What I Read in 2009

First quarter:

1. Three Cups of Tea by David Oliver Relin and Greg Mortenson
Awesome book but a slow read. Recommend.

2. Specials by Scott Westerfield
The third book in the series, all of which I recommend.

3. The Snake, the Crocodile & the Dog by Elizabeth Peters
I love this series as well, but they do tend to be kind of long.

4. Head Start with the Book of Mormon by Vicki Lynn Rasmussen
A little book to help you teach your child to read while also teaching them to read the BoM.

5. Lord of the Silent by Elizabeth Peters
See #3

6. The Quickie by James Patterson
Standard James Patterson fare.

7. You've Been Warned by James Patterson
The first time I've met a James Patterson I didn't like. It messed with my head in a not good way.

8. Jacob Have I loved by Katherine Patterson
Never had to read this in elementary school and I really enjoyed it.

9. Missing May by Cynthia Rylant
Meh.

10. Rollerskates by Ruth Sawyer
Yawn.

11. A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck
An improvement over #s 9 and 10

12. The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen
Oh Sarah Dessen. You speak to the 15 year old me. Janssen and I both pretty much want to marry this book.

13. Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
Loved this SD as well.

14. Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
Another one most people got to read in elementary but not me. I loved it. Short but very sweet.

15. This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen
Another sweet SD.

16. That Summer by Sarah Dessen
Least favorite SD.

17. The Goodbyes of Magnus Marmalade
A favorite from my mom's childhood and one I still very much enjoy.

18. Favorite Poems to Read Aloud
Another of my mom's. Love!

19. Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott
To quote Janssen, "Perfect YA romance fluff."

20. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Oh man, I LOVED this. Dying for the next one.

21. From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
LOVE!

22. The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg
LOVE!

23. Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen
Another good one by SD

24. The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman
Catherine Called Birdy was one of my favorite books in elementary school so I'm surprised it's taken me this long to read The Midwife's Apprentice. I loved it.

25. The Golden One by Elizabeth Peters
Yet another in the Amelia Peabody series.

26. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
LOVE. Everything I want from a book. Going to pick up the next one (City of Ashes) TODAY and am annoyed that I let Aaron take the car so I can't go get it RIGHT NOW.

27. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Yes. Again. Don't judge.

28. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
Still judging me, aren't you.

29. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
Shut up.

30. City of Ember by Jeanne Duprau
Enjoyable. The next one is at the library waiting for me right beside City of Ashes.

31. Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott
A really hard read. Short, but emotionally devastating. Kind of surprised that this is YA because the content is fairly adult (rape and abuse).

32. Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy
I listened to this on CD as Janssen suggested and loved every minute of it.

Second quarter:

1. Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
Short and so sweet. I read this aloud to Wes.

2. Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech
The short and sweet follow up to Love That dog. I seriously loved both of them.

3. Eragon by Christopher Paolini
Fun read but a tad long and slow in parts. My brother insists that the other books in the trilogy aren't nearly as good and I'm debating whether or not it's worth finishing the series.

4. People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau
Yawn. City of Ember was decent but I had to force myself to finish People of Sparks. It took me far longer than most books because I just couldn't get myself to pick it up.

5. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Spent the first 3/4 annoyed at how confused I was and then the last 1/4 bawling because it was so beautiful and wonderful and bittersweet. There's a lot to this book and no room for me to write it. If you want, read Janssen's review here.

6. Ten Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher
I was prepared to love this but was actually kind of bored.

7. Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
Enjoyable, but a little slow in some parts.

8. Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
Pretty standard SD.

9. City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
Third in the trilogy and still so wonderful, which is rather rare. I never thought of myself as one who could even tolerate fantasy, but I have really loved this series.

10. If I Stay by Gayle Forman
The back cover of this book describes it as "heartachingly beautiful" and I'd have to agree. Bawled my way through the second half. Really well done.

11. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen
Excellent summer reading.

12. A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth Bunce
I really wanted to like this book but I was hating life while trying to finish. Too slow for my taste. The middle just about killed my will to live and when someone said the word "mill" in conversation after I finished I actually flinched.

13. Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris
I just kind of plow through his fiction in order to get to his autobiographical stuff. The stories about his French class trying to use their limited vocabulary to describe Easter and his experience learning about the Dutch concept of Santa Claus were hysterical. His fictional short stories, not so much.

14. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Really enjoyed it except for the fact that the main male character was named Po (gag). But I can see why it won awards and got a bunch of 4 and 5-stars on Goodreads. Strong female lead, solid story, just enough fantasy to keep things interesting.

15. Wake by Lisa McMann
I think I enjoyed this book so much simply because the writing and the concept were so novel and different. Having read as much as I have lately it's nice to experience such a change of pace. It's a lovely story and I'm looking forward to reading Fade.

16. North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley
Another book that I was prepared to love based on tons of rave reviews but was disappointed. Really meh.

17. Waiting for you by Susane Colasanti
I really enjoyed how there would be 3 paragraphs of The Crazy percolating around in Marisa's brain and then she'd open her mouth and out would come something perfectly normal and maybe even witty. And I was like, why does this sound familiar? Oh yes. That's my brain.

18. Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
I know NOTHING about programming but was still able to hang on through the (massively simplified, I think) technobabble and really enjoy the story. A great cautionary tale, solid writing, a smidgen of romance and the ability to totally change my perception of hackers. Not too shabby.

19. Sophomore Switch by Abby McDonald
A hearty "meh."

20. Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez
So awesome. I found myself hoping that at some point Debbie would meet Greg Mortenson and together they would save the women and children of the middle east. It hasn't happened yet, but I have faith.

21. The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death: Reflections on Revenge, Germophobia, and Laser Hair Removal by Laurie Notaro
Like reading a wonderfully well written blog full of funny and touching short snippets

22. Beauty by Robin McKinley
Some parts were really well written while some parts had me cringing. The dialogue was too clunky.

23. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Somehow I had never read this. I loved every single moment of it, obviously.

24. The Giant Rat of Sumatra by Sid Fleischman
Quick, easy and lovely.

25. Paper Towns by John Green
Really enjoyable..has depth and substance while still occasionally making me snort with laughter

26. Eldest by Christopher Paolini
Longest. audiobook. ever.

27. Phantoms of a Blood-Stained Period: The Complete Civil War Writings by Ambrose Bierce
I half loved/half slogged through this book. The battle accounts were boring to me and didn't hold my attention very well since I had a hard time imagining so-and-so's battalion on the left flank and the cannonade on the center line and blah blah blah, but I really really enjoyed the devil's dictionary and his stories. Especially the ghost-y type ones.

28. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: And Other Clinical Tales by Oliver W. Sacks.
Totally fascinating but also a bit difficult. I felt like Sacks didn't know his audience..sometimes he'd massively simplify things and sometimes he'd go on and on in psychobabble and leave me in the dust. I am now terrified my brain will do something weird and erase everything after 1997 or leave me thinking my feet belong to someone else.

29. Tallulah Falls by Christine Fletcher
Fine.

30. Fade by Lisa McMann
Liked it every bit as much as the first. Looking forward to the 3rd.

31. Alphabet of Dreams by Susan Fletcher
A lovely little bit of fiction based on the few biblical references to the Magi.

