[olmue Posts: 3,457 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.

[Ev Posts: 3,501 Status: Offline Making learning fun! WWW]

I just finished reading  THE STAIRCASE OF FIRE by Ben Woodard over the weekend. It's a YA historical novel set in the 1920's about a boy coming of age. It's suspenseful and at times heartbreaking, dealing with the racial tensions of the times. The MC Tom is trying to outrun his demons (at a younger age he had accidentally caused his baby sister's death) and, in the process, makes some poor choices.

I thought it was well-done, although my husband didn't like that at the end, the reader is left to envision what comes next. The book deals with some tough ethical dilemmas, such as what you do when the needs of different people you love call you to different courses of action.

This is the third book in a trilogy, but I thought it stood by itself okay. If you're looking for something for YA boys I would especially recommend it.


Edited to correct my stupid error in the title. Duh!

[andracill Posts: 5,221 Status: Online Worlds within...screaming to get out! WWW]

I received an ARC in the mail (one of the PW specials) that I read yesterday (the day it arrived). It's LIES, by TM Logan, and I thought it was nicely written with good flow and pacing. It was definitely creepy (in the sense that you can feel the noose tightening). It's a thriller about a man who discovers his wife has been lying to him, and at the same time, someone else in their life is trying to frame him. I really wondered a number of times how it would turn out. It comes out in September, I believe (though it's already published in the UK).

[jodyjl Posts: 403 Status: Offline]

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.

I followed you back, Zoraida! I'm not surprised that so many children and young adult writers are or once were teachers and counselors!

Jody

[erinobrien Posts: 50 Status: Offline]

I am dipping my toes back on the BB after staying away far too long. This post seemed like a happy place to start!

I just finished THE DRY by Jane Harper. I couldn't put it down. The setting--a small town in Australia experiencing a terrible drought--was a character of its own. The story centers around a federal agent returning home after the tragic death of his childhood friend, and the investigation reveals a lot about the town itself. It's very well done and kept me guessing until the end.

Next up is HANNAH COULTER by Wendell Berry.

[andracill Posts: 5,221 Status: Online Worlds within...screaming to get out! WWW]

Erin, THE DRY sounds really interesting -- I'm going to put it on hold at the library.

I just finished Karen Robards' MOSCOW DECEPTION, the second in a trilogy (I'm assuming, since it had a cliff hanger). It was as action-packed as the first, and I like her writing style (romantic suspense is the genre). The MC has a 'normal' life, but she's also a master thief...

[onestepp Posts: 205 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

Read Into the Water by Paula Hawkins, but I didn't like much.  There's a stream of water that surrounds the small town that the book refers to all the happenings through the nearby water. 

I, also, am going to have to read the book The Dry other people I've met have enjoyed and suggested it, too.

[Debbie Vilardi Posts: 5,881 Status: Offline Language is so cool! WWW]

I'm reading Some Kind of Happiness by Claire Legrand. It's a potential comp for my MG. So far, I like the interplay between reality and fantasy--it may be an alternate reality, but I'm not convinced.

You're all making me wish I had more time to read.

[G.R. Posts: 637 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

This summer I've been reading Live From New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE as Told by Its Stars, Writers and Guests, by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales (originally released in 2002, updated and expanded ahead of the show's 40th anniversary in 2014).

As a longtime SNL fan -- since I started watching in the late '80s-early '90s (I'm about halfway through the book now, up to the 1990-95 period, so most of what I've read about so far was before my time) -- I think it's pretty fascinating and funny stuff. So far I haven't been too shocked or disappointed about who was doing what (or whom), or who wasn't getting along or whatever; I've even found the various moments of conflicting accounts (which are bound to come up in the "oral history" format) more amusing than maddening.   

[andracill Posts: 5,221 Status: Online Worlds within...screaming to get out! WWW]

I just finished reading She Was the Quiet One by Michele Campbell. I enjoyed its quiet (ha) intensity, and though the story unfolded a little on the slow side, I thought the insights into the various characters was fascinating. It's also a chilling tale because of the narcissism involved -- easy to see from the reader POV, but many of the characters only see one facet and miss it. I think some people don't like that kind of reveal (when the reader knows more than the narrator(s)), but I didn't mind it here.

This is a suspense/mystery which takes place at a boarding school, with the majority of the tension between twin sisters and their adult advisors -- you know from the get-go that one of the twins is murdered, but you don't find out which one until about 2/3 through...then it's waiting to see if the murderer will be caught (it's not really a mystery who it is -- just if the person will be caught before more are killed). I'd say it's more of a psychological suspense than anything else.

[Claudine Gueh Posts: 85 Status: Offline WWW]

This is a suspense/mystery which takes place at a boarding school, with the majority of the tension between twin sisters and their adult advisors -- you know from the get-go that one of the twins is murdered, but you don't find out which one until about 2/3 through...then it's waiting to see if the murderer will be caught (it's not really a mystery who it is -- just if the person will be caught before more are killed). I'd say it's more of a psychological suspense than anything else.

Wow, this sounds like one of those chilling Japanese or Korean thriller films. I'm intrigued now!

[onestepp Posts: 205 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

Read a PB about Ada Lovelace and her love of math as one of the earlier woman mathematicians, and I'm reading "The Enchantress of Numbers" novel by Jennifer Cheveiliar about the same woman. 

[onestepp Posts: 205 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

I just started "The Rosie Project" a humorous story about a professor who decided it's time to find a wife.