Discussion: Best Books Of 2019 (So Far)

*This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

May Wrap-Up

May Overview

The first half of the month brought huge snow storms to my home in Colorado. Then I spent the second half of the month in hot, humid Kentucky.

My backyard on Mother's Day.

A riverboat in Louisville, KY.

I managed to get way behind on both reading and blogging. I blame school for this (because I don’t want to blame myself, of course). I had to go to Kentucky as part of my master’s degree program, and they kept me very busy. While I was there, I only had time to write one blog post and read about 70% of one e-book. That’s it. The rest of my time was spent doing school stuff. So, I read an embarrassing total of 4 books in May.

I did post my 100^th book review on Goodreads at the beginning of the month. Who would have thought that I’d ever write 100 book reviews?

Best Books of May

Here are my two favorite books that I read last month:

2. St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves – Karen Russell

1. Vicious – V.E. Schwab

Most Popular Reviews

The most-viewed reviews on the blog in May:

1. A Darker Shade of Magic – V.E. Schwab

2. The Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank

3. Vicious – V.E. Schwab

Most Popular Posts

The most-viewed posts on the blog last month:

1. Discussion: What I Learned from Internet Stalking My Favorite Authors

2. Top Ten Tuesday: Genres I’m Unlikely to Read

3. FF Friday: In Which I Confess My Lack of Organization

Coming In June

I don’t know! I’m so behind on everything that I have nothing scheduled. I know that I have some new books being shipped to me, so there will be a book haul at some point. I want to write a discussion post, but I haven’t come up with a topic yet. I’m also hoping to finish reading (and reviewing) Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. Not sure if that’s actually going to happen. If it does, the Dark Tower books will be the longest series that I’ve ever completed. I’m usually terrible at finishing series because I lose interest in them.

All The Things

All The Things = 9 books.

I’m currently reading The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan.

Best Books Of April

In April 2015, I read 10 books. Here’s a recap of my favorites.

Not A Drop To Drink – Mindy McGinnis

Lynn knows every threat to her pond: drought, a snowless winter, coyotes, and, most importantly, people looking for a drink. She makes sure anyone who comes near the pond leaves thirsty, or doesn't leave at all. 

Confident in her own abilities, Lynn has no use for the world beyond the nearby fields and forest. Having a life means dedicating it to survival and the constant work of gathering wood and water. Having a pond requires the fortitude to protect it, something Mother taught her well during their quiet hours on the rooftop, rifles in hand. 

But wisps of smoke on the horizon mean one thing: strangers. The mysterious footprints by the pond, nighttime threats, and gunshots make it all too clear Lynn has exactly what they want, and they won’t stop until they get it . . . . 

With evocative, spare language and incredible drama, danger, and romance, debut author Mindy McGinnis depicts one girl’s journey in a barren world not so different than our own.

Review: First, I need to point out the cover of this book. I think it’s stunning. It definitely got my attention right away. Whoever designed it deserves a serious pay raise.

I’ve lost count of how many young adult dystopias I’ve read over the past few years. They’ve all started to blur together in my mind, but once in a while, one stands out. Not A Drop To Drink is a standout. It isn’t about a war, a plague, or a sadistic government that needs overthrowing. It’s just about people doing their best to survive. That’s a refreshing addition to the genre.

Lynn and her mother own a pond in a world where water is scarce. They spend every day defending their water from the people who need it. Lynn has no trouble shooting anyone who gets near her pond . . . until she climbs down from her rooftop sniper perch and starts talking to her thirsty neighbors.

The writing is sparse, gritty, and powerful. I love the subtle differences in the way that the country characters and the city characters speak. This is a beautiful debut novel, and Mindy McGinnis may become one of my new favorite authors.

The characters are the second-best part of the book (after the writing). Lynn is so tough. She reminds me a lot of Katniss from The Hunger Games, but Lynn is a more-willing participant in the deaths of her neighbors. She’s strong minded. She knows exactly what she wants and how to get it. I enjoyed seeing her change as she learns to trust the people around her.

