheating. I enjoyed the first Rainbow Rowell novel I read, Attachments, so I have a feeling I'll really enjoy this one as it's very close to home for me.

YallFest was so much fun yesterday! There were some great panels and I got my books signed by Veronica Roth, Rainbow Rowell and Gayle Forman. I only missed out on Stephanie Perkins because her line was so, so, so long and she only signed for an hour, but I did see her on a panel so I am okay with that.


Here is the keynote panel with Veronica Roth and Rae Carson.

101. The Wives of Los Alamos by TaraShea Nesbit

This book is told in first person plural, which kind of threw me for a loop at first. There is no main character, but instead tells the collective story of the spouses of the scientists who worked on the atomic bomb during WWII. I really connected with this book because their stories mirror that of military spouses. These women came to New Mexico knowing very little about what their husbands were doing because of the secret nature of the project. They couldn't even tell their friends and family back home where they were living. Instead they had to come together as a community and depend on one another for encouragement and entertainment. I think this book provides an interesting perspective about a group of women not included very often in the process and aftermath of the atomic bomb.

Thanks NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Glad you had a good time at the book festival, Marie. Any outstanding speakers? How was Rae Carson? I'm still waiting on the library hold list for her third book.

151: Great speakers. I noticed the topic of gender came up a lot in the panels. What does it mean to be a strong female character? What does it mean to be a strong male character? Do they differ? Should they differ? Really thought provoking. Rae Carson was quite wonderful, though I admit I've never read her books before.

ALSO, I have a job interview tomorrow and I am freaking out!

102. Film Isms by Ronald Bergan

Another book in the Isms series. I wish I had had this book when I took an Art History and Film class as an undergrad. It also makes me realize how many classic movies I have yet to watch.

103. The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp

Sutter Keely is a person I knew in real life. He was the guy that always had a good time and never took anything seriously. He drank too much. Partied too hard and always had a girlfriend. So when I met my real life version of Sutter Keely as a senior I too was pulled under his spell and fell off track. I was Aimee Finecky. For these reasons and more, I loved this book. It felt real to me. I understood how Aimee could fall in love with a guy who was bad news for her. I understood the big heart she saw underneath his addictions and vices.

This is a lovely, realistic book without a happy ending and I loved that about it because it was authentic.

Fangirl sounds like fun!

104. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Rainbow Rowell is my new favorite author of the year. After she signed my copy of Fangirl, I knew I had to read everything by her. I'm also working on Eleanor and Park right now, but I can tell I am going to like her adult fiction better.

In this book, which takes place in the late 90s, we have Lincoln, Beth and Jennifer. They all work for a newspaper where Lincoln is the new IT guy. His job is to monitor e-mail and report anything suspicious. This is how he comes to know Beth and Jennifer, two best friends who e-mail each other back and forth. Beth has been in a dead end relationship for 8 years and Jennifer struggles to have a child with her husband. Lincoln feels bad for invading their privacy, but like the reader, he can't stop reading them because of their beautiful friendship. You'll root for Lincoln who still lives with mother, plays D&D on the weekend and can't seem to get his life started after obtaining a number of college degrees.

Unique, heart felt and breezy.

>149 RosyLibrarian: So envious you got to see Stephanie Perkins speak.

>156 RosyLibrarian: Yay! Glad you liked it. I picked up Fangirl from the library today. Trying to decide if it's my next read or if I wait a bit and make it my 75th read. :)

All three of Rainbow Rowell's books are on my pile of books waiting to be reviewed. I am always so, so far behind with those -- but I did enjoy all three of the books!

157: She's marvelous. Very thoughtful and always has a fun hair color. As for Fangirl, that's a tough call because it's awesome and it's awesome to have an epic 75th book.

158: I look forward to your reviews! I'm never very articulate, but I love reading what other people thought.

>159 RosyLibrarian: *sighs with envy* I've decided to make it 75 as I'm on book 73 now. :)

160: I can respect that. My number 75 was kind of lame and it will haunt me the rest of the year... :)

>161 RosyLibrarian: Snort.

105. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

This book was a lovely ode to first love with gritty under tones. Eleanor and Park come from different worlds. Park has a loving, middle class, supportive family and Eleanor does not. Her stepfather is abusive, both mentally and physically, and her large family suffers because of this. Being in high school is tough anyways, but these factors make it impossible for Eleanor - until she meets Park. A large part of the book is dedicated to the slow building of their relationship in which Eleanor gradually learns to trust Park.

There isn't a lot of plot to this book and I admit I wanted a little more to happen, but the characters make this book worth reading. Rowell is able to fully flesh them out as well as several secondary characters. My favorite was Park's mother who immigrated from Korea. A satisfying read, with a hopeful ending.

Now I guess I have to wait until next year for more Rainbow Rowell books. Le sigh.

106. Deeper by Robin York

Someone tell me to move on from New Adult until this genre sorts itself out. Bad writing. Terrible pacing. Melodramatic characters that didn't act their age. I wanted to like it based on the premise. A college aged girl is the victim of her boyfriend posting their intimate pictures online, but she then proceedes to hook up with a bad boy drug dealer. Don't worry though, he's doing it to support his little sister and to one day become a doctor. *eye roll*

Thanks NetGalley for an advanced copy of this terrible book.

I went to a session on "New Adult" lit at ALA last summer, and left with more questions than answers. I think it's a viable category, but it does seem a little weird and scattered at the moment.

>163 RosyLibrarian: Still waiting my turn for a library copy of that one. :)

>164 RosyLibrarian: Stop with the New Adult, Marie. ;) I have pointed you towards Forever Young Adult, right? They read New Adult stuff over there as well as YA and I find them a pretty good source for The List.

165: I have to step on my soap box for this. I like the idea of New Adult because as a 20 something year old I enjoy reading about other 20 something year olds. It captures that in between feeling that I have right now. I mean, I love YA but I'm tired of always reading about teenagers. I love adult fiction, but I don't always relate to the character in her 40s with two kids. In theory, New Adult should be right where I want to be, but I am tired of publishers giving us bad writing and flat characters who whine the whole time. I don't think they give us 20 somethings enough complexity. I think New Adult has a chance at being a great category, much like YA, but it means better writers are going to have to step up to the plate. End rant. :)

#167 -- That makes perfect sense to me. The idea of New Adult as a category that appeals to 20-somethings, featuring characters dealing with college or first jobs, or first grown-up relationships and stuff, ought to work. But from what I've heard, it's being defined more narrowly, as just the sort of book you reviewed above, with the drug-dealing boyfriend and melodramatic plotlines -- which I have no interest in reading. (Granted, I'm hitting the upper end of "new adult" at 33, but I also read a lot of children's and YA, so I wouldn't think that would be the issue.) I mean, YA is not narrowly defined as realistic fiction involving a lot of teen angst (though that certainly exists within YA) so I'm not sure why New Adult should have such narrow parameters? But I'm betting it will sort itself out eventually.

Marie, move on from New Adult until this genre sorts itself out. :D

Have you read Enchanted, Inc.? It's the first book I thought of when reading this thread.

166: Thank you! :D Yes, I love that you showed me FYA, but I admit I haven't stopped by in awhile. I shall remedy that soon.

168: It does seem to be narrowly defined at the moment and taken over by a lot of self-publishing. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against self-publishing. One of my favorite reads this year - Unteachable - was self-published, but I do think this genre needs some better editing. A little more thought about what it's trying to portray, maybe?

169: Thank you! :D I have not read Enchanted, Inc. What is it about?

A 20-something country gal from Texas goes to NYC for adventure. She gets it in spades when she gets hired by a magic company because she's a "null" that is resistant to magic. She's shocked by all this magic stuff and it's pretty funny. Her boss is an ogre, etc. It's fluff but fun fluff.

Non-melodramatic 20-something fiction sounds like a great idea, Marie! I've never had any luck with it, though; I hope you do!

