A Great Week of Reading February 27, 2008

Hooray for vacations, even working vacations, since I was able to read and listen to a few really great books. First off, kudos to the narrators of the two audiobooks that I did listen to and LOVE, plus the authors that wrote them! Gary Paulsen’s Soldier’s Heart and Karen Hesse’s Out of the Dust, both about desparate times in America’s history: the Civil War and the Great Depression, respectively.

Next there were the books, I passed after about 150 pages on The Wizard Heir… I loved The Warrior Heir, but I could not get into Chima’s latest. Yes, I loved Seph’s character and the remote, top secret academy in Maine, but it fell short of my expectations and I put it down. Then, there was Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, which I loved! Told in alternating points of view written by the wonderful Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, this good boy/bad girl duo kick ass and however they’d like to ignore their romantic sides, they get pretty steamy at the hotel before they realize that they’re putting the cart before the horse– and I love the story for that. Aside from the massive amount of swearing, it was another unlikely pairing (sort of?) similar, but not identical to, books by Ron Koertge.  

Nothing Earth-Shattering January 29, 2008

I’ve read a bunch, but nothing worth getting on to write about the second I put it down. So, here’s a run-down: Wait for Me by An Na, Incantation by Alice Hoffman, Theories of Relativity by Barbara Haworth-Attard, Rat Life by Tedd Arnold, The Seance by Joan Lowery Nixon, Thirsty by M.T. Anderson, and Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. I will say that many of these had something worth sticking it out for. For instance, Rat Life is a great way to discuss the issue of Vietnam in the likeness of In Country by Bobbi Ann Mason because it’s not really about the direct Vietnam War, but it’s after effects, plus the book is pretty cheeky. The Seance had a great ending (who would have guessed?!) and was pretty thoughtful, but still didn’t bring the scare-power. Incantation is another great history lesson– discussing how Jews were hiding as Christians in Spain and how one girl discovers her family’s true history. Theories of Relativity is much like Can’t Get There from Here by Strasser, but to me, Haworth-Attard pulled more heartstrings.  So there’s the quick and dirty. Enjoy!  

Top 5 July 11, 2007

I guess my top five have more or less turned in to obsessiveness with an author rather than a specific book, but it seems that I latch on to a specific author’s work. So, the last of my top five is really the work of Ann Rinaldi. Each book may not have the best literary quality or the best story line, but for some reason, I’m going to make sure that I read everything she’s written. So far, my favorites have been Brooklyn Rose, An Aquaintance with Darkness, and Mutiny’s Daughter. 

Top 5 July 10, 2007

I can’t get over how deeply romantic the story of Mattie is in  A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly. For some reason the way the chapters are broken up into words that Mattie uses in the chapter and the way Mattie strives for something more moves me. Maybe it’s because I’m obsessed with words and quotations and phrases, maybe that’s why I copy excerpts from my favorite books just to read over and over again. Does anyone else have this issue?

 By the way, my favorite word in the English language is passion. There’s just something about it that rocks me.