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

[bookgazing]

I think you should def start with Raven Boys because then I could read Raven Boys and we would have another book in common across all three of us :)PS. Have I mentioned that Scorpio Races strikes me as a total Ana book?

I'm really interested in Boxers and Saints but have heard it may be difficult to understand if you don't have any grounding in the history already so let me know how you find it.

[renay]

Seconded re: The Raven Boys! It's really different in tone but the magic in it and The Scorpio Races reminds me a little of the magic in Chime. And you loved the magic in Chime, right, Ana? :D :D :D :D

[nymeth]

Right :D

[nymeth]

Nope, you had not mentioned that! I will keep it in mind. And eep, now I'm a bit scared re: Boxers & Saints, but I'll let you know how I fare.