I’m having a hard time coming up with something that I didn’t like about this book. The romance probably could have used more development. Lynn is very inexperienced with physical affection. At the beginning of the book, she doesn’t understand what “Flirt” means, and she doesn’t know anything about sex. She doesn’t even know how to kiss Eli, her love interest. Lynn and Eli’s relationship becomes physical very quickly. It’s not unrealistic, and they don’t have sex, but it still creeps me out because she’s so much less experienced than him.

Not A Drop To Drink is a quick read with a lot of action. I read it in a few hours and loved every second of it. I’m looking forward to the sequel.

Wizard and Glass – Stephen King

Roland and his band of followers have narrowly escaped one world and slipped into the next. There Roland tells them a tale of long-ago love and adventure involving a beautiful and quixotic woman named Susan Delgado. And there they will be drawn into an ancient mystery of spellbinding magic and supreme menace.

Wizard and Glass is book #4 of The Dark Tower series. This review is free of major spoilers, but you might want to check out my thoughts on book #1 (The Gunslinger), book #2 (The Drawing of the Three), and book #3 (The Waste Lands).

Review: Every time I review another book in The Dark Tower series, I say, “This book is my favorite in the series.” This review is no exception. Book #4 is now my new favorite.

In Wizard and Glass, we finally get to see some of Roland’s backstory. I’ve been waiting so long for this, and I was not disappointed. I loved seeing Roland as an overconfident fourteen-year-old. Both his character and the world become more developed in this book. I didn’t think it was possible, but I like Roland even more after learning some of his history. He’s a complicated character. His relationships with Susan and his teenage companions—Cuthbert and Alain—are very believable. I hope the rest of the series includes more stories from Roland’s past.

The world is so well-developed and creepy that I felt a sense of dread the whole time I was reading. Based on the hints given in the previous books, I knew that not everybody in this book would survive. I cared about all of these characters, but I knew that some of them were going to die, so the suspense was incredible.

I also like how this book overlaps with some of King’s other works. I’ve read an embarrassing number of Stephen King books, and I enjoyed seeing the references to stories that I read years ago.

This book does have some of the same issues as the previous books in the series. For me, there is a fine line between scary and silly. This book crosses that line a few times, especially at the beginning and the end. Blaine the Mono and The Wizard of Oz castle made me roll my eyes. They’re just a little too ridiculous for my tastes.

I’m still having fun with this series. I can’t wait to start the next book.

A Darker Shade Of Magic – V.E. Schwab

Kell is one of the last Travelers—rare magicians who choose a parallel universe to visit.  

Grey London is dirty, boring, lacks magic, ruled by mad King George. Red London is where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London is ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. People fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. Once there was Black London—but no one speaks of that now. 

Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell smuggles for those willing to pay for even a glimpse of a world they’ll never see. This dangerous hobby sets him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She robs him, saves him from a dangerous enemy, then forces him to another world for her 'proper adventure.' 

But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive—trickier than they hoped.

Review: It took me a long time to write this review because I’m slightly conflicted. The logical part of my brain is saying, “I have some issues with this book.” The other part of my brain is completely fangirling over wonderful adventures and Kell’s fabulous coat. Seriously, I want that coat.

A Darker Shade of Magic is about a magician, Kell, who has the ability to travel between parallel Londons. When he comes in to possession of a dangerous magical stone from Black London, he teams up with a thief named Lila to destroy it.

The characters have so much personality, and it’s easy to fall in love with them. The dialogue is sharp, smart, and funny. The humor feels very organic and true to the characters. It’s not just forced into the story in a lame attempt to lighten the mood.

I was happy for the mood-lightening dialogue because a few of the Londons are depressing places. The world-building is impressive. The Londons are so vivid. They each have their own unique culture, language, history, and architecture. It’s fascinating to read about. I think White London is my favorite because it’s so creepy and different from the other Londons.

The plot is slow in the beginning, but the characters and world were more than enough to keep me interested in the story. The action picks up a lot toward the end. I read the majority of this book in one day.

I was too busy enjoying the story to come up with too many criticisms, but I do have a few. First, this book doesn’t feel very original. It’s just the latest blend of thieves, rare magicians, royalty, and evil magic that I’ve seen dozens of times before. Parts of it strongly reminded me of Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and His Dark Materials.

Next, I wish that the magic system had been explained better and earlier in the story. It took me a long time to figure out how the magic system works, and I’m still not sure if I totally get it.