32. The Entertainer and the Dybbuk by Sid Fleischman
Slowly but surely falling in love with Sid Fleischman. I've read two of his now and thoroughly loved them both. Will definitely be reading the rest of his books.

33. Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey
A bit Twilight-esque. But shorter! Which was kind of nice.

34. In the Company of Whispers by Sallie Lowenstein
A good and unique read, but I can't get over my annoyance that the biggest mysteries never got explained. I know it's supposed to be all up to my imagination and all but dang it, I want answers people!

35. Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George
Really enjoyed it. Well done.

36. Wings by Aprilynne Pike
Fine. I expected to like it more than I did though. It didn't grip me.

37. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
Lovely and short. My favorite bit was in the introduction when Beedle was described as having "an exceptionally luxuriant beard" but the stories themselves and Dumbledore's notes were all sweet little additions to the world of Harry Potter.

38. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
I had never read this, which I think means I no longer qualify as a girl. I loved it though and am very much looking forward to the other books in the series.

39. The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer
Good, but a smidge depressing, as futuristic distopian type novels are oft wont to be.

40. Bloom by Elizabeth Scott
Good summer chick-lit

41. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
A wonderful story about just being yourself. Looking forward to reading the sequel.

42. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The fact that Bod was the same age as Wes when his family was murdered and he wandered off to be adopted by ghosts made me want to bawl (as do all things involving babies, now that I have my own) but I very much enjoyed it

43. The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann D. Wyss
Aside from the fact that they were shipwrecked, this was the luckiest. family. ever. If you have to be shipwrecked then be sure to end up on their island because it has everything you could ever possibly need. Great book.

44. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
Fascinating and ridiculously and painfully long. A bit like your favorite science class taught by a really excellent teacher. I frequently found myself laughing out loud even though science is decidedly not my subject.


Third quarter:

1. Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
I loved The Giver and had no idea that it had a companion book. I loved it.

2. The Redheaded Princess: A Novel by Ann Rinaldi
I've discovered that I love pretty much anything that has to do with Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, and Elizabeth.

3. I Still Have It, I Just Can't Remember Where I Put It by Rita Rudner
I've always thought she was great but now I really love her. This book was clean and giggle-out-loud funny.

4. Left to Tell: Discovering God Admidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculee Ilibagiza
I don't even know what to say about this book. Heart rending. Awe inspiring. Faith promoting. Amazing. Should be required reading.

5. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Simply gorgeous writing. Because of what it is I can't really say that I enjoyed it, but I can tell you I gave it 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.

6. The Luxe by Anna Godbersen
Really fun. Although I have this insanely strong desire to slap several of the characters.

7. Austenland by Shannon Hale
Fine, but I didn't like that the point is that it's ok to have totally unreasonable expectations because just when you think you're going to have to give up on your totally unreasonable expectations, POOF! All your dreams will come true!

8. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
Totally different from Austenland..would not have guessed they were the same author. But I loved it and am excited to read Enna Burning.

9. Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Mixed feelings. One of the things I loved about the first book, Stargirl, was that Stargirl herself was sort of this crazy mystery. In Love, Stargirl it turns out that all the stuff inside her head is ridiculously normal and I couldn't decide if I loved that someone so different was so like me in her head or disappointed because she should have been crazier. The book itself was fine though.

10. Savvy by Ingrid Law
Loved. Want a savvy.

11. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
I'm not sure how I HADN'T heard of this book, considering all the awards and whatnot. But I picked it up on playaway at the library because the blurb on the back sounded good. And I loved it.

12. The Hinky Pink: An Old Tale by Megan McDonald*
Just the type of book I would have loved when I was in elementary school. Cute illustrations.

13. Owen and Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship by Craig Hatkoff*
Somehow I was expecting more from this book. The story is fascinating but for some reason the book felt a little...blah.

14. Kenny & The Dragon by Tony DiTerlizzi*
Slow start but I loved the ending.

15. The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Field Guide (Book 1) by Tony DiTerlizzi & Holly Black*
I didn't particularly enjoy the movie and I think that may have ruined the books for me? Not sure. Going to read a few more to see how I feel.

16. The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd*
Question: Why is it that when married women need to "find themselves" in novels they must do it through an affair? Couldn't they just take up surfing or something? Novels about philandering wives make me twitchy. Decent writing but meh.

17. Tithe by Holly Black*
I need something I can relate to in fantasy novels otherwise it all just feels TOO foreign. There was nothing in this book for me to relate to and I mostly just wanted to report her mom to CPS. The second half was better than the first but I still had to push myself to finish.

18. Lady Killer by Lisa Scottoline*
Fine.

19. Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
I have a lot to say about this book. Very little of which is positive. I got the first three in this series for free and I'm just going to toss them. Life is too short for bad fiction.

20. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
These books are so much fun. The writing flows. The stories are strong. Just a great ride. So glad there are still 3 more in the series!

21. Fire by Kristin Cashore
Janssen kindly let me read her ARC and I pretty much loved every second of its 461 pages.

22. Enna Burning by Shannon Hale
Good except for it's sort of similar in feel to Fire and reading them within a day of each other got me a little confused about which characters and events belonged to which book.

23. The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Seeing Stone (Book 2) by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi
I think this series might just be kind of too dark for me, much like Holly Black's Tithe. They're really short, so I'll try one more to see how I feel but I doubt I'll finish the series.

24. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Kind of meh but I am apparently one of the very few who think so. I think YA fantasy is starting to feel sort of formulaic to me maybe?

25. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
Hard but beautiful but boring all at the same time.

26. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Holy mother of awesome series. I want to marry Suzanne Collins. That's legal somewhere, right?

27. The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
So incredibly awesome.

28. The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
Yawn.

29. Sorcery & Cecilia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer

Yet another super awesome book. Love love love.

30. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
Pleasantly surprised.

31. Unwind by Neal Shusterman
Deeply unsettling but awesome.

32. Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson
Great setting and premise and a decent story. Except the girl on the cover looks like Scarlett Johansson and the main character's name was Scarlett and for some reason I couldn't get over that.

33. Eastern Standard Tribe by Cory Doctorow
Rather disappointing.

34. Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer
I really love this series.

35. Airman by Eoin Colfer
Becoming a serious fan of Colfer's. My favorite from him thus far.

36. Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife by Irene Spencer
Amazing and riveting but also bleak and soul-crushing. I have new pity for those stuck in polygamy.

37. The Apothecary's Daughter by Julie Klassen
A nice little love story.

38. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
Oh Dan Brown. Such crazy talk presented in such logical ways.

39. Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
Loved. A great story and a great setting.

Fourth Quarter:

1. Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson
So so so good. Especially awesome since I had just been to Ford's Theater and the Peterson house, but I think anyone could enjoy it.

2. Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
Loved. I saw her speak at the National Book Festival and I fell in love with her and decided to read all her books and they really haven't let me down.

3. River Secrets by Shannon Hale
Loved, even though I wasn't expecting to since I hadn't loved Razo in the previous books.

4. Swimsuit by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
Pretty standard James Patterson fare. Fast-paced and enjoyable.

5. Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
Love. Obviously. Probably my favorite of hers thus far.

