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I just grabbed this book from amazon on a whim titled Eleanor and Park. it's a ya novel, but from the reviews, it really isn't. Anyone else read it yet?
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Mar 28, 2013 17:26
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I haven't yet, but I have it on hold at the library. John Green gave it a pretty rave review in the NYT and John Green's opinion is good enough for me.
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Mar 28, 2013 17:40
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Speaking of John Green, I read The Fault in Our Stars and could not get into it. The frustrating thing is that if I had gone into TFIOS without knowing anything about the author I probably would have loved it. The problem is not that John Green is a terrible person, far from it, it’s that John Green puts himself out there so much that it is very easy to see the author behind the text. There are many, many, many bits of description and lines of dialog that sound exactly like the sort of thing John Green would say on tumblr or on twitter or in one of his youtube videos. And I’m not criticising John Green for having a great relationship with his fans, it’s just, like I said I was always aware of the man behind the curtain. I’d like recommend John Marsden. If you’re from Australia or New Zealand you probably had to read one of his books for school. His body of work can be divided into to two categories. There are his Robert Cromier-esque psychodrama’s. Of these I really like Letters From the Inside and Dear Miffy, which might be one of the angriest books I’ve ever read and has the dubious distinction of containing the most uses of the word “gently caress” and it’s derivatives in a young adult novel. Then there's the Tomorrow Series and its spin off the Ellie Chronicles which are about adolescence, the Australian bush, farming, guerrilla warfare and big improbable explosions…  ...They are a lot of fun. High Warlord Zog fucked around with this message at 03:25 on Mar 29, 2013 |
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Mar 29, 2013 00:32
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^^Those sound cool. I'm going to read the gently caress out of them. Well poo poo. I'm picking those books up asap! The big reveal in that Karou is pretty much the reincarnated Juliet to Akiva's Romeo? Ehhh ok whatever. I'm kind of sick of those plotlines so maybe I'll come back to this book years later and properly enjoy it. I think the only thing I liked was 1) the decent explanation for why her hair is a special snowflake blue, and 2) the wishing mechanism. Maybe I need to reread it but the snarky Don't Need No Man!! part of the main character fell flat on me. Probably because I just know they'll end up together so don't lie to me, author! I admit I kinda like this book if only because it reminds me of Amelia Atwater-Rhodes trashy vampire novels I read as a teen. The writing is really pretty and I'd be interested in hearing more of the chimera world. But I really hated the House of Leaves-esque chapters near the end. Single sentence chapters. Really? But hey, have some other books to look into: Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan. Book one of The Lynburn Legacy series. It was a fast fun read for me. I really liked Kami Glass's snappy independence and refusal to be complacent while there's a mysery going on. Look out Lois Lane, Kami's coming to town! There's not one unentertaining part in the book, imo. The mystery parts are pretty nice in that you think you know the whole picture, but then something comes along and you realize the whole picture has been upside down the whole time. Here's an amazon summary because I make no sense. amazon posted:Kami Glass is in love with someone she's never met—a boy she's talked to in her head since she was born. This has made her an outsider in the sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale, but she has learned ways to turn that to her advantage. Her life seems to be in order, until disturbing events begin to occur. There has been screaming in the woods and the manor overlooking the town has lit up for the first time in 10 years. . . . The Lynburn family, who ruled the town a generation ago and who all left without warning, have returned. Now Kami can see that the town she has known and loved all her life is hiding a multitude of secrets—and a murderer. The key to it all just might be the boy in her head. The boy she thought was imaginary is real, and definitely and deliciously dangerous. Erebos by Ursula Poznanski Amazon summary: amazon posted:16-year-old Nick receives a package containing the mysterious computer game Erebos, he wonders if it will explain the behavior of his classmates, who have been secretive lately. Players of the game must obey strict rules: always play alone, never talk about the game, and never tell anyone your nickname. It's similar to a video game 'creepypasta' in that Main Character boy is given a mysterious game that is either haunted by a dead guy or is an AI.  The game instructs you to perform weird random quests in real life for in gam rewards. It's adventurous and addicting to Main Character at first, until his classmates begin to fall victim to terrible 'accidents' the game might have caused.One drag that I didn't really like was where the author switches POV to third person to describe what was happening in the video game, Erebos. Basically an LP written down as if it were fanfiction, though the writing is definitely better than fanfictin. Does that make sense? Like 'Goblin Warrior, Sorceress, and Paladin Knight sat around a fire. They discuss the next raid and how to get Gold. Conflict arises when one character takes this poo poo too seriously, c'mon man it's just a game.' From there you can kind of glean which character is a person Man Character knows in real life. I'm not into WOW type games so that was a drag to read. I thought the very ending with Main Character's friend was kind of dumb, but eh, to each their own.
