Sunday, September 16, 2007

Summer Read-Fest, Part 3

I’m posting another list of books I read over the summer. This list consists of books I really enjoyed, were thoroughly entertaining, but which didn’t make the cut into my “most loved” books of the summer for one reason or another. Mostly, it was personal taste. I’m not a professional reviewer or anything. (In case you didn’t notice.)

Rex Zero and the End of the World by Tim Wynne-Jones, Interesting, good story, well written, very Canadian with a few bomb shelters thrown in.

Leonardo’s Shadow by Christopher Grey, Great story, interesting characters, still a few things not explained.

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, Too much math, kind of formulaic, (no pun intended.)

Notes from the Midnight Driver by Jordan Sonnenblick, Feel good book, great story, like a “Tuesdays with Morrie” for the YA audience…at least that is what it said on the back of the book.

One Whole and Perfect Day by Judith Clarke, Didn’t really like the 3rd person omniscient voice.

Cupid: A Tale of Love and Desire by Julius Lester, Personal voice tells the story of the myth of cupid and psyche, pretty good.

A Drowned Maiden’s Hair by Laura Amy Schlitz, Clever writing, fresh and original at times, but could see the ending coming a mile away.

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray, A fun escape, a little bit of a page turner.

Rebel Angels by Libba Bray, Fab follow up to A Great and Terrible Beauty, fun twists and turns.

Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison, Fun, but not much point. Supposedly a YA version of Bridget Jones. Did appreciate the glossary of British terms: it was double cool with knobs.

The Book Theif by Markus Zusak, Lots of death, in fact, he narrates the book. Lots of Nazis too. Heavy and desperate at times with a few rays of hope, but not many.

How it Happened on Peach Hill by Marthe Jocelyn, This story is practically the same as A Drowned Maiden’s Hair with a few minor differences.

Girl, 15, Charming But Insane by Sue Limb, Way to overcome serious humiliation, not preachy, just fun.

Girl, Nearly 16, Absolute Torture by Sue Limb, Not as much humiliation in this book, but still fun and entertaining.

Girl, Going on 17, Pants on Fire by Sue Limb, Desperately and tragically funny with a sweet ending.

Breath by Donna Jo Napoli, It took me until the last two chapters to figure out this was a retelling of the Pied Piper. A little heavy, lots of death, but most of them deserved it.

3 comments:

Catherine said...

Has the Great and Terrible Beauty trilogy ended yet? I really liked the first book. Rebel Angels not so much but it was ok. Glad to see you finished up the Girl, 15, charming but insane books. I laughed out loud at the first one but didn't continue. Maybe I will now.

Afton said...

The Sue Limb books were a lot of fun and I had no idea it was a series when I finihsed the first book. I think the 3rd was the funniest, although #1 definitely had its moments (veggie soup bra inserts!)

I think there is one more book in the Great and Terrible trilogy and maybe it's already out. I will have to check. A Sweet Far Thing is the title, I think.

claire said...

Afton, I thought of a business plan for you. It's called NetBooks. It's like Netflix, but with books. You get your book in the mail, then send it back when you're ready for a new one. Don't you think it would work? It's the on-line library. Just promise you won't forget the little people when you become a zillionaire.