May's Reading List!

Posting May's reading list now because I have Sooper Sekrit Planz for tomorrow. ;-) So you might want to check back then... But here's what I read in May

1) Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr
YA, Ages 12+
Absolutely loved it. I think this is probably my favorite book in the series so far. Also, I think I might be one of the last people in the world who feel sorry for Keenan, judging by some other reviews I've seen...

2) Desert Tales, Volume I: Sanctuary by Melissa Marr
YA, Ages 12+
I really enjoyed this, following a different storyline in the same world as Wicked Lovely, though I'm not really a manga girl. I'm trying to get used to it, but it didn't really feel long enough to me. Eh, I just like novels more, I guess. *shrug*

3) The Eye of the Forest by P. B. Kerr
Middle Grade, Ages 8+
I, uh, wasn't fond of this one. And unless the rest of the Children of the Lamp series reads totally differently, I doubt I'll be ready any more. It just felt sooooo condescending to me. Not necessarily in an "oh, children, let me tell you about..." way, but condescending to just about any kind of person.

4, 5 and 6) Brian Urlacher, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Ben Roethlisberger all by Michael Sandler
Early Reader, Ages 7-10
I had these for reviews, but if anyone knows a kid in grades 2-5 who need to do a report on a football player, these books were informative and interesting, even to non-football-fan me.

7) Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston
YA, Ages 12+
This was a lot of fun and really kicked me back into reading. Plus, uh... it has Sonny Flannery in it- a hot, Irish Janus Guard raised by fey. Need I say more? I'd recommend it to any YA fantasy fan. I can't wait for the next installment, because as exciting as this one was, I'm betting it gets even better!

8) Dull Boy by Sarah Cross
YA, Ages 12+
I absolutely adored this book. I had to special order it, but it was totally worth the wait, and it made being sick a lot more bearable. The main character, Avery, is so great, I wish I'd been friends with him in high school, and not only because he can fly. ;-)

9) Graceling by Kristin Cashore
YA, Ages 12+
WOW. This wasn't a book I'd been planning on reading before it came out. I'd heard some good things, but, eh, the pictures I saw of the cover didn't really appeal to me (I know, I know, you'd think I'd have learned by now...) and I wasn't overly interested in the blurbs I'd read... And then I saw the cover in a store. Katsa's eye reflected in the sword tip caught me. I kept looking back at it, even as I walked away. So finally I wound up buying it and I'm so glad I did. It's fantastic- action, adventure, romance (rather steamy, too!), and a fabulous heroine, who, for some reason, reminded me of Bones. I think it had to do with her social skills... or lack there-of. ;-) Either way, fabulous book, and I think any of my friends who enjoyed Alanna or Sabriel should totally read it.

ETA: 10) Vacations from Hell by Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, Claudia Gray, Maureen Johnson, and Sarah Mlynowski
YA, 12+
Okay, so I couldn't sleep last night and wound up finishing off this collection of short stories. I never was much of a short story fan, but a lot of my favorite authors are putting great ones out there now, and this group is no exception. I've been trying to figure out a favorite, but I can't; they're all really good. And is it totally weird that after reading just a few of these, I really wanted to go on vacation??? (Also, Libba, I'm blaming you for any nightmares I may have had last night...)


Books read this month: 10
Books read this year: 34 (yes, I'm behind...)

And that's it for May, unless I finish another book tonight...

About that 'posting' thing...

x-posted from LJ from yesterday... yeah, I'm a day behind, sorry.

I've come down with something. Not sure what. According to the doctor, who I told I have allergies, I, uh, have allergies. Though usually it's not allergies that lay me up in bed for four or so days straight, with a sore throat, coughing & aching, and with a painful-to-the-touch neck and face.

So that explains the recent lack of posts.

I'm still gearing up for summer posting, just slowly and possibly not starting on June 1, as I had originally planned. If I've contacted you RE: interviews, I promise, the questions will be coming just as soon as my body decides it is no longer sick & lets me stand up for more than five minutes. And if I have not contacted you... I might still be contacting you. Just waiting until I'm forming coherent sentences*.

And yes, I did manage to tear myself out of bed yesterday morning for coffee with the fabulous Tiffany Trent, but apparently that's the last thing I'll be able to do for a few days. *sigh* At least it was fun!

And speaking of fun... The one thing I've been managing to actually do is read. Just finished Dull Boy by Sarah Cross & thought it was fantastic. Seriously, you should all go buy it & read it. :)

All right, setting the laptop down now (cause yes, I am just that addicted to this thing & have it in bed with me) & trying to get some rest. But I promise, more soon! Really!



*So far as I can tell, this post was formed of coherent sentences. It also took most of my brain power and, uh, yeah, there's none left for emailing. Sorry.

Housekeeping!

Yes, I've been far away from LJ-land (at least, in terms of my own entries) for a while. Sorry, really. I'd much rather have been posting than running around like a crazy person trying (and failing) to get my house ready for guests.

On the bright side, during that time of "Not Posting" I received my M.F.A. in Children's Literature "with all the honors, rights and privileges thereunto appertaining." Though I'm still not quite sure what these rights and privileges are.... Apparently not the right to graduate inside and not be rained on. My mortarboard is mushy now... Good thing I have another one for all those academic events I attend! ;-)


And in other news... I've had this idea running through my head to do a lot of posting this summer. Call it Post-Hollins-Insanity- I need something to keep me on my toes! Only problem is I'm not sure what people want to see. I know I want to run at least one contest of some sort, and some of my friends on Facebook have suggested character interviews, so I'll probably do that at some point as well. But what else?