So, is A Darker Shade of Magic a timeless work of literary genius? No. Is it thoroughly entertaining? YES! I’m eagerly awaiting the next book in the series. 

~*~

All The Things = 15 books.

I’m currently reading Wolves Of The Calla by Stephen King. 

Best Books Of March

I read 7 books in March 2015. Here’s a recap of my favorites:

Oryx and Crake – Margaret Atwood

The main character of Atwood's riveting novel calls himself Snowman. When the story opens, he is sleeping in a tree, wearing an old bed sheet, mourning the loss of his beloved Oryx and his best friend Crake, and slowly starving to death. He searches for supplies in a wasteland where insects proliferate and pigoons and wolvogs ravage the pleeblands, where ordinary people once lived, and the Compounds that sheltered the extraordinary. As he tries to piece together what has taken place, the narrative shifts to decades earlier. How did everything fall apart so quickly? Why is he left with nothing but his haunting memories? Alone except for the green-eyed Children of Crake, who think of him as a kind of monster, he explores the answers to these questions in the double journey he takes—into his own past, and back to Crake's high-tech bubble-dome, where the Paradise Project unfolded and the world came to grief. 

With breathtaking command of her shocking material, and with her customary sharp wit and dark humor, Atwood projects us into an outlandish yet wholly believable realm populated by characters who will continue to inhabit our dreams long after the last chapter. This is Margaret Atwood at the absolute peak of her powers.

Review: This is one of my favorite novels ever, and it’s the first book in one of my favorite trilogies ever. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve read it since it came out. I’ve been in a reading slump recently, so I picked it up again because I knew that I would enjoy it. I still love it as much as I did the first time I read it.

The story follows Snowman as he struggles through a post-apocalyptic world. His job is to protect a group of genetically engineered humans who are known as the Children of Crake. Through flashbacks, the story shows how Snowman unwittingly helped Crake—his best friend—create the plague that destroyed the world.

This book is amazing. Like all of Margaret Atwood’s novels, the writing is beautiful and the characters are complicated. Every time I read one of Atwood’s books, I’m in awe of her talent.

There are so many things that I like about this book. Crake is an unusual “bad guy.” He’s funny and charismatic and (somewhat) likeable, even though he does horrible things to people. I love his complexity. He definitely has some good qualities and some really, really bad ones. He’s my favorite character in the book.

Another element that I love is the role religion plays in the story. The Children of Crake are genetically engineered by Crake. When they start asking Snowman why they exist, he creates a religious mythology where Crake is a god-like figure. Crake destroys the world and creates a new one in its place. He’s a god to some people and a villain to others. I think that’s really interesting.

Even though the story deals with serious subjects, it’s surprisingly funny. The humor comes at unexpected moments and catches the reader off-guard. Some of the dialogue between Snowman and Crake is hilarious.

Like all of Atwood’s novels, this one is character-driven. There isn’t much of a plot. It’s all about the people, their lives, and their pasts. The lack of a fast-paced plot doesn’t bother me because the characters are interesting enough to make up for it.

Now that I’ve reread Oryx and Crake, I have to go reread the rest of the trilogy.

The Gunslinger – Stephen King

Set in a world of extraordinary circumstances, filled with stunning visual imagery and unforgettable characters, The Dark Tower series is King's most visionary feat of storytelling, a magical mix of science fiction, fantasy, and horror that may well be his crowning achievement.  

In The Gunslinger (originally published in 1982), King introduces his most enigmatic hero, Roland Deschain of Gilead, the Last Gunslinger. He is a haunting, solitary figure at first, on a mysterious quest through a desolate world that eerily mirrors our own. Pursuing the Man in Black, an evil being who can bring the dead back to life, Roland is a good man who seems to leave nothing but death in his wake.

Review: Stephen King is the master of creepy books, and this one is no exception.

The Gunslinger is book #1 of the eight-book Dark Tower series. It follows a Gunslinger, Roland, as he tracks his enemy through a harsh landscape that is very similar to—and very different from—the American west.

The imagery in this novel is stunning. It’s so vivid and so bizarre that I had to keep reading. I couldn’t get enough of this world, and I’m excited to read the next book in the series because I need to see more of it.

