Reading Roundup: April and May 2019

I'm a month behind again, but better late than never, right? Read on for my readlist (a term I'm totally trademarking)!

April

1. PAPER CHAINS by Elaine Vickers A thoughtful MG contemporary about family and friendship. I especially liked the hockey angle and the fact that Katie was adopted. As an adopted kid myself, I think we may be an underrepresented demographic in children's literature.

2. THE GLASS SPARE by Lauren DeStefano An adventurous YA fantasy with a super intriguing concept, this book stars Wil Heidle, a princess whose touch turns living things into gemstones. Sometimes I thought the plot took a backseat to Wil's relationship with an equally cursed prince, so if you don't like your fantasy with a healthy dose of romance, this might be one to skip.

3. FAME, FATE, AND THE FIRST KISS by Kasie West Ms. West always gets an automatic read from me, and this book might just be my new favorite of hers. I loved spending time on the set of a campy book-to-film adaptation of a best-selling vampire romance, and I also loved that Lacey's love interest turned out NOT to be her costar.

4. INTERNMENT by Samira Ahmed This near-future YA contemporary imagines a world in which our government has rounded up Muslim Americans for no other reason than that they're Muslim American and incarcerated them in so-called relocation camps. I'd really, really like to think we as Americans learned our lesson when we did this very thing to Japanese Americans in the 1940s, but if anti-Semitism is on the rise in Germany, I guess anything's possible.

5. KING OF SCARS by Leigh Bardugo I read SHADOW AND BONE years ago and never made it past that book. Then I picked up SIX OF CROWS and was completely blown away. KING OF SCARS, in my opinion, was somewhere between the two--not as intricately plotted as SIX OF CROWS and its sequel, though the writing was pretty great. I got the impression as I was reading KING OF SCARS that the main characters were reprising roles from the Shadow and Bone trilogy, and when I looked it up after the fact, that appears to be the case. That said, I didn't have a problem following the action even though I never read SHADOW AND BONE's sequels.

6. THE LAST VOYAGE OF POE BLYTHE by Ally Condie The first chapter of this book really took me by surprise, and then the rest of the book also kept me on my toes. I never knew where it was headed, which definitely kept me turning pages. The setting, a mining ship, was also super interesting.

7. THE GILDED WOLVES by Roshani Chokshi Set during the Roaring Twenties, this YA historical fantasy is definitely my new favorite of Ms. Chokshi's. The plot was multilayered, the characters leaped off the page, and the rich historical setting was a character unto itself.

8. THE CURSED SEA by Lauren DeStefano A fitting sequel to THE GLASS SPARE. I especially liked how Ms. DeStefano allowed the relationships between her characters to drive the story's conflict.

May

9. THE LIGHT OVER LONDON by Julia Kelly I'm a sucker for World War II epics, and I particularly enjoyed this one. Though they took some time to get to, my favorite scenes involved Louise and her anti-aircraft unit. The guns they set up around London to take down the Luftwaffe were manned in large part by women. They required a whole team to operate--spotters, calculators, and, like, coordinate inputers--and though, legally, only men could fire them, women often served in every other position. Who knew?

10. CONTAGION by Erin Bowman If you've been looking for a fast-paced sci-fi thriller, look no further than CONTAGION. The first couple of chapters were a little slow, but the rest of the book more than made up for it. I flew through this one.

11. THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR by Susan Meissner Ms. Meissner is another of my go-to, must-read authors; the fact that this latest book was also a World War II epic was just the icing on the cake. I didn't enjoy this one as much as SECRETS OF A CHARMED LIFE, perhaps because I was already familiar with the plight of Japanese Americans during World War II, but it surprised me to learn a handful of German Americans also found themselves imprisoned in these relocation camps. My favorite part was the last third, in which one of the main characters was repatriated to Germany (despite being born in Iowa).

12. THE KISS OF DECEPTION by Mary E. Pearson I read Ms. Pearson's DANCE OF THIEVES a few months ago and absolutely adored it, so imagine my delight when I discovered that new series was a spin-off of The Remnant Chronicles, which started with this book. I enjoyed this one, too, though not as much as DANCE OF THIEVES. (Also, like THE GLASS SPARE, if you prefer the romantic subplots in your YA fantasies to remain subplots, this might not be the book for you.)

13. THE HEART OF BETRAYAL by Mary E. Pearson The sequel to THE KISS OF DECEPTION. I liked this one even better, as the plot was more detailed.

14. DRY by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman This YA thriller scared the living daylights out of me, as I can imagine a metropolis in the American Southwest running out of water someday. Well worth a read.

15. FUZZY MUD by Louis Sachar Not as memorable as HOLES or as wacky as SIDEWAYS STORIES, but this MG sci-fi could definitely hook reluctant readers, as it's a quick and easy read.

16. LOVELY WAR by Julie Berry This World War I epic has a most unusual frame: Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire, catches Aphrodite, his adulterous wife, red-handed and puts her and Ares, the Greek god of war, on trial in a Parisian hotel room. As a part of her defense, Aphrodite tells the stories of a pair of star-crossed couples who met during World War I. I was indifferent to the frame, but I thoroughly enjoyed the stories of our pair of star-crossed couples. In fact, I enjoyed them so much I went and bought this book after turning the library's back in.

17. CHARLIE HERNÁNDEZ AND THE LEAGUE OF SHADOWS by Ryan Calejo A fun MG adventure built around various elements of Hispanic mythology. The voice was also great. I think kid readers will really love this one.

18. MERCI SUÁREZ CHANGES GEARS by Meg Medina I really enjoyed this MG contemporary. I don't generally think of MG contemporaries as page-turners, but this one was for me. I guess that Newbery committee really does know what they're doing:)

Have you read any of these books? If so, what did you think? If not, what are you reading? Anything I need to add to the stack on my nightstand?