4, 5, 6, 7 - Mortal Instruments and more!

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
The first book in the Mortal Instruments series! I am hooked! I devoured this, rushed to the bookstore to get the second book when I was about 50 pages from the end, and started it immediately. It's a beautiful alternate-New York setting. There are vampires, werewolves, and warlocks. There are mysterious, beautiful, tattooed Shadowhunters. What more can a girl ask for?

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
Again, I devoured this! I am particularly enjoying Alec and Magnus! :) Also, Clary's developing talent with runes is intriguing! Makes me want to go study runes...but then again, I love languages, so that's not too surprising. I don't want to say too much because I hate spoilers!

Wide Awake by David Levithan
This political fantasy by the author of the fabulous Boy Meets Boy was a lot of fun! I will say up front that there were many political comments that I emphatically DID NOT agree with (I am fiscally conservative and a strong supporter of less government), but I can definitely get on board with the idea of a world in which we could elect a gay, Jewish President. Especially one who is married with kids. What a wonderful world that would be. I hope, for the sake of my friends, my family, and my future children, that such a thing comes to pass.

Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez
This sweet novel chronicles the development of the relationships between Nelson, out and proud teen; Kyle, Nelson's best friend who is lurking in the shadows of his closet; and Jason, the school's star jock who loves his girlfriend but might like Kyle too. I enjoyed the budding relationships among the boys. The story was full of hope and joy, even when things were filled with angst.

More books I have acquired lately!

Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo
This little book is about a boy who was very sick and almost died. Later, he told his parents a detailed account of his trip to Heaven and his visit with Jesus and the angels.

Foxfire ed. Eliot Wigginton
(Hog Dressing, Log Cabin Building, Mountain Crafts and Foods, Planting by the Signs, Snake Lore, Hunting Tales, Faith Healing, Moonshining) What more can a girl ask for in a Valentine's Day gift? :)

Fang by James Patterson
Next in the Maximum Ride series, I was just waiting for it to come out in paperback so I could get it. Yay!

Christmas Gifts Abound!

I am so blessed to have friends and family who invariably choose wonderful books for me! Not as though I have any trouble choosing books for myself, as you can see by the last part of this list. :) If I read just the books on this list, I will have matched my total for 2010. Wow. I should get on that.

From Mom:
Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card
My Reading Life by Pat Conroy
Millenium Falcon by James Luceno
The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking
Jedi Twilight by Michael Reaves

From Mandy:
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

From Lindsey:
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stahl

From Sandy:
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Other books borrowed, bought, or discovered on shelves:
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Storm Front by Jim Butcher
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Shiver by Maggie Steifvater
Linger by Maggie Steifvater
Paper Towns by John Green
The Meaning of Matthew by Judy Shepard
The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
Homebody by Orson Scott Card
Welcome to the Ark by Stephanie S Tolan
Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen
la línea by Ann Jaramillo
The Queen's Governess by Karen Harper
The Death and Life of the Great American School System by Diane Ravitch
Fallen by Lauren Kate
Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz
Abyss by Troy Denning
Order 66 by Karen Traviss

Dystopian Literature Circles

edit: I can't make this post look right, so I'm probably going to go back and remove the images. I just don't have time this morning.

I have been gathering a collection of dystopian literature to prepare for Literature Circles. As I explained to my dad, dystopian YA literature is set in a broken (sometimes post-apocalyptic, but not always) society where personal freedoms have been infringed upon in some way, usually involving technology. The characters are usually young people coming of age in this oppressive society and searching for identity or freedom. There is usually a feeling of hope in a story from this genre, especially in the YA range.

So far, I've collected the following. First, books I've read:

And the books I need to read:

21, 22, and 23 - Catching Fire and Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins and Evermore, Alyson Noel

21 - Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games)

So it took me almost half the book to get into this one. I suddenly got hooked and devoured the rest in a couple of sittings, though. I don't want to say too much for fear of giving something away. No spoilers on this blog! I can't wait to offer this as a Lit Circle choice to my AL group. :)

22 - Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games)

OK, I can't even begin to describe my fascination with this book. I'll only say that it's somewhat disconcerting to read one's dreams in print. There are so many scenes in this book that mirror exactly in pacing and tone the dreams that wake me up in the middle of the night. Chase dreams, end-of-the-world dreams, fighting-for-survival dreams. Yeah. Chills, for sure. I loved it!! I will say that I am dissatisfied with the resolution (or lack thereof) for one character. I won't say who, though. Again, I don't do spoilers.

23 - Evermore: The Immortals

I enjoyed this little piece of trashy teen lit immensely! With the language, drinking, and other weird stuff, I can't recommend it to my students, but that's ok. It was a lot of fun to read! I detect threads of Twilight, as well as other vampire-lit traditions, even though there aren't really any vampires.

