I don’t review books. To see how many stars I gave each one, you can visit my goodreads profile here.
These are the books I read in December:
Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Writing Great Books for Young Adults by Regina Brooks
The Last Awakening by Rachel Firasek
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Have you read any of these? Did you like it?
Happy Readings,
Road Trip Wednesday is a “Blog Carnival,” where YA Highway’s contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.
This week’s topic:
What were your top five favorite books of 2011?
I didn’t read many books that were published in 2011 because I was trying to catch up with a few goodies that released on previous years, but, since the question leaves that end open, I chose five books that I read in 2011, regardless of when they were published.
But only 5? That’s gonna be hard … I could choose 10 titles easily, but 5 is going to a be problem. Well, here they are (in no particular order):
Succubus Revealed by Richelle Mead
I know, it’s not YA, but again, the question didn’t clarify that end, and I love Richelle Mead’s books. All of them. Besides, this was the last one of the series. Perfect.
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Love the world-building and the Graces idea. I have Fire loaded into my kindle. Soon, I’ll get to it!
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Oh, such a sweetheart story! I hear Lola is even better. That one is also on my kindle.
The Duff by Kody Keplinger
Such nice way of dealing with sex during teenager years. Plus, truly engaging ;)
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Wow, such a soul-shattering love story, and a great created world and creatures. Just wow!
Honorable Mentions (sorry, I couldn’t leave them out):
Touch by Jus Accardo
I’m in love with Kale. Period.
Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout
And I’m in love with Daemon. Period.
How about you? What were YOUR top five reads of the year?
Btw, Happy New Year everyone!
Cheers,
A #ROW80 check-in on my birthday? Bah! LOL
Ye, it’s my birthday, but let’s do this seriously, shall we?
Hello friends =)
Only four more days for the end of round 4 … omg, I can’t believe it … it went by so fast!
Here are my goals (complete list here):
All done.
I’ve been slow this week, since I put emphasizes on writing and Christmas shopping lol
Read The Last Awakening by Rachel Firasek.
Started Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.
On Monday I worked on a scene that was bothering me and officially finished the first-round of revisions for G.H. It’s already with one of my beta-readers. This coming week, I should hand it to another beta-reader. I’ll also talk to my CPs and see when they can take a look at it ;)
On Tuesday, I started a novella. Just because. Of course, it’s New Adult. As many of you advised, I have to follow my gut, and my gut tells me this is my niche. Wrote 3,669 words.
On Wednesday, I wrote 2,604 words. Not as much as I wanted, but good enough.
On Thursday, I wrote 1,000 words in the morning. Then more 1,300 at night. Got distract by many things (a few very important though) during the afternoon.
On Friday, I wrote 4034 words. And I went Christmas shopping (finally), though I didn’t buy everything yet.
On Saturday, 1539 words. Note that I usually don’t write on Saturdays.
UPDATE: Wrote another 1000 words on Sunday and I also usually don’t write on Sundays ;)
So this novella is something new, that is not on my original goals, but, if all goes well, I should be done with it before the end of round 04.
How are you guys doing? We are getting to the end … are you guys ready?
Who will come back for next round? *raises hand*
To check on the other members’ progress, go here.
Cheers,
Hello guys =)
How are you? Having a good weekend? I hope so!
Yesterday was the end-of-the-year presentation of my daughter’s school (she is in pre-K). She danced and it was so beautiful! Proud mama here lol
Anyway, time to check-in again (already!).
Remembering my goals:
Blogged, commented, tweeted ;)
If you look at the right, I have a Goodreads Reading Challenge. Before, it was 52 books in 2011 (one per week), but I’m increasing it as I’m going since I already overcame that goal. I’m planning on reaching 60 books. Let’s see.
I’ve read Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout.
I’ve read Writing Great Books for Young Adult by Regina Brooks (literary agent). This book has been on my shelf for a few months. Since I’m having a debate about writing Young Adult or New Adult, I picked up and read it.
Atm, I’m reading The Last Awakening by Rachel Firasek.
I’ve re-read and revised my manuscript, but I confess it was too slow for my taste. I finished it Thursday, but it could have been earlier if I hadn’t #procrastinated a lot. I still need to tweak on one scene that I have trouble with. I had an epiphany last night about how to fix it, so I should do that tomorrow morning. Then, I’ll send it to my beta-reader.
Monday I was so not in the mood to revise, I started brainstorming new ideas (and some old ones too), then read a little.
Thursday, I spent most of the day out and about with friends (we have some friends from the US visiting this week, so we’ve been taking them out a lot).
And Friday was worse. I haven’t watched any Vampire Diaries episodes yet this season, so I watched them all on Friday … and now I feel bad about it.
To complete the #procrastination mode on my work, I critiqued 3 synopsis and 2 queries from friends this week, which kept me away from my own work. But that’s okay, that’s how critiquing partnership works ;)
However, I’m trying to force my writing out and it’s not happening. Every time I sit before the computer and get ready to type my mind starts playing tricks on me. Am I doing the right thing? Should I care about the age of the protagonist? Should I be stubborn and stick with NA? Should I try and change to YA? What if my voice is not good for YA? That same rant you heard before … The problem now is that it’s upsetting me to a point in which I’m just not being able to write. And man, I love to write! Each damn word I type, I stop and think “is it a waste?” … Especially now that I just “finished” G.H. and want to begin writing something else.
Anyway, I don’t want to start ranting AGAIN =P
How is everyone doing?
To check on other ROW80 members, you can hop on the linky list.
Cheers,
I had set a goal of reading one book per week during 2011. I reached that goal on the second week of November.
I don’t review books. To see how many stars I gave each one, you can visit my goodreads profile here.
These are the books I read in November:
Storm Born by Richelle Mead
Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler
The Guide to Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction by Philip Athans
The Duff by Kody Keplinger
Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles
How to Write a Damn Good Novel by James N. Frey
Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler
Have you read any of these? Did you like it?
Happy Readings,
Road Trip Wednesday is a “Blog Carnival,” where YA Highway’s contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.
This week’s topic: What’s the best book you read in November?
I’m going with THE DUFF by Kody Keplinger (I swear it’s not because she is a YA HIGHWAY member!).
This read was really fun and unexpected! Being inside Bianca’s head was a fun ride ;)
I tried picking only one, but I have to mention another:
RULES OF ATTRACTION by Simone Elkeles.
I confess I didn’t pay attention to the order and didn’t read (yet) the first on the series, about Alex Fuentes. This one was about his brother, Carlos Fuentes, and omg I love Carlos!
November was an YA contemporary month.
Tomorrow I’ll publish a post with all the books I’ve read this month.
How about you? Did you read these? What was the best book you read in November?
Cheers,
Road Trip Wednesday is a “Blog Carnival,” where YA Highway‘s contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.
This week’s topic:
First, I need to tell you I’m Brazilian. Hence, I went to high school in Brazil and read Brazilian classics.
However, I went to college in the US and took two literature classes where I was required to read only a few American classics, like Hemingway and Hawthorne and Harper Lee.
Thinking of what I would love for my daughter to read (if she was a teenager today), here is my list of teen-required-reads:
I want to add Eragon by Christopher Paolini to that list (to introduce high fantasy with a delightful reading), but it’s a large book and I think kids would dislike it before even starting because of the length.
By the way, I would ADD these books to the required-reading-list, and I wouldn’t take out all classics. After all, classics are a part of our history and should be appreciated and respected.
Do you agree with my list? Which books you would take out or add to this list?
Cheers,