What I’m Reading

Massive update. I’ve been reading a ton and updating on Goodreads, but now it’s time for blog updates!

• Beautiful Creatures (Amazon) (Kami Garcia) – BEAUTIFUL CREATURES is the first book in a series that is extremely popular among fans of TWILIGHT and has its own cult following (and a movie that came out recently). But, somehow it fell flat for me. Finished it, but have no desire to read the next few books. Sometimes it’s secretly a relief when this happens because it means I can read something else instead.
• Abandon (Amazon) / Underworld (Amazon) (Meg Cabot) – I loved THE PRINCESS DIARIES and thought I would like hermore paranormal/fantasy-esque series, but I didn’t. I forced myself to finish the first book, skimmed through the second, and have no desire to read the third. It’s sometimes surprising when books don’t appeal to me because I think I’m pretty easy to please… but nope! Learn something new every day.
• The Raven Boys (Amazon) (Maggie Stiefvater) – This is a paranormal series that I did like, though I’m finding that I tend to have a harder time with certain kinds of paranormal… I know, I know. Really compelling male friendships (a breath of fresh air after all the love triangles and super romance-centered stories) and a lot of twists and turns in the plot. Looking forward to THE DREAM THIEVES — book #2 (of 3, I assume).

• Every Day (Amazon) (David Levithan) – David Levithan’s an author I hear a lot about, but this was the first of his I’ve read. Super intriguing concept (main character wakes up in a new body every day) and I thought it was really carefully plotted out. Didn’t love some of the messages, though, but I think he’s known to weave deeper issues into his stories.
• The Selection (Amazon) / The Elite (Amazon) (Kiera Cass) – Okay, I know these are super fluffy princess novels that weave together Cinderella and some kind of YA-fiction-friendly edition of The Bachelor but seriously? So fun! I don’t love how they “rebels” and the political machinations are emerging — I want my fluff to be fluff — so it’ll be interesting to see how she wraps it all up next year with THE ONE.
• The Mortal Instruments series – City of Bones (Amazon) / City of Ashes (Amazon) / City of Glass (Amazon) / City of Fallen Angels (Amazon) / City of Lost Souls (Amazon) (Cassandra Clare) – I read a LOT of Cassandra Clare over the past few weeks. Like BEAUTIFUL CREATURES, I was late to the party on this series, which has 5/6 books published and at least 3 other trilogies/series branching out of it, plus a movie coming out in August. Thankfully, unlike the aforementioned other series, I DID like The Mortal Instruments! While the different worlds colliding was a bit of a headache to keep track of, you can tell that the author really lives in this other world(s) and has a strong sense of where she’s taking you. Despite some interesting rumors of plagiarism and online drama, I thoroughly enjoyed these 5 books and promptly picked up… (drumroll)
• The Infernal Devices series – Clockwork Angel (Amazon) / Clockwork Prince (Amazon) / Clockwork Princess (Amazon) (Cassandra Clare) – The Infernal Devices take place in the same “world” as The Mortal Instruments, but centuries earlier. It’s really clever because her next two planned trilogies take place between these two (chronologically) and then another is set in 2012 (in LA!) as a follow-up, with new main characters, etc. I can only imagine how many more books there will be, but I would say I’m probably going to read them all, if they’re anything like these!
• A Certain Slant of Light (Amazon) / Under the Light (Amazon) (Laura Whitcomb) – A dud, unfortunately. Another example of paranormal stories that just didn’t do it for me… maybe it’s something about ghosts?

PHEW. There’s actually more… but I’m pooped. Next post.