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books

What I’m Reading Now

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With the long weekend and (a few hours in the car) ahead of me, I’m really excited about the extra reading time I’ll get to sneak in in the near future. I’ve been talking about how my reading this year has been slower than normal, but fortunately, it’s been getting better in the last couple of weeks. I’ve been able to get through two or three books a week, which is about my average. I’m finding that working with the slump, rather than trying to not acknowledge and respect it, has been really helpful. Perhaps that’s a future post in the making.

That said, here’s a peek at what I’ve got on my short list and what I’ve got bookmarks in right now.

The Girl From The Well by Rin Chupeco (August 5 from Sourcebooks)

This book! It’s been in my hands since it came as a bound manuscript last fall, and I’m finally sinking into it. It’s been called The Grudge meets Dexter in one description and The Ring meets The Exorcist in another. I think those are all pretty fair comparisons, and I’d say this is the kind of book fans of j-horror will eat up. There is a ghost spirit who is seeking revenge and we all know this isn’t going to end well for . . . well probably not for anyone. I’m only a bit into it at the time of this writing, but I am so looking forward to racing through, since the pacing is quick, the writing atmospheric and haunting, and the story absorbing. It hits all my sweet spots for good horror.

Shotgun Lovesongs by Nickolas Butler

Butler’s novel has been recommended to me by multiple people, and since I’ve been on a really positive adult novel reading spree through this slump, I’m eager to pick this one up and dive in. It’s about four long-time friends who grew up in the same small Wisconsin town and explores how their lives have changed and shifted and how that plays out in their relationships.

Anatomy of a Boyfriend and Anatomy of a Single Girl by Daria Snadowsky

I haven’t read either of these books, but since I’ve been keeping an eye out for books tackling teen sexuality in some capacity, I know I want to read both of these. Boyfriend is a few years old, but Single Girl came out last year and when it came out, I put them both into my pile of titles to get to, and now they’re up. I’m eager for what should be some solid contemporary.

As a side note to this, if you know of any really solid contemporary realistic YA that explores female sexuality that maybe isn’t an obvious choice, I’d love to hear about it. I’m especially curious about books out in the last year or two — the usual suspects are ones I’ve read. But what may I have missed?

The Gospel of Winter by Brendan Kiely

I didn’t know if this was a book I wanted to read for a long time, especially because it does that thing that I find myself turned off by, which is being set in the late 90s/early 00s. But I’ve read so many great reviews of this and how it explores sexual assault and the way adults can take advantage of teenagers, so I’m going to give it a go.

The cover of Kiely’s book is really neat, too. It looks like a standard boy-in-the-shadow cover, but the silhouette is imprinted on the hardcover itself, and the designed white part with the title and author are the jacket — it might not be vellum proper, but that’s what the effect is like.

Kiss of Broken Glass by Madeleine Kuderick (September 9)

A verse novel about a 15-year-old girl who is mentally ill and put under a psychiatric watch for a short period of time. Sold.

Blind by Rachel DeWoskin (August 7)

It starts on the 4th of July when a wayward firework flies into Emma’s eyes, causing her to go blind. This is about what happens as she works through her life in a new way and how she navigates life in her new normal. DeWoskin wrote Big Girl Small, which was an Alex Award winner a few years back and has . . . also been sitting in a pile for me to get to reading since it also sounds like it’s up my alley. One thing I’m a little hesitant about with Blind is that it’s very long — over 400 pages. I’m not opposed to big books, but the last few I’ve read that have gotten that long would have been much stronger were they about 50-100 pages tighter. I’m hoping to be proven wrong this time.

What’s on your to-read for the week? What should be on my radar? And if you’ve read anything here, I’d love to know what you think.

What I’m Reading Now

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Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer
This one could easily be added to our magical realism genre guide. Jam’s boyfriend Reeve died, and she’s been sent to a boarding school for “fragile and intelligent” teenagers because she’s having trouble dealing with the trauma. (Essentially, she’s depressed.) She’s assigned to a Special Topics in English class where the students read Sylvia Plath exclusively, including her semi-autobiographical novel The Bell Jar. Twice a week, they’re required to write in a journal about anything they like. When they do, they discover the journal takes them to a place in their lives prior to the trauma they’ve experienced. This is Wolitzer’s first YA novel, and it’s smoothly written, mostly avoiding the writing-down-to-its-audience plague that afflicts a lot of adult writers. It’s not my usual cup of tea, but I liked it a lot. I’ll have a fuller review closer to the publication date.

Conversion by Katherine Howe
This is a stunner. I’m only halfway through and I’m pretty impressed by almost everything about this book. Howe has taken the case of the high school girls and one boy in Le Roy, NY, who were diagnosed with conversion disorder in 2011-2012 and set it in a private girls’ school in Massachusetts. She has then drawn a parallel between this case and that of the Salem witch hysteria in the 17th century, coincidentally set in the same physical location. The book alternates between Colleen Rowley’s story in 2012 and Ann Putnam’s confession in the early 1700s (the only participant to confess, incidentally), though the bulk of the book focuses on Colleen. Interwoven through both stories are themes of academic and societal pressure on teen girls, the close policing of teen girls’ sexuality, and what it takes for teen girls to be seen for their authentic selves and heard in their own voices. This is the second novel (that I know of) to use the Le Roy case as inspiration – Kelly wrote about the other, Megan Abbott’s The Fever, on Tuesday – though Howe’s book is marketed specifically for teens. This is a well-crafted novel that juggles many different parts successfully.
 

