CarrieK | March 9, 2010
Title: Beastly
Author: Alex Flinn
Genre: YA fairy tale fantasy
Publisher: Harper Teen
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Print copy from the public library
First line: I could feel everyone looking at me, but I was used to it.
I came across this book in a round-about way. The other day, my kids and I watched Stormbreaker, the movie based [...]
CarrieK | March 9, 2010
Title: Going Bovine
Author: Libba Bray
Genre: YA speculative fiction
Publisher: Delacourte Books for Young Readers
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Audiobook from the public library
First line: The best day of my life happened when I was five and almost died at Disney World.
Cameron Smith is dying of Mad Cow disease. Instead of wasting away in the hospital, [...]
CarrieK | March 2, 2010
Title: Nine Horses: Poems
Author: Billy Collins
Genre: Poetry
Publisher: Random House
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Source: Print copy from my personal library
I am an unabashed fan of Billy Collins, but this definitely wasn’t my favorite collection. It had a few memorable poems, but most I thought were just okay. Unusual for Collins – every other collection I’ve [...]
CarrieK | February 24, 2010
Every week in my Teaser Tuesday post, I get to give you a little taste of my current reads. I love reading other people’s teaser posts – although it is hazardous to my to-read list. I’ve been thinking, though, that I don’t usually talk about my current “listens.” I’m a not only a multiple-reader; I’m [...]
CarrieK | February 19, 2010
Title: Candor
Author: Pam Bachorz
Genre: YA dystopian fiction
Publisher: Egmont
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Print copy from my own library
First line: CA-CHUNK, CA-CHUNK, CA-CHUNK.
How far would you go to help your kids become smart, healthy, productive citizens? What about yourself? How far would you go to get rid of those habits, addictions, compulsions that you fight [...]
CarrieK | February 1, 2010
Title: An Abundance of Katherines
Author: John Green
Genre: YA contemporary fiction
Publisher: Dutton Books
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Source: Print copy from the public library
First line: The morning after noted child prodigy Colin Singleton graduated from high school and got dumped for the nineteenth time by a girl named Katherine, he took a bath.
Colin is a recent [...]
CarrieK | January 26, 2010
Title: Gone
Author: Michael Grant
Genre: YA dystopian fiction
Publisher: Harper Teen
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: ARC from publisher
First line: One minute the teacher was talking about the Civil War. And the next minute he was gone.
In the blink of an eye, everyone disappears. Gone. Except for anyone young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not a single [...]
CarrieK | January 25, 2010
Title: Eldest
Author: Christopher Paolini
Genre: YA fantasy
Publisher: Knopf Books
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Audiobook edition from the public library
First line: The songs of the dead are the lamentations of the living.
I’ve been listening to Eldest on audiobook for a while now. I’ve found that with longer audiobooks, it helps to alternate discs, so I’ve been [...]