Monday Love: Inaugural Edition

Welcome to summer, everyone!  Today was my first weekday post-schoolyear (sorry to my kiddos and colleagues who still have a few weeks of testing left; being part-time and a sub has its perks) and I'm adjusting to the freedom with a few changes:

--I've changed my writing schedule from 300 words a day, six days a week to 750 words a day, weekdays only.  Trying to get more done while also leaving weekends free to enjoy Mr. S's rare moments away from the office.

--I'm adding in a daily run (well, "run"--right now, there's a lot of walking mixed in.)  After a session at the gym we just joined, I mentioned to my husband that many of my writer friends are also big-time runners, running the equivalent of several marathons each month.  He said, "You could run one marathon in a month," and a lightbulb went off.  So, by the end of June, my goal is to walk/jog 26.2 miles.  Right now, I can jog for about a minute without stopping to walk (pretty pitiful), but I can only start where I am.  By the end of the month, I'm sure I'll see improvement.  Next month: 52.4!  (Thanks for the inspiration, Katy and other runners!)

--And, most relevant here, I'll be changing up my blogging schedule.  My reviews will now go up on Mondays--Monday Love instead of Sunday Sunshine!  I'm going to be participating in What's Up Wednesdays/Ready. Set. Write! on Wednesdays, and who knows?  Maybe something on Fridays, if the spirit moves me.

So--here's What I Read This Week:

 False Sight by Dan Krokos
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a free advance copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Holy geez, this is one heck of a second book! It was full of all the action and plot twists that I enjoyed in the first book, but this time around, I was more invested in the characters, so the stakes felt higher for that reason alone. On top of that, new information about Miranda and her friends raises the stakes by a factor of infinity. This is a much bigger story than the first book.

Where False Memory started with Miranda just trying to find out who she is, this one starts with Miranda and the other Roses actually living a relatively normal life. Seeing them in high school, going to dances, dealing with bullies, makes it much more poignant when their world is torn apart and they must contemplate losing everything they've hoped for.

I thought Miranda, in particular, developed as a character over the course of this book. I also liked getting to know the others better, especially Noah. The new plot elements that were introduced were totally unexpected, and while I was a little skeptical at first, I wound up really getting into them.

After reading this, I'm even more excited to recommend this series. I really enjoyed this installment and can't wait to see what happens next!



Taken by Erin Bowman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Are you in a reading slump? Looking for a book packed with twists and featuring that most elusive of beings, the male YA narrator? Try Taken by Erin Bowman! It worked for me!

Ok, sorry for the cheesy opening, but I know this book has been a slumpbuster for at least one of my friends and it did the same for me. I couldn't settle on something to read, and then I started reading Taken and was sucked in immediately. It's the kind of book where you sit down and before you know it, you're 70 pages in and you've forgotten to get the laundry out of the dryer (oops!) Erin Bowman has created a fascinating world--or rather, she's created worlds upon worlds, because as soon as you think you understand the world, you're rocked by another surprise. There's enough going on that while I may have guessed one or two of the small twists, I was surprised much more often.

In the small community of Claysoot, the boys all disappear at midnight when they turn eighteen. When Gray's brother is "Heisted", he feels lost. A newly developing relationship and a cryptic note from his dead mother push him to look for answers beyond the simple truths he has always known, and lead him into a world he never imagined. Gray's adventure is harrowing, full of deceit and struggles.

I'm already eager to see what happens next--this feels like a world that could be explored for quite a while without exhausting its mysteries.

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