2013 BOOK CHALLENGE! Are you in?

[threeboysmom]

After your review and threeboysmom review, now I'm not sure I want to read this anymore. I hate wasting my time on a book that's no good.

Aww, don't let us sway you! It's a very creative story, and it's only a little over 200 pages so it's not like you'd be investing a whole lot of time into it. I thought I gave it a good review - I just didn't like the ending... because it DIDN'T end, lol. But now that I know a sequel is planned, that explains it.

Just know that it's YA which is probably why the other reviewer called it amateurish. I find that's the case with every YA I read which is why I try not to read them on a regular basis.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Well, I just did something I haven't done in years-I put a book down without finishing it. I was attempting to read "The Double Culture Safari Club" by Alexander McCall Smith (I'm not even sure I've got the name right), but it just wasn't for me. The way they talked, thought, the names-I just couldn't gt into it.

 

[Ginny Favers]

Just know that it's YA which is probably why the other reviewer called it amateurish. I find that's the case with every YA I read which is why I try not to read them on a regular basis.

As a YA author, I have to take exception to that! There are a lot of bad, amateurish books out there, YA AND Adult. It is a misconception that YA books are less complicated and easier to write, and that YA authors are just looking to "graduate" to writing for adults. I get it all the time... "When are you going to start writing REAL books?" I have written for adults in the past and find it to be much more challenging (yet interesting) to get into the mindset of a young person. If they're not for you, they're not for you, but please do not insinuate that all those writing it are amateurs. YAs are certainly a lot brighter than we give them credit for, too, and I think the books available to them now show that. Plus, I've done pretty well writing my "amateurish" books.

Not meaning to start a fight, you just struck a nerve with me.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I would say... Read it.

The story itself is worth it to me.

 

[wvjules]

I finished HP7. Still listening to We Need to Talk About Kevin (I have a very short commute so it's going to take a while) and am reading Under the Dome. I'm about 30% through. I like the short chapters, IMO, that makes for faster reading.

After Under the Dome I think I'm going to read Buried My Heart at Wounded Knee or The Light Between the Oceans or Inferno.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I finished HP7. Still listening to We Need to Talk About Kevin (I have a very short commute so it's going to take a while) and am reading Under the Dome. I'm about 30% through. I like the short chapters, IMO, that makes for faster reading.

After Under the Dome I think I'm going to read Buried My Heart at Wounded Knee or The Light Between the Oceans or Inferno.

I'm glad you said Under the Dome has shorter chapters. I'm not a huge SK fan and that is one of the reasons why. I find his chapters long.(At least the books I've tried)

I just started Zoo by James Patterson. It's the first one by that author that I have read and I am enjoying it! It has short chapters as well.

 

[Ilivetogo]

I apologize if you folks have already discussed this book, but I was wondering if anyone has read this series (I believe there are 5 books in the series so far). It looks like fun!

http://www.amazon.com/HIDDEN-MICKEY...002XGITBQ_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369925108&sr=1-1#_

.

 

[BearcatsFan]

Aww, don't let us sway you! It's a very creative story, and it's only a little over 200 pages so it's not like you'd be investing a whole lot of time into it. I thought I gave it a good review - I just didn't like the ending... because it DIDN'T end, lol. But now that I know a sequel is planned, that explains it.

Just know that it's YA which is probably why the other reviewer called it amateurish. I find that's the case with every YA I read which is why I try not to read them on a regular basis.

I would say... Read it.

The story itself is worth it to me.

Okay, okay ... I'll give it a try. I just hate getting all the way through a book to have it end badly, and normally I don't do series books, but if it's only 200 pages I can knock that out pretty quickly and move on if I don't like it.

 

[willowsnn3]

Goal 72

#38 Delirum by Lauren Oliver

Absolutely the best YA book I've read ever!
Set in an "alternate present" where love is considered a disease. To keep from being infected everyone has to be cured by some kind of procedure at age 18 (too dangerous before age 18). A few months before the actual procedure, the person has to go before a panel & be quizzed about "stuff". Based on the results, it is determined what kind of continuing education & job you will do & you are also matched with 4 choices of the opposite sex to marry.
Of course there are always dissenters who are called invalids & live in the wilds which is outside the borders of the USA.
I give this 5 stars. Going by the library tonight to pick up Pandemonium, the second in the series.

