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.  

Sequels Galore August 28, 2007

This summer has definitely been the summer of sequels, take note of Trueman’s Cruise Control that I just posted, but now, on to the other sequels that I’ve conquered this summer. The good, the bad, and the ugly. There was the good, The Off Season by Catherine Gilbert Mudock, which I highly recommend, especially because of the pressure that D.J. faces in Dairy Queen is nothing compared to its sequel, which makes us root even more for loveable, tomboy D.J.

I also sat down and read through the graphic novels Persepolis and Persepolis 2 by Satrapi. These were something different from the norm with its black and white theme, yet it played nicely with Satrapi’s life growing up in a war-torn country, moving out of it, then moving back in. I would highly recommend these as reading for a history class or if you’re interested in foreign affairs and those from different cultures.

 Then there’s Shrimp, the sequel to Gingerbread by Rachel Cohn. I have to say I wasn’t as in to the sequel as I was with the first. It’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the witty banter and crazy antics of the little hellion, but it just wasn’t the same energy I got from the quick snapshot in Gingerbread. 

There was The Prophet of Yonwood, the THIRD book in The City of Ember series. But ho, it’s actually the PREQUEL to The City of Ember then People of Sparks. I was also feeling a little uninspired by Yonwood for the simple fact that the real meat of the story was the last page of the book, what was all the stuff in the beginning and middle?? Someone answer that question for me!