There is only one thing that keeps me up past bedtime these days, and it rarely has anything to do with wine anymore…it's a good book.
I am forever late getting into bed (you know, by the time you get the kids to bed, clean things up, veg for a few minutes on the couch with the hubs, shut down the house, and get yourself ready for bed...), but I just CANNOT go right to sleep.
I must read.
So I tell myself I'm only going to read a few pages…and then I look at the clock, my husband long having succumbed to the sandman, and have a mini heart attack, "Oh crap! Is it that late?!"….and then I read a few more pages before I find a decent break-off point, slide my bookmark in and turn out the light.
So what's been in my hands this week? Well, I'm back in the land of YA fiction.
As an aside, I have a two-part post coming up on Tween fiction, which I have been swimming in for the last three months. There are just so many lovely Tween books out there; and they are easy to get your hands on when you spend all of your time in the Children's library and know the children's librarian better than anyone there (We love you Miss Beth!). So I have reviews of about 15 Tween books to share with you…soon to come!
And, as another aside, I have recently read about a few adult titles that sound compelling enough to force a short break from my YA/Tweendom…The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud and The Little Way of Ruthie Leming by Rod Dreher. We shall see.
Now, back to the books at hand…
So, I finally picked up the follow-up to Divergent by Veronica Roth to find out what happened next in her dystopian future world. As you may recall from my earlier post Young Adult Reading List Update…I Finished!, I really enjoyed Divergent. And this week, I devoured Insurgent, book two in the trilogy.
Now, a sequel that can rise to the bar set by a good book one is pretty rare. And I will say that what is true for many is true for Insurgent as well. BUT, as I said, I still devoured the book. It is fast-paced reading, never really losing it's momentum for the entire 500+ pages. I didn't love how the book ended, but I am still pissed that I have to wait for Roth to actually write book three before I can find out what happens to Tris. And that is what carries the book for me…my love for our protagonist, Tris Prior. She is the best kind of female action hero: a mix of brains and physical prowess, of stubborn courage and emotional sensitivity, of jaded youth and caring crusader. She's pretty cool. And Roth has built a future world that interesting and well fleshed-out. I'd say the trilogy is worth a look.
Then I dove into John Green's super popular bestseller The Fault In Our Stars, and I can see why John Green is not only a popular YA author, but is also a man with over a million twitter followers. His writing is crisp, clean and has the dry wit and sharp, spunky dialogue of my favorite TV shows. The characters quickly endear themselves, and though the subject-matter is sad (juvenile cancer), Green gives his characters a fantastically relatable teenage wit that will suck you in and have you cheering for Hazel, Augustus and Issac…and even Hazel's parents. Plus, I must admit, I totally fell in love with Augustus Waters... I really found the book quite brilliant and would definitely recommend it.
And lastly, last night I started Me and Earl and The Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews. Interesting so far…we shall see…
So that's what's keeping me up these days.
Until next time, happy reading!
I am forever late getting into bed (you know, by the time you get the kids to bed, clean things up, veg for a few minutes on the couch with the hubs, shut down the house, and get yourself ready for bed...), but I just CANNOT go right to sleep.
I must read.
So I tell myself I'm only going to read a few pages…and then I look at the clock, my husband long having succumbed to the sandman, and have a mini heart attack, "Oh crap! Is it that late?!"….and then I read a few more pages before I find a decent break-off point, slide my bookmark in and turn out the light.
So what's been in my hands this week? Well, I'm back in the land of YA fiction.
As an aside, I have a two-part post coming up on Tween fiction, which I have been swimming in for the last three months. There are just so many lovely Tween books out there; and they are easy to get your hands on when you spend all of your time in the Children's library and know the children's librarian better than anyone there (We love you Miss Beth!). So I have reviews of about 15 Tween books to share with you…soon to come!
And, as another aside, I have recently read about a few adult titles that sound compelling enough to force a short break from my YA/Tweendom…The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud and The Little Way of Ruthie Leming by Rod Dreher. We shall see.
Now, back to the books at hand…
So, I finally picked up the follow-up to Divergent by Veronica Roth to find out what happened next in her dystopian future world. As you may recall from my earlier post Young Adult Reading List Update…I Finished!, I really enjoyed Divergent. And this week, I devoured Insurgent, book two in the trilogy.
Now, a sequel that can rise to the bar set by a good book one is pretty rare. And I will say that what is true for many is true for Insurgent as well. BUT, as I said, I still devoured the book. It is fast-paced reading, never really losing it's momentum for the entire 500+ pages. I didn't love how the book ended, but I am still pissed that I have to wait for Roth to actually write book three before I can find out what happens to Tris. And that is what carries the book for me…my love for our protagonist, Tris Prior. She is the best kind of female action hero: a mix of brains and physical prowess, of stubborn courage and emotional sensitivity, of jaded youth and caring crusader. She's pretty cool. And Roth has built a future world that interesting and well fleshed-out. I'd say the trilogy is worth a look.
Then I dove into John Green's super popular bestseller The Fault In Our Stars, and I can see why John Green is not only a popular YA author, but is also a man with over a million twitter followers. His writing is crisp, clean and has the dry wit and sharp, spunky dialogue of my favorite TV shows. The characters quickly endear themselves, and though the subject-matter is sad (juvenile cancer), Green gives his characters a fantastically relatable teenage wit that will suck you in and have you cheering for Hazel, Augustus and Issac…and even Hazel's parents. Plus, I must admit, I totally fell in love with Augustus Waters... I really found the book quite brilliant and would definitely recommend it.
And lastly, last night I started Me and Earl and The Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews. Interesting so far…we shall see…
So that's what's keeping me up these days.
Until next time, happy reading!
Comments
Post a Comment