What I Read Wednesday

Well, I failed at last Wednesday. Wednesday needs to stop being so busy. I also read all Young Adult books in the last two weeks, so if that's not your thing, you probably won't find this interesting. OR you should try one of these books. Seriously. Just choose one. The YA Lit field has come a long way in the last few years.

The Thing About Luck
I've been trying to read more National Book Award winners or finalists and this one was a winner. I loved the story. It was simple, but really engaging and peaceful. Summer is a Japanese-American girl who travels with her brother and grandparents to work to harvest wheat in the Midwest. There's a lot going on thematically about hard work and culture and family and although this wasn't an exciting story, it was one that unfolded slowly and pulled me in. Bonus: There were drawings of combines, which Tommy loved.

Champion: A Legend Novel
This is the last book in the Legend trilogy. I was a little wary going into this because I still don't know how I feel about the conclusion of the Divergent trilogy, but overall, I was pretty happy with it. The plot was still action filled and the split character story telling worked. There were some interesting story arcs and explorations into the dystopian world that was set forth in Legend that kept me reading. I really enjoyed this trilogy.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
In Tana's world, vampires are a normal, every day threat and places called Coldtowns exist for vampires, those infected by vampires and those who want to be vampires. Tana wakes up in the aftermath of a party where everyone is dead, save for herself, her now infected ex-boyfriend and an ancient, hunted vampire. Somehow, this plot line not only completely worked, but really spun a pretty convincing bleak tale. It's not a sparkly vampire story, though it does involve a little bit of romance, but there are definitely some strong, true themes about human nature within an engaging story. I loved this one.

Far Far Away
This was an NBA finalist and one that I've had on my list for awhile now. Jeremy Johnson Johnson is your ordinary teenage boy, except for one thing: he hears ghostly voices. Specifically, the voice of Jacob Grimm who is Jeremy's somewhat fatherly spirit guide. Jacob knows that he's been left on this Earth to protect Jeremy from the Finder of Occasions, only he doesn't know who the Finder is. As the story unfolds, it becomes more than just a story about a boy and a ghost; it's very quickly apparent that it's a fairy tale in and of itself. It was, in parts, predictable, but aren't all fairy tales? My heart still pounded in moments, despite being able to predict what might happen next, and I found myself not wanting to put this one down. It was incredibly creative and so well-written.

What are you reading?