2009
The Catcher in the Rye – meh. I wish there would have been more resolution.
The Once and Future King – I love this book. Guinevere, Arthur, Merlyn. Can’t get better.
Sovay – it was okay. I liked that she was an independent female during the French revolution, but jeez it was so slow. Like an old Nancy Drew novel almost. Still a good read, but meh.
A Brief Chapter in my Impossible Life – this book was a great story about a girl balancing high school, love, and a miserable situation with her adopted family. Great read.
Poison Study – this book is the best fantasy and romance I’ve read in a while. The best adult romance/fantasy I think I’ve read ever. The first in a three part series, the writing, voice, characterization, plot, everything is just phenomenal. Excellent Excellent book.
Magic Study – excellent
Fire Study – i was disappointed by this one because it was too much walking around.
Daughter of the Forest – stupid.
Tuesdays with Morie – meh. I’m not a big fan of these uplifting things.
The Five People you Meet in Heaven – this one was interesting in a six degrees of separation type way.
Gossip Girl – where have you been all my life teenage drama with fancy dresses, drinking and parties? New guilty pleasure for real.
Privileged – also known as How to teach Filthy Rich Girls – this book was really good and I loved the characterizations. The tv show is crap, which I saw one episode of and wanted to gouge out my eyes.
Hunted – my least favorite of the House of Night series.
Thirteen Reasons Why – absolutely genius and remarkable. If this doesn’t get you thinking about how actions effect others nothing will. I mean like whoa!
The Reader – Decent but a bit confusing and the end was very postmodern.
The Looking Glass Wars – Alyss Heart of Wonderland is transported to earth and tells her story to Lewis Carroll, but he gets it all wrong! In this graphic and bloody retelling, Alyss is sent to save the queendom of wonderland with grace, imagination, magic, and strength. And most importantly – a strong, not aloof or lovesick, female heroine.
Seeing Redd – not as good as the first, but still very good.
Pride and Prejudice and ZOmbies – I have to say that it is not nearly as funny or satire like as I would have hoped. In fact, I found it as droll and disappointing as the original, but I guess that shows how close to the original they actually stay. In short, I wish there would have been more zombies and less Elizabeth whining and scowling.
Gossip Girl 2 You Know You Love Me – drug use was excessive but I really liked this book, too. I have no idea why I like these books so much.
Revolutionary Road – this was intense. The human issues in here are disgusting in their depth and humbling. My God the raw emotion! Very good book.
Nobody’s Princess – the pre story of Helen of Troy. She’s a strong female with a mind of her own living in a society that’s generally pretty hard on girls. It doesn’t really remind me of my own personal thoughts of Helen of Troy, but a good read if you’re looking for a strong heroine.
Dead Until Dark – was fair but nothing amazing. I did like it and will read the first seven books at least, since they are on my shelf after all.
Gossip Girl 3 All I want is Everything – this was a really good book, though I am hating the Nate character more and more. I want more Blair and Serena. I love them.
The Elite – like Gossip Girl but with a normal midwestern girl trying to get in on the upper east side. It’s more than a little great.
In Too Deep – The Elite sequel. It’s really good and not as dramatic as Gossip Girl, but the social commentary is great. I love the clothes, hair, and cattiness.
The Awakening – Sequel to The SUmmoning, which was awesome! This one is really good, too, but I don’t think it’s quite as good as the first. It’s on the edge of your seat as the kids discover their supernatural powers, but not as mysterious as the first.
Living Dead in Dallas – the second sookie stackhouse/true blood book. It was MUCH better than the first.
Beautiful Americans – kids studying abroad in Paris. It was okay at first but got tedious and long, and I’m getting kind of tired of the series. Just saying.
Because I’m worth it GG 4 – they keep getting better and more addictive.
I like it like that – another gg. this one is up there in my favorites of this series so far.
You’re the one that I was – GG 5? maybe 6. Anyway, I loved this one. More drama, B and N together again in every way (FINALLY!) S is love and so is V.
Immortal, love stories with bite – collection of short vampire stories by some of my favorite authors: the Casts, Rachel Caine, and many more.
L.A. Candy – I never watched The Hills but I also wanted to write a book about young people on a reality tv show. The book was interesting, but a bit slow in places and I would have really liked for Conrad to use pronouns. There were whole pages where every sentence started with the character’s name. Enjoyable read for those that love drama.
The persistence of memory – interesting take on vampire shapeshifter lore, but lots a buildup and disappointing ending/cliffhanger.