The writing style is another of the book’s strengths. This series was inspired by a poem, and that clearly shows. The writing is more poetic than the writing in Stephen King’s other books. It’s beautiful, and strange, and eerie, and I love it. I read most of The Gunslinger in a few hours because the writing is so captivating. I didn’t want to put the book down and take myself out of its world.

My only issue with this novel is the confused and unsettled feeling that it creates in the reader. I don’t mind this feeling for a little while, but if it goes on too long, I start to get annoyed. The confused feeling lasted through the entire book for me. I know that this is book #1 of a giant series, but I wanted more backstory and more explanation. A lot of characters are mentioned briefly, and their significance to the story is never explained. I was so interested in this world and these characters that I wanted to know more immediately. The lack of backstory quickly became frustrating.

It was frustrating because I love the characters. They are all broken and imperfect. I’m looking forward to finding out what happened to them in the past and what they do next.

If the rest of the series is anything like this book, I know I’m going to enjoy it.

Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn't doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife's head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy's fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn't do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

Review: I went into this book knowing very little about it, and I’m glad I did. It wouldn’t have been nearly as awesome to read if I’d been spoiled. The plot has so many twists that it’s impossible to predict them all. I’ll try to keep my review completely spoiler-free.

Gone Girl has a simple premise: Amy goes missing, and her husband Nick is the prime suspect. That’s where the simplicity ends. The plot, characters, and story structure are very intricate.

My favorite part of the book is the characters. They are all extremely well-developed. Nick and Amy are devious, manipulative, and unlikable. I had to keep reading because they become more shockingly nasty with every page. The story is told from alternating first-person points-of-view, so the reader gets to see the plot from both Amy and Nick’s perspectives. I love this because the characters have different interpretations of the same events. There’s no way to know for sure which character is telling the truth about what really happened to Amy.

Another great element of the story is the role that the media plays. The media creates their own versions of Nick and Amy: Nick is a heartless murderer; Amy is an innocent victim. The media’s versions of the characters aren’t quite accurate. It made me think about real life and how the people involved in murder cases are presented by the media.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, so it’s hard to come up with criticisms. I did find it difficult to get into the story. The beginning has a lot of character development and not much else. It took about 200 pages for the story to really grab my attention. After that, I couldn’t put it down.

If you like mysteries or books with fascinatingly horrible characters, I’d recommend Gone Girl. 

~*~

All the Things = 21 books.

I’m currently reading = The Waste Lands by Stephen King. 

Best Books of February

In February 2015, I read 7 books. Here is a recap of my favorites from the month.

Fangirl – Rainbow Rowell

A coming-of-age tale of fanfiction, family and first love. 

Cath is a Simon Snow fan. 

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan... 

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving. 

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere. 

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to. 

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone. 

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? 

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories? 

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

Review: I just want to know if Cath finished her fanfic and if she killed Baz. I know there’s going to be some sort of sequel to Fangirl, but I want to know now. I’m not that patient.

Fangirl is about Cath’s freshman year at college. It’s her first time away from home, her first time living without her twin sister, and the first time that boys are truly interested in her. Cath feels alone and overwhelmed. One thing that connects her to her pre-college life is her obsession with fanfiction and the Simon Snow book series. However, she may be forced to give that up.

This is the best book I’ve read so far this year. The characters and the relationships between them are well-developed and realistic. Cath is the most relatable character that I’ve read in a long time. I think a lot of people can see some part of themselves in her. She’s insecure, awkward, funny, stubborn, determined, and trying to figure out what she wants in life. It’s hard not to root for her.

The dialogue is amazing. There are a few literal LOL moments. I loved the back-and-forth between Cath, Levi, and Reagan. The characters have very distinct personalities that really come out during conversations.

Usually, I have a lot of issues with the romances in YA books. There are way too many abusive relationships that are presented as healthy and normal. This isn’t a problem in Fangirl. I actually like the relationships in this book. Levi is slightly too clingy for my tastes, but he treats women (and everybody else) nicely. He apologizes when he screws up. He’s not overly jealous. He respects his girlfriend’s privacy and doesn’t pressure her into doing anything that she doesn’t want to do. And, best of all, he’s not an airbrushed supermodel. He’s a realistic-looking person. You don’t know how happy this makes me.

