Spring Reading, a little late.

photo by paul lowry

Every few months I post about the books I've been reading.  I have to say, I'm a little ashamed of myself.  I went through a rut where I wasn't reading very much, and the things I did read were well... full of magical teenagers fighting magical bad guys.  I did read some good things, though.


The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - I just finished this book, and it is the reason I wanted to do a post about reading.  It was absolutely exquisite.  I LOVED it.  Several people recommended it to me, but when I saw that it was about dueling magicians, I thought... um, what?  I finally decided to read it and I'm so glad I did.  The Night Circus is beautiful and imaginative and romantic.  It is absolutely a piece of art.

The Outside Boy by Jeanine Cummins- This is a book about gypsies, and it was wonderful.  Very rich and atmospheric.  The storytelling feels authentic.  I read it at the beach and it was a perfect, fast moving, relaxing book.

Stranger Will by Caleb J. Ross -  This book has gotten a lot of edgy, boy book buzz as being awesome.  My opinion is that it totally sucked and I didn't even finish it.  It was trying way too hard to be The Wasp Factory or one of those other in your face, masculine books about depraved people shooting dogs, or whatever.  I'm not even immune to those kinds of books.  I can enjoy them, but this felt too much like the author just wanted to be part of the boy book club, and didn't put anything authentic or risky into writing it.  Very generic and unimpressive.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman - This is a YA book about a girl who gets into a car accident and watches the aftermath as a kind of half-alive ghost.  If that sort of thing sounds appealing to you, you might like this book.  I don't know, it was fine.  The writing was totally cheesy.  There were a lot of cool, rocker characters that were totally unrealistic and stupid.  I hate it when people try to write hip characters.  They always read like the author is a total nerd.  But, mostly, this was a run of the mill YA book about a run of the mill scenario.  I didn't hate reading it, and I've read way better books of this genre.

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare - I'm sorry.  This is the second book in a YA series about magical vampires and werewolves fighting an evil "shadowhunter"named Valentine.  It is full of sexy teen boys taking off their shirts and kissing girls.  It is totally stupid, and I kind of love it.  I am planning to read all 5 books.  I can't recommend it outright, because if you read it, you'll know how stupid I am for liking it.  Again, the writing is totally cheeseball, the characters are all "cool" and the story is about... well, magical teenagers. It's still kind of awesome.


So, there you have it.  This was totally pitiful.  I feel the need to redeem myself.  My book review post in the fall will be full of good books with actual merit.  I promise.  So, go read The Night Circus.


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