Tagged: good books
The Month in Re-Reads (#1)
In addition to reading 14 new books this month, I had quite a bit of time to re-read some old favourites. It’s rare that I have enough time to actually read books more than once so I took advantage of it and re-read 10 awesome books, 1 short story and a novella. Here are the ones I read again here in January:
1. Prophecy of the Most Beautiful by Diantha Jones
I loved the first three books of the Oracle of Delphi series so much that I made a concerted effort to re-read all three. The first time around Prophecy of the Most Beautiful was awesome, but it’s even better as a re-read because I saw all the little hints Diantha Jones planted in the story for the later books. With Prophecy of the Betrayed Heir coming out in September I needed to re-read the series anyway to remind myself who everyone is.
2. Prophecy of the Setting Sunrise by Diantha Jones
This is another book that was even better the second time around. The end had been just a little confusing the first time around because I read the first book and this one so far apart. But after refreshing my memory I really appreciated all the plot twists of this novel as well as some of the foreshadowing for the third book.
3. Prophecy of Solstice’s End by Diantha Jones
Reading the third book just makes me even more eager for book four! I stayed up late to finish this one even though I’ve obviously read it once before. The best books are even better the second time around and Prophecy of Solstice’s End is one such book. One of my favourite parts of the book was the portrayal of all the Greek gods, particularly Zeus.
4. Solar, Defeated by Diantha Jones
After finishing the first three books in the series I still had a craving for more of Diantha Jones’ fantastic world. Enter Solar, Defeated, which is the Oracle of Delphi #2.5. It fills in a lot of the gaps in Strafford’s story and makes his awful behaviour in the beginning seem a little more logical.
5. The Devil’s Concubine by Jill Braden
Remember how I absolutely gushed about this book? Well, I’m back to gushing again after re-reading it! This time around I really appreciated all the subtle hints Jill Braden gave about the Ravidians’ plot as well as about QuiTai’s past. The plot was just as suspenseful as it was the first time around and I think this will be a book I’ll re-read at least once a year from now on. It’s that good.
6. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
The Iron Fey series is sort of my guilty pleasure now. I actually like the love triangle in this one and Julie Kagawa’s world of faeries is fantastic. I’ll admit that her book is not the most original but it’s still good and it’s one that I like to re-read from time to time since this was actually the first book I’d read featuring faeries. It brings back good memories.
7. The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa
Every once in a while I like to indulge my usually deeply buried romantic side and The Iron Fey series always hits the spot. Forbidden love, attractive men and a heroine who actually learns how to kick butt at a natural pace all make this one of my favourite re-reads.
8. The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa
This is probably my favourite one in the Iron Fey series that features Meghan. She really grows as a person in this one and Ash does as well. They start to overcome their differences and finally admit just how much they really love one another. And it has such a cliffhanger that you can’t help but read The Iron Knight as well.
9. Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
Who can resist the snarky, ruthless and occasionally sadistic main character of Mark Lawrence’s debut novel? Jorg is at the top of my list of all-time favourite characters, even if he really is a horrible, broken human being. I finished the last book in his trilogy not too long ago so it was nice to go back now and see how much he really had changed by the end.
10. The Return Man by V. M. Zito
I read this book pretty much exactly a year ago so it was nice to re-read it for the first time and enjoy my favourite characters again. I had forgotten how much I loved Wu and Marco and their gory adventures through the zombie-infested Evacuated States. The Return Man is one of my favourite books of all time and I was glad I had time to read it again this month.
11. Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh by Katie Hamstead
After reading Kiya: Mother of a King and still being anxious for the third book I decided to go back and read the first book. I liked it just as much as I did the first time around, but for different reasons. The hints that Katie Hamstead dropped for the rest of the series and the characterization were all good enough for me to overlook some minor historical inaccuracies.
12. Short Story: Feyland: The First Adventure by Anthea Sharp
I had to re-read this prequel to the Feyland series again because I didn’t review it the first time I read it. I didn’t want to rely so much on my memory from a few months ago, but I didn’t need to worry. It’s just as good the second time around as it was the first.
I Need Your Help
Okay, so my little sister’s birthday is coming up and I have absolutely no idea what to get her.
Here in my household, books are usually pretty common. Usually I’ll pick her up one of the books I read and liked but is still age appropriate for her. She is only twelve and a half after all. Unfortunately, she’s already read all of the age-appropriate books I own! That’s where you come in.
I desperately need some book recommendations! She’s pretty mature for a twelve-year-old, having read The Hunger Games trilogy, the Darkest Powers trilogy as well as some of Pauline Gedge‘s novels. She loves fantasy and historical fiction, especially when there’s royalty involved, although she’ll read anything she can get her hands on.
However, please tell me of any mature content in your recommendation, which includes language, violence and sexuality. If you can, please tell me the extent of the mature content as well (explicit, brief, mild, etc).
So, do you know any good books for her? Please tell me in the comments below!
Some Thoughts on the YA Genre
Today I’m taking a break from book reviews so I can post this. But don’t worry, the daily reviews will continue running regularly on Friday again.
1) It isn’t only limited to teenagers.
Both tweens and adults read YA fiction as well as teenagers because some of its themes are universal: love, belonging and trust, to name a few. I mean, how many adults do you see reading Twilight, The Hunger Games or Harry Potter? A fair few adults read YA fiction because if it is written well, it can be enjoyed on many different levels.
2) When it’s bad, it’s really bad. Conversely, when it’s good, it’s really good.
YA fiction, to me at least, can be a genre of extremes. It is usually really good or really bad, with very few books falling in shades of grey. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule. When a YA book is bad, it goes the whole nine yards: poor writing, one dimensional characters, a slow plot, you name it. But when a YA book is good it has excellent writing, three dimensional characters and an interesting plot.
3) It has so much romance!
Pretty much every single YA book I’ve read has had romance in it. But then, it sort of makes sense because teenagers deal with romance in their daily lives. Romance isn’t by nature bad (far from it), but it can get tiresome, especially when I read a book that focuses heavily on the romance while neglecting characterization, plot and world-building. Maybe this is just me, though.
4) It can be life-changing.
Books were no doubt my greatest influence. They brought me to new, exciting worlds; helped me escape into the skin of a braver character; taught me things I never would have known otherwise and most of all, gave me a more well-rounded view of life. When I was being bullied for being an above-average student (among other things), I could read Artemis Fowl and feel empowered. When I was fighting with my weight, I would read Uglies and feel good about myself. So many books have changed my life that it would take forever to list them all. Good YA fiction can help teenagers learn more about life, which is why I wish they would cover more of it in school. It would keep more people engaged than reading and over-analyzing Shakespeare or Chaucer.
5) It is one of the fastest-growing genres.
There are more YA books than ever out there! People have finally realized that teens actually, you know, like to read. The market for YA fiction is growing, as demonstrated by big publishers like Harlequin, Simon & Schuster and many, many more running specialized teen lines. This, of course, goes along with the general trend of marketing to tweens and teens specifically. But hey, at least teens are finally having a voice in literature that’s not about to go away any time soon.
These are just five things I’ve noticed about the YA genre in general. What have you noticed about the YA genre? Is its expansion a good thing? What are your favourite YA books?