Half Way Through

The Lightening Thief – Rick Riordan. Good, but not great, frankly. What am I missing here? Am I the only person who didn’t adore them?

 

 

 

Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter – Phoebe Damrosch Fun and interesting, if a bit long.

 

 

 

Firegirl – Tony Abbott Nice quick read with a good message.

 

 

 

Gluten-Free Girl: How I Found the Food that Loves Me Back . . . And How You Can Too – Shauna James Ahern. The one thing I remember from this book: she talks major smack about her parents for their eating habits.

 

 

 

The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears at the World’s Most Famous Cooking School – Kathleen Flinn This and the “Service Included” book sort of run together for me.

 

 

 

Slam – Nick Hornby I liked it, but not enough to read anything else by him yet.

 

 

 

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close – Jonathan Safran Foer. Oh, do I harbor animosity towards this book or what?

 

 

 

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter – Kim Edwards Meh. Don’t waste your time.

 

 

 

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian – Sherman Alexie An anonymous commenter told me I lived under a rock for thinking there were crass parts in here. Whatev.

 

 

 

 

Because of Winn-Dixie – Kate DiCamillo Disappointing and forgettable.

 

 

 

Coraline – Neil Gaiman Weird. And weird. But what do you expect from this man?

 

 

 

A Great and Terrible Beauty – Libba Bray I read a review that said “not great, not beautiful. Just terrible.” And you know what? They were right.

 

 

 

The Boy I Loved Before – Jenny Colgan Clever enough but a bit graphic.

 

 

 

Charlotte’s Web – E.B. White Classic, but not quite as classic as I’d remembered. This makes me sad.

 

 

 

When Zachary Beaver Came to Town – Kimberly Willis Holt So pointless. Fat boy comes to town. Who cares? I was so angry at myself for being sad at the end.

 

 

 

The Design of Everyday Things – Donald Norman A cool book about things you’d never thought of, like why the telephone keys are the opposite of the 10-key pad.

 

 

 

Tantalize – Cynthia Leitich Smith Makes Twilight look like the Great American Novel.

 

 

 

Hatchet – Gary Paulsen I want to like Gary Paulsen but frankly, people lost in the wilds of Canada don’t thrill me. Neither do attacking moose. I know. What’s wrong with me?

 

 

 

Missing May – Cynthia Rylant The longest two CDs of my life.

 

 

 

Holes – Louis Sachar Always great. If you haven’t read it, do. Three times through it and I still love it.

 

 

 

Th1rteen R3asons Why – Jay Asher Still thinking about this five months later.

 

 

 

Esperanza Rising – Pam Munoz Ryan Meh. Not bad, not great. Read this instead of the book.

 

 

 

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything in Italy, India, and Indonesia – Elizabeth Gilbert Don’t even get me started.

 

 

 

The Moon, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things – Carolyn Mackler I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Because, yeah, the title doesn’t exactly suggest greatness.

 

P.S. I Love You – Ceclia Ahern Not bad.

 

 

 

The Cay – Theodore Taylor It was better when my mom read it to us 12 years ago.

 

 

 

The Invention of Hugo Cabret – Brian Selznick You haven’t read this yet? Go, now!

 

 

 

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac – Gabrielle Zevin Really enjoyed this one. Better than Elsewhere.

 

 

 

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry – Mildred D. Taylor A classic. Read it and be a better person.

 

 

 

Book of a Thousand Days – Shannon Hale Okay, but not as great as her other stuff.

 

 

 

The Red Tent – Anita Diamant This book couldn’t decide if it was awesome and gripping or dull and wordy. So it did both.

 

 

 

Jane Austen in Scarsdale: Or Love, Death, and the SATs – Paula Marantz Cohen A nice fluffy retelling of Persuasion.

 

 

 

The Wednesday Wars – Gary D. Schmidt So good. Why have I not written about this book?

 

 

 

Speak – Laurie Halse Anderson Still haven’t decided how I felt about this book.

 

 

 

The Other Boleyn Girl – Philippa Gregory A really great book, but not great enough to read the sequels, apparently. Someday.

 

 

 

The Return of Jonah Gray – Heather Cochran Eh, not amazing. It’s hard to be a chick lit book with only two pages of sappy romance. Come on!

