Crow's Rest named a Best Book for Young Adults with Dragons

The blog Epic YA compiled a list of The Best Books for Young Adults with Dragons (which made me laugh, because if you're a young adult with a dragon, how would you have time for books?) and Crow's Rest is on it (for the wyverns). The books aren't ranked, so you have to scroll down a bit to see my title, but there are some other fantastic reads listed on there so you could easily fill up your Kindle or e-reader with a bunch of them.

The list announcement was perfect timing, since Crow's Rest e-book is still on sale for $.99. Plus, I had to laugh when I got the message my book had been included, because I had already made Finn a dragon costume and was doing a photo shoot with him in it this morning.

Psst, and for those of you who have read this far, this picture of Chloe is a clue to a character we'll meet for book 3 in the series, Spellmeet.

RTW: Across December

Road Trip Wednesday is a "Blog Carnival," where YA Highway's contributors and followers post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on their blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

This week's topic: What's the best book you read in December?


I did a lot of writing this month (finished my draft of Crow's Rest, yay!) so I didn't do much reading. I did find a few steamy romance ebooks for free that fell under a "guilty pleasures" heading, but I only read one YA book in December. We actually started it on audio in November on a real-life road trip but didn't get to finish it. Bought a hardcopy with my Amazon gift card so I could find out how it ends:

Across the Universe by Beth Revis has popped up on others' RTWs in the past, but I'm glad I waited to read it. The third book in the trilogy comes out this month, so I won't have a horribly long wait to see what happens! Of course, I need to find time to read the second one before the 15th.

Feel free to put a link to your post in the comments if you played along with Road Trip Wednesday. Don't forget to go to the YA Highway post and read all the answers!

RTW: Best Book of November '12

Road Trip Wednesday is a "Blog Carnival," where YA Highway's contributors and followers post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on their blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

This week's topic: What's the best book you read in November?

I've been reading in fits and starts this month--we've had guys working on xeriscaping our yard, and after a few disasters while they were unsupervised I surrendered to the fact that I wasn't getting much writing done this month. But that meant I got to read, yay!

My pick for best book is

I actually won this in a giveaway but had been wanting to read it for some time, probably because I'd seen it on other RTWs. It has a thought-provoking concept: everyone in this world is born with two souls, and one will gradually dominate as the other withers away. Except for the main character, Eva, who is trapped with her other half, Addie, controlling their body while she waits for a chance to live again. I recommended it to my niece last weekend, and too bad she lives too far to borrow my copy!

I also wanted to mention that I signed up for alerts from Hundred Zeros, a blog listing free e-books. Along with their huge catalog, you can get a daily email with new additions--some of which are only free that day. There is the usual mixture of great books and "you get what you pay for" stinkers, but I wanted to mention one that I particularly enjoyed

There's some great banter between the MC and her ghostly companion, plus the promise of the rest of the trilogy being just as good. Only the first in the series is free (but the other two are reasonably priced) and I love it when authors do this so we can get a taste of the series. The majority of the time, I'm hooked and go on to read the other books. I'll be doing that with this one! My only pet peeve is that the MC is one of those beautiful girls who doesn't think she's beautiful--but there is some context here, as she doesn't fit in very well with the social circles she travels in as a medium.

Feel free to put a link to your post in the comments if you played along with Road Trip Wednesday. Don't forget to go to the YA Highway post and read all the answers!

RTW: Best Books of September 2012

Road Trip Wednesday is a "Blog Carnival," where YA Highway's contributors and followers post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on their blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

This week's topic: What was the best book you read in September?

 I read a few books this month, but the winner is the sequel to my July pick, Girl of Fire and Thorns:

 Definitely one of those sequels that holds up to the first, if not taking it one better. (The other book I felt like that about was Demonglass, the sequel to Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins). Crown of Embers has just enough familiar fantasy elements to make it feel cozy, but it also has such wonderful worldbuilding and characters that it treads new ground.

