Books Read: December 2010
Upcoming over this weekend are my Top 5 books in children's, young adult, and adult books, as well as Top 5 lists in TV, movies, music, and so on. I have great fun making lists, so we'll see what I come up with. Also upcoming is my typical end-of-year book review avalanche, in which I attempt to write short-to-medium reviews of all the books I've been too lazy or busy to write about in the past several months, with a few longer reviews for books about which I feel I have a lot to say.
But in the meantime, here's my list of books read this month. While I feel awesome for breaking 100 books this year, I can't shake the feeling that there are a lot of worthy books I wanted to read but never got to, so I still feel like I didn't read enough. Of course, I always feel that way, like I've fallen behind in some mythical reading race and am trailing in last place, so meh. I read somewhere that trying to keep up with what's published is like trying to sip from a firehose at full blast, and that's certainly true.
111. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, by N.K. Jemisin. Fantasy. 3.5 stars. 412 pages.
**112. Savannah Grey, by Cliff McNish. YA SF. 3 stars. 272 pages. Read ARC.
**113. The Abused Werewolf Rescue Group, by Catherine Jinks. YA Paranormal. 2 stars. 416 pages. Read ARC. Review here (Goodreads link).
114. The Reckoning (Darkest Powers, Book Three), by Kelley Armstrong. YA Paranormal. 3 stars. 391 pages. Review here (Goodreads link).
115. The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, by Tom Angleberger. Juv Fiction. 4 stars. 144 pages.
116. Kind (The Book Neighbors, Book Three), by Holly Black and Ted Naifeh. YA Graphic novel. 3 stars. Review here (Goodreads link).
117. All Clear (sequel to Blackout), by Connie Willis. Science fiction. 3.5 stars. 641 pages.
118. Cosmic, by Frank Cottrell Boyce. Juv Fiction. 5 stars. 320 pages.
119. At Home: A Short History of Private Life, by Bill Bryson. Nonfiction. 4 stars. 497 pages. (Technically, I finished this book January 1, but I'm counting it in December since I read the bulk of the book in December and only about 10 pages in January.)
Picture Books read: Instructions, by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess; Shark vs. Train, by Chris Barton
**Booklist reviews
Best book I read this month: Like Blackout before, I had my problems with All Clear, but taken as a whole it's an amazing story with an immersive historical background, characters you grow to love, and a poignant exploration of all of the little ways humans touch each other with bravery, goodness, and caring, even in the darkest of times. As a runner-up. Cosmic had similar themes (albeit covered in a much quirkier, humorous way), following a young boy who has never felt like he fits in as he experiences events so large and humbling that he returns from the experience with a new appreciation for all the little, seemingly unimportant things you take for granted but actually make up a meaningful life.
Worst book I read this month: I was disappointed with The Abused Werewolf Rescue Group. I love Catherine Jinks, because she created Pagan, one of the best characters ever and his series of books that made me actually enjoy historical fiction. I thought this paranormal series was supposed to be an unusual take on the common vampire/werewolf myths (as seen in YA fiction) and at least a little funny, but I found most of the characters annoying (especially the ones that recur from the first book, which is the majority of them), and only the main character Toby gets any personality/development. (Well, and his mother, who is the only character in the book who reacts like a real person. I did like her.) The narrative was overly talky and repetitive (I can't even count the times Toby says things like, "I should tell you, by the way . . . " and "I'd better explain . . . " and "Before I go any farther, I should mention . . . " and so on) and nothing happens in the story for the first 200 pages except that two strangers stalk Toby, telling him he's a werewolf and he should allow them to lock him up on the full moon, which eventally wins him over for reasons I can't fathom. (Given that he only turns into a werewolf at the very end of the book and it's covered in three sentences, off-page, no less, I can't figure out why he lets go of his skepticism as early as he does, though at least he does hold on to it for long enough to not look totally stupid.) Enough action happens in the latter half that the book should be exciting, but mostly I found myself skimming over whenever characters would talk to each other, and that's never good, especially since many scenes are dialogue-heavy. The most interesting idea -- the underground werewolf fighting ring that Toby is kidnapped for -- never goes anywhere, and that was a major disappointment for me, too, though I did like how Toby's and his friends' love for Jackass-style stunts and delinquent pranks prepared him for escaping his captors. Overall, though, just a meh read for me.
