Books I've Been Reading

  So as many of you know, I have an addiction to books. I tried to reduce this addiction by making a contract that I could no longer buy new books until I had read every book in my possession (that was a list of 100 books I had yet to read). I made some exceptions: I could buy books with a gift certificate, I could buy books for my classroom. Using my amazon points, student recommendations, and a library card I have found many ways to circumvent my contract. So here are some books I've read recently and I thought I would share them with you. They are all considered YA (Young Adult) fiction but they vary greatly in appropriate age levels. Some I liked and some I did not, I hope you find something you might enjoy.

Feed by M.T. Anderson
    Setting:  Near Future, Earth
    Premise: The internet is implanted in people's brains and they are constantly plugged in. This book explores what effects this has on language, consumerism, self-awareness, others-awareness, and all relationships.
    Elements which may concern some readers: LOTS of bad language. I thought it was absolutely appropriate for what the author intended, but if you are sensitive to swears then this is too much for you. There is one racy scene that is not gratuitous, but is certainly not PG-13.
    My rating: A-, I loved the author's intent and he cleverly created a world that is not too far off from our current one. I was disappointed that the characters were simply cogs in the machine and not one of them was really a hero against the machine, but it was a device that was useful for the intention of novel. I really liked this book.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer
  Setting: Future, pan-Asia
  Premise: a cinderella story - only she's a cyborg
  Elements which may concern some readers: it was clean and well done
  My rating: A,  I really enjoyed this book. I kept saying, "This is really good!" as I was reading it. It wasn't mind blowing or super deep or even showing me the world in a way I'd never seen. It was clever, well told, and very entertaining. It is part of a series (that is not out yet) and I didn't know that until about 50 pages to the end when things weren't wrapping up. It was a great read and I can't wait to loan it out to others.
 
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
   Setting: Future, America (see a trend in my reading?)
   Premise: Love is viewed as a disease and that disease can be cured at the age of 16 (18? I can't remember). A young girl and her friend struggle with what this cure will mean for them and for their society.
   Elements which may concern some readers: it's a kissing book, there are some profanities
   My rating: C,  I was totally sold on the premise, but the delivery became a little too contrived by the end. I did think about what love means beyond the romantic love we might initially consider. What would the world look like without love? But once I answered that question with, "worse than how the author portrayed it," I was kind of done with her storytelling.  It was ok, not a total waste of time. 

Faking Faith by Josie Bloss
    Setting: Present day, America
    Premise: A young agnostic is alienated by her friends because of a mistake she made, so she seeks solace in the internet. She finds a series of blogs written by devout Christian girls and decides to pretend to be one of them online. She meets her favorite blogger in real life and spends time living with her and experiencing her life first hand.
    Elements which may concern some readers: some profanity, references to inappropriate behavior, stupid writing, a poorly worded and thinly veiled attack against Christians.
     My rating: D-, So at first I'm like, "Wow, the author is fairly representing conservative Christians! I'm so happy," and then I'm like, "Wait, what?" and then I was like, "I'm sorry, but a boy should apologize for kissing you the first time he talks to you while you are just having a conversation and he totally macs out." and then I was like, "Wait, what?" and then I was mad...LaCrae was right - people too often portray Christians as crazy, stupid, sexist, violent deviants. And then I was like, "Oh, so the mom who was totally distant and involved in her job for 16 YEARS, suddenly decides she wants to spend time with her daughter WHOM SHE HASN'T PAID ATTENTION TO FOR 16 YEARS and now is the best mom in the world because she's not a Christian like the mindless mother of her friend and she believes in love and isn't that the most important thing?" And then I found myself saying to anyone nearby, "And then..." and ranting a little more. The characters were poorly developed and frankly, the writing should be offensive to anyone who's ever met me and doesn't think I'm a mindless weakling. I am fine if you want to write a book about things I don't believe in or against things I do. But if you are going to degrade an entire subgroup, please do so intelligently and with at least some plausible character development!

If I Stay by Gayle Forman
  Setting: Present day America
  Premise: A young girl is the sole survivor of a tragic accident. She is in a coma and her consciousness is able to see the world around her. She must decide if she should let go of life or wake up and live a life that is going to be totally different than the one she knew.
  Elements which may concern some readers: I read this awhile ago so I think there was some profanity and some PG-13 racy scenes.
  My rating: B , This book was well written and the story was beautifully developed and revealed. It was really hard to know what she should choose and I was compelled to love her family and those whom she might leave behind. There were many touching scenes that made me cry. The book promotes the importance of family and of other loved ones. The family in this story really likes each other and they do so in a realistic way. Overall, a good book.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
     Setting: Present Day, America and Amsterdam
     Premise: two teens dealing with cancer fall in love and deal with that
     Elements which may concern some readers: profanity and a racy scene dealt with tactfully, cancer
     My rating: A,  This book is beautiful. So I don't want to recommend this book to a lot of people because it is of a style which I don't often read - true literature. I mean that it has a plot and it's well written and it's main purpose is to make the reader think about what it means to love and be human and to die and to make mistakes and to be. This book was beautifully written - page after page of quotables which alternately made me think deeply, cry or laugh. The characters were witty and brilliant and kind and broken and it has one of the most romantic descriptions of the cardinality of numbers and different forms of infinity I have ever read. This is not really teen fiction and there isn't a cyborg in sight, it has nothing to do with dystopia, so this is not my normal read as of late, but this was a beauty.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
     Setting: The Future, America - now a collection of 12 districts and a capitol.
     Premise: To suppress its people and remind them never to rebel again, the capitol requires two tributes every year (children from the ages of 12-18) from each district to come to the capitol and fight in a televised battle to the death. The winner is set for life and his/her district is given food and supplies for a year (that's were the hunger part plays in). This book is about one tribute named Katniss Everdeen.
      Elements which may concern some readers: I guess it's violent. I suppose, for some reason, that doesn't bother me, so I didn't really think it was too violent, but a whole lotta other people think so. I guess if the premise is 24 kids fighting to the death, violence is to be expected. I, however, never found any of the violence to be gratuitous.
      My rating: A ,  I really want to write A+, but I think I have to reserve that for Pride and Prejudice and Harry Potter. If I have not recommended this book to you yet, I'm sorry, let me do so now. READ THIS BOOK. It is part of a three book series (all books are in print now) and it is gripping and moving and insanely awesome for anyone to read. I recommend this book to strangers - even the poor guy at Target who was ringing up my 6th copy I've purchased so I can keep my library at school well stocked. I push this book on any teen in the teen section at Barnes and Noble. This book is just great and you really need to read it before you see the movie - really, please. I read it in one sitting (a trans-Atlantic sitting, but one sitting) and I actually read it again (I don't do that very often with books). This is the best book I've read since the Harry Potter Series ended.

 
    Feel free to let me know if you've read any of these books or if you have any other recommendations for me. I love all kinds of books and if you already have a copy, I can borrow yours and still fit within the confines of my book buying contract.