[Pons Posts: 2,523 Status: Offline]

Just finished The Book Scavenger by our own J-Bert  (otherwise known as Jennifer Chambliss Bertram), and I know I liked it, because I kept ignoring things on my Must-Get-Done List so I could keep reading. Always a good sign. The books, the history, the puzzles, San Francisco - there are lots of things to like about this book, but one of my favorites was the relationship between the MC and her older brother. It wasn't problem free, but it wasn't all problems either. It fell much more realistically and attractively in between.

[Betsy Posts: 2,123 Status: Offline PICKY EATERS WWW]

Thanks so much, Pons!

That really gives a sense of the book. Sounds like a good one.

[AnneB Posts: 3,640 Status: Offline]

The Way You Make Me Feel, by Maurene Goo. Clara Shin pushes a joke too far and nearly burns down her school. Her dad sentences her to a summer working on his Korean-Brazilian fusion food truck in order to pay for the damage; what's worse, the parents of the other person [unwillingly] involved in the prank has to work there as well.

Non-memorable title (although it does reflect the theme), but a  terrific book--and I speak as a very jaded  reader of YA. I could not  wait to see what happened next and I am very sad the library is closed for the long Memorial Day weekend because I want to read her debut as well.

Also, I'm now lusting for pastéis  but alas, I seem to be in a food desert as far as Brazilian food-truck fare goes in southeatern Wisconsin.  Upscale roasted meats, sure, but no street food

[Vijaya Posts: 6,977 Status: Offline Encourage WWW]

Anne, that sounds sooooo good. And we are partial to food trucks since Max worked at Dashi (Asian+Latin) last summer.

[onestepp Posts: 138 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

Like the Book Scavenger hunt idea, and I'll have to look those up.


Also, I'm reading The Tenth Gift about a women who received an old needlepoint book, and it contained a diary of a woman captured by the Barbary pirates in the 1600's. 

[onestepp Posts: 138 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

Finally, picked up the book by Anthony Doerr  All The Light We Cannot See. about how World War II affected   a few people in different places and it comes together in today's world.  Also,  it is interestingly written even from a blind girl's point of view at times, too.

[faygie-holt Posts: 16 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

The Book Scavenger is on my book shelf just waiting to be read ... once I finish The Explorers: The Door in the Alley by Adrienne Kress.

[Pons Posts: 2,523 Status: Offline]

Sheeesh! I want to read all of the books mentioned - like right now.    I hope our library has at least some of them. I love hearing all the recommendations. Thanks.

[andracill Posts: 5,661 Status: Offline Worlds within...screaming to get out! WWW]

Anne, I have The Way You Make Me Feel sitting in my TBR -- very excited!

Last week, I finally read the third installment in the Unplugged trilogy -- The Mind Virus, by Donna Freitas. Freitas is one of my auto-buy authors, and I *loved* the premise of these books. They're set in the future of our world where everyone is addicted to their devices, so someone comes up with a way to 'plug in' to the virtual world full-time. Bodies are left as shells while their minds are in this other world...then the story begins with the MC deciding she wants to leave the virtual world when she turns 17 (the first time they get that opportunity) and what goes on from there. It's a really intriguing look at the danger of technology and the power of addiction -- and what it means to really *live*.

I thought the first one was the best, with the last coming in a close second. The middle book, as often happens, added some glue to the whole world-building idea, but it was a little slow for me, with only the beginning and the end really as engaging as the other two books in the trilogy. Still, I'd definitely recommend the trilogy to anyone who finds our dependency on technology interesting (or alarming).

[olmue Posts: 3,501 Status: Offline WWW]

I just read The Secret of Nightingale Wood, by Lucy Strange. Middle grade, about a girl whose parents are dealing with a little ptsd shortly after WWI, and the scary approach to mental health issues some people had at the time. It was well done and the girl was quite sympathetic.

[carrots Posts: 551 Status: Offline]

From the "oldie but goodie" file, I'm reading - for the fourth time - In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden. Set in the 50s-60s, it follows the journey of Philippa Talbot, a 40-something business executive from London, who leaves her job - and everything else - to become a cloistered Benedictine nun. This novel is painstakingly researched and reads like a mystery. (I'm told there's a movie, but can't quite warm up to the idea of seeing someone else's interpretation of these characters I hold so dear...)

[Betsy Posts: 2,123 Status: Offline PICKY EATERS WWW]

I know what you mean, Carrots. I also have a problem with movie versions of dearly loved books.

[Pons Posts: 2,523 Status: Offline]

I know what you mean, Carrots. I also have a problem with movie versions of dearly loved books.

This novel is painstakingly researched and reads like a mystery. (I'm told there's a movie, but can't quite warm up to the idea of seeing someone else's interpretation of these characters I hold so dear...)

I know what you mean. Sometimes it works out, but often not. I dearly love the Inspector Gamache series of mysteries by Louise Penny, but didn't last more than five minutes with a movie version on television. The people I was watching on screen were strangers to me.

[Vijaya Posts: 6,977 Status: Offline Encourage WWW]

Oooh, House of Brede has been mentioned a couple of times. I must take a look.