18 and 19 - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Love That Dog by Sharon Creech

18 - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Oh, my goodness! This book combines all the good things of The Giver, Uglies, and every other dystopian YA novel I've ever read into a completely incredible story! I can't post too much about the plot without ruining everything, but wow. Every year in Panem, a post-future-civil-war North American society, each of 12 districts sends two tributes, a male and a female between the ages of 12 and 18, to the Hunger Games, a required viewing, televised, last man standing battle to the death in a arena filled with mysterious dangers. Armed only with wits, physical prowess, and whatever can be grabbed on the run, each tribute must struggle to survive and eliminate the others. I snagged the second and third books, Catching Fire and Mockingjay in Costco this weekend for $9.79 each, hardback. :)

19 - Love That Dog by Sharon Creech

This is one of the best novels in poem form I have EVER read. Jack's voice has a ring of truth that is so difficult to write. I particularly love the references to well-known poets and their work. Simply wonderful, sweet, and a little heartbreaking. I am going to snag the sequel, Hate That Cat, the next time I take my kids to the media center.

17 - This World We Live In, Susan Beth Pfeffer

I devoured This World We Live In with my usual speed, even though it meant staying up way too late reading on a school (well, work, really) night. I thoroughly enjoyed this series as a whole. It was a frightening glimpse of how our world can change in an instant. I've always enjoyed books with an apocalyptic bent, though.

This World We Live In seemed to suffer from what I'm beginning to think of as series-itis. The last book in many series (Inkdeath, Breaking Dawn, and even Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows come to mind) feels rushed and underedited. There is too much fluff as the characters and plot careen toward a conclusion that wraps up all the loose ends and ties them in a nice neat bow. This all happens at the expense of believable character development and realistic dialog and decision-making. I mean, I guess I can believe that Miranda would do the things she did, but in truth her choices seemed much less in character and in keeping with the spirit of the book than they had previously. I don't know...maybe I'm just picky.

12-16 and birthday books

The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

This is the second book in a series about what would happen to the world as we know it if the moon were knocked just a little closer. This installment is set in New York City, where Alex Morales struggles to keep himself and his sisters alive through the first cruel winter. His struggles and experiences are quite different from Miranda's were in the first book. His mother is at work and his father is out of the country when the asteroid strikes the moon, meaning that he is the man of the house. He is able to rely on the Catholic church for awhile, but eventually even that chain of command breaks down and he is launched into a desperate struggle to get out of the dying city. I can't wait to see what the third book brings!

South of Broad by Pat Conroy

Written in classic Conroy style, this story touched on a new topic: homosexuality and the AIDS epidemic of the 1980's. I saw echoes of Beach Music and The Prince of Tides in the characters and events. In particular the beautiful and damaged heroines with their sibilant names seem as though they could walk in and out of each other's stories: Shyla, Starla, Sheba, and Savannah. Conroy's description of the hurricane which rips through Charleston captivated me and reminded me of the scene from Beach Music in which Shyla and Jack dance in the beach house as the waves tear it apart during a similar storm. It's fascinating to see so many symbols and devices used in so many different ways.

When the Wind Blows by James Patterson

I haven't quite finished this one, but I am enjoying it immensely. It's written in standard Patterson style: short chapters, lots of action and dialog, fast moving story, nice blend of science fact and character-driven morality. Also, I am confused by what I once read, that the Max in this book is not the same Max in the Maximum Ride books. I think that this cannot possibly be true, as she is nearly the same character! The other bird-kids are different, but really in name only. (And I think I prefer their names in this to their names in the YA books.)

Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich

As usual, this came out right before my birthday and Mom and Daddy gave it to me as a gift. I enjoyed it, although I am getting a little frustrated that the characters (specifically Morelli and Ranger) are completely static at this point. I would like to see them grow and change, as real people do in real life.

One Second After by William R. Forstchen

This is definitively the most amazing book I've read yet this year. It tops Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, although in truth the two are related. In One Second After, an EMP is detonated over the United States, destroying all electronic devices in an instant. The novel, which is set in Black Mountain, North Carolina (a place with which I am reasonably familiar), then describes the efforts of the people there to survive as their world is thrown into chaos. The threat of an EMP is very real in our world today, where people rely increasingly on electronics to complete simple tasks and the generation which knew how to complete those tasks without electronics is dying out. This should be required reading for every American. It's simply terrifying, beautifully written, and compelling.

11 - Life as We Knew It, Susan Beth Pfeffer

This book caught my eye because of the lovely illustration of the moon on the cover. Of course I was hooked when I figured out that the premise is that the moon has been struck by an asteroid and knocked closer to Earth. It is written in the form of a diary narrated by the main character, Miranda, who lives in a small town in Pennsylvania. It chronicles the hardships her family experiences as the Earth reacts to the effects of the moon's strengthened gravity.