I know that a lot of readers criticize Fangirl for misrepresenting the people who are involved in fandoms. I’ve never cared enough about anything to participate in a fandom, and I’ve never written fanfiction. I have no idea if Cath is a realistic fangirl or not. She seems pretty realistic to me.

My criticism is about Cath’s mind-blowing stupidity in her fiction-writing class. She turns in fanfiction for one of her assignments, and then she’s confused when she gets an F. I have a hard time believing that Cath is this stupid. The point of fiction-writing class is to learn how to write fiction. If you’re borrowing another author’s characters, setting, magic system, world building, etc., then you’re missing out on a lot of learning. In fiction class, you’re supposed to come up with these things yourself. Of course the professor is going to get irritated if you use material from another author. “Borrowing” is basically cheating.

Also, Cath knows that she isn’t allowed to make money from her fanfiction, but she seems stunned when the professor calls her work “plagiarism.” Fanfiction is plagiarism. That’s why Cath isn’t allowed to make money from it. She shouldn’t be so shocked to hear somebody call her work what it is. She should also know that universities don’t allow plagiarism.

Other than Cath’s stupidity, I enjoyed this book. I’m glad I finally got around to reading it. Now I’m tempted to start reading fanfiction.

Stargirl – Jerry Spinelli

From the day she arrives at quiet Mica High in a burst of color and sound, hallways hum “Stargirl.” She captures Leo Borlock’s heart with one smile. She sparks a school-spirit revolution with one cheer. The students of Mica High are enchanted. Until they are not. Leo urges her to become the very thing that can destroy her—normal.

Review: I loved Stargirl as a kid, and I still love it as an adult. I also think it has one of the best covers I've ever seen on a book. It's simple, memorable, and attention-grabbing. Very cool.

The main character, Stargirl, is a little unusual. She cheers for both teams during basketball games, attends the funerals of strangers, brings her pet rat everywhere, and likes to wear costumes. At first, the students at her new high school find her behavior funny, but soon she starts to get on their nerves. Stargirl and her boyfriend, Leo, become social outcasts. Leo has a much harder time coping with this than Stargirl. They can either change themselves in the hopes of making friends, or they can stay outcasts for the rest of high school.

Stargirl fits the manic pixie dream girl trope, and some of her behavior pushes the boundaries of believability, but I think she's actually more realistic than most characters who fit the trope. First, only one boy (Leo) lusts after her, and even he is often unhappy with their relationship. Almost everybody in Stargirl's life finds her insufferably annoying. Like many manic pixie dream girls, she's loud, unpredictable, and embarrassing. In real life, a manic pixie wouldn't be a "dream girl." She'd be irritating, like Stargirl. So, I believe that Stargirl is the most realistic version of the trope I've ever seen.

Every character in this book is slightly cliché, and that doesn't bother me at all. There is so much more to this story than just the characters.

Stargirl gives readers a lot to think about without being too preachy. That's what I love about it. It's about nonconformity and the confidence to be yourself. It's about acceptance, love, kindness, and understanding. Most importantly, it asks the question, What would you give up in order to fit in?

~*~

All The Things = 9 books.

I’m currently reading (re-reading actually) = Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

Best Books of January

Here are the best books I read this month. The summaries come from Goodreads.

Moral Disorder: And Other Stories – Margaret Atwood

Atwood triumphs with these dazzling, personal stories in her first collection since Wilderness Tips. 

In these ten interrelated stories Atwood traces the course of a life and also the lives intertwined with it, while evoking the drama and the humour that colour common experiences — the birth of a baby, divorce and remarriage, old age and death. With settings ranging from Toronto, northern Quebec, and rural Ontario, the stories begin in the present, as a couple no longer young situate themselves in a larger world no longer safe. Then the narrative goes back in time to the forties and moves chronologically forward toward the present.

In “The Art of Cooking and Serving,” the twelve-year-old narrator does her best to accommodate the arrival of a baby sister. After she boldly declares her independence, we follow the narrator into young adulthood and then through a complex relationship. In “The Entities,” the story of two women haunted by the past unfolds. The magnificent last two stories reveal the heartbreaking old age of parents but circle back again to childhood, to complete the cycle.