And I wanted to give a shoutout to a few other books I enjoyed this month:

 I picked this up at a library booksale because it looked like it might be a good comp title for my first book. It is, but it's also just a great book, with eccentric characters and awkward situations abounding.

And the other one is by a local author, Keli Gwyn:

I have a little bit of bias, obviously, because it mentions so many of our local historical landmarks. But truthfully, I was mainly buying this in support and ended up loving it. There is some great banter between the main character and the love interest, and despite this being a "clean" romance, there is plenty of tension. This is one you can recommend as a fun, historical romance without worrying if your grandma will be shocked by the content. (Mine wouldn't have been. She got a red lace thong for her 75th birthday)

So that's what I've been reading!

Feel free to put a link to your post in the comments if you played along with Road Trip Wednesday. Don't forget to go to the YA Highway post and read all the answers!

RTW: Best Book(s) of July 2012

Road Trip Wednesday is a "Blog Carnival," where YA Highway's contributors and followers post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on their blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

This week's topic: What was the best book you read in July?

I don't even fight the singular "book" any longer! I'm just going to post however many I want, since I don't do actual reviews and these posts serve as a way to rec (and find) new reads. Writing was a little lighter this month as I surged through my WIP. I've already mentioned one book, Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt, and that would otherwise top the list. So here are my other picks:

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson.
Did anyone else pick up a bunch of those $2.99 ebooks that Harper put on sale? I got about four, and this was one that sounded interesting but wasn't really on my radar. But I loved the worldbuilding, the theme of a girl finding her strengths, and the characters.

The next on is Hourglass by Myra McEntire

This one I knew about because the cover is so gorgeous, so I finally got around to reading it. Some sizzling romance, damaged characters, strange goings-on--what's not to love?

Feel free to put a link to your post in the comments if you played along with Road Trip Wednesday. Don't forget to go to the YA Highway post and read all the answers!

Wowza

So as preparation for the LA SCBWI Conference, I'm trying to read a few of the books by the workshop presenters. I checked the libraries first (because if I'm going to buy them, I'd rather buy them there and have a chance of getting them signed) and the wait lists were pretty long.

Except for an e-copy of Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt, who is doing a workshop on Layering a Character. And honestly, by the description and out of all the titles and authors, this isn't the book I would have picked--but I would absolutely been shortchanging myself.

This is an incredible book, with so much going on both internally and externally for the character, and yet it never seems to be overdone or confusing. I'll definitely be including it in my Best Books roundup at the end of this month, but you can get started on it now if you want!

Here is a video Mr. Schmidt did while talking about his book, including a line that really resonated with me today:
"The more difficult thing is to figure out how the writing can fit into the cracks of all the business of your life."

RTW: Best Book of June 2012

Road Trip Wednesday is a "Blog Carnival," where YA Highway's contributors and followers post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on their blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

This week's topic: What was the best book you read in June? 
  
I think I've missed the last few of these best book roundups, so I'd be tempted to post a bunch of titles. But I'll show some restraint and post one in each category.

First up, is middle grade, with a title that's not releasing until October:

I got a sneak peek at Behind the Bookcase for my birthday, and it was one of the best presents yet! This is exactly the kind of book I would have liked as a kid: secret passages (emphasis on the secrets), a mysterious cat, and spooky details. Enter to win your own ARC here through July 3.

And for young adult, I have to go with:

Lots of reveals in this one, so I don't want to say too much about it. In fact, picking it as a best book is enough, and I'll leave it at that!

And lastly, an adult title:

This latest title in the Parasol Protectorate series came out in March, but I didn't get around to reading it until May. I was a little wary that the series would start to go downhill (like so many have *coughSookiecough*) but I think that this title is one of the best-plotted for the series yet. Lots of fun dialogue and situations, and a great story arc.


So those are my picks this time around--what about you? Feel free to put a link to your post in the comments if you played along with Road Trip Wednesday. Don't forget to go to the YA Highway post and read all the answers!

Let Your Voice Be Heard for Best Young Adult Novels

NPR Books is now taking nominations for the 100 Best Young Adult Novels. Lists like these are always controversial because people feel their favorite book didn't get enough attention (or a disliked title got too much attention) but they are great for discovering great books you might have missed.

