What I've Read Lately - January

So here it is, February 1st, and I barely finished up that batch of books I checked out for Halloween!  It turns out some were right on target, and others not so much.  That last book in this review was not intended to be a Halloween pick, but would be perfect for that season anyway (I don't mention that down below).

Okay, so this was part of my Halloween haul, but I wasn't expecting it to be Halloween-ish.  I actually wasn't expecting too much out of it at all - I don't know what possessed me to check it out in the first place.  But, it turns out that The Twelve-Fingered Boy, by John Horner Jacobs, was actually pretty good.  It is kind of like if you take a story about a kid in juvie, and then you take a story about a kid with superpowers, and then you mix the two together.  No, actually, that's exactly what this is like.  Quite original, and very entertaining.  It has all of the personal angst you would expect, but plenty of action and intrigue as well.  I think there is a sequel, but it is fine as a stand-alone in case you don't want to read the next one.  (Reading Level: 4.1 / Upper Middle Grades)

I had been seeing The Haunting of Sunshine Girl all over the place for ages and barely got around to checking it out.  I didn't really care for it.  Not for the writing, or the characters, or the plot, or a lot of the details for that matter.  Maybe because it is based on a (web?) show or something. (I'm too lazy to go back and look that up.)  I should always steer clear of those, because I never like them.  So I won't be reading parts two and three of this series.  But if you like mediocre fiction, or are in a bind and really need a Halloween-type book, go ahead and give it a try - it wasn't bad enough to make me abandon it, which is more than I can say for a lot of other books out there.   (Reading Level: 5.2 / Upper Middle Grades)

If you like the kind of book where half the time you're not completely sure what is actually going on, then The Job of the Wasp, by Colin Winnette, is for you.  If you like the kind of book that has sentences so long they seem to fill entire paragraphs, then this is for you.  If you like the kind of story where you get to the end and you say, what just happened?!?  Then this is for you.  The book is about a boy in an orphanage sometime (I'm guessing) around the 1920's.  There are murders and a ghost, and maybe the ghost committed the murders, and maybe one of the boys there is actually the ghost.  That is what the story is about.  It's actually pretty good, but I couldn't figure out how to interpret the last paragraph of the story so that I would know what the author thought he was revealing.  Or maybe he did that on purpose, so we would all think we were supposed to know, but feel like we didn't.  If anyone out there read the book and actually does know, please let me know!   (Reading Level: ? / Upper Middle Grades)

The Edge of Everything, by Jeff Giles, was another book that I wasn't expecting to get much out of.  Well, I was when I checked it out, but then I kept passing it over, until my books were almost completely out of renewals and I said, well, I'd better give it a try.  I loved it.  It has a tough girl and a hot guy of the (sort of) supernatural variety - you know the trope - they fall in love, but the universe conspires to deny them their happiness.  I really loved the male lead character, who was a walking contradiction – shy but charming, bad boy but an innocent, endearing, but totally hot.  I also loved the kid brother with ADHD ( I could so personally relate!), as well as the poor other hot guy who was in love with the heroine.  But aside from the characters, I have to say, this is the stuff movies are made of.  It was full of  suspense, and super visual in a surprising way - not through the use of imagery like you would expect, but more just through the concepts the author decided to put out there.  Oh! And there is a fantastic twist, and the dialogue is spectacular.  Read it!  (Reading Level: 5.3 / Upper Grades)

I did not finish Mayhem, by Sarah Pinborough.  There was nothing wrong with it per se, but it was just so long and seemed to be moving so slowly that I found it boring.  Plus, it was ANOTHER Jack the Ripper book, which I've had enough of, thank you.

Wow, Wow, Wow!  STUNNING!  What else can I say about Strange Grace by Tessa Gratton?  Oh, maybe . . . BEAUTIFUL.  RAW.  HEARTBREAKING.  EERIE.  INTENSE.  CREEPY.  BRILLIANT.  It tells the story of three friends living in a village that made a bargain with the devil two hundred years ago to sacrifice a boy to the forest every seven years in return for health and prosperity, but suddenly finds that the bargain has somehow been broken.  It is all about love and sacrifice and life and death and secrets.  It is written in a bizarre third person present tense, which usually goes horribly wrong, but in this case it seems to immerse the reader in the action as it occurs, creating tension and a sense of urgency that sets the mood for the story PERFECTLY.  It is utterly unique and if I could give it more than five stars, I would.  I will warn the reader, however, that it is obviously a progressive propaganda piece concerning gender and sexuality, so some readers with a conflicting ideology might not like it, but a perceptive reader will notice that the story can actually be used to support viewpoints on the opposite end of the spectrum as well.  The story is so poignant and compelling, tragic and breathtaking, though, and it reveals so much about the complicated nature of human emotions - especially love - that I would encourage everyone to read it without the filter of their own preexisting biases.  This book is easily in my top five all-time favorites.  Somebody make it into a movie, please!  If you are a fan of Maggie Stiefvater, Laini Taylor, or April Genevieve Tucholke, I think you will LOVE this one.   (btw, listen to this song - not the words, but the emotion - and you will get a sense of how this book makes you feel!)  (Reading Level: ? / Upper Grades)


So that's it.  Not too many, I know.  I wildly underestimated how much time my new project would take, so I haven't had much left for reading.  I have a whole shelf of very promising books right now, though, so check back at the beginning of March to see how they panned out.