What I've been reading lately...
A lot of YA, apparently...
1.Londonstani- Gautam Malkani- This book, which launched to a great deal of buzz, is the story of a group of young South Asians living in London. It's written in an incredible style; full of weird language, slang, phonetic spellings and text messaging type writing. I loved the style and tone of the book, but found myself getting frustrated, because there didn't seem to be much of a plot. It reminded me a lot of "Trainspotting", simply because of the slang, and the interactions between the groups of friends. Fortunately lueread and I got a chance to discuss it last night, because I've been dying to talk about it with someone. I felt that the characters were fully fleshed out, and I could really see them in my head. The ending pissed me off so much when I first read that I wanted to kick the book across the room when I first read it. However, now I just think that the book is rather brilliant, and that I need to read it again. Gautam Malkani is coming to the Writers' festival this year, and I was all prepared to try to woo him, until I found out that he's married. Damn.
2. The Mystery of the Graffiti Ghoul by Marty Chan- The second book in the Marty Chan mystery series. There were some funny parts and I love the cultural interplay in this book, but I didn't think it was anything spectacular. Read for Ricepaper.
3. Nothing but the truth and a few white lies- by Justine Chen Headley- A book about a hapa girl who isn't very happy with her mixed heritage. She then goes to math camp at Stanford and learns a lot about herself. Some pretty interesting parts, and relatively amusing. I'll admit I read it to see how the depiction of the mixed character was handled. Good, but not amazing.
4. Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz- A new YA series which explores the lives of rich vampires living in New York. Very New York based, and a completely interesting concept that would make a great tv show or movie. I thought some of the writing was sloppy and could have been cleaned up. The author loves to brand drop. Do we have to hear the names of designers constantly?!? Ick.
That said, I do want to know what happens, so I'll probably read the sequel when it comes out in 2007.
I was looking at Justine Chen Headley's website and she recommended this awesome site for people like myself who are obsessed with YA.
Check out Teen Reads .
1.Londonstani- Gautam Malkani- This book, which launched to a great deal of buzz, is the story of a group of young South Asians living in London. It's written in an incredible style; full of weird language, slang, phonetic spellings and text messaging type writing. I loved the style and tone of the book, but found myself getting frustrated, because there didn't seem to be much of a plot. It reminded me a lot of "Trainspotting", simply because of the slang, and the interactions between the groups of friends. Fortunately lueread and I got a chance to discuss it last night, because I've been dying to talk about it with someone. I felt that the characters were fully fleshed out, and I could really see them in my head. The ending pissed me off so much when I first read that I wanted to kick the book across the room when I first read it. However, now I just think that the book is rather brilliant, and that I need to read it again. Gautam Malkani is coming to the Writers' festival this year, and I was all prepared to try to woo him, until I found out that he's married. Damn.
2. The Mystery of the Graffiti Ghoul by Marty Chan- The second book in the Marty Chan mystery series. There were some funny parts and I love the cultural interplay in this book, but I didn't think it was anything spectacular. Read for Ricepaper.
3. Nothing but the truth and a few white lies- by Justine Chen Headley- A book about a hapa girl who isn't very happy with her mixed heritage. She then goes to math camp at Stanford and learns a lot about herself. Some pretty interesting parts, and relatively amusing. I'll admit I read it to see how the depiction of the mixed character was handled. Good, but not amazing.
4. Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz- A new YA series which explores the lives of rich vampires living in New York. Very New York based, and a completely interesting concept that would make a great tv show or movie. I thought some of the writing was sloppy and could have been cleaned up. The author loves to brand drop. Do we have to hear the names of designers constantly?!? Ick.
That said, I do want to know what happens, so I'll probably read the sequel when it comes out in 2007.
I was looking at Justine Chen Headley's website and she recommended this awesome site for people like myself who are obsessed with YA.
Check out Teen Reads .