YA fiction – Peaceful Reader

How lucky we are…library books are a treasure.

If I had to buy every book I wanted to read my bank balance would be zip, zilch, nada. All the time.

Praise Jesus for the invention of public libraries and hope to the future they last for all eternity. Over the past few weeks I’ve compiled a stack from 2 different visits.

I also finished an amazing book, A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, a beautifully written story of Count Alexander Rostov. He’s under house arrest in the Metropol Hotel in the heart of Moscow. He’s lucky to be alive yet it’s difficult to understand you may never take one step outside to do ordinary things. He sets up routines to get through until young Nina, a visitor to the hotel engages him in conversation. His time is soon taken up with this precocious guest as they explore the inner workings of the hotel. Amor’s language and the characters he breathes life into make this tale magical and believable. I would love to have been part of this story even as the seamstress who guides Alexander into parenting. I returned this one back to the library only because it had a hold on it; otherwise I may have read it again. Instead I found Amor’s first book, Rules of Civility (2011) and plan to read that soon.

Here is the rest of my stack:

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds (2017) : excellent novel in verse about young Will retracing his life after his older brother is killed. (finished)

All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater (2017) : Magical tale of the Soria family in Colorado as they take care of pilgrims and each other. I’m on chapter 6 and as soon as I finish composing I plan to fly the sofa and read…I’ve loved Maggie’s writing for a long time and once took a long drive through flood waters to hear her speak. She’s pretty badass too.

What to say next by Julie Buxbaum (2017) : Recommended to me by my friend Tina, this one is an interesting tale of an unlikely friendship between Kit and David. (not yet read)

Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner (2017) : Carter Briggs is a happy young man until he sends one text to his friend Mars minutes before Mars, Eli, and Blake are killed in a car accident. Now the world seems to be coming down on Carter as everyone looks for someone to blame. (not yet read)

The Ties that Bind by Kent Haruf (1984) : I read Kent’s “Our Souls at night” in the hammock this summer and was in love with the characters and the simple story line. I thought I’d start at the beginning of the Holt, Colorado stories with this one.

The Dry by Jane Harper (2016) : This title popped up on my mother-in-law’s feed as a great new read while they were here which prompted both of us to put it on hold at our respective local libraries. After reading my last Cormoran Strike mystery (the 2nd in the series)-b/c I read them out of order-I could use another good thriller.

One of my 4th graders wandered around the library yesterday with a stack of books in her hand and a huge smile on her face and dreamily said “so many books, so little time…”

29 days of book love

April is a long way off but I’m looking forward to it for several different reasons.

1. Spring will have sprung and it will be warmer.
2. Our son will turn 21 at the end of April
3. Maggie Stiefvater’s book The Raven King will arrive.

I read her Shiver series first and liked it-the characters especially-I think she has an amazing knack for creating memorable characters and placing them in very unique stories often related to legends or fairy tales. A few years later I fell in love with The Raven Boys. I consumed all books in short order as soon as they were published. In fact one came out after I’d had my kindle for about a year. I hadn’t read one book on it though because it was hypocritical-me being a librarian and all. Then The Dream Thieves came out and I could download it ever so quickly and suddenly I could see the advantages of this Kindle tool.

I love Blue’s character and I thought I could easily have grown up in her household. Crazy aunts, psychic mothers, I would have fit right in. I highly recommend the whole series. Any of Stiefvater’s books are worthy. Also if you every have the chance to go to one of her author events she is entertaining and enjoyable to listen to-she rants, swears, and tells great stories.

Blue Sargent, the daughter of the town psychic in Henrietta, Virginia, has been told for as long as she can remember that if she ever kisses her true love, he will die. But she is too practical to believe in things like true love. Her policy is to stay away from the rich boys at the prestigious Aglionby Academy. The boys there — known as Raven Boys — can only mean trouble. (from the book’s website)

Excellent (and Wildly Quirky) Fiction Selection

Where’d You Go, Bernadette

Maria Semple

2012

Little, Brown, and Company

This has literally been on my actual to-read pile for over a year. My 22-year-old stepdaughter read it, liked it, and left it for me. A few months ago a friend chose it as our book club choice for April. That forced me to pick it up, dust it off, and give it a try. I loved it. We had our meeting on Monday and it seems everyone in our group felt the same way.