By turns funny, lyrical, incisive, tragic, earthy, shocking, and deeply personal, Moral Disorder displays Atwood’s celebrated storytelling gifts and unmistakable style to their best advantage. This is vintage Atwood, writing at the height of her powers.

Review: This collection of linked short stories chronicles the life of a woman named Nell. The stories aren't in chronological order, but they begin with Nell's childhood and continue until she is in her 60s.

I'm a huge fan of Margaret Atwood. She might be my favorite author ever, but I didn't like this book as much as her others. A few of the stories seem very dull. There is a lot of telling and not much doing in some of them. Nothing really happens. I'm not sure if the stories went over my head, or if I'm just used to stories with more action, but I got bored with several of them.

Fortunately, the majority of the stories are great. I loved the ones about Nell as a child and as an older woman who is taking care of her parents. I also loved the ones about the animals on the farm. The title story, "Moral Disorder," is the stand-out for me. It tells the story of how Nell and her almost-husband, Tig, accumulate (and lose) their farm animals. It's the perfect mixture of deep and hilarious. I haven't read a short story that I enjoyed that much in a long time.

I would highly recommend all of Margaret Atwood's books. I think she's one of the best modern writers. Nobody develops characters, writes description, or evokes emotion like she does. Her books are amazing.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard – J.K. Rowling

The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a Wizarding classic, first came to Muggle readers’ attention in the book known as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Now, thanks to Hermione Granger’s new translation from the ancient runes, we present this stunning edition with an introduction, notes, and illustrations by J. K. Rowling, and extensive commentary by Albus Dumbledore. Never before have Muggles been privy to these richly imaginative tales: “The Wizard and the Hopping Pot,” “The Fountain of Fair Fortune,” “The Warlock’s Hairy Heart,” “Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump,” and of course, “The Tale of the Three Brothers.” But not only are they the equal of fairytales we now know and love, reading them gives new insight into the world of Harry Potter.

Review: This is a quick, cute, fun read. It's only about 100 pages, and the margins are huge, so I got through it very fast. The book is a collection of wizard fairytales from the Harry Potter universe. If you've read Harry Potter, most of the tales and characters will be familiar.

There's not much to say about this book because there's not much to the book. The stories are clever, and I loved Dumbledore's commentary. I especially liked that Dumbledore talked about how the stories changed or were censored over time. That made them more realistic because there are dozens of versions of real-life fairytales. It's interesting that wizard fairytales are the same.

Mostly, these stories made me miss Harry Potter. Now I want to go reread those.

The profits from this book go to a wonderful charity. It's worth buying just for that.

A Streetcar Named Desire – Tennessee Williams

It is a very short list of 20th-century American plays that continue to have the same power and impact as when they first appeared—57 years after its Broadway premiere, Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire is one of those plays. The story famously recounts how the faded and promiscuous Blanche DuBois is pushed over the edge by her sexy and brutal brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski. Streetcar launched the careers of Marlon Brando, Jessica Tandy, Kim Hunter, and Karl Malden, and solidified the position of Tennessee Williams as one of the most important young playwrights of his generation, as well as that of Elia Kazan as the greatest American stage director of the ’40s and ’50s.

Review: It’s my New Year’s resolution to read more plays. I started out with a Shakespeare play, but it reminded me of horrible high school English classes, so I switched to this one.

A Streetcar Named Desire tells the story of a mentally unstable woman, Blanche, who is tormented by her brother-in-law, Stanley.

I hate every character in this play. Stanley is a terrible person. Blanche is annoying. Stella refuses to see what is right in front of her. None of them are people who I’d want to know in real life. However, I enjoyed reading about them. I read this play straight through without putting it down because I needed to know what happened next. These awful people are pretty fascinating. It takes a talented author to make me want to read about un-relatable characters. This play is impressive.

My favorite line: “I don’t want realism. I want magic. Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to people. I misrepresent things to them. I don’t tell the truth, I tell what ought to be the truth. And if that is sinful, then let me be damned for it.”

~*~

All The Things = 8 books (The lowest it’s been in years!)

