The Outlaw Demon Wails by Kim Harrison

( 32 )

A Rachel Morgan book

Finally!  We are finally getting explanations for things that started happening in the first book in this series.  A good one, well worth the wait.

The Sweet, Far Thing by Libba Bray

( 31 )

This was the last in a trilogy, that, IMO, was far too long. Everything in the book seemed important at the time, but it very much felt like it was taking far too long. I think it may have suffered from an overabundance of description.

I enjoyed them, but calling these YA is debatable. I felt that way after I read the first one and realized how dark it was. Torture and human sacrifice for teens? Even wrapped in a pretty Victoriana wrapper, is still torture and human sacrifice. I enjoyed these, but doubt I’ll read them again unless I need to for J.

MirrorMask by Neil Gaiman

( 30 )

I never saw the movie, and decided to give the audio version, read by the the actress who played the young female lead in the movie, a shot. It’s short, more like a short story at only 1 CD, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I love Neil Gaiman, but most of his stuff for kids really creeps me out (Coraline, The Wolves in the Walls) and is not something I would, currently, let my kiddo read. This one was better. I would have to read it, really paying attention, to decide if I’d let J read it, but right now I think I would, in a couple of years.

As an adult reader/listener, I thought it was ruddy brilliant. Need to Netflix the movie, now…

Once Upon a Spring Morn by Dennis L. McKiernan

( 29 )

None of the books in the seasonal fairy tales series is as good as the first, though this was better than some. I am more interested, truthfully, in the continuing adventures hinted at in the afterword, since these have been a bit formulaic for a while.

There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom by Louis Sachar

(   28  )

I long ago promised my daughter that I would read anything she had to read for school so that she would have someone to talk to about it. This year I had to follow through with this one.

My girl is finishing 1st grade. This is a 4th grade book. She did fine with the words, but following a longer plot (she’s used to Magic Tree House books) with more emotional action was hard for her. In the end, she declared she didn’t like it, but she did read the whole thing and answer all her questions–mom saw to that.

Me? I loved this book! I think Louis Sachar has a real gift for writing for kids on a level that resonates with adults, too, and I thoroughly enjoyed Bradley’s transformation. A good read for any parent of a difficult child.

The Mommy Club by Sarah Bird

(27)

Blech.  Read this one for my book club, too, and could NOT stand it.  I barreled through so the person who picked it wouldn’t feel like we were ignoring her book, but it was painful and I hated it.  I just wanted to bitchslap every single selfish inconsiderate character in this thing, triply so for the main character.  Honestly, spend the 2-3 hours of your life on something else.  Like TV.  It’s that unpleasant a read.

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

(26)

I’m on a children’s writer’s yahoo group or two, and I remember the buzz when this won its award, though I didn’t pay much attention at the time.  A friend chose this as our book club read for May, and, being time-crunched and driving a LOT at the time, I went audio.

I am SO glad I did.  I have a good friend who was really annoyed by the narrator speaking directly to the reader (“Dear Reader, do you…”) etc.  In the excellent audio version I listened to it was “Dear Listener”, which, oddly, was far less annoying.  I also enjoyed the audio book more because the characters really came alive courtesy of the excellent reader.  The characters with Italian names had Italian accents, the French mother sounded French, the reading was simply fantastic and I think I actually enjoyed the book MORE because of it.

I enjoyed it so much I listened to it again with my 7yo so I could share it with her.