Josie's comments (member since Apr 28, 2009)

Josie's comments from the Wild Things: YA Grown-Up group.

Just finished reading Maggie Stiefvater's Lament The Faerie Queen's Deception, which I really enjoyed - I can't wait till my library gets her Shiver in for me now!

I started Shadowland yesterday, not sure I'm going to like it...
...on an unrelated note, yesterday on the bus ride home from uni, a businessman in his mid thirties sat down next to me, then pulled out his bus reading material, which happened to be....Marked! I was quite amused :)

For Cat 2, I'd like to nominate Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve.

I read Catching Fire in its entirety yesterday - loved it! Like others, I was at first a little disappointed that it took us back to the Hunger Games again, but ended up enjoying it hugely.
No one's mentioned this, so I just thought I'd throw it out there: in The Hunger Games, I made the connection between the tributes fighting to the death in the arena for others' entertainment, and what used to happen in the arenas in Ancient Rome. I thought this would be a one-off comparison between the past and the (possible? ha ha) future, but then in Catching Fire I started noticing all the Roman names (many of which appeared in HG but I was too dim to notice)...Ocatavia, Portia, Flavius, Plutarch, Seneca, Brutus, Romulus, Caesar... and the party trick involving eating till you're completely stuffed, then going out and purposely throwing up so you can keep on eating - they actually did that in Ancient Rome too...and the tributes riding around the arena in chariots... anyway, is Collins trying to say something, or am I reading too much into it?

Category 1: North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

I'm reading Scarlet by Stephen Lawhead at the moment - it's ok so far, better than the first in the series anyway.

I joined Bookmooch a couple of months ago, and immediately registered ten books so I could get the points to start with - only most of them were snapped up at once, and I ended up at the post office with seven international packages to send, costing me over $90! Ouch! I wasn't sure about it then, but I've since received my fair share of parcels in the post, which is always exciting (two in the last two days, in fact, one from the UK and one from Portugal). My username on BM is josieruth, if anyone would like to befriend me :)

I finally got The Hunger Games from my library, then read it all yesterday. Wow. I honestly wasn't expecting to like it, but phew!...words fail me! It's been a while since I've become so utterly absorbed in a book, to the exclusion of everything else. So many times I'd find I had butterflies in my stomach and be (figuratively anyway) on the edge of my seat!

Shoko, I think the author's style of writing was very plain and almost matter of fact. She didn't go in for fancy metaphors or long, detailed descriptions, and that definitely makes the pace faster, and leaves the reader no time to become bored or distracted... it was also written in the present tense - I don't know if that makes a difference at all, but the only other books I can think of that I've read written in the present tense (A Great and Terrible Beauty and Bloody Jack) I flew through as well...coincidence? Maybe.

Sarah wrote: "Here's a review of the Thirteenth Princess I found on someone's book blog:
"Zita’s not just any servant girl: She's a princess—the thirteenth daughter of a king who wanted only sons and banished h..."

Ah, yet another retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses then. I suspected as much...

I just found:

It's not out yet, so there's no reviews, but I've added it to my TBR anyway, just for the cover!

I've read all three, and enjoyed them, but with reservations. The writing is pretty bad, and I don't usually notice bad writing if the story's entertaining me enough, so that shows you just how bad it is! I also thought that the main character, Clary, was the least fleshed-out and 'real' of all of the characters, and as the books spend a lot of time with her...that can be a bit annoying... I just feel that executed better, or in the hands of someone else, this series could have been amazing.

Hi Zainab - from a fellow Aussie, welcome to Wild Things! I'm sure you'll figure it out once you've muddled you're way around, it's not hard...have fun :)

Q - The Queen of Attolia - Megan Whalen Turner

I like:

and

oh, and haven't read it but

is very pretty :)

Cat 2: Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

Misty, yep, I've read Sunshine - I found it very different to her other stuff, not sure I liked it...

I just finished reading Bloody Jack, and really enjoyed it, such a fun book!

Misty wrote: "Just came home from the library with I Capture the Castle, and Book of a Thousand DaysDaughter of the Forest. Not sure which I'm going to read first."

Three of my favourites, Misty, hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
I'm on a bit of a Robin Mckinley jaunt at the moment, finished The Blue Sword the other day, then read Rose Daughter, and now I'm considering a re-read of The Outlaws of Sherwood... or Beauty A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast if it hurries up and gets to me in the post!

I started The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley last night - great so far!

I'm currently reading Mimus which was a originally written in German...

Allison wrote: Is that the first one? I read whatever the first of that Mortal Instruments series was and I was *NOT* a fan. I really wanted to be though :(
No, it's the third. I don't think they're very well written, and there are plenty of plot holes, but I managed to enjoy them anyway...