And I like their answer for what makes a book YA:

"The question is bound to come up: How do we define a YA novel? There are many answers. Some focus on the typically young protagonists in these books, or the themes they take up of self-discovery and the challenges of youth. Librarians typically peg the age range for young-adult readers at 12 to 18 years. In the end, though, a YA book is any book that is either marketed to or claimed by a youth audience — a circular definition, to be sure. We'll assemble a panel of writers and critics that will make any tough calls we face in the judging."

I'll be posting my nominations to their comments, but first I have to put some thought into it. They don't limit how many you nominate, but you can only comment with five at a time. Hmmm.

My first impulses would be these five titles:
1. Ender's Game
2. To Kill a Mockingbird
3. The Scorpio Races
4. Tomorrow, When the War Began series
5. Lips Touch Three Times


What about you--which YA titles do you think absolutely must be on the list?

RTW: Best Book of March 2012

(Sorry about the lame post title--woke up extra early today and wasn't feeling terribly creative.)Road Trip Wednesday is a "Blog Carnival," where YA Highway's contributors and followers post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on their blogs. You can hop from destination to destination through the YA Highway site and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

This week's topic: What was the best book you read in March?

This is another month where my reading was pretty light (partly because I had LASIK at the beginning of March and I needed to wait for my eyes to settle down) and most of the books I read were actually for our YA book club. The book club started as an offshoot of our YA crit group, and so far we've covered a mixture of books on craft and some YA novels.

Our March pick was



Story Engineering by Larry Brooks has some great information on story structure--but first you have to wade through quite a lot of throat clearing. His system uses "Six Core Competencies" and he drove me crazy by spending the first few chapters talking about why they're important and why you should pay attention. Once I skipped ahead to the part we were focusing on for our group, I found a lot of "aha!" tips, so it is worth a read. And this is one of the books in the Amazon Prime lending library, so I read the ebook for free.

I also re-read Alexandra Sokoloff's Screenwriting Tricks for Authors (my pick for our February meeting, so I blogged about it here) in preparation for the Left Coast Crime Writer's Workshop with Alex tomorrow. Will need to get up way too early to make it to Sac on time, but I'm really looking forward to it!

But you might be thinking that neither of those reviews sounds enthusiastic enough to rate a Best Book pick--and that's because I was saving the best for last! It's our pick for April's book club:



The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart is a great example of voice and has some truly funny lines for its smart, independent main character. The book description says it better than I could, so here it is:

Frankie Landau-Banks at age 14:
Debate Club.
Her father's "bunny rabbit."
A mildly geeky girl attending a highly competitive boarding school.

Frankie Landau-Banks at age 15:
A knockout figure.
A sharp tongue.
A chip on her shoulder.
And a gorgeous new senior boyfriend: the supremely goofy, word-obsessed Matthew Livingston.

Frankie Landau-Banks.
No longer the kind of girl to take "no" for an answer.
Especially when "no" means she's excluded from her boyfriend's all-male secret society.
Not when her ex-boyfriend shows up in the strangest of places.
Not when she knows she's smarter than any of them.
When she knows Matthew's lying to her.
And when there are so many, many pranks to be done.

Frankie Landau-Banks, at age 16:
Possibly a criminal mastermind.

This is the story of how she got that way.

Intrigued yet? Don't forget to go to the comments on the YA Highway RTW post to see everyone else's answers!

P.S. I made it into Cupid's Literary Connection's Surprise Agent Invasion with my query and first 250 words of Spirits from the Vasty Deep. You can read it here, but the rules are that only agents can comment on the actual post, so crits and support go here.

RTW: Best Book of February

Road Trip Wednesday is a "Blog Carnival," where YA Highway's contributors and followers post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on their blogs. You can hop from destination to destination through the YA Highway site and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

This week's topic: What was the best book you read in February?

