What YA book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

MissKris said:

I read that book, like, two months ago and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. Let me know what you think when you're done.

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I really liked Someday the Pain Will Be Useful to You... I thought it was original, funny, sad, and very well-written. There are some lines and scenes that I thought were absolutely brilliant. And the dialogue was terrific. It struck me as an adult novel as much as a YA novel-- though I would have loved it as a teen. Actually, I wish there were more teen novels with this kind of depth. What were your thoughts about it?

I'm reading Hate List and Looking For Alaska.

Hate List I can't put down. Looking For Alaska is moving slowly for me. I'm in the 60's. Does it pick up?

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. I'm digging the voice so far. A lot of people said it was too hip for it's own good. But I'm really liking it. Let's see how it stays.

I just finished reading the Twilight saga (guilty pleasure). I like it more for the characters and the storyline rather than the quality of the writing.

Skinned, by Robin Wasserman

The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie

Just started Intertwined by Gena Showalter and so far... I hate it. And considering that it's 450 pages I might end up putting it down, and that is something I never do.

Started Hunger Games at 10:30 on Sunday night. Finished Hunger Games at 2:30 Monday morning.

Still drooling over it.

Disdainful Soul said:

Skinned, by Robin Wasserman

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Same here. Just finished Peeps by Scott Westerfield.

I'm reading Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I'm loving the narrator and his voice.

Read Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles last night and absolutely loved it.

Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick.

Just read Wings by Aprilynne Pike.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

The Bride's Farewell by Meg Rosoff.

I read Break by Hannah Moskowitz last night. I was worried that it had been overblown b/c she's an AW author, but it really was excellent.

Finally got around to starting City of Bones by Cassandra Claire. So far I like it but that's not surprising since I liked some of her fanfics.

~*Kate*~ said:

I read Break by Hannah Moskowitz last night. I was worried that it had been overblown b/c she's an AW author, but it really was excellent.

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I just read Break about three weeks ago and couldn't put it down.

bobcat22 said:

I just read Break about three weeks ago and couldn't put it down.

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My husband is reading it now-- it got to be midnight last night and he was complaining that he had to go to bed and didn't want to.

~*Kate*~ said:

My husband is reading it now-- it got to be midnight last night and he was complaining that he had to go to bed and didn't want to.

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There's something really addictive about it. I had the same problem and it's pretty rare that I can't put something down.

I read Frances Hardinge's Gullstruck Island (US title: The Lost Conspiracy) slowly, which was the fault of circumstances rather than that of the book. It's probably an 11+ YA, and there's nothing very edgy about it (though a village gets massacred early on). I do wonder if this might have been published as an adult book if the author wasn't a prize-winning children's writer (Branford Boase Award for her first novel, Fly by Night) and the chief protagonist wasn't thirteen years old. It would probably take a pretty sophisticated younger reader to get through this - complex plot, a high wordcount (130,000) and absolutely no talking down to the reader (something I think Garry Kilworth faltered with in places in The Hundred-Towered City, the previous book I read). There's no doubt that Hardinge has a fine ear for language, and the worldbuilding is satisfyingly detailed. The novel is a little slow to start, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. I'd like to read her previous two novels - the second one is Verdigris Deep (Well Witched in the US).

After four fantasy novels on the trot, all over 90,000 words, I'm having a change of pace by reading two shorter realist adult novels. One of them is Jennifer Johnston's latest (Truth or Fiction) and she's long been a favourite author of mine. Then it's on to GRRM's A Feast for Crows, and that will definitely carry me through to the end of the year. So my YA reading for 2009 is very likely at an end, though I have quite a pile set aside for 2010.

Kats said:

The Bride's Farewell by Meg Rosoff.

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And what did you think? I read that a couple nights ago and thought it such a perfect bedtime tale. There isn't anything particularly amazing about the story itself, I thought (with the exception of some of the most realistic portrayals of love - of all types - in YA lit), but I simply worship Rosoff's style and her voice.

MissKris said:

And what did you think? I read that a couple nights ago and thought it such a perfect bedtime tale. There isn't anything particularly amazing about the story itself, I thought (with the exception of some of the most realistic portrayals of love - of all types - in YA lit), but I simply worship Rosoff's style and her voice.

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That's one in the pile for 2010 - I'm definitely looking forward to it.

Rosoff's earlier three novels are all very different to each other, and it sounds like this one is different again.

A positive review is here. However, I suspect that reviewer has only read How I Live Now and is winging it - not sure about "specialising in feisty heroines" when two out of four novels (Just in Case and What I Was) have male leads. That comment about going back in time with each novel is valid though.