What I've been reading lately - what about you?

[Clover]

Hello nerdfighters! Welcome to another edition of 'what I've been reading lately' - I think it's an excellent way to talk about books I've loved lately and I'd LOVE to hear what you've been reading and enjoying/hating as well.  Please do share in comments. 

 

I'm currently reading the latest by Maggie Stiefvater, author of Shiver/Linger/Forever etc.  The Scorpio Races isn't out until October, but I was lucky enough to have it sent to me for review.  I'm only a few chapters in, but I'm liking it so far.  About a small village on an island that hosts a horse race every November. Only these are water horses and seem deadlier and more dangerous than normal horses.  The story is split into a dual narrative between the reigning horse race-champion and a girl on the island. 

 

Shift by Jeri Smith-Ready - Shift is the sequel to Shade, a book I read last summer.  I wasn't expecting much from Shade, I pretty much just thought it'd be a nothing-special YA paranormal romance but I was really surprised by the intensity of the novel as well as its addictive quality.  And Shift is no different, it has built upon Shade's mysteries and our characters are still trying to figure out how and why this 'Shift' occurred in which children born after a certain period of time can see ghosts. There's also some really wonderful tension and heartbreak between our main character and two very swoonworthy boys.  I really like this series!

 

 

David by Mary Hoffman - Here's another book I've read recently and really enjoyed.  It's a historical YA, and I normally find historicals quite intimidating and hard to get into, but Mary Hoffman's story really gripped me.  It's all so exciting and it really makes me feel like visiting Florence in the very near future!  David is a fictional account of what it might have been like for the model of Michaelangelo's very famous statue.  Being very good looking, he is caught up in quite a few scandalous affairs, but when he also gets wrapped up in the complicated political climate of Florence at the time, he gets himself into some real trouble.  It's good. I recommend it. 

 

 

Blood Red Road by Moira Young - This book really blew me away!  I've heard really good things about it, so bought it immediately after it was published.  It's written in dialect, so that could put some readers off.  But I think the poor grammar and spelling really added to the atmosphere of the book.  Blood Red Road is set in a future where times are really tough - mostly wasteland, and people get by thieving, catching slaves and cagefighting.  Many are addicted to a powerful drug and control over this drug and maintaining power means dangerous things for normal people.  When Saba's father is murdered and her twin brother taken, she sets off on this desperate journey in order to be reunited with her family andgets roped into a rebellion.  This book is SO exciting and worth reading!  Seriously, pick it up. 

 

 

The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta - It's no secret that I'm one of Melina Marchetta's BIGGEST fans, so when I heard she was publishing a sort-of sequel to Saving Francesca, I knew that I would reade it and soon.  And The Piper's Son was absolutely incredible.  So emotional and painful to read.  It really broke my heart reading of Thomas Mackee several years after the events of Saving Francesca.  I loved the shift in perspective and really getting into Thomas's head as he struggles with the death of his uncle and his complicated relationship with Tara Finke and with his aunt and the rest of his family.  Really, this book yanked my heart out and crushed it into little pieces.  Melina Marchetta is a genius and if you like contemporary fiction, and haven't yet read Melina Marchetta, then I really don't know what you're waiting for!

 

 

Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien - I'm taking part in a blogging event in August highlighting dystopian fiction and picked this book up with the intention of reviewing it next month.  I know lots of nerdfighters who have read and loved The Hunger Games, but there are some other seriously good dystopic fiction out there at the moment.  Including Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien.  Our main character, Gaia is a 16 year old midwife living outside the wall.  Her job is to 'advance' a certain number of babies every month to go live in luxury and comfort inside the wall.  But when Gaia's parents are taken and held prisoner inside the wall, Gaia is determined to rescue them as well as learn some answers about the divide between those who live inside/outside the wall and what is really going on. 

 

And that's what I'm reading at the moment and what I  have read very recently.  Please, please, please do share with us all what you've been reading and if you're enjoying it!  Us nerdfighters need to be talking more about the great books we're reading! 

 

Bestwishes and DFTBA.  Until next week :)

[Yoyo McRunfast]

I just finished reading All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren.  It was a little intense at times but very well-written and has universal themes about life and morals.  It's not a YA book but not difficult to read.

[Elisabeth]

Looks like I'm a bit late in responding, but I'm reading Hester (which is essentially a prequel to The Scarlett Letter), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and Atlas Shrugged.  All of which are excellent, but I'm enjoying atlas shrugged the most.  The depth of the characters and the artistry in the writing reminds me of Hugo's Les Miserables.

[Danielle Crouch]

First of all, Vivian, you will not be disappointed with Philip Pullman. The "His Dark Materials" trilogy (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass) are three of my favorite books in existance, especially the third one. Anyone who has not read those should do so pronto.

 

And on to what I've been reading recently. Currently I am reading "Before I Go To Sleep" by S.J. Watson. If you liked the movie "Memento" I highly recommend this book, it has a very similar feel to it and is equally suspenseful. It's about a woman who loses her memory in her mid-twenties and is her account in first person of what it's like to live with amnesia and her quest to find out what really happened to her all those years ago that led to her memory loss. I haven't finished it yet but from the blurbs on the back it sounds like the ending is going to be quite dramatic.

