Ah, the end of July. It’s blinking hot outside, I’m more than ready for the girls to go back to school (two weeks!), and we decide this is a good time to go on vacation. I’ve got a couple of posts scheduled for when I’m away, but your regularly scheduled programming will commence on August 13th (which also happens to be my dad’s birthday and my 19th anniversary. Wow!). Enjoy the last bit of summer while you can, right?

As for July, my favorite, hands down was:

Code Name Verity

Middle Grade (I had a very middle-grade heavy month, didn’t I?):

The Book of Three

Breaking Stalin’s Nose

Fake Mustache

The Second Spy

Spellbound

Time Snatchers

The Unseen Guest

Adult:

Shadow of Night

The Sherlockian

Graphic novel:

Stickman Odyssey: An Epic Doodle

YA:

Gilt

Nonfiction:

The Spice Necklace

Didn’t finish: 

Throne of Glass (DNF)

And… the YAckers attacked this month:

Throne of Glass
Daughter of Smoke and Bone

What have your favorite reads been lately?

Summer is in full swing here, and my reading is reflecting it. Not only more (though much of that is due to Mother Reader‘s 48 Hour Book Challenge), but fluffier. Ah, gotta love the brain drain that the heat brings on.

It’s fitting that in a month where I mostly read Middle Grade books, that my favorite read was this:

Three Times Lucky

I loved it, but I have yet to convince my girls to read it, which makes me sad.

As for the rest:

Adult fiction

Good Omens

Ilium

Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar

Non-Fiction:

My Life as an Experiment

Yes, Chef

YA:

Crossed

The Lost Code

Matched

The Statistical Probability of  Love at First Sight

Seraphina

The List

At Yellow Lake

Middle Grade:

The Books of Elsewhere: The Shadows

Out of the Dust (reread)

Postcards from Pismo

The Serpent’s Shadow

The Phantom Tollbooth

Calling on Dragons

Spy School

Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life

Graphic Novels

Batman

Stickman Odyssey: The Wrath of Zozimos

Only one audio book this month; I’ve been on a listening hiatus since school got out:

Cinder

What have your favorite reads been this month?

It’s the end of May??? Already????

Sometimes, I really do wonder where the time goes.

The kids are out of school, the weather’s heating up (well, not today; it’s a lovely sort of coolish today), and my reading is turning to, well, fluff.

Oh, and if you haven’t signed up for Mother Reader’s 48 Hour Reading Challenge, what’s keeping you?

And if you’re off to BEA this weekend, have a fantastic time!

And for this months reading:

My favorite, hands down, no questions:

Bitterblue

I waited nearly three years for this one, and Kristin Cashore didn’t disappoint.

And the Middle Grade:

Cold Cereal

Searching for Dragons

Summer of the Gypsy Moths

And the YA (mostly fantasy!):

Demonglass

Hunger Games (reread)

Insurgent

Purity

Spell Bound

Between Shades of Gray

Girl of Fire and Thorns

Adult fiction/Non-Fiction (because there’s only one of each):

Drop Dead Healthy

True Sisters

Audiobooks:

The Lady of Rivers (audiobook) (DNF)

Sports from Hell (audiobook)

And… Graphic Novels:

Amulet: The Last Council

Around the World

Fables: Deluxe Edition, Book One

What were your favorites this month?

This month, I played review catch-up. The funny thing is: I’m still about two weeks out for reviews. Perhaps I need to read less and get outside more… especially now that the weather’s warming up!

My favorite:

Grave Mercy

Hands down: the absolute perfect book for a fantasy lover like me. (That said, I can’t wait for Bitterblue…)

The review that was most fun to write:

Something Like Fate

Read for work (Grave Mercy counts here, too. Though none have sold at the store. WHY? I don’t understand…):

Crow

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny — Detectives Extraordinaire

The rereads:

The Color of Water

Dealing with Dragons

The audiobooks:

Castle in the Air

Who’s Your Caddy

Didn’t finish:

The Final Four

Huntress

Middle Grade:

Caddy’s World

I want to buy this one, but I hate the cover. I wonder if they’ll do something more like the others for the paperback? I can only hope…

Clementine and the Family Meeting

Remarkable

YA:

Before I Fall

Blood Red Road

The Floating Islands

Hex Hall

If I hadn’t read Grave Mercy this month, this would have been my favorite. 

