Two Book Tuesday

It's been rather a long while since my last Two Book Tuesday post.  A fact, for which, I am sorry, but I let both work and school distract me from this blog and am now working to remedy that failure.  While I haven't been posting, I have continued reading and rediscovering the joy of having a book in my hands, turning the pages and wanting to make notes about each new story.  So, let's get this post started!

I am currently reading The Sky Below by Stacy D'Erasmo, an interesting piece of literature that follows the life of one Gabriel Collins, who writes obituaries for a "ratty paper in lower Manhattan."  Honestly, I can't stand Gabriel.  He is exactly as the author has written him, a drug-dealing thief who manipulates those around him for his own gain.  However, his life story is a pretty compelling one and, as much as I dislike Gabriel, I can't stop reading.

 

As for my second book in this post: Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee is a story I have wanted to read since I came across a review for it in a professional library journal and decided to purchase it for my library's collection.  It is a super terrific sounding tale of a girl who is trying to find her way in a world full of superpowers, heroes, and villains.  Along the way, she gets the chance to be closer to her crush, Abby, takes a job interning for a supervillain to spite her superhero parents, and discover that maybe she has more power than she originally thought. 

Seriously, I can NOT wait to start reading this book!  It was ridiculously cool to meet the author at the 2017 Romantic Times Book Convention in Atlanta this year and to have her sign my book.  I can admit to feeling a little awestruck to meet C.B. Lee, she is super sweet and was giving away the best buttons at her signing table!

Two Book Tuesday

There are a number of upcoming releases that I am super excited to read, but seeing as I've called it "Two Book Tuesday," I will limit myself to just two books from entirely different collections... all the while wondering just what titles you are looking forward to this Autumn?

The first title is Lizard Radio and it is a young adult science fiction novel written by Pat Schmatz. What I noticed first about this title is the cover and if the novel is half as good as the cover then this should prove to be quite an interesting read.

Having just finished reading Static by L.A. Witt, I was surprised to see another title with a main character who does not fit the mainstream image of a single-gendered person. Kivali, the fifteen-year-old protagonist of Lizard Radio has grown up in a gender-rigid world that doesn't accept her status as a "bender." Abandoned as a baby, she doesn't know where she came from or what she is, but she does have a special gift... Kivali is able to enter a trance-like state to harness the "knowings" inside her. Just what are these "knowings" and how do they help Kivali in this coming-of-age story? Well, I guess we will have to read this book and find out!



The second book that I am excited to see is a picture book written by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers (who may be a new favorite illustrator of mine). The Day the Crayons Came Home is a companion to the insanely popular The Day the Crayons Quit! and is sure to be just as popular with children and parents as the first book.

In this beautifully illustrated picture book, Duncan is about to take on the task of rescuing crayons from beneath sofa cushions and inside of socks. This is a story about finding friends in the unlikeliest of places, surviving the tough times in life, and coming home (to the crayon box).

Two Book Tuesday

I do have two titles for Two Book Tuesday this week.  My favorite thing about this week is how odd the two books are, lol.

First, we have a book that I desperately wanted to find and read.  Sadly, I couldn't remember the title or author, and I barely remembered the cover art and general premise of the story.  Emily B., a co-worker of mine, was kind enough to help me dig through the depths of the internet until we found it!  So, the first book for Two Book Tuesday is The Cure by Sonia Levitin.

A strange mixture of science-fiction, dystopian fiction, and historical fiction, I first read The Cure when we lived in Baltimore, MD.  If you are a fan of the recently-popular Divergent series, then The Cure is right up your alley with "factions" and forced conformity into these factions.  Deviants are criminals with only two options: to die and be recycled or to accept a mysterious cure that is supposed to bring them back into the fold.

Gemm, a deviant and the main character of the story, chooses to take the cure and suddenly finds himself living the live of a 16-year-old Jewish musician in 1348 at the beginning of the Black Death.  As a young reader, this book was such a great experience that is has stayed with me over a decade later and is a title that I re-read every few years.

The absolute terrible part of this whole search process is that the library no longer owns this title and I need to look elsewhere if I decide that I want to read it, which I do.  I cannot put into words the sense of betrayal I felt that this book was no longer available at my library.  I have to wonder if this is how most patrons feel when we go through a period of healthy weeding of our collections.

And the second book I have for you this week is Beauty written by Hubert, with art by Kerascoët.

Apparently, I placed an Inter-Library Loan request for this title a few weeks ago and it finally arrived...  The strange thing is that I don't remember anything about the request or the book itself!  So, I find myself with the opportunity to read a pretty great looking graphic novel that I may not have otherwise picked up.

I'll let you know how it is.  :)

Two Book Tuesday

A book that I am reading... "The Wisdom of the Shire: A Short Guide To A Long and Happy Life" by Noble Smith.

I've just finished chapter one, "How Snug Is Your Hobbit-hole?" and the main idea that came out of this chapter is the sense of home that a person can have, not necessarily in a place, but in an idea or memory of that perfect, safe environment that they consider home.

A book that I want to read in the future... "The Captain's Table: Fire Ship" by Diane Carey.

This is one of my all-time favorite science-fiction novels. Interestingly, it is published fanfiction (more on this at a later date) about the television show Star Trek: Voyager.  It is my favorite out of all the different Star Trek series and movies.

Originally, I read this book as a young teenager of perhaps twelve or thirteen years of age and it remains to this day the only title that I have ever had to skip to the end just so that I could be reassured of a happy ending. Fire Ship follows Captain Kathryn Janeway as she recovers from severe injuries and learns to cope with the knowledge that her ship, and friends, have been destroyed.  That she failed to bring the home, as she'd so-often promised to do.  Alone in the Delta Quadrant, aboard an alien ship, and with no other options available to her, Janeway does what she does best... She survives, takes life by the horns and comes out the other side of things the victor.

I remember crying, smiling, and feeling absolutely heartsick while reading this book and I cannot wait to start it again.  It's not often that a book has such an impact on me that I remember it even years later.

So, two books that I'm thinking about this Tuesday.  What are you reading?