Hi, everyone!
Given that today is the first Wednesday I've posted, I wanted to change things up a bit by declaring my Wednesday post title as Humpday Reads Day. Let me explain the idea!
Because I love to research and inform others (I'm weird like that), each Wednesday, I will list five young adult books that should be included on your library or bookstore wishlist.
Also, Mrs. Jessica Ross, the wonderfully talented and super cool library director for WCPL (their site is http://www.wcpls.org), will contribute which YA books are circulating well at the county library. (Thanks a million, Jess!)
Perhaps some of you are not big-readers, or find that YA books are not your cup of tea. That's okay, because I'd love to know which genre of books you and your family enjoy reading. Maybe you've just finished the "best-book-ever!" and would like to share what made it such a fascinating read. It's all game on here, no limits or boundaries, just books and reading!
Here are the titles for this weeks' Humpday Reads:
1.) The Last Song, by Nicholas Sparks
The story of a teenage girl distraught over her parents' divorce. This novel has been adapted into a movie and is in theaters TODAY, with Miley Cyrus playing the leading young lady.
2.) Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins
The highly-anticipated sequel to The Hunger Games is the kind of novel that has you pulling back to take a breath and go, "How did the author think of this?" (if you can stop turning the pages long enough to breathe)
3.) The Chosen One, by Carol Lynch Williams
Taking a story “ripped from the headlines,” Williams looks inside a polygamist cult and the dangers it poses for one girl. Kyra and her father, three mothers, and 20 siblings live in an isolated community under the thumb of a prophet, who controls every aspect of his apostles’ lives.
4.) The Body Finder, by Kimberly Derting
“First–time novelist Derting has written a suspenseful mystery and sensual love story that will captivate readers who enjoy authentic high–school settings, snappy dialogue, sweet romance, and heart–stopping drama. A real page–turner, this will have readers checking behind themselves and refusing to go anywhere alone.” (Booklist )
5. Siren, by Tricia Rayburn
This book has yet to hit the bookshelves, but you can preorder it at amazon.com.
Seventeen-year-old Vanessa Sands is afraid of everything--the dark, heights, the ocean--but her fearless older sister, Justine, has always been there to coach her through every challenge. That is until Justine goes cliff diving one night near the family's vacation house in Winter Harbor, Maine, and her lifeless body washes up on shore the next day.
Maybe something from the reading list will inspire you to stop by the local library or bookstore on your way home from school or work! I hope you have a great Humpday! Tory
*The compositions herein are not to be copied, reproduced, printed, published, posted, displayed, incorporated, stored in or scanned into a retrieval system or database, transmitted, broadcast, bartered or sold, in whole or in part without the prior express written permissions of the sole author Tory Minus. Unauthorized duplication is strictly prohibited and is an infringement of National and International Copyright Laws.
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Tory- Thanks for all of the nice things you said about the library! These reading suggestions and the overviews on them sound great! Other than The Last Song, by Nicholas Sparks (mmmm....got to hug his neck at a book signing in Fairhope once :), I have not read any of the books on this list. But I will definitely try them. I'll order copies for the WCPL so if anyone else wants to check them out, we will have them.
ReplyDeleteI looked in our catalog (it’s online, not on cards any more so we can actually generate useful reports! Technology!) to see what has circulated the most in YA literature this month. I was excited to see that some really good, critically acclaimed titles made the grade in popularity. There were also some very predictable titles. (Like it or now, Stephenie Meyer’s vampire series, Twilight, has made a lasting impression on YA literature, and the spell is not going to wear off anytime soon. I admit that while her books are not highbrow literary prose, they aren’t meant to be. And who cares? I LOVED these stories. I actually am grieving for them right now because this time last year I was nose deep in Twilight, along with almost every one of my friends -all professional adults, mind you- and I miss them! These books have encouraged millions of young people to read and thousands of people to write. And from my perspective the most positive result has been that young people are continuing on to other really good quality classics and contemporary works.
Ok, off of my soapbox and onto the list of the most circulated YA books at the library this month in order of circulation popularity… the vampire theme is hot right now as you can see below.
(I have not read most of these books and I don’t usually recommend books that I haven’t read, so I will denote the ones I read and liked with *, and those I loved with *+. )
1. (Tied for 1st)
Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead (YA, grade 10 & up…more risqué that Twilight)
Vampire Diaries Series by L.J. Smith (YA, grade 9 up, very popular series that has come out on the heels of Twilight series, but lots of people think they are better than Twilight series)
2. All four books in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, still very popular!
*+ Twilight
*+ New Moon
*+ Eclipse
*+ Breaking Dawn
3. *+ Stuck in Neutral by Tony Trueman (great, funny, sad story about a teen with cerebral palsy and his struggle to communicate and express himself with those around him. A little mature language, but really great! This book is critically acclaimed and has won lots of big YA awards.)
4. *+ The Host by Stephenie Meyer (Weird, but intriguing. VERY different from Twilight, more Sci-fi than fantasy, kind of slow in places, but a really imaginative book. I read it before I read the Twilight series, so I didn’t have that comparison, but I enjoyed it.)
5. Gossamer by Lois Lowry (grades 5-8, Lowry also wrote one of the most loved YA books ever…The Giver )
6. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (Book 1 in the popular YA fantasy, Mortal Instruments Series)
7. Masquerade by Melissa De La Cruz (Book 1 in the Blue Bloods vampire series)
8. Golden and Grey : the nightmares that ghosts have by Louise Arnold
9. The Immortals series by Alyson Noel
Evermore (book 1)
Blue Moon (book 2)
10. Other notables….all of the Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan, several junior fiction titles by Louis L’Amour ‘s, and The Missing Piece by Shel Silverstein.
So this is what the YA's are checking out this month. Next time, I will share some of my other favorite YA books with you guys!
Happy Reading! Come and see us at the Washington County Public Library :)