Karma

Stupid Fast

Adult:

I, Robot

Rules of Civility

What were your favorites this month? 

I’ve got an interesting “problem” over here right now: I’m about three weeks ahead in my posting… which is good and bad. Good, because I don’t really feel any pressure to read fast, or finish lots of books, but bad because reviews will pop up on my blog, and I actually don’t remember what I said about them! (Whoops.) Do you try to get ahead in your blogging? (I didn’t used to be this way; I used to read a book, then blog about it. I really, honestly, have no idea how I got so far ahead.)

This month’s reading:

My favorite:

A Monster Calls

Most gratuitous review:

Highland Fling

Audiobooks:

Kitchen Counter Cooking School

The Spellman Files

The Middle Grade:

Amelia Lost

The Mighty Miss Malone

 

Legend

The Grand Plan to Fix Everything

 

Notes from an Accidental Band Geek

The lone graphic novel for the year:

Anya’s Ghost

And the rest:

Factory Girls

Goliath

Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy

Discovery of Witches

What did you like this month?

Happy #ExtraMagicBonusHappyLeapYearDay (as per @neilhimself)! If you could take any author out to dinner, who would it be? (Me? I’d have Maureen Johnson, John Green, Mo Willems, Varian Johnson, Maggie Stiefvater and Jackson Pearce over for a party.)

My favorite book this past month:

Ready Player One

Hands down. I still smile over it… not the “best” book, but really: the most fun.

The Cybils Middle Grade shortlist:

Nerd Camp

The Friendship Doll

Kirby Larson commented on this post! I still get a little *squee* moment when that happens!

Ghetto Cowboy

The Great Wall of Lucy Wu

Warp Speed

Audiobooks:

Bossypants

Everything else:

Breadcrumbs

Why We Broke Up

Kat Incorrigible

Midnight in Austenland

Outcasts United

I’ve done the Jacket Flap-a-Thon for several years now, and I’ve decided that while I adore jacket flap copy (seriously: my dream job someday), I need to move onto a different way of recapping my month’s reading.

Any suggestions?

Favorite read:

The Fault in Our Stars

  Other books finished this month:

Archer’s Quest

Dragon Castle

The Eyre Affair (audio book)

The Snow Child

Maman’s Homesick Pie

Ivanhoe

Jefferson’s Sons

Water for Elephants (audio book)

Didn’t finish: The Heroines

This is just a teaser… my best of post is coming tomorrow!

Divergent (Katherine Tegen Books): “In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her. Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.

A bit long, but it houses all the pertinent information in one place. It came in handy, when I wanted to figure out which faction was what. 
 

Dead End in Norvelt (Macmillian Young Readers): “Melding the entirely true and the wildly fictional, Dead End in Norvelt is a novel about an incredible two months for a kid named Jack Gantos, whose plans for vacation excitement are shot down when he is “grounded for life” by his feuding parents, and whose nose spews bad blood at every little shock he gets. But plenty of excitement (and shocks) are coming Jack’s way once his mom loans him out to help a feisty old neighbor with a most unusual chore—typewriting obituaries filled with stories about the people who founded his utopian town. As one obituary leads to another, Jack is launched on a strange adventure involving molten wax, Eleanor Roosevelt, twisted promises, a homemade airplane, Girl Scout cookies, a man on a trike, a dancing plague, voices from the past, Hells Angels . . . and possibly murder. Endlessly surprising, this sly, sharp-edged narrative is the author at his very best, making readers laugh out loud at the most unexpected things in a dead-funny depiction of growing up in a slightly off-kilter place where the past is present, the present is confusing, and the future is completely up in the air. Dead End in Norvelt is a Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Fiction title for 2011. One of Horn Book’s Best Fiction Books of 2011.”

So, this is the reason I read the book: the flap copy, and though it sounded fantastic. Too bad it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped.