It was so easy to read and I was captured by this unusual family of geniuses. I wanted to know more about each one of them. Bee, an elementary student at one of Seattle’s many private schools, is anxious to head off to a private academy on the East Coast, following in her parent’s academic footsteps. She is smart but there is so much more to her as she remains fairly calm and happily involved in her life throughout the book. I love that she picks a trip to Antarctica as her reward for good grades. This is what can happen when parents offer up “you can have anything you want in exchange for good grades!”

This particular request throws Bernadette, Bee’s mother, for a major loop-de-loop! Bernadette has not been dealing well with her life after their move from LA to Seattle. Her husband has thrown all his energy into his grandiose work at Microsoft wear he pads around barefoot lauded as some kind of creative genius. Bernadette is left to do the stay-at-home mother thing and this is not her talent. She does not feel any connection to the other parents from Galer Street School and thus has no allies, no one to share her thoughts and feelings. This book is Bee’s look back at her mother and how she got so far off track.

This story is told in a very nonlinear fashion, is extremely current with its language and social media conversations, and is just such a fresh fun read. If you haven’t picked this one up yet don’t hesitate. Thank you Maria Semple for writing such a unique story of love and acceptance.

My library visit.

I picked up quite a bag full of books the last time I was at the library and have been reading furiously since then and guess what, I still can get them finished!

My life next door by Huntley Fitzpatrick (2012); Great YA fiction. Loved the relationship between Jase Garrett and Sam Reed. Samantha’s mother is a piece of work and easily could go down as one of the top ten terrible fiction examples for mothering. She’s a single mom with a big trust fund so she’s snooty and has never embraced the more earthy Garrett family, the next door neighbors. Sam, on the other hand, is fascinated with the Garrett family and spies on them from her bedroom rooftop. The Garretts are the polar opposite of Mrs. Reed; messy, loud, affectionate, and kind and Samantha quickly becomes one of them as Jace befriends her. There are several different surprises in this debut tale.

Rules of Summer by Joanna Philbin (2013); Rory McShane has had a tough life so far. She also has an inssuferable mother who chooses terrible men over motherhood. Rory takes a job as an errand girl for the wealthy Rule family and even though she hasn’t had a parent to look up to she certainly has a strong moral compass. Set against the backdrop of East Hampton, NY Rory learns a few new lessons but leaves with a sense of purpose about her own life and what kind of person she truly is. Philbin is a wonderful writer and I’ve enjoyed her Daughters series as well.

Hattie Ever After by Kirby Larson (2013); Amazing historical fiction, a sequel to Hattie Big Sky, that continues her journey as she heads to San Francisco with an acting troupe. Hattie is full of spirit as she meets new friends and gets a job at the famous San Francisco Chronicle. It may not be as a star reporter as she would like yet for now she’s just happy to walk through the heavy doors everyday. Hattie is such an enjoyable character that I would love to see a third book chronicling her next adventure as she moves to the Pacific Northwest! What do you think Kirby Larson?

Weekend warrior.

Woe is me! I have to spend half my day sitting around Barnes and Noble today, browsing through books. My daughter is in the local production of Junie B., Jingle bells, Batman smells! and they are performing from 1-3 to happy book shoppers. I’m sure I won’t leave empty handed and I wish I could take a handful of book bloggers with me! I can think of much worse places to wile away my afternoon.

A concentration camp would be top on that list after spending several hours in the middle of the night reading the end of Elizabeth Wein’s finely crafted historical fiction Rose under fire. Brutal, well-written, but brutal, brutal, brutal. The bonds she made in the women’s concentration camp carry you through the most horrible descriptions. I loved Code Name Verity and this is a companion novel, making use of the same war, different setting with kick-ass female characters/heroines and a few carry over characters. Both Wein’s novels and Junie B. have nothing in common except they all feature powerful young women.

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Rose explains to her boyfriend Nick her aspirations and frustrations:

Finally Nick said sympathetically, “What’s made you so
bloodthirsty?”