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Mar 31, 2013 19:35
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High Warlord Zog posted:I’d like recommend John Marsden. If you’re from Australia or New Zealand you probably had to read one of his books for school. Love the Tomorrow Series (as an American); I was first introduced to it by the person I was student teaching for; I just started reading Tomorrow When the War Began aloud to my 7th graders last month. I could not get into the Ellie Chronicles though. I've made it about halfway through the first one maybe 4 times. I keep getting stuck in all the drudging description of cattle-raising.
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Apr 2, 2013 03:40
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freebooter posted:Aside from being an original and wonderful story (it's obvious it's going to be an allegory, but part of the fun is guessing what allegory it will be) A Monster Calls is one of those books that's just beautifully produced. The illustrations really add a lot to the story. I read the first book in this series when I was in like 7th grade and found it to be pretty loving  , especially since I had no idea there were any sequels. I loved it. Are the rest of the books in the series like that? I'd also like to say that Dianna Wynne Jones was a fantastic author. Her books were absolutely hilarious and fascinating at the same time. The Homeward Bounders was a really weird book that she wrote with another seriously  ending, in my opinion. What's with these books aimed at kids having depressing endings? Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials has the worst "happy ending" ever, too.
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Apr 2, 2013 19:10
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SHISHKABOB posted:I read the first book in this series when I was in like 7th grade and found it to be pretty loving
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Apr 2, 2013 20:45
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They are my favourite children's books (closely followed by A Monster Calls). My mum worked for Scholastic when the first book was released, and she picked it up for me, saying it was apparently the next big thing. She was (sadly) wrong, but they've been my favourite ever since. They made me a fan of Steampunk when they were written, which then led to me being pretty when Steampunk turned out like it did. They're pretty much the only thing that features airships now that I don't automatically drop.Runcible Cat posted:He's written prequels too, now - the Fever Crumb books. cptn_dr fucked around with this message at 07:25 on Apr 4, 2013 |
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Apr 4, 2013 07:18
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I could never get into Fever Crumb despite absolutely loving Mortal Engines. I think I just can't identify with the protagonist as much, and it didn't feel like the same world to me. Maybe I didn't read enough of it to see the similarities.
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Apr 4, 2013 21:26
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screenwritersblues posted:I just grabbed this book from amazon on a whim titled Eleanor and Park. it's a ya novel, but from the reviews, it really isn't. Anyone else read it yet? I'm about a third of the way through and it's absolutely fantastic. A lot of heartbreaking moments already, though, so I'm a bit nervous about where it will go (one of the two main characters comes from a severely broken home, and the book doesn't pull any punches about what it's like to be a teenager forced to live in squalor).
