Monthly Theme Read

[Becca]

Mine are: Friendship -
Female Protag - and
Irish theme - re-reading

[Jaimie]

Heidi I wrote: "Yay! I just picked up a Marion Keyes book at the library sale because you ladies recommended her. I will read that one this month. Thanks Jaimie! p.s. she is not YA either but I also like [auth..."
Oh that is a good one too!

[Arphaxad]

I'm thinking: Friendship -

Strong Female -

Irish - (finally!)

[Heidi]

Yay still reading the HP series Arphaxad - it starts getting addicting from book 4 on IMO.

[Arphaxad]

Heidi I wrote: "Yay still reading the HP series Arphaxad - it starts getting addicting from book 4 on IMO."

Yep, so I've heard! Looks like they get a bit fatter from that point on as well, which I'm quite excited about. I just wish they would hurry up and come in at the library; my patience is somewhat..frayed at this point! D:

[Peep (Pop! Pop!)]

Wendy F wrote: "I was eyeing for strong woman protag, I'm eager to read this one, but after BDB, Fallen Angels, and Night Huntress I'm going to give myself a bit of tim..."

Just caught this one Wendy so I'm late responding. For what it's worth, I read it and really liked it (gave it four stars). The heroine is hilarious! I can't wait for the next book to come out!

[Gwennie]

I loved the premis of it, and it doesn't hurt that JR Ward is backing it, lol. I'll be reading it soon. I'll have to go check out your review!

[Peep (Pop! Pop!)]

Wendy F wrote: "I loved the premis of it, and it doesn't hurt that JR Ward is backing it, lol. I'll be reading it soon. I'll have to go check out your review!"

Cool! Just keep in mind that they're nothing like JR Ward's books. They're more like a paranormal Stephanie Plum. They are similar, yet very different. I can't wait to see what you think!

[Heidi]

Ohhh paranormal Stephanie Plum. Hmmmmm...

[Peep (Pop! Pop!)]

Heidi you'd enjoy it. It's like a paranormal cozy mystery sorta. It's funny.....

[Gwennie]

I didn't think they were, just that maybe it meant it was good.

I love Stephanie Plum, I love Paranormal... it's a recipe for success in my book!

[Arphaxad]

Hey, I just realized is out tomorrow (or thereabouts)! Definitely ordering that immediately and adding it to my 'Strong Female Protag' category! I've missed Mercy and co. :D

[Heidi]

How is everyone doing with the March theme reads? I am done with my frienship book The Boy Book: A Study of Habits and Behaviors, Plus Techniques for Taming Them and strong female protag In the Hand of the Goddess. Still need to read the Irish author book :)

[Becca]

I read for my stong female protag, and it was very cute! I can't believe I haven't read it before now.

[Gwennie]

I'm still reading , lol. I only have about 200 pages left, then it'll be my two Melina books, which is for Melina month, and for my friendship book.

[Heidi]

Becca wrote: "I read for my stong female protag, and it was very cute! I can't believe I haven't read it before now."

I can't believe you have not read that yet either! It seems like your kind of book. I liked it too :)

[Becca]

It would seem that way, wouldn't it? lol! I hadn't ever really heard about it until we had a fairytale re-write discussion a couple months ago. I saw the movie back when it came out and thought it was hysterical and a great twist on tradtional fairytales, but I didn't know it was based on book. I liked the book better I think.

[Becca]

Agreed Catie!

[Brandi]

For the Irish theme I am reading
My friendship theme pick is
Saw this earlier in the thread and since it's on my TBR list I will go with for my strong female protagonist theme read.

[Heidi]

I have not heard of either of those Brandi - please update when you are done!

[Jaimie]

I am still waiting on freaking amazon to ship me my monthly theme read books! it has been like two weeks. Super lame.

[Heidi]

Jaimie wrote: "I am still waiting on freaking amazon to ship me my monthly theme read books! it has been like two weeks. Super lame."

Lame!

[Heidi]

Catie wrote: "I think that I'm all done with my theme reads for the month! Yay!"

Yay! I am done with two of them.

[Gwennie]

I'm reading Saving Francesca now. I love Melina Marchetta. She's become one of my favorite authors. Her stories are simple, but emotionally complex. I love how she can write emotions so beautifully. I want to cry with Francesca, just like I did with Taylor and Josie.

[Heidi]

I want to re-read Francesca now that I am reading Piper's Son - I may buy it!

[Gwennie]

I'm loving it. I almost started crying at my desk at work.

[Heidi]

It is classic Marchetta so far and I am loving every painful minute!

[Gwennie]

I'll be stating Thomas's book as soon as I'm done with Francesca's. I'm crazy about Thomas! Thomas and James, lol.

[Heidi]

Thomas is very different so far in this book (Piper's Son).