6. Medina Hill by Trilby Kent
Had potential but eh. Reviewed for the book blog tour here.

7. Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper
It started off so slowly that I almost gave up but by the end I was intrigued. The 2nd book in the series won a Newbery, so I'd like to stick with it and see where it goes.

8. Aurelia by Anne Osterlund
Not the great American novel, but with intrigue and romance and a princess in danger, what's not to enjoy? Bonus points for being a fairly quick read.

9. The Messenger by Lois Lowry
The sequel to Gathering Blue AND the book that ties The Giver and The Messenger together.

10. Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
Not as awesome as the Hunger Games books but not bad for a first book. It's also geared toward a younger audience. A good addition to the boy list. I'd like the read the next one.

11. The Wyrm King: Book 3 of Beyond the Spiderwick by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
Because these books are so short and tend to be kind of confusing anyway I was halfway through before I realized I was reading an entirely different series than The Spiderwick Chronicles that I had halfheartedly been working my way through. So basically I have no idea what I just read.

12. Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer
Continuing to love this series.

13. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
I just bawled and bawled. It's sad to read books about bad things happening to good people. It's so much worse when those bad things actually happened and many good people truly suffered. Poor Afghanistan.

14. Academy 7 by Anne Osterlund
I was surprised how much I enjoyed this because the cover and description make it seem like a total fluff book. But it had this kind of intergalactic politics gone wonky Star Wars vibe going on and I found it all very enjoyable.

15. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
I had non stop zombie nightmares afterward. I was not man enough for this book, apparently.

16. Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon and Dean Hale and illustrated by Nathan Hale
I've never read a graphic novel before so as far as I'm concerned it was just dandy.

17. Rumors (Luxe #2) by Anna Godbersen
For some reason this one just dragged for me. I flew through the first one but just couldn't get quite as in to the second one.

18. A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb
Beautiful and charming and love.

19. The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
I think this series is only getting better. I can't wait for Wes to read these when he gets older.

20. Cult Insanity: A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets and Blood Atonement by Irene Spencer
I have nothing but love for Irene Spencer. Both of her memoirs are just...above and beyond. She has the kind of personal strength I wish for myself.

21. Idlewild by Nick Sagan
This was...trippy.

22. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
So good.

23. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
Finally, something that is actually worthy of her.

24. The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls
Amazing and horrifying at the same time.

25. Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta
So in love with this author.

26. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Aaron's mom pulled this off the shelf and told me it should cut in my reading line. She's usually spot on in her recommendations and she didn't disappoint with this one. Loved it.

27. M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang
Fascinating play based on a true story.

28. Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance by Atul Gawande
Not quite as awesome as his first but still really really good.

29. When Science Goes Wrong: Twelve Tales from the Dark Side of Discovery by Simon LeVay
Excellent and fascinating stories but the writing gets a tad too technical in parts and there was at least one chapter where a diagram would have really useful.

30. Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon
Fun little mystery. I think the best part is that it takes place in Venice and it's always fun when books take you to places like that.



I read 146 books this year and about 45,671 pages. Not too shabby!

For the new year I'll be reading the 50 classics listed in the sidebar along with whatever else strikes my fancy. The slower pace will be welcome!

Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance by Atul Gawande

From Goodreads:

The struggle to perform well is universal: each one of us faces fatigue, limited resources, and imperfect abilities in whatever we do. But nowhere is this drive to do better more important than in medicine, where lives are on the line with every decision. In his new book, Atul Gawande explores how doctors strive to close the gap between best intentions and best performance in the face of obstacles that sometimes seem insurmountable. Gawandes gripping stories of diligence, ingenuity, and what it means to do right by people take us to battlefield surgical tents in Iraq, to labor and delivery rooms in Boston, to a polio outbreak in India, and to malpractice courtrooms around the country. He discusses the ethical dilemmas of doctors participation in lethal injections, examines the influence of money on modern medicine, and recounts the astoundingly contentious history of hand washing. And as in all his writing, Gawande gives us an inside look at his own life as a practicing surgeon, offering a searingly honest firsthand account of work in a field where mistakes are both unavoidable and unthinkable. At once unflinching and compassionate, Better is an exhilarating journey narrated by arguably the best nonfiction doctor-writer around (Salon). Gawandes investigation into medical professionals and how they progress from merely good to great provides rare insight into the elements of success, illuminating every area of human endeavor.

Aaron read Atul Gawande's first book, Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science, right after we first got married. I read about three sentences over his shoulder and promptly commandeered it for myself.

I loved Complications (gave it 5 stars on Goodreads) and I was vaguely aware that he had written another and kept thinking I should go find it but never got around to it. Fortunately, I found it on my in-laws vast and well stocked shelves (it's like living in a library while we're here) and added it to my stack for our two week stay.

Gawande has a knack for writing about something that could be incredibly dry and dull in a way that makes you WANT to read about it. Also, it's so different and refreshing to hear a physician admit that he makes mistakes. And that ALL doctors make mistakes, despite the best of intentions. Both his books discuss how imperfect and imprecise a science medicine is and while it's frightening to have him admit it, it's also strangely reassuring.

Also, Complications gave me a long lasting and irrational fear of necrotizing fasciitis. So there's always that.

Better isn't QUITE as good as Complications, which was a lot more of his personal experiences, but it was still excellent and worth reading. I loved his section on childbirth seeing as it's the only thing in both his books that I've actually experienced, and the chapter on doctors and executions opened my eyes to a serious moral dilemma I had no idea even existed. If he came out with another I'd read it in a heartbeat. I keep coming away from his books with a lot more respect and understanding for medicine and I think that's something we all could use.

The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls

From Goodreads:

Jeannette Walls's father always called her "Mountain Goat" and there's perhaps no more apt nickname for a girl who navigated a sheer and towering cliff of childhood both daily and stoically. In The Glass Castle, Walls chronicles her upbringing at the hands of eccentric, nomadic parents--Rose Mary, her frustrated-artist mother, and Rex, her brilliant, alcoholic father. To call the elder Walls's childrearing style laissez faire would be putting it mildly. As Rose Mary and Rex, motivated by whims and paranoia, uprooted their kids time and again, the youngsters (Walls, her brother and two sisters) were left largely to their own devices. But while Rex and Rose Mary firmly believed children learned best from their own mistakes, they themselves never seemed to do so, repeating the same disastrous patterns that eventually landed them on the streets. Walls describes in fascinating detail what it was to be a child in this family, from the embarrassing (wearing shoes held together with safety pins; using markers to color her skin in an effort to camouflage holes in her pants) to the horrific (being told, after a creepy uncle pleasured himself in close proximity, that sexual assault is a crime of perception; and being pimped by her father at a bar). Though Walls has well earned the right to complain, at no point does she play the victim. In fact, Walls' removed, nonjudgmental stance is initially startling, since many of the circumstances she describes could be categorized as abusive (and unquestioningly neglectful). But on the contrary, Walls respects her parents' knack for making hardships feel like adventures, and her love for them--despite their overwhelming self-absorption--resonates from cover to cover.

I have to start by saying that I gave this book 5 stars on Goodreads. It's kind of like Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson in that I can't really say that I LIKED it just because of the subject matter. But it's one that I plan on recommending up and down. It's an amazing tale of courage and ingenuity and so much else.