Sunrise by Mike Mullin
I started this a few weeks ago and it’s been a bit of a struggle for me. It’s the conclusion to a trilogy that began with Ashfall and continued with Ashen Winter. This volume focuses, at least initially, on a war of sorts between two communities post-supervolcano. One of them is the community Alex lives in, and the other is a community that attacked them and stole most of their food and supplies. Alex grows into his role as a leader by organizing a raid/attack on the town to regain their food, essential to their continued survival. I think I’m having a hard time getting into it because it’s so bleak. Right off the bat, there’s a large amount of violence and loss, and I’m in the mood for something a little lighter, perhaps.

Across a Star-Swept Sea by Diana Peterfreund
I loved For Darkness Shows the Stars, the first book set in this universe, so this was a natural pick for me. Where the first was a re-telling of Persuasion, this one is a re-telling of the Scarlet Pimpernel, set on two islands in the Pacific Ocean post-Reduction. I’m not as familiar with the Scarlet Pimpernel as I am with Persuasion, but so far it hasn’t infringed upon my enjoyment. These books aren’t fast reads for me; they’re books to fall into and savor slowly. Part of what I loved so much about FDStS was the yearning between the two leads. In Across a Star-Swept Sea, we trade in the intense romance for espionage and derring-do. Not a bad trade, but it does mean the book doesn’t feel as emotionally resonant (at least so far).

What I’m Reading Now

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The last couple of weeks of my life have been chaotic, between traveling to Connecticut, changing jobs, and now, I’m in Virginia for a couple days. I haven’t had a lot of good time to “settle” into a new routine, and because of that, my reading has been a little all over the map. I’m a pretty good reader while traveling, so I’ve at least been able to sneak in pages between destinations. Here’s a look at what I’ve been reading and have in my bag right now while I’m trying to find that new groove. I guess I’m also a little all over the map in what’s been catching my interest, too!



Sex Criminals, Volume 1 by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky: I heard about this one so long ago and preordered it so long ago, and when it showed up in my mail this week, I was really excited since I’d forgotten I bought it. It’s a comic book featuring a main character who is a librarian that, when she orgasms, she is able to stop time. The story picks up when she meets a partner who has that same special talent. I’m not too far into it, but I am really keen on the artwork.

The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison: I can only remember having read one collection of essays in book form before, and that was Eula Biss’s Notes From No Man’s Land, published by Graywolf Press. So when Jamison’s collection started getting some buzz, my interest was piqued. Then someone shared one of the essays in this collection titled “A Grand Unified Theory of Female Pain,” which you can read in full here, and I knew I wanted to pick up the book. I’m about half way through the collection and have had some hits and some misses, but Jamison’s writing is knockout.

The Break-up Artist by Philip Siegel: I haven’t cracked this one open yet, but I have it with me while I’m out this week because it looks like a lighter-hearted read. It’s a story about a girl who falls into the business of breaking up relationships.

The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno: I know very little about this book, and I wouldn’t have put the galley on my ereader had I not seen someone mention that it’s a great read alike to Stephanie Kuehn’s forthcoming Complicit. I read and loved Kuehn’s book, so I’m eager to see what makes this a read alike and if it’s as successful in being a psychological thriller that actually surprised me with its twists.

Before I left, I shoved a ton of other galleys on my ereader, as well, including Roxane Gay’s Bad Feminist (another collection of essays), Carrie Mesrobian’s Perfectly Good White Boy, Micol Ostow’s Amity, and Kat Rosenfield’s Inland.

What’s been on your reading plate lately? Anything recently released or coming out soon that I should have on my radar?

What I’m Reading Now

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Dangerous Women edited by George R. R. Martin & Martin Dozois
I’m reading adult fiction! And short stories to boot! I’m pretty sure Martin’s “novella” in this collection is longer than a lot of the YA books I read, though. I’ve read the first story (Some Desperado by Joe Abercrombie) and thought it was OK, but not fantastic. It demonstrates why I usually don’t read short stories: there’s not enough time to develop an interesting plot with a satisfying conclusion, much less any character growth. This first story felt more like a chapter from a longer book than a full story in and of itself. It is one of the shortest in the collection, though, so I’m interested to see how I fare with the others.

The Shadow Throne by Jennifer A. Nielsen
This is the conclusion to the trilogy that began with The False Prince and continued with The Runaway King, all solid upper middle grade/lower YA fantasy. This final volume finds Jaron finally facing the war that’s been threatening. One of the best things about this series is Jaron’s voice, which can be simultaneously funny and painful.