 

[Ginny Favers]

Goal 72

#38 Delirum by Lauren Oliver

Absolutely the best YA book I've read ever!
Set in an "alternate present" where love is considered a disease. To keep from being infected everyone has to be cured by some kind of procedure at age 18 (too dangerous before age 18). A few months before the actual procedure, the person has to go before a panel & be quizzed about "stuff". Based on the results, it is determined what kind of continuing education & job you will do & you are also matched with 4 choices of the opposite sex to marry.
Of course there are always dissenters who are called invalids & live in the wilds which is outside the borders of the USA.
I give this 5 stars. Going by the library tonight to pick up Pandemonium, the second in the series.

Try to pick up BEFORE I FALL by the same author, too. It's like a cross between Mean Girls and Groundhog Day. I know a lot of people were disappointed by the last book in the DELIRIUM series, so I'd love to hear what you think!

 

[willowsnn3]

Try to pick up BEFORE I FALL by the same author, too. It's like a cross between Mean Girls and Groundhog Day. I know a lot of people were disappointed by the last book in the DELIRIUM series, so I'd love to hear what you think!

Will check to see if Before I Fall is available tonight also. Thanks.

 

[threeboysmom]

As a YA author, I have to take exception to that! There are a lot of bad, amateurish books out there, YA AND Adult. It is a misconception that YA books are less complicated and easier to write, and that YA authors are just looking to "graduate" to writing for adults. I get it all the time... "When are you going to start writing REAL books?" I have written for adults in the past and find it to be much more challenging (yet interesting) to get into the mindset of a young person. If they're not for you, they're not for you, but please do not insinuate that all those writing it are amateurs. YAs are certainly a lot brighter than we give them credit for, too, and I think the books available to them now show that. Plus, I've done pretty well writing my "amateurish" books.

Not meaning to start a fight, you just struck a nerve with me.

Oh Ginny, I apologize! I had no intention of putting down YA authors or books when I said what I did. Perhaps "amateurish" was not the right word then. I certainly didn't mean that YA authors are amateurs!! I was trying to convey that the writing style is different in YA books than in adult books, and I'm not sure what word I could use to describe that, lol. I find that they ARE easier to READ and less complicated than most adult books (at least in my experience), which doesn't mean AT ALL that they are easier and less complicated to WRITE.

I've read plenty of YA books that I have LOVED (The Book Thief, Fault in our Stars, Hunger Games, Divergent, etc), and I continue to read them, just not on a regular basis - I like to mix it up and not get stuck in one particular genre.

I am sorry that I offended you in any way. That was certainly not my intention and I feel awful about it.

 

[Ginny Favers]

Oh Ginny, I apologize! I had no intention of putting down YA authors or books when I said what I did. Perhaps "amateurish" was not the right word then. I certainly didn't mean that YA authors are amateurs!! I was trying to convey that the writing style is different in YA books than in adult books, and I'm not sure what word I could use to describe that, lol. I find that they ARE easier to READ and less complicated than most adult books (at least in my experience), which doesn't mean AT ALL that they are easier and less complicated to WRITE.

I've read plenty of YA books that I have LOVED (The Book Thief, Fault in our Stars, Hunger Games, Divergent, etc), and I continue to read them, just not on a regular basis - I like to mix it up and not get stuck in one particular genre.

I am sorry that I offended you in any way. That was certainly not my intention and I feel awful about it.

Oh, please don't feel awful! I completely understand what you were trying to say.

It is true that up until very recently, YA books were simpler and easier to read. In fact even as late as when my first book was published in 2009, YA books were lighter, shorter, filled with slang, and "fluffy". But things have been evolving rapidly, and I doubt my first book would even sell now. After Twilight, YA became the hot genre, advances for these books were much higher than adult books, and every famous adult author thought they could get in on the boom-- so there has been a surge of quickly-published, bad, derivative books out there to capitalize on the trend. The industry is finally starting to contract and rein that in, focusing more on quality. Books are getting longer, more complex, more layered . . . and in fact, the type of book that sells now in the YA market is almost exactly the same in structure and verbiage as many adult books, except for one thing-- the main character is a young person.

