[mirrorsandmagicfrogs Posts: 42 Status: Offline Must have coffee! WWW]

I'm reading Rae Carson's Bitter Kingdom, and I'm re-reading Kristin Cashore's Graceling.

[rab Posts: 644 Status: Offline WWW]

I just finished CROCKETT JOHNSON AND RUTH KRAUSS: HOW AN UNLIKELY COUPLE FOUND LOVE, DODGED THE FBI, AND TRANSFORMED CHILDREN'S LITERATURE. It's a great insight into some of the most crucially formative years and personalities in kidlit, especially for picture books.

Wow, Leslie, thanks for posting this. I hadn't heard of this one, but I love this kind of book so it's on my list.

[LeslieG Posts: 210 Status: Offline WWW]

rab and RaeE, you're most welcome! Hope you enjoy it :--)

[Lwrites Posts: 197 Status: Offline]

I'm reading THE DREAM THIEVES by Maggie Stiefvater, the unbelievably good sequel to THE RAVEN BOYS. It really is amazingly good. Beautifully written, thrilling, funny, scary....and I'm only halfway through!

[olmue Posts: 3,495 Status: Offline WWW]

I just read Doll Bones by Holly Black. Very creepy (in a MG sort of way)! And a really excellent example of stakes that don't have to do with life or death headlopping situations. (Read a sequel to a different book the other day that went way, WAY overboard with that sort of thing!) Doll Bones reminded me a bit of Anne Ursu's Breadcrumbs--not that they're the same story in any way, but something about the internal feel of it.

[Laura L. Sullivan Posts: 41 Status: Offline WWW]

I recently read Rose Under Fire, the sort of sequel to Code Name Verity. Another absolutely wow book. With tears.

I just finished The Yonahlossee Riding Camp For Girls, and didn't like it nearly as much as I hoped I would. Oh well. Now I'm indulging in some Edward Eager books I never read. I'd only ever read Half Magic as a kid (many, many times) so I have lots to look forward to.

[Sam Hranac Posts: 689 Status: Offline Reach for the stairs. They're closer. WWW]

I picked up Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein from the library. It caught my eye because my current ms has a girl with the last name of Verity. A good read about a young lady captured by Nazis and forced to provide secrets in written form. The novel is what she writes.

[CC Posts: 487 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

Just read THE LONGINGS of WAYWARD GIRLS, by Karen Brown.

Adult fiction. Great themes. An absorbing, terrific read.

Loved it!

And this cover rocked... http://www.amazon.com/Longings-Wayward-Girls-Novel/dp/1476724911/ref=la_B009435K7C_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1380306317&sr=1-1

[olmue Posts: 3,495 Status: Offline WWW]

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, by Jennifer E. Smith. A great example of a quiet book, plotwise, being engaging to read, with tension in the narrative. Not sure how to explain it, but it was really well done.

[updog]

I just finished "Fangirl" by Rainbow Rowell, and it was really good. I thought it started a lot slower than Eleanor and Park, but once it got going she really sucked me in.

I have so many great novels on my TBR shelf I'm having a hard time deciding what to read next. But that's a problem I don't mind having. 

[rab Posts: 644 Status: Offline WWW]

My copy of Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss: How an Unlikely Couple Found Lover, Dodged the FBI, and Transformed Children's Literature just came in at the library---my bedtime reading, with thanks to Leslie (and this thread) for suggesting it. And I really want to read Fangirl, too, and The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight (love that title!). Also on my bedside table that I've read the first interview in is Leonard Marcus's Show Me A Story! Why Picture Books Matter.

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

I'm reading Billy Moon (Christopher Robins from Winne the Pooh) biography.  It is quite interesting set in 1968 and in France.   

[ChristineSarmel Posts: 248 Status: Offline WWW]

I'm reading September Girls by Bennett Madison. I picked it up because I saw in on a list of 5 star reviews that were getting some Printz chatter and I can see why. It's about a boy who visits a beach town filled with mysterious girls who all seem to share some unique traits.