My fair godmother – very funny take on a modern girl being thrown back in the middle ages.
3 teacher professional development books including the first day of school, chicken soup, and something about motivating students that don’t care. I also flipped through a louanne johnson book thinking she’d be a hard ass since she was a marine officer turned teacher (dangerous minds) but she’s all love and softness, too. *ponders*
Educating Esme – a diary of a first year teacher in an inner city school that worked her ass off to give her kids not cookie cutter curriculum under lots of adversity.
Fairest – Ella Enchanted was better. This one was lame.
Catching Fire – the sequel to Hunger Games. Started off much slower but the intrigue and fighting was much much better in some ways, i.e. big fighting between districts and capitol, but the actual games were kinda lame compared to the last one.
Nobody does it better another gossip girl – this one was really lame. I am so tired of people just not ending up together already.
Divine by Mistake – awesome scifi/fantasy book
Tempted – the 6th house of night book. fuck you p.c. cast and your horrible cliffhanger of doom
sTori Telling – tori spelling’s first book made me love her and feel like i wasn’t alone
mommywood – another tori spelling book and this one made me have more baby hunger
4 more classroom management books which are very frustrating. they keep telling me to do what i’m doing: embarrass myself, make it personal to them, talk about me related to subject, group work, etc. the only thing i got out of it was design a bulletin board for school spirit, possibly rearranging my classroom after christmas, focusing on praise (private and public), and taking a minute when I’m frustrated.
Books I Read 2010
Edit
Archenemy – The third book in The Looking Glass Wars Trilogy. I enjoyed the series immensely, a twist on Alice and Wonderland, but the ending was a bit drawn out. Still an excellent read! 3/5
The Van Allen Legacy – the 4th Blue Bloods books. I absolutely love the angel lore and vampires and mystery and glitzy glamour of Gossip Girl all rolled into one. The multiple perspectives made this a little harder to get into, but I absolutely loved it. 4/5
The Graveyard Book – I have never read a Neil Gaiman book, and I am more than a little disappointed in myself. When the school book club picked this as the choice for the month I jumped on it. It was ok. I really wish the plot would have run all the way through instead of just creeping up at the end. I really enjoyed the exposition though. 3/5
Hush, Hush is the story of a mysterious guy who is one part coy and seductive and 2 parts bad boy. He is everything Edward Cullen should have been with witty, sexy comments and an amazing personality, with a body to match in my mind. Nora is a normal girl in her biology class when this bad attitude boy gets partnered up with her, a boy she feels a strange attraction to in spite of being afraid and excited by him. A mystery surfaces surrounding some new kids that just transferred to her school and she can’t quite figure out which of these bad guys is the real villain. When she starts getting stalked and chased by mysterious people, her decision on who to trust will be a battle for her life. I could not put this book down! It was eloquently written with exquisite prose, elevated language, and amazing characterization. I haven’t felt this attached to characters in a long time, and I hope this won’t be the only book about Patch and Nora, and definitely not the last book from Becca. It was absolutely fantastic! I’ve already got girls from my class running out to stores to buy it. 5/5
Nobody’s Prize is the sequel to Nobody’s Princess, and as much as I loved Nobody’s Princess I darn near hated this book. The intrigue and charisma of Helen of Troy was lost as she was randomly inserted in myth after myth. Her characterization was weak, as was the dialogue. Although more action packed than the first book, and I was willing to suspend my disbelief for some of the shenanigans of Helen in the first since she kept to some key plot points, I was not a fan of this. It was like a failed attempt to copy Maria Snyder and her brilliant “Study” series. 1/5
What I Saw and How I Lied – a historical fiction novel about a girl post WW2 getting wrapped up with the intrigue, murder, and thievery of her conniving parents. Will she discover the truth for herself and become her own person or will she fall down the rabbit hole and into their web of lies? 4/5
The king’s rose – a take on one of the many wives of Henry VIII, but it’s slow and ridiculous since it’s Jane and Henry is old and fat now. 3/5
The world of fairies – descriptions of fairie realms and types of fairies (5/5 if you like mythological research)
Removing the mask – connecting with kids in poverty and understanding the inner city kids (3/5)
Framework for understanding poverty – Ruby Payne’s amazing work on understanding the differences between middle class educators taught to teach white suburban kids and impoverished youth. (5/5)
