What YA book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

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Ellaroni

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Finished ELEANOR & PARK today. It was sweet, well written and worth the hype.
Taking a YA break now - have too many adult books waiting to be read.
 

Windcutter

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I'm reading TRULY, MADLY, DEADLY. It reads more like a contemporary than a thriller, but there is also a sense of dread which makes me anticipate the second half.
 

Becca C.

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Just started Gilt by Katherine Longshore. If it carries on as well as it starts it will be excellent. Lots of those visceral details about Tudor life that really carry you into the past.
So far it's head and shoulders above all the other Tudor court books I have read.

IT'S SO GOOD OMG. I read it recently and the ending made me BAWL. Which I was not expecting at all, since I didn't like Catherine Howard at all throughout the book.

Her second book, Tarnish, is about Anne Bolyn. I'm itching to start it but I have other books ahead of it.
 

JoyMC

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I reread Anna and the French Kiss and damn, it has confirmed its place on my list of favourite books ever. I loved everything about it (except that Etienne's slight jerk-ness was more apparent on a reread...)

I like Etienne's slight jerk-ness, because while he is incredibly swoony, he's clearly flawed. She does hot boys so well - Cricket wasn't perfect either. I'm curious to see what Josh is like in Isla, because I don't find him a particularly memorable character in Anna.

I saw Perkins tweet something like Cricket is the boy she would crush on, Etienne is the boy she would make out with, and Josh is the boy she would marry.
 

Becca C.

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I like Etienne's slight jerk-ness, because while he is incredibly swoony, he's clearly flawed. She does hot boys so well - Cricket wasn't perfect either. I'm curious to see what Josh is like in Isla, because I don't find him a particularly memorable character in Anna.

I saw Perkins tweet something like Cricket is the boy she would crush on, Etienne is the boy she would make out with, and Josh is the boy she would marry.

Eeee! That's really interesting. I would also make out with Etienne ;P

And yeah, I liked his jerk-ness, too. Spoilers in white: I really identified with his not wanting anything to change, and just staying with Ellie because it was familiar. That rang true to me, despite the parallel thoughts of "wow, that's a pretty screwed up thing to do, to both girls!"

I'm EVEN MORE excited for Isla now that I remember Josh better. And I totally saw the opportunity for a great story: Etienne & company are graduating, Josh will be at SOAP all alone for a year, he's broken up with Rashmi... and Isla adores him. Oh god, it's going to be so good.
 

Fuchsia Groan

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I'm on a Jim Thompson kick. Not YA obviously, but his pulp style is surprisingly similar to YA thrillers I've read: immediate, highly subjective, fast paced, using sentence fragments and near-interior monologue, etc. And his narrators are beautifully demented.

I want to call my WIP The Killer in Me (from the Smashing Pumpkins lyric "The killer in me is the killer in you"), but that may be too close to Thompson's The Killer Inside Me, which is still in print. Titles can't, I believe, be copyrighted, but still, hmmm.
 

wampuscat

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Eeee! That's really interesting. I would also make out with Etienne ;P

I'm EVEN MORE excited for Isla now that I remember Josh better. And I totally saw the opportunity for a great story: Etienne & company are graduating, Josh will be at SOAP all alone for a year, he's broken up with Rashmi... and Isla adores him. Oh god, it's going to be so good.

I really need to re-read Anna and Lola before Isla comes out.

I want to call my WIP The Killer in Me (from the Smashing Pumpkins lyric "The killer in me is the killer in you"), but that may be too close to Thompson's The Killer Inside Me, which is still in print. Titles can't, I believe, be copyrighted, but still, hmmm.
Love that song. If it fits your book, I'd say keep it. I've heard a majority of titles get changed before pub anyway.

Also forgot to mention that I recently read OCD LOVE STORY, which was quite a different perspective on the teenage dating experience. Well worth reading.
 

Opal

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I finished reading Take a Bow and Shooting Stars. I'm now onto Graffiti Moon. It's nice being back into reading as I had lost the urge to do so for a few months.
 

Netz

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Currently reading 'The Book Thief', borrowed from the library.

I have just discovered a sealed plaster (Band-Aid) in amongst the pages. Yes, really!

Is this book going to wound me so much they're giving away free plasters for the emotional scarring??! (And here was me thinking it'd just be bucketloads of tears I'd have to deal with!) :eek:
 

SpinningWheel

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It didn't scar me. Didn't even scratch me, in fact. I found it too knowing and I didn't believe in any of the characters.
However, I had an argument subsequently with a literary snob of my acquaintance who didn't know I was writing YA who informed that the reason I didn't like it was that it was written for teenagers and was therefore shallow and immature! (I don't think that's even right, is it? AFAIK it was written as adult literary fiction but the publishers decided to aim it at teens because of the age of the characters.)
 

Becca C.

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Currently reading 'The Book Thief', borrowed from the library.

I have just discovered a sealed plaster (Band-Aid) in amongst the pages. Yes, really!

Is this book going to wound me so much they're giving away free plasters for the emotional scarring??! (And here was me thinking it'd just be bucketloads of tears I'd have to deal with!) :eek:

Haha! Yes. Yes, it will wound you pretty severely.
 

SpinningWheel

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Finished 'Gilt' and now I'm on 'Tarnish'.

