Reading List Round-Up 2012: Books 56-63

In case you couldn't surmise as much for yourself from the titles gathered here, I've been on something of a Young Adult novels binge lately.  This is mostly for inspiration as I've been struggling through my own YA piece, though it's also at least partly because of how much fun it is to kick back and read a few books that don't take themselves nearly as seriously as contemporary adult literature.  There are a few classics thrown into the mix for good measure, but on the whole I spent August living in the heads of teenage protagonists, trying to reconcile them with the wisdom their creators sought to convey.  The results were, as you might expect, very mixed.

Looking for Alaska by John Green
Tragic, intriguing, and a painfully accurate capturing of teenagers and grief.  Looking for Alaska starts off promising no more than any other coming-of-age novel, but it takes a few twists and turns as well as some unexpected character development and ultimately proves that this is a text for a new generation.  Green illustrates beautifully the raw pain and aching confusion of dealing with one's first brush with tragedy, and manages to do so while still peppering the story with genuinely funny moments and characters who seem just like the kids you used to know.

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
This for me is by far Green's weakest novel.  The protagonist is whiny and unlikeable (this is in contrast to his other protagonists, who are still pretty whiny but manage to redeem themselves through their relationships with other characters or by making some discovery which renders them less self-pitying).  I guess after the much higher stakes of Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars, it was hard to get behind a character who spends the entire book moping about his failed relationships with girls (and he's only in high school) in the same way.  It's still got Green's trademark wit and nuggets of wisdom, as well as a supporting cast about any of whom I'd rather read than the lead character he's chosen, and overall was still better than a lot of YA fiction out there.  However, it's difficult to read this somewhat sloppy entry in Green's catalog when you know he's capable of so much better.

A Room with a View by EM Forster
I'll be honest and admit that this is one of those books I read out of a sense of obligation, feeling like I "needed" to have read it to be taken seriously--there are a number of books on my 2012 reading list that fall into this category, and unfortunately A Room with a View proved to be one of the most tedious.  Unlike The Age of Innocence (full thoughts on that one below), A Room with a View, for me anyway, failed to break out of its framework as a period piece and intrigue me.  I was bored with all of the major characters before the first half of the book was over, and nothing done in the second act really redeemed them in my eyes.  The best thing I can say about this novel is that it was relatively short and easy to get through, and the writing itself is superb, but if you're in it for sheer plot or excitement, I'd recommend looking elsewhere.

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Another more obligatory read, The Age of Innocence is well-executed, which is no surprise to anyone who's read Wharton's work before, and intriguing enough to keep the reader engaged through the densely painted portraits of early twentieth-century American society.  It reads almost like a soap opera, with romance, scandal, and intrigue; but ultimately falls short by proving a bit too bland and predictable in the end.  Overall, I'd recommend it as an excellent period piece, but a book that needs to be viewed primarily in the context of its time to be fully appreciated.

Alanna:  The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce, and In the Hand of the Goddess (sequel) by Tamora Pierce
These books, though they admittedly suffer from some (and by some I mean many) rudimentary flaws in prose, are a wonderful little YA discovery that I unfortunately did not make on my own.  Alanna tells the tale of a young girl who poses as a boy to train in the hopes of becoming a knight--it might sound like it's been done before, but consider that this book came out in 1983, at least a decade before Mulan or Game of Thrones.  Its sequel, In the Hand of the Goddess, is a bit more tedious as it deals with a lot more teenage-female-angst than its predecessor, but the adventures remain both intriguing and thrilling.  These are definitely the younger audience-skewing novels I'd be most likely to recommend to readers in the YA demographic.

 
Blue is for Nightmares by Laurie Faria Stolarz
Unfortunately, this seems to be another YA novel more in the vain of the Twilight books, heavy on the teen angst and "high stakes" drama, but skimping frequently on the fundamentals of prose writing.  Blue is for Nightmares has some intriguing features and some characters who could be compelling given a little more attention and skill on the part of their creator, but on the whole is underwhelming and difficult to stay engaged with.

The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine
This is an adorable-yet-sage story that wedges itself somewhere between Children's and YA Literature, and might just be all the better for that blurriness.  Carson Levine proved with Ella Enchanted that she could weave a story that would appeal on equal levels to children and adults, and Two Princesses achieves a similar feat, if not quite as skillfully.  It has all the requisite fantasy elements--sorcerers, dragons, fairies, and knights galore--but it also has a very human story at its heart.  This is definitely a book I'd recommend enthusiastically for young readers, and writers aiming at that demographic.



Best Book:  Looking for Alaska
Worst Book:  Blue is for Nightmares
Longest Read:  The Age of Innocence
Quickest Read:  The Two Princesses of Bamarre