What Are You Reading In March?

[Racheal]

So what's everyone reading this month? =)

[LW]

A Gathering of Shadows by VE Schwab :D

[Karin]

Right now I'm reading these four books. I'm not sure if I remembered to add any y/a to my lineup this month!!!

Twelve Bar Blues
Logic, Or, The Right Use Of Reason In The Inquiry After Truth: With A Variety Of Rules To Guard Against Error In The Affairs Of Religion And Human Life, As Well As In The Sciences
A Sound Among the Trees
Fallen Land

[Linda]

I'm reading several things right now:

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown (homeschool assignment with my son)
The Great Green Heist by Varian Johnson

and I just started Void by David Staniforth - an adult fiction psychological thriller. I really enjoy his writing. I LOVED his YA books Alloria and Eye of Dominion - made my favorites list!

[Catherine]

I'm still working on Tomorrow, When the War Began, as well as reading Dead Wake by Erik Larson and The Girl in the Ice by Robert Bryndza.

[J.]

Just finished Six of Crows. Thought it was pretty good although predictable, and not really up to all the hype...but I did like it better than the Grisha series. Come on Bardugo! I want to be blown away!!! *sigh*

Now I want to read the Lies of Locke Lamora, which seems to be the dark/gritty/fantasy/band-of-thieves/caper story that people compare it to (positively or negatively). But I probably won't get to it until after I read Jackaby...which is next on my list!

[Rachel]

Library books I currently have lined up: Stars Above, Morning Star, Salt to Sea, as well as a bunch of graphic novels.

Also picking away at Carter & Lovecraft on my work breaks...I can't decide what to make of it, it's really weird, and I'm only reading it for book club.

[J.]

Finished Jackaby...I really, really enjoyed it! A few things kept it from being a full 5 stars but it was just a fun, cozy little story. Definitely looking forward to the rest of that series!

Now I'm on to Mechanica, which I'm looking forward to! I'm at the tail-end of a novel I'm writing (ghostwriting, so no, you'll never know which one...LOL), which is usually when I go on a mad reading spree.

[Kata]

A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1)
by V.E. Schwab

[J.]

Finished Mechanica...ugh. So disappointing. Come on, steampunk Cinderella!!! I should have loved it. Why??? :-(

Next I'm on to Blue Lily, Lily Blue...I was ambivalent about The Dream Thieves, so I'm hoping I like this one better. I don't think I can take another disappointment right now.

[Kata]

J Leigh wrote: "Finished Mechanica...ugh. So disappointing. Come on, steampunk Cinderella!!! I should have loved it. Why??? :-(

Next I'm on to Blue Lily, Lily Blue...I was ambivale..."

Oooo, umm....maybe you want to read another book right now??

[Racheal]

@J leigh- You didn't like Mechanica? I ended up really liking it just because of how different it was and how well it was written. And that it didn't have a typical ending. =P

[J.]

Racheal (Most Honorable One) wrote: "@J leigh- You didn't like Mechanica? I ended up really liking it just because of how different it was and how well it was written. And that it didn't have a typical ending. =P"

Aww...yeah, don't hate me...I actually thought the writing was kind of dull, mainly because of how repetitive it was. I mean, she says the same things over and over again, and after a while it started to grate on me. I think the lack of dialogue made it move really slowly too (apart from this one section that I was really excited about, when she was busy in the workshop).

And the ending... (view spoiler)[This, "hey, we can totally have a non-exclusive polygamous pseudo-marriage if we want to!" idea that they were all cool with was a killer for me. I *wish* that she had just said, "Nope, sorry kiddo, I thought I liked you but I'm really just interested in finding my own path and being independent. Friends only, k?" That would have been kind of awesome, but the way the epilogue read made it feel like that isn't what happened. Eck. And the way the whole novel built up to the Exhibition and then it was hardly even mentioned...I was so looking forward to reading about that! But it was basically, uh, there are some cool things here....PRINCE!!! The end. If the book was supposed to NOT be a romance and show Nick as the girl who needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle, the ending kind of ruined that because it was completely absorbed with "Do I love him? Do I not love him?" angst. (hide spoiler)]

Also (view spoiler)[there's all this talk about rebellion and trade embargoes and assassinations and Fae and Ashes and all this exciting stuff......and then nothing happens with it. If the story had taken advantage of some of the twists and turns and obstacles those threads could have provided, it would have been so much better, but nothing ever really complicated ever seemed to happen. And Nick seemed just way too self-absorbed to feel like a real Cinderella character to me. (hide spoiler)]

(Whew, sorry for the rant! :-P) Yeah, it just disappointed me. I was sad. I was so ready to fall in love with it (b/c STEAMPUNK CINDERELLA! Gahhh!!!). I think I'm just not huge on fairy-tale retellings because nothing surprises me (except Lunar Chronicles which stands SO WELL on its own). But I am really glad you liked it! :-)

Ahhh, Kat...thanks for the heads-up....I think I'll try the Lies of Locke Lamora next instead. ;-)

[Kata]

Hehe, you're welcome.

[Rummanah (Books in the Spotlight)]

I'm about half way through Challenger Deep and it's a rough read.

[Catherine]

I just started Confessions of a Murder Suspect. So far pretty good. I'm enjoying the slow build up to what's really going on with this family, because they don't seem quite right. :-) I'm starting to wonder if there'll be a paranormal explanation, given the other books he's written for young adults like the Maximum Ride series. We'll see...

[Kata]

Catherine wrote: "I just started Confessions of a Murder Suspect. So far pretty good. I'm enjoying the slow build up to what's really going on with this family, because they don't seem quite right. :-) I'm starting ..."

How do you make the book appear in your post?

[J.]

Kata wrote: "How do you make the book appear in your post?"

When you click the "add book/author" link, at the bottom of the pop-up window there's the option to "add book" or "cover"...select cover and then when you add the book it will put in the thumbnail. Either that or if you accidentally insert the book link, you can just type "cover" immediately after "book" in the HTML code. So, [ book: vs. [ bookcover: (without the spaces between the bracket and the words...hah). Hope that helped and wasn't completely confusing! LOL

Currently reading Lies of L.L...I'm intrigued by it at this point, but the jumpy timeline is a little disorienting.

[Racheal]

J Leigh wrote: "Racheal (Most Honorable One) wrote: "@J leigh- You didn't like Mechanica? I ended up really liking it just because of how different it was and how well it was written. And that it didn't have a typ..."

Aw that's a bummer J. Leigh! I almost always have to have romance in a book to be drawn into it which is why I loved Mechanica so much. It was able to draw me in and hold my interest. Like the world the author created was just really unique and cool! I know you didn't love the ending but I loved it! Like, the story was loosely based on Cinderella, but I felt like it was moreso Nicolette's story than Cinderella's, which is why I felt the ending really worked. Yah, I've been on a fairytale re-telling kick ever since the Lunar Chronicles, lol. Mechanica is probably by second favorite retelling of Cinderella (Cinder's #1 obviously). All the other retelling's I've read for Cinderella have just been very dull and typical... like you know what's going to happen. So it's nice to see a storyline that takes off in it's own direction.

[Kata]

Let's see if this works: I'm reading A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab.

[J.]

Kata wrote: "

Let's see if this works: I'm reading A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab."

Yay! :D

Oh. My. Gosh. I am loving The Lies of Locke Lamora SO FREAKING MUCH. I almost put it aside at the beginning because I wasn't quite on board with the interwoven timelines, but it's actually brilliant. *hugs book*

[J.]

Finished Lies...man, I want to go back and reread it now and just drown in happiness. It was better than I ever hoped and so...freaking...brilliant... I absolutely LOVE when I read books that teach me new things about writing and inspire me to work even harder on my craft! Guuhhhh....*gush gush* <3 LOL (Not for the faint of heart. And if strong language bothers you...yeah, there's a lot of it.)

Now I don't want to read anything else, except maybe the next book in the series...*goes to check library*

[Linda]

Rummanah (Books in the Spotlight) wrote: "I'm about half way through Challenger Deep and it's a rough read."

Challenger Deep is on my list to read for the State nominating committee. I've been putting it off because I've heard it's a tough read. What are your thoughts?

[Linda]

Lets see... finished:
Secret Coders - cute!
Void by David Staniforth - great adult myster/suspense!
Rhythm Ride: A Road Trip Through the Motown Sound - really good!
The Great Greene Heist - I liked it okay.
Hoodoo by Ronald L. Smith - really enjoyed it!

Now reading:
Boys in the Boat (young readers edition)
Trollhunters by Daniel Kraus
How to Speak Dolphin by Ginny Rorby

[Karin]

So I finished 3 of those books I listed above and have LOST one (one I own).

I am now reading:

Parable of the Sower (I'm not sure if this is y/a, but the protagonist is a teen throughout the entire novel)
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman
The Red and the Black
Queen of the Night

[Kata]

Finished A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab. 5 stars.
Now reading A Gathering of Shadows by same author.

[Rummanah (Books in the Spotlight)]

Linda wrote: "Rummanah (Books in the Spotlight) wrote: "I'm about half way through Challenger Deep and it's a rough read."

Challenger Deep is on my list to read for the State nominating committee. I've been put..."

It's a worthwhile read, Linda, but slow and hard to get into. Once I got use to the writing style, it became easier.

[Rachel]

Just finished Stars Above...that last story <3333

[Racheal]

Just read The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury and it was good, though there were a few small things I saw that I thought could have been improved.

[Courtney (ANerdyBookBirdy)]

Right now I'm reading Eleanor & Park before going for A Court of Thorns and Roses :)

[Linda]

Courtney wrote: "Right now I'm reading Eleanor & Park before going for A Court of Thorns and Roses :)"

Both great choices! :)

[Linda]

Just finished Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys. Historical fiction - WWII - I wasn't expecting to like it so much, but it's really good!

Also reading Trollhunters, How to Speak Dolphin and Boys in the Boat.

[Kata]

Courtney wrote: "Right now I'm reading Eleanor & Park before going for A Court of Thorns and Roses :)"

Loved both those books :)

[David]

Moonshifted by Cassie Alexander

[Karin]

Aargh, so many books, so few y/a right now, but Lady Midnight is in my pile for March. NOT my usual fare, but it's a group read somewhere. Long, though, so I hope I can make it through since fantasy is no longer one of my "things."

[Brittany]

Ummm... I read all of the things. Yup. I'm terrible at interneting this month. But I promise to be more active her next month because books.