This was not a particularly bookish summer, as my own writing consumed a lot of my brainspace and didn’t want to relinquish it. But I did manage to get in some reading, and have been trying to catch up a bit now that I am on a break from drafting. Here are some recent favorites! You can click the links for plot summaries; I’m just going to babble about why I enjoyed them.

Note: For the sake of younger readers, I should mention that these are all YA or above in listed reading level.

A LONG, LONG SLEEP by Anna Sheehan
I fell right into this and didn’t want to leave. A gorgeous character study and the world building just slips right around you. I appreciated the variety of different interpersonal relationships all tangled up here. Note: I wanted to read this book as soon as I read this post about it by Jaclyn Dolamore (author of the beautiful YA fantasy MAGIC UNDER GLASS).

THE WINTER SEA by Susanna Kearsley
This is an adult book featuring intertwined historical and contemporary stories. I loved this most of all for the atmosphere — it was a perfect book to curl up with in a cozy chair with a cup of tea! I preferred the contemporary half of the story, about an author researching her historical subjects in a wintry Scottish seaside village. I admit I did not find the ending entirely satisfying, but I still loved the experience of reading this book, and am eager to read more by the author. Note: I had this book on my library wait list for AGES after I first heard about it from author Stephanie Burgis (author of the delightful MG Regency fantasy KAT, INCORRIGIBLE). Our Maine libraries have only one copy and when I first ILLed it I was number 23!

GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS by Rae Carson
I do love a good secondary world fantasy with a strong female main character! I can only imagine that today’s 12 year old girls will look to this book in the same way I looked to Robin McKinley’s THE BLUE SWORD. Wonderful setting, intriguing plot twists and turns, and lovely writing. And although it’s the first in a trilogy, the ending was entirely satisfying.

JANE by April Lindner
A modern retelling of JANE EYRE. I really enjoyed seeing how Lindner paralleled the original story, but I also loved this for its own charms. Rochester reinterpreted as a rock star was particularly delightful. This one is kind of on the YA/adult border both in terms of the protag (who is in college) and the content.

ULTRAVIOLET by R. J. Anderson
A stunning and twisty genre-bending ride! But it’s hard for me to say exactly why I love this one so much without spoiling the book for those who have not read it! It is not the story you may think it is, but it’s a wonderful and compelling (and romantic, to me, at least) tale. The prose describing the perceptions of the synesthete main character are especially evocative.

THIS DARK ENDEAVOR by Kenneth Oppel
This one has a fantastic premise: the story of Victor Frankenstein as a teen, imagining what sort of events would have shaped the young man who would grow up to create Frankenstein’s Monster. I found the voice of young Victor tremendously engaging, and despite his flaws he is a bewitching character and I could not help but root for him and feel sympathy for his struggles. The external plot is exciting and atmospheric, but it was the character interactions that kept me reading. Also one of the few love triangles I’ve found believable (and it’s really a triangle: all three parties are deeply tied to one another, as opposed to the “love arrow” we see so often lately).

I’m headed to the bookstore this weekend! I already plan to get SO SILVER BRIGHT, the final book of Lisa Mantchev’s marvelous Théâtre Illuminata trilogy (really excited to see how it ends!).

What have you read lately that’s blown you away?

Tags: reading