Thoughts: The Spoils of Midwinter

I might have gotten my Morris prediction wrong, but I'm satisfied with the results. And while I only read one of the five Printz winners, I'm thrilled that The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks won a Printz Honor. Congrats to Liz and the whole Printz committee for their hard work.

Books I've already read: Envy by Anna Godbersen and The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han. Major props to HarperTeen for giving out hardcover copies of the third book in The Luxe series on Friday night. And even better, it was a rewarding read, full of both twists and turns and expected outcomes. It definitely leaves me wanting the fourth (and last?) book in this series. Sadly, The Summer I Turned Pretty left me a bit cold. I thought the structure was a bit confusing and all over the place. And honestly, the main character picked the boy that I found the least appealing out of her three choices. (And talk about an embarrassment of riches there!)

Books I'm currently reading: Betraying Season by Marissa Doyle and Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen. Many thanks to Holt for giving me an ARC of the sequel to Bewitching Season, a book I really enjoyed. Betraying Season is just as enjoyable, too--I'll definitely be reviewing this closer to its publication. I've only read a few chapters of Along for the Ride, but already I was struck by Sarah Dessen's ability to shape her character's voice to her personality. Full of big words and deep concepts, Auden sounds like the smart, driven girl that you're told she is.

Books I'm looking forward to: Penguin Harcourt Dial/Penguin (once I got my box o' books, I could confirm my initial statement that it was Penguin) was fantastic and offered up ARCs of Fire, the companion novel/sequel to Graceling. I really can't wait to read it, considering how much I enjoyed Graceling. As others have commented, vampire novels seem to be getting edged out by werewolf and other supernatural creature books--and I got a few of them that I'm excited about. I'm also pleased to have copies of Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson and Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles.

I have a great big box of books on its way to me, so once I get it, I'll be able to really dive in and start reading. And of course, there's also reading the Printz winners that I haven't read yet--happily, I have an ARC of Jellicoe Road that I'm hoping to get started soon. What are you looking forward to reading this spring?

Edited to Add: Liz recommends that anyone who's looking to read Jellicoe Road should get the final copy, since the ARC has some sloppy mistakes that might take you out of the book. Since that's been known to happen to me, I'm gonna follow this advice!