Enjoying YA Books - Page 3

phenomshel · 12-17-2010, 01:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by laughingdragons

Another series I forgot to mention is the Morganville Vampires

I like all of Rachel Caine's series.

marshies · 01-05-2011, 08:39 PM

I just finished Ender's Game and absolutely love it. If I could only live in YA land forever. Adult classics are so much harder to flip through than young-adult adventures.

mykee98 · 01-07-2011, 11:10 PM

I have to suggest The Compound by S. A. Bodeen. My daughter was reading it in school, a chapter a day. She wanted to know what was going to happen so we rushed to several book stores looking for it (after a few days of class). We got a pb copy at borders and she finished it faster than I have ever seen her finish a book. She could not stop talking about it and wanted me to read it. Great story/writing for a YA book. I would highly recommend it for a "quick" read. I dl'd the audio book from library and listened on the way to work for a few days, then read the remaining chapters from the book because i was dying to know what happened!!!!

DuaneAA · 01-08-2011, 07:47 PM

I have been exploring the YA audiobooks at the library recently since I think I have listened to every adult audiobook they have that I find remotely interesting. At the moment I am in the middle of listening to 'Being Nikki' by Meg Cabot. As soon as I started, it was obvious this wasn't the first in the series. But I was enjoying it enough that I went to Amazon and discovered it was the second book and the first book is 'Airhead'. Since the library didn't seem to have that one, I got it from Amazon to read on my Kindle. I think this is the first time I have ever been in the middle of two books from the same series at the same time with the second book set about two months after the events in first one.

As a guy whose tastes lean mostly towards sci-fi, I liked the bizarre premise of this series: a brainy, geeky high school girl dies in a freak accident at the same time as a 17-year-old supermodel dies of a brain aneurysm. Since the supermodel is a key spokesperson for this giant corporation, they secretly transplant the geeky girl's brain into the supermodel and then blackmail her to keep the transfer a secret. It works surprisingly well as a 'fish out of water' story where the geeky girl learns the supermodel's life isn't a bed of roses. A fun lightweight story. I have found myself laughing out loud a number of times. It is interesting enough, I may try to interest my sister in reading it using the new Kindle 'loan' feature.

Duane

inkyness · 01-08-2011, 11:27 PM

DuaneAA: "Airhead" sounds fun, I think I'll try it.

My young adult book recommendations:

- Philip Pullman's books (His Dark Materials trilogy and Sally Lockhart books)

- Sabriel by Garth Nix (and the next books in the series, Lirael and Abhorsen)

- Tithe by Holly Black (and its sequel, Ironside)

- Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

- Blackbringer by Laini Taylor

- The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

- Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (Only read half of this so far, but it seems entertaining and refreshingly well-written compared to similar books I've seen.)

Exer · 02-02-2011, 05:36 PM

Me and the lady just finished a week long YA journey, and loved every second of it. We read the Hunger Games trilogy, and the first two of the Maze Runner trilogy. Great books, just a shame that the James Dashner books were so short, but then again I guess since it was YA it can't exactly be dictionary thick.

Definitely going to be exploring more of the YA category.

Belle2Be · 02-02-2011, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marshies

I just finished Ender's Game and absolutely love it. If I could only live in YA land forever. Adult classics are so much harder to flip through than young-adult adventures.

Why can't you?

jhempel24 · 02-03-2011, 12:15 AM

Glad to hear you enjoyed the Maze Runner series, I've got the first two books as well, just haven't flipped through them yet. Also have the first in the Hunger Games series, but finished up Battle Royale not too long ago so am waiting to start that as they are similar

jessicalynn · 02-10-2011, 01:01 AM

I recently read Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder. A friend who shares the same taste in books as I do recommended it to me awhile ago but I initially shied away from it when I saw it was a YA book. However I realized it was kind of silly not to read a book because it's YA so I took the plunge! The book was very enjoyable, I would recommend it to people that like fantasy.

Exer · 02-10-2011, 02:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jessicalynn

I initially shied away from it when I saw it was a YA book. However I realized it was kind of silly not to read a book because it's YA so I took the plunge!

