Rated YA-MA discussion

YA, MA, or something else. Tell us what you're reading now.

I volunteered to judge a contest of MG speculative fiction and have 7 novels to read by Feb 14th. I started one the other day, The Mirrorwood, which is turning out to be quite good.

Also listening to Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution and reading A Secret History.

Oh, wow. Have fun reading all those. Speculative fiction is sometimes too weird for me.

Melanie wrote: "Oh, wow. Have fun reading all those. Speculative fiction is sometimes too weird for me."

I think in this case "Speculative Fiction" is just a general term for Fantasy and SF together. The Mirrorwood seems to be straight fantasy.

That makes sense. Plus MG tend to be more standard by format.

I'm starting the year off with Tress of the Emerald Sea (Brandon Sanderson's newest book) and a book I meant to read last year but didn't get to: Double Booked: The Cases of Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I.. It's the latest in a series I like.

I just finished Lore Olympus: Volume One (a Christmas gift). It was more .... mature than I was expecting.

Just in case people here are also interested in MG Spec Fic I can recommend the first 3 finalists I’ve read:

The Mirrorwood, Deva Fagen
Children of the Quicksands, Efua Traoré
Eden’s Everdark, Karen Strong

All strong contenders.

I mean, I now require to know which book you give your vote to.

Unfortunately, the announcement won’t be made till Feb 14th, but I’ll let you know then. I also have 4 more books to read!

Tis been a goo 'book month'. I am in a dystopia unit with my 7th grade classes so I am rereading (via audio): The Maze Runner, The Hunger Games, Red Rising, and Matched.

I enjoyed the group book Panic ... but I think the tv series might in fact be better than the book. (eep!)

My e-library acquired volume 5 of Something is Killing the Children, Vol. 5.

I've started #Murdertrending in a whim and it's not as shallow as I assumed it would be.

My favorite of the month though was Valor's Choice, witty female hero space opera.

Melanie,
I, too, liked the series for Panic quite a bit more than I did the book which is rather unusual for me.

And I love that you do a dystopian unit with your 7th graders. I would have loved that when I was in middle school.

Also, February was a crazy slow book month for me. Not productive at all. I'm currently halfway through The Atlas Six. I'm really enjoying it at the moment. Then I plan to start These Violent Delights which I'm really looking forward too.

And thank you for the book recommendations. I put The Mirrorwood and Sanderson's newest book into my TBR book. I generally quite enjoy most books by Sanderson.

I just finished The Monstrumologist which is labeled YA and liked it a lot, but some parts are quite grotesque. Not like zombies pulling bodies apart but more like medical pus and such.

Also listened to Paladin's Grace which was also wonderful, a witty fantasy romance.

Lastly I am working on eye-reading the final book in the original Mistborn trilogy: The Hero of Ages. I expect it to take a while.

Starting Sanderson's 2nd book release: The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England. Also I somehow grabbed this book first when the library updated this week, so I am listening to it: Greymist Fair. I've read another realistic book by this author, so it should be interesting. I definitely appreciate author that are versatile.

I just finished The Case of the Damaged Detective [MA] and loved it. I really enjoy a book with a ridiculous premise but all of the character, world-building, and plot elements written straight. This book totally filled my niche with a bonus points for little philosophical moments.

I am half way through The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy for the Viewpoints challenge.

I want to finish reading all the Terry Pratchette books I haven't read yet by the end of summer, currently: Lords and Ladies. And I keep starting and abandoning Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow; I think the narration is just too depressing, not the book but the tone of the narrator.

That book sounds fun, Melanie.

I’m listening to The Marrow Thieves at the moment, which is captivating.

I finished The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, and liked it quite a lot more than I was expecting. My digital loan for the May BOTM: The Book Thief came early, so I will be starting that next.

I finished The Marrow Thieves, which I highly recommend. Especially for older YA people and fans.

I started VenCo - by the same author - immediately, LOL. I guess the first book was too short! It’s much different, though. Still very well written. I like her style and the author is quickly becoming a favorite.

Now I’m listening to The Planet of the Apes, by Pierre Boulle, which is dated, but interesting in its way.

Read a lot of good books this month. (None of them YA though). Here's my favorites:

The Singularity Trap- a scifi stand alone that made me have deep thoughts and is kind of lingering with me. (It's not funny like the Bob-verse books even though it's the same author).

Warlock Holmes: The Hell-Hound of the Baskervilles- A Sherlock Holmes spin-off that quite accurately represents many of the original stories (I think 5 stories were in this volume, including the novel Hound of Baskervilles), but adds a quirky demonic twist to each story. It's ridiculousness won't be for everyone, but it matches my vibe.

A Death in the Venetian Quarter- Book 3 in a historical fiction series set in mediaeval times. It follows a sect of Jesters as they manipulate world events. This one covers the siege of Constantinople that was part of the 4th crusade. I quite like this series too.

Super Powereds: Year 1- *This might be YA. The main characters are all freshmen @ college.* Book one of a new series. I like how the book addresses moral ambiguities and generally like everything this author writes. Definitely will continue the series.

On a whim, I picked up a book about Lizzie Borden (The Borden Murders: Lizzie Borden and the Trial of the Century). It was a little dry @ the start, but it has grown on my. I was very underinformed regarding this famous moment in history.

Wow, it’s been a while since I posted here! Since then I’ve read a lot of books, but not many YA. Most notably though

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor, which is on the younger end of YA and great for anyone into gaming and/or Virtual Reality. I liked it a lot! I think (hope) I posted about it in our Group Read thread.

Otherwise, I reread Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume. I wanted to read it before the movie came out but I guess a lot of people had the same idea, or this book is really still so popular, because there were a million holds on it at the library and it didn’t come in until June, maybe. At any rate, I loved the move and loved the book all over again.

Oh, and right now I’m reading The Book that Wouldn’t Burn, by Mark Lawrence. It’s told from two main perspectives, a young girl, maybe 12 yo, and a young man, maybe 20/25 (seems young but isn’t actually, hard to explain). I’m really enjoying that one and it might appeal to book lovers and YA lovers alike. It’s a little grim dark.