I have two new adult books both set in SC: Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate. Really enjoying it--it's based on the children that were literally stolen from poor parents and adopted by wealthy ones. There are two main storylines and I find that the past storyline of the children is much more gripping than the modern day investigation. The other is Sue Monk Kidd's Invention of Wings. She's such a terrific storyteller.

[onestepp Posts: 138 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

Read Sue Monk Kidd's Invention of Wings and I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.  I'm also thinking of reading Before We Were Yours because of the intriguing cover of the book with the two girls who were sitting on suitcases on a deserted road.  Thanks for the information, too.

[Vijaya Posts: 6,977 Status: Offline Encourage WWW]

I do remember you mentioning it on Gatz's thread. Love books that I can eat up!

[olmue Posts: 3,501 Status: Offline WWW]

I also just read Yeonmi Park's memoir In Order to Live. It's adult, but considering she's barely in her 20s and it's about her escape from North Korea as a teenager, it sorta counts, right? Whenever I'm having a bad day, I'm going to remind myself of her story, because nothing I have ever gone through comes close to the experiences she's had. From growing up in famine times in North Korea, to "escaping" into China--by way of human traffickers--to finally receiving defector status and citizenship in South Korea--where they have to teach refugees simple things like how modern toilets work and what an ATM card is--she's had a wild ride so far. She's about five years older than my oldest kid, and reading about her childhood is like reading about someone living before electricity was invented. And we live on the same planet.

[rab Posts: 533 Status: Offline WWW]

Carrots, I'm a fan of In this House of Brede, too (although I've only read it twice---maybe read #3 is about to happen). I just read Tommy Orange's adult debut, There There. 12 different narrators, all of them Native Americans somehow connected to Oakland, CA, and all of them heading for a pow-wow. It's a beautiful but brutal book. I also read Aja Gabel's adult debut, The Ensemble, which was a fascinating look at a professional string quartet and their shifting relationships over the years. I learned a lot about musicians from it. 

[onestepp Posts: 138 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

Vijaya   Yes I thoroughly enjoyed The invention of wings.  I like books that make you feel like you're on an adventure especially history with a ring of truth, too, and I don't like to eat books or the words in them.  I think they're to be savored more so because ever since I was little I enjoyed the adventurous characters like Peter Rabbit and Curious George more than the others.   

[zoraida-rivera Posts: 161 Status: Offline Focus, Publish WWW]

Reading Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool.  It's historical fiction and won a Newberry in 2011. Nice reading.  I like how she  weaves past and present so well.  Next in line Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo. She has a unique voice and she handles difficult themes so well!

[Vijaya Posts: 6,977 Status: Offline Encourage WWW]

Onestep, I finished INVENTION yesterday, at the beach on Sullivan's Island (where many of the slave ships from Africa came through). Perfect setting. As to eating and savoring--this is why I am a re-reader. I've ordered my own copy.

Zoraida, loved Moon and pretty much everything Kate diCamillo writes.

[zoraida-rivera Posts: 161 Status: Offline Focus, Publish WWW]

So many great books out there!  Reading a lot of picture books, too!   Are you in Goodreads? 

[Vijaya Posts: 6,977 Status: Offline Encourage WWW]

I know, Zoraida. There won't be enough time for all the great books but I'm always so thankful when I discover new authors.
Not on Goodreads. But I do post many, many books reviews on my blog. There's just so many online things I can do.

[jodyjl Posts: 390 Status: Offline]

I am reading CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE by Tomi Adeyemi. I am not usually a fan of fantasy, and I mostly read MG, but I heard Tomi speak about her book on NPR and so I bought it. It is difficult to put down!

Anyone else read this?

Zoraida, I loved Moon over Manifest and Raymie Nightingale. Great choices.

Jody

[zoraida-rivera Posts: 161 Status: Offline Focus, Publish WWW]

 CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE by Tomi Adeyemi sounds interesting.  I looked it up. I write fantasy. There's this thread between fantasy and reality that I love.  I love books by Ursula K. LeGuin. She's a genius in this genre or was,  but she lives on in her books.

[jodyjl Posts: 390 Status: Offline]

I've heard CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE being marketed as a combination of Black Panther and Hunger Games. I would agree with those comparisons. It's very engaging.

I have never read any Ursula LeGuin, but I should. She was from my hometown of Portland, Oregon!!! This city was distraught when she passed. My husband loves her books. He's a fantasy guy.

Jody

[zoraida-rivera Posts: 161 Status: Offline Focus, Publish WWW]

Jody, 

Portland, Oregon is a mystery to me.  Thanks for sharing those details. 

[jodyjl Posts: 390 Status: Offline]

Zoraida,

Portland, Oregon is a mystery to many of us who live here and have lived here for many years. LOL.

But I love this city.

Jody

[zoraida-rivera Posts: 161 Status: Offline Focus, Publish WWW]

You made me laugh, Jody.  So I decided to follow you on twitter.  Now I see that we have school in common. I worked as a teacher and counselor.  And now writing!   

I, also, see my twitter handle doesn´t appear here. I must change that.  It´s  @Z_RiveraMorales, just in case.

[olmue Posts: 3,501 Status: Offline WWW]

I'm now on The Girl with Seven Names, by Hyeonseo Lee (another book about a girl who escaped from North Korea, interestingly from the same home town as the last one.) It's really good so far.

Also reading the fifth and final Penderwick book.