“I’m not bloodthirsty.
There’s no blood in a pilotless plane, is there? I’m a good pilot. I’ve probably been flying five years longer
than half the boys in 150 Wing. I flew with
Daddy from coast to coast across America when I was fifteen and I did all the
navigation. You’ve never flown a
Tempest, or a Mustang, or a Mark Fourteen Spitfire-I’ve flown them all, dozens
of times. They’re wasting me just
because I’m a girl! They won’t even let
us fly to France-they’re prepping men for supply and taxi to the front lines,
guys with hundreds’ fewer hours than me, but they’re just passing over the
women pilots. It isn’t fair.” (14)

Have a happy Saturday. Here in Iowa it is a gorgeous day outside and I have to finish cleaning up my garden.

4 New Books to LOVE!

At the beginning of September I challenged myself to read through my big and beautiful, ever-growing pile of ARC’s from Little, Brown and Company. I aimed for ten and finished seven. Here I bring you the top 4 realistic fiction titles to look for.

Ask the Passengers by A.S. King: This was my absolute favorite story. I’m now a huge fan of A.S. King and her coming-of-age, coming-to-grips tale of Astrid Jones. She’s unusual and knows it yet longs for the shelter of a loving family and honest friends. She struggles with her own identity, familial disfunction, her sexuality, and what it means to be a good and true friend. This story is a marvel and Astrid is a character that I think about often. Buy this for your library or a teenager in need. Booklist Online has a very creative interview with A.S. King – read it, it will make you laugh. (ARC provided by Little, Brown, and Company, release date October, 2012)

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher; The Matthews family is broken in every way. Jaime, the youngest, narrates the story of this family’s critical loss. Rose, Jaime’s sister and twin to Jasmine, dies from a terrorist bomb in a local park. Jaime’s mother, trying to heal herself, attends a local grief group, meets someone else and leaves the family. In order to douse the overwhelming pain Jaime’s father drinks. Eventually Jaime, his sister, Jas, and father move to the country to get out of London and away from the Muslim’s. Jaime’s father blames all Muslim’s for the death of his daughter and he emotionally abandons his two living children while grieving for Rose. This book brings out the blanket racism that clouds good judgement as Jaime, in his little country school, befriends a local Muslim girl. This book by debut author Annabel Pitcher is beautifully written with rare wit about a topic that will have people talking. (ARC provided by LBC, August, 2012)

DJ Rising by Love Maia; Music is Marley’s world. With a scholarship to attend a prestigious school and a job busing tables at a hip restaurant he has his hands full just trying to make it on his own. In the midst of his own teenage life he juggles caring for his drug-addicted mother who never recovered from the death of her husband, Marley’s music-loving dad. Marley has two dreams: one is to DJ at a fancy club and the second is that the beautiful Lea Hall will talk to him. When his mother tries to recover, and the DJ world starts to suck Marley in, will he be able to accomplish any of his real goals as he learns to figure out what is most important? This book is well worth reading as you want Marley to triumph over the life he’s been handed and Maia’s lyrical writing make it a quick read. Soundtrack to come according to her website. (ARC provided by LBC, Feb., 2012)

The Boy Recession by Flynn Meaney; At first glance this could appear to be a fluff YA chick read but there is much deeper stuff below the surface. Budget cuts leave Julius P. Heil High without a football coach or a team causing several affluent families to take their young players to private schools. With so many young men gone the girls start looking at the second and third tier of eligible guys. The theatre geeks, the band boys, and the stoner dudes suddenly all have a place at the table. Through this new adventure Kelly begins to see her old band-friend, Hunter, in a new light; he could be truly crush-worthy if the plastic girls (the “Spandexers”) can keep their hands off him. I enjoyed this story as it explores high school stereotypes and told through Kelly’s and Hunter’s alternating chapters. Hunter is a boy I would have loved and you will cheer for him as he finds his true voice. Flynn Meaney is also the author of Bloodthirsty. (ARC provided by LBC, August, 2012)

These four easily captured my attention. I have several others still to review including an elementary fiction title and four picture books and I am happy to share these exciting titles. The common denominator is identity which is something teens struggle with whether gay, straight, male, female, rich, or poor and these titles raise awareness for this angst.

Thank you Zoe!! You make my day with your monthly emails.

Top Ten Tuesday; #1

I’ve always wanted to play along with The Broke and the Bookish meme and today I’m avoiding another post I need to write so it seems like the perfect day to play along. Today’s topic is top ten of any genre.