Katherine Longshore is a very intelligent historical writer. I'm very impressed with the way she builds character on known words and incidents in people's lives, rather than starting with a fixed idea of the character and trying to fit it around true incidents. So the real-life thing where Katherine Howard asked for the block to be sent to her room the night before the execution so she could practice becomes the culmination of a habit the character has of practising things (curtsies, conversations) over and over again. This is both good history and nifty storytelling IMO.
Her research is also fabulous, so much so that when I find things that contradict what I thought, I find myself assuming I must have got it wrong or that she knows about some sources no-one else does. (Actually I think there are one or two mistakes but nothing major.)
Some of her language is a little bit too modern and throws me out a bit - eg 'teenager', 'alpha male' - but this doesn't happen often and I am sure it is deliberate choice bearing in mind the intended audience, rather than ignorance.

'Tarnish' doesn't really read like YA though. It's quite rarified in some of the language and focus and I will be v interested to see how much of a hit it is with teens. Grown-ups should definitely be reading it - I'm going to be recommending it to Philippa Gregory fans.
 

Becca C.

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Finished 'Gilt' and now I'm on 'Tarnish'.

Katherine Longshore is a very intelligent historical writer. I'm very impressed with the way she builds character on known words and incidents in people's lives, rather than starting with a fixed idea of the character and trying to fit it around true incidents. So the real-life thing where Katherine Howard asked for the block to be sent to her room the night before the execution so she could practice becomes the culmination of a habit the character has of practising things (curtsies, conversations) over and over again. This is both good history and nifty storytelling IMO.
Her research is also fabulous, so much so that when I find things that contradict what I thought, I find myself assuming I must have got it wrong or that she knows about some sources no-one else does. (Actually I think there are one or two mistakes but nothing major.)
Some of her language is a little bit too modern and throws me out a bit - eg 'teenager', 'alpha male' - but this doesn't happen often and I am sure it is deliberate choice bearing in mind the intended audience, rather than ignorance.

'Tarnish' doesn't really read like YA though. It's quite rarified in some of the language and focus and I will be v interested to see how much of a hit it is with teens. Grown-ups should definitely be reading it - I'm going to be recommending it to Philippa Gregory fans.

That part broke. My. Heart. Into. Pieces. I didn't expect to cry for Catherine Howard but I did. Yes, Katherine Longshore is an outstanding historical writer. I think I'm going to bump Tarnish up my to-read pile now.

Also, is it just me or is Tarnish the perfect title for an Anne Bolyn story?
 

SpinningWheel

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Both titles are perfect.
The idea of 'gilt' - Katherine looks like gold to Henry but really she's just gilt and it's going to get chipped off and show the reality - is a great metaphor. And the fact it sounds like 'guilt' makes it even cleverer.
 

Becca C.

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Both titles are perfect.
The idea of 'gilt' - Katherine looks like gold to Henry but really she's just gilt and it's going to get chipped off and show the reality - is a great metaphor. And the fact it sounds like 'guilt' makes it even cleverer.

Yes yes yes! :) I love titles with such perfect resonance.
 

Greene

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Marissa Meyer's SCARLET. I'm about halfway through. I loved CINDER and so far I'm loving the sequel too!
 

Yeasayer

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I gave up on ELEANOR & PARK. I'm disappointed I couldn't get into. Maybe I'll try again later. Something just wasn't working for me... I almost felt like it lacked a distinct voice of any kind, which surprises me because ATTACHMENT'S (Rowell's adult novel) was oozing with voice. (Also, I kept getting oddly distracted that Eleanor didn't own a toothbrush.)


Started WRITING IRRESISTIBLE KIDLIT by (former) agent Mary Kole. It's specifically geared to YA/MG. I'm loving the sections at the end of each chapter that have lots of examples straight from the pages of books. One of the best craft books I've read.
 

Becca C.

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OCD LOVE STORY. Love it so far. This is my kind of book.

I haven't read it yet, but on the subject of OCD and love, this poem is amazing.

I gave up on ELEANOR & PARK. I'm disappointed I couldn't get into. Maybe I'll try again later. Something just wasn't working for me... I almost felt like it lacked a distinct voice of any kind, which surprises me because ATTACHMENT'S (Rowell's adult novel) was oozing with voice. (Also, I kept getting oddly distracted that Eleanor didn't own a toothbrush.)


Started WRITING IRRESISTIBLE KIDLIT by (former) agent Mary Kole. It's specifically geared to YA/MG. I'm loving the sections at the end of each chapter that have lots of examples straight from the pages of books. One of the best craft books I've read.

Haha, these are the two books I'm reading right now! Will tell you what I think about E&P when I'm done, which should be tomorrow.
 

SpinningWheel

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Finished TARNISH by Katherine Longshore and read CODENAME VERITY by Elizabeth Wein.

Codename Verity is incredible. But now I would like to read a book in which something horrible doesn't happen to the heroine.
 

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I’m reading, " The Lost Pony" by Evelyn Noelle. It’s a heart warming story about a little girl who’s love for her pony is immeasurable. Her search, together with her dog was a stand out. Will Allora ever find her beloved pony? Well, I’m still trying to unfold it.
 

SpinningWheel

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Started ROSE UNDER FIRE (sequel to Codename Verity).
I suspect this is NOT going to be the light fluffy book I need to read right now but I had to find out what happened to her characters next.
 
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