 

 

 

The Little Lady Agency and the Prince – Hester Browne I liked it until I thought about it more and decided it was a sell-out. Pshah.

 

 

 

Click – Ten Authors Started out strong but was almost not worth finishing.

 

 

 

 

Bridge to Terabithia – Katherine Paterson Amazing.

 

 

 

 

Beowulf: A New Telling – Robert Nye I didn’t even know the story of Beowulf, so I thought it was interesting.

 

 

 

Lawn Boy – Gary Paulson Weird. Like REALLY weird.

 

 

 

One-Handed Catch – M.J. Auch Good but not memorable. Based on the author’s husband who did lose his hand in a meat grinder.

 

 

 

A Wrinkle in Time – Madeline L’Engle Not nearly as good the second time around.

 

 

 

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party – M.T. Anderson Should have just quit.

 

 

 

The Devil’s Arithmetic – Jane Yolen A decent Holocaust story, but there are certainly a gazillion better ones.

 

 

 

Angus, Thongs, and Full-frontal Snogging – Louise Rennison I’m ashamed at how much I laughed while listening to this silly teenage book. Made me miss London.

 

 

 

Remember Me? – Sophie Kinsella A little crass, but I liked the storyline a lot.

 

 

 

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis Hmm, not really such a fan, I realized.

 

 

 

A Wind in the Door – Madeleine L’Engle I can hardly remember this book except that I didn’t really love it.

 

 

 

Chasing Vermeer – Blue Balliett NOT the da Vinci Code for kids. Alas.

 

 

 

 

On the Bright Side, I’m Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God – Louise Rennison Also hilarious.

 

 

 

The House of the Scorpion – Nancy Farmer Rave, rave, very good.

 

 

 

Certain Girls – Jennifer Weiner Ugh, and I’m done with Jennifer Weiner.

 

 

 

The Book Thief – Markus Zusak I’m ready to read this again. It was THAT good.

 

 

 

Stargirl – Jerry Spinelli Love. Even though some of you don’t.

 

The Market – J.M. Steele Fun, quick.

 

The Taker – J.M. Steele Maybe better than The Market. Better ending, for sure.

 

1. 1. Nothing But the Truth – Avi I sort of wanted to slap the main character for being such a fool.

 

1. 1. Just Ella – Margaret Peterson Haddix Skip this. Read Ella Enchanted instead.

 

1. 1. Love, Stargirl – Jerry Spinelli Not as good as Stargirl, but definitely excellent. I need a third book where they freaking get together, though.

 

1. 1. Up All Night – Peter Abrahams, Libba Bray, David Levithan, Sarah Weeks, Gene Yang, Patricia McCormick A lousy collection of short stories.

 

1. 1. The Bronze Bow – Elizabeth George Speare Right up there in the top books of the year for me so far. I may have cried during the last few tracks. But I may not have. Fine, I did.

 

1. 1. Shadow of a Bull – Maia Wojciechowska. Snore. . . .

 

1. 1. Smiles to Go – Jerry Spinelli Cemented my love for Spinelli. That man can write. I swear he sees right into the teenage human soul.

 

1. 1. The Slave Dancer – Paula Fox Not as bad as Shadow of the Bull, but holy crap, long and dull.

 

1. 1. Love the One You’re With – Emily Griffin Great, like all her books, although not QUITE as great as some of the others.

 

1. 1. 100 Days and 99 Nights – Alan Madison Cute, but very young.

 

1. 1. The Thief Lord – Cornelia Funke Amazing audiobook. Bart and I both loved it.

 

1. 1. Cicada Summer – Andrea Beaty Quite good, but I don’t think it’s the Newbery candidate some have tagged it for.

 

1. 1. The Host – Stephenie Meyer Better writing and plot than Twilight, but not quite as addicting and also. . . no major conflict/climax. What?

 

1. 1. Everything is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder – David Weinberger Read this. See the world differently. Amen.

 

1. 1. When it Happens – Susan Colasanti Not worth reading.

 

1. 1. Kira Kira – Cynthia Kadohata Would have been better at half the length.

 

1. 1. Good Enough – Paula Yoo So very average.

 

1. The Magic Half – Annie Barrows Cute, fun, and clever.