Bloggin 'Bout Books Blog

Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop is the second in the Others series, and a delightful read.  I'll be honest, It definitely wasn't as good as Written in Red, but it was very exciting to read. Maybe I was just too hyped up from waiting for it to come in at the library: I couldn't just buy it because I bought Written in Red in the trade paperback, and Murder of Crows is only out in hardcover, sigh. So I waited for probably four days for it to come in at the library--which is super fast! But my eagerness for the book and anticipation grew to a level that would have been super hard to measure up to.  This book sees the return of all the main characters from Written in Red, and the relationships between all of them really develop in this one. I loved the growth between Simon and Meg. It was so genuine and delightful. I want to see more of Monty and Lizzy in the next book. And I could never get too much of Henry, Vlad, Tess and Sam.  I just love the premise of th...

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater is a stunning addition to the Young Adult genre. Stiefvater writes the tale in two viewpoints, but she does a stellar job of making the two voices unique.  The novel follows the dual narratives of Sean Kendrick and Puck (Katie) Connolly. Sean works at a stables on the island, and Katie finds herself trying to take care of her brothers in the aftermath of her parents deaths. The book follows that years Scorpio Races, a time when water horses emerge from the sea and the brave wrangle one and train it to race with it. It's a month of blood and death and nerves.  I honestly didn't think I would like it. I don't particularly like horses--I kind of just feel ambivalent about them--and I didn't really enjoy Shiver--the other Stiefvater novel I've read. This one blew my expectations out of the water. I was hesitant at first because there was a lot of horse related description and terminology that I didn't really care ...