Peaceful Reader’s Top Ten Historical Fiction Novels for YA and elementary

1. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

2. Moon over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

3. The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez

4. Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

5. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

6. Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

7. A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

8. The Ransom of Mercy Carter by Caroline B. Cooney

9. Esperanza Rising by Pamela Munoz Ryan

10. The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

Honorable Mentions:

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis

A Thousand Never Evers by Shana Burg

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

So enlightening to browse back through old lists, reminding myself of all these wonderful books. Thanks for the joy. Now back to that other writing I need done for tomorrow!

Book bag synopsis

I brought home a book bag filled with a few titles from my school library that I wanted to read over break. Most of them are from a Scholastic order from the beginning of the year and haven’t received much student attention. I thought I could book talk them in the new year and it would give me my last few titles to reach the 100 mark for books read in 2011. Here’s what I’ve read over break so far:

Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie (2004) by Jordan Sonnenblick;
Steven Alper is a middle school student who loves playing the drums and is annoyed by his little brother, Jeffrey. When the family discovers Jeffrey has cancer things get a little crazy. Jeffrey suffers through the physical aspects of cancer and Jeffrey wades through how it must feel to be the child left at home, the healthy but ignored child. Sonnenblick portrays both sides really well and has the middle school lingo down pat-he sounds like he never left middle school really…a bonus for him. I can’t wait to read his other two titles on my pile; Notes from the Midnight Driver and Zen and the Art of Faking It.

Ways to Live Forever (2008) by Sally Nicholls;
This is the story of Sam McQueen, an eleven-year-old in the last stages of leukemia and the story is presented to us through his eyes through an assignment his at-home-teacher gives him and his friend, Felix. My favorite aspect of this tale is that Sam is a list maker. He has a few things he’d like to get accomplished before he leaves this earth and once he figures out he can do more than just dream about doing them he does! He learns an important lesson about how one looks at a problem to solve. The author is English and the story is filled with references like torches, sledging and Mum’s and duffle coats-it makes the story interesting but will make it more difficult for one of my students to comprehend.

Radiance (2010) by Alyson Noel;
Wow; three in a row! Riley dies in a car accident before the book basically opens-wham. She’s trying to figure out where to get in the happy field of flowers; to follow her sister, Ever, back to the Earth plane or across the bridge where her parents and dog have happily gone. She’s an interesting character with very defined thoughts about the world around her as she learns to live where she is and take on an assignment back on Earth. She meets Bodhi; a nerdy but cute angel in desperate need of a victory and she’s able to save a few lost souls along her journey, which is just what she needs to do to rise to the next level. The next level of what though is a question she can’t help asking! I’m anxious to read the next one, Shimmer, as well as Noel’s other series, The Immortals. This is a fast read-one day-starting early, early this morning when I couldn’t sleep.

The Daughters (2010) by Joanna Philbin;
This is a hot series in my library right now so I had to remove it from circulation and hide it for my holiday break-wielding my power as the librarian with supreme force over the hold shelf! This one gave me a break from all the death and dying of my previous choices and was a perfect light read. I wouldn’t label it fluff though as Philbin tackles the personalities of three famous daughters trying to be themselves! I thoroughly enjoyed their struggles and thought she had a lot to say about real beauty and celebrity worship. I plan to read the next few in this series as soon as I can snatch them back from student readers.

Up Next:

Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu
Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

What are you reading into the new year?

November Reading Recap and a few mini-reviews!

Teenage Boy exclaimed the other day: “This year is going by so fast!” and I agree. December is just around the corner. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving spent in Deephaven, MN with my younger brother and his family. The weather was gorgeous and the food was spectacular! My brother has emerged as quite an eclectic chef and we had a non-traditional meal with King Salmon as the main course. The salmon was caught in Lake Superior this past summer by my 9-year-old nephew! A truly amazing feat and he was all smiles as we ooh’ed and aaah’ed over his tasty fish.

My reading in November was quirky:

Bright Young Things by Anna Godberson (my shelf): Ugh. So wanted this to be as good as The Luxe series. It was not.

The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman (library): This deserves a much longer review but suffice it to say I loved Hoffman’s writing and will search for more of her prose.

Spellbound (The 2nd book of Elsewhere) by Jacqueline West (library): I loved this little series-perfectly creepy with a strong young female heroine. I reviewed it here.

