Styling Librarian: What are you reading? 8/13/12
Thanks to: TeachMentorTexts for the inspiration! Thanks to Jen and Kellee for the meme! I enjoy keeping track of my reading and sharing with others each week.
I’m having a difficult time connecting online. So this will be a quick one:
Cold Cereal by Adam Rex. – This was quite an interesting story that had a mixed batch of characters and adventures that converged into quite the conclusion. I adored and still will recommend The True Meaning of Smekday more often, but for students who are fans of Adam Rex and want to read a wild crazy story with random fantasy characters intermingled into our everyday society, this will be a good fit. I never knew how a cereal company could become so influential and evil, until now.
Goodreads Summary: Cold Cereal Facts Serving size 1 chapter Number of servings 40
Primary human characters 3
Scottish Play Doe, aka Scott possible changeling Erno Utz genius Emily Utz supergenius Magical creatures at least 3
Mick Leprechaun (or Clurichaun)
Harvey Pooka (rabbit-man)
Biggs indeterminate origin (hairy, large)
Evil organizations 1
Goodco Cereal CompanyPurveyor of breakfast foods aspiring to world domination Adventure 75%
Diabolical Schemes 40%
Danger 57%
Legend 20%
Magic 68%
Humor 93%
Puzzles 35%
Mystery 49%
Not a significant source of vampires.
May contain nuts.
Daily values based on individual interest. Reader’s estimation of value may be higher or lower, depending on your tolerance for this sort of thing.
The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi – I really enjoyed the first book I read by Paolo Bacigalupi- Shipbreaker but this book was a little more violent for my reading than I normally prefer. It is certainly a high school/adult level book but I guess I was not in the mood for a violent war book with limbs being chopped off and hybrid human/animal killing machines. The book was a fascinating look at the human psyche with some disturbing possibilities for the future of earth with flooding, wars, and peacekeepers.
Goodreads Summary: Soldier boys emerged from the darkness. Guns gleamed dully. Bullet bandoliers and scars draped their bare chests. Ugly brands scored their faces. She knew why these soldier boys had come. She knew what they sought, and she knew, too, that if they found it, her best friend would surely die.
In a dark future America where violence, terror, and grief touch everyone, young refugees Mahlia and Mouse have managed to leave behind the war-torn lands of the Drowned Cities by escaping into the jungle outskirts. But when they discover a wounded half-man–a bioengineered war beast named Tool–who is being hunted by a vengeful band of soldiers, their fragile existence quickly collapses. One is taken prisoner by merciless soldier boys, and the other is faced with an impossible decision: Risk everything to save a friend, or flee to a place where freedom might finally be possible.
This thrilling companion to Paolo Bacigalupi’s highly acclaimed Ship Breaker is a haunting and powerful story of loyalty, survival, and heart-pounding adventure.
I’m now caught in the middle of Shatter Me by Taherah Mafi – fascinating!!!
Want more book ideas and reviews? – Yes, I’m quite brief, but a prolific reader! Please visit me at Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1941055-the-styling-librarian
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Love the cereal box label summary of Adam Rex’s Cold Cereal! Would be a fun thing for kids to create with other books…
I thought it was creative. Think it was from the publisher. Love that I can find those on Goodreads! I agree, fun idea for lesson, think I have seen as a book report option in the past.
Hi there, I have a copy of the Shipbreaker myself but haven’t had the chance to read through it yet. The sequel does sound grisly, was it also laced with hope and deliverance, maybe? Thank you for sharing.
Loved Shipbreaker. Really drew me in… This one freaked me out and made me wince a lot.
I didn’t even know there was a sequel to Shipbreaker coming out.
I’ve had Shipbreaker on my TBR pile for months but keep being not quite in the mood for it.
Was The Drowned Cities more grisly than the Maze Runner books?
My husband said Maze Runner wasn’t as grisly. I haven’t read that series yet. In my tbr pile.
Drowned Cities is more of a companion book, not a sequel.
I haven’t yet read any of your books this week, though Cold Cereal has been in the TBR for a while. That Goodreads description is great!
Was not my favorite reading week although I just finished Shatter Me and that was fantastic.
ooo, I have had The Drowned Cities on my TBR list since it came out. Do you need to have read Ship Breaker in order to enjoy TDC? I read Ship Breaker, but I don’t remember it all that well…
I think Drowned Cities can be read on its own.
Hmmm. I also really liked ShipBreaker. Interesting. Well. Companion book will definitely be on the TBR list but maybe it won’t need to be pushed up to the top any time soon. Have not heard of Shatter Me. Will look it up!
I might have been overly sensitive about the violence where others might not mind it….
Loved your cereal box summary! I read Shatter Me. It was very interesting, but not my absolute favorite of the summer
I have way too many favorite books from this summer.
happy I stole a load of reading time!
I have Shatter Me out of the library right now, sounds like I should try to start it!
It was a surprisingly quick read, loved the language and special thought crossing out style.
I haven’t read any of these yet own them all. I have to get to them though I have heard mixed things about Cold Cereal like you said. I hadn’t hear about Drowned Cities, but it is good to know it is violent so I can save it for a time when I am ready for that. And I have only heard great things about Shatter Me- I definitely need to get to it!
Happy reading this week!
You enjoy reading time too!