I'm going to leave that up to you guys. I'd like to do non-character interviews, so if anyone is interested in being interviewed here, either leave a comment or email me at kathleenfoucart at gmail dot com (with all the obvious replacements to make sure the email actually gets to me). I'm looking to interview authors, but also pre-published writers, artists, musicians and other creative-types. So if you're interested, let me know!

Also options: teasers, photos, more writing quote discussions, book reviews (if there's anything you want to see in particular, gimme titles!), talking about research (for Arion or Wings & Fangs)... Er, yeah. I'm really open to just about anything!

So, in the comments below (or on my LiveJournal- linked in the title) please tell me what you want to see! I'd love to get a discussion going on what you enjoy in a blog, too, so c'mon and chat! :)

Friday Five (aka "Yes, I'm Still Alive")

x-posted from livejournal

1) So... my grand plans to continue to blog semi-daily (every 2 or so days) aren't going so well. I blame BEDA. Or my read-through. One or the other. But I'm hoping to have new, exciting topics (or at least, uh, topics) soonish. I've got a list going, honest. I just have to find the motivation to think about them before posting! Better content, that is the goal...

2) About that read-through... It's making me paranoid. I need to let it go. No more changes unless/until I am asked for some! (Or if all my betas get back to me with "WTF was that mess?")

3) It's good that I have another revision to dive into whilst polishing up & sending out queries, or I'd be totally nuts. That's right, in the next day or so (or hour or so, depending on how bored I get), I'm pulling out W&F1 and gleefully inserting Phillip into the front half of the book. Which means total destruction/reconstruction of a few chapters. Can't wait!!! (Seriously, I'm excited. There might be something wrong with me...)

4) This does not mean I'm going to totally ignore Mordagrin. It's on the "get writing" list. I just want to have a non-Arion-related finished&done manuscript ready to go. But since Arion likes to stand around poking me to get a move on already with his story, I'm sure sequel will move forward at a decent pace.

5) Graduation is approaching much faster than I would like. And I'm sure this speediness is directly related to the fact that my mother is coming & my house is a wreck & I feel kinda crappy & don't want to clean. Urgh! But I did manage to clean off (most of) my desk for the first time in months (so that's where my planner went!). Of course, now the bed behind me is covered in random crap... Hmmm... This might be a problem.

April Reading List

All right, starting the cross-posting now... This is a monthly feature over on my LJ, so if you want to see any of the previous lists, check there.

[The following is cross-posted from LJ]
Before I even start posting this, I'm saying "Revision Ate My Life." Hmmm... maybe I should revise that to "Revision and BEDA ate my life" so I only read four books last month. I started a bunch more, I just didn't get them all done by the end of April. So here's April's short-short list...

1) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
YA, Ages 12+
I will admit, this was for my kiddie lit book club, and I probably would still just be hearing good things & not reading it yet if not for the group choosing it. That said, I'm so, so, so glad they picked it. It was fantastic. I loved Junior and was rooting for him the whole way through. It's honest and funny and heartbreaking and beautifully illustrated with Junior's comics/drawings (art by Ellen Forney). I put 12+ for the age range, but it really depends on the individual reader (as does everything!)- I think some kids on the younger end of the YA spectrum might not like it quite as much as those 14+. It certainly deserves that shiny National Book Award medal on the cover.

2) Escape by Sea by L. S. Lawrence
Middle Grade, Ages 9-12
Not my thing. I wanted to like it, I'm interested in ancient history, but it just didn't catch me up in the time or the action. The fight scenes bored me. Somewhere near the end it picked up a little and I wanted to know how the problem at the climax would be solved, but overall I just didn't enjoy it.

3) The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause
YA, Ages 12+
This was a strange kind of re-read for me, since I hadn't read it since the first time I picked it up in my local library when I was in Middle School. I remembered I'd loved it, I knew it had sparked a bit of my vampire obsession back then, but I just hadn't read it since. It held up surprisingly well. I really felt for Simon, and I wanted everything to work out for Zoe. I had a few "vampire lore" issues and my writer's brain wanted to make a few things Zoe or Lorraine said sound more "teenish" but I was so glad to find I still really liked it. I was a little afraid I'd wonder what the heck I'd been thinking, even though I have friends now who still list it as a favorite book. Compared to some of today's stuff, it's tame, but this should definitely be read by any YA vampire romance fan.

4) The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan ()
YA, Ages 12+
What can I say? Carrie has me jumping out of my skin every time I hear a branch scrape a window. I'd been looking forward to this book ever since Carrie first talked about it over on . Of course, then I got it, started reading it, and freaked out. It's scary! I'm soooooo not a zombie girl. I set it down for a couple days, (did I mention zombies terrify me?) but Mary's story called to me, and I had to finish it. And I'm so glad I did. Even if I spent the entire night after I finished it watching for the zombie apocalypse. ;-) I think this trailer says it all so much better than me:






Books read this month: 4
Books read this year: 24


I'm hoping since this year I won't be cramming for Hollins that I'll get more fun reading done in May than required reading, but we'll see... Probably just means I won't get as much done as the last couple years, unfortunately...