As floods, storms, earthquakes, volcanoes, clouds of toxic ash, illness, and freezing temperatures wreak havoc on their world, Miranda and her family struggle to survive. Of course, I love stories of the apocalypse. This is an interesting take I've never read before. Pfeffer did a good job of creating empathetic, realistic characters.

I initially thought this would be a good read-aloud choice, but as I read further, I realized that it has an element of evangelism that, even though it doesn't come to anything good for the characters involved, might make some listeners uncomfortable. Also, there are a variety of mentions of personal things, like Miranda's period and her budding relationship with Dan, that don't really lend themselves to whole-group consumption. However, I might read only the passage that describes the initial impact and then have my science students write stories about the effects.

I am currently reading the sequel, The Dead and the Gone, in which Alex Morales struggles to survive and protect his sisters during the same time period in New York City. I am devouring it. Even though yesterday was hugely busy, I read almost two hundred pages. The third book, This World We Live In, brings Alex and Miranda together.

5-9

From reading my poor blog, one might conclude that I haven't opened a book since January! This is far, far from the truth, but I have been a bit on the busy side. I submitted my National Board portfolio over spring break, took my students to a Science Olympiad competition, and helped my husband survive another play at his school. It's been a busy busy spring. But enough about me...on to the books!

Scat, Carl Hiassen - Every time I read a Hiassen YA book, I want to go out and buy one of his adult fiction pieces. I absolutely love the way he writes. I enjoy the blend of nature and psychology and 100% believeable characters. This one in particular has a boy whose father lost an arm in Afghanistan. He binds his arm behind his back to more accurately experience what his father is experiencing. It's a very moving gesture and it makes him seem very human. The environmental side of this story is intriguing as well! I've thoroughly enjoyed it.

Science Fair, Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson - This is another fantastic collaboration between these two authors. I loved Peter and the Starcatchers and look forward to getting around to the rest of that series. Science Fair takes off in a completely different direction and never stops. It's the story of three middle school science geeks who struggle to keep the bumbling spies from Krpshtstan (in Eastern Europe, sandwiched between some other "-stan"s?) from taking over the world by taking over their school science fair. Throw in a guy who dresses like Darth Vader (D. Arthur Vaderian) right down to the voice distorter, a levitating frog, and some really stinky cheese, and you've got a hilarious good time!

Wixard's Holiday, Diane Duane - I like this much, much better than A Wizard Alone. It's completely cool! I loved the world that Kit and Nita visit, and I loved the changes their friendship begins to experience. I am really, really anxious to get my hands on the eighth book, and the ninth book came out today!

Max, James Patterson - This installment of the Maximum Ride series made me inexplicably happy. I suppose in truth I'm just a terrible, terrible sap and I liked seeing Max and Fang start to fall in love. I can't wait to get my hands on Fang, but I am hesitant to buy it in hardback...these books aren't worth quite that much.

Food Rules - An Eater's Manual, Michael Pollan - This is such a clear, distilled version of In Defense of Food. It's fantastic! The rules are so easy to follow, and even if you only choose to incorporate a few of them, you'll immediately be healthier and save money.

4 - Rebel Force, Alex Wheeler

This book is from a series of Star Wars novels written for young people, probably upper elementary and middle school readers. I picked it (and the next three in the series) up at the book fair back in the fall, but I just now read it. It really wasn't that great. I mean, the story is intriguing. I especially like the part where Luke, fresh from taking out the Death Star, is forced into a situation where he must win a podrace. Hearkens back to his father's childhood and gives the droids a great change to make some interesting foreshadowy comments. But overall it's just not that well written and it doesn't seem to hold true to the great, albeit cheesy, Star Wars tradition I love so much.

I need to get my hands on the next book in the Fate of the Jedi series. It will certainly be the antidote to this drivel. :)

3 - A Wizard Alone, Diane Duane

A Wizard Alone starts off kind of confusing. Honestly, I'm so used to Kit and Nita being on the same page that I really had a hard time getting my head around them working independently. However, I did figure out that the clown and the knight were the boy Kit was investigating before Nita came right out and said it. I also LOVED the psychiatrist character, Mr. Millman, and his relationship with Nita. I can't wait to get the seventh and eighth books and devour them too!

2 - A Wizard's Dilemma, Diane Duane

I finished A Wizard's Dilemma in a puddle of tears. I had to get up and change my pajama shirt because it was soaking wet. I can imagine, being in Nita's situation, that I would have the same struggles she did. I don't know if I'd have the strength to resist what the Lone Power offered me. Wow. I immediately started the next one, just to keep from getting too sad.

1 - Plum Spooky, Janet Evanovich

I have been coveting this book since March, I think, but I couldn't bring myself to buy it in hardback. I FINALLY found it at Target in paperback last week, so of course I snagged it. It was so much fun to read! I LOVE the men in Stephanie's life. I think Ranger might be my favorite in the end, but Diesel and Morelli are fascinating, too. This book also features Sasquatch (his first name is Junior), Elmer the Fire Farter, Bernie (who is the retired Easter Bunny), and the Jersey Devil.

Reset for a New Year!

I read so much from September to December!

I discovered a wonderful series of books that's as old as I am: the Young Wizards series by Diane Duane. I devoured the first four books (So You Want to Be a Wizard, Deep Wizardy, High Wizardry, and A Wizard Abroad) and came up short just before Christmas because book five was checked out of the school library. After a fourteen year hiatus, a new book (ten, I think) is due out sometime this year.

I pored over the unusual syntax and lofty vocabulary in Cormac McCarthy's The Road. It was easily one of the most challenging books I've read in quite some time. The movie was excellent and very faithful. However, I appreciated that they left out some of most graphic images, which are easier to digest in print than on screen.

I developed a strong hatred for Darcy Rhone, the selfish, self-absorbed protagonist of Emily Giffin's Something Borrowed. Even though she redeemed herself in the eyes of her friends and family at the last possible second, I still hated her for her selfishness and complete disregard for others' feelings throughout the story!

I revisited a childhood friend in Return to Hundred Acre Wood by David Benedictus and Winnie the Pooh by A A Milne. I LOVED both, but I never realized that the Hundred Acre Wood was a socialist stronghold. Rabbit especially talks a great deal about the greater good and even proposes a census and a subsequent tax! Eek! :)

I prepared for an early-2010 movie by reading How to Train Your Dragon by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (and translated by Cressida Creswell). It's cute, but I don't think, from the previews, that the movie will be very faithful. Also, it's geared toward intermediate students: fourth and fifth grade boys, specifically. However, I don't think that most students in this age range will be intellectually ready to understand the linguistic jokes and puns which make this so much fun to read.

I know I read other stuff, too. I started The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, which I am struggling through. It's somewhat compelling, but extremely depressing and I can only handle it in small doses. I also started Hood by Stephen R. Lawhead and it's a struggle. I'm not really enjoying it all that much, especially considering it's about Robin Hood! :( Finally, I'm still slogging through Inkdeath, which I think I started in 2008 and definitely blogged about finishing on March 22. It's just so...drawn out. Kind of like Breaking Dawn and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, it feels like there was such pressure to publish as soon as possible that the process of cutting and slimming down the text was skipped over entirely.

For Christmas, I received Bruce Feiler's Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses, which is absolutely amazing. I don't usually read nonfiction for pleasure, but this is interesting! I desperately want to visit the Holy Land myself. Someday, maybe...

13, 14, 15 - Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by J. Berendt, Finger Lickin' Fifteen by J. Evanovich, Outcast by A. Allston

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berendt

Matt and I read this book together before we went to Savannah for our anniversary. It's a murder mystery and a marvelous character study...of both Savannah's most colorful citizens and the city herself. It was so much fun to explore the city and be able to say "This is where ___ happened!" We visited the Mercer-Williams house and Johnny Mercer's grave in Bonaventure Cemetery. It was great! The movie is also a good adaptation, given that the story is better told in chronological order on the silver screen.

Finger Lickin' Fifteen, Janet Evanovich

This was another fun installment in the Stephanie Plum series! I really wish they would make these into movies or a TV show or something! I love the characters. This one was better than some of the previous books.

Outcast, Aaron Allston

I am so thrilled to see Luke, Han, Leia, Lando, and Wedge back at the forefront of the adventure! I've enjoyed getting to know the next generation through the Yuzhaan Vong invasion and Jacen's regime, but I've been missing the old familiar characters. I think that Allston has done a good job of showing their age and the way they've changed...I hate static characters. I am really looking forward to the rest of this set.

8 - Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson

This was another fun Maximum Ride book! This is really something kids can get into, right down to checking out Fang's blog online.

After examining the blog myself, I might have to check out a couple more of Patterson's series: The Dangerous Days of Daniel x and Witches and Wizards. Hmm.

6 and 7 - Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney and Maximum Ride: School's Out - Forever by James Patterson

Clearly, I've been in a series mood. Actually, I bought both these books at the spring book fair at school last week, and I loved them both!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw has taken my classroom by storm! I really like these books. They are relatively simple to read, making them kid-friendly. Also, they are about the hilarious hijinks of a kid everyone can relate to: the dorky, unsure, slightly clueless kid. We all feel that way sometimes. I'm so excited that there are two more books in the works! The next one comes out October 12!

Maximum Ride: School's Out - Forever is an example of a series continuing the way it ought to. I've been really disappointed by some series lately (Vladimir Tod and Uglies, to name a couple) which start out really great and by the middle of the second book are boring, unlikely, or just plain weird. Maximum Ride on the other hand, has staayed strong! I'm really excited to read the rest of the books!