This past week was midwinter break here in NYC so I was hoping to devour about 10 books & get two posts up. Instead I spent the week rushing one of my cats back & forth from the vet & tending to him post-surgery. Suffice it to say that Monday came back around way too soon.

I did get some great reading in though!

Last Night I Sang to the Monster, Benjamin Alire Saenz – I mostly loved this. If you know BAS from Aristotle & Dante, there is familiar territory here, but I found Zach’s tale somehow enchanting in its rawness. It was a hard read in some respects – at times because of the content, because of Zach’s brutal & honest reactions, & at other times because Zach’s go-to phrases seemed to cheapen or diminish the story. Despite that, & an ending that came too soon & tied up too neatly, this was a beautiful, haunting book about addiction, trauma, secrets, & finding yourself.

The Real Boy, Anne Ursu – Finally! Back in November, I all but camped out at Scholastic’s NCTE booth in hopes of scoring a copy of this lovely book. No dice, though I considered being late to my own presentation to get it. Instead, I had to wait on my local library. Thankfully, I picked up Breadcrumbs, Ursu’s beautiful reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen,” to tide me over. The Real Boy was wonderful. It grabbed me; I found myself at times gasping & clutching at the book. Some loose ends that never quite came together, but I can forgive that. Really lovely fantasy tale, & awesome cats!

Every Day, David Levithan – I’m definitely hooked so far, but I’m not in love. A is…complicated. It’s nice to have a complicated narrator, though. I become so attached to “good” narrators that I’m often too forgiving, so I’m enjoying disagreeing with A, so far.

On deck this week:

I love this meme! It does mean that my to-read list balloons every week, but that’s ok with me because books are wonderful. It’s the first official day of midwinter break in NYC, which means I came home with a bag of books on Friday, to go with the three towers in the corner of my bedroom.

It’s only a problem if you can’t admit it?

So! What am I reading?

The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus #4), by Rick Riordan – I’m about halfway through the most recent in Riordan’s Percy Jackson follow-up series, & zomg. I absolutely loved the Percy Jackson series; Riordan clearly knows his mythology & history, not to mention teens. I really enjoyed the books, especially seeing what these gods & mythological creatures were up to in the present (kind of like YA American Gods). I got into this sequel series because of my students, & even though I’ve torn through the first 3 books, they haven’t felt as amazing as the original series. Even though there have been great moments of modern-day god-life, fun callbacks to characters from the first series, & the potential for awesome fights, things have felt rushed & more told than shown.

This installment has been such a welcome change of pace! There’s still a LOT happening on each page, & the drive-by appearances of Scrion, Triptolemus, & Eros have made me wish for a slower pace, but I’ve also found myself smiling & inwardly cheering at many moments. & Tartarus is pretty awesomely rendered so far. I’m forcing myself to move slower through this one, which makes it much more enjoyable, even when I catch myself in social situations inwardly wondering what’s going to happen next & how long it will be until I can find out WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO LEO/FRANK/PERCY/HAZEL!

Home of the Brave, by Katherine Applegate – I just finished this lovely novel-in-verse this week, a beautiful story about immigration, refugee experiences, & moving to a strange new land. & cows! I’m going to be reading this with my students soon. I’m so excited for them to meet Kek & Gol. If you’ve read One and Only Ivan, you know Katherine Applegate is amazing, & I do think she brings her A-game to HOTB. I read this right after A Long Walk to Water, & I could see them pairing really well together. Applegate is just so good at telling a story through these poems. It’s a joy to read them, & reread them, & chew them over.

Fangirl, by Rainbow Rowell – Rainbow Rowell just needs to stop writing love letters to my soul. Or maybe to keep doing it forever. I LOVED Eleanor & Park, fiercely. I loved it in the primal, intense way that bears love baby bears. & then Fangirl came into my life & I was like, “How can I love you both so much?!” I’d heard a lot of reviews & recommendations that Fangirl was even better than E&P, but I can’t concur with that. They’re too different. & that might be what makes them so great, that FG is so different from E&P, that they speak to very different parts of me & do so honestly. FG was so dead on, about fandom, about college, about boys & nerds & creative writing professors & students. The way Rowell writes about writing unlocked something in me, & I know I’ll be carrying this book within me for a long time.

Also recently read:

What are you reading?