I'm new to this but I'm going to jump right in. YA Highway's Wednesday Road Trip this week asks: "What was the best book you read in September?" Since school started this month, I got my built-in reading time back and I've been devouring the books that I didn't get to this summer. It's really, really hard to choose--so I'm going to have to make a list.
1) Revolution, by Jennifer Donnelly. I loved Alex and Andi, the dual protagonists, and I actually also loved the bits of history and music theory I picked up along the way. I really appreciated that it was a standalone novel--YA has gotten really series-heavy, which is great because I always want more of my favorite characters, but it can be really satisfying to read a story that actually ends at the end of the book.
2) The Ship Breaker, by Paolo Bacigalupi. I'm hearing rumors of a sequel to this book, which I would be really excited about, but it also felt like a satisfying standalone in terms of plot. What I really want is more of this world, whether or not we see more of the main characters. Information about this dystopia is dropped throughout the story like breadcrumbs, and each new piece of information is so fascinating that I want a whole story just to explain it. I want more information about the different religions, the drowned cities, and most especially about the "half-men".
3) Delirium, by Lauren Oliver. This is another dystopian world that I'm excited about. While there weren't as many tantalizing details as in The Ship Breaker, there was a great premise--what if love was seen as a disease--and science found a cure? What if you grew up learning that love was something dangerous, and the goal was simply to get children to age 18--the age at which the surgical cure can safely be administered--without falling in love?
4) The Luxe, by Anna Godberson. I know everyone compares this series to Gossip Girl, which is justified in a kind of macro sense, but IMHO, it is much better-written. Much. (I'm thinking about addressing my issues with both Gossip Girl and Vixen, which was also similar, in another post, so I won't do too much bashing here.) The point is, it's romantic, it's suspenseful, it's clever, and the third-person limited shifting narration does a great job of letting us into each character's head in turn. Plus, I'm a sucker for period society dramas, with all their rules just waiting to be broken...and, the clothes. I worked in our theater's costume shop in college (Best. Workstudy. Ever.) so I at least have some idea of what the various detailed descriptions of fabric, cut, and color actually mean. And I love it. And I am jealous of it. Suffice it to say, with about a hundred and fifty pages left last night, I marched out to the bookstore and grabbed all three sequels off the shelf because I knew I wouldn't be able to wait to read them. I was right--I made a sizable dent in the sequel, Rumors, on the way home today.
So, those were the best books I've read this month. And yes--I did read a few books this month that didn't make the cut, so consider yourself lucky!
