[LadySlipper Posts: 174 Status: Offline]

Chasing Vermeer. Wonderful opening pages.

[JodyJS Posts: 1,276 Status: Offline Preorder now! Out April 2021! WWW]

Laura Amy Schlitz's A DROWNED MAIDEN'S HAIR. It's soooo fun and well-written. MG.

[Debby G Posts: 559 Status: Offline WWW]

I just read the middle grade novel The Meaning of Maggie by Megan Jean Sovem and loved it. It's about a girl whose father has multiple sclerosis, but it's funny and joyful. The girl, her two older sisters, her mother, and her father are all portrayed as unique, loving individuals.

[olmue Posts: 3,582 Status: Offline WWW]

I think serious topics are best delivered with a lot of humor. Sounds like that was a good one, Debby.

Just reread Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie, by Jordan Sonnenblick. I've read it before, but it's been a while and I have a new library and it was there, so... And man. It's another one of those laughing-all-the-way-except-when-you're-crying books. And even though that is not the genre of most books I write, it left me feeling a bit like, so WHY do I think I can write at all?

[Mike Jung]

I'm in the early stages of Erika Lee's THE MAKING OF ASIAN AMERICA, and next up are Steve Silberman's NEUROTRIBES and Rainbow Rowell's CARRY ON.

[Debby G Posts: 559 Status: Offline WWW]

Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pies is great!

[Jennifer Derrick Posts: 12 Status: Offline YA Author & Freelance Writer]

I'm almost finished with Zeroes by Scott Westerfeld. Really enjoyed it. It's an interesting twist on teen superheroes.

[Jennifer Derrick Posts: 12 Status: Offline YA Author & Freelance Writer]

Just finished Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo last night. It was okay, but kind of disappointing. I had such high hopes after the Grisha trilogy and because this one was set in that same universe. But Six just dragged for me and I didn't really care about any of the characters. Ah, well. On to the next library book...

[onestepp Posts: 139 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

Read the book YELLOW BIRD about the recent war.  I liked it, but it was a little too much for me and I didn't expect the author to have to use foul language.

[olmue Posts: 3,582 Status: Offline WWW]

Finished The Shepherd's Crown, by Terry Pratchett, last night. It's his last-ever book. *sniff* When a certain beloved character died, I felt like he (Pratchett) was in a way giving an accounting for himself and his life and what he'd done with it.

Also, then I wondered what was wrong with me. He wrote FIVE BOOKS (not including the ones he co-wrote!) between his diagnosis and his death. And here I am, with a full head of healthy brain cells...

[Kell Posts: 1,202 Status: Offline On the other hand WWW]

Jody, A Drowned Maiden's Hcair is one of my favorites. And I just finished my favorite book of the year (out of 106 read so far): Laura Amy Schlitz's THE HIRED GIRL. Just loved it -- such a wonderful narrator in 14-year-old Joan/Janet, a 1911 farmgirl who joins the household staff of a wealthy Jewish family in Baltimore. Her story shows some shades of her dear Jane Eyre, as well as Anne Shirley. I loved every page and it made me cry an awful lot for such a warm-hearted and optimistic book.

[Jennifer Derrick Posts: 12 Status: Offline YA Author & Freelance Writer]

I just finished The Rest of Us Just Live Here, by Patrick Ness. I really enjoyed it. I also finished the new Rick Riordan Norse mythology entry, Sword of Summer. It was good, but I think I liked the original Percy Jackson better. But I liked this one enough that I'll read the next in the series next year.

[onestepp Posts: 139 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

"Riding the Bus with My Sister" finished the book recently, and enjoyed the book very much.  Especially how it was written monthly Jan - Jan.  Also, thought the flashbacks about her childhood were a unique touch.

[Jennifer Derrick Posts: 12 Status: Offline YA Author & Freelance Writer]

Pointe by Brandy Colbert. It was a good realistic YA story, I just wish I hadn't seen the twist coming quite so early.

[JodyJS Posts: 1,276 Status: Offline Preorder now! Out April 2021! WWW]

Jody, A Drowned Maiden's Hcair is one of my favorites. And I just finished my favorite book of the year (out of 106 read so far): Laura Amy Schlitz's THE HIRED GIRL. Just loved it -- such a wonderful narrator in 14-year-old Joan/Janet, a 1911 farmgirl who joins the household staff of a wealthy Jewish family in Baltimore. Her story shows some shades of her dear Jane Eyre, as well as Anne Shirley. I loved every page and it made me cry an awful lot for such a warm-hearted and optimistic book.

Kell, I'm going to have to reserve THE HIRED GIRL from my library. Thanks for the recommendation.