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Apr 13, 2013 18:21
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tvb posted:I'm about a third of the way through and it's absolutely fantastic. A lot of heartbreaking moments already, though, so I'm a bit nervous about where it will go (one of the two main characters comes from a severely broken home, and the book doesn't pull any punches about what it's like to be a teenager forced to live in squalor). Well, that makes me feel good about getting ready to read it. Also on that note, I'm currently getting ready to do a huge block of young adult novels (after a few classics, nonfiction and the King Bros (Owen King and Joe Hill, the sons of Stephen King) blocks that I have planned out) but have no idea which books that I should include in the block. So far, I have Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, Catcher in the Rye By JD Salinger, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Dias (Note: This one might not be considered to be a YA novel, but because the character is between the ages of 16 and 18 when the book takes place, I consider it to be a boarder line YA Novel), and Rage is Back by Adam Mansbach (this one might be or might not be considered a YA Novel, I'm getting a lot of mixed reviews on this one, but I'm going to consider in this case). I would like to get a few more, but I'm really not sure what books would be similar to these. I know that the easiest answer is more John Green for the first two books that I mentioned, but what others might be good? I'm going to comb through this thread and try to figure out which ones are similar to the books that are mentioned, but if anyone wants to help, I'd appreciate it, since I'm still kind of new to this genre and really don't know where to go.
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Apr 14, 2013 02:42
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Looking for Alaska gets a lot of attention because it was his first book, but I didn't love it as much as his others. It's a very good book on its own, but compared to his others, the characters are a lot more broadly defined and the plotting is far less nuanced and sophisticated. If you're going to read John Green, make sure you start with Alaska. The Fault in Our Stars is an amazing piece of work, though, and I think it's his best by far. I can't say enough good things about it. I would recommend Will Grayson, Will Grayson, which John Green wrote with David Levithan. It's a great story about male friendships and how they change and develop as you mature. It's like a love story about the platonic love between male friends. And of course, this is an obvious answer, but read The Perks of Being a Wallflower if you haven't yet (it's a must-read for YA, but you said you're relatively new to the genre, so who knows). There isn't much to say about this that hasn't already been said, so just throw it on the pile. It's a fast read.
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Apr 15, 2013 00:06
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tvb posted:
This. You'll hear a lot of hate for this book, and some of it might be justified (though it is one of my favorites), but it's one of the most influential contemporary YA works of all time. One of the biggest measures of a book is the effect it has on its audience and the author of Perks still gets letters almost a decade after its publication from teenagers who claim that it helped them cope with being (spoilered because it gives away a big "secret" of the book) victims of sexual abuse.
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Apr 15, 2013 00:17
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tvb posted:Looking for Alaska gets a lot of attention because it was his first book, but I didn't love it as much as his others. It's a very good book on its own, but compared to his others, the characters are a lot more broadly defined and the plotting is far less nuanced and sophisticated. If you're going to read John Green, make sure you start with Alaska. The Fault in Our Stars is an amazing piece of work, though, and I think it's his best by far. I can't say enough good things about it. SlenderWhore posted:This. You'll hear a lot of hate for this book, and some of it might be justified (though it is one of my favorites), but it's one of the most influential contemporary YA works of all time. One of the biggest measures of a book is the effect it has on its audience and the author of Perks still gets letters almost a decade after its publication from teenagers who claim that it helped them cope with being (spoilered because it gives away a big "secret" of the book) victims of sexual abuse. Thanks to the both of you. I was thinking about Perks the other day and wondered if I should include it in the mix or not. I browsed the first couple of pages here and kept seeing it. So I'm going to pick it up, along with Will Grayson, since it seems to be Green's second best book behind Stars the next time I'm in range of a book store, which should be sometime this week. Also, yes I plan on reading Alaska first, mainly because of the fact that I head good things about it and stars, but I really want to read it first. So we'll see how it goes. I'll report back here when I start the block.
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Apr 15, 2013 03:03
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Am I misremembering, or is there a line in Perks where the main character says that there's nothing sadder than fluorescent lighting?
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Apr 15, 2013 14:05
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tvb posted:I'm about a third of the way through and it's absolutely fantastic. A lot of heartbreaking moments already, though, so I'm a bit nervous about where it will go (one of the two main characters comes from a severely broken home, and the book doesn't pull any punches about what it's like to be a teenager forced to live in squalor). I just finished it and I'm completely lost for words. So good, so heartbreaking, so beautiful. I'm going to recommend Eleanor and Park to EVERYONE.
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Apr 17, 2013 01:56
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Rabbit Hill posted:Am I misremembering, or is there a line in Perks where the main character says that there's nothing sadder than fluorescent lighting? I am like 90% sure you're thinking of a different book cause I've read Perks a billion times and can't remember anything like that. Also, I went on a small John Green binge and read Will Grayson, Will Grayson, Paper Towns, An Abundance of Katherines and The Fault In Our Stars after browsing this thread and basically loved them all, probably because I'm young enough to still be considered a "young adult" and still remember high school very clearly so I'm probably exactly the kind of person the books were marketed toward. I think An Abundance of Katherines was probably the weakest, but still very good, and I don't really have any outstanding complaints about any of them. Except for the all-lowercase print in every chapter of Will Grayson, Will Grayson being kind of annoying at first.
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Apr 19, 2013 05:47
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I like to listen to audio books before bed (I don't know, it reminds me of my childhood I guess), and though I started out mostly listening to humor books (John Hodgeman, Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey, etc), now I've switched over to YA novels. I'm currently listening to Looking for Alaska and I think I'll move on to the rest of John Green's books after, as I've only read TFIOS. The book is really made by the narrator - I listened to about 5 minutes of Jane Eyre before giving up. On the other hand, I've listened to all seven Harry Potter audio books multiple times (that is a long commitment, let me tell you). So, would love any recommendations for well narrated young adult novels.
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Apr 21, 2013 21:25
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Neil Gaiman's "The Graveyard Book" had a pretty good audio version, as far as I remember. Gaiman himself narrated it, which adds a lot.
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Apr 21, 2013 21:30
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Does anyone have any recommendations for any books about 12-14 year-olds that are written a bit above the Judy Blume level? (But like Blume in dealing with those sort of real-life issues, rather than going the Sci-Fi/Fantasy route.)
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Apr 23, 2013 03:20
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I don't know if anyone's read it yet, but I'd just like to say that I am devouring Clive Barker's Abarat like a piece of coconut cream pie. It is twisted, bizarre, fantastical, and enchanting, just like almost all of his works.
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May 2, 2013 01:29
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Has anyone read the new Chris Crutcher book? None of my local libraries have it 
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May 2, 2013 01:31
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SlenderWhore posted:I don't know if anyone's read it yet, but I'd just like to say that I am devouring Clive Barker's Abarat like a piece of coconut cream pie. It is twisted, bizarre, fantastical, and enchanting, just like almost all of his works. I've read the first one, but thought it just ok. The best part for me was the physical sensation of holding the book and turning the pages, because the binding I had was absolutely beautiful. A major deterrent for picking up the sequel is that it is slated for being a 5 book series, and book 4 has already been announced for 2014 - and it is YEARS between each volume so far, so that makes book 5 still a long ways off.
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May 5, 2013 02:05
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My favourite series at present would have to be the Dollhouse trilogy by Anya Allyn. There are only two out at present but I can't wait for the third. The start of the first book, Dollhouse, you are thinking 'well what's all this got to do with a doll house' but then suddenly you are up until 4am devouring all you can. I think I read the second, Paper Dolls, in a few hours. I was on Goodreads going through books and reviews and I found this following comment from a fellow reader: Katy's review - I really liked this book, and have therefore come to the conclusion that books written for children can be higher quality writing than books written for adults because there isn't this pressure to impress with heavy metaphor and poignant statements about life. When adults write for adults there is too much pressure, adults writing for children understand that it is the story and the characters that matter most, and if those two are well written then I think you have a deep, satisfying book. This is something I completely agree with when it comes to Young Adult books, I find I am reading more and more YA books rather than books written for adults. His Dark Materials I see is mentioned here quite often and yes it's something every single person should read at least once. I spent days having recurring thoughts about the book and life. They say that there are three sets of books that everyone should read, Lewis, Tolkien and Pullman, the former two using the bible and Jesus as a base and the latter being a life without religion being the dominant be all and end all. I can definitely say that I made the links with the former two before I had read any papers written on them and was already really uncomfortable with them being touted as 'cult' books, can anyone say 'baaaaaa'.