[RaeE Posts: 179 Status: Offline]

I just got notice that Rose Under Fire (Elizabeth Wein's latest) is waiting for me at the library, AND our library opens an hour early today for a Library Love celebration. It's going to be a good day.

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

Just finished Yann Martel's Life of Pi -- I'd seen the film version several months ago on DVD and enjoyed it very much, but the book is simply awesome.

[updog]

Just finished Yann Martel's Life of Pi -- I'd seen the film version several months ago on DVD and enjoyed it very much, but the book is simply awesome.

Yup, yup. Definitely agree with this.

[jojocookie Posts: 343 Status: Offline WWW]

A PLAIN DEATH

A PLAIN SCANDAL

A PLAIN DISAPPEARANCE

all mysteries and all by Amanda Flower.  :

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

Went to the library and got the last book in the Giver series by Lois Lowry - "Son"
Now I'll find out how it does end.   

[Jennifer D G Posts: 691 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

I just finished Kate DiCamillo's Flora and Ulysses. Kids will really like this fun, wonderfully illustrated book but, for me, the silliness of the story overshadowed the *special something* that I always find in DiCamillo books. I did like it though.

Next up: Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman.

[amaryllis2004 Posts: 57 Status: Offline YA contemporary WWW]

Just finished WINGER by Andrew Smith. By far the funniest of his books so far, but ultimately devastating. It's a great example of a smart boy book and has some fun mixed media (cartoons).

[amaryllis2004 Posts: 57 Status: Offline YA contemporary WWW]

What????? There's a sequel to House of the Scorpion???????? How did I miss that????

Hi, Rose!

Rereading THE HOUSE OF THE SCORPION, by Nancy Farmer. What a fine book! I'm dying to read the sequel, but I haven't decided if I should ask for it for Christmas, or pick it up right now...

[olmue Posts: 3,495 Status: Offline WWW]

Hi Ilene!

The sequel to House of the Scorpion (The Lord of Opium) just came out. I saw it on the new shelf at the library and gave in and read it. Really enjoyed it!

[Victoria Posts: 104 Status: Offline WWW]

I'm working my way through Heather Vogel Frederick's Mother-Daughter Book Club series.  I just finished the second-to-last one today, Home for the Holidays.  I'm so sad to be almost done, but I can't keep myself from devouring them!

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

This week I've finally gotten around to reading Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day. I saw and I liked the 1993 film version when it first came out on video, but I'd argue that the book is at least as much of a satisfying experience, if not more so; the story is told from Stevens' point of view as he reflects on his career in service (in England from the 1920s to the mid-'50s), considers what makes a "great butler," and expounds upon the key qualities of "dignity" and "loyalty."

[AnneB Posts: 3,242 Status: Offline]

My book group is reading The Writing Class, by Jincy Willett ... a mystery involving the members of a university extension class. The author has a wicked eye for writer foibles--positively Austen-like.

[updog]

Next up: Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman.

I just read "Fortunately, the Milk" to my grandson. He laughed in all the right places, so I think he liked it.

I'm in the middle of Rowling's "The Casual Vacancy". I know a lot of people hated this depressing book, and I can see why. There's really nobody you can root for here. But I think she's closer to the truth of how things really are than some people would like to admit. The characters could easily be members of my own community.  I do sense that Rowling was trying a little too hard to lose the "children's author" label though. Some of the adult content feels unnecessary.

[ChristinefromCorona Posts: 817 Status: Offline]

Getting back to MG after a run of nonfiction and YA novels.

Frosting and Friendship by Lisa Schroeder.   

On deck: The 14 Fibs of Gregory K. by Greg Pincus.

[bookworm452]

Starting House of Hades by Rick Riordan tonight! Can't wait.

[olmue Posts: 3,495 Status: Offline WWW]

Ooh, enjoy, bookworm! I think my copy should show up tomorrow. Can't wait!

[Sam Hranac Posts: 689 Status: Offline Reach for the stairs. They're closer. WWW]

Glimmer by Phoebe Kitanidis.