Sunday, July 12, 2009

Sunday Salon - Playing catch up with reviews

I've said before that I don't normally read more than one book at a time, but somehow this week, I've managed to start two more books, making a total of FOUR BOOKS on the go. I'm wondering if some of those books I just don't want to read anymore and I'm just not aware of it yet?

Anyway, I'll be reading pages here and there from: Are We There Yet? by David Levithan, Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult (still), Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin and Queen of Babble Gets Hitched by Meg Cabot. But I thought I'd take a minute to write some mini-reviews of the books that I *have* been finishing this month. All children's books. I'm in a bit of a kick at the moment.


The Lottery by Beth Goobie - Last year, I read Beth Goobie's Beyond Wings and loved it. It was so sad and beautiful and INTENSE, so I knew right away that I wanted to read more from Beth Goobie. While I probably preferred Beyond Wings, I still adored The Lottery. 15 year old Sal is this year's 'lottery winner' at a school that has been taken over by The Shadow Council. Sal is to be ostracised completely from every other student and is at the beck and call of the Council, who terrorise the other students. Sal, herself, is already in a dark place, and with the help of her brother and her clarinet she might just make it through the year.




The Savage by David Almond, illustrated by Dave McKean - Picked this one up entirely based on Nymeth's review. The story itself isn't very long, finished it quite quickly. I almost shed a tear at the end, it was that beautiful. LOVED Dave McKean's illustrations of the Savage. Really, just go read Nymeth's review, because she says everything that I want to say, only better. And then go out and read the book.






Life on the Refigerator Door by Alice Kuipers - I saw this reviewed somewhere, it turns out it was over at Trashionista. Another really quick read. I finished it the same morning I read The Savage while Joshua was napping. I like the idea of it, a novel written in notes between a mother and daughter too busy to spend much time together. But as Keris said in her review, as a reader, I didn't spend much time with the characters, so some of the emotional impact of the story was lost on me.





Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? by Louise Rennison - Goodybe Georgia, I will miss you! Loved this series. I thought all of the books were hysterical, some more than others. No huge embarassing moment in this one, but lots of fun bits involving Angus, and Libby and friends. It ended the way it should, but I wanted it to be just a bit longer and a little more satisfying.






How much do you love reading children's books? Any good YA recommendations for me?

Have you entered my
giveaway for If I Stay by Gayle Forman?

4 comments:

  1. The cover of The Savage just freaks me out.

    I did not enjoy Georgia, sad to say. I only read the first one.

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  2. In too have been on a young adult kick. Mostly YA supernatural books though. The House of Night series is pretty good. So is the Blue Bloods series..

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  3. I'm so glad you enjoyed The Savage as much as I did! The Lottery sounds like something I'd really enjoy too.

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  4. Lisa - I thought the Savage cover was scary at first as well, but one I started reading, it doesn't seem so scary. What was it that you didn't like about Georgia? I thought the series was hilarious!

    Becca - I think I'm burnt out on vampire books.

    Nymeth - Yes, do check out The Lottery! Really good. Also, Before Wings.

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