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May 5, 2013 12:35
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Christmas Jones posted:Does anyone have any recommendations for any books about 12-14 year-olds that are written a bit above the Judy Blume level? (But like Blume in dealing with those sort of real-life issues, rather than going the Sci-Fi/Fantasy route.) I recommended Sarah Dessen's Along For the Ride back towards the beginning of this thread. I think that would be age appropriate for the kind of thing you're looking for. I still haven't read any of Dessen's other books, but I think this particular work was quite insightful and her characterization felt genuine, and I know she's definitely written other books in a similar vein.
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May 5, 2013 23:06
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I just finished Liar and I'm really regretting having looked up spoilers. I usually love knowing what's going to happen next, but this book is a major exception.
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May 6, 2013 02:08
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Panda So Panda posted:I recommended Sarah Dessen's Along For the Ride back towards the beginning of this thread. I think that would be age appropriate for the kind of thing you're looking for. I still haven't read any of Dessen's other books, but I think this particular work was quite insightful and her characterization felt genuine, and I know she's definitely written other books in a similar vein. Thanks, I'll check it out!
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May 6, 2013 21:54
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shapeshifter. posted:My favourite series at present would have to be the Dollhouse trilogy by Anya Allyn. There are only two out at present but I can't wait for the third. The start of the first book, Dollhouse, you are thinking 'well what's all this got to do with a doll house' but then suddenly you are up until 4am devouring all you can. I think I read the second, Paper Dolls, in a few hours. Bonus: Dollhouse is free on Kindle right now if anyone wants to check it out!
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May 7, 2013 02:48
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Ben Davis posted:I just finished Liar and I'm really regretting having looked up spoilers. I usually love knowing what's going to happen next, but this book is a major exception. This is definitely a book you should go into blind. I read it not knowing anything about it, really, and the twists and ambiguity of it all made for a great read. I think it might be a controversial book (I haven't looked at reviews), but this was easily one of my favorite YA novels from the past few years.
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May 7, 2013 14:20
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School has really bit into my free time to read, but finally spring courses are over and in just the four days since my last class I've destroyed The Fault In Our Stars and Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Just started The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and I have to say that I'm already loving it. Thanks to all the people that's been posting here for keeping this thread alive and well, and as well to all those that have posted most excellent books and reviews. 
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May 7, 2013 23:43
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I looked up a few popular YA "paranormal romance" series the other night on Goodreads. Most of the really well-known ones (i.e. The Mortal Instruments, The Caster Chronicles, Fallen) may be getting made into the newest movie franchises, but on Goodreads they have received some pretty mixed if not downright negative reviews. The criticisms strike me as less a simple matter of opinion in terms of what a particular reader prefers and more like it's actually poorly written, whether that's poor execution or badly done characterization. Perhaps the problem is the subgenre of paranormal romance, plain and simple, but I was wondering if there were any redeeming series out there worth reading. The Hunger Games was pretty well-received, in spite of the overdone love triangle thing, although the author herself wasn't so focused on that in the story and was mostly pushed by her editor to place more emphasis on it for commercial value.
