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.

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

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.

3 - The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: Ninth Grade Slays, Heather Brewer

I enjoyed the plot of this book, and the development of the vampiric world. However, some of the conversations between Vlad and Joss or Henry are completely unrealistic, which really annoys me. I guess I'll probably read the third book when it comes out this summer, but I'm not really all that impressed.

Next (and so far MUCH better): Mr. Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange. The story of Jane Austen's amazing Pride and Prejudice, told from Mr. Darcy's private point of view.

2 - Angels and Demons, Dan Brown

This book was fascinating! I LOVED the seamless symbolism. Dan Brown really knows how to tell an exciting story. I enjoyed the questions the book asks about the relationship between science and Christian faith. I have said many times that certain types of research, particularly in the life sciences, scares me simply because there is no moral line. Even though what the villain did was reprehensible and misguided, the questions he raised were the right ones.

Also: the ambigrams were phenomenal. Having created a few myself, I know it's beyond challenging. Maybe I'll try to upload one of mine. Eesh, they're hard! And mine were simple things, like names. Not four words together! Wow.

Next: finish Inkdeath, read Ninth Grade Slays. Yay vampires!

Books bought, books coveted

First of all, books bought:

The Composer is Dead by Lemony Snicket. This is actually my first Lemony Snicket book, and I LOVE it! True to form, I read the whole thing standing in the bookstore, then decided I had to have it. It's so cool! I'm listening to the CD right now, and it's also very very good. Typically snarky, hilariously dark, and a beautiful representation of the symphony to boot. Wonderful.

The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: Ninth Grade Slays, Heather Brewer. I really liked the first book in this series, Eighth Grade Bites. It's got everything I love in a book: young adult genre, vampires, dark humor, snarky wit, required background knowledge. I can't wait to read it!

And now, books coveted:

The Last Templar, Raymond Khoury. I liked The Da Vinci Code and I'm devouring Angels and Demons, so this looks interesting.

The Kingmaking: Book One of the Pendragon's Banner Trilogy, Helen Hollick. Arthurian legend. What else do I need to say?