Books Read - June 2010
This has been a stressful month, what with the 24-hour power outage from when the Xcel substation near our home exploded; the kitchen remodel and all the packing, unpacking, phone calls, and errands related to it (I hope I never have to go to Home Depot again!); my car needing to go into the shop and get some expensive repairs; another plumbing problem I am dealing with right now; and the teen summer reading program I run every year in June and July, for which I do a special program every week outside my normal working hours. Oh, and the near-constant 90+ degree weather isn't making anything easier, since we only have window boxes in two rooms upstairs and we try not to run them much, as Xcel has asked everyone to conserve power lest they threaten us with scheduled blackouts. When too many things go wrong at once, I tend to get whiny and go "oh poor me", so I apologize. But what this has meant for my reading is that I read A TON of books this month, as a way of keeping my mind occupied with something other than fretting.
So, here's the list. I am trying slowly to catch up reviews on the books I feel were especially good (and way behind, of course, because there were a lot of them). I'm in a depressing, tired, stressful hump. So, feel free to ask me any questions about the books I've read and I'll answer them asap, since reviews are going so slowly.
**45. Shadow Hills, by Anastasia Hopcus. YA Paranormal Thriller/Romance. 400 pages. 3.5 stars. Read ARC.
46. Thief Eyes, by Janni Lee Simner. YA Paranormal Thriller/Romance. 272 pages. 4 stars.
47. Brightly Woven, by Alexandra Bracken. YA Fantasy/Romance. 386 pages. 4 stars. Review here.
**48. The Bird of the River, by Kage Baker. Fantasy. 304 pages. 4 stars. Read ARC.
49. Fever Crumb (Hungry City Prequel, Book One), by Philip Reeve. YA Science Fiction/Steampunk. 336 pages. 3.5 stars. Read ARC.
**50. Prospero in Hell (Prospero's Daughter, Book Two), by L. Jagi Lamplighter. Fantasy. 352 pages. 3.5 stars. Read ARC.
51. The Demon’s Lexicon (Book One), by Sarah Rees Brennan. YA Horror/Fantasy. 336 pages. 4 stars
52. The Boy Who Climbed into the Moon, by David Almond. Juv Fiction. 128 pages. 3 stars.
53. The Sixty-Eight Rooms, by Marianne Malone. Juv Fantasy/Fiction. 292 pages. 2 stars.
54. Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1, by Bryan Lee O’Malley. Graphic novel. 4 stars.
55. Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 2. Graphic novel. 4 stars.
56. Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 3. Graphic novel. 4 stars.
57. Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 4. Graphic novel. 4 stars.
58. Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 5. Graphic novel. 4 stars.
59. Transmetropolitan, Vol. 6, by Warren Ellis. Graphic novel. 3 stars.
60. Enchanted Glass, by Diana Wynne Jones. Juv Fantasy. 3.5 stars.
61. The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking, Book One), by Patrick Ness. YA Science Fiction. 479 pages. 5 stars.
**62. Nobel Genes, by Rune Michaels. YA Fiction. 192 pages. 3 stars. Read ARC.
**63. Touch Blue, by Cynthia Lord. Juv Fiction. 186 pages. 4 stars. Read ARC.
64. The Demon’s Covenant (Demon's Lexicon, Book Two), by Sarah Rees Brennan. YA Horror/Fantasy. 448 pages. 4 stars.
Did not finish: The Long Man, by Steve Englehart, a book I won from Librarything's Early Reviewer Program
**Booklist reviews
Best book I read this month: Without a doubt, it's The Knife of Never Letting Go, which was brutally hard to read despite its tumbling quick pace, just because I was so afraid for the characters the entire time. This is an incredible book, intelligent and thought-provoking and unbearably suspenseful, written in a highly different voice that nevertheless became second nature to me immediately.
Worst book I read this month: Out of the books I finished, I have to say The Sixty-Eight Rooms was a huge disappointment. I thought the writing was dull and the plot clunky and over-focused on mundane details (a good author knows to just show the interesting and/or relevant details of their character's lives, not go through every day step-by-step). Despite so many different side plots, the pacing was incredibly slow. I mostly kept reading so that I could find out how the magic of the key and the miniature rooms worked, and unless I missed something huge, there wasn't a satisfactory answer at all.
So, here's the list. I am trying slowly to catch up reviews on the books I feel were especially good (and way behind, of course, because there were a lot of them). I'm in a depressing, tired, stressful hump. So, feel free to ask me any questions about the books I've read and I'll answer them asap, since reviews are going so slowly.
**45. Shadow Hills, by Anastasia Hopcus. YA Paranormal Thriller/Romance. 400 pages. 3.5 stars. Read ARC.
46. Thief Eyes, by Janni Lee Simner. YA Paranormal Thriller/Romance. 272 pages. 4 stars.
47. Brightly Woven, by Alexandra Bracken. YA Fantasy/Romance. 386 pages. 4 stars. Review here.
**48. The Bird of the River, by Kage Baker. Fantasy. 304 pages. 4 stars. Read ARC.
49. Fever Crumb (Hungry City Prequel, Book One), by Philip Reeve. YA Science Fiction/Steampunk. 336 pages. 3.5 stars. Read ARC.
**50. Prospero in Hell (Prospero's Daughter, Book Two), by L. Jagi Lamplighter. Fantasy. 352 pages. 3.5 stars. Read ARC.
51. The Demon’s Lexicon (Book One), by Sarah Rees Brennan. YA Horror/Fantasy. 336 pages. 4 stars
52. The Boy Who Climbed into the Moon, by David Almond. Juv Fiction. 128 pages. 3 stars.
53. The Sixty-Eight Rooms, by Marianne Malone. Juv Fantasy/Fiction. 292 pages. 2 stars.
54. Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1, by Bryan Lee O’Malley. Graphic novel. 4 stars.
55. Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 2. Graphic novel. 4 stars.
56. Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 3. Graphic novel. 4 stars.
57. Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 4. Graphic novel. 4 stars.
58. Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 5. Graphic novel. 4 stars.
59. Transmetropolitan, Vol. 6, by Warren Ellis. Graphic novel. 3 stars.
60. Enchanted Glass, by Diana Wynne Jones. Juv Fantasy. 3.5 stars.
61. The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking, Book One), by Patrick Ness. YA Science Fiction. 479 pages. 5 stars.
**62. Nobel Genes, by Rune Michaels. YA Fiction. 192 pages. 3 stars. Read ARC.
**63. Touch Blue, by Cynthia Lord. Juv Fiction. 186 pages. 4 stars. Read ARC.
64. The Demon’s Covenant (Demon's Lexicon, Book Two), by Sarah Rees Brennan. YA Horror/Fantasy. 448 pages. 4 stars.
Did not finish: The Long Man, by Steve Englehart, a book I won from Librarything's Early Reviewer Program
**Booklist reviews
Best book I read this month: Without a doubt, it's The Knife of Never Letting Go, which was brutally hard to read despite its tumbling quick pace, just because I was so afraid for the characters the entire time. This is an incredible book, intelligent and thought-provoking and unbearably suspenseful, written in a highly different voice that nevertheless became second nature to me immediately.
Worst book I read this month: Out of the books I finished, I have to say The Sixty-Eight Rooms was a huge disappointment. I thought the writing was dull and the plot clunky and over-focused on mundane details (a good author knows to just show the interesting and/or relevant details of their character's lives, not go through every day step-by-step). Despite so many different side plots, the pacing was incredibly slow. I mostly kept reading so that I could find out how the magic of the key and the miniature rooms worked, and unless I missed something huge, there wasn't a satisfactory answer at all.