I’m Currently Reading = What is the What? By Dave Eggers

Best Books for Young Adults 2014

Here are my top-five favorite young adult books that I read (or reread) last year:

5. Battle Royale – Koushun Takami

Koushun Takami's notorious high-octane thriller is based on an irresistible premise: a class of junior high school students is taken to a deserted island where, as part of a ruthless authoritarian program, they are provided arms and forced to kill one another until only one survivor is left standing. Criticized as violent exploitation when first published in Japan - where it then proceeded to become a runaway bestseller - Battle Royale is a Lord of the Flies for the 21st century, a potent allegory of what it means to be young and (barely) alive in a dog-eat-dog world. Made into a controversial hit movie of the same name, Battle Royale is already a contemporary Japanese pulp classic, now available for the first time in the English language.

Review: Battle Royale isn't literature. There's not much depth to it. A lot of the characters are underdeveloped. It could use some more world building. The violence is unrealistic. It's slightly predictable. It's the textbook definition of pulp fiction.

And it's awesome. I've wanted to read this book for years, ever since I heard that it was inspired in part by Stephen King's work. It didn't disappoint. This story has a familiar plot: a bunch of fifteen year olds are put on an island and told to kill each other, but it's different enough from other books with that plot to be interesting. My favorite element of the book was the POV switches. We get to learn about a lot of the characters and why they chose to participate or not participate in the game.

A lot of people have been comparing this book to The Hunger Games. Battle Royale has more gore and less politics. There are a lot of characters (over 50, I think), and the majority of them die. We get to see the bloody details of almost every death. A lot of gunshots, a few stabbings, a poisoning, some falls from high places, a hatchet in the face, that kind of thing. There is a lot of action, a lot of plot twists, and at least one death every few dozen pages.

If you have a strong stomach, time to read 600 pages, and a love of intense books, I'd recommend this one.

If I had to find things to complain about, the translation would be at the top of my list. I wish I could read Japanese. I have a feeling that this book is much better in its original language. There were a few times, especially at the end, where I had to reread to make sure that I understood what was happening.

Another thing that I would complain about is the number of characters. There are a lot of them, and some of them have similar names (Yukie, Yuko, Yuka, Yukiko, Yumiko). It can be hard to remember who is doing what.

Finally, Kazuo's bulletproof vest annoyed me. Bulletproof vests aren't that bulletproof. The more you shoot them, the less effective they become. Kazuo got shot a ton of times and never seemed to be too bothered by it. Actually, both Kazuo and Shogo seemed unrealistically prepared for the game.

Even with the complaints, I enjoyed this book. I'm glad I finally got a chance to read it.

4. Fat Kid Rules the World – K.L. Going

Troy Billings is seventeen, 296 pounds, friendless, utterly miserable, and about to step off a New York subway platform in front of an oncoming train. Until he meets Curt MacCrae, an emaciated, semi-homeless, high school dropout guitar genius, the stuff of which Lower East Side punk rock legends are made. Never mind that Troy's dad thinks Curt's a drug addict and Troy's brother thinks Troy's the biggest (literally) loser in Manhattan. Soon, Curt has recruited Troy as his new drummer, even though Troy can't play the drums. Together, Curt and Troy will change the world of punk, and Troy's own life, forever.

Review: The 5 stars are for Curt. He is a fascinating and complicated character. I really appreciate that a drug addict/criminal character is written so complexly. He isn't just a semi-homeless drug addict, he's also a punk rock god, a friend, and a realistic human. He's not a "bad guy" or a cautionary tale. The author just let him be himself. That's awesome.

The book's narrator, seventeen-year-old Troy, is a self-conscious fat kid. He meets semi-homeless Curt while trying to come up with an un-funny way to commit suicide. Curt immediately decides that Troy will be the drummer in a new punk rock band, even though Troy doesn't know how to play the drums.

The book is very well-written and has some funny moments. The characters behave like realistic teens and twenty-somethings. The plot is a little slow, and Troy is not as complex or interesting as Curt, but Curt more than makes up for all of that. The book is worth reading just for him.

3. The Book Thief – Markus Zusak

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still. 

By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. 

So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found. 

But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jewish fist-fighter in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down. 