I had the same problem. I had this mental bias against "YA" titles. I guess I just had this feeling that only teenagers should be enjoying them -- but then I realized that Young Adult doesn't necessarily mean only for young adults, but usually means about young adults. The cast of characters are usually teenagers, and as many times as I've read Enders Game, I should have known I didn't mind a story about kids.

Some of these Young Adult novels have been the best stories I've read in years.

Just finished another one called A Crack In The Sky that seems written about a future we could be headed towards.

yakuzaboss · 02-10-2011, 10:40 AM

I read John Marsden's 'Tomorrow Series' earlier this year and I loved it. And just recently I finished Scott Westerfeld's 'Midnighter Series' which I equally enjoyed.

bill_mchale · 02-10-2011, 11:14 AM

Ok, I think there are a lot of really good YA books out there. That being said, Enders Game is not a Young Adult book.

While Young Adult Books usually feature younger characters (say between 13-20), that doesn't mean that every book that features a younger character is a young adult novel. Enders Game doesn't I think really fit in any of the usual tropes for YA literature. The main character is essentially turned into a monster by the people who hope to use him to save themselves.

--
Bill

CJ Archer · 02-10-2011, 07:07 PM

I've recently discovered YA books too and I love the adventure in them. I'm giving the whole vampire thing a wide berth though. Not my thing.

Exer · 02-10-2011, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

Ok, I think there are a lot of really good YA books out there. That being said, Enders Game is not a Young Adult book.

While Young Adult Books usually feature younger characters (say between 13-20), that doesn't mean that every book that features a younger character is a young adult novel. Enders Game doesn't I think really fit in any of the usual tropes for YA literature. The main character is essentially turned into a monster by the people who hope to use him to save themselves.

--
Bill

I was simply using that as a personal example of why I should have realized I wouldn't mind reading stories with children as the main characters.

Anke Wehner · 02-12-2011, 08:18 AM

I liked Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy (even if the plot hooks for the sequel were a bit obvious). The second book was rather meh, though. I traded it away. (The titular character is a sixgun-toting undead sorcerer detective.)

The Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud I enjoyed very much. (The titular character is a demon, and an entertainingly snarky first person narrtor for part of the book.)

And Terry Pratchett's The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents is one of my favourite books over all. I think it realy got me at the point where it introduced a character with, "People [...] listened to Darktan because he was often telling you things you really, really needed to know if you wanted to go on living. He was big, and lean, and tough, and spent most of his time taking traps apart to see how they worked." That last bit is just a wonderful habit for a rat to have.

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01-05-2011, 08:39 PM	#32
marshies Enthusiast Posts: 28 Karma: 17926 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Sony PRS650	I just finished Ender's Game and absolutely love it. If I could only live in YA land forever. Adult classics are so much harder to flip through than young-adult adventures.

01-07-2011, 11:10 PM	#33
mykee98 Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 80 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Nook	I have to suggest The Compound by S. A. Bodeen. My daughter was reading it in school, a chapter a day. She wanted to know what was going to happen so we rushed to several book stores looking for it (after a few days of class). We got a pb copy at borders and she finished it faster than I have ever seen her finish a book. She could not stop talking about it and wanted me to read it. Great story/writing for a YA book. I would highly recommend it for a "quick" read. I dl'd the audio book from library and listened on the way to work for a few days, then read the remaining chapters from the book because i was dying to know what happened!!!!

01-08-2011, 07:47 PM	#34
DuaneAA Connoisseur Posts: 95 Karma: 1139736 Join Date: May 2006 Location: Minnesota Device: Samsung Galaxy Note 3 & Kindle Fire HDX	I have been exploring the YA audiobooks at the library recently since I think I have listened to every adult audiobook they have that I find remotely interesting. At the moment I am in the middle of listening to 'Being Nikki' by Meg Cabot. As soon as I started, it was obvious this wasn't the first in the series. But I was enjoying it enough that I went to Amazon and discovered it was the second book and the first book is 'Airhead'. Since the library didn't seem to have that one, I got it from Amazon to read on my Kindle. I think this is the first time I have ever been in the middle of two books from the same series at the same time with the second book set about two months after the events in first one. As a guy whose tastes lean mostly towards sci-fi, I liked the bizarre premise of this series: a brainy, geeky high school girl dies in a freak accident at the same time as a 17-year-old supermodel dies of a brain aneurysm. Since the supermodel is a key spokesperson for this giant corporation, they secretly transplant the geeky girl's brain into the supermodel and then blackmail her to keep the transfer a secret. It works surprisingly well as a 'fish out of water' story where the geeky girl learns the supermodel's life isn't a bed of roses. A fun lightweight story. I have found myself laughing out loud a number of times. It is interesting enough, I may try to interest my sister in reading it using the new Kindle 'loan' feature. Duane