I just finished another goodie, MOONPENNY ISLAND by Tricia Springstubb. Such a great story. Friendships, old and new, family drama, great cast of characters. Someone on another thread said the setting acts like a character in the book, and it's true. It's set on an island in the middle of a lake.

[Mercedes Ortiz Posts: 119 Status: Offline Abracadabra! WWW]

The lord of the rings -part I

[JodyJS Posts: 1,276 Status: Offline Preorder now! Out April 2021! WWW]

Just finished THE WAY HOME LOOKS NOW by Wendy Wan-Long Shang. Great baseball-themed book set in the US during the Vietnam war era.

Now on to WHAT HAPPENED ON FOX STREET by Tricia Springstubb.

[Marcia Posts: 474 Status: Offline Never Too Late To Be What You Were Meant to Be WWW]

I don't often read a book twice, but as soon as I finished reading The War That Saved My Life, I picked up the audio version and started in again from the beginning--very well done.

[DebraG Posts: 51 Status: Offline WWW]

Ronni Arno's debut MG RUBY REINVENTED. Just started. Great voice and fun.

[janae-stubbs Posts: 32 Status: Offline]

Mustache Baby! My kids love both books. My husband and I laugh out loud. I don't mind reading it over and over. Very enjoyable and the illustrations are fantastic.

[AnneB Posts: 3,789 Status: Offline]

How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming, by Mike Brown, the astronomer who discovered what are now known as dwarf planets.
 
Quite readable for non-specialists; very little math is involved.

[onestepp Posts: 139 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

Just picked up the book "The Girl On The Train" , and also found out that they are making a movie of the book which will be out in 2016.  Happy Reading!

[rab Posts: 541 Status: Offline WWW]

Currently loving THE HIRED GIRL (by Newbery Medalist Laura Amy Schlitz) so much that I'm having to slow myself down so I don't swallow it in one gulp. Gorgeous YA historical fiction set in early 20th century America, first rural and then urban, and told in diary format. The main character is very much of her time, believably naive and believably strong. She is definitely someone to root for!

[terrylynn Posts: 144 Status: Offline writing outdoor adventures WWW]

Just finished Goodbye Stranger Rebecca Stead. Enjoyed.

Reading Six of Crows and liking it.

[AnneB Posts: 3,789 Status: Offline]

Sanctuary, by Jennifer McKissack. Big old house on a Maine island, increasingly weird relatives, 300-year-old secrets, a graveyard...everything you want in a classic gothic mystery and yet it feels fresh and new. 

[olmue Posts: 3,582 Status: Offline WWW]

Anne, I am dying to read that one. It's on my Christmas list, though, so I'm going to have to wait. Boo.

Just reread Sherry Thomas's first two books in her Elementals series (The Burning Sky, etc.). The last book is out now, too, and I'm looking forward to it. Really well done fantasy where you care about the characters. Especially impressive to me is the author's bio in the back that says she only came to the US at 13, and learned English by reading SFF. It just shows that even foreign languages cannot conquer you when you have the drive to write.

[dewsanddamps Posts: 2,329 Status: Offline]

Finishing an ARC of Emily Henry's THE LOVE THAT SPLIT THE WORLD (YA, Razorbill, out in Jan. 2016). Henry is a wonderful writer--definitely recommend it. 

[stella-michel Posts: 223 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

Recently finished Ship Breaker, by Paola Bacigalupi, a 2010 Printz Honor book. A little bleak, as dystopian novels tend to be, but i admired his grasp of language and world building. Also read At the Water's Edge, by Sara Gruen, which was excellent (an adult book) and Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo, which was also good though not as good as her last series. Now reading Circus Mirandus. Good so far.

[JodyJS Posts: 1,276 Status: Offline Preorder now! Out April 2021! WWW]

Just finished THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN. Great read. Pay attention to chapter titles early on so you know who's talking, or you'll get confused. Not that I know from experience or anything. 

[Stephanie Ruble Posts: 1,904 Status: Offline author/illustrator WWW]

I'm currently reading: DEAR GENIUS, The Letters Of Ursula Nordstrom, collected and edited by Leonard S. Marcus - it's really fascinating to see the letters she wrote to authors/illustrators I'm familiar with, especially when I know the books she references!

Recent reads I loved:
PB - THE PRINCESS AND THE PONY by Kate Beaton
MG - SHADOWS OF SHERWOOD by Kekla Magoon
YA - SERPENTINE by Cindy Pon

I kept track of the books I read last year (my first year to do this). It was interesting to look over what I read at the end of the year and to see what types of books I read too. I wrote blog post on on the stats if you're interested:

http://sruble.blogspot.com/2016/01/reading-in-2015-book-stats-and-book.html