This month starts with Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I really liked Gone Girl (the plot-twists were awesome, and I totally didn't see one of them coming!) but I'm always a bit hesitant to recommend it because of the language. There is a lot of rough language.
In a similar recommendation-with-a-caveat, I've been listening to Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (aka The Bloggess). There have been a few chapters where I felt like she was trying a little too hard, but mostly it's been HILARIOUS. Like tears running down my face from laughing so hard while I'm driving hilarious. But she talks about vaginas an amazing number of times. So be prepared.
Another blogger whose book I love is Molly Wizenberg's Delancey. I've been waiting for this one from the library for such a long time, and it's been just as good as I thought it'd be so far. I had so much fun eating at Delancey in 2009; I just wish I'd been brave enough to talk to Molly in person when I saw her there!
I'm also impatiently waiting for the new Robert Galbraith - The Silkworm. I didn't love the first one (it was good, but not as amazing as the reviews made it sound...clearly the discovery that Galbraith is J.K. Rowling's pseudonym influenced all the hype). But I enjoyed the character of the main detective, Cormoran Strike, and I'm curious to see where the series goes.
Another hyped book, which I devoured, was Cress, the latest in the Lunar Chronicles from Marissa Meyer. I feel like it's rare for a series (especially a YA series!) to get better as it goes; but Meyer has pulled it off. I recommend going back and starting with Cinder though: because she introduces a new cast of characters in each book, and I think it might be confusing to jump in at book 3.
I also wouldn't recommend reading Blue Lily, Lily Blue right off the bat when it comes out this fall; go back and read The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves first! Maggie Stiefvater is such a fun author, and I really like the number of boys in these books - so much of YA lit is girl-driven.
When I saw Maggie at the TFOB last year she said that The Raven Boys was partly inspired by The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper. My favorite of that series is #2 - which is actually titled The Dark is Rising. It's such a great book, can't wait till my kids are old enough to read it!
So there you have it: from a dark mystery to a classic kids' book in six degrees of separation!
Do you want to play along next month? Here's how:
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