[Vijaya Posts: 6,875 Status: Offline Encourage WWW]

I loved The War that Saved My Life. I hope our library has the sequel.

Me too. Pons, just put in a request for the book. That's what I did and I'm waiting.

I'm still feeling very and the book I loved best was Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden.

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

I don't like dystopia either, but I LOVE southern Utah. So I may have to read CROSSED. Or MATCHED.

[Long Hair Posts: 20 Status: Offline Please forgive typos. My cat is on the keyboard.]

I'm on  a non-fiction kick right now, but I'm sprinkling in MG as well.  I just finished THE GREATEST KNIGHT: THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF WILLIAM MARSHALL by Thomas Ashbridge and it is amazing! If there was ever a book that needed a movie or mini-series, this is it. I also finished SERAFINA AND THE SPLINTERED HEART this week, and as always, it was a joy to read. I love Asheville, NC and Biltmore Estate, so it's especially fun for me.  I'm about to start another NF: WAR OF THE ROSES by Dan Jones, I've read him before, and it should be a good follow-up to THE GREATEST KNIGHT.  I'm also about to get a Lauren Magaziner book, not sure which one, but they look wildly entertaining!

[AnneB Posts: 3,577 Status: Offline]

I was blown away by Bonnie Sue Hitchcock's handling of multiple 1st person POVs in The Smell of Other People's Houses.  It's one of those books I started re-reading a day after I finished it just so I could admire how it was handled.  Another, very different book that handled multiple POV so well was Ruta Sepetys's WWII book, Salt to the Sea.

[Teresa Writes! Posts: 74 Status: Offline Spooky and the Gargoyle 9/13/2019 WWW]

I'm still feeling very and the book I loved best was Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden.

Oh, I LOVE Rumer Godden! I have a copy of HOLLY AND IVY and re-read it just a few weeks ago. I think for me it is going to be a "read this every Christmas" kind of book.  My kids aren't really old enough for it yet, unfortunately.

Right now I am reading a YA novel, ASYLUM. The writing style didn't win me, but it's genuinely creepy. For me this is one of those books you want to read in print form rather than on an e-reader, because of the images.

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

I read J.R. Tolkien Letters to Father Christmas.  The book had the actual letters in their envelopes with artwork.  Enjoyed the book and I thought it was fun to read like you could read it to your small child.

[dewsanddamps Posts: 2,118 Status: Offline]

I'm reading Frances Hardinge's A FACE LIKE GLASS and enjoying it a great deal--which is good, because it's five hundred pages, I started it last night, and my book group is discussing it on Tuesday.

[rab Posts: 533 Status: Offline WWW]

I just so happened to be rereading, for the billionth time, A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA, when I saw UKL's obit. It made finishing the book especially emotional.

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

 Saw the anime Earthsea by Ghibli studios.    Finished Woman in Cabin in Number 10 liked the mystery and read its going to be a movie, too.

[hairaplenty Posts: 1,456 Status: Offline Don't ever quit!]

If you get a chance to read Allegedly, by Tiffany D Jackson, do so. Better yet, listen t it on CD, which was what I did. Riveting. I kept thinking: is this kid going to get a break? And how is this going to end?   

Contemporary YA, dark, edgy. Along the lines of The Hate U Give, IMO.

[Vijaya Posts: 6,875 Status: Offline Encourage WWW]

I read J.R. Tolkien Letters to Father Christmas.  The book had the actual letters in their envelopes with artwork.  Enjoyed the book and I thought it was fun to read like you could read it to your small child.

This sounds wonderful.

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

It was wonderful to read.  If you haven't read the book, maybe you could visit your local library and read it to remember what it was like writing letters to Santa and leaving him cookies as a child.

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

I finished HELLO UNIVERSE (Newbery winner) last week. A librarian I know used to say that "all those Newbery books just sit on the shelf and no one ever reads them." This isn't going to be one of those. It features a couple of special needs kids and tackles bullying without being preachy--not an easy thing to do. It also cuts against stereotypes.

Has anyone else read it?   

[rab Posts: 533 Status: Offline WWW]

Betsy, I just read Hello, Universe, too. Interesting use of shifting perspectives---3rd person for a couple of characters' chapters; 1st for another. I agree that it's not preachy, and that it cuts against stereotypes (although the bully, Chet, does seem a bit stereotypical to me; still, I was pleased that he didn't reform by the end).

A new YA in verse I just read is Joy McCullough's Blood Water Paint, about 17th-century painter Artemisia Gentileschi. Historical fiction can be a hard sell, but this one is not only a tense and compelling read, it feels fresh and speaks to our current moment in terms of gender and power.

[KathyC Posts: 14 Status: Offline I write because I have to. WWW]

I LOVE middle grade fantasy. My TBR pile is huge. lol. I re-read the Adventurers Wanted series not too long ago and I've just started Arlo Finch and the Valley of Fire.

 

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

Thanks, Kathy and rab...

rab--You're right about the bully. On the other hand, I think the author was walking a fine line, and I was glad she didn't fall into the trap of trying to explain away Chet's behavior --which I'm afraid I would have tried to do if I had written that book.

I'll take a look at Blood, Water, Paint. Sounds interesting.

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

Just started reading the fairy-tale The Bear and the Nightingale which does seem like an interesting Russian fairy-tale.

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

I love this thread. But I'd love it even more if some of you would tell why you chose the book you're reading--and what you like and don't like about it. Or at least, a line or two describing what the book is about, so the rest of us can decide if we'd like to read it. Thanks.

[bridget-grenolds Posts: 49 Status: Offline Middle Grade Rocks!]

I love this thread. But I'd love it even more if some of you would tell why you chose the book you're reading--and what you like and don't like about it. Or at least, a line or two describing what the book is about, so the rest of us can decide if we'd like to read it. Thanks.

I'm currently reading "Inheritance" by Christopher Paolini (4th book in series). It's wonderfully and intelligently written. The world-building is great and the character development is so good that the characters feel as though they are part of my family (it probably helps that the books are rather long).

I've chosen to read the series because I've been reading through my son's fantasy collection while he's at college. For some reason, "the Eragon series" (as I've always called it) never piqued my interest. I blame the movie for that. I'm so glad that my son repeatedly recommended that I give it a shot and that I finally did. The stories are extraordinary!

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

Thanks, Bridget. I'll take a look at that one again. I don't think I ever read Eragon.

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

I did not read the book, but I've  seen the movie Eragon, and it was enjoyable.

[bridget-grenolds Posts: 49 Status: Offline Middle Grade Rocks!]

I did not read the book, but I've  seen the movie Eragon, and it was enjoyable.

You know what they say about movies based on books: "The book is always better than the movie." When it comes to Eragon, that's at least tenfold.  And, I liked Eldest equally and Brisingr even more (both also read fairly recently).

At nearly 850 pages and intelligently written, I'm tempted to describe my current read, "Inheritance" as a Chris Paolini tome, but it's an enjoyable tome nonetheless. If you like fantasy with all its elves, dwarfs, other fictional characters and creatures, and well-crafted societies with complete histories and belief systems of their own, the Inheritance Cycle should enthrall.

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

Thank you, I'm  not absolutely a big fan of dragons and other things, and I might take a look at the book "Inheritance" since I'm a person who does read.

[andracill Posts: 5,578 Status: Offline Worlds within...screaming to get out! WWW]

If you're interested in science fiction (YA), I'm just starting the third in the Illuminae trilogy. I like this trilogy in part because of the unique formatting -- the entire story is told through gathered 'documents' and recovered files. It's almost like reading a movie (because there aren't long sections explaining the setting or phrases to explain time passing, etc; instead, everything is implied through the dates on the documents, and the reader is part of the action/dialogue). It's an interesting world, as well -- very science-y, though none of it is explained, so it's definitely more for folks who like the science basis without needing to know that it's physically (Physics-ally) possible.

[Claudine Gueh Posts: 66 Status: Offline WWW]

Bought Patricia MacLachlan's THE POET'S DOG (ebook) yesterday. It was on sale and I couldn't pass it up!

Reading OUR MUTUAL FRIEND - very slowly and steadily.

[AnneB Posts: 3,577 Status: Offline]

Not if I Save You First, by Ally Carter. YA suspense, set mainly in Alaska although it starts in Washington, DC.

Older MG or  younger YA. It has been months since I've liked a book this much, and generally I'm not fond of suspense (life's scary enough without reading about it, for crying out loud). But I thought worked on a lot of levels.

[andracill Posts: 5,578 Status: Offline Worlds within...screaming to get out! WWW]

"Not if I Save You First, by Ally Carter. YA suspense, set mainly in Alaska although it starts in Washington, DC. " I just read this too. I liked the adventure feel, and as a fan of Carter's books (despite the somewhat emotionally immature MCs she often creates), I really enjoyed it. It isn't super suspenseful (but then, I like adult suspense/thrillers, and those are pretty intense sometimes), but it's definitely entertaining and a quick read, I thought.

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

Andracill--thank you so much for telling a bit about "Not if I Save You First" by Ally Carter.  It helps so much when posters on this board give a few details about the book they're reading.
 
You definitely piqued my interest.

[Vijaya Posts: 6,875 Status: Offline Encourage WWW]

Du Iz Tak? by Carson Ellis. Lovedlovedloved this for it's brilliance. There are so many PBs about the wonder in our backyards, but Ellis is so original and funny! A book to study and enjoy and share. Reviewed on my blog with a couple more adult books.

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

Thanks, Vijaya. I love funny and original.