Tuesday, March 1, 2011

My February "Reads"

It was an amazing listening month for me. I got in twelve books and would pretty much highly recommend reading any of the eight YA:

Wildwood DancingJellicoe Road (Hardcover)BeastlyBefore I FallShip BreakerThe Amaranth EnchantmentBoom!The Scorch Trials

BEFORE I FALL and JELLICOE ROAD lived up to all the hype I'd heard, and WILDWOOD DANCING is a great pick for anyone who loved (and misses) Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle series.

My favorite nonfiction research book this month was:

Guns, Germs and Steel This book explains the anthropological reasons why/how certain kinds of civilizations have dominated over others throughout human history. It's thick with details and some of the linguistic stuff lost me even though I took two linguistics classes in college. Still, it's well worth reading (or, better yet, listening to), especially for Dystopian, Sci-Fi or High Fantasy writers.

Another book of his:
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed is an even better resource for Dystopian and Sci-Fi writers. It concentrates on internal societal struggles to survive, and cultural resistance to change. 

What about you? Which of my February YA would you recommend the most?

7 comments:

  1. I'd definitely reccommend BEFORE I FALL. Great book, and Oliver's new one, DELIRIUM is kickass as well :)

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  2. I haven't read any of these. Your nonfic sounds really interesting though.

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  3. My reading diet is deficient in vitamin Melina Marchetta--I hear such wonderful things about her. I must read JELLICOE ROAD!

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  4. JELLICOE ROAD does start out a little confusing...names, settings and such...but it's well worth it.

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  5. Jellicoe Road is at my libary - I just need to get it and read it. Soon. Lots of good listening!

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  6. I must, must read BEFORE I FALL. I've heard so much about it!

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  7. I've heard good things about BEFORE I FALL...I'm reading fellow blogger Heidi Willis' book book right now and awaiting Lisa and Laura Roecker's book Liar Society to come in the mail...

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