Sunday, March 1, 2009

Read in February

1. Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover, by Ally Carter
2. Side Show: My Life With Geeks, Freaks, & Vagabonds in the Carny Trade, by Howard Bone
3. A View of the Ocean, by Jan de Hartog
4. Inside Out, by Nadia Shivack
5. A Bottle in the Gaza Sea, by Valerie Zenatti
6. Nothing, by Robin Friedman
7. Red Colored Elegy, by Seiichi Hayashi
8. Dragon Slippers, by Jessica Day George
9. Once Upon a Time in the North, by Philip Pullman
10. Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith, by Anne Lamott
11. Click, by [a whole boatload of authors]
12. Burma Chronicles, by Guy Delisle
13. Letters to Children, by C.S. Lewis
14. Paper Towns, by John Green
15. Jellicoe Road, by Melina Marchetta
16. Thin, by Lauren Greenfield

The best:

Red Colored Elegy, a somewhat existential graphic novel about a young couple in Japan. Not the easiest to follow (though not a whole lot happens), but occasionally quite poignant. The artwork is enthralling.

Dragon Slippers is a light, fast-paced fantasy. Quite delightful. Would recommend it to people who like Gail Carson Levine's fantasies.

Traveling Mercies is a series of reflective personal essays on faith and the author's life. Wise and thought-provoking, but she doesn't try to wrap up every story neatly with a moral.

Jellicoe Road
, a tangly contemporary young adult novel set at an Australian boarding school. Somewhat dark (though not overall), and very in-sucking. Melina Marchetta is one of my favorite authors, no question.

Thin is a collection of photos and interviews from a residential eating disorder treatment center, and a tie-in to the documentary of the same name. Revealing but extremely sensitive.

12 comments:

  1. I must say, you have very good taste.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You had a *very* good reading month. I've been meaning to get around to Jellicoe Road--I'll have to bump it up on my list.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What I'm hoping is that, while you are reading these stories about the challenges some face you are living a healthy, happy, warm life......

    ReplyDelete
  4. Can I copy this idea? It's totally awesome to post the books you read.

    ReplyDelete
  5. wow, that's a lot of reads! i'm jealous. i haven't finished a single book this month. not one.

    which reminds me, thanks for including Traveling Mercies. i love Anne Lamott. now i really have to readd this book.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gretchen - You will definitely like it. Shall look forward to hearing how you find it.

    Thank you, Beth! :)

    Georgie - Certainly. I used to try to do more dedicated review posts, but I'm not enough of a reviewer, haha, so this way suits me better.

    Odessa - It's been a long time since I've had this much reading time. I am definitely savoring it. And oh, what have you read by Anne Lamott? I've got Bird by Bird on my "to-read" list.

    ReplyDelete
  7. What'd you think of Paper Towns? I wanted to love it, but instead I felt pretty indifferent.

    ReplyDelete
  8. PAPER TOWNS! *screams*

    Okay. I *think* I'm done with that. I really want to read Jellicoe Road and Thin.

    PAPER TOWNS! *more screams*

    ReplyDelete
  9. holy *** that's like more of what I've read in 2 years

    ReplyDelete
  10. wow, you are quite the reader. i just read the burma chronicles as well. i liked it, but i thought shenzhen(sp?): a travelogue of china, also by him, was much better.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ashley - I liked it, but I didn't love it like Looking for Alaska.

    Maya, haha. :) Tell me if/when you do, and what you think...

    Franco - Books keep me sane. :P

    Countrybelle - I need to read Shenzhen soon! I liked Burma Chronicles too, but there wasn't really enough happening in his life....It didn't come close to Pyongyang for me.

    ReplyDelete