Behold! New Books

[nymeth]

I’ve been peer pressured into sharing the contents of my latest book order, and who am I to resist? Here’s is what will hopefully be arriving to my house in the coming week:

• The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater: Renay made me do it. Enough said, right? I’ve never read Stiefvater before, so hopefully this will be a good place to start.
  
  
• Hangsman by Shirley Jackson: I’ll read any Shirley Jackson I can get my hands on, so there was never any question of me resisting this recent Penguin Classics reissue.
  
  
• Doll Bones by Holly Black: I almost bought this on three different occasions before, so I thought it was time to cave and order it. I think The Coldest Girl in Coldtown has been getting better reviews, but although I do want to read it this strikes much more as my type of book.
  
  
• Touch Not The Cat by Mary Stewart: I’ve been collecting her books on the assumption that I will love her, so I really hope I’m not wrong.
  
  
• Deconstructing Penguins: Parents, Kids, and the Bond of Reading by Nancy and Lawrence Goldstone: This was recommended to me by a lovely librarian and bloggy friend who I’ve been chatting with about the pre-teen reading group I run. She promises it’s really useful and not just for parents, and I can’t wait to start reading. Yay, knowledge.
  
  
• Boxers & Saints by Gene Luen Yang: I’ve loved everything I’ve read by Gene Luen Yang (is anyone reading The Search? Who do I have to bribe to get friends to read The Search?), so I’ve wanted this from the moment I knew it existed. The recent National Book Awards longlist sealed the deal, though, and into my shopping cart it went.
  
  
• Midnight is a Place by Joan Aiken: “But Ana,” you say, “didn’t you recently mention that your library got a whole batch of shiny new Joan Aikens?”. Well, yes, I did indeed mention that, but this wasn’t one of them and the cover is pretty and it sounds really good. DON’T JUDGE ME.

So, what should I read first? What should I have bought instead? And if anyone wants to share their own recent book piles of shame I’d love to hear about them.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Oooh, go with Doll Bones, I desperately need some more feminist/gender discussion about it! To me, this is the key element of the book that is getting ignored - yes, it's about growing up and changing but it's also about how we gender this process, how we gender play and imagination, and how that's the scariest thing of all. (Obviously I loved this element!)

Here's my review: http://www.fatgirlreading.com/tween-tuesday-doll-bones-by-holly-black/

-Angie (@misskubelik)

[nymeth]

You highlighting that element on Twitter and on your review is a huge part of why I've been dying to get to it. I'll report back once I've read it!