What I've Read Lately - March

This past month I really tried hard to catch up on my backlog of books from that ridiculous library run I did back in January.  I am pleased to announce that I finally managed to finish seventeen of the eighteen books (I wasn't in the mood for a horror novel, so I'll get to that 18th book sooner or later), and I even went back to the library and started in on a new set.  And I am also pleased to announce that I showed some restraint and only checked out eight books this time, so there are plenty of books still on the library shelves for the rest of you.  Here's what I had the pleasure (or not) of reading in March:

You can guess as soon as you see the cover that Scarlet, by A. C. Gaughen, is going to be a Robin Hood story.  And it was.  But it was mostly about Will Scarlet.  There was action and adventure, and lots of sneaking around, and a love triangle that, even though I usually hate love triangles, was actually pretty well done.  The book puts a very interesting twist on the main character, giving us an interpretation of the Robin Hood story that is both completely traditional and yet at the same time fresh and new.  I liked it.  You should read it.  Unless you're a boy who doesn't want to read about girls or romance, because, although it has the action and adventure and violence and intrigue, it also has that love stuff, which is a significant part of the story. For a more detailed review, see my post here. (Reading Level: 4.4/Upper Grades)

So the cover of The Hidden Twin, by Adi Rule, was super cheesy.  And the title didn't do much for me.  Honestly, if I wasn't familiar with the author already (see my post here), I would have NEVER checked it out.  But I wanted to see what Rule would do with her second book (the first was a mix of genres: gothic and science fiction if you can believe it), so I gave it a try.  It wasn't bad.  It was a kind of fantasy steampunk (it should have had a cover that conveyed this, because who would have guessed?!), different than most of what I've read before, and pretty well done.  And this time the backstory fit the main story (see post mentioned above), so it wasn't frustrating.  I wouldn't say it was anything special, but it kept my interest enough to finish it, so hey, if you like fantasy steampunk you might like it.

The more I think about Frost, by Marianna Baer, the more I decide I didn't really like it.  It was supposed to be a ghost story.  Or a gothic novel.  Or something similar.  What it mostly was, was a bunch of drama.  Friends drama, roommate drama, boy/friend drama.  Every once in a while there would be a strange happening in the house that was building up towards something, but instead of ever getting anywhere, it just kept throwing more drama at us.  Like twenty pages of drama before the next suspicious occurrence. Over and over again.  I have enough stress in my life - I don't need to spend eight hours trudging through other people's drama.  On top of that, the heroine wasn't even likeable.  So I couldn't bring myself to care about her problems at all.  If you are looking for a good ghost/gothic/paranormal suspense book, you aren't going to find it here. (Reading Level: 4.2/Upper Grades)

Sunrise, by Mike Mullin, is the final book in the Ashfall trilogy I started back in July (see mini-review of first book here).  It was still plenty cheesy at times, but not nearly as much as the first two books.  It was also slightly less unrealistic.  It was still full of action and adventure and suspense, with the kind of chapter breaks that make it hard to put the book down.  And, even though it was 546 pages, it didn't take all that long to read.  Great book series for boys, reluctant readers, and anyone who wants a not-too-deep post-apocalyptic story told from a boy's perspective.  (Reading Level: 5.5/Upper Grades)

I really, really liked The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan.  I haven't read anything from this genre for a while, so it was a refreshing change.  But that's not why I really liked it.  It was a really good book.  It is about an island where the men take selkies for wives, and the ramifications for everyone involved - the men, their seal-wives, their already human wives, their children, etc.  It is divided into sections told from different perspectives, giving an intimate picture of the motivations and feelings of the different types of people involved, beginning with the girl who will grow up to be the 'witch' who calls the selkies from the sea.  Beautifully written, wonderfully put together, this is a book that can stand up there with the works of writers like Neil Gaiman.  (Reading Level: 5.8/Upper Grades)

So, The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly, by Stephanie Oakes, was kind of like two stories in one.  It had the present, in which Minnow was being tried and then serving out a sentence in a juvenile girls' prison, and then it had the before, which was her memories of living in the wilderness with a religious cult, and the events leading up to her crime.  I enjoyed it a whole lot more than I thought I would, being a book about a religious cult and all, maybe because it wasn't actually taking place in the cult.  It was a nice mystery and coming of age story with a well developed theme that gave it a bit more depth than some of the books I've read recently.  And even though it is quite thick, it was also quite a page-turner, so it doesn't take too long to finish.  (Reading Level: 5.2/Middle Grades +)