But in the meantime, here's my list of books read this month. While I feel awesome for breaking 100 books this year, I can't shake the feeling that there are a lot of worthy books I wanted to read but never got to, so I still feel like I didn't read enough. Of course, I always feel that way, like I've fallen behind in some mythical reading race and am trailing in last place, so meh. I read somewhere that trying to keep up with what's published is like trying to sip from a firehose at full blast, and that's certainly true.
111. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, by N.K. Jemisin. Fantasy. 3.5 stars. 412 pages.
**112. Savannah Grey, by Cliff McNish. YA SF. 3 stars. 272 pages. Read ARC.
**113. The Abused Werewolf Rescue Group, by Catherine Jinks. YA Paranormal. 2 stars. 416 pages. Read ARC. Review here (Goodreads link).
114. The Reckoning (Darkest Powers, Book Three), by Kelley Armstrong. YA Paranormal. 3 stars. 391 pages. Review here (Goodreads link).
115. The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, by Tom Angleberger. Juv Fiction. 4 stars. 144 pages.
116. Kind (The Book Neighbors, Book Three), by Holly Black and Ted Naifeh. YA Graphic novel. 3 stars. Review here (Goodreads link).
117. All Clear (sequel to Blackout), by Connie Willis. Science fiction. 3.5 stars. 641 pages.
118. Cosmic, by Frank Cottrell Boyce. Juv Fiction. 5 stars. 320 pages.
119. At Home: A Short History of Private Life, by Bill Bryson. Nonfiction. 4 stars. 497 pages. (Technically, I finished this book January 1, but I'm counting it in December since I read the bulk of the book in December and only about 10 pages in January.)
Picture Books read: Instructions, by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess; Shark vs. Train, by Chris Barton
**Booklist reviews
Best book I read this month: Like Blackout before, I had my problems with All Clear, but taken as a whole it's an amazing story with an immersive historical background, characters you grow to love, and a poignant exploration of all of the little ways humans touch each other with bravery, goodness, and caring, even in the darkest of times. As a runner-up. Cosmic had similar themes (albeit covered in a much quirkier, humorous way), following a young boy who has never felt like he fits in as he experiences events so large and humbling that he returns from the experience with a new appreciation for all the little, seemingly unimportant things you take for granted but actually make up a meaningful life.
Worst book I read this month: I was disappointed with The Abused Werewolf Rescue Group. I love Catherine Jinks, because she created Pagan, one of the best characters ever and his series of books that made me actually enjoy historical fiction. I thought this paranormal series was supposed to be an unusual take on the common vampire/werewolf myths (as seen in YA fiction) and at least a little funny, but I found most of the characters annoying (especially the ones that recur from the first book, which is the majority of them), and only the main character Toby gets any personality/development. (Well, and his mother, who is the only character in the book who reacts like a real person. I did like her.) The narrative was overly talky and repetitive (I can't even count the times Toby says things like, "I should tell you, by the way . . . " and "I'd better explain . . . " and "Before I go any farther, I should mention . . . " and so on) and nothing happens in the story for the first 200 pages except that two strangers stalk Toby, telling him he's a werewolf and he should allow them to lock him up on the full moon, which eventally wins him over for reasons I can't fathom. (Given that he only turns into a werewolf at the very end of the book and it's covered in three sentences, off-page, no less, I can't figure out why he lets go of his skepticism as early as he does, though at least he does hold on to it for long enough to not look totally stupid.) Enough action happens in the latter half that the book should be exciting, but mostly I found myself skimming over whenever characters would talk to each other, and that's never good, especially since many scenes are dialogue-heavy. The most interesting idea -- the underground werewolf fighting ring that Toby is kidnapped for -- never goes anywhere, and that was a major disappointment for me, too, though I did like how Toby's and his friends' love for Jackass-style stunts and delinquent pranks prepared him for escaping his captors. Overall, though, just a meh read for me.