What are you reading? March 2014

Considering it's almost a week into March, it's probably time to post one of these. What books have you been enjoying (or not) so far this month?

Dorothy Must Die. Awesome!

2> Is that an advance review copy you read? I just downloaded the No Place Like Oz prequel to my Kindle. Thanks for posting about this! I love these "revisionist" kind of stories.

Making slow progress on Ghost Hunter by Michelle Paver - ill health and other projects (reading and crafting are mostly to blame for the slowness of progress - I haven't yet figured out a good way to knit and read from a book at the same time. It involves balancing it on my lap with my cellphone trying to hold the pages open - progress is very slow proportional to the time spent, but I've got to get this knitting project finished before the baby it's for is born (or grown!).

A little behind the times, but I'm reading Insurgent. Haven't really gotten into it yet like I did Divergent, but its early days yet.

Is The House of Scorpion appropriate for 12/13 year children? I'm not sure, just finished listening to some of book that my young grandson is reading for school. What do you think? I wasn't particularly appreciative of the cursing and many references to drug growing and dealing. I know this book received many awards when first published, but, I'm still not convinced this book is appropriate for this age group.

On Barnes and Noble's website its listed reader age range is 12-17 years. It was a Newbery Honor book, which recognizes excellence in middle-grade fiction, as well a Printz Honor book, which recognizes excellence in young adult fiction. I think it straddles the line between middle-grade and YA. Yes, I would consider it appropriate for 7th and 8th graders. If they are studying current events as part of their school curriculum, or have been through a DARE program--or heck, are even watching television--they'll have been exposed to plenty of cursing and topics related to drug dealing.

Gave Danielle Paige's No Place Like Oz a 4**** review.

>6 JaneAustenNut: As with all books, it would depend on the child in question. Some twelve-year-olds are ready for the issues in that book, others may not be.

>3 CurrerBell: Yes, an ARC. It's out 4/1. TERRIFIC revisionist story...or, more accurately, a wild what-comes-after story. Dorothy must die indeed!

Recently finished Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge -- I'd recommend it, especially if you like fairy tale retellings that really twist and play with the source material.

I have an ARC of Dorothy Must Die, which I intend to get to some time this month. Maybe.

I'm currently rereading The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski, which kind of broke my heart the first time around and is doing the same the second time. Still, the prose is lovely and I am intrigued by the world and characters Rutkoski has created.

I'm also reading Leah Cypess's Death Sworn, which is fantastic. It's a wonder that I actually accomplished anything this morning before work, as I kept trying to sneak another chapter in (and another and another). You can't go wrong with assassins, a sorceress who is losing her power, a little romance and a murder mystery all wrapped up between two covers.

Read "Alienated" by Melissa Landers in one sitting. Definitely recommend. Sort of an alien meets Twilight.

So far this month I've finished Ghost Hunter Chronicles of Ancient Darkness by Michelle Paver and The Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Alan Garner. Next up is a choice between Divergent by Veronica Roth and Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn.

14> If you can get your hands on Divergent, read that first. The movie is coming out this weekend, so people will be talking about it.

I think the movie isn't out here until early April but I shall go for that one first to make sure I'm done in time :D

Fangirl was excellent, close to as good as Eleanor & Powell. Her first one Attachments, didn't reach the level of the other two, but still was a good read.

I read The school for good and evil this weekend, and am not really sure how I feel about it. I can tell that the author is trying to question the traditional fairytale tropes but the equation of beauty with goodness and ugliness with evil is overwhelming and never really challenged. The book as a whole is about 100 pages too long, and generally lacks the whimsical charms of the Harry Potter series. I don't think I'll bother with the sequel.

I've finished Divergent and rushed straight on to Insurgent which I finished on Thursday, so now my YA read is Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn.