It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila @ Book Journey. Want a good book to read? Stop by and see what’s new in the world of literature! And if you are a lover of YA and children’s books like I am check out Teach Mentor Texts for more fun reads!

I’ve been busy making progress on my next YA novel as you can see by the word count widget on my sidebar. In between actual writing, I’m researching and planning Pitchapalooza (more on this soon!), so my life seems to be encompassed by writing of late. I love it! Yesterday, I ran the inaugural Super Sunday 4-Miler in Morristown, NJ. In conjunction with other Super Hero runs, it helped to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The course was hilly but gorgeous with lots of music and fun at the end (including free beer at a nearby bar in honor of the Super Bowl, but I didn’t stick around for that). A great way to kick off Super Bowl Sunday – not to mention the Giants won!!! So it was a great, great weekend. 🙂

  Frost by Marianna Baer – A purportedly haunted house, a group of friends who decide to live there, and a blanket of mysteries surrounding it all. Sounds like the recipe for a good book. The cover caught my eye and that couple with the premise of the story and I was hooked. To be honest the protagonist wasn’t someone I connected with, nor did I connect with the guy who was her love interest. While I appreciate that the author worked to craft a tale of mystery and intrigue it went a bit too far with the way the guy was kind of creepily obsessed with his sister. Even if it did add an extra layer of complexity to the novel, I could have done without it. Especially since, in the end, it was really just that and not tied into the mystery behind the house.

  The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick – I was terribly overdue in reading this highly touted, Caldecott medal winning by Brian Selznick. Not only did I love the book, and it’s delicious illustrations, but it managed to live up to all the hype. Part graphic novel, part written and all brilliant, readers are taken into the world of Hugo while he endeavors to find his way to what he thinks will bring him peace. In the end, what we want and what we get are often two separate things, but, as in life, the ending is even better than our stinted imaginations. A must read!

  The Fault in Our Stars by John Green – Another YA book that lives up to the hype, TFIOS is one of the best books I’ve read recently. Green always seems to capture the awkward yet joyous moments that make up teenaged existence and this latest is no exception. While I don’t know much about the ins and outs of having cancer, I didn’t feel out of place while reading this book. Not overly maudlin or depressing, Green manages to take the good and the bad and the ugly and smoosh them all together in one amazing, must-read novel.

  Amnesia by Dwayne Harris – I have to admit I wasn’t a big fan of this graphic novel. Recommended to me by a colleague, it is the story of a man who wakes up with amnesia that has not only affected him but seemingly everyone else on the planet too. It felt as though there was too much crammed into a thin book – a team of subversive military agents who want something the main character has, but doesn’t realize he has, zombie-esque people who try to attack him and his family, and solutions that come too easily to help the protagonist out. And, I’m sorry, but I expect excellence when a graphic novel is published. Not only were the illustrations overdone and flat, but the writer/illustrator spelled the guy’s name one way in certain panels and then another way in others! Shame on him.

Happy reading! 🙂