October 2013 Reading Update

It's November! I hope everyone celebrating had a safe and fun Halloween. I, personally, had work yesterday. So I came home, did some Halloween-themed reading and watched the vampire episode of Doctor Who.

I didn't get to as many Halloween-themed books as I wanted this month. But the beauty about Halloween is that it comes every year. So when next year rolls around, I'll have a slew of books to choose from.

This month was mostly composed of 3 different elements:

• Halloween reads
• Allegiant!!!
• reading more books off the longlist for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature

Keep reading to find out which books I loved, which books I didn't, and which ones fell in between. Oh yeah, and no spoilers.

(all photos below are courtesy of Goodreads)

PROSE

The Name of the Star - Maureen Johnson

YA ghost story about a southern high school girl who travels to the UK for school. I finally read this book in the spirit of Halloween. Overall, I would say this book was just okay. If I had to rate it, I'd give it 2.5-2.75 (just between "okay" and "I liked it"). My biggest quarrel was the protagonist, Rory- she wasn't all that compelling. Not a bad book though. I may read the sequel, but I'm not rushing to go out and do so any time soon.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads




Kira-Kira - Cynthia Kadohata

Love, love, love this book- one of those "where was this book when I was younger" experiences. Cynthia Kadohata is becoming one of my all-time favorite authors. She writes amazing literature for the young that even adults as myself (and I say "adults" lightly) can appreciate. Kira-kira is about a young Japanese girl and her relationship with her sister. It reminded me so much of my childhood relationship with my older sister and hit really close to home.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads




Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures - Kate DiCamillo

Flora and Ulysses is about young comic-enthusiast who stumbles upon a super-squirrel (a squirrel with super powers). I came across this book on the longlist for the National Book Award for Young People's Lit. It was cute. It has drawings. I would've greatly enjoyed this as a child.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads






The Halloween Tree - Ray Bradbury

Fun Halloween read by the same author of Fahrenheit 451. Spooky writing, unique story. I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a Halloween read that isn't just Stephen King and the like.


Links: Amazon | Goodreads






Allegiant - Veronica Roth

There's a lot of love and hate on Veronica Roth's Divergent Trilogy. I, personally, fall in neither category. I find this series incredibly enjoyable but not without its fair amount of faults. However, that aside, I think it was a decent ending to the trilogy. I'm still unsure how I feel about the end of this book, but as a final book overall, I think it did a decent job. And I must admit I'm sad to see it end.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads

GRAPHIC NOVELS/COMICS

Y: The Last Man (Vol. 5 - Vol. 7) - Brian K. Vaughan

Pretty great dystopian comic series about the last man in the world. I would definitely recommend this. Warning though: there is adult content within- so if you are wary of that sort of thing, I wouldn't suggest this.
3 more volumes until the end!

Links: Amazon | Goodreads



Boxers & Saints - Gene Luen Yang

American Born Chinese (Yang) is one of my favorite graphic novels that I read this year. I came across this set on the longlist for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. Now, it is one of the finalists, and certainly deserves that spot. I won't say too much more than that I really enjoyed it.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads



Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun (Vol. 4 - Vol. 9) - Robico

I'm really becoming addicted to this manga series. Volume 6 was my favorite of the bunch. I'm enjoying the addition of new characters.

Links: Goodreads








Well, that wraps up this monthly reading update. It's been a fun month and, as usual, I look forward to the next one.


Read anything good this month?
Read anything good last month or the one before or the one before that?
Shout it out. I'm always all ears when it comes to book recommendations.