My task is made easier this time around by the puny number of books I read this month. For good reason, though--I was reading some books on writing craft and working on outlining my WIP, Crow's Rest. So the best book I read was the fourth in the Flavia De Luce series:




If you haven't read the series, how could you resist this description from the Flavia website:

"Flavia de Luce has a passion for poisons.

Picture an ancient country house somewhere in England. The year is 1950.

Picture a girl who lives there with her most eccentric family. Her name is Flavia de Luce--and she's almost eleven.

Picture a long-abandoned Victorian chemistry lab; no one ever goes there but Flavia.

Put them all together and you'll have a deliciously original approach to detective fiction."

How could that not be intriguing???

And here's a trailer for all four books:



Happy reading, and I'll see you all on the road!

RTW: Betcha Can't Have Just One Book, and Not Want More and More

Road Trip Wednesday is a "Blog Carnival," where YA Highway's contributors and followers post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on their blogs. You can hop from destination to destination through the YA Highway site and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

This week's topic: What was the best book you read in January?

I usually start these "best book of" posts by bemoaning how hard it is to pick just one, but this time I'm going to skip that--and go straight to the cheating by picking more than one! Because they're series.

First up are Behemoth and Goliath, book 2 and 3 in Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan series:




I read Leviathan when it came out, but it ended on such a cliffhanger I decided to wait until Goliath was available to read them all together. And the sequels did not disappoint! I also want to give a shout out to his other series, Uglies.



I read all four in the trilogy (ha!) in a row, and although the third one left me a little flat, the series as a whole is outstanding: entertaining, thought provoking, relatable--all the things I love in a good book.

Another YA series I've just gotten into is Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins.



I read Hex Hall and thought it was charming but not particularly groundbreaking for the genre, but in Demon Glass the author really steps up the game. The second book is so much more layered, with both the internal and external conflicts sharing the stage.



The third book, Spell Bound, comes out in March and I'm eager to see what she has in store for Sophie.

I also read a great book for our YA Book Club, The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages.



It's set in the era of the development of the atomic bomb, and does such a good job of showing us what it was like in this place and time. For me, that's the essence of good historical fiction: it doesn't just plunk a character into another era, it brings it alive for us. There's a sequel to this one too, White Sands, Red Menace that I haven't read yet.

So what about you--what were your favorite books of January? Don't forget to go to the comments on the YA Highway RTW post to see everyone else's answers!

RTW: All My New Favorites

YA Highway often does a "best book you read" for the last Road Trip Wednesday each month, and a lot of us have trouble picking just one title!

So for today's blogfest, they want us to list our "Top Five Favorite Books of 2011" Yay, we get five whole books to list! Many of these titles will be familiar to other road trippers, because they were recommended by me or other participants in posts throughout the year. And I'm a visual person, so I'm including all the covers.

In no particular order (confession: because I couldn't decide how to rank them), here are my Top 5 Favorite YA Books of 2011






I do have a warning included for Scorpio Races in a previous post here.





So what are your top 5? Do you have any recommendations to add to my reading list for next year?

RTW: Rite of Passage Reading

I missed my Monday post this week (thought I had another auto-post queued up, oops) so I was determined to jump on Road Trip Wednesday to make up for it. And lucky me, I actually had something to say on this topic! Road Trip Wednesday is a "Blog Carnival," where YA Highway's contributors and followers post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on their blogs. You can hop from destination to destination through the YA Highway site and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

This week's topic: In high school, teens are made to read the classics - Shakespeare, Hawthorne, Bronte, Dickens - but there are a lot of books out there never taught in schools. So if you had the power to change school curriculums, which books would you be sure high school students were required to read?

I secretly enjoyed* some of the titles on our high school reading list--in fact, I'd already read most of them. I say secretly because it irked me to no end to be forced to read a book, and then discuss it at length with other students forced to read it and therefore unlikely to contribute anything beyond what the teacher wanted to hear. But the third high school I attended (which happened to be a continuation high school) let us pick from a list of books, and it actually had science fiction titles!

