Reading Matters Blog

Last month I blogged about Leviathan, an awesome new book by Scott Westerfeld in the steampunk tradition. The trailer below illustrates the Leviathan plot and setting. For fans of the first book - you'll be thrilled to hear that the second book in the series is called Behemoth and will be published in October 2010.

If you're an aspiring writer or a lover of teen fantasies, you'll want to put the date, December 21st on your calendar. Local author, Maggie Stiefvater, will be visiting the Salem Church Library to talk about books and writing. Teens and adults are invited to drop in during our regular Lit Bistro time, 3:30-5:00. Ms. Stiefvater will be joining us from 4:00-5:00. Ms. Stiefvater is the author of two fantasy series. One of her books, Shiver, has been on the New York Times bestseller list.

Will is small for his age and can climb a tree quicker and higher than any of his Ward mates. He hopes to be accepted into Battleschool on Choosing Day so he can become a hero like his father, whom Will never knew. Will is an orphan, left on the steps of Castle Redmont's ward, and Choosing Day is the opportunity each ward has to be apprenticed to a master craftsman. 

If you haven't read Robin McKinley's newest book, you might want to check it out (published in 2008):
 

Percy Jackson is not a normal 12-year-old. Strange things always seem to happen around him, and he has a problem with getting into situations that lead to getting kicked out of school. Things get even stranger when, on a class field trip, Percy vaporizes his (really creepy) math teacher (a monster in disguise) and learns that he himself is a demigod. A whole new world is opened to Percy when he goes for the summer to Camp Half-Blood, where he meets other demigod friends and finds out his father's identity. Of course, he immediately gets plunged into a quest to save the world.

Since you like Sarah Dessen's book, This Lullaby, you might want to check out her other titles- we own nine other titles by her! Meanwhile, here are three other titles you might enjoy.

Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer
When sixteen-year-old Hope and the aunt who has raised her move from
Brooklyn to Mulhoney, Wisconsin, to work as waitress and cook in the
Welcome Stairways diner, they become involved with the diner owner's
political campaign to oust the town's corrupt mayor.

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta.

Thanks for your patience. Here are some books that deal with themes similar to Thirteen Reasons Why:

Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson.

Tyler, formerly a socially invisible nerd, is sentenced to a summer of physical labor following a prank. As a result, he enters his senior year of high school with a new set of muscles and a different reputation. His life soon spirals out of control, and he contemplates darker and darker solutions to his situation.

Aimee: a Novel by Mary Beth Miller.

Thank you for your book match request for titles like How to Be Popular by Meg Cabot. Here are some books that might enjoy:

Thanks for using our Bookmatch service and here are some books you might like:

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.
After the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own.

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke.
Twelve-year-old Meggie learns that her father, who repairs and binds books for a living, can "read" fictional characters to life when one of those characters abducts them and tries to force him into service.