September Reads

So school has started back up and I'm slowly but surely getting back into the swing of things... which means finding time to read, even if I'm not finding tons of time to blog. That's okay though- because at least once a month I'll recap what I've read! So here it is, my September reads!

The Waking Dark by Robin Wasserman
Release Date: 9-10-13
Author Website

Summary:
They called it the killing day. Twelve people dead, all in the space of a few hours. Five murderers: neighbors, relatives, friends. All of them so normal. All of them seemingly harmless. All of them now dead by their own hand . . . except one. And that one has no answers to offer the shattered town. She doesn't even know why she killed—or whether she'll do it again.

Something is waking in the sleepy town of Oleander's, Kansas—something dark and hungry that lives in the flat earth and the open sky, in the vengeful hearts of upstanding citizens. As the town begins its descent into blood and madness, five survivors of the killing day are the only ones who can stop Oleander from destroying itself. Jule, the outsider at war with the world; West, the golden boy at war with himself; Daniel, desperate for a different life; Cass, who's not sure she deserves a life at all; and Ellie, who believes in sacrifice, fate, and in evil. Ellie, who always goes too far. They have nothing in common. They have nothing left to lose. And they have no way out. Which means they have no choice but to stand and fight, to face the darkness in their town—and in themselves. (from Goodreads)

Ramblings: 
Wasserman is one of my absolute favorite authors and I was super excited to see that she had another book coming out. I bought it on release day and plowed through it in just about a day.  In this book Wasserman pays homage to Stephen King by entering the world of suspense and she does it really, really well.

The book took me a chapter or two to get into, simply because there were so many characters and intersecting stories that are woven together. It takes a minute to figure out who is who, who is helping who and who to root for. Once you get an idea of the landscape of the town of Oleander, KS and it’s residents the story really starts to flow, twisting and turning until the very end.

What I particularly liked what that for the bulk of the book I wasn’t sure what the heck was happening. Even when I was done, it was left open ended enough that I wondered who and what was the real cause of all the blood on the hands of the people who live in Oleander. Was it really just a matter of time before the inevitable would have happened? Was all orchestrated by outside forces? Or was it truly a perfect storm of circumstances that left a town in ruins?

This is one of those books that I didn’t just want to read. I want someone else to read it. Then I want to discuss it, pull it apart and try to figure it all out. It’s a book that makes you really think and that really is the best kind of book!

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The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

Release Date:

Author Website

Summary:

Meet Dwight, a sixth-grade oddball. Dwight does a lot of weird things, like wearing the same T-shirt for a month or telling people to call him "Captain Dwight." This is embarrassing, particularly for Tommy, who sits with him at lunch every day.

But Dwight does one cool thing. He makes origami. One day he makes an origami finger puppet of Yoda. And that's when things get mysterious. Origami Yoda can predict the future and suggest the best way to deal with a tricky situation. His advice actually works, and soon most of the sixth grade is lining up with questions.

Tommy wants to know how Origami Yoda can be so smart when Dwight himself is so clueless. Is Yoda tapping into the Force? It's crucial that Tommy figure out the mystery before he takes Yoda's advice about something VERY IMPORTANT that has to do with a girl.

This is Tommy's case file of his investigation into "The Strange Case of Origami Yoda." (from goodreads.com)

My Ramblings:

Yes. I know I am WAY behind the game with this book. Years behind. I've been hearing about this whole Origami Yoda business for years, but never picked the books up. I don't even have a good excuse. I love YA books, I'm a middle school librarian and I'm a Star Wars geek. This really should have been in my hot little hands back when it first came out.

I'm so glad I grabbed this book last week when I went to Barnes and Nobles. It's so good and it will be an awesome addition to the library (along with the other books in the series).

This book couldn't be more entertaining. I loved how you were never quite sure whether Dwight was insane or a genius, whether he was flying by the seat of his pants or whether he had a very specific plan all along. I especially loved how the story was told from multiple perspectives, each with their own opinion of both Dwight and Yoda. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.

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NOTE: I also blog at Eve's Fan Garden. Some recaps and ramblings will be cross-posted to both sites since there is a different audience for both blogs. If you'd like to check out what's going on over at Eve's Fan Garden please visit our site!