When I fell in love

at the ripe age of 42, it was a complete surprise and after reading The One I wonder about the whole possibility of a DNA match!  Or is it a Soul Mate thing?  I like to refer to this as an explanation in my case!  I know that I am every bit in love and head-over-heels giddy today as I was back then.  It might not seem like a long time, but EVERY BIT still giddy and over the moon?  That has to prove something!
But I am off topic!
The One is a good book.  I would have given it a higher rating but man...the author committed my one BIG pet peeve!  He wrote about a couple getting married a Baptist church with a crucifix outside.
Come on, man editors?
It just bugs me!
Warning though...just when you think you know what will happen to these folks, you soon find out you had it ALL wrong!
GREAT book, but man...a crucifix in a Baptist church.  Really?

SO CUTE!

Some people find the word "cute" to be demeaning, but since Meet Cute is actually titled Meet CUTE, I figure it is okay to say that the book is cute!  And wow, it is.  So many short stories but ALL were excellent.  And such diversity in the stories.  Not just in that some people love people with different body parts, etc., but there is some fantasy here, some sci fi,  and they are REALLY great!  What a super book!

Sometimes I feel like shouting, "Glory! Glory! Glory!"

that has absoultey nothing to do with Glory O'Brien's History of the Future, but her name, Glory O'Brien, of course, reminded me of the song Were You There?  And the last verse which reads, "Sometimes I feel like shouting, "Glory!  Glory!  Glory!  Were you there when He rose up from the grave?"  This version is by Marion Williams.  It doesn't end that way, but man....what a rendition.  WOW.  WOW.  WOW.
Glory O'Brien's History of the Future is a pretty "wow" kind of book.  A.S. King really has written terrific books.  I haven't read them all, but I really hope to do so next year.  I think that next year I might take an author-focused approach and also finish up my "Reading Road Trip" deal where I am trying to read a book set in each of the nifty-fifty.
Where does Glory O'Brien's History of the Future take place?  In Pennsylvania!  I think most of her books do.  Aaaannnywayyyy....I am rambling.
This book is a must for the Amelia Bloomer Project.  It is a very odd book, but odd in a good way, as in original!  It reminded me a bit of Grasshopper Jungle because that also had a main character who was writing a history, not of the future, but of the last days of Earth.  I don't know if this is sci-fi like Grasshopper Jungle and Noggin, because modern science doesn't give Glory and her friend their super powers, they come from drinking the ground-up remains of a bat.  But natural science is still science, right? So maybe? It is like GJ and Noggin though because while it definitely is paranormal, it doesn't seem way out there, it is very realistic.  Is this a new trend in YA fiction?  Paranormal fiction that is more normal?  GOHOTF also reminded me of Sure Signs of Crazy which I read just about this time last year.  Glory and Sarah both had mothers who ended their own lives and both are concerned that they will do the same.
There are just some really great characters in here.  And a very great father.  This was just such an exceptional book, even though Glory is not a very likable character and I don't think she is meant to be. Well maybe she is just like a normal person.  No one is likable all of the time.  Well, I actually do know a lot of people who are likable all the time!  Not me!  But I do know a lot of people who are!
Anyway...great, great book!  A.S. King, great, great writer.

A new state!

On my trip to Minneapolis went through a new state!  Iowa!  And so while I was there, I needed to listen to a book set in Iowa and I came across Grasshopper Jungle.  Wow!  What a find!
Somewhere I read this book as being described as one that takes on real-world problems in a Science Fiction setting.  No one could describe it any better.  This book is pretty darn wild.  Not for everyone, that is for sure.  But I did enjoy it a lot. I don't think I ever would have made it through, reading it, but listening to it was very enjoyable.
Yes, it is about the end of the world.  Yes, it is about giant, indestructible grasshoppers.  But it is so much more.  It's also about Polish immigrants.  It's also about discovering one's sexuality.  It's also about poverty.  Small towns.  Wow, it is just about a LOT of stuff!  Bizarre.  But pretty brilliant, I think.   This is my first Andrew Smith book, but I will try another one, for sure.

Getting Away from It All

When an alien wants to get away from it all, he or she or it is always welcome at the Intergalactic Bed and Breakfast.  Aliens in Disguise is the third book in this wonderful series.  I have listened all three on audio on various trips and they really make the miles pass quickly.  I truly love this series.  This guy is really funny!  David is a totally likable person and I love these books!

All 400 Pages

Yup!  In one sitting!  I have never done that with a book, but I LOVED The Shadow Society.  I loved all of it.  The main character, Darcy Jones, who was found abandoned at age five and is now discovering that she isn't exactly like all the other teens...to Conn, a mysterious dude who shows up at her high school and seems to have a particular interest in getting to know her...to Darcy's three friends, to well, just everyone!
This is totally a new and fresh and interesting book.  I guess it is fantasy or sci-fi, but one thing I know is, it was awesome!

Aliens in Atlanta

Okay so there are probably not aliens in Atlanta, but I was headed there today, and am here now, and I listened to Aliens on Vacation and I super enjoyed it!  It made the drive go very quickly and I found that I was bored at all or wishing for it to hurry up.  It didn't drag at all.  It's the story of Daniel, nicknamed Scrub, and his summer spent in Washington at his grandmother's bed and breakfast for folks from outer space.  At first he just thinks it is a place where Trekkies and the like, come for vacation, but then he realizes that the folks who stay there really are from other planets.  All of the characters in this book are great, especially Daniel, who is truly a likable, sweet and real character.  There is a little bit of middle school romance in it, which makes it very cute, too.  I loved this book and I am glad it is a series!  Looking forward to the next one!  Now I am listening to Shock Wave, so I won't be able to hear it on this trip, well maybe, I am about 1/2 way through it, so maybe I will!

WOW!

I have loved Rachel Cohn since the Gingerbread series and I love everything she does, but when I saw that this was a dysoptian/fantasy/sci-fibook I had my doubts.  Cohn is just so good at writing very realistic contemporary fiction, I thought this might be bad.  
I was so wrong.  Beta grabbed me from the first page.   It its a truly unique edition to dystopian YA fiction that stands above the crowd.  The characters, even the clone ones, are so human and real.  This story of a future where clones are developed to serve humans is written so well and with such heart that it truly feels like this could happen.  
As a Beta teen clone, in a world of mostly adult clones, Elysia is experiencing coming-of-age struggles similar to a human.  Even though Elysia isn't fully human, a teen can really relate to her desires and questions.  
Fantastic book and I am thrilled to see that it is a series!