Thought some of you might be interested in having a list. ^-^ Most of these are just books I felt too unsure talking about, but some are books I just couldn’t finish or bear talking about. I’ve ordered them alphabetically by title.

I’ve currently got myself stranded/stalled on a translation issue. But at least I’m writing now! I was on a roll (for my current doing) before that time too!

So far I have nearly 800 words (Yes, hush, I know that’s a fifth or so of where I’m supposed to be) and am getting excited about my characters again. I always did have a soft spot for this story.

It’s mahou shoujo inspired. But then in novel form. And set in the Netherlands because I can. (Also, because I don’t know any other cities well enough to wing writing about them.) Alternative-Earth Dutch cities I’ve been to I can handle.

But therein lies my problem because I’m… not sure what the Dutch term for an event is, never mind the English, and I’m being a doofus and unable to find either. So I am stalled. But I am writing and that’s the important part. I’ll try a few more things and if all else still fails I’ll just… try to circumvent the whole mention. (Or go off on a word-meter filling tangent. Whichever is most convenient. ^-~)

((NaNo Update: Still no word penned.))

Title: Slow River (LT)
Author: Nicola Griffith
Series?: Nope
Basic Reason for Beginning: Uhm, when I saw a review of it, I thought it sounded interesting. So I bought it. Also, there are ties to the Dutch in this (in a non-native speaker’s book), so hey let me have my patriotic moment. I don’t have many.
Basic Reason for Finishing: Uhm. It’s a good book? I had some really picky issues with it, but the overall book is well worth reading, which I’m hoping I can convince you of by the end.
Texture: It’s quite distinct for all three narratives. There’s the almost-comfortable regular third person past tense, the slightly tenser present and the slightly itchy first person. But specific textures? Sorry… Not this time.
Blurb: Lore, or Frances Lorien van de Oest, has escaped a kidnapping, but is now hiding from her family and everyone. Her family refused to pay her ransom – as well as harbours some dark secrets of its own – and Lore has to learn to stand on her own feet in a society she knew nothing of, learn who she really is, and come to terms with the secrets of her family and her own connection with them.
Book Rereadability: There’re layers upon layers going on here, but, as fascinating as it would be to reread this with an intention to analyse the structure, I doubt I will. My issues are small(ish), few and personal, but they went deep.
Author Rereadability: I wouldn’t say ‘no’ if I found something that sounded interesting, but I’m not dying to break my acquisition ban to get the rest of her works either.
Recommendation: This is near-future scifi. Personally I’d classify it as dystopian, ish, but… Not sure how accurate the label is. And it’s fairly graphic at times. So if neither is your thing, this book won’t be either. And… I’m stuck on the rest.

WARNING! MILD SPOILERS!

Title: Bone: Rose (LT)
Author: Jeff Smith
Artist: Charles Vess
Series?: Prequel to the Bone series, but totally legible as a stand-alone.
Basic Reason for Beginning: You know what? I can’t remember. I know Debi is involved somehow. By mentioning it, no doubt. I picked it up because I remembered it whilst I was in the store and, you know, waiting to be helped and lots of books and… It just found its way into my hands…
Basic Reason for Finishing: ’tis fun. And I like the concepts. ^-^
Blurb: Princesses Rose and Briar are preparing for the exams that will determine which of them will be heir to the throne. At the same time, a dragon goes rogue and Rose, feeling responsible, determines to set things right and slay the beast. But darker forces are at work here and it’s not just Rose’s kingdom whose fate hangs in the balance…
Book Rereadability: I… don’t know. (Don’t you hate it when I say that?) I liked the story well enough, but I’m kind of wishing it was in novel form and longer…
Author Rereadability: That said, I do, definitely, intend to check the main series out at some point. ^-^
Recommendation: It goes without saying that fans of Bone need to get their hands on this book if they don’t already own it. Beyond that, it’s pretty standard fantasy fare as far as that goes. Don’t expect to be blown out of the water by anything, but it’s definitely worth at least borrowing from the library.

Title: Grandville (LT)
Author: Bryan Talbot
Artist: Bryan Talbot
Series?: Stand-alone, but I suspect this isn’t the last (and potentially not the first) time we’ll hear (/have heard) of Detective-Inspector LeBrock.
Basic Reason for Beginning: Okay, so in the comic store I’d just paid for my books and we wound up talking about Alice in Sunderland and it being good, which, naturally, led to mention of this newest graphic novel (not even a month old!) and to the question “Can I see it?” and… Well, suffice to say I didn’t give it back once I got my hands on it. ^-~
Basic Reason for Finishing: ’cause it was fun. I’m bad (seriously bad) with mysteries and puzzles of logic and such, but I still enjoy me some murder/conspiracy stories every now and again, especially the ones that leave me feeling I’m not beyond hope!
Blurb: When a seemingly ordinary government official is found dead – murdered, according to DI LeBrock – the inspector uncovers a plot to throw the world into war.
Book Rereadability: I’d reread this for the artwork alone. But I’m sure there’re clues I didn’t pick up on and, courtesy of having no skill at visuals, missed even more that way.
Author Rereadability: Oh, yes. I enjoyed this. Just don’t know where to go from here.
Recommendation: A quick summary would be “a steampunk noir romance fable” which should tell you everything about whether it appeals to you or not. Part of the subtitle of the book is actually “a scientific romance thriller”. You can expect some blood and lots of violence/explosives (none of it gory/graphic), it’s incredibly light on the romance (in fact, I’m only classifying it as such because the book itself does – me, I think it’s more like a Bond-girl-like romance). So don’t be put off by the mention of either. Now if fables aren’t your thing you’ll want to avoid this like the plague. All the rest? If it sounds appealing, go for it.