01-08-2011, 11:27 PM	#35
inkyness Enthusiast Posts: 40 Karma: 501252 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: Nook Simple Touch	DuaneAA: "Airhead" sounds fun, I think I'll try it. My young adult book recommendations: - Philip Pullman's books (His Dark Materials trilogy and Sally Lockhart books) - Sabriel by Garth Nix (and the next books in the series, Lirael and Abhorsen) - Tithe by Holly Black (and its sequel, Ironside) - Inkheart by Cornelia Funke - Blackbringer by Laini Taylor - The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett - Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (Only read half of this so far, but it seems entertaining and refreshingly well-written compared to similar books I've seen.)

02-02-2011, 05:36 PM	#36
Exer I see Russia! Posts: 205 Karma: 234787 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Alaska Device: Etch-A-Sketch	Me and the lady just finished a week long YA journey, and loved every second of it. We read the Hunger Games trilogy, and the first two of the Maze Runner trilogy. Great books, just a shame that the James Dashner books were so short, but then again I guess since it was YA it can't exactly be dictionary thick. Definitely going to be exploring more of the YA category.

02-03-2011, 12:15 AM	#38
jhempel24 Wizard Posts: 2,157 Karma: 7068605 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, B&N Nook Colro	Glad to hear you enjoyed the Maze Runner series, I've got the first two books as well, just haven't flipped through them yet. Also have the first in the Hunger Games series, but finished up Battle Royale not too long ago so am waiting to start that as they are similar

02-10-2011, 01:01 AM	#39
jessicalynn Zealot Posts: 131 Karma: 10099 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Nook First Gen (broken), iPad, Kindle Touch SO	I recently read Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder. A friend who shares the same taste in books as I do recommended it to me awhile ago but I initially shied away from it when I saw it was a YA book. However I realized it was kind of silly not to read a book because it's YA so I took the plunge! The book was very enjoyable, I would recommend it to people that like fantasy.

02-10-2011, 10:40 AM	#41
yakuzaboss Groupie Posts: 171 Karma: 58 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Richmond, BC Device: Sony PRS-650	I read John Marsden's 'Tomorrow Series' earlier this year and I loved it. And just recently I finished Scott Westerfeld's 'Midnighter Series' which I equally enjoyed.

02-10-2011, 11:14 AM	#42
bill_mchale Wizard Posts: 1,451 Karma: 1550000 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Maryland, USA Device: Nook Simple Touch, HPC Evo 4G LTE	Ok, I think there are a lot of really good YA books out there. That being said, Enders Game is not a Young Adult book. While Young Adult Books usually feature younger characters (say between 13-20), that doesn't mean that every book that features a younger character is a young adult novel. Enders Game doesn't I think really fit in any of the usual tropes for YA literature. The main character is essentially turned into a monster by the people who hope to use him to save themselves. -- Bill

02-10-2011, 07:07 PM	#43
CJ Archer Chocaholic Posts: 26 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Australia Device: Sony	I've recently discovered YA books too and I love the adventure in them. I'm giving the whole vampire thing a wide berth though. Not my thing.

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02-12-2011, 08:18 AM	#45
Anke Wehner Addict Posts: 249 Karma: 177956 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Germany Device: PRS-650	I liked Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy (even if the plot hooks for the sequel were a bit obvious). The second book was rather meh, though. I traded it away. (The titular character is a sixgun-toting undead sorcerer detective.) The Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud I enjoyed very much. (The titular character is a demon, and an entertainingly snarky first person narrtor for part of the book.) And Terry Pratchett's The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents is one of my favourite books over all. I think it realy got me at the point where it introduced a character with, "People [...] listened to Darktan because he was often telling you things you really, really needed to know if you wanted to go on living. He was big, and lean, and tough, and spent most of his time taking traps apart to see how they worked." That last bit is just a wonderful habit for a rat to have.