From dee :
Ugh! I can't even believe I suggested this contest. How the heck am I supposed to choose only three books? Well, here you go, love 'em or not (and I strongly suggest you LOVE them, because, well - *I* do!) (Note: Click on the title to take you to my review. Click on the author's name to visit the author's own site)
Dee's Number Three Pick:
Werewolf Rising, by R. L. LaFevers
This was actually one of our prizes for a contest. It was also reviewed by my son Michael, and by Rebecca, our contest winner. I can't tell you how much I loved this book without gushing all over the place, and that's not always attractive, now is it? But I really loved this book! It had action. It had adventure. It had a young lad with a BIG problem. And of course, you got to see change in this book. By that, not only do I mean that the main character grew some, but he actually changed, as in - he became a wolf! What's not to love? It's supposedly geared for the 9-14 boy crowd, but my 5 year old daughter LOVED this book, and so did I. This would make the perfect gift for any young person on your gift list this season (hint hint!). Pick it up, you won't be disappointed!!
Dee's Number Two Pick:
Testing Kate, by Whitney Gaskell
Oh man, did I really dig this book. You can tell, can't you? I searched for it and had to special order it, and was worried that it wouldn't live up to my own hype. Well, I was soooo wrong! It was all that, AND a bag of chips! (That's pretty high praise, since I really love chips, ok?) This book is about a woman at a crossroads in her life, really. I mean, she's 30ish when she trades in her routine world to try Law School. She deals with a meaner than the devil professor, an eccentric boss, a group of half crazy friends, and a way-too-sexy neighbor. What's a girl to do? Well, pick up this book and find out. Again, I can't see how you won't love this one!
Dee's Number One Pick:
Between, Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson
Did you know I was going to pick this book? How could you not have guessed it? It was the first book that we BOTH reviewed! Plus, I drove seven hours to meet the author and get her to sign my copy (and I even got to have lunch with her!). This book totally rocked my world. I don't even know how many times I've re-read this, but I'm sure I'm well into the double digits by now. It's all about Nonny, born a Crabtree but raised a Frett. The two families couldn't be more different if they tried, and Nonny has to reconcile her blood with her upbringing during the course of this amazing tale. You meet Nonny before she enters the world, and you see her struggle to gain her own voice throughout the story. It has so many layers, it's like eating a light and fluffy French pastry. I laughed until I had tears in my eyes. I cried until I ran out of Kleenex. The relationship between Nonny and the mom that raised her, Stacia, is so touching that you'll want to call up your own momma just to tell her how much you care. The supporting characters are so mulit-faceted that they can barely be called supporting. This book is a winner, and trust me, it will be on my 'favorite shelf' for a very long time to come.
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4 comments:
OMG! I finaled!! How exciting!
Of course, with your one and two picks, you've now added two more books to my TBR pile...
You guys have built a terrific reviewing community here and I'm honored to be a part of it.
p.s. Your five year old daughter like it? Seriously? She didn't get too scared or disturbed by the kind of violent parts?
Ok, I'll play!! My top three for 2006:
You're right--it's hard to pick just three!
OK--in no particular order, they are:
1)"Blondes have More Felons" by Alesia Holiday. Great read, great characters, potential for sequels--gotta love it!
2)"Werewolf Rising" by R.L. LaFevers. I don't think there is an age limit on this book--it is something that the whole family can enjoy together! AND it could have a sequel--can you tell I LURVE sequels?!!
3)"The Comeback Kiss" by Lani Diane Rich. It IS a sequel to "Maybe, Baby" and it is even better than it's predecessor, I think! Snarky, funny, and sharp--I couldn't put it down!
Of course, there are a lot of other books, but those are the ones that sprang to mind instantly, so those are the ones I will go with. DLD warrants a nod, of course, but I am sure someone else will put it on their Greatest Reads list....
Robin,
You, my dear, should not be at all surprised that your book is among my Top Three picks. With your books, you managed to turn my son into a real reader, Gepetto! When I think of the way that this book was like an answer to a prayer, with *all* of the kids anxiously awaiting its release, it just makes me wonder why EVERYONE isn't singing your praises all over the world.
And yes, my baby, my darling 5 year old daughter totally LOVED the book. No, it wasn't too scary. But then again, this is the child whose favorite movies include "The Village". Not age appropriate? Yeah, probably not. But then again, I was never one of those parents that said "Oh, you're too young for that. You'll only have nightmares if you watch it."
This is hard, because I don't write down all the books I read (I know, I should keep a list...perhaps I will resolve to do so in 2007). So these three are books I've read recently, in no particular order. I've included two YA books.
The Boy Book, by E. Lockhart—I read her first, The Boyfriend List, and this one right in a row. Ruby is such a great character—someone I would have liked in high school, with a wonderful voice. Plus, I like the footnotes.
An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green—Another novel with footnotes! This approach to writing is just refreshing, and fun, and interesting, and I like how these new ideas are coming out of teen writing. And once again, I wanted to hang out with these characters. Plus, then I got online and tried to figure out the projectory of my marriage based on Green’s Formula.
St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, by Karen Russell—The whole time I was reading this book, I was thinking, this author is seriously tapped. I loved it. The stories are this weird blend of fantastical occurrences presented as reality. Think magical realism. The title story is about just what it says—a home for girls raised by wolves (werewolves, actually) who need to be acclimated. While reading it I thought of how Native American children were taken from their reservations and taught the “correct” (read: white) way to be. (I have no idea, of course, if that’s what the author was thinking about when she wrote it.) My favorite story was “Haunting Olivia,” in which two boys try to find the body of their missing sister in an underwater cave. But really, you just have to read the book.
And as a bonus, the book I’m reading now: Moral Disorder And Other Stories, by Margaret Atwood, the author who, I think, first made me want to write my own stories. Truly, anything she writes is wonderful and worth the time.
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