I've been avoiding this novel for years (no, I won't say how many) -- not consciously, but somehow I hadn't read it until now.  When Dean Winchester said he'd read it I made up my mind if I heard one more reference to it I'd take the plunge.  Jo Walton mentioned it (much more than I thought at the time) in Among Others, so it went on my reserve ( Read more... )

It took me longer than I thought it would to finish this one, even though I pretty much loved everything about it.  (I think it had more to do with my hormones & their reaction to the middle than to the fact it's over 800 pages long, but that's just TMI.)  It's another story that Mr. King started in the 1970s but waited *mumblemumble* years to ( Read more... )

This is one of the best books I've ever read.  It was fun & surprising & at times achingly well-written.  Plus, the cover is gorgeous & fits the story better than most.


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So today I finished my first new S.E. Hinton story since Rumble Fish & it felt like I imagine it would feel to go back to the house you grew up in & find it still there & as welcoming as you remember it.  The book is still from the POV of a guy and even though he’s a grown-up guy this time it still gave me that feeling.

I didn’t realize this book ( Read more... )

So I still don't know exactly how this book got on my TBR list, but I'm glad it was there.  Among Others, as most of the blurbs say in one way or another, is a brilliantly written example of what it's like to escape an unhappy childhood through books.  My own escape wasn't as cool as hers (in more than one or two ways), but it felt similar enough.

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So last week I read Passing Strange, the third of Daniel Waters' Generation Dead novels.  I would've read it anyway, but it still counts toward my Reading Challenge since it was on a TBR list.

The first two books, Generation Dead & Kiss of Life, were good & made me want to keep hanging out with these characters.  PS was different in many ways, but ( Read more... )

So in my effort to break out of my comfort zone I read Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs, and am logging it under YA for my 2012 Reading Challenge.  I almost plunked this one under the New Authors heading but that hardly seemed fair since it's his first novel.

Blurb:  As a kid, Jacob formed a special bond with his ( Read more... )

Last year my goals centered around broadening my experience, trying new things, and I didn't do half bad even if I didn't try everything on my list. This year I'll focus my energies on two areas: health & words. One because I have to; one because it's where my passion lies.

So my plan for 2012 is to regain the control that's slipped away since ( Read more... )