Autumn 14 Gut Reactions

Soo, autumn books. This feels a little odd this time. I’ve made my way through the pile but not with the same rate that I normally do. I've also been writing a vomit draft, on which I have just knocked the 90K mark, so I have been slightly laying off other people's plots, trying to keep my head in the game. (I also enforced a Twitter-ban which made all the difference, but that’s another story.)

So thinking back it's a bit of a haze. And I haven't quite finished yet. I'm still on Saskia Sargison's The Twins. And I didn’t get to catch up the ones on kindle. (I like reading in bed, so the e-reader doesn’t really work for me, as I end up lying there with my eyes buzzing if I read from a screen at night. My sleep is duff enough as it is, I don’t need issues falling asleep too.) So the e-books will have to carry over again. I must try to apply myself during the Christmas break.

The pile looked like this; 

 I also snuck in Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers, because it appeared on order at the library, and Gayle Forman's Just One Night as it finally came out and some things just cannot wait.

Star of the Season, is sinner. Now, I know I always gush about Maggie Steifvater, but this genuinely was my favourite. A companion book to the Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy, I loved it -except the end, which I would have liked to have been a little more considered. The MC makes a decision and I wasn't convinced by it, at least not the speed of it.  But the dialogue to each character is perfect. And I love dialogue…

That sneaky one by Robin LaFevers, that was a good'n too. A historical YA novel based on Death's female offspring being trained as assasins in 15th century France. I do like me a bit of history, and I've ordered the remaining two of the trilogy in too. Brutal and dark in places, but romantic and intriguing too.

Gayle Forman's Just One... series is an oddity to me. I read the first one and the ending annoyed me so much that it was still bugging me when the sequal came out- so I had to (begrudgingly) read that too, to find out if it got resolved, but that ending annoyed me even more. So finally this novella turned up to finish it, and finally I got the ending I needed. Normally I would have left the series and not bothered, but this was like an itch that had to be scratched...

Morgan Matson's Second Chance Summer was a fab YA Contemporary story, and at risk of stirring up some people I preferred it to Matson's highly acclaimed first book Amy and Roger's Epic Detour. Set in a vacation resort it had everything about summer down pat. One of those books where when I finished I wanted to write something set in the same kind of place. Is that just me…?

Dawn O'Porter's paper aeroplanes promised to show girls’ experience through GCSE years. It pretty much nailed it. Angst, awkwardness, bitchiness, buffoonary and friendship in the 1990's, this book did covered it beautifully.

Part of my aim with this month's pile was to read more Women's fiction, in light of it being what I am currently writing. I've been enjoying Jenny Colgan's books a lot, she has a natural amusing tone, smooth and easy, without going overboard playing for laughs.

If you know any teen girls who like history and horses, then you can't go wrong with Marie-Louise Jensen's Runaway. I'm not a particular fan of horses, but it didn’t hinder my enjoyment. Perhaps I just got consumed by the romance and the Regency history, which were luscious.

Now that I look at it, there is a lot of history in the pile this season, whether recent to my life time, or far far back. Enemies at Home goes as far back as Roman times. I love Lindsey Davis. Love Her. She writes humorous Roman detective stories, which I know is niche, but for me it's a perfect cocktail. (For me, having been brought up on Inspector Clouseau films,  murder and funny is a lovely mix - Janet Evanovitch anyone?) Davis also wrote the book that I read once a year every year, but that too is a story for another time. Enemies at Home is the second in her new series and had the most delicate, fragile, tender love scene in it. No sex at all, but so intimate it was fabulous. And funny too. How skilled it that?!

Abbi Glines is one of the front runners of NA. Rush Too Far is a companion to her Rosemary Beach series, in so far as it is the male POV to the first of the series. I like reverse angle books a lot, so this one was a treat. 

Wonder. Simpl-, Every MG class in the world should read this book. By law. The world could be a nicer place. I made my 10 year old read it the moment I put it down.

and the rest;

  One of these books was a long struggle. Like another book in the pile, it was set in the past that I've been around for. So many people have raved about it, which is why I read it, but in the end it was so very slow. A few of the references were fun to be reminded of, but by and large I wanted more speed. (I suppose it is my issue now of having read lots of YA stories, adult fiction just moves at a much slower pace and it loses me.)

 One of these books, apparently a classic now in its genre or at least a forerunner, the sense of humour was soooo dry that I couldn’t warm to the MC. As in boyproof in last season’s pile, she came across as aloof and IMHO, I’m not sure if that works so well in Women’s Fiction.

One of these books gave me that feeling that there was hope for me yet. Essentially there was nothing wrong with it, it was fine but some of it felt clunky here and there and I came away feeling that given it has been published then maybe I can too. (I don’t know. Is that a mean thing to say?)

Not sure when I’ll post the Winter pile (due..oh, that would be today), because

a)    It currently isn’t much of a pile, more a wee stack

b)   I’m trying to bring this draft to conclusion

So any recommendations, get’em in!

(PS. Sorry about the font sizing. Not sure what is going on...)