Happy Thanksgiving, Marie!

Happy Thanksgiving, Marie!

Happy belated Thanksgiving! I just came back from a beautiful trip to Colorado!

107. Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan

After seeing Levithan at YallFest last year and this year I knew I needed to stop procrastinating and read one of his books. Wow, just wow. This book was really a tour de force. It is told from the unique perspective of gay men who died during the AIDS epidemic. As a group they watch over another collection of gay teenagers in present day who struggle with dating, coming out and breaking the Guinness World Record for kissing the longest. The characters Levithan presents are vulnerable, scared, angry, triumphant and most of all, authentic. I felt for each and every one of them as well as for the unseen narrators of the story. Beautiful, just really beautiful.

>171 Morphidae:: Well, Morphy's suggestion has definitely been added to the TBR list... I haven't tried much New Adult for that very reason, suspicions that it hasn't yet "found itself" as a genre, but it will get there in time (and I'm looking forward to that).

108. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
109. Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

This is a solid YA fantasy series with an intriguing cast of characters. The setting also sets this one apart as it is heavily influenced by Russian culture. There is magic, guns, action, mystery and a satisfying rectangle love story. (That's right, it's more than a triangle!) Highly recommended and fun. I can't believe I have to wait 6 more months for the next installment.

>177 dk_phoenix: Just remember this is totally fluff reading!

Ooh, I love non-European influenced fantasy! (I guess Russia is technically Europe, but still). The love rectangle has me wary, though.

180: It's a neat infusion of language into the story. Very unique.

The love rectangle is there if you like your stories with a bit of romance, but the main focus - especially in the second book - is about a girl coming into her own powers and trying to balance her ambition with doing the right thing for the good of herself and her kingdom. She really only ever has her sights on one guy, her childhood best friend, but some other characters are thrown in the way to keep the reader guessing.

>180 kgodey: Try Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughard - alternate Ancient China or Joust by Mercedes Lackey - alternate Ancient Egypt. First ones that come to mind.

181: Good to know, Marie! I added the first book to my Amazon wishlist.

182: Thanks for the recommendation! Bridge of Birds was already on my wishlist, I added Joust too.

>179 Morphidae:: Oh, I will! There are days (nay, weeks) that tend to call for that sort of book... and I like to have them on hand for an immediate "fix-er-upper" read when that kind of day/week strikes. :)

I have so not been in a reading mood this month. A week into December and I still haven't finished anything.

In other news, I was offered a new job and accepted. It's part time, which isn't exactly what I was looking for, but the position is for a reference librarian at a historical society. I'm excited to try something new!

Yay new job! Is the Charleston Historical Society? That would be so fun!

Way, way, way behind.... I can't believe you got to hear both Veronica Roth and Rae Carson!! The Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy were all 5 star reads for me this year. You MUST try her! I have to re-read the first two so I can get to Allegiant soon. I must know why the "WHY"???? you posted... Now I'm extremely curious!!

And congrats on your job offer!

Congrats on the job, Marie! Sounds like you're be stretching some skills, which is always exciting.

186: It's the South Carolina Historical Society, woot!

187: I agree, I do need to try Rae Carson! Her books sounded awesome and she was such a good panelist that I just know I would like her work. Read Allegiant and then come talk to me! It's crazy what happens. And thank you!

188: Yeah, it's way out of my comfort zone. LC, local history, archives, all that good stuff. I'm excited though. I was kind of spinning my wheels at my current job. Thank you!

>189 RosyLibrarian: Oooh the whole state! Fancy!

Congrats on the new job, Marie!

>189 RosyLibrarian: All excellent skills to add to the CV it sounds like. Do you start before Christmas or after?

190: Oh God, I didn't think of it that way. The pressure!

191: Thank you! :)

192: I hope so. I start mid-January.

Just stopping by to wave hello. I am in a tremendously huge reading rut! I've picked up at least two books, got to page 100 and ditched them without caring what happens to the characters. This is unheard of for me. I feel like I have the attention span of a goldfish...