 

I also recently re-read "Sabriel" and "Lirael" by Garth Nix, and I'm about to read the third book in the trilogy, "Abhorsen." Garth Nix is an incredible author who has created an entire world seemingly out of nothing (I'm actually very curious what inspired the world in which these books are set because I've never read anything like it) in which fictional countries Ancelstierre and the Old Kingdom are separated by a wall which enables magic to be practiced on one side but not the other, and the dead play a major role in the conflicts that take place throughout the trilogy. Very engaging, suspenseful, and creative.

 

The other amazing book that I've read recently is "Will Grayson, Will Grayson," which I'm sure many nerdfighters have read, by John Green and David Levithan. I have to admit it's the only one of John's books that I've read recently, and only the second of his that I've ever read. As a recent arrival to nerdfighteria I was sadly unaware of John Green's brilliance as an author until very recently, but his other books are definitely next on my to-read list. Anyway, "Will Grayson, Will Grayson": The humorous but still deeply emotional style of this book kept me captivated until the very last page, and I loved how the seemingly unrelated stories of the two Will Graysons converged in such an unlikely way. As soon as I finished reading this I wanted to start again from the beginning right away. Definitely a must-read.

[Sara L]

I'm just about to begin my summer reading, but I did read an interesting book recently.  It was called "Need" (I also read the sequel, "Captivate").  While I didn't hate the book, it isn't one that i would say i really loved.  The characters are fairly twilight-esque - the girl who moves to a gloomy north town from a lively town in a warm climate, complains of cold and meets the guy of her dreams, discovers a world of supernatural quality that she is dragged into...drama insues.  What got me reading the second, and will probably get me to read the third book, is the fact that the book plays on old myths, redefining the image of pixies and incorporating old Norse mythology into the plot.  all in all, i'd say that it is worth the read, just because the modern interpretation of traditional myths is really interesting

[Teresa Demitrovic]

I've recently read two remarkable english books of poetry: "Dart" by Alice Oswald and "Requiem auf einer Stele" by Federico Federici. I am always impressed by the huge number of book of poems out there. I like to go hunting new ones everytime :-)

Teresa

[Kathryn Arden]

Recently, I read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, which was remarkable. I also quite enjoyed The Magicians by Lev Grossman, although I read that awhile ago. I actually haven't done much reading lately, since I've been doing more writing, but I plan on reading Beowulf, The Stranger, Hamlet, Invisible Man, Mrs. Dalloway, Pride and Prejudice, four of Sartre's plays (No Exit, The Flies, Dirty Hands, and The Respectful Prostitute) before the end of the summer, along with a few linguistically nerdy books. Yay!

[Martha F.]

It's been so long since I've been on the ning! glad to be back. :)

 

A few days ago I finally got my hands on The Demon's Surrender by Sarah Rees Brennan which is the final book in her first trilogy. I finished it in just over 9 hours and it is the first time in years that I've felt that a book series really came to a close.

It's like I know that the story continues becuase the characters are human enough that I can imagine them getting married, having families, and building homes, carreers, and lives even though the author has finished their story. But I also recognize the end of a chapter. And I'm satisfied with it which is a beautiful feeling.

I can't wait for her next book Unspoken  to come out.

 

I also just finished All Things Wise and Wonderful by James Herriot. I made it a goal to finish all of his memoirs before the end of the summer. I'm 3/4 done and still going strong! I really love his style because it is so calm and enriched. The stories he tell lack drama and suspense, yet thy still carry strong emotion, which is a sign, I think, of his skill as an author and storyteller.

[Rachel Carroll]

I think the last totally awesome book I read was Delirium by Luaren Oliver. I sincerely reccomend it to everyone. It's that good. But currently I'm reading my way through Dream Factory by Brad Barkely it's interesting but I'm not sure things are really like this at Disney.

[Patrick Krebs]

Presently I am most of the way through J.D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey. Of course everyone knows Salinger from Catcher in the Rye and I absolutely loved Catcher so I figured I would read some of his other published works and I have not been disappointed. Most of his other works center around the fictional Glass family, a family of psychologically unstable prodigies, and Franny and Zooey focus on the two younger members. Salinger is of course phenomenal.

I also just finished The Realm of Possibility, a collection of interwoven poems by David Levithan, which was sweet and brilliant, and Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by David Letvithan and Rachel Cohn. I have been getting quite obsessed with the books that Mr Levithan and Ms Cohn write together. Levithan writes from the boy character's perspective and Cohn writes from the girl and they spend the story falling in love in a sweet and genuinely heartwarming story. I would also recommend Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist also by them which was made into a movie with Micheal Cera but the book is always better     

[Vivian Hernandez]

I am currently reading The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing by MT Anderson, after just finishing up Lyra's Oxford by Phillip Pullman and Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne.

Both were fabulous, and I highly recommend Winnie the Pooh to anyone who wants to know why Winnie the Pohh is called such.

Lyra's Oxford was my introduction to Pullman's writing style, and I'm very excited to start reading some of his other books.

I'm also far to lazy to write about the other 25 books I've read this year, so I'll end it here.

Best wishes, Nerdfighteria.