I can trace all my books [June 2012]

Hello! It's actually the second day of the month, but yesterday was relatively crazy (either that or I really wanted to take a nap instead of post) and I wanted to make sure and take the time to make this post worthwhile. Since it's all I post these days. (I only have one idea, and it's not good enough.) At any rate, the list:

June
51. Slayers by C.J. Hill
52. Leaving Gee's Bend by Irene Latham
53. A Confusion of Princes by Garth Nix
54. Daughters of the Sea: Lucy by Kathryn Lasky
55. The Apothecary by Maile Meloy
56. The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind by Meg Medina
57. The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith
58. Death comes to Pemberley by P.D. James
59. The Selection by Kiera Cass


I've had a request to list the books I've read that I'd recommend for family members and such. I'll include it at the end of my six-month stats here.

Books read: 59 (if I'd known, I'd have squeezed in one more book to make it round. I like round.)
First-time: 56
Reread: 3
Fiction: 58
Nonfiction: 1
Average: 9.83

The reason I haven't made recommendation lists in the past is I read such a variety of books. I never know what will appeal to people. I'll just assume that people have about my same taste.

Stand-out books:
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
I loved the way this story tied together. Some of it was predictable (it's a Cinderella story, after all) but I really liked the differences and the new technology/mythology that the author incorporated. YA fiction, but I'd let anyone with the right reading level get into it. Only problem? It's probably a trilogy.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
He did a great job with the emotions and relationships in this book. (John Green is a fairly popular author for a reason.) Caveat: I definitely remember at least one swear word. And it's YA material. (Oh, and it's about cancer. If that's a problem, don't read it.)

Cold Cereal by Adam Rex
Silly grown-up. This book is for kids! What if cereal box mascots were really refugees from like Fairyland or something? (I remember thinking that children would enjoy this book, and I think I enjoyed it, but it was a little below my level.)

Spy School by Stuart Gibbs
Basically this guy ends up going to spy school even though he's not qualified at all, but don't worry, he saves the day anyway. I think. Since everyone at the school is in middle or high school, that's the intended audience. It was a fun book, though.

The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen
These orphan boys are told to learn how to become the missing prince, not realizing the danger they and the kingdom are in. Loved this book. It's YA/J? I can't remember if it had any YA material in it. I think it's safely J, and it's fun for boys and girls.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
I loved this book a lot. At first I was a little skeptical -- racing bloodthirsty water horses along the sea where they're more likely to savage people seemed like a recipe for disaster to me, but the relationships sold me, and I truly appreciated the mythology as a perfect backdrop for the way the people on this special island interacted. Spoiler alert: Savaging by mean water horses does happen. Sometimes to people.

Enchanted by Alethea Kontis
I think the base fairytale is the Frog Prince? But it's hard to tell because this family seems to get tied up into every fairy tale possible! I was impressed at how she was able to incorporate them all into one (mostly) coherent storyline. YA, but I can't remember any reason someone with the appropriate reading level wouldn't enjoy it.



Do you know my problem? I liked every book I've read so far this year, otherwise I wouldn't have read them. I am not sure if the ones I chose are the ones I should recommend. (If you're into YA love triangles, I didn't include those. If you're into Paranormal YA romance, I didn't include too many of those either. I read them though! And liked them.) But you can start with this list and I'll try to be more discriminating in the way I recommend in future.