Month: April 2016

State of the TBR Pile: April 2016

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There are days when I wish I could spend all day reading a book. Then there are days when I can’t seem to find a book to capture my interest, picking up one after another and tossing it into the “maybe I’ll give it another try later” pile. Which means my TBR pile (at least the active one; there are back ups to my back up pile, but at least it’s only a shelf, for now) is in constant flux. I’m most interested in what stays on there and for how long before I move it off. Then again, like everything, staying on top of All The Books is a process. (And right now, I’m noticing that there’s a lot of YA on there…)

Here’s what’s currently on my nightstand:

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The Girl in the Well is Me by Karen Rivers
A Totally Awkward Love Story by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison
You Know Me Well by David Levithan and Nina LaCour
Quiet Power by Susan Cain and illustrated by Grant Stine (who’s local, and at the store on May 3rd!)
The Haters by Jesse Andrews
The Way I Used to Be by Amber Smith
The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl by Melissa Keil
Will Wilder by Raymond Arroyo
The First Time She Drowned by Kerry Kletter
The Nocturnals by Tracy Hecht
Flawed by Cecelia Ahern

What’s on your pile that you’re looking forward to?

Love & Gelato

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lovegelatoby Jenna Evans Welch
First sentence: “You’ve had bad days before, right?”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: April 12, 2016
Review copy snagged from the ARC shelves at work.
Content: There’s some drinking (the drinking age in Italy is 16) and a couple of lecherous men that the main character encounters. It’ll be in the YA section of the bookstore.

Lina’s mom has died somewhat suddenly, and several months later Lina has found herself in Florence, meeting the father  — Howard — she never knew because her mother never told her about him. It’s not exactly her idea of a good time. What she really wants is to just go home and live with her best friend.

Then she receives her mother’s journal from her time in Florence, and all of a sudden, things become more interesting. She not only learns about her mother’s secrets, but sees Florence through her mother’s eyes. It also helps that she meets a cute Italian (well, half-American) boy, Ren, to share things with.

This was was just about perfect as a summer romance. Sure, it starts with a dead parent, but after that it’s utterly charming. I loved the mystery of Lina’s father: who was he, what was he like? I loved her getting to know Howard, and I adored Ren as a character. Sure, it was a little predictable (I figured out the twist pages before Lina did), but in a comforting way. Besides, I was reading it as an escape to and a romance in Italy, not for some great literary writing. And Welch served it up (pun intended) delightfully.

 

Raymie Nightingale

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raymieby Kate DiCamillo
First sentence: “There were three of them, three girls.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Release date: April 12, 2016
Content: The publisher suggests 10 and up, but I think a 4th-grader would be able to handle it. It will be in the middle grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Raymie has a plan. She will take baton lessons — it’s the summer of 1975, after all — and enter the Little Miss Central Tire competition, and win. That way, her picture will get in the paper and her father — who recently ran off with a dental hygienist — will see it and want to come home.

The thing is: her plan (like most plans) doesn’t go as she thought it would. She meets two other girls: Louisiana, whose parents have died and who wants to win the competition as much as Raymie because that means she and her grandmother will have money for more than tunafish;  and Beverly, whose mother is insisting on the competition, but who secretly hates it all and would much rather sabotage the whole thing. Together, the three of them have a summer they will never forget.

In many ways, this is vintage DiCamillo: quiet and unassuming, and yet it reaches something deep inside you. I didn’t want to put it down, not because I was thoroughly invested in the plot or the characters, but because this longing to belong, to figure out what life Means, to find and have friends all spoke to me. It’s a common enough theme, but in DiCamillo’s deft hands it transcends the ordinary. (I don’t know if I can praise this highly enough.) And yet, I think it’s going to be one of those books that adults like but kids just don’t quite get. I think this one sits better with some life experience, and some perspective coming to it. But I may be wrong.

Who ever reads it will definitely be touched, I think.

The Winner’s Kiss

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by Marie Rutkoskiwinnerskiss
First sentence: “He told himself a story.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: The Winner’s Curse, The Winner’s Crime
Content: There’s some sexytimes, but it’s tastefully off screen. Mostly. I am toying with moving this to the Teen section (grades 9+). (I hate doing that, especially since the other two are really pretty firmly in my 6-8th grade range. But, I also don’t want one in the Teen section and the other two in the YA section, so I may just move them all, or keep this one in YA. Frustrating.)

Spoilers for the first two, obviously.  Also: I still hate these covers with a passion. I mean, they’re pretty and all, but they’re NOT the books.

Kestrel has been arrested as a traitor to her country and shipped off to a work camp in the frozen tundra. Arin is still reeling from betrayal, when Kestrel rejected him and is throwing himself into his alliance with the Dacrans, determined to beat Valoria out of his country once and for all. He’s still in love with Kestrel, but she doesn’t seem to return his affections.

Both are determined to make the best of their situation. Both are determined to exact vengeance upon the leaders of Valoria, which includes Kestrel’s father. Neither are prepared for the directions that goal will lead them.

I don’t want to give more away from the plot (though if you’re smart, you can make some assumptions from the content…), but I’ll say this. It’s a good ending. I liked how Rutkoski wrapped things up, giving the story a complete finish, while not giving us every single little detail about the future. I love how she gave both Arin and Kestrel moments to shine, moments to grow, moments to be complex and do the unexpected. I liked that there was palpable tension, not necessarily between people but in situations. I found myself biting my nails, hoping things worked out okay. I loved how no one was black or white, and that even the bad guys were complex and interesting.

I’m definitely sad that this series is ending. It was definitely a good story.

First Sunday Daughter Reviews: April 2016

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Well, after a week of being indecisive, the weather has finally settled on it being spring here. I like spring in Kansas. It’s short, but I do love the flowers and the leaves coming out, and the general greenness that I miss during the winter.

As for the girls, they are getting some reading done. Both C and E are reading this for English class:

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So far, they say it’s a bit boring. I’m afraid I’ve hyped it up too much, and they won’t like it. I hope they do. *fingers crossed*

A is re-reading this because she has to read a William Allen White book (that’s our state award), and we had this kicking around the house:

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She says Sierra is her favorite character because she doesn’t care about the game and just reads the entire time. Good reasons.

K and Hubby are reading this:

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They’re not too far into it (they just started a few days ago), but she’s enjoying it so far. She’s aware enough to know what’s coming at the end, but she’s enjoying discovering it for the first time.

What are your kids reading?