Liar’s Moon (Arthur A. Levine Books): “Prisons, poisons, and passions combine in a gorgeously written fantasy noir by the author of the Morris Award-winning A CURSE DARK AS GOLD. As a pickpocket, Digger expects to spend a night in jail every now and then. But she doesn’t expect to find Lord Durrel Decath there as well–or to hear he’s soon to be executed for killing his wife. Durrel once saved Digger’s life, and when she goes free, she decides to use her skills as a thief, forger, and spy to investigate his case and return the favor. But each new clue only opens up more mysteries. While Durrel’s marriage was one of convenience, his behavior has been more impulsive than innocent. His late wife had an illegal business on the wrong side of the civil war raging just outside the city gates. Digger keeps finding forbidden magic in places it has no reason to be. And it doesn’t help that she may be falling in love with a murderer . . .”

I love that 1) it doesn’t give anything away from the first book in the series, and 2) it doesn’t give away much of anything this book, and yet it sounds incredibly intriguing.

Other books read this month:
Heat Rises
Guys Read: Thriller (DNF)
The City of Orphans (DNF)
The Power of One (DNF)
The Lions of Little Rock
At Home (audiobook)
Seriously… I’m Kidding
Words in the Dust
Liesl and Po
Crossing to Safety
Pie
Tuesdays at the Castle
Rebel Island

Drink, Slay, Love (Margaret K. McElderry): “Pearl is a sixteen-year-old vampire . . . fond of blood, allergic to sunlight, and mostly evil . . . until the night a sparkly unicorn stabs her through the heart with his horn. Oops. Her family thinks she was attacked by a vampire hunter (because, obviously, unicorns don’t exist), and they’re shocked she survived. They’re even more shocked when Pearl discovers she can now withstand the sun. But they quickly find a way to make use of her new talent. The Vampire King of New England has chosen Pearl’s family to host his feast. If Pearl enrolls in high school, she can make lots of human friends and lure them to the King’s feast—as the entrees. The only problem? Pearl’s starting to feel the twinges of a conscience. How can she serve up her new friends—especially the cute guy who makes her fangs ache—to be slaughtered? Then again, she’s definitely dead if she lets down her family. What’s a sunlight-loving vamp to do?”

I love how this one not only reflects the tone and the style of the book, but makes you 
want to read it. And can I say that cover is just gorgeous?

Ten Miles Past Normal (Atheneum): “Janie Gorman wants to be normal. The problem with that: she’s not. She’s smart and creative and a little bit funky. She’s also an unwilling player in her parents’ modern-hippy, let’s-live-on-a-goat-farm experiment (regretfully, instigated by a younger, much more enthusiastic Janie). This, to put it simply, is not helping Janie reach that “normal target.” She has to milk goats every day…and endure her mother’s pseudo celebrity in the homemade-life, crunchy mom blogosphere. Goodbye the days of frozen lasagna and suburban living, hello crazy long bus ride to high school and total isolation–and hovering embarrassments of all kinds. The fresh baked bread is good…the threat of homemade jeans, not so much. It would be nice to go back to that old suburban life…or some grown up, high school version of it, complete with nice, normal boyfriends who wear crew neck sweaters and like social studies. So, what’s wrong with normal? Well, kind of everything. She knows that, of course, why else would she learn bass and join Jam Band, how else would she know to idolize infamous wild-child and high school senior Emma (her best friend Sarah’s older sister), why else would she get arrested while doing a school project on a local freedom school (jail was not part of the assignment). And, why else would she kind of be falling in “like” with a boy named Monster—yes, that is his real name. Janie was going for normal, but she missed her mark by about ten miles…and we mean that as a compliment. Frances O’Roark Dowell’s fierce humor and keen eye make her YA debut literary and wise. In the spirit of John Green and E. Lockhart, Dowell’s relatable, quirky characters and clever, fluid writing prove that growing up gets complicated…and normal is WAY overrated.”

It’s a little long, but it hits all the high points without giving away everything. And I really like the final line.