[Gwennie]

I had a feeling he would be, after reading the synopsis.

[Brandi]

I just finished my friendship theme read
It's actually aimed more toward middle grades. I checked it out from the library at school. I had read the author's previous novel (also checked out from our school library) and really enjoyed it. Masterpiece wasn't quite as good as Shakespeare's Secret, but I did like the story. Elise Broach is one of my favorite authors of current children's literature.

[Brandi]

Finished my Irish theme read tonight . It's actually adult fiction, but is centered around a boarding school in Ireland. Skippy is a 12 year old boy and he does in fact die, within the first few pages. The book got a lot of positive reviews on goodreads and from critics, so I was interested to see if I would feel the same. Unfortunately, I really didn't enjoy it quite as much as I expected. I don't read a lot of adult fiction (to be expected as this is a YA group) and part of the reason is because so many adult novels have such vulgar scenes and language in them. I'm no prude, but sometimes I find all the vulgarity a bit gratuitious and I could have done without some of the parts of Skippy Dies for that reason. Otherwise the plot was intriguing, but depressing. I rated the book 3 stars, but if you're interested check it out for yourself as most of the other reviewers seemed to enjoy it more than I did.

[Heidi]

Yay more theme reads!

[Jaimie]

Finished for friendship - and it was really about testing the limits of friendship and family, and for strong female lead - I guess she isn't as strong as some of the YA leads I have read but she doesn't really let anyone tell her how to feel or act so she def qualifies.

[Heidi]

We are nearing April so I am getting ready for April themes. I am struggling a little with this one so feel free to give ideas or suggestions. Here is what I was thinking.

1. National Child Abuse Prevention month & Sexual Assault Awareness month - books related to abuse or neglect.

2. April Fool's Day - funny/humorous books

3. National Poetry month - books of poems or books about poets??? or Patriot's Day - books about early settlers (any country)???

As I said, nothing really stuck out at me for April so let me know if you have any ideas.

[Gwennie]

I'm good with those, I have a great one for Natl Child Abuse Prevention! And I'd do Hex Hall for funny/humorous books.

I finished Saving Francesca for 'Friends'. I could say that I read Angel for strong woman protag, but I feel like it's cheating a bit, lol.

[Gwennie]

I was going to do that too, but then I felt bad picking two Melina books, especially because Piper's son is also my Featured Author read.

I'm not really branching out here, lmao!!!

[Becca]

For Patriot's Day, Heidi, you could do books based on war, fighting for your country kind of thing. Just an idea, but there's quite a few out there. I have on my tbr list and my hubby's been not-so-subtley encouraging me to read it, lol!

[Heidi]

Becca wrote: "For Patriot's Day, Heidi, you could do books based on war, fighting for your country kind of thing. Just an idea, but there's quite a few out there. I have on m..."

Ok! I think I will use that instead of poetry month?? Thanks!

[Heidi]

April Themes

1. National Child Abuse Prevention month & Sexual Assault Awareness month - books related to abuse or neglect.

2. April Fool's Day - funny/humorous books

3. Patriots Day - books related to war/fighting for teritory

[Heidi]

I will be reading for the April theme as it is funny (from what I heard). I highly recommend the Georgia Nicholson series for this catagory!

[Heidi]

is a good book for the abuse catagory - it is also good on audio.

[Heidi]

http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/17... - this list also has some ideas about the abuse catagory.

[Gwennie]

Im not sure what I'm going to do for Patriots day. I'm not too into reading about war...

for my funny
for my Abuse.

[Heidi]

No need to read all 3 catagories Wendy - that is why I list a few in case you just want to pick one.

[Gwennie]

I have yet to hit a month were I did manage to read all three, so I'm not stressing out on finding one.

[Heidi]

Catie wrote: "I hope someone reads Jellicoe Road for patriot's day - "fighting for territory" - it's perfect!!"

Or Finninkin...

[Laraine]

We don't celebrate Patriots Day since its a US holiday but Finnikin of the Rock is in my to-read list for April coincidentally. :)

[Heidi]

Laurine - I just look for holiday's that can be used in a theme. In fact, I myself didn't even know what Patriot's Day was and I live in the US! There are similar holiday's to Patriot's Day all over the world that would also fit that April theme.

1. Freedom Day - South Africa
2. ANZAC Day - New Zealand and Austrailia
3. Independence Day - Syria
4. Carnation Revolution - Portugal
4. Bataan Day - Philippines
5. Armenian Genocide Day - Armenia

[Jessica]

I just found this thread. I don't know what I'll do for any of these categories. The neglect/abuse category will probably be the hardest for me, because of my aversion to books that depress me.

I have Daughter of Xanadu that would work for the Patriot's Day one, but I paused reading it only a few weeks ago because I wasn't in the mood. So I might try a different war/fighting book.