But, I did just pick up Vicious by V.E. Schwab and made it to page 183. It's very good so I think it may be my ticket out of this hell hole of non-reading.

Happy Monday!

Hope you find your way out of the rut. They don't happen to me often. Mostly they just slow me down rather than bring me to a halt. I've had a few months of slow reading myself. It's looking up this month though with some good books.

>194 RosyLibrarian: Sorry to hear about the rut, Marie. Hope it passes soon. :)

110. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

I thought maybe rereading an old favorite would pull me out of my rut. It...kind of did, I guess. I love this book, but I was sort of happy to be done. What is wrong with me?

111. Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Superheroes! Revenge! I loved this book! In this world, superheroes are born when they die and reawaken with varying powers. They are known as EOs or ExtraOrdinaries. Victor and Eli, two friends turned mortal enemies, plot against one another. Serena and Sydney, two sisters who drowned together but lived are on opposite sides. Who will win? Who will die? It's fiendishly delightful.

Hmm, that's an intriguing plot description, Marie.

I've heard nothing but good things about Vicious, and you've just reinforced my desire to find a copy!

199/200: My review doesn't do it justice. It's truly one of the more unique books of 2013. I also want to try her YA series, The Archived, which also has a sort of crazy plot. I think she's one of those authors really trying to break the writing mold.

Hope you have a wonderful Christmas!!

Merry Christmas, Marie!

Merry Christmas, Marie!

Have yourself a merry little book-filled Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! My husband and I celebrated yesterday because he is working today - firefighters never rest, I guess. I think I will spend the day reading! :)

Merry Christmas, Marie!

112. Six Months Later by Natalie Richards

A thriller where a teen wakes up and can't remember the last six months. Somewhere along the way she became popular, started dating her crush and stopped being friends with her best friend. She also starts to have feelings for the class bad boy who suddenly knows a lot about her.

This was a middle of the road read where I wanted to know what happened and then it ended and I went, "huh okay."

113. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Five stars, always.

The 2014 group is planning a Harry Potter reread starting in January, I think. Maybe you'd be interested?

ETA: Here's the link: http://www.librarything.com/topic/162724

210: Thanks Kriti, I starred it. Onto book two!

Hope you had a Merry Christmas reading all day! :D

It twas a merry Christmas and then we went to the theater and watched the second Hobbit movie. Oh my God, can we say Richard Armitage? Plus, such a beautiful song at the end. Ah, perfect Christmas! Today I am rounding up the husband again and going to see the second Hunger Games movie. I've heard it's even better than the first so my hopes are high.

Oh Richard Armitage. How do you mange to be all swoonworthy even when in all that dwarf get-up?

I know, right? I think it's the brooding eyes.

And his voice. Oh that voice...

Especially when he is singing about Misty Mountains...

114. Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

After something tragic happened involving her mother, Echo can't remember an event that left her physically and emotionally scarred. Noah, after his parents died in a house fire, is on his fifth foster home hoping to regain custody of his two brothers when he graduates at the end of the school year. When their therapist in common throws them together for tutoring lessons they start to form a relationship that flies in the face of their school social standing.

And...cue the melodrama! This might actually have been a decent book with about 50 pages of drama cut out. The plot was intriguing and their romance was slow to build, which I appreciated, but when they finally did get together there was so much whining about it. I guess maybe this is realistic, but it grated on my nerves. If you do read this and like some of the other minor characters the author continues on with their stories in her follow up books.

115. Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman

This was a Christmas gift from my brother and it is a very sweet children's book that appeals to adults too. (Monty Python references!) It's essentially a story of adventure that the father of the book makes up to explain why he took so long in picking up milk for breakfast. The illustrations done by Chris Riddell are awesome.

I've read and re-read the Harry Potters. I've watched and re-watched the movies. And now I'm listening to them on audiobooks. I'm up to Goblet of Fire and it was just divine.

Come join me in my 2014 thread over here!