All in Recommendation Roundup
Recommendation Roundup: Summer 2015
Hi folks! I'm happy to share our summer recommended reads with you. It's funny, I keep saying that I haven't gotten super excited about many books this year, but here we have 20+ books that we feel good about recommending--I guess are some good ones out there after all!
Reading has been tough this summer--I took on some huge projects that have competing deadlines and that means my eyeballs aren't too happy with me by the end of the day, so I haven't been reading as much. Plus I've been (intentionally) checked out from a lot of the book chatter online, so I haven't been as on it with regard to what's new and buzzed. (Not necessarily a bad thing.)
Onward to the recommendations!
Recommendation Roundup: Winter/Spring 2014-15
Well, I got a bit behind on, like, life, so I thought I'd bundle a few months of our recommended reads for you, rather than trying to catch up month-by-month.
I did a bit of re-reading over the last few months, which has been pretty fun. I think I will continue to revisit my favorites as a matter of course, because there's something enjoyable in revisiting a beloved story. We all read The Carnival at Bray for book club right before it was a Printz honoree and we all loved it so much, so if you haven't snagged that brilliant little book, do so!
As always, click on the cover for more information. If we have a review available, it will be noted.
Recommendation Roundup: November 2014
My reading habits have been all over the place lately.
For a few days, I binged on all the comics I could find. Then, I blew through Amy Poehler's book. And, it took me most of the month to listen to the final audiobook in Alexandra Bracken's Darkest Minds trilogy (I'll write more about that series later). I've continued to read the Sirantha Jax series slowly, and am kind of bummed that I'm approaching the end. Probably my two favorite reads this month were both graphic stories: Ms. Marvel and Seconds (thanks to my friend Kinoko for the recommendation). And now I'm kind of in a reading funk--not much is working for me.
In other news, Sandra's been blowing through review books, so her recommendations are filled with newer titles, if you're looking for something fresh.
As always, click through on the book cover image for more info!
Sarah Recommends
Recommendation Roundup: Oct. 2014
We're back with our monthly roundup of recommended reads!
My picks this month really demonstrate my weird, er, eclectic taste, I think. I'm recovering from a killer month, schedule-wise, so I'm hoping to get in some more writing about some of these books, because I read some interesting ones in October.
Recommendation Roundup: September 2014
Read any good books lately? We've got a few recommendations for you, if you're in need. (And who isn't, if we're going to be honest.)
My best read of this past month was hands-down RIck Yancey's The Infinite Sea. Man oh man, was that a killer sequel. It's been interesting reading the reviews of it, because it's a slow-paced novel that's not working for everyone. Laura, lucky girl that she is, has already read the next installment in The Raven Cycle and loved, loved, loved it. I think it's up next for me. And, Sandra recovered from her anger about the second book in Barry Lyga's I Hunt Killers series enough to read the final novel and grudgingly admits that it was pretty good.
Recommendation Roundup: August 2014
Now that the bulk of summer is over, I've been working on catching up with my summer reading list, of course.
I was so excited to read Stephanie Perkins long-anticipated new novel, which didn't disappoint me in the least (I do think it'll be a love it or hate it story for folks, though--Keertana wrote a fantastic review that resonated with me in terms of why I'm in the love it camp). I was also lucky enough to read a way early copy of Liza Palmer's 2015 novel, Girl Before a Mirror, which is absolutely stellar. I think it'll be a bit polarizing, but in a good way. There are a lot of layers to dig into and I can't wait for it to be in the world so I can talk to people about it!
I also wrapped up reading The Dust Chronicles series by Maureen McGowan, which I really liked (read that series if you liked Divergent, The Darkest Minds or Legend--it's got all the action-y bits that fans of those books will love, and some good social issues things as well). And on the series front, I read the second book in Chuck Wendig's rad YA series, Blightborn.
Enough chat! On to our recommendations!
Recommendation Roundup: July 2014
Better late than never, right? I had a staggeringly good reading month, which included a couple of much-anticipated surprise sequels: Just Call My Name and Sinner.
I also finally read Chuck Wendig's Under the Empyrean and and am retroactively mad that I waited so long to get to it--I'm currently listening to the audio of the sequel and it's even better, if you can believe that. I've been hitting my local library (have I ever mentioned that my house is on the same street as the library?) pretty hard and discovered a fun older Meg Cabot novel that's a great example of the epistolary format, if that's your jam, Boy Meets Girl.
