I've been on a bit of a reading binge lately. Some might say this is because I'm avoiding my WIP. Those people would be correct. I'm in that dreaded (but familiar)
my writing is crap phase. I hate that phase. But until it passes, I'm making a sizable dent in my TBR list. Here are some of the books I've enjoyed lately:
I got hooked on Matt de la Pena's books a few months back after reading
I Will Save You and
We Were Here. His characters just feel so real. I decided I better ration the remaining of his YA books, but then my daughter came home with
The Living, and of course I had to read it, probably too soon, because now I have to wait along with everyone else for the next book in the series. On the upside he has two other YA titles I can read in the meantime ;)
This was one I picked up at the library having never heard of it before, mostly because the cover and the book's small size caught my attention. This story was unlike anything I've read before, with a main character who cannot feel emotion, yet she sees them hovering around in human form as physical beings. I can't wait for the companion novel
Where Silence Gathers, coming out in July from Flux.
From page one you can't help but feel for the main character, Faith, growing up with a drug addicted, prostituting mother who has recently let herself get pregnant so she can sell the baby. When Faith sees the drug dealing couple who are going to buy the child, she decides she's going to run off with the child to save it from the life she's had to suffer through for sixteen years; but also, to get back at her mother, because depriving her of that paycheck seems like the best way to make her suffer.
I fell completely head over heels for this book and carried the characters in my heart for weeks after I'd finished. I loved the before and after way the story unfolds. You get to discover Reena and Sawyer's past relationship alongside their current when Sawyer appears back in town after an almost three year absence during which Reena has had his baby. Aside from the age of the main character, this book didn't feel particularly YA. (I think it's marketed as a crossover.) But it didn't matter. I'm sure I'll be reading this one again!
