Next Great Read

If you work in a school setting or have access to book reading students, you know they have one question -

Do you know any good books?

 My snarkastic answer varies based on my relationship with said student.  I've even setup a Good Books table, an idea I lifted from Bookends, but sometimes they just want ideas from me. 

And just like the students, every now and again I turn to twitter and I ask my version of that question:

The most tweeted book was See You At Harry's By Jo Knowles.  I've been avoiding that book because I heard it made people cry! That's the reason I haven't read Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness yet, even though I adored the rest of the Chaos Trilogy!

I like how Patrick and Cynthia also threw in some extra books.  I haven't read Lions of Little Rock by Kristen Levine, One for the Murphy's by Lynda Mullaly Hunt or The Candymakers by Wendy Mass yet.  I've got 2 of 3 here! 

We had two nods to Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. It's one of our June selections for Mock Printz 2013 on Goodreads and I've been avoiding it the same as See You At Harry's!

And then we have a variety of other books!

The only one I haven't read is the Sophie Kinsella book. I've read The Mini-Shopoholic and loved it and keep forgetting to pick up smething else of hers.  

All in all, I've a few books to move up in the TBR pile.  I hope to get to the ones I missed in the next week or two! In the meantime, See You At Haw-ees! (Yes, I started it. But I will not cry!)

Are there any YA books that you've read and loved this year? Share titles in the comments!
Tweet

Library Score!

I scored at the library today. 2 adult books, 4 YA books, 2 MG books, and 2 Graphic Novels. It was so awesome! Here's what's on the reading list:

• The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry
• Dogface by Jeff Garigliano
• What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
• Big Fat Manifesto by Susan Vaught
• Impossible by Nancy Werlin
• Does my Head Look Big In This by Randa Abdel-Fattah
• Alcatraz and the Scrivener's Bones by Brandon Sanderson
• The Graveyard by Neil Gaiman
• Skim by Mariko Tomaki
• Into the Volcano by Don Wood

I am so excited. I don't even know which to start with. Probably Impossible because that might be on the Printz list. I do hope Little Brother gets the award though. Every student I've given it to has praised it. I found both Graveyard and Into the Volcano in the Children's section which surprised me. I'll do the Gaiman next to see if he'll be up for the Newbery.

I'm not that hot about the awards though after I read the White Darkness, last year's Printz. I had a hard time finishing that book and no matter how I try to promote, it doesn't get a good review. Anywho, award programs are a post for a different day.

Taken by Edward Bloor

Taken
I read this book for my YA book club. We tried to choose books that would be appealing to both boys and girls, since we have one boy in our group of 10 girls. The boy dropped out - but we stuck with our book selections.

Taken is set in the future, 2035. In the future, kidnapping is such a lucrative business that the rich have currency vaults, their children have trackers inserted somewhere on their persons, the help consists of people who will be willing to die for you, and they live in gated communities - and rarely leave!

Charity Meyers goes to school via satellite, buys her clothes online, and only has one friend. Taken refers to what happens when someone is kidnapped. Such as Charity. The rule is the families have 24 hours to follow the kidnappers demands and the book opens with only about 12 hours left.

It's a very interesting concept. I didn't think the Mickie Meyers character, Charity's ex-stepmother, was believable. Everyone did what she said but it was noted that she wasn't very bright. She disrupted the satschool classes and the Meyer's everyday life - and they let her.

Other than that - it was a pretty good middle grade mystery. Lots of twists and turns. There were some scenes that might make it a little YA though - such as how Charity and her friend Patience make fun of the background of their names. But, I would recommend it to people looking for a quick read.

posted on Goodreads

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

The Book Thief (Readers Circle)

That is my favorite YA book this year. I am "hand-selling" this to my 8th grade students. They are studying the Holocaust right now. Markus Zusak approaches the topic from a different viewpoint. He introduces you to the people who were left behind, the people who had to leave, people who didn't agree but didn't have a choice, people who tried to do the right thing and what that cost them and their families. He does all of that, and more, with compassion. The compassion comes in the form of Death, who narrates the story. He has a sense of humor and a great big heart. It is truly a great book. I've only physically read it once, but I listen to the audio over and over. The narrator hits the exact tone that I imagined! Well worth reading. Don't let the size put you off. It's actually a fast read. Enjoy!

Also posted on: Goodreads, LibraryThing

50 Book Challenge

My "Latest Books I've Read" updates will cease for awhile, so that I can work on my 50 Book Challenge. As I read each book, I will put it on my list to the right. I wonder how many books I will read this year? How many have you read so far? Goodreads has a group called 50 Books 2008 if you want to keep track there.

Old Blog, New Year

I used to have a blog called Read.Think.Learn. I think, as part of the new me, I want to go back to doing the reviews for my students. This is my second year as a librarian and now I have students in middle and high school as well as some authors I've met. I think it's time. I will be careful though. I burned out because you couldn't update at school and I was super busy at home. I'm still super busy, taking classes at IUPUI, single mom-ming it, hanging out with my homies, running a couple of school book clubs, you know the drill. I'm going to start off small, just with the books I read for book clubs, including our ARYA book club (Adults Reading Young Adult books) which is just me and some teachers finding a reason to get together once a month!!

Ok, that's what I'll do. Right now I'm reading: Cry of the Icemark by Stuart Hill, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, and Teach Me by RA Nelson. Those are the book club books du jour. For fun I'm reading: Two-Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt.

I also have a Facebook and Myspace account. As well as GoodReads and LibraryThing. I need to consolidate!