Helloooo, fellow book junkies! You know what I’ve been noticing? A trend toward more classics being mentioned in YA blogs and posted about on Goodreads. Classic literature is magical, so I approve of this trend.
As for me, well, no classics this month (hypocrite, Eve), but I did enjoy reading a mix of genres–which, for me, translates to “not just YA fantasy.” As usual, most of the books I read were standalones–with the exception of books three and four of Maggie Stiefvater’s The Raven Cycle, a series I began a month ago and just had to finish. Don’t you love when you find a delicious series you just can’t get enough of?
BOOKS I READ IN NOVEMBER:
YA Fantasy-Paranormal
Blue Lily, Lily Blue (The Raven Cycle #3) by Maggie Stievfater 391pp 5/5 stars
The Raven King (The Raven Cycle #4) by Maggie Stiefvater 5/5 stars
How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather 368pp-kindle – The good: It’s written by the 11th great granddaughter of a Salem Witch Trials judge, and she compares bullying between the Puritan trials with modern-day high school. The Salem, Massachussetts setting is super interesting. The writing is not bad, but it’s got this weird internal narration the MC does throughout, like having to explain what’s really going on in her head every time she says, does, or encounters anything. Hard to explain. Check it out. The story’s got some good supsense but, yeah, that writing style, I’m not so sure about. 3.75/5 stars
The Lie Tree by Francis Hardinge 410pp -Historical, gothic, disturbing, downright literary lines of prose. Unique worldbuilding. I’ll definitely read more books by Francis Hardinge. 5/5 stars
My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison – All the things I liked: Loved the concept of a fairy godmother so ditzy she only gets to be called “fair.” The adorable cover. A strong opening. That the MC lives in Herndon, VA–pretty much my stomping grounds as a little girl. What I didn’t like: It read as MG, and at 165 pages in, I stopped caring. DNF.
YA Contemporary
Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King 326pp – A.S. King is her own writer, through and through. Her books are unique, smart, and unconventional, and I just can’t put them down. As with most A.S. King books, this one has paranormal overtones and a certain darkness–maybe even despair–but is first and foremost a compelling and well-written YA contemporary. 5/5 stars
We Are Still Tornadoes by Michael Kun & Susan Mullen 304pp Netgalley ARC – I happened to read We are Still Tornadoes and Please Ignore Vera Dietz back to back and was surprised by how similar their themes were (lifelong friendship between a girl and a boy) and how very differently they were told. Dietz is the dark side of the coin, Tornadoes is the light. Full review here 4/5 stars
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (Amy Berkower/Writers House) 198pp audiobook – No light fare, this is one of those heart-wrenching, eye-opening, important stories I pray will be read by the people (victims and abusers) who need to see it. 4/5 stars
Wonder by R. J. Palacio audiobook – Half a million(!) people have a reviewed this book on Goodreads, and it still has a 4.41 rating. That’s pretty outstanding. Wonder was sweet and featured both YA & MG characters in an authentic way that developed a sort of “six degrees of separation” around the central character Auggie. A sweet story, another “important” story that I think I was supposed to get more choked up about but didn’t. 4/5 stars
Adult Contemporary-Humor
The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella 404pp audiobook – I’m so glad I finally checked out Sophie Kinsella’s writing. What can I say? This book made me happy. XD This fish- out-of-water story with a bit of romance thrown in (not too heavy-handed but a bit steamy) kept me grinning. Okay, and it reminded me to remember what’s important in life. That’s a good combination, right? 4/5 stars
Adult-Mystery
The Cutaway by Christina Kovac 320 pp Netgalley ARC – I’ve read many mystery and suspense novels, but it’s been a a while, so it was fun to get lost in a gripping mystery again. What made this one especially interesting was the behind-the-scenes look at television journalism from the insider perspective of writer Christina Kovac, who’s worked for years managing news rooms. Full review here 4/5 stars
Adult-Autobiography
Digging Deep in Volleyball and Life by Misty May Treanor – Once in a while it’s nice to add a dose of reality to my steady diet of fiction. As a big fan of women’s volleyball, Misty May is one of my idols, so it was interesting to read about her journey to gold superstardom (she also lives in my county–I know people who know her. :)) Shocker: Misty came super close to being named Desiree–which definitely doesn’t have the same ring as “Misty May.”
Shhh. . . let’s chat over here in this quiet corner for a moment so I can tell you. . . well. . .
There’s one more. . .um, thing? I read. I’m shy to admit it because it was darn naughty, but it was also darn funny, so I’ll just go ahead and tell you I read. . .
Happy holidays!
–Eve Messenger
You had SUCH a great reading month–there are soooo many books here that I own and need to pick up soon, myself! So nice to see someone’s thoughts/opinions on them, I’ll be keeping your mini reviews in mind while reading I’m sure!
Thanks so so much for sharing, hon! How have you been recently? I feel like we haven’t talked in forever.
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Yep, it’s been forever. I’m sad to say it seems I’ve lost touched with so many friends from my early days of blogging, partly because I wasn’t blogging as much for a while. Anyway, it’s great to be back in touch with you again!
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Yas, I’m so so glad to see you back at least a little! ❤ And that makes sense; I stopped blogging consistently for a while there, myself, and fell out of touch as well.
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Oo! I’m happy to hear about the Lie Tree. I received it from Netgalley some time ago and I’ve just been letting it sit there. >.> Woops! Maybe now I’ll get around to reading it. ^.^
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Lucky you for being approved for such a good book on Netgalley!! In some ways, it’s kind of a challenging read, but whoah is it different and strange in a good way.
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Oo! Strange and different. I like these things! ^.^ Haha! Sometimes being approved on Netgalley isn’t that hard at all, which is probably why it takes me so long to read the books. Woops!
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I really enjoyed The Lie Tree, too!
I’ve got Tornadoes and The Cutaway on my TBR list. 🙂
I felt the same about Wonder. It was good, but I didn’t feel as strongly as I think I was supposed to.
I recommended My Sister Rosa (YA) to you over on Goodreads – coming of age yet deliciously creepy. 🙂
If you’re looking for good mystery/suspense/thrillers, I read a lot of those. Most of the ones I loved this year are rated/reviewed over on Goodreads – my 2016 Read Shelf and my 2016 Favorites Shelf. 🙂
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Thanks, Madeline! I can always count on you for great book recommendations. I saw that you recommended My Sister Rosa to me on Goodreads, but now that you mention it’s deliciously creepy, well, there’s no way I can pass that up now, can I? 😀
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You have no idea how excited I am that someone other than me has read The Lie Tree! So glad you enjoyed it as much as I did. My son is currently reading Wonder, and I am thinking about picking it up after he is done 🙂
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If I’m remembering correctly, it was because of you that I read this book. Nice rec, pal! And that’s AWESOME that your son is reading Wonder. I think every kid should, for sure.
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great post- cool to see you liked the raven boys series! And I’ve seen lie tree knocking about and want to give it a go. hehe what on earth is the trump temptations about??
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Look it up because if I try to tell you about it I’ll blush too hard.
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hahaha ok!
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hahahahahahaha just looked it up! hahahaha oh dear- what did I just read!!! hahahahaha can’t believe the ending either lol- oh my god thanks for the tip!
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