Friday, February 11, 2011

What are You Reading?

Okay, so maybe this is not the best time to ask, what with the semester well underway, but what are you reading? I've just finished Conspiracy of Kings, the fourth (perhaps final) Megan Whalen Turner book set in the fictional worlds of Eddis, Sounis, and Attolia. They are remarkably well drawn in terms of setting and character, and while book one, The Thief, may have been intended as a single story, the series momentum pulls you through to the end. It's personal and political, and funny, a combination I can't resist.

6 comments:

  1. Well, I just finished The Hunger Games series, and now I need to read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland for Children's Lit, which is good, cause it's always been on my list. After that, I don't know what's next.

    but yay! I'm so glad this exists now!

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  2. Hey! It's Hannah! (and I'm guessing the previous post was from Abbey, am I right?!)

    I'm excited that this has finally started!! Hmm... what am I reading right now, other than Kate Chopin's The Awakening and Chaucer, I just picked up 13,rue Therese: A Novel by Elena Mauli Shpiro. It's written from two or more perspectives and based in France. It's kind of a mystery, the narrator found a box full of letters, pictures and artifacts from or to a woman. As a historian he goes through the box trying to discover her life. It's a story of his life and hers. It's pretty neat.

    For young adult novels I read Scott Westerfield and Keith Thompson's Levithan and Behemoth. They were amazing steampunk novels. and of course the third one hasn't been released yet!! I don't even know when the release date is! But I definately suggest this incomplete trilogy!

    Yay! I'm so excited abou this!

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  3. Yeah. it was me. I hadn't quite figured out what was going on yet so I didn't use the right name thingie. *halo* *is not tech savvy*

    And oh my goodness.

    Hannah, what about the Levithan series? Cause I know I want to read that, but I have absolutely no idea what it's about.

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  4. They're set at the beginning of WWI. The story is told from two perspectives. One is a young Austrian prince who is on the run and the other is a young british girl who disguises herself as a boy to join the airforce. Through circumstance they run into each other and a great adventure adn friendship ensues... aswell as plenty of innocent sexual tension!! It's onesided though cause she's pretending to be a boy!! Steampunk is so cool! In this book there are the "the darwinists", which are the Allied powers and "the clankers who are not. The Darwinists are super advanced in genetics so they are creating all types of hibrid animals. For example, the Levithan, is what we would equate with a blimp... but it's a GIANT WHALE! How cool is that!! The Clankers use giant machines to fight. It's really neat. READ THEM!

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  5. The last book I read that was not for research purposes was Matched by Ally Condie. It’s one of those dystopian novel types. I had just finished reading Lament and Ballad, both by Maggie Stiefvater. They are companion novels about homicidal faerie assassins. They are amazing and I highly recommend anything by Maggie Stiefvater as a side note. So, what really can top homicidal faeries, I asked myself. Enter my mother with Matched.
    This is a synopsis from goodreads.com: “Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.
    The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.”
    My mom gave it to me for Christmas and when I read the back I thought “ew a Hungers Games rip off”. But I gave it a chance and read it and it is very different from Hunger Games. It’s a totally different world but in true dystopian fashion will still have you wanting to stick it to the man. The main character and narrator, Cassia, has a strong voice and though she seems weak at first, her eyes are opened throughout the novel to the way things really are. Her progression from blind following to developing her own thoughts is clear and the reader really experiences that with her. And it’s going to be a trilogy! I highly recommend it!

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  6. This past month I went on a reading binge. I read "I am Number Four", the latest installment of the Percy Jackson series, "The Last Hero" and "The Red Pyramid" of the Kane Chronicle. The latter two, both authored by Rick Riordan, met his typical yet exhilarating style of history with fiction/myth, humor and action while walking us through the protagonists Rite of Passage and/or Loss of Innocence. I recommend both series to those that enjoy Adolescent lit..if you havent already.

    I am currently reading "The Last Hunter" by Jeremy Robinson, so my verdict has yet to be determined. On my list..(thanks to Prof. Jones):

    Artemis Foul
    American Gods
    Anansi Boys

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