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (Square Fish): “Twelve-year-old September lives in Omaha, and used to have an ordinary life, until her father went to war and her mother went to work. One day, September is met at her kitchen window by a Green Wind (taking the form of a gentleman in a green jacket), who invites her on an adventure, implying that her help is needed in Fairyland. The new Marquess is unpredictable and fickle, and also not much older than September. Only September can retrieve a talisman the Marquess wants from the enchanted woods, and if she doesn’t . . . then the Marquess will make life impossible for the inhabitants of Fairyland. September is already making new friends, including a book-loving Wyvern and a mysterious boy named Saturday.  With exquisite illustrations by acclaimed artist Ana Juan, Fairyland lives up to the sensation it created when the author first posted it online. For readers of all ages who love the charm of Alice in Wonderland and the soul of The Golden Compass, here is a reading experience unto itself: unforgettable, and so very beautiful.”


I like that they managed to sum up a very un-sum-up-able book. And make it sound as whimsical and charming as it really is. That said, I think if I have to read about another “unforgettable” book, I may scream. Please, publishers, find a different adjective.

Other books I read this month:
Caleb’s Crossing
The Help (audiobook)
Addie on the Inside
The Chronicles of Harris Burdick 
Chime
The Scorpio Races
The Son of Neptune
Jeremy Bender vs. the Cupcake Cadets
The Buddha’s Diamonds
War and Watermelon
Precious Bane
Floors

Happy Halloween! I was hoping to have a Halloween picture for you of the awesome costume I thought up for myself, but, in actuality because I’ve started working again, I didn’t get around to putting together a Halloween costume for myself.

I know it’s a lousy consolation prize, but here are this month’s best jacket flaps instead…

Darth Paper Strikes Back (Amulet Books): “It is a dark time at Ralph McQuarrie Middle School. After suffering several Origami Yoda–related humiliations, Harvey manages to get Dwight suspended from school for being a “troublemaker.” Origami Yoda pleads with Tommy and Kellen to save Dwight by making a new case file—one that will show how Dwight’s presence benefits McQuarrie. With the help of their friends, Tommy and Kellen record cases such as “Origami Yoda and the Pre-eaten Wiener,” “Origami Yoda and the Exploding Pizza Bagels,” and “Origami Yoda and Wonderland: The Musical.” But Harvey and his Darth Paper puppet have a secret plan that could make Dwight’s suspension permanent . . . With his proven knack for humorously exploring the intrigues, fads, and dramas of middle school, Tom Angleberger has crafted a worthy sequel to his breakout bestseller.”

Hands down, the best thing about this one is the Star Wars references. Plus, it tells you the whole plot without giving too much of the detail away.

I’ll Be There (Little, Brown Books): “Sam Border wishes he could escape. Raised by an unstable father, he’s spent his life moving from place to place. But he could never abandon his little brother, Riddle. Riddle Border doesn’t talk much. Instead, he draws pictures of the insides of things and waits for the day when the outsides of things will make sense. He worships his older brother. But how can they leave when there’s nowhere to go? Then everything changes. Because Sam meets Emily. Emily Bell believes in destiny. She sings for her church choir, though she doesn’t have a particularly good voice. Nothing, she feels, is mere coincidence. And she’s singing at the moment she first sees Sam. Everyone whose path you cross in life has the power to change you–sometimes in small ways, and sometimes in ways greater than you could have ever known. Beautifully written and emotionally profound, Holly Goldberg Sloan’s debut novel deftly explores the idea of human connection.”

This one sounds pretentious, but in all actuality is dead on. And they did a great job of summing up a very difficult book to sum up.

The Name of the Star (Putnam Juvenile):”The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it’s the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago. Soon “Rippermania” takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn’t notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target? In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities.”

This one is intriguing. What are the secret ghost police of London? What’s the deal with the Ripper killer? It makes me curious enough to want to read it. Too bad the cover is so, well, ugh.

Other books read this month:
Angel in My Pocket
Lola and the Boy Next Door
The Eternal Smile: Three Stories
Cures for Heartbreak
Kendra
13 Gifts
Zazoo
Wonderstruck
Beauty Queens
Second Fiddle
Latasha and the Little Red Tornado
The Latte Rebellion
Terrier
Bloodhound
Mastiff