 

[portia9]

Well, I just did something I haven't done in years-I put a book down without finishing it. I was attempting to read "The Double Culture Safari Club" by Alexander McCall Smith (I'm not even sure I've got the name right), but it just wasn't for me. The way they talked, thought, the names-I just couldn't gt into it.

Oh I love most of his books. This one is the 11th in the #1 Detective Agency Series. I find his books filled with interesting characters, he doesn't shy away from tragedy but there is always humour and great human observations in his books. His books are often set in Scotland (where he lives) but he has spent time in Africa.

#65 I have just finished 1984 by George Orwell-fascinating and depressing. But glad I read it.

 

[Swimnoid]

As a YA author, I have to take exception to that! There are a lot of bad, amateurish books out there, YA AND Adult. It is a misconception that YA books are less complicated and easier to write, and that YA authors are just looking to "graduate" to writing for adults. I get it all the time... "When are you going to start writing REAL books?" I have written for adults in the past and find it to be much more challenging (yet interesting) to get into the mindset of a young person. If they're not for you, they're not for you, but please do not insinuate that all those writing it are amateurs. YAs are certainly a lot brighter than we give them credit for, too, and I think the books available to them now show that. Plus, I've done pretty well writing my "amateurish" books.

Not meaning to start a fight, you just struck a nerve with me.

Totally agree! Some of my favorite books have been YA and they have been very well written.

If I can ask, could we have some titles of what you have written? I would love to read a fellow DISer's work!

 

[Swimnoid]

Goal = 75

55. Unholy Night by Seth Grahame-Smith

This author also wrote Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter which sounds absurd but was really good. So I hunted this one down. The author winds total fiction around history. This story was about the three wise men who came to the stable of Jesus's birth. It is kind of what if these guys weren't who you think they were. A very interesting alternative look at the famous story bringing in all the famous players, Mary & Joseph, Herrod, Pilate etc. I liked it although sometimes it dragged. Good ending.

56. Bad Little Falls by Paul Doiron

This is the 3rd in the Mike Bowditch series. Bowditch is a game warden in Maine and has been banished to a remote outpost because of his behavior on the job. He always gets mixed up in trouble he shouldn't mess with and while trying to help ends up hindering the process. But in the end he is the one who solves the case. I have enjoyed all the books in this series.

 

[wvjules]

I'm still reading Under the Dome and listening to We Need to Talk About Kevin. First, I am LOVING Under the Dome. I can't wait to find out what happens next.

But I'm posting about Kevin. I'm not halfway yet but I HATE Eva. Is that the author's intention? Did everyone else that read it hate her as well? She's so unlikable!

 

[Ginny Favers]

Totally agree! Some of my favorite books have been YA and they have been very well written.

If I can ask, could we have some titles of what you have written? I would love to read a fellow DISer's work!

Thank you! I don't want to publicize my books here but I can PM you.

I'm still reading Under the Dome and listening to We Need to Talk About Kevin. First, I am LOVING Under the Dome. I can't wait to find out what happens next.

But I'm posting about Kevin. I'm not halfway yet but I HATE Eva. Is that the author's intention? Did everyone else that read it hate her as well? She's so unlikable!

I can not remember what I thought of Eva in the book, because I read it when it first came out. But I watched the movie a few months ago and WOW. Incredible, and incredibly hard to watch. I could only feel sorry for Eva in the movie.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Thank you! I don't want to publicize my books here but I can PM you.

I can not remember what I thought of Eva in the book, because I read it when it first came out. But I watched the movie a few months ago and WOW. Incredible, and incredibly hard to watch. I could only feel sorry for Eva in the movie.

Me too please? I won't tell I promise!

 

[jenny105]

Finished reading 'The Devil Has Dimples' It was a freebie on kindle, just ok. The story was choppy and the writing wasn't great. Didn't hate it though.

I've just started The Jane Austen Collection which is a bunch of her novels rolled into one. First up - Sense and Sensibility.