Books read so far in 2010

1. Ring of Fire, PD Baccalario. MG, lots of plot and four MCs. Cool setting (Italy). A little too light on characterization for me, but right for someone else.
2. Syren, Angie Sage. Book 5 of Septimus Heap. Fun MG series that has started to grow on me. 
3. Alcatraz vs. the Scrivener’s Bones, Brandon Sanderson (reread)
4. At the Crossing Places, Kevin Crossley-Holland (reread) *love*
5. The Book of the Maidservant, Rebecca Barnhouse. Based on real people who did a pilgrimage to Rome. A mean lady who thinks she’s pious mistreats her serving girl until the girl finally finds a way to escape. I wanted to kick Dame Margery so hard!
6. Bobby vs. the Girls (Accidentally), Lisa Yee. Heehee, this one sounds like my second son’s life! Fourth-graders trying to be friends even though one is a boy and one is a girl—and their friends hate each other.
7. Dani Noir, Nova Ren Suma. Nicely written MG--if you like mysteries and BW film, this is for you.
8. Bog Child, Siobhan Dowd. Literary, with a plot, definitely. Plenty of atmosphere, and Irish Angst. Interesting with the history. I confess I’m not so good with depressing endings, but I know this is the kind of book some people really love, and if true for you, I'd recommend it.
9.  Alcatraz vs. the Knights of Crystallia, Brandon Sanderson. Reread.
10. Everlasting, Angie Frazier. Ooh, mystery and fantasy and history, with more books to follow. Would make an awesome movie!
11. A Brief History of Montmaray, Michelle Cooper. The voice is what carries this tale of the last days of the kingdom of Montmaray, a rocky island in the Atlantic settled by the descendants of some people from Cornwall. It’s 1936 and the Germans attack the kingdom of Montmaray (about two and a half families on a rocky island). I didn’t think the bit with the brother and love interest being interested in each other would have been taken *quite* that casually in 1936. The tone of the book as a whole reminded me of I Capture the Castle.
12. For All Time, Caroline Cooney (reread). It’s a lot shorter than a book today would be, but it was just what I was looking for—stuff happened and True Love found a way. I would’ve liked Strat to realize he was Strat and she was Annie at the end (like in As You Wish), but I’m 99% sure it WAS him at the end. And there was Egypt. And I like the name Strat/Stratton. Reading as an adult, though, I couldn't help wondering if the author was laughing, just a bit, at the drama of being a teenager.
13. Where the Mountains Meet the Moon, Grace Lin. Very beautiful book! She did the illustrations, too. A series of interlacing Chinese-inspired stories in Grand Fairy Tale style. Won a Newbery Honor.

14. I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith. Reread, after reading #11. I seem to wrongly remember more of a resolution at the end.
15. The Blue Sword, Robin McKinley. Reread. So nicely done! I’m impressed with how there’s only a small psychic distance for the reader, despite the omniscient 3^rd person. And just nice worldbuilding, which means it feels real, not made up.

16. The Summer I Turned Pretty, Jenny Han. Liked this one better than Shug—I could relate to the characters better. Thought Han did a nice job of building situational tension—it was like putting a puzzle together from the outside in, instead of a chronological setup. I'm not entirely sure I'm convinced with the boy she chose in the end, but I hear there is to be a sequel, so we'll see.
17. The Dragonfly Pool, Eva Ibbotson. Reread.
18. Calamity Jack, Shannon and Dean Hale and Nathan Hale. Yay! That library on page 23 or whatever it is? I used to live across the street from it (before it was a library, and back when it was a creepy haunted house condemned building).
19. The Gate of Days (The Book of Time II), Guillaume Prevost.
20. The Circle of Gold (The Book of Time III), Guillaume Prevost. I liked this last book the best of the three. Sam does stuff more, instead of just being pulled from one situation to another. I think going into the series I was expecting it to be a bit more literary, but I think it's meant just to be entertaining (and to teach you about a lot of history).
21. Heart’s Blood, Juliett Marillier. The first adult book I’ve liked in a long time. The book was nicely put together, I cared about the characters, it was an excellent retelling of Beauty and the Beast where all the parts of the fairy tale had an actual reason to be there, and I mostly forgot it was a retelling (something to consider and study, perhaps). Nice and immediate, too.
22. A Summer of Silk Moths, Margaret Willey (published by Flux). A modern story that’s a tribute to Girl of the Limberlost. Some nice writing, some places that I would have liked to slow down a bit more on (getting the two families and their backstory straight at the beginning was a little confusing). I liked Limberlost, although for today's reader it's true that it's a little too sweet. The mom there has some mental issues and is mean because of it, and you just keep waiting for the girl to fight back, but she's just...sweet. This book really addresses that.
23. Violet Wings, Victoria Hanley (ARC). I thought this was lower YA, but really it’s more MG. Friends, no romance, and a ton of worldbuilding. It would be a good book for a kid (girl) who reads at a high level but isn't old enough to get romance or deeper layers.

23. The Miles Between, Mary E. Pearson. This is a great example of magical realism. Real life with a sort of dreamlike unreality to it. Nice book that gradually reveals the MC's secret.
24. Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie, David Lubar. Funny, a bit like Wimpy Kid, only in high school.
25. The Chosen One, Carol Lynch Williams. Chilling story about a girl escaping a polygamist sect after being “chosen” to marry her old, yucky uncle as seventh wife. Williams is LDS (um...those are the people who DON'T practice polygamy anymore) and lives in Utah, and she handles this with compassionate complexity. The girl’s parents are nice and love her, they don’t beat the kids, and they’re a good family. They all get along. But at the same time, they’re scared to oppose their leaders because the wives and kids could be taken away and given to someone else, in a situation that would be far worse and make their lives much crueler. So you can see how someone in that situation might have a hard time getting out. In a sense it's like any other abusive situation--ie, a lot more complex in both cause and solution than lurid media stories would have you believe
26. Shadow, Jenny Moss (see review previous to this entry!)
27. Brightly Woven, Alexandra Bracken. I got to see the first chapter before this sold, and really liked it. A well-built fantasy that I'd recommend to people who loved Howl's Moving Castle.
28. A Conspiracy of Kings, Megan Whalen Turner. This one stars Sophos as MC, although Gen is there, too.

I'm trying to cleanse the palate after revising two books back to back, so I'm hoping to add many more books to this list!