Friday 18 May 2012

Have you read this? Cool books I recommend, and why I liked them.

Looking for Alaska Looking for Alaska by John Green


My first John Green book! Also, John Green's first book. I will be going back for more. I like clever people, and this book is full of them. One of the other things I liked is the device of labelling all events 'forty eight days before', 'three days before', and then 'ten days after'. Now you want to know what the event is and how it happens, right?


The Scorpio RacesThe Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater


What stood out most to me was the incredible setting and how Stiefvater used it. I've loved all of Stiefvater's books, but this one really uses the island it's set on in a different way. Have you read it? What did you think?





I'm doing so well with my vow to read more this year! Like I've said before I'm a slow/thorough reader and I like it that way, but I also wanted to read more - especially YA books, and also other Greenhouse authors. You probably noticed me raving about AFTER THE SNOW. Anyway, it's not like I'm counting I'm totally counting, and I've now read 14 books in 2012. Even the ones I wasn't so enamoured with have taught me things about what I do/don't want from my own writing.


Blood MagicBlood Magic by Tessa Gratton


Something different from the paranormal side of things here. If you're intrigued by the title, you won't go far wrong reading this. Favourite aspect? The story. A good, complicated, twisty story that kept me interested. Also, zombie squirrels. Yeah!



Have you read anything great lately?

13 comments:

  1. I adore the cover for Blood Magic. It's very clever. Now you've told me the content is pretty good, too, I might read it next. :-)

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  2. Absolutely loved The Scorpio Races. The setting really was outstanding as was the subtle hint at magic and the characters were just fantastic. I haven't read other books by Stiefvatar but I plan to.

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    1. I really enjoyed Shiver, Linger and Forever. Plus the covers are gorgeous. I have Lament and Ballad on my tbr, but I own them both :)

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  3. Love, love, love John Green! Looking For Alaska had me hooked instantly and I couldn't put it down. He is so clever with his characters. *sigh*

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  4. I've read Looking for Alaska. It was pretty great but I LOVED The Fault in Our Stars. So touching and sad.

    Will have to add the others to my TBR pile!

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  5. I have the Scorpio Races sitting patiently in my TBR pile, but I have been DYING to check out Looking for Alaska. I'll definitely be adding it to my next bookstore run :)

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  6. I fah-reakin' LOOOOVE Alaska. I read it when it first came out and even e-mailed John and he wrote back. I was a total ditz though and never saved the e-mail because I assumed he'd just be a cool nobody who would respond to all my following e-mails.....yeah noooo....now he's an award-winning, bestselling author. I did get to meet him a few years back with PAPER TOWNS (I also recommend that one, Ruth...it's funny and involves a night time road trip); nice guy. :-)

    My next read is going to be POSSESSION by Elana Johnson-I won it from a book blog contest and also sit down and read BITTERBLUE by kristin cashore. If you like fantasy definitely pick up FIRE, then GRACELING and then BITTERBLUE (that's the order of time-line wise the books should go....though they were published differently...but FIRE is the prequel to GRACELING, and the sequel to GRACELING which is about 9 years time difference is BITTERBLUE) :)

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    1. I have a copy of Graceling waiting - been told it's fantastic. I might read John Green's books in the order he wrote them : )

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  7. I can't wait to read John Green. His books have been in my TBR pile forever! My favorite recent reads were veronica Roth's Insurgent, Kristin Cashore's Bitterblue and Beth Revis' Across the Universe. Loved all of these and for totally different reasons!

    Love your blog! New follower!

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    1. Insurgent is next up for me. I'm excited! I'm reading Under the Never Sky at the moment. I do have ATU waiting on my Kindle too, but all sci-fi is on hold until I've finished my WiP (I don't like to read sci-fi if I'm writing it, it turns out).

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