But at the same time, this book was absolutely horrifying. Like...I don't even have words for how disgusted I am with Jeannette Walls' parents. And how much I want to write a strongly worded letter to Child Protective Services for not stepping in at some point. There were times when I wanted to throw this book at the wall because I was so angry that parents could put their children in these situations. The author herself was touched inappropriately or almost raped several times throughout the book. Her brother was molested by their nasty grandmother. Who knows what happened to the other two sisters. Their parents always shrugged it off and told them to deal with it. The blurb above references the following passage on page 184 that I wanted to include a little more fully:

"Mom, Uncle Stanley is behaving inappropriately," I said.
"Oh, you're probably imagining it," she said.
"He groped me! And he's wanking off!"
Mom cocked her head and looked concerned. "Poor Stanley," she said. "He's so lonely."
"But it was gross!"
Mom asked me if I was okay. I shrugged and nodded. "Well, there you go," she said. She said that sexual assault was a crime of perception. "If you don't think you're hurt, then you aren't," she said. "So many women make such a big deal out of these things. But you're stronger than that."

This is me, throwing myself out a window because a mother actually said that to her 13 year old daughter.

The fact that Walls can write this memoir with love and compassion is a testament to her own resilience. The writing itself is strong, the story is compelling and haunting. And eventually she gets her own happy ending. It took me several days to work through it but I know it will stick with me for a long time.

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

From Goodreads:

In 1937, Shanghai is the Paris of Asia, a city of great wealth and glamour, the home of millionaires and beggars, gangsters and gamblers, patriots and revolutionaries, artists and warlords. Thanks to the financial security and material comforts provided by their father’s prosperous rickshaw business, twenty-one-year-old Pearl Chin and her younger sister, May, are having the time of their lives. Though both sisters wave off authority and tradition, they couldn’t be more different: Pearl is a Dragon sign, strong and stubborn, while May is a true Sheep, adorable and placid. Both are beautiful, modern, and carefree . . . until the day their father tells them that he has gambled away their wealth and that in order to repay his debts he must sell the girls as wives to suitors who have traveled from California to find Chinese brides.

As Japanese bombs fall on their beloved city, Pearl and May set out on the journey of a lifetime, one that will take them through the Chinese countryside, in and out of the clutch of brutal soldiers, and across the Pacific to the shores of America. In Los Angeles they begin a fresh chapter, trying to find love with the strangers they have married, brushing against the seduction of Hollywood, and striving to embrace American life even as they fight against discrimination, brave Communist witch hunts, and find themselves hemmed in by Chinatown’s old ways and rules.

At its heart, Shanghai Girls is a story of sisters: Pearl and May are inseparable best friends who share hopes, dreams, and a deep connection, but like sisters everywhere they also harbor petty jealousies and rivalries. They love each other, but each knows exactly where to drive the knife to hurt the other the most. Along the way they face terrible sacrifices, make impossible choices, and confront a devastating, life-changing secret, but through it all the two heroines of this astounding new novel hold fast to who they are–Shanghai girls.

A few years ago my in-laws got me Lisa See's Snowflower and the Secret Fan for Christmas. That was Aaron and I's first real Christmas together (we were on our honeymoon the previous year and didn't really have a Christmas) and we were so excited that we ended up opening all our presents the night before. I sat down with my book and stayed up all night to finish. It's one of those books that has gotten passed around to my friends, my mom, my mom's friends, etc. because it's so good that you just need to share it.

After Snowflower I sought out Lisa See's books only to be heavily disappointed. Nothing was even close to the level and I had more or less given up on her. Each of her other books just made me sad because I knew she was capable of so much more.

Shanghai Girls, while still not quite there, is still leaps and bounds above her other stuff. It has the heart and depth and feeling I remember from Snowflower. It probably won't be one that I pass around to everyone I know, but I feel good about recommending it. The story is solid and beautiful and, as a sister, one that I can totally relate to.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

From Goodreads:

“ I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers.” January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb….

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.

Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.

Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises, and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.

I don't know why I had such low expectations for this book. Maybe just because it's so ridiculously popular? I've been on the waiting list at the library for.ev.er and I've still got like 30 people ahead of me. So when I saw it sitting on my mother-in-law's shelf after I first arrived I snapped it up and went to work. Because, seriously, for.ev.er.

Story and plot and whatever else aside, the writing in this book made me aspire to greater compositional heights. I frequently found myself rereading sentences just to admire how awesome the wording was. It probably helped that their characters were British and quite clever (or batty), but seriously. My NaNoWriMo project could really benefit from the way the authoresses turned their phrases. It actually made me excited to go back and rewrite my forty whatever thousand words into something more readable.

The plot was really lovely. I swear I've read reviews on this book but for some reason I had no idea what it was about when I started and I was pleasantly surprised. I felt like it had some depth and substance while still feeling like fairly light reading. I loved the characters, I loved learning about the occupation of the Channel Islands (which I had been pretty clueless about), I loved the format (letters back and forth between characters). There was just a lot to like about this book.

Plus, all the characters are drawn together by a deep love of books and reading. How could I argue with that?

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

From Goodreads:

MOST OF MY friends now go to Pius Senior College, but my mother wouldn’t allow it because she says the girls there leave with limited options and she didn’t bring me up to have limitations placed upon me. If you know my mother, you’ll sense there’s an irony there, based on the fact that she is the Queen of the Limitation Placers in my life.

Francesca battles her mother, Mia, constantly over what’s best for her. All Francesca wants is her old friends and her old school, but instead Mia sends her to St. Sebastian’s, an all-boys’ school that has just opened its doors to girls. Now Francesca’s surrounded by hundreds of boys, with only a few other girls for company. All of them weirdos—or worse.

Then one day, Mia is too depressed to get out of bed. One day turns into months, and as her family begins to fall apart, Francesca realizes that without her mother’s high spirits, she hardly knows who she is. But she doesn’t yet realize that she’s more like Mia than she thinks. With a little unlikely help from St. Sebastian’s, she just might be able to save her family, her friends, and—especially—herself.

Apparently Melina Marchetta's first book, Looking for Alibrandi was so good that it actually became part of Australia's school curriculum. I'm just about to spend a couple paragraphs talking about how much I loved Saving Francesca, her second novel. Her third, Jellicoe Road is probably my favorite novel of the year, so much so that I'm about to go pick it up from the library for a second reading and then possibly name my second born after one of the characters. I'm not actually joking on that, either.

I can't WAIT to see what else Marchetta comes out with. She apparently wrote another novel called Finnikin of the Rock after Jellicoe Road but for some reason my library insists on not carrying it, so I have to figure out some way to get my mitts on it. Because I think I am seriously in love with Melina Marchetta.

While Saving Francesca doesn't have the same depth and all around awesomeness of Jellicoe Road, there is still SO MUCH to love. Although, like Jellicoe Road, it's almost difficult to pinpoint WHAT exactly is so awesome about this book.

The main character is relatable and realistic. She has some real trials going on and she responds to them in ways that actually make sense to me. As someone who has a permanent dent from smacking herself in the forehead when a character makes a stupid and non-logical decision in response to a situation, this is a big deal to me.