In other news, Sandra finally fixed her enormous oversight in never having read A Northern Light, and has rave after rave for the new Michael Koryta novel, Those Who Wish Me dead. And, Laura listened to the fabulous audio edition of The Coldest Girl in Coldtown--be sure to snag that if you're an audiobooker.
Onward to the recommendations!
Recommendation Roundup: June 2014
I don't know about you, but reading has been weird for me lately. Between summer and a stressful couple of work projects, I'm finding myself in a bit of a funk.
I keep starting books and then they lose my attention. However, Nafiza's wonderful graphic novel recommendation list came to my rescue and it's been just what the doctor ordered. I've gone way down the Saga rabbit hole and am official obsessed.
I also picked up a couple of fabulous middle grade verse novels I'd been meaning to read and that was a pretty solid life decision. I got Kwame Alexander's beautiful and moving The Crossover from the library and I'll definitely be buying a copy for my own shelves. It's one of my favorite reads of 2014 for sure. I want everyone to read it so that I can nerd out about it with other people!
Onward to the recommendations!
Recommendation Roundup: May 2014
Holla, people!
Try not to be too stunned, but I think this is the first time ever I've managed to post our monthly roundup of recommendations on the actual first of the month. I know, right? Stunning!
I have to say, I read some pretty great YA this month, which was a real treat, since I've had a whole slew of not-finished YAs recently. Have you checked out the last book in Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke & Bone series yet? Woo boy, is that good. I listened to the audiobook because one of my favorite narrators does that series and it was loooooong, but so worth it. I also enjoyed Jenny Han's new book, Liz Fichera's seemingly under-the-radar sweet YA romance, Jennifer Echols new book and a couple of other goodies as well.
Clock through for 14 recommendations we read this month!
Recommendation Roundup: April 2014
Clearly, I had a much better reading month than my CEFS compatriots, with a number of books I quite enjoyed.
By far, my most surprising read was Zac & Mia, which is one of those review copies that I downloaded on impulse because the folks at Harper Collins have me auto-approved for their books. Little did I know that it had won the Text Prize in Australia a couple of years ago, because that would've been my first clue that it was a good one. It's getting a lot of comparisons to The Fault in Our Stars, but I'm not sure that's an apt one, though the subject matter is similar. If I were to compare it stylistically to a "cancer book," I'd probably say it's more similar to The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder, but that's not that best comparison either. It's actually just unique, with a distinctive voice and style.
Recommendation Roundup: Dec. 2013 & Jan. 2014
I combined December and January's recommendation posts due to our year-end List of Awesome compilation. We have a ton of very mixed books to recommend this time--I think the only one we all read was Jennifer Lynn Barnes' super-fun thriller The Naturals, which our book club read in January.
I had a particularly good run of books over the last couple months, including that I got to read a super-early copy of Lisa Schroeder's lovely new novel, The Bridge from Me to You, which was special to me for a number of reasons (disclosure: including this), but particularly because it reminded me so much of growing up in small town Oregon.
I was also excited to discover Maureen McGowan's action-packed post-apocalyptic thriller series (Deviants and Compliance), which is a whole lot of fun--especially on audio. And, if you're looking for a charming adult novel about the suckitude of adulting, I have to point you to You Had Me at Hello--it was a bestseller in the U.K. for a reason, let me tell you.
AND! One one final note, I was thrilled to read another super-early copy of a much-anticipated book, Gabrielle Zevin's The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, which I adored. If you like Zevin's novels, you'll love this one, trust me.
Obviously, Sandra discovered the awesomeness of Sarah Addison Allen this month--hooray for another convert! And I peer-pressured Laura into reading more Liza Palmer, as one does...
Onward to the recommendations!
The Official 2013 Clear Eyes, Full Shelves List of Awesome
Each year, we here at Clear Eyes, Full Shelves put together a list of books that stood out to us over the last twelve months as particularly full of awesome. Last year's list had a whopping 24 titles.
Let's see if 2013 can match up, shall we?
The One Sarah Recommends to Anyone & Everyone:
Nowhere But Home by Liza Palmer
“The red light blinks. Welcoming me home. What’s the exact opposite of blaze of glory? I look around my dusty Subaru, cut-off jeans, and think: me. This. This is what the exact opposite of a blaze of glory looks like.”