Butterfly Summer by Anne-Marie Conway
My sister-in-law, who teaches tweens in London, gave me this book as a Christmas gift. She told me it’s been popular with the kids in her class, and I can see why. It’s middle grade that’s pitch perfect for its marketed age group (8-12). It also reminds me a lot of books I enjoyed around that age. It’s fairly short, mostly realistic, with a few family secrets and very slight mystical elements. It’s a little bit fantasy, a little bit mystery, and a good bit coming-of-age. The plot hinges on a secret that’s pretty obvious to spot as an adult reader, but I’ve a feeling that a ten-year-old reader would figure it out at just the moment the author intended – perhaps just before the young protagonist does – and then delight in turning back the pages to spot the clues that she knows the author dropped.

Cinderella vol. 1: From Fabletown With Love by Chris Roberson & Shawn McManus
This is a spinoff of Bill Willingham’s very popular Fables comic book series. I thought it was pretty well-done. Cinderella as a secret agent for the Fables is a clever idea, and I liked how Roberson and McManus re-worked the traditional Cinderella story into a James Bond-esque tale.

Speaking From Among the Bones by Alan Bradley
I really enjoy this series about precocious pre-teen and amateur sleuth Flavia de Luce. I’ve previously read all the books in print and am giving this one a try on audio, after hearing great things about the narration from multiple people. I have to admit I’m having a harder time with this volume. It could be that the mystery simply isn’t as engaging as the previous books, but I’ve a feeling it’s more to do with the voicing. Jayne Entwhistle’s narration is full of inflection – a bit overfull, actually. I find myself following the ups and downs of her voice rather than the meaning behind her words, and my attention wanders. I seem to be the only one who isn’t entranced, though.

The To-Read Pile

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I have a little problem when it comes to my reading. I’m sure I’m not alone in it. I turn the last page on a book I thoroughly enjoyed and eagerly start my search for the next one. Except…I have a hard time finding just the right book for my mood at the time. I pick one up, set it down, pick up another. I scan the stacks at various places around the house, knowing that multiple books are calling my name, but unsure how to decide just which one is calling my name the loudest. Before I know it, I’ve spent an hour just wandering the house and haven’t read a thing.

I’m in one of those places right now. Below are a few of the books that I’m considering as my next read, but haven’t really dove into any of them yet. The first paragraphs are descriptions from Worldcat, and my own commentary follows in the second paragraphs.

Enders by Lissa Price
With the Prime Destinations body bank destroyed, Callie no longer has to
rent herself out to creepy Enders–but he can still get inside her mind
and make her do things she doesn’t want to do. Having the chip removed
could save Callie’s life — but it could also silence the voice in her
head that might belong to her father.

I dug Starters, and I hope that this sequel will prove to be just as fun as the first. I have to admit, I feel this one’s call a bit stronger than the others. (I loathe this cover, though. About the same amount I loathed the cover for the first. Sigh.)

Plus One by Elizabeth Fama
In an alternate United States where Day and Night populations are forced
to lead separate–but not equal–lives, a desperate Night girl falls
for a seemingly privileged Day boy and places them both in danger as she
gets caught up in the beginnings of a resistance movement.

I really liked Fama’s previous novel, Monstrous Beauty, a nicely written historical fantasy, and this (unrelated) book sounds intriguing. The concept sounds a little far-fetched (there’s no explanation given initially for the division between night and day), but I have faith the story will make me believe in it. (And as we’ve already discovered, it’s not hard for me to suspend my disbelief.)

Control by Lydia Kang

In 2150, when genetic manipulation has been outlawed,
seventeen-year-old Zelia must rescue her kidnapped sister with the help
of a band of outcasts with mutated genes.
 
The review copy states that Kang, a practicing physician, has “gained a reputation for helping other writers with medical accuracy in their own novels.” I’m interested to see how technical this book is and how much of it is based on actual science rather than, ahem, “science.”

The Enchanter Heir by Cinda Williams Chima
Racing against time, Jonah and Emma, who possess unique magical gifts,
work to uncover the truth about Thorn Hill, a peaceful commune that the
Wizard Guild claims is a hotbed of underguild terrorists.

I’ve been meaning to read Chima’s fantasy novels for ages, but I’ve never managed to find the first in any of her series in at the library when I’ve remembered to look. This is the first in a duology related to the Heir Chronicles, but it’s supposed to function separately, so I figure it’s a good place to start.

Cress by Marissa Meyer
No Worldcat summary yet, but I can tell you this is the third book in Meyer’s series of futuristic fairy tale re-tellings. It’s based on Rapunzel and features a girl trapped on a satellite who’s become very good at hacking – and gets caught up in Cinder and Scarlet’s adventures, naturally.

Some slightly tepid reviews from a few acquaintances have me holding off on this one for a while. I know I’ll get around to it sooner rather than later, though.

All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill
Em must travel back in time to prevent a catastrophic time machine from
ever being invented, while Marina battles to prevent the murder of the
boy she loves.

I love time travel, but it can be difficult to do well. When plotted right, time travel can be some of the smartest storytelling around. Reviews from people I trust indicate that Terrill does it very well here.