The supporting characters are awesome and loveable, the situations are real things I saw as a teenager in high school and Francesca's resulting behavior made me think of a bunch of kids I knew who I wrote off as slackers but years later found out had real problems going on outside of school. Plus the friend and boy drama were written in a way that made them totally familiar to me.

I don't know, I just feel like it encapsulated...something...really well. The teenage experience? Growing up and becoming comfortable in your own skin? I don't know, but whatever it is, I related to it.

My one complaint is that the love story and love interest just weren't quite up to par with everything else. I actually spent most of the book waiting for her to fall in love with one of the other male characters (my money was on James) because Will just kept not making the grade. And then the way it came together at the end (despite a humorous fatherly interference at an inopportune time) didn't make much sense to me in the context of the rest of their relationship.

I will leave you with the following passage, which pretty much made my day:

Having boys around at camp is hard. You have to be on the alert. Boys, for example, like exposing themselves. They walk back from the shower blocks with their towels around them, and next minute either someone flashes you, or one of his friends grabs his towel off him and makes a run for it. I have to say it's a bit traumatic at times, not knowing when the next penis will appear.

Bwahahaha

Medina Hill by Trilby Kent

Janssen used her secret ninja hookups to be included in a book blog tour for a new YA book called Medina Hill. And then, because she loves me, she decided to include me. Medina Hill was released on October 13th by Tundra Books and is now available on Amazon.

The teaser from Tundra:

In the grimy London of 1935, eleven-year-old Dominic Walker has lost his voice. His mother is sick and his father’s unemployed. Rescue comes in the form of his Uncle Roo, who arrives to take him and his young sister, Marlo, to Cornwall. There, in a boarding house populated by eccentric residents, Marlo, who keeps a death grip on her copy of The New Art of Cooking, and Dominic, armed with Incredible Adventures for Boys: Colonel Lawrence and the Revolt in the Desert, find a way of life unlike any they have known. Dominic’s passion for Lawrence of Arabia is tested when he finds himself embroiled in a village uprising against a band of travelers who face expulsion. In defending the vulnerable, Dominic learns what it truly means to have a voice.

This is how our conversations went every couple weeks in the 2 months leading up to today’s participation in the Medina Hill Book Blog Tour:

Kayla: Have you finished Medina Hill?

Janssen: Have not yet picked it up. I am an important person with an important job and a life. And we have plenty of time! Do not worry!

Kayla: Are you ready to talk about Medina Hill?

Janssen: Well, I read the inside flap so…no.

Kayla: Ok, seriously, you need to read Medina Hill so we can talk about it! The tour is next week!

Janssen: I have new boots!

Or something like that.

In any event, Janssen finally read the book and we discussed.

Kayla: Ok, so, how much did you love all the stuff about Lawrence of Arabia? All I knew about him was that Peter O’Toole played him in a film in the 60s but I had NO CLUE he was a real person. I loved the stuff about him sprinkled throughout the book. I kind of want to go check out a book about him now.

Janssen: I know! I love a book that references other books or major historical characters as a main plot point. Mockingbird, which I read a few weeks ago, heavily relied on "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Girlfriend Material" referenced "The Sun Also Rises" and I love Lawrence of Arabia stuff since taking a World War I class from my father-in-law back in London. It was just so fun to watch Dominic get inspired by Lawrence and act like he thought Lawrence would. Isn't that what history should do? (Oh, is that my history nerd self talking?) I think that was the book’s major success.

Kayla: Agreed.

Janssen: But frankly, that was pretty much the only success for me.

Kayla: Also agreed. The whole thing just fell kind of flat didn’t it? And it was really slow for a children’s book.

Janssen: Exactly. It was made worse, perhaps, by the potential this plot had. I mean, you couldn't ask for more than this book offered up (except maybe romance, but I'll let my personal preferences slide because this is a children's book) - crazy characters, a father suffering the effects of war, gypsies, a treasure hunt, a COOKING CONTEST, but I never felt like it really all came together. It was just too much; a classic case of too much width, not enough depth. It spread itself too thin, without making me care much about any of the characters, and it resolved itself too quickly.

Kayla: Exactly, the climax felt really unsatisfying and I would have loved to hear more about the quirky boarders. There was a whole lot more story there that just didn't get told. I do think I would like to know what happened to the gypsies. I was very concerned when they moved CLOSER to Hitler at the end of the book. A follow-up book on the Romany during WWII would probably be worth reading. The thing is, I think Trilby Kent has a lot of potential. The ideas were there. I think she just needs to give herself more pages to really delve into her characters and possibly write for a slightly older audience (like shooting for older YA rather than middle grades).

Janssen: Precisely.

Overall, we felt some kids will find a lot to like here, but it's going to need to be a very dedicated reader who is willing to accept the slowish pace. It's really the kind of book we could see a kid reading and then going off hunting for some books about Lawrence of Arabia. And we wouldn't blame him one bit since that’s totally what we’re planning on doing.

To continue on with the Let's Tour Medina Hill book blog tour, please visit Carrie's YA Bookshelf!

The Lost Summer by Kathryn Williams

From Goodreads:

For the past nine years, Helena Waite has been returning to summer camp at Southpoint. Every year the camp and its familiar routines, landmarks, and people have welcomed her back like a long-lost family member. But this year she is returning not as a camper, but as a counselor, while her best friend, Katie Bell remains behind. All too quickly, Helena discovers that the innocent world of campfires, singalongs, and field days have been pushed aside for late night pranks on the boys' camp, skinny dipping in the lake, and stolen kisses in the hayloft. As she struggles to define herself in this new world, Helena begins to lose sight of what made camp special and the friendships that have sustained her for so many years. And when Ransome, her longtime crush, becomes a romantic reality, life gets even more confusing.

I have no idea where this book came from. I mean, it came from the publisher, but I'm not sure if they just sent it to me out of the kindness of their hearts or if I requested it and don't remember or...who knows. All I know is: I love free books.

For a fairly fluffy book this one still had me chewing over it several hours later.

The story itself was fine, but it was the details. Kathryn Williams has been a teenager girl among other teenage girls. All the drama and insecurities and...STUFF...it's all here. And I can't decide whether I loved walking down memory lane or resented being forced to relive it. I loved the camp memories but squirmed my way through the girl drama. I closed the book thinking, "Wow, I experienced ALL of that crap" and judging from the comments on Goodreads, I'm not alone. Change a few of the details (ahem, hay loft) and I could have written this book about my summers at church girls' camps. Or, really, all my time in junior high and high school.

And I really loved the ending. That's always a good thing.

A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb

From Goodreads:

In the class of the high school English teacher she has been haunting, Helen feels them: for the first time in 130 years, human eyes are looking at her. They belong to a boy, a boy who has not seemed remarkable until now. And Helen, terrified but intrigued, is drawn to him. The fact that he is in a body and she is not presents this unlikely couple with their first challenge. But as the lovers struggle to find a way to be together, they begin to discover the secrets of their former lives and of the young people they come to possess.

I think Katy possibly has excellent taste in hopelessly charming novels. First with Sorcery & Cecilia and now with A Certain Slant of Light, which she has recommended several times on her book blog as one of her all time favorites. It's not one that I think I would have picked up otherwise, but the strength of her recommendation was enough and holy cow I loved every second of it.

I felt like the book had all the wonderful heartfelt adolescent first love stuff that Sarah Dessen does so well but with the added bonus of gorgeous writing, an interesting supernatural element, and a wonderful bit of redemption at the end that had me sobbing as quietly as possible on my side of the bed so as not to wake Aaron since I stayed up way past bed time to finish reading.

An easy addition to my list of favorites.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

From Goodreads:

In Mary's world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.

But, slowly, Mary's truths are failing her. She's learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future - between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

(I'm going to do a little spoiling here, so if you don't want to know, don't keep reading)

I was terrified to read this book.

Once upon a time I could handle scary stuff. I watched X-Files alone in the dark at night. I read some legitimately freaky ghost stories. I was my mom's scary movie watching partner. I reveled in scary stuff. Sure, sometimes I had to sleep with the closet light on, but mostly I could handle it.

Then came The Grudge. I don't know what it was about that movie but it. scared. me. Scared me silly. And then I didn't handle scary stuff very well anymore. It's like the part of my brain that compartmentalized the scary stuff so that I didn't see things in corners or have nightmares switched off. And suddenly being scared wasn't fun anymore.

So, ya, a zombie book where I knew most of the characters died? Scary.

And then...it wasn't that bad. I mean, I wouldn't want to watch it in movie form (though, the picture of Mary on the cover looks a lot like Summer Glau to me and I'm pretty sure she'd do nicely in the role, especially since she has a history of zombie butt kicking) and ya, pretty much everyone dies, but I wasn't freaking out while reading it or anything. And it was beautifully written, as promised.

I had some issues with unanswered questions (mostly about the Sisterhood) but put it down feeling like I maybe enjoyed the book and I really liked the main character and the writing was lovely and hey...not so bad!

And then I had zombie nightmares all night. So...ya. Won't be reading this one again.

The Messenger by Lois Lowry

From Goodreads:

For the past six years, Matty has lived in Village and flourished under the guidance of Seer, a blind man, known for his special sight. Village was a place that welcomed newcomers, but something sinister has seeped into Village and the people have voted to close it to outsiders. Matty has been invaluable as a messenger. Now he must make one last journey through the treacherous forest with his only weapon, a power he unexpectedly discovers within himself.

I was so excited to discover that The Giver had a companion book called Gathering Blue. Imagine my surprise when it turns out that it actually has TWO. And really, Gathering Blue was a companion book to The Giver since it didn't actually have much to do with Lois Lowry's original except a general sort of post-apocalyptic weird controlling village concept, but The Messenger is more like a sequel. To both. And I want to talk about how awesome that is but it is way more fun figuring it out for yourself.

While I loved the aspect that I referred to above but can't talk about without spoiling it, The Messenger had all these random elements of..magic? or something? that weren't such a big deal in the previous two books. Sure Jonas could do the memory passing thing and Kira has an almost supernatural ability at creating fiber art and those abilities were important to the stories, but they weren't so much the focus.

The Messenger goes a totally different way. Suddenly everything is magic..the forest has magic, people have special abilities, something supernaturally evil is going on. It doesn't talk about it in quite those terms, but it all felt out of place beside the other two books and I didn't care for that part.

If you loved The Giver then it's worth reading, but I didn't love it.

Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson

The Goodreads description is a smidge lengthy, so I'll just link to it here in case you want a bit more of a synopsis, but the title is pretty descriptive. And you probably already kind of know how it ends. If not, I'm going to spoil it for you a bit here: Lincoln and Booth die (sorry).

Whilst wandering around the National Book Festival we walked by the Children/YA tent while James Swanson was talking about the 3 versions of this book. He wrote Manhunt for adults, then adapted the book into a YA and children's book form. Janssen and I kept looking at each other and saying, "We are totally going to read this book." Janssen actually just posted a review of the YA version on her blog. Swanson had us totally convinced. I don't even remember what he said, but he was really knowledgeable in an interesting and passionate way and as soon as I got home I put the book on hold at the library.

Between the book festival and getting home to put the book on hold though, my mom and I went to Ford's Theater and the Peterson house (the house across the street where Lincoln actually died) on our last day in DC. Having just been there and walked through the places and DC intersections mentioned in the book made it that much more interesting, but I also kind of wish I had read the book first because I think I would have appreciated the basement museum at Ford's theater a little more. I saw Booth's boot and compass and a bunch of stuff the book mentioned and sort of just wandered by without thinking too much about it. Except then I read the book and I was like, "I SAW THAT BOOT!!"

Trips to national landmarks aside, I would have loved this book without visiting DC. Nonfiction can be a tough genre to write interestingly and even tougher to plow through as a reader if it's not done well. But Manhunt is done exceptionally well. I do remember James Swanson saying that he didn't want to make Booth the hero in his books and I kind of thought, "well, duh." But having read the book I could see how it would be hard to make him not the hero. Booth was ridiculously good looking, charismatic, a southern gentleman hanging on to the dying Gone with the Wind ideals. Swanson does a good job of pointing out that he was also vain, not always particularly bright, and a racist on top of being a cold blooded killer. I didn't come away with any sympathy for John Wilkes Booth.

I did, however, totally fall in love with Lincoln. Swanson has said that he's the real hero and he does an excellent job of showing us why. I had to hold it together through the part when he finally died the morning after the shooting. It was pretty heart-rending.

I also want to mention that I had NO IDEA about what has gone on with Ford's Theater since the shooting. I just assumed while I was there that it was more or less the same place Lincoln got shot but it was gutted and used as a government office for a while until a floor collapsed and KILLED 20 PEOPLE. Then they restored it to look the way it did when Lincoln was shot and turned it into a museum. And I'm not really sure why the deaths of 20 people isn't mentioned while you're there because it seems like kind of a big deal to me. It's possible I just missed it though since Wes was ready for a nap at that point.

Also, the book leads us along to Booth getting shot on April 26th, which is my birthday. Which makes my birthday and the book that much cooler. Take THAT Booth.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

From Goodreads:

In this stunning follow-up to the global phenomenon The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown demonstrates once again why he is the world’s most popular thriller writer. The Lost Symbol is a masterstroke of storytelling--a deadly race through a real-world labyrinth of codes, secrets, and unseen truths . . . all under the watchful eye of Brown’s most terrifying villain to date. Set within the hidden chambers, tunnels, and temples of Washington, D.C., The Lost Symbol accelerates through a startling landscape toward an unthinkable finale.

As the story opens, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned unexpectedly to deliver an evening lecture in the U.S. Capitol Building. Within minutes of his arrival, however, the night takes a bizarre turn. A disturbing object--artfully encoded with five symbols--is discovered in the Capitol Building. Langdon recognizes the object as an ancient invitation . . . one meant to usher its recipient into a long-lost world of esoteric wisdom.

When Langdon’s beloved mentor, Peter Solomon--a prominent Mason and philanthropist--is brutally kidnapped, Langdon realizes his only hope of saving Peter is to accept this mystical invitation and follow wherever it leads him. Langdon is instantly plunged into a clandestine world of Masonic secrets, hidden history, and never-before-seen locations--all of which seem to be dragging him toward a single, inconceivable truth.

