Kate Mester
A solid 3 1/2, not as badly written and over dramatically love-obsessive as Twilight, but in the same vein. I liked that it was witches and not vampires (again), that is was narrated by a 16 year old boy, and that the romance was interesting and much more believable than other teen reads, but still PG enough for middle school.
I'm starting this series on a student recommendation, and at half way through it's pretty interesting. I can definitely see recommending it to other students.
I decided to finally get on board with the hype. The book starts of pretty procedural (I kept thinking, yes Larsson, you did a lot of research, good for you, now move it along) but it got faster after that. A little too long, but overall good for what it is.
My first Saunders. It took me a little bit to understand what he was doing, but I appreciated it once I did. Beautifully written and interesting, as it really made me feel and keep thinking about it.
Stork really made Marcelo an authentic character, not just a checklist of Asberger's. Beautifully written and a sweet story.
Clayton never met a simile she didn't want to use, and her writing made the book hard to get into. I still felt reading it was tedious by the ending, which wasn't very satisfying and was far too laborious in getting there.
I've heard/read/watched about his school, I've seen his students and teachers in action (at a conference), I felt like it was finally time to check out what he was producing before the school but still with all the hype. Mostly feel uncomfortable by a lot of what he's putting down here.
Went to a talk with Rebecca Skloot and history and chemsitry professors giving context. So excited to actually read the book...what a phenomenal (and heartbreaking) story, and sad that no one has thought to tell it until now.
Just as trashy as the show but not nearly as fun. I still wouldn't recommend this to any of my kids.
I thoroughly enjoyed this. It was funny and witty and sad and quirky and a totally enveloping read. I think Standiford speaks to the kind of girl that you (sadly) don't see too often in YA lit, and that's a great thing.
Gee and I are listening to this on car/plane trips, since everyone else has read it (reading peer pressure!). It's interesting in parts, and really boring in others, though the actors reading it are pretty great (Mark Hamill! Henry Rollins! Jon Turturro!)
sadly not as good as the mcewan that i've read. i devoured the other books in a constant state of enjoyment, and i felt like i was just sort of making it through this one.
This book will stay in my heart and mind. The characters are so real that I was tearing up by the end as he tied all of their stories together. I know some have said it started slowly for them, but I was hooked from the beginning and was turning back to check stories to see the clever interconnections. What an impressive debut. He'll be in Durham this week and I'm very much looking forward to hearing him speak about his work.
I wanted to like this more than I did. It's got a lot going for it, especially with the really cool design, pictures, and interesting topic, but I thought his writing was over the top (so many hyperboles) but also a little too watered down. However,it's going in my to-recommend file because I've had middle and high school boys very interested in both of his books.
Contains spoilers
Even better than Vol 1. Nick's journey here is portrayed exquisitely, so thoughtful and sweet and supported and full of consent. His Mum's one sentence response was note perfect and what every queer person wants to hear, definitely made me tear up.
The book was certainly more violent and dark than I expected, but a really interesting concept overall. I'm debating whether I'm invested enough to read the next 3 books in the series. I think I'll at least give the second one a try.
The plot totally jumped the shark but there is still something to these books that makes them just so darn readable.
Waiting for physical copy to read Lin's liner notes, but listened to the rest. A few interesting backstory pieces that I didn't know. Definitely funny to hear Mariska Hargitay trying to read slang or pronounce rap names. Such a hilariously bad choice in narrator that it had to have been intentional, though I don't get the intention.
Compelling but not always believable, though she walks through the fact-checking process she did with her family. Threads she argued -for example how her mother's TBI affected her and the family - seemed to get dropped when no longer convenient to the narrative. I found the full use of the N word especially egregious - if you've truly learned, then you know it's not your word to use, even in a story from your memory. Have enjoyed debating and discussing this with others that have read it, and this is a potential BOB book for next year, so I'm curious about student opinion and feel like the stories will linger in my memory.
I guess I can still call this “currently” reading. I've been reading it for months and had heard such great things about it. And so I kept slogging away because I keep thinking I'm going to enjoy it more. But that hasn't happened yet...don't know if I am going to keep going or not.
Absolutely stunning. Sweeping in its scope of time, history, and family, and gorgeously written. Definitely recommend the physical book as I kept turning back to the family timeline or to bits of previous stories to see the intricate interconnectedness at play.
Listening to the audiobook narrated by Jim Dale (who recorded all of the Harry Potter series) is just so enjoyable. I think I'm liking the story so much more than I would if I had read it. I'm recommending the audio version to the kids
I was absolutely blown away by Angie Thomas's powerful writing. Starr is one of the most fully realized and authentic characters I've ever come across in YA, and every single supporting character was realistic and expertly nuanced.The power punches that Thomas packs in relatively simple sentences, the way she's able to concisely and expertly capture such social complexity but distill it into a simple line of thought or dialogue, is nothing short of magic. Required reading for middle school to adult, and maybe even especially adults.
Some favorite examples:
p.186 “They act like I'm the official representative of the black race and they owe me an explanation. I think I understand though. If I sit out a protest, I'm making a statement, but if they sit out a protest, they look racist”
p. 245 “Funny. Slave masters thought they were making a difference in black people's lives too. Saving them from their ‘wild African ways.' Same shit, different century. I wish people like them would stop thinking that people like me need saving.”