Vacation Book Reports
Elana RothWelcome back, everyone! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. I enjoyed nearly a week in my hometown, eating too much, watching some hockey, and hanging with my many siblings. And I also managed to start and finish a book in there.
Choosing books to travel with is always a delicate decision. You want just enough material to last you the trip, nothing too heavy if you are intending to relax, and one never quite knows how quickly some books will read. I've made the mistake of carrying too many books on flights, and then not finishing them, or not packing enough and then lacking for reading material.
This trip I took home Patrick Ness's THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO. Recommendations are always good, and Caren gave it two thumbs up, as did Pam (I think--did you like it, Pam? Or am I remembering wrong?), so I bought it and gave it a shot. On first glance the concept is totally up my alley. Dystopian...light sci-fi...cool hook. And it's a quick quick read. Very fast paced, good emotional punches, and clearly a layered plot. I think...knowing it's the first of a series also changes the expectations somewhat. And it ends on a cliffhanger that may have annoyed me.
But even having blown through it as quickly as I did, I'm still thinking about it. I'm not 100% sure how I feel about it yet. Does that ever happen to you? If anyone out there has read it, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Now...what did you read over the holiday? Did you like it? And how did you go about picking your list?
Reader Comments (6)
The Knife of Never Letting Go is actually sitting in my TBR pile. A friend picked up the second book, the Ask and the Answer and raved about it. I can't stand to read series out of order, so I had to pick up the first book.
Over the weekend I read quite a bit: Looking for Alaska, Shiver, and Holly Black's Tithe. I loved Looking for Alaska, hated Shiver, and thought Tithe was "meh." I love Green's humourous insight, but I couldn't figure out why I wasn't crazy about the other two books. I guess it just happens that way sometimes.
And where did I get my book recommendations? Amazon, duh. They always tell me what to read.
Okay, I read Tempted by PC Cast + Kristin Cast. It was fantastic. I've loved the entire House of Night series, so I'm not surprised. Glad you had a good time back in your home town.
I have read both THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO and THE ASK AND THE ANSWER. I found the first book really compelling and read it in two sittings. i also found it very dark and disturbing but couldn't stop thinking about it. I rushed out to get the sequel. The second book is also very well written but i hated the dark world he created, very masculine, very cruel and again very dark.
Having read both novels i felt i needed a holiday or something very light to restore my balance. I would recommend them to anyone interested in children's literature. Not at all sure i would give them to my children, both avid readers, aged ten and twelve.
I have few friends that read romance novels and most of them are more into chick lit so I read recommendations that I find online, which aren't very reliable. This Thanksgiving I picked up the newest Lisa Kleypas; Tempt me at Twilight and Eloisa James' first novel; Potent Pleasures. Kleypas' was pretty good but the last one was much better. I've never tried James' before and although I didn't like that so much of it felt like gossip I liked it enough to try some of her other books. Does anyone have one to recommend?
Thanks for the tip on the book. I'm always on the look out for a good read. I read HUSH, HUSH over the weekend.
This YA was dark and dangerous with just enough romance to keep my daughter interested. She loved it. Like you with THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO, I read it so quickly I'm not quite sure how I feel about it yet.
Before that I read UNWIND. As a mom, that one sent shivers down my spine...
Just speading the word for writer Julie Butcher's Online Xmas party!
You must tweet with the hastag #holidaybash by the end of today to be a part of the fun!
The Writer-Agent-Editor Holiday Bash
You can read about it here:
http://johannaharness.com/Johanna_Harness/Blog/Entries/2009/12/4_The_Writer-Agent-Editor_Holiday_Bash.html