It's Monday, What Are You Reading? (Sept. 27, 2010)

It's Monday, What are you reading is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.  

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

This week I have been taking part in the Fall Catch-Up Readathon hosted by The True Book Addict. I decided to concentrate on whittling down the stack of YA books that has grown so overwhelming. I finished these books this week.

I still had a bit of Cold Magic by Kate Elliott to read. It is an adult book but would also be good by young adult fantasy lovers. I thought it was a very good read. I look forward to the sequels. My review is here.

The first "official" young adult book I chose to read was Young Sherlock Holmes: Death Cloud by Andrew Lane. I liked how this book invented a realistic childhood for the Sherlock Holmes of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories. It was a very nice mystery. My review is here. 

Next, I chose Firelight by Sophie Jordan from the stack. I have been waiting for this one because the paranormal creatures were dragons. This was also a good story and the start of a series. Jacinda is torn between life with the dragon Pride and life in the human world. It doesn't help that she falls in love with a human boy who is from a family of dragon hunters. My review is here. 

I have read a number of John Grisham's adult books and wanted to see how he translated when he decided to write for young adults. Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer was OK. It was less a mystery than a story about legal ethics. Theo was a unique character for someone 13. He is determined to be either a trial lawyer or judge when he grows up and is giving legal advice to his friends and to some adults. My review is here.

Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin is a well-written, emotionally gripping paranormal. Avery witnessed the death of her parents but has no memory of the event. She is desperate to learn what really happened. The paranormal aspects include a possibly sentient forest and werewolves. My review is here.

I just finished reading Karma Bites by Stacy Kramer and Valerie Thomas. I found it easy to put down. In fact, all morning I was practicing avoidance by reading and commenting on the posts in my Google Reader (more than 200 of them) rather than reading. I had a problem with the believability of the main character. She is supposed to be 12 but sometimes comes across as a cynical 40 and other times as a petulant 6. I know 12 year olds are volatile but not that volatile. I was, however, determined to finish the book by 8 PM Sunday evening when the Read-a-Thon ends and did finish it. My review is here.

Next week I am back to alternating between an adult book and a young adult book. But the first two books will both be adult books that I have received for review.

I got Siren Song by Cat Adams from a publicist at Tor/Forge because I read and reviewed Blood Song. I loved that one and look forward to reading this one. 

I got an ARC of The Valcourt Heiress by Catherine Coulter from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program. I like her contemporaries and have read some of her historicals. This one looks really good. 

After that, I don't know. I have lots of great books on the TBR stack and this week should also be a great one for new books too. Lots are being published on September 28 that I have been waiting for.

What did you read? What are your plans?