Simply irresistible – Amazing! I love this trilogy by Jennifer Banash. It’s great for kids, too! 4/5
Sloppy firsts – Megan McCafferty’s Jessica Darling series has filled the hole Harry Potter left in my heart with these amazing books. I never thought I would find such an amazing character with deep thoughts and insight. It reminded me so much of myself. 5/5
Second comings – This is my favorite of the quintet. 5/5
Never Work Harder than your students – some interesting ideas, but nothing I hadn’t heard before. Lots of affirmation for what good teachers are doing right, not that I’m good but I’m trying. haha. 4/5
Burned – House of Night book 7 – I love the house of night series. It’s one of the few vampire series I don’t abhor because there is no Mary Sue, or completely flawless heroine. Cast’s writing is phenomenal as she takes you into a world full of vivid imagery, and way beyond anything Meyer ever did with sparkling vampires. This was a weaker book, though. 4/5
Midnighters 1, 2, and 3 – did not like this series. I tried Scoot! I really did! I loved Peeps and Uglies so much I had to try, but this was disappointing. It was disjointed and awkward with characters that did not make sense and a Joss Whedon ending. Not to mention the towns in Oklahoma he mentioned are big and not spread out at all. 2/5
The last three Megan McCafferty Jessica darling books. – with the exception of Perfect Fifths, these last three really pissed me off, which is amazing in the book world, or creepy, that I get so attached to books. Getting to hear Marcus’s perspective in book five was an amazing touch. 5/5
Uncharted territori – my love of Tori Spelling, though sometimes lame, was not unfounded here. It was harder to get into this book as it seemed more of a self-reflection and cry for help then her previous books. I loved seeing other people struggle through the same sorts of problems I have. 4/5
The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong – The last of the darkest power trilogy, Kelley Armstrong weaves a world full of intrigue and suspense as she plays with teen casters and supernaturals. One of the few books that write about necromancers. I loved this trilogy so much, though the ending was a bit rushed and left much to ponder. An amazing series, especially for boys and reluctant readers. 5/5
Bitten by Kelley Armstrong – The first of the Women of the Otherworld series. This is what Sookie Stackhouse wishes she was when she grows up. A story of an intelligent and strong werewolf female who is also sexy, questioning, flawed, and bad ass. I loved this series so much. Alas, I am poor and cannot buy the rest right now. haha. I highly recommend this as the rest of the series is phenomenal from my scourings on wikipedia, though this one is a little slow. 4/5
Gossip Girl (6-12 and prequel): Nobody does it better, nothing can keep us together, only in your dreams, would i lie to you, don’t you forget about me, it had to be you, i will always love you, and prequel) I love Gossip Girl. The intrigue. The lies, deceipt, jealousy, angst, issues, etc. Everything about it just screams ELIZABETH YOU MUST READ ME AND BECOME OBSESSED! However, I was sorely disappointed. I was itching for Blair to expand as a character, to show some depth and range and stop living in spoiled fantasies. Alas. Nate I had no hope for, and he did not disappoint. I hated Serena at first, but she was the only character that changed, struggled, was endearing, etc. Vanessa, Dan, Chuck, and Jenn just piss me the hell off with their ridiculousness. I fast forward through them most of the time. I didn’t want to read more adventures of the never changing kids. I wanted to see them grow and mature. Cecily seriously disappointed me with her lack of development and resolution in a world that was so rich and had such potential. It was like watching the same episode of Degrassi over and over. 2/5
Sookie Stackhouse:
Club Dead
Dead to the world
dead as a doornail
definitely dead
all together dead
From dead to worse
dead and gone
dead in the family – I read the first two books and put them away because I thought the writing was bad and cheesy. She didn’t disappoint. The writing here is better than Laurell K. Hamilton with her super sleuth trashy supernatural girl, but it’s so cliche. Here we have move cliches of the supernatural kind thrown it with ALL of the cliches of the bodice rippers. The characters are flat and their “Louisiana Charm” just feels like naivete to me. I was sorely disappointed in the series, and like Gossip Girl, kept reading and reading hoping something would come out of the great potential this series has. Sad day for me. 1/5
Total as of July 15 – 39
P.C. Cast’s Partholon trilogy – loved these books so immensely much. The characterization was extraordinary.
Mockingjay – the phenomenal ending to The Hunger Games trilogy did not disappoint, well except for the part that I am still really pissed about how fast the action took place, how long it took to get started, and how MAD I AM at the deaths. Just saying…
Beastly
Crescendo