He’s interested in an area of YA fiction that I have sorely little information about. (Even if I did, it’d be a question of “Is it translated?”) So, I’m going to ask you lovelies for a wee bit of help.

What authors are there who write books like Laurie Halse Anderson and the like? Books about real world teens dealing with real world issues?

The book he’s reading now is about a girl being stalked by her stepbrother whilst a friend of her friend is outed (and beaten up) for being gay. Of course it ends happily. (And I apologise for the bad summary, but I’m working from a teen’s summary, not memory.) He’s around 12 now, for the curious.

If you want to give specific title recommendations, they’re equally gratefully received, but the biggest problem I have is that I actually need Dutch books. It’s a lot easier to check availability in the right language with just the author name. I can do the ‘find author and authors like this author’ easily enough, but I can’t tell whether the book/author might not be too difficult for a boy who doesn’t read a lot. (Or, you know, too graphic. But I’m doubting that will happen.)

I just want to hand him a (short) list of authors he could look into as writing stories similar to the one he’s enjoying. ^-^ Help me help my cousin?

I know in theory I could just let you all read the mothly summary when I post it, but because I’m nice like this… (Or, you know, just awfully, horridly, incredibly annoying.)

Title: The Good Neighbors: Kin (LT)
Author: Holly Black
Artist: Ted Naifeh
Series?: First in The Good Neighbors
Basic Reason for Beginning: Well, I liked Holly Black’s Modern Faerie Tales series, so when I saw this come out, of course I wanted to read it too!
Basic Reason for Finishing: It’s an intriguing story. Not sure a graphic novel is the best format, but yeah I liked it (enough to keep it).
Blurb: When Rue’s mother disappears, she suddenly finds her whole world turning topsy-turvy – with creatures that don’t exist. Or do they? And what has happened to her mother? Who truly murdered one of her father’s students?
Book Rereadability: Since this only took me a little over 15 minutes to read, I’m sure I’d be happy to reread it before delving into Kith, the second book when it’s out in paperback.
Author Rereadability: I’ll definitely still be looking for more of Black’s work. ^-^
Recommendation: Oooh, toughie. It’s not as dark or gritty as her other works, though that may come in other volumes. I’d say if urban fantasy with fairies interests you, this’d be a pretty interesting graphic novel to pick up. I suppose if you’ve been enjoying Marr’s graphic novel series Desert Tales, you’ll enjoy this too.

Title: Kaspar: Prince of Cats (LT)
Author: Michael Morpurgo
Series?: Nope
Pages: 208
ISBN: 9780007284696
Basic Reason of Interest: I loved Morpurgo’s The Butterflu Lion so much I went into the second-hand store asap and snatched up what I could of his work! The Read-a-Thon sounded/seemed like a perfect time to read this.
Blurb: Johnny is a bell-boy in the Savoy. One day he meets the famous opera singer Countess Kandinsky and her cat, Kaspar. When Kandinsky dies in a tragic accident, it falls to Johnny to look after Kaspar. After meeting Lissiebeth Stanton and her parents, he ends up stowing away on the Titanic. This is the story of how Kaspar was the only cat to survive the sinking of the great ship.
Book Rereadability: I’d love to. ^-^ This was so sweet.
Author Rereadability: I really need to get a move on to read the rest of Morpurgo’s books that I own…
Recommendation: Okay, I’ll be honest – if you hate cats, you’ll hate this. If you want a sweet, heartwarming (if entirely fabricated) story about friendship and loyalty and love and the sinking of the Titanic, this is a pretty safe bet. ^-^

General Short Thoughts:

Definitely my favourite book of the Read-a-Thon reads. It’s filled with colourful drawings and relatively simple prose. It’s filled with emotion and love and wonder. It’s hard, coming into the postscript, or the book, and knowing/learning not a grain of it is true. I wanted there to be a cat, Kaspar, who survived the Titanic! And a Johnny and a Lissiebeth with her adventurous, loving, child-heart. I rooted for these children. I squirmed reading some of it – clinging to the hope that all would end well. It’s first person, but the book being what it is, for all I knew, Johnny had died on the Titanic and gone to haunt Kaspar friendly-like. For all you know, he did…

Fun, fun story and a great Read-a-Thon read, people! (Just a suggestion for next year…)