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her own making by Catherynne M. Valente (library): I waxed poetically about this book here after just a few chapters. The book stayed consistently superb. The vocabulary alone puts it in a category all its own. I had to look words up. Such a treat. The author’s website offers a preview of the book. Go on click and check it out!

Organizing the Disorganized Child by Martin L. Kutscher and Marcella Moran (new purchase): Trying to help my Groovy Girl out a little here-this is filled with many great tools like this clock.

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan (my shelf): I don’t love it as much as The Lightning Thief but it is a good adventure with mixed race siblings. I love learning about ancient Egypt. I’ve had this on my shelf since it was first published-glad to be finally crossing it off my list. The same nephew that was responsible for bringing in the salmon was a little disgusted with me-he’s read ALL of Riordan’s books-some more than once! He was all like “well, have your read The Son of Neptune??” Ahh, not yet.

What have you been reading??
Happy December.

August Update-13 books!

I’ve read a bunch of wonderful books in August! I had minor surgery to remove a cyst and have spent a lot of time resting and reading! Look at all the fun stuff I read this month! Links are for my reviews. Some toward the end of the list are still waiting for their own review and some I probably won’t review at all.

1. Where She Went by Gayle Forman – RF- I liked If I Stay better yet it was interesting hearing his voice. These two could win cutest musical couple award!

2. Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly -HF- Top Author of the Month! I loved depressed teen Andi mixed with Alex’s fight to save the prince during the French Revolution. It was, well, revolutionary!

3. The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter -Modern Fantasy-The Hardscrabble kids are tough and show us just how kids feel about being ostracized.

4. Gemma by Meg Tilly – RF- Wow. Brutally honest abusive/pedophile story. Made me want to hold my children very close. Tilly has this creepy guy written just right.

5. In The Green Kitchen by Alice Waters -Cookbook-Simple start-off recipes to help you accomplish bigger tasks. I loved the pantry list. I showed it to my mother while she was visiting and loved it when she laughed and said…”Oh, I bought this for you! Can you wait until Christmas to get it?” So typical. And yes, I can wait.

6. A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly -HF-It’s 1906 and this is Mattie’s coming-of-age story where she figures it all out after her mother dies. Luckily, she takes the road less traveled.

7. Countdown by Deborah Wiles – HF-It’s the 60’s and everyone is worried about the Russian’s and Cuba, students learn how to duck and cover to stay safe and Franny figures out why her Uncle Otts is so important.

8. How To Buy a Love Of Reading by Tanya Egan Gibson -RF-Drunken, super rich children figure out they do have something to say at the last minute. Carley-I grew to like and Hunter-made me want to go to AA.

9. The Penderwicks; A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall- RF- Sweet, summer tale with a charming cottage and lots of room to play. Mrs. Tipton figured out her parenting skills at the last second-thankfully! I’m interested in the rest of this series.

10. True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet by Lola Douglass -RF- too-young-party-girl falls off the face of the earth and lands in Indiana. She’s startled to find real characters in the Midwest. Never too off for me-too much nap dropping.

11. The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas -Fantasy-Lovely magical tale about Oliver Twist-ish character who saves the magic and helps Nevery. I plan to read more of this series and was excited to see Prineas is an Iowa writer!

12. Matched by Allie Condie-Dystopian-Cassia has two loves on her post-warming world matched card and she must find a way to deal with her feelings for the unsanctioned Ky. This was a fast read and kept me reading even though I hated this overly organized world.

13.. The Love Season by Elin Hildenbrand – RF -Love the Nantucket setting, and the culinary experience of listening to Margo put together food-ohhhh! Did not enjoy Cade and his family or Miles. Loved Action’s character-could she have a spin-off book!

I am sad to say goodbye to summer. I always am. I’m a summer girl. I like to be warm. I like going to the pool. I like margaritas. Fall has it’s good points though and I’ve already made an Autumn dish and I especially like going into an Indian Summer September like we seem to be. My girl’s birthday comes up in September also!

Hope everyone has a blissful Labor Day Weekend. I will be celebrating my anniversary all weekend-we were married in Galena, IL and had all kinds of activities from golf outings to wine tastings for our guests to participate in. I’m sure we’ll find some fun this weekend even if I’m still healing.