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May 8, 2013 00:34
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The best paranormal YA romance book I've read recently is Unspoken, by Sarah Rees Brennan - it's the first book in a series, the second is due out later this year. I'd summarise what I liked about the book, but I think it's better to read and see everything unfold over the course of the story, since it's primarily a mystery. The other well-written pranormal romance series is Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone, which has already been discussed in the thread. A couple of other popular paranormal romance series in order of readability: Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy - these books are very popular. They're pretty trashy, but honestly I enjoyed them. They're more like Buffy than Twilight - the main character is a badass who stakes hundreds of evil vampires over the course of the series. Jana Oliver's Demon Trappers - As above, main character spends more time fighting for her life than mooning over her love interest(s), so it's a win for me. They're not amazing books, but if you know a teen who's hooked on paranormal romance, I'd recommend them. Tahereh Mafi's Shatter Me - GR reviewer Kat Kennedy summed this one up best: "When Creative Writing Class Goes Wrong". Mafi's writing style is very stream-of-consciousness and the books get super weird and creepy later with the love triangle. Such a cool premise (MC can't touch anyone without killing them, is locked up for years and nearly goes insane), destroyed by a terrible plot. Melissa de la Cruz's Blue Bloods - Gossip Girl with vampires. Avoid.
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May 8, 2013 05:23
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Panda So Panda posted:The Mortal Instruments
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May 8, 2013 14:50
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naptalan posted:
I weirdly enjoyed Vampire Academy, although I'm not sure if it was the novelty of having a protagonist that didn't have some kind of self esteem issue. It has a nice boarding school structure which I think some people enjoy.
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May 8, 2013 16:12
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"Daughter of Smoke and Bone" was seriously one of the most gorgeous books I've ever read. I wish Laini Taylor would break out into the adult genre because she is just a fantastic writer, the kind that makes you jealous of her ability to string words together like lyrics to a song. Also, I did enjoy The Mortal Instruments, although I read them all in my Senior year of high school so maybe that's why. I haven't reread them since. I think the reason why it appeals to people is because it is so derivative. If you like Harry Potter, Buffy, Hunger Games, ect., the chances are good you'll enjoy that series. Say what you will about Cassandra Clare, but you can't deny that she is exceptionally good at the whole "YA book craze" thing. Captain Mog fucked around with this message at 04:54 on May 9, 2013 |
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May 8, 2013 20:37
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Paragon8 posted:It has a nice boarding school structure which I think some people enjoy. I don't know if I'll ever read the Vampire Academy series but yes, boarding school novels are like crack to me. Does anyone have any recommendations for YA stories with this setting? So far I've read The Catcher in the Rye, Prep, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, and The Moth Diaries. I wish YA authors would write better boarding school novels, none of these really stood out to me whereas I have a ton of 'adult' books in this setting that I love (A Good School, Old School, The Secret History).
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May 9, 2013 04:41
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elbow posted:I don't know if I'll ever read the Vampire Academy series but yes, boarding school novels are like crack to me. Does anyone have any recommendations for YA stories with this setting? So far I've read The Catcher in the Rye, Prep, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, and The Moth Diaries. I wish YA authors would write better boarding school novels, none of these really stood out to me whereas I have a ton of 'adult' books in this setting that I love (A Good School, Old School, The Secret History). Perhaps you had to read this in school (a lot of people have), but I'll recommend John Knowles' A Separate Peace. It's set in World War II, but is mostly about relationships in an all boys school.
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May 9, 2013 06:49
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That's been on my Amazon wish list for a while actually -- time to move it into my cart, thanks!
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May 9, 2013 08:14
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I met Patrick Ness today after seeing him give a talk about The Crane Wife. Got him to sign my copy of A Monster Calls. He was a really good speaker, too. 
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May 18, 2013 05:55
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elbow posted:I don't know if I'll ever read the Vampire Academy series but yes, boarding school novels are like crack to me. Does anyone have any recommendations for YA stories with this setting? So far I've read The Catcher in the Rye, Prep, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, and The Moth Diaries. I wish YA authors would write better boarding school novels, none of these really stood out to me whereas I have a ton of 'adult' books in this setting that I love (A Good School, Old School, The Secret History). Looking for Alaska by John Green is a boarding school setting. Does Harry Potter count?  I like the boarding school setting too.
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May 19, 2013 03:42
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