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

Review: The narrator, Death, tells the story of an orphan, Liesel Meminger, and several families living outside of Munich during WWII.

This is by far the best book I've read this year (so far). It's the kind of book that makes you sit in stunned silence for a few seconds after finishing it. The story is a familiar one, but the writing is poetic and beautiful. There were several times where I stopped and reread sentences or whole paragraphs because I liked them so much. This is some of the most interesting writing I've ever seen in a young adult book. The strangeness of the language totally fits Death, the strange, nonhuman narrator.

I do understand the negative reviews that this book gets. It's experimental, the narrator is extremely intrusive, the writing draws attention to itself, the book is hard to read quickly, and the story isn't anything new. However, none of that bothered me. I thought this book was fascinating.

2. Burned – Ellen Hopkins

I do know things really began to spin out of control after my first sex dream. 

It all started with a dream. Nothing exceptional, just a typical fantasy about a boy, the kind of dream that most teen girls experience. But Pattyn Von Stratten is not like most teen girls. Raised in a religious—yet abusive—family, a simple dream may not be exactly a sin, but it could be the first step toward hell and eternal damnation. 

This dream is a first step for Pattyn. But is it to hell or to a better life? For the first time Pattyn starts asking questions. Questions seemingly without answers—about God, a woman's role, sex, love—mostly love. What is it? Where is it? Will she ever experience it? Is she deserving of it? 

It's with a real boy that Pattyn gets into real trouble. After Pattyn's father catches her in a compromising position, events spiral out of control until Pattyn ends up suspended from school and sent to live with an aunt she doesn't know. 

Pattyn is supposed to find salvation and redemption during her exile to the wilds of rural Nevada. Yet what she finds instead is love and acceptance. And for the first time she feels worthy of both—until she realizes her old demons will not let her go. Pattyn begins down a path that will lead her to a hell—a hell that may not be the one she learned about in sacrament meetings, but it is hell all the same. 

In this riveting and masterful novel told in verse, Ellen Hopkins takes readers on an emotional roller-coaster ride. From the highs of true love to the lows of abuse, Pattyn's story will have readers engrossed until the very last word.

Review: When sixteen-year-old Pattyn starts questioning her religion and disobeying her abusive father, she is sent to live with her aunt on a rural cattle ranch. On the ranch, Pattyn meets an older boy who changes her life forever. Burned is written in a mixture of formal and free-verse poetry.

This book is intimidating because it's written in verse, and it's a thick book. Don't be intimidated. The poems are very easy to understand, and the plot is pretty simple. The book is actually a quick and entertaining read. 

I had a hard time finding things to criticize, but a lot of people criticize this book because of its portrayal of Mormons. There are abusive families, abusive communities, and abusive churches within every religion. This book is not about Mormons. It's about Pattyn and her experience as a member of an abusive religious community. I thought the author did an accurate job of showing religious abuse.

Even though this is a book of poetry, it has all the elements of a great novel: complex characters, an intriguing premise, suspense, action, fast pacing, romance, and a twist ending.

I already knew about some of the twists because I read reviews before buying the book, but there are so many twists that you won't see all of them coming. This is a very interesting book. I can't wait to read the next one in the series.

1. Bridge to Terabithia – Katherine Paterson

Jess Aarons' greatest ambition is to be the fastest runner in his grade. He's been practicing all summer and can't wait to see his classmates' faces when he beats them all. But on the first day of school, a new girl boldly crosses over to the boys' side and outruns everyone. 

That's not a very promising beginning for a friendship, but Jess and Leslie Burke become inseparable. Together they create Terabithia, a magical kingdom in the woods where the two of them reign as king and queen, and their imaginations set the only limits.

Review: This was one of the books that changed my life as a child. I just reread it as an adult for a grad school essay, and I still love it. It's probably one of my favorite books of all time. It's an entertaining story with relatable characters for children, but it also has a lot for adult readers to think about. The book explores the issues surrounding poverty vs wealth and innovation/change vs tradition. It shows how some parents relate differently to female children and male children. It shows the difficulties of male/female friendship in elementary school. It confronts issues about gender and how society believes that boys and girls should behave. Best of all, it shows that imagination is important, fears can be conquered, and belief in yourself is essential.