Heart of the Storm, by Michael Buckley, is the final book in the Undertow trilogy.  I guess the books would be classified as urban fantasy, but they kind of had a science-fiction-ish feel to them, too.  Oh, and by the second book, it has all morphed into a post-apocalyptic story as well. The basic premise is that a race of sea peoples comes out of the sea at Coney Island, turning the united States upside down.  There are battles, and powers, and corporate conspiracies and a girl falling for the prince of the sea people, etc. etc.  All three books were really quite ridiculous when I think about it, and I wasn't going to read the second one but it was there, so I did, and I wasn't going to read the third, but guess what?  It was there, so I did.  It wasn't bad and I didn't really ever consider putting it aside without finishing it, but I did quite a bit of eye rolling.  If you don't get a lot of opportunities to read and undersea people living just fine on land seems unrealistic to you and human girls having the hots for a guy from a different species creeps you out, don't bother spending time on this.

I loved the way Rose & Thorn, by Sara Prineas started out.  It was written so beautifully, and was the epitome of what a 'story' should sound like.  Which is appropriate, because the whole concept of the book is that Story (with a capital S) always tries to take hold and control how events will play out.  This book is a companion book to Ash & Bramble, (see mini review here) in which the characters destined to play out the Cinderella fairy tale fight back and defeat Story.  This book takes place fifty years later, and focuses on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale.  The main part of this book was a bit disappointing after the amazing first start, mostly because it was much less beautiful and much more boring.  It reads more like a juvenile fiction book (where is the depth?!?!) than a young adult novel.  Also, it continually switches point of view mid-chapter, which is annoying and would be confusing for a younger, less experienced reader.  Despite its flaws, though, it was a refreshing twist to a classic fairy tale, making it worth the read if you are looking for something from that genre.

A last minute addition:  I finished The Butterfly Clues, by Kate Ellison, the evening of the last day of the month, after reading it for only two days - it was hard to put down.  The novel was a tense thriller/suspense murder mystery type story, but it was also about a girl with OCD who is grieving the death of her brother and hanging out with homeless teens.  So yeah, it was pretty emotional at times.  There were a few chapters in the middle where I was like, Ugh, I'm just not into this story anymore, but then it got good again and kept me hooked until the end.  There were also a few paragraphs during the climax and when the whole thing was coming to a conclusion that I was like, yawn, this is too predictable/drawn out/wrapped up in that boring summing-it-all-up way, but not so much that it ruined the story.  Which was good. Funny thing - the book was published in 2012, but when I opened the cover it was stiff like I was the first person to read it.  Apparently it hasn't been very popular so far, so give it a try and if you like it, spread the word.  (Reading Level: 5.0/Upper Grades)

What I've Read Lately - February

I spent a lot of time in February updating the formatting in my blog (I hadn't added any links for months!) as well as my book lists (I had to add like thirty books to my master list and then go through all 700+ titles to create the Romance List!).  Oh, and I worked on a couple of new posts, one of which I've published.

So. . . . I didn't get much read. At all.  Here's the rundown:

I finally finished Behold the Bones, by Natalie C. Parker.  I think I'd been at it for two whole weeks, which just might be a record for me.  For a pre-reading commentary on the book, see my post here.  And to find out what I thought about it afterward, see my post here.

Once again, Victoria Schwab doesn't disappoint.  I've liked every one of her books so far, including This Savage Song.  It is about monsters and humans and humans acting like monsters and monsters acting like humans. Or not. It has action, and difficult choices, all kinds of relationship dynamics, and lots and lots of blood.  All with a wonderfully developed theme and moral questions galore.  I shirked all of my chores today except for some laundry, and finished it before I had to pick up my son from school.  Now I'm going to have to run out and pick up the second book so I can see how it all pans out. (Reading Level: 5.4/Middle Grade+)

So I didn't really read When They Fade by Jeyn Roberts.  Well, I did, but only about a quarter of it.  Then I gave up.  I liked the concept well enough, but I couldn't deal with the writing.  There wasn't enough variation with the sentence structure so it didn't flow well. It had this really unnatural repetitive sound to it that was super annoying.  And it was written in some weird third person present kind of tense so it was like "Tatum gets in her car and turns up the radio."  Not good.  At all.  Which was a shame, because I like the author's previous books.  Oh well, I guess on the bright side, it just gets me through my stack of books sooner when I can toss one out after a few hours.

