YA, YA, YA

Current Read: Mr. Sammler's Planet by Saul Bellow
Current Listen: Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

Hello all! It's been a bit, but I do have two books to report on. I've been sprinkling in some easy to read YA among the Saul Bellow so I don't drive myself crazy. The Bellow is even harder to read than I thought it would be (I'm not much for modernism), so I needed some romance and action to tide me over. Plus, that thing has happened again where all the new books that won't renew came in at the library at the same time, so they all need to be done in two weeks. I'm scrambling, but I love it.

First, I read The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson. My review of her newer novel, I'll Give You the Sun, Can be found here: http://bookbuyingwithkatie.blogspot.com/2015/09/ill-give-you-sun-and-some-updates.html

Since I'll Give You the Sun was so devastatingly wonderful, I sought out her first book. It is the story of a girl named Lennie whose sister dies unexpectedly. Lennie has to navigate the normal perils of being 17 (read: what is sex what am I doing with my life what is friendship I just can't even) while also grieving her sister's death. Sounds like a run of the mill YA story and not anything special, but the way she writes is just gorgeous. It also had some little twists on the paradigm that were very compelling, at least to me. There are two different love interests (OH WHAT FUN!), and she is a talented musician, so the musical bits kept me very engaged.  I started it at 8 PM and finished it at around 1:30 the next morning. Please just read her books. I own them both now (oops), so if you know me please borrow them. I would also like to point out that I tweeted at Jandy Nelson twice, and she favorited both tweets. I'm twitter famous, basically.

Secondly, today I finished The Young Elites by Marie Lu. The Legend trilogy, her first three books, were some of my favorite reads of this year, so I was very excited to hear that she has a new series. They are more fantasy than Legend, and set in a mythical land rather than a dystopian one. In The Young Elites, a blood fever has spread through the country of Kenettra with disastrous consequences. Some children who survived the blood fever, have developed unusual facial characteristics and even seemingly magical powers and have been deemed the young elites. The story follows Adelina, a girl who has been used and abused by everyone. She is "rescued" by a group known as The Dagger Society, who train her to develop her powers. But everyone wants something for her, and she must figure out who she really is and what she believes in before she chooses a side.

This was a very interesting book. I was not immediately drawn into the story as I was with Legend, but in some ways it is much more complex and therefore more intriguing. Adelina is one of the growing number of main characters in popular culture who is not straightforward in her goodness. She is ambitious and power-hungry to the point of committing evil. But her inner struggle is what made the book so fun to read, since her character made it hard for anything to be predictable. I gave it a 3.5/5, but I'm definitely reading the sequel, The Rose Society, and I'm hoping the Marie Lu can develop the plot and tie everything together a little bit more.

I'm about halfway through Mr. Sammler's Planet, and it is getting better. I was STRUGGLING with the stream of consciousness for the first two chapters, and I definitely think that it would be more relatable if I were a middle-aged Jewish man, but whatever. Also, each chapter is 40 or so pages long, which is discouraging sometimes. The more I read, the more kernels of wisdom I find in it.

If you haven't already, please check me out on Youtube by searching Book Buying With Katie. That's all she wrote!