[AnneB Posts: 3,753 Status: Offline]

Oh, my heavens. I picked up The Cabinet of Earths by Blueboarder Anne Nesbet this week. I've kept putting off because MG fantasy is so not my thing but dear Reader, I could NOT put it down.

I'd suspect magic encoded in the cover except that the magic is really in the MC's voice.

[chip.amber]

Just finished to read a theatrical adaptation of the Iliad by Homer

[Shannywriter Posts: 507 Status: Offline Believe in yourself and never give up WWW]

Now reading ARC of The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen!

[AnneN Posts: 509 Status: Offline]

AnneB just made AnneN smile like a happy fool!
 :
Wish they would put your post on the back of the new book (out NEXT WEEK, for golly's sake)! One of the nicest reviews I've ever had.


Meanwhile, my daughter made me drop everything and find the ARC of Leigh Bardugo's SIEGE AND STORM because she read SHADOW AND BONE in one gulp this morning and was ready for more Russian-ish fantasy!

And I gulped down Sarah Rees Brennan's UNSPOKEN with great pleasure. (But the last two pages! Hey!)

[updog]

I've just started A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth Bunce. Very good so far.

[mrh Posts: 4,759 Status: Offline www.marciahoehne.com WWW]

THE DOGS OF WINTER by Bobbie Pyron. Engrossing tale based on a true story set in Moscow.

[bookworm452]

Just started Dearly, Beloved by Lia Habel. Really good!
I have a lot of books for when I finish that:
- Flawless by Sara Shepherd (I've been watching the PLL series since it began but I've only just started reading the books because they were really cheap on Amazon - my Literature teacher's reaction was quite funny!)
- Ashes by Isla J. Bick
- The Savage Grace by Bree Despain
- Sister Assassin by Kiersten White
- Pure by Julianna Baggott
I really want a copy of Partials by Dan Wells, Possession by Elana Johnson and Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi but they're either not out yet and I just bought some Doc Martens so I don't have the money :/ If anyone has any reviews of them, I'd love to read!

[J-Bert Posts: 257 Status: Offline WWW]

Shannywriter, so jealous you have an ARC of THE MOON AND MORE! I can't wait to read it.

[Z-cat]

The 8 year old and I are reading Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time, because the kid has decided he wants to be an astrophysicist.

[olmue Posts: 3,529 Status: Offline WWW]

Awesome, Lindsey!

When my second son was eight, that was his favorite book, too. He even told us that adults need to know that every kid's dream is to know more about theoretical physics. We thought he was being his own weird self until he asked if he could loan that book out, because a girl in his class wanted to read it, too. So it seems that he was onto something there...

[Jean Reidy Posts: 723 Status: Offline I love kids' books!! WWW]

Oooh! Why haven't I discovered this thread sooner?
I'm reading ELEANOR AND PARK and listening to THE FIVE LIVES OF OUR CAT ZOOK
both are excellent.
Jean

[olmue Posts: 3,529 Status: Offline WWW]

Just finished Smaragdgruen (Emerald Green) by Kerstin Gier. It's the final book of her Ruby Red trilogy, which comes out this fall in English. However, it was uh, time to brush up on my German and make sure I don't forget it. Really! Anyway, it was awesome. Sometimes you just need a book that is completely entertaining and where you aren't responsible for thinking up plot solutions. Plus, likeable characters. Plus, funny. And mystery. And time travel! (I have a weakness for time travel.) Also, my kids have the habit of stealing any book I look like I might be enjoying, but my girls have forgotten all their German, so for once I got it first, and it was ALL MINE.

[Lwrites Posts: 159 Status: Offline]

DOLL BONES by Holly Black! Oh wow, this book was the best MG I've read this year. MG horror is a really hard thing to write and this book has the perfect balance of adventure and creepiness (oh my the creepiness!!) and the deeper stuff beneath the surface.
Anyone who likes books like CORALINE, or spooky books in general, or just really great MG, and anyone who's looking for upper MG that is still MG instead of YA - read it!

[LindaB Posts: 332 Status: Offline I want to write!]

I'm reading the third Beyonders book by Brandon Mull. I'm enjoying the final book in the series. It's a good adventure book for boys.

LindaB

[AnneB Posts: 3,753 Status: Offline]

I'm on my second run-through of Kate Messner's Real Revision and am very grateful I discovered it, as it recently helped me handle a difficult situation with my ms.

The revision tips are wonderful and very helpful to book-length writers despite being primarily geared toward helping classroom teachers guide their students through the revision process. What was most encouraging for me were the revision anecdotes from Kate and other authors, including many current or former Blueboarders, about the many, many drafts a ms. goes through between signing with an agent and subbing to editors, and again with editors before getting to the copyediting stage.

