Winter reads

I've come across a wealth of new book titles to check out from a variety of sources.  The Cybils finalists were announced on January 1st, so a big chunk of my library queue was suddenly overtaken by many of the books listed there.  And many book publishing or blogging sites have listed or asked for lists of readers' favorites from 2010 or even from the previous decade.

The stack of books beside me as a type includes

YA:

I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahan (finished just this morning; a well written, emotionally engaging story, IMO)
Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers (read this afternoon; not my usual fare--disturbing story of high school "mean girl"; hard to feel sympathy for protagonist)
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healy
Plain Kate by Erin Bow
The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove by Lauren Kate (author of Fallen and Torment)

Middle grade:


The Emerald Tablet by P.J. Hoover
The Shadow Hunt by Katherine Langrish
The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter
The Dead Boys by Royce Buckingham
The Magnificent 12 - The Call by Michael Grant
Crunch by Leslie Connor

Mystery:

The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley
The Sting of Justice - a Mystery of Medieval Ireland by Cora Harrison


In my queue but not on hand yet:

The Wind-Up Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
Doctor Who: The Clockwise Man by Justin Richards
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell by Susanna Clarke (wow, is this ever a tome--782 pages!)

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger
The Shadows by Jacqueline West
Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve

Seeking Peace: Chronicles of the Worst Buddhist in the World by Mary Pipher

A Red Herring without Mustard by Alan Bradley (pub. date: February 8)

Next on my list of things-to-do-that-might-actually-result-in-a-blog-post: go through my reading history in my library account and pull out *my* favorite reads from the past year.


Happy reading!