I'd been looking for a copy of Forget Me by K. A. Harrington for ages, and then there it was in front of me one day at the library.  It turned out to be a better book than most that I have trouble finding.  It had a slow start and one of those rushed endings where the bad guy confesses everything and ties it all up in one fell swoop, but the rest of the story was a nicely paced mystery with dialogue that was fun to read.  Nothing spectacular, but not too shabby either.  Definitely better than the previous book on this list! (Reading Level: 4.2 /Middle Grade+)

Frozen Charlotte, by Alex Bell had a good concept and good bits and pieces that moved the story along, but what it didn't have was good writing.  Well, let me clarify.  It didn't have good writing for a YA novel.  As a work of juvenile fiction, it was fine.  Pretty darn good, even.  But it was too simplistic, just a story, but without that special feel to it that master storytellers like Neil Gaiman are able to create.  I mean, the main character is supposed to be 15, but you completely forget that most of the time; she could have been twelve - that's how superficial everything is.  Younger readers will probably enjoy it a lot.  It is plenty creepy and even scary at times.  It may even be the best horror story for the middle grades that I've come across.  (Reading Level: 5.3 /Middle Grade+)

The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde, is a play.  I don't usually read plays, maybe because I never really enjoyed Shakespeare and Greek tragedies and all the stuff they make you read in high school.  Maybe it's because the format gets in the way of the story.  I only read this one because my son was reading it for school and I wanted to be able to help him if he had any questions.  As it turns out, it was actually really good.  Which surprised me because it was written in the 1890's and I don't usually enjoy writing from that time period.  The play was super funny, especially if you understand Victorian attitudes toward marriage and status.  Not a deep understanding, mind you, because I gave my 14 year old son like a five sentence synopsis of attitudes of the period, and he loved the play as well.  There are two versions out there, the original four act version and a condensed three act version.  I read through the overlapping parts of both, and the longer version is definitely better.  Even the long version is only 76 pages, so it's worth picking up a copy even if you don't have a lot of time to read. (Reading Level: 4.5 /Middle Grade+)

I checked out The Glass Arrow by Kristen Simmons because I hadn't read a good dystopian in a long while.  Unfortunately, I still haven't read a good dystopian in a long while. I couldn't even get through the second chapter of this book.  It was mostly the concept, but also the writing, although I can't quite put my finger on exactly what was wrong with it.  I just found it annoying and boring.  And since I still have nine books that are going to have all of their renewals used up in like, five weeks, there was no point sticking with this one.

What the Dead Want, by Norah Olson started off as a great mystery/ghost story.  Unfortunately, about half-way in, the author was like, white men are the epitome of evil - they hate everyone who isn't a white man - they are responsible for all violent oppression through all time.  Never mind that the guy in the story helping slaves escape on the underground railroad was white.  Never mind that plenty of men of other races have been violent oppressors as well.  Never mind that oppression has as much to do with greed, a lust for power, ignorance, and fear as it does with racial hatred.  And never mind that she took a fantastically creepy ghost story with an important message about racism and messed it up by unwittingly promoting her own racist message.

I saw Blood Red Snow White on the library shelf and checked it out because I really enjoy reading Marcus Sedgwick's novels.  Except for this one.  It was really, really boring.  It is apparently about the Russian revolution, but it moved so slowly I couldn't enjoy it.  Kind of like when I had to read A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich back in high school and after 180 pages I finished the story and I was like wait - that was one day?!?!  Anyway, I gave up on this book after three days of getting nowhere.  If you are interested in reading fiction about the end of the czar and his family, you are better off trying Anastasia's Secret by Susanne Dunlap or The Fetch by Laura Whitcomb.


So out of the nine books I started, I only finished six, and only really liked three of them.  Hopefully I'll have better luck in March!