As the world discovered in The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, Dan Brown’s novels are brilliant tapestries of veiled histories, arcane symbols, and enigmatic codes. In this new novel, he again challenges readers with an intelligent, lightning-paced story that offers surprises at every turn. The Lost Symbol is exactly what Brown’s fans have been waiting for . . . his most thrilling novel yet.

Oh Dan Brown.

The Lost Symbol is much like his previous two Robert Langdon novels. You learn a lot of crazy things. Some of those things are true. Some are things twisted to fit the novel's circumstances. All of them are presented in a fairly intelligent, coherent, and logical manner that will have you scrambling for an encyclopedia so you can fact check and figure out which is which. All mixed with exciting chases through darkened underground tunnels and daring escapes and all kinds of other action awesomeness.

It's just as exciting as the other ones. It's worth a read.

Fun side note: I went to DC a week after reading this and saw a bunch of the places he mentioned, but the best (and worst) part was seeing the squid at the Museum of Natural History. If you read the book you'll know what I mean. Poor girl. Gag.

Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife by Irene Spencer

From Goodreads:

Irene Spencer did as she felt God commanded in marrying her brother-in-law Verlan LeBaron, becoming his second wife. When the government raided the fundamentalist, polygamous Mormon village of Short Creek, Arizona, Irene and her family fled to Verlan's brothers' Mexican ranch. They lived in squalor and desolate conditions in the Mexican desert with Verlan's six brothers, one sister, and numerous wives and children. Readers will be appalled and astonished, but most amazingly, greatly inspired. Irene's dramatic story reveals how far religion can be stretched and abused and how one woman and her children found their way out, into truth and redemption.

The first part of this book had me cringing as Irene laid out her Mormon Fundamentalist beliefs- things that are so similar to my own religious convictions, but twisted. Those things all sounded so similar but more than a little..off.

The rest of the book had me riveted as Irene bore 14 children and tried to survive in ridiculous living conditions as the second of what would eventually become ten wives.

I thought more of the book would involve the infamous Ervil LeBaron, her husband's brother, seeing as he spent many years trying to kill her husband (and her), but he's barely mentioned as Irene details her struggles with poverty, loneliness, and ideas and desires that go against her lifetime of indoctrination. As it turns out, she wrote another book called Cult Insanity about her experiences with Ervil that I think I'll pick up.

This book was bleak and soul-crushing in so many ways but knowing she eventually had a happy ending kept me hooked. I cheered when she finally broke free but I also found a new understanding for those who insist on continuing to practice polygamy. No matter how horrible your life may be, generations of indoctrination are hard to break free from, especially when eternity is at stake.

I was pleasantly surprised by the writing itself. I have to admit to not expecting much from a high school dropout with an ax to grind but she tells her story so well--concisely, with grace and a sense of humor. She sticks to the facts and how she felt and doesn't resort to laying blame with anyone, including the deluded leaders who led her into so much misery and suffering.

This book is a fascinating glimpse into a fiercely secretive world. Totally worth a read.

Airman by Eoin Colfer

From Goodreads:

In the late nineteenth century, when Conor Broekhart discovers a conspiracy to overthrow the king, he is branded a traitor, imprisoned, and forced to mine for diamonds under brutal conditions while he plans a daring escape from Little Saltee prison by way of a flying machine that he must design, build, and, hardest of all, trust to carry him to safety.

I am becoming a serious fan of Eoin Colfer. His books are tightly written, smart, and a lot of fun. And, interestingly, rather varied. The Supernaturalist is quite different from Artemis Fowl is really different than Airman. When you pick up one of his books you're not really sure what you're going to get, you just know it's going to be a great ride.

Airman is a worthy addition to the "Boy List" and my favorite of Colfer's thus far. It has all I could ever want from my fiction: a fantastic beginning, a truly nasty villian, a reluctant hero, a princess, diamonds, several daring escapes, murder, revenge, intrigue, a deep dank prison, and so much more. It's a fantastic story that played out like a movie in my head and now I'm kind of hoping someone does make it into a movie because I'd love to see some of the flying machines outside of my imagination.

Did I mention there's swashbuckling? Because there's swashbuckling.

I loved this book. A hearty recommendation all around.

Eastern Standard Tribe by Cory Doctorow

From Goodreads:

Cory Doctorow's Eastern Standard Tribe is a soothsaying jaunt into the not-so-distant future, where 24/7 communication and chatroom alliances have evolved into tribal networks that secretly work against each other in shadowy online realms. The novel opens with its protagonist, the peevish Art Berry, on the roof of an asylum. He wonders if it's better to be smart or happy. His crucible is a pencil up the nose for a possible "homebrew lobotomy." To explain Art's predicament, Doctorow flashes backward and slowly fills in the blanks. As a member of the Eastern Standard Tribe, Art is one of many in the now truly global village who have banded together out of like-minded affinity for a particular time zone and its circadian cycles. Art may have grown up in Toronto but his real homeland is an online grouping that prefers bagels and hot dogs to the fish and chips of their rivals who live on Greenwich Mean Time. As he rises through the ranks of the tribe, he is sent abroad to sabotage the traffic patterns and communication networks in the GMT tribe. Along the way, he comes across a humdinger of an idea that will solve a music piracy problem on the highways of his own beloved timezone, raise his status in the tribe and make him rich. If only he could have trusted his tightly wound girlfriend and fellow tribal saboteur, he probably wouldn't be on the booby hatch roof with that pencil up his nose.

As a musing on the future, Doctorow's extrapolation seems entirely plausible. And, not only is EST a fascinating mental leap it's a witty and savvy tale that will appeal to anyone who's lived another life, however briefly, online. --Jeremy Pugh

I was hoping Eastern Standard Tribe would be similar to Little Brother, which I LOVED. And the concept is fascinating. To quote above, "As a member of the Eastern Standard Tribe, Art is one of many in the now truly global village who have banded together out of like-minded affinity for a particular time zone and its circadian cycles." Basically, in a hyper-connected and rather homogenized global village, our most meaningful relationships are based on when we're awake.

Both Little Brother and EST have concepts that are a bit complex and a little difficult to grasp if you're not a cybergeek (me) but while Little Brother explained things in terms that were easily understood without making me feel stupid and then completely changed my perception of hacking, EST left me in the dust, assuming I already knew what on earth it was talking about. Which I didn't. A decent explanation of the "tribes" and the ideas I wrote in the paragraph above finally came about 3/4 of the way through the book, long after I had become annoyed at the stupid book and its air of smarty superiority.

Plus, the writing was so-so, the plot was meh, and I didn't care much for any the characters. The book was mercifully brief so I was able to plow through it in an evening but I really just didn't care for it.

In the book's defense, because of where I found it in my library I thought it was YA. So I was totally judging it through the curse words and one rather lurid description of a breast and wondering what on earth made people think it was a book fit for teenagers. I just double checked though and it looks like it was just in the wrong place but thinking it was YA while reading it made me dislike it that much more.

Overall: don't bother.

Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella

From Goodreads:

With the same wicked humor, buoyant charm, and optimism that have made her Shopaholic novels beloved international bestsellers, Sophie Kinsella delivers a hilarious new novel and an unforgettable new character. Meet Emma Corrigan, a young woman with a huge heart, an irrepressible spirit, and a few little secrets:

Secrets from her mother:
I lost my virginity in the spare bedroom with Danny Nussbaum while Mum and Dad were downstairs watching Ben-Hur.
Sammy the goldfish in my parents’ kitchen is not the same goldfish that Mum gave me to look after when she and Dad were in Egypt.

Secrets from her boyfriend:
I weigh one hundred and twenty-eight pounds. Not one eighteen, like Connor thinks.
I’ve always thought Connor looks a bit like Ken. As in Barbie and Ken.

From her colleagues:
When Artemis really annoys me, I feed her plant orange juice. (Which is pretty much every day.) It was me who jammed the copier that time. In fact, all the times.

Secrets she wouldn’t share with anyone in the world:
My G-string is hurting me.
I have no idea what NATO stands for. Or even what it is.

Until she spills them all to a handsome stranger on a plane. At least, she thought he was a stranger.

But come Monday morning, Emma’s office is abuzz about the arrival of Jack Harper, the company’s elusive CEO. Suddenly Emma is face-to-face with the stranger from
the plane, a man who knows every single humiliating detail about her. Things couldn’t possibly get worse—Until they do.

My lovely friend Catherine loaned me the book on cd when I complained that I had no idea what to read next. She's a good friend like that.

I LOVED the narrator. She had this lovely British accent that was a total pleasure to listen to. Except when she did the guy's voice. Then she reminded me of a zombie. But otherwise I loved her and the way she said Lizzy like Lissy which I found strangely appealing.

The book started off really strong. I laughed my behind off through discs one and two. Like snorting while cleaning my kitchen sort of laughing. It was hilarious and very Bridget Jones and Aaron kept looking at me funny because I would be like, *snort* "orange juice!"

I felt like it lost momentum and humour (British spelling in honor of the English setting) in the second half though. It was still a perfectly fine fluffy chick-lit type novel but after such a hysterical first half I was kind of disappointed when it didn't finish quite as strong.

Overall though, a perfectly lovely beach read which is totally worth reading if only for the scene in the plane with the confessing. Hilarious.

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

From Goodreads:

In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that would "unwind" them.

Connor's parents want to be rid of him because he's a troublemaker. Risa has no parents and is being unwound to cut orphanage costs. Lev's unwinding has been planned since his birth, as part of his family's strict religion. Brought together by chance, and kept together by desperation, these three unlikely companions make a harrowing cross-country journey, knowing their lives hang in the balance. If they can survive until their eighteenth birthday, they can't be harmed -- but when every piece of them, from their hands to their hearts, are wanted by a world gone mad, eighteen seems far, far away.

In Unwind, Boston Globe/Horn Book Award winner Neal Shusterman challenges readers' ideas about life -- not just where life begins, and where it ends, but what it truly means to be alive.

Either I have a thing for futuristic dystopian novels or they're really common, because I've read a whole lot of them this year.

The concept of Unwind is absolutely horrifying. Unwanted teens are "retroactively aborted" and sent to "harvest camps" where they are dismantled and their pieces are farmed out to those who need them. It's organ donation on crack and there's a scene told from the point of view of a kid being unwound that's probably the most deeply unsettling thing I've read in a long time.

This book tackles some really heavy issues: pro life vs. pro choice, the power of propaganda (the government argues that unwinding isn't death, rather a chance to live on in a "divided state"), the existence of the soul and what happens to it when a body is divided, parental responsibility ("storking" is almost as horrifying as unwinding), and so much more. Shusterman even takes a jab at those obnoxious standardized state tests when a character mentions that his class never got around to learning about the Heartland War, something that fundamentally changed his country and affected his life since the "Bill of Life" that ended it legalized unwinding, because they had to do state testing.

Shusterman also preys on some deep seated fears. The teenage fear that adults don't actually see you as a person. The worry that, in receiving an organ or other tissue from a donor, you are accepting a foreign consciousness into yourself that could infringe on your autonomy. The terror brought on by suicide bombers. The fear that you might not own your own body and that some large nebulous governing entity could take it and your freedom from you at will.

There was just so much to think about in this one. I found myself wishing I had read it as part of a book club or something so we could discuss all this stuff.

I could barely put Unwind down while reading and, several days later, I haven't put it down mentally either. A good, strong read all around.

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

From Goodreads:

Eoin Colfer describes his new book, Artemis Fowl, as "Die Hard with fairies." He's not far wrong.

Twelve-year-old Artemis Fowl is the most ingenious criminal mastermind in history. With two trusty sidekicks in tow, he hatches a cunning plot to divest the fairyfolk of their pot of gold. Of course, he isn't foolish enough to believe in all that "gold at the end of the rainbow" nonsense. Rather, he knows that the only way to separate the little people from their stash is to kidnap one of them and wait for the ransom to arrive. But when the time comes to put his plan into action, he doesn't count on the appearance of the extrasmall, pointy-eared Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon (Lower Elements Police Reconnaisance) Unit--and her senior officer, Commander Root, a man (sorry, elf) who will stop at nothing to get her back.

It's pretty clear that I have a passion for reading and I've been worrying about how to share that passion with my children for years. Since my first (and thus far, only) baby is a boy, I've started to keep my eye open for books that might appeal to 8-18 year old boys since that seems to be the hardest age to find good books for. My little brother loved Harry Potter but pretty much lost interest in reading after the series ended because very little interested him after that and books sort of became lost to him. Sad.

He did mention liking Artemis Fowl when he was younger so I picked it up.

I was ridiculously and pleasantly surprised by Artemis Fowl. I was expecting a main character much more like Harry Potter in temperament so I was pretty surprised that Artemis is a rather cold, calculating, nerdy, unsentimental criminal mastermind. It says something about the author, Eoin Colfer, that despite these rather unfuzzy personality traits, I still loved Artemis and wanted him to succeed.

The story is a great combination of fairy folklore (fairies! Leprechauns! Trolls!), modern technology (command centers! Night vision goggles! tracking devices!), and general good old fashioned evil genius. I started this book with an 11 year old boy in mind and ended up losing myself in it and just enjoying it without sparing another thought for whether or not a 6th grade Wes would enjoy it.

It's definitely going on my "Boy List" and I'm excited to see if the rest of the series measures up!

Sorcery & Cecilia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer

The Goodreads description of this book sucks so I'll just tell you a bit about it myself.

The two authors started writing letters to one another in character without any design beyond their own entertainment. They did not discuss the plot outside of their letters. They simply wrote to each other as two cousins, Kate and Cecelia (Cecy), who lived in England in a slightly alternate universe soon after the Napoleonic Wars. After the letters got more and more awesome and finally came to a lovely conclusion they looked at what they had done and said, "hey..this is kind of like a book."

I have been really lucky this week because this was yet another really really awesome book that I can unashamedly recommend to people.

I am indebted to Katy for recommending this book on her own book blog because I spent an incredibly pleasant evening on the couch ignoring my family while totally absorbed. It's just so lovely and charming and wonderful and I was totally grinning like an idiot most of the time. It felt a bit like a Jane Austen novel in a world where magic exists and what could be better than that?