As to books I consider to be required reading for teens, I have two titles that I always give to my teen nieces and nephews as a sort of rite of passage. And no surprise, they're both science fiction.



I've heard from a few charter school students that Ender's Game is on their reading list, and kudos to those teachers. This book raises so many of the big questions for teens like making decisions for yourself, coming to terms with others' expectations for your life, and living with the consequences of choosing to defy or meet those expectations. As well as more everyday, relatable topics like bullying, sibling rivalry, adults that want you to act your age and are disappointed when you actually do. All this, and a fascinating world-building and action-packed plot too.

The second book that I give to teens, especially girls, at age 16 or older would never make it onto a high school reading list because of all the graphic sex. It's not gratuitous, definitely integral to the plot, but it's graphic enough that I give a copy with a warning.



You may not be able to see it in the pic, but the full title is The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Ladies Illustrated Primer, and it truly is a formative book for young ladies. On the surface, it's got some incredible, early Steampunk imaginings (I would totally be a craftsperson for the Vickies, even with the rules) and cyberpunk elements. But it also has a thread of story throughout, with girls finding their own kind of power and honor, and therefore their own paths in life.

If you haven't read this one, put it on your own required reading list! What about you--what books did you hate reading in high school, and which ones would you substitute for the required reading list? Don't forget to go to today's YA Highway post to see what everyone else had to say.


*The exception was Steinbeck; I had this weird brain hiccup in that I loved his stories, but couldn't wade through the actual writing. The Grapes of Wrath has some truly heartbreaking elements, East of Eden has such classic story conflicts, but as a teen I just couldn't get into his writing style. I've done a little better as an adult, but Travels with Charlie and Cannery Row are the only Steinbeck books I've truly enjoyed.

RTW: Best Books of September 2011

Road Trip Wednesday is a "Blog Carnival," where YA Highway's contributors and followers post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on their blogs. You can hop from destination to destination through the YA Highway site and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

This week's topic: What was the best book you read in September?

I didn't read much this month, at least not many new books. I attempted The Dead Father's Club by Matt Haig, and despite the voice being very similar to the much-enjoyed The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, DFC didn't hold my interest.

And over our vacation, I treated myself to rereads of the last two books in the Bloody Jack series by L.A. Meyer, in preparation for the release of the next one, The Mark of the Golden Dragon, on October 4. Yay! I predict that title will make an appearance in Best Books of October.



And these are arriving tomorrow, so I'll cover them in October also:




Yes, you might recognize The Replacement from so many RTWs last week--y'all talked me into finally reading it! So enough about what I haven't read this month, and let's get to the book I did read:



Some of you may have read the interview I did with author Karen Sandler back in May, well before the book release this month, so I was excited to finally read Tankborn. It lived up to my expectations, with a detailed world and society, and the spice of forbidden romance. Here's the short blurb: When best friends Kayla and Mishalla, genetically engineered slaves on the planet Loka, develop friendships with higher-status boys, they discover a shocking, evil plot that leads them all to begin to question the strict caste system of their world.

So did you read much this month? What was the best book you read in September? Don't forget to go to the YA Highway RTW post and follow the links in the comments to see everyone else's answer!

RTW: All My Favoritest Books of June

Road Trip Wednesday is a "Blog Carnival," where YA Highway's contributors and followers post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on their blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

This week's topic: (Back by popular demand!) What's the best book you've read this month?

Wait, I can only pick one?!?!? I've actually read a surprising number of books in June; surprising because I've also been doing heavy rewrites and they're usually incompatible. Either I can't turn my editor off enough to enjoy the book, or I enjoy it so much that it interferes with my character's voice (speaking of voice, check out this post from May on YA books that do an excellent job with voice).

I was going to mention Divergent by Veronica Roth, but apparently I've lost all sense of time because that came out in early May. Bought it on release date and read it in two days.




So since we didn't do a Best Book for May, I nominate that one.

For June, I'm just going to list all the books I read, since they were all good:









These Best Book RTWs are a love/hate thing for me! I love discovering all these book recs, but I hate that my to-be-read pile increases exponentially!