[Shannywriter Posts: 507 Status: Offline Believe in yourself and never give up WWW]

ARC of Formerly Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham

[ButterflyGirl Posts: 545 Status: Offline @kidlitSarah sarahfloydbooks.com]

I just finished Maggie Stiefvater's THE RAVEN BOYS -- so good! I can't stop thinking about the characters, and what happens next (Yay -- there's a sequel coming out in September). The writing is extraordinary, but I got so immersed in the story that I often forgot to study as I read.  Now I am re-reading to figure out how she made such seamless pov transitions, deep and interesting characters, etc.

[jenklein Posts: 76 Status: Offline WWW]

Just finished IF I STAY by Gayle Forman (cried several times -- high compliment!) and next up is THE DISENCHANTMENTS by nina LaCour.

[G.R. Posts: 633 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

Finally finished War & Peace today. Whew! Oddly enough, I thought some of the "war" parts kind of dragged, but there was enough stuff happening on the homefront to keep my interest throughout, and Tolstoy's meditations on history in general were fairly compelling.

[LindaJoy Posts: 391 Status: Offline Linda Joy Singleton author of SNOW DOG, SAND DOG WWW]

I'm enjoying the advance copy of CONJURED by Sarah Beth Durst which is intriguing.

And I'm envious of Olmue for reading EMERALD GREEN and I can't wait for the English version. RUBY RED is a favorite series of mine.

[olmue Posts: 3,529 Status: Offline WWW]

I love especially in Emerald Green (but some in Sapphire Blue, too) how Gier used Xemerius. It's a nifty trick I think I should learn--putting lots of emotional stuff on the page, but tempering it with funny lines, or someone (Xemerius, in this case) being sort of the anti-emotional foil to it all. Somehow when you manage to mix up comedy and tragedy, it makes both of them stronger. I think you'll like it, LindaJoy!

[ChristineSarmel Posts: 228 Status: Offline WWW]

I'm dropping into adult lit to read FEVER by Keane - historical fiction about "Typhoid Mary". I wish they'd been able to get something about Typhoid Mary into the title because it's a really good book with a great hook, but the cover and title could be about almost anything.

[rab Posts: 541 Status: Offline WWW]

Just read Meg Wolitzer's adult novel, THE INTERESTINGS, which I could not put down. It starts in the mid 1970s at a summer arts camp and follows a group of characters from their teens into their 50's. So many fascinating questions about creativity and talent and friendship and love and purpose and being/doing good. What amazing characters---so complex, so wonderfully flawed; these people will live with me for a long time. Very highly recommended.

[Pons Posts: 2,466 Status: Offline]

I just finished A Brutal Telling by Louise Penny. My eyes are blurry and I feel drained. It was a great read.

[AnneB Posts: 3,753 Status: Offline]

Not a YA, but boy, was it a fun read: Someday, Someday, Maybe, by Lauren Graham. Aspiring actress in 1995 Brooklyn/Manhattan. With a blurb from Diane Keaton!

[ChristineSarmel Posts: 228 Status: Offline WWW]

Read Sara Zarr's THE LUCY VARIATIONS in one setting. It's a really emotional reflection about artists and what motivates creative people. I suspect it will ring especially true for a lot of writers.

[Shannywriter Posts: 507 Status: Offline Believe in yourself and never give up WWW]

Almost done with Spies and Predjudice by our BBer Talia Vance 

[RaeE Posts: 140 Status: Offline]

I'm halfway through Elizabeth Wein's CODE NAME VERITY. It is an amazing book so far. THIS is what people mean when they talk about infectious, unforgettable voice.

ETA: I ignored my own work today and instead devoured this book. If you haven't read it, please do. This book is the reason why  I want to write. Not to get an agent or to get published, but to write something that might someday make someone's heart stop and leave them feeling shaken and tearful and joyous and ... not quite themselves anymore ... when they turn the last page. 

[olmue Posts: 3,529 Status: Offline WWW]

Just finished Bridget Zinn's POISON. The only thing I didn't like about it was the fact that Bridget isn't around to write a sequel. When I die, I want to go to the heaven where all the writers are. I want an eternity to hear all their stories.

Currently enjoying Throne of Glass. I'm glad straight-up fantasy is coming back in. Also, I'm glad to have found a whole pile of books that have nothing at all to do with the kind of book I'm revising right now, because I think Book and I need some Time Away from each other.

[Ruth Donnelly Posts: 659 Status: Offline WWW]

Really enjoying RUBY RED! (see more comments about it a little way down).