Sunday, July 28, 2013

Recent Reads

Here's a list of some books I've read recently. I haven't always included books for adult audiences in my lists, but I'm going to start doing that now. 

1. ANYA'S WAR by Andrea Alban (Feiwel and Friends- Young Adult) Based on a true story, a Jewish family finds refuge in China during World War 2.


2. DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth (Katherine Tegen- Young Adult) A young girl trains to be fearless to prepare for initiation in a faction she has chosen to be part of.


3. INSURGENT by Veronia Roth (Katherine-Tegen- Young Adult) A sequel to DIVERGENT, a young girl  must consider making big sacrifices for the greater good.


4. JACOB WONDERBAR FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSE by Nathan Bransford (Dial-Middle Grade) A boy runs for president of the universe against a power-hungry opponent. Check out my author interview here.


5. ENDER'S GAME by Orson Scott Card (Starscape/Tom Doherty Associates- Young Adult) An intellectually gifted child trains to be a military commander to help Earth destroy a species known as the "buggers.


6. EVERNEATH by Brodi Ashton (Balzer + Bray-Young Adult) A young girl returns from a hundred-year incarceration in the underworld to say good-bye to her boyfriend.


7. THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak (Alfred A. Knopf- Young Adult) A German family hides a Jew in their home during the Holocaust.


8. SWITCHED by Amanda Hocking (St. Martin's Griffin- Young Adult) A girl finds out she is both a changeling and the princess of the Trylle, and she must leave her everyday human life as she has known it.


9. MIDDLE SCHOOL, THE WORST YEARS OF MY LIFE by James Patterson (Little, Brown and Company- Middle Grade) A sixth grade boy tries to survive middle school while dealing with a bully at school and problems at home.


10. MIDDLE SCHOOL, MY BROTHER IS A BIG FAT LIAR by James Patterson (Little, Brown and Company- Middle Grade) A girl attends middle school under the dark cloud of the reputation her brother left behind.


11. MIDDLE SCHOOL, GET ME OUT OF HERE by James Patterson (Little, Brown and Company- Middle Grade) A boy starts over at a new school in his mom's hometown and he tries to find out about his MIA father.


12. LIKE MANDARIN by Kirsten Hubbard (Ember- Young Adult) A 14 year-old girl yearning to know what life is like beyond her small Wyoming town befriends a worldly but troubled older girl named Mandarin.


13. CHARM & STRANGE by Stephanie Kuehn (St. Martin's Griffin- Young Adult) A troubled boy must confront his past and inner demons. Update: Check out my author interview here.



14. PROPHECY by Ellen Oh (Harper Teen- Young Adult) A young Korean girl strives to fulfill her duties as a demon slayer and protector of a young prince.


15. BLOOD, BONES, & BUTTER: THE INADVERTENT EDUCATION OF A RELUCTANT CHEF (Random House- Adult Non-Fiction) In this food memoir, Gabrielle Hamilton, owner of New York's Prune restaurant, dishes about her on-the-go life and the role food has played in it.


Have you read any of the books from this list? Read any good books lately?

I'm also doing my library's summer reading program this year, so stay tuned for a list of some picture books I've been reading to my kids...

19 comments:

Natalie Aguirre said...

Wow! You've been busy. I've read Prophecy, Divergent, and Insurgent.

Ghadeer said...

I'm happy to see The Book Thief and Divergent on this list- two books I enjoyed. Just in time for their movie adaptations!

Pat Hatt said...

Quite the array today on display

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

That's a lot of books! I'm currently reading Ender's Game.

Unknown said...

Heavens! That's quite a list. No wonder you haven't been blogging! I simply must get back to "The Book Thief". I started it but was pulled away to read a more current book for review purposes.
I liked your interview with Nathan Bradsford. His book sounds good!
Nice to have you back among the bloggers, dear.
~Just Jill

Annalisa Crawford said...

The Book Thief is wonderful. I really need to read it again. And I love the sound of a couple of those middle grade books for my son.

alexia said...

I've read Divergent and part of Ender's Game. I liked Divergent, but couldn't really get into Ender's Game (I know, it's a classic, but still). Everneath looks interesting, and I've been meaning to check out the Trylle books.

Thanks for popping over to my blog! I live in FL, so not coming to the LA SCBWI. I'll have to check out one of the east coast events.

S.P. Bowers said...

I've read Divergent, Everneath, Ender's Game, and The Book Thief. There are others that are on my list of things to read. I LOVE The Book Thief.

Paul R. Hewlett said...

You have been busy! Lots of great looking books there. ANYA'S WAR caught my attention. I love WWII books and one about finding refuge in China sounds interesting and unique. And of course, I'm curious about the James Patterson books too. Thanks for sharing.

Paul R. Hewlett

Madeline Mora-Summonte said...

THE BOOK THIEF is one of my all time favorite books! I've got CHARM AND STRANGE on my TBR list.

I recently read THE NEVER LIST by Koethi Zan - good and creepy! Right now I'm reading ELEANOR AND PARK by Rainbow Rowell - just loving it! :)

Dianne K. Salerni said...

I started reading the first book in Brandon Mull's "Beyonders" trilogy, just because my editor compared my writing to his and I though, "Hey, let's check out the competition. I'll just read enough to get a feel for it."

Well, thanks to Brandon Mull, I spent the whole weekend on my Kindle, feverishly reading. I started the final book late last night around midnight ...

NV said...

You just reminded me that I bought myself DIVERGENT to be one of my summer reads. I haven't even started it! OMG! So many books!!!

Sher A. Hart said...

Wow, that's a lot of recent books. And the only one I've read was Ender's Game, actually most of the series. So many books, so little time!

Julie Dao said...

You know, I read DIVERGENT and BOOK THIEF and didn't like either of them - and they happen to be two of the most popular books you've listed here! Maybe I should give them another chance eventually. I just read R.J. Palacio's WONDER and cried my eyes out - it was so good!

Anonymous said...

I read 2, 3, and 12. The rest look amazing, some of which I own.

Caryn Caldwell said...

I love your taste in books! I haven't read them all, but I've at least heard of most of them. Way to go, reading all those!

Dianne K. Salerni said...

Hi, Cynthia -- Just to answer your question over at my blog -- No, I won't be at the SCBWI event in LA. My family is headed to the U.K. for a 10 day vacation!

Not that my publisher offered to fly me out to LA for it anyway ...

Ruth Schiffmann said...

The Book Thief is my all-time favorite book!! I've heard of many of the others, but haven't read them yet.

Cynthia said...

Thanks for commenting and for sharing some of your book recommendations!

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