Here I am again with YA Highway’s Road Trip Wednesday Book of the Month post.
I read a lot of good books in June. Classics, Harry Potter, etc. I listened to 4 audiobooks too (counting the one I’m going to finish today). When it comes to audiobooks, I have discovered that I’m into light fantasy (non-contemporary) for audiobooks. Shannon Hale’s The Goose Girl, Princess Academy, and River Secrets were right up my alley on the audiobook-front. Sara Shephard’s Pretty Little Liars, while riveting when I read the sample on my Kindle, began to grate on me as an audiobook. The Shannon Hale books had the advantage of being Full Cast audiobooks, which is what I’m going to look for in the future, I think.
It’s hard to choose a best book of June. I mean, I read To Kill a Mockingbird, my favorite classic book. It should obviously win. I also read the first three Harry Potters. I love the series, and PoA is my favorite (although not the one I most want to reread, interestingly enough). It should obviously win. And I read Zombie Tag by the wonderful Hannah Moskowitz. You would never know by the subtle world-building in ZT that Hannah was once scandalized by the thought of writing fantasy. And as always her characters are awesome and well-drawn. And she had a plot twist I actually didn’t see coming. Plus, she’s a friend. It should obviously win.
All of these are really good contenders, let me tell you. I’m very close to picking all of them, lol. I can tell you why TKAM and HP don’t win, though. TKAM suffered from being the one I had just started reading when books I had been ANXIOUSLY AWAITING showed up on my doorstep, and I had to convince myself not to start reading them. And therefore, TKAM just wasn’t as appealing anymore. And HP will also suffer from being like the 20th time I’ve reread them (except CoS, which I’ve only read once before, but, hey, it’s because it’s my least favorite) and from my having seen the movies a billion times. HPatGoF is one of several things I’m reading right now, and for a long time GoF was my go-to movie if I wanted to watch something and didn’t know what it was. HBP might get an advantage over the others when I get there. We’ll see.
So, here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to give you the book I most enjoyed this month. And then I’m going to give you the books I most enjoyed this month that you can actually get your hands on.
Zombie Tag by Hannah Moskowitz: I’m sorry. You can’t get this book until Fall 2011. But trust me, you’re going to love it. Hannah’s debut in the MG world is pretty damn awesome. The book follows Wil, who deals with his older brother’s death by creating a game called Zombie Tag–basically Mafia meets Capture the Flag. But he’s really prepping himself for when the zombies come for real, because Wil knows exactly how to raise the dead. He brings back his brother and several other dead people, but while they’re not eating brains, they certainly aren’t the same as before their deaths either. This book is an excellent analogy for a little brother watching as his older brother who never wanted to grow up actually does. It also has a plot twist that I didn’t see coming, which is pretty much amazing (the other books I mention here, don’t have that).
The Goose Girl and River Secrets by Shannon Hale: I know I skipped Enna Burning, but I just didn’t feel like listening about fire all the time (then River Secrets started with fire, lol). When I started TGG, I was a little disappointed. It started kind of slow, and the only reason I knew where it was going was because of the description of the book (The princess (who I’m calling Isi) is shipped off to marry the prince of Bayern, but her waiting woman, who has the gift of “People speaking” convinces her guards to betray Isi. Isi escapes and gets a job as a goose girl, using her ability to speak to birds, and tries to figure out how to convince everyone that she really is the princess). It seemed to take a very long time to get there. But once it did, it had my attention. I loved hearing about Isi overcoming her new situation in life, taking charge, making friends, etc. Sure, I saw the plot twists coming miles off, but it was still fun to listen to them, and by the climax, I had to bring my iPod around with me, listening to the end while I cooked dinner and did other things just to see what happened. RS is a sequel, though I skipped a book. While TGG had the better story for me, I enjoyed the character of Razo so much as a main character. In fact, with the except of Enna and Finn, who I liked better in TGG, I adored the characters of RS. Every time the prince spoke, my face broke out into a huge grin. Razo’s banter with Enna and Dasha was so much fun. I truly wished Razo was my friend (I know you’re supposed to feel like characters are your friends by the time you end a book, but this rarely happens for me). Just like TGG, I felt this took a while for me to get into, but it wasn’t as long as TGG did. Once Razo was in Tira, I fell in love with him, and the book had me.
Okay, so there are my favorite books of June. Next month, I’ll try not to be so indecisive, lol.
Currently on new iPod: It’s Alright by Dar Williams.
Lots of love,
Sage