Anna Staniszewski

The New Year Book Giveaway has officially come to an end! Thank you to everyone who entered. I plan on crunching the numbers later today and posting the winners tomorrow, so make sure to check back!

In other news, I’ve been making some progress with my enormous reading list recently, and I wanted to highlight a few of the books I’ve really enjoyed in the past few weeks. (Note: All synopses are from the Powell’s Books website.)

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Synopsis: In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that would “unwind” them. In this work, “Boston Globe/Horn Book” Award-winner Shusterman challenges readers’ ideas about life–not just where life begins and where it ends, but what it truly means to be alive.

I found some of the elements of the overall premise a bit hard to swallow (though maybe that’s a good thing since they were SO dark) but overall I loved this book. It was powerful and thought-provoking and very well-written. It took me a few chapters to get used to the third-person present-tense narration (which generally isn’t my favorite) but in the case of this story, it was absolutely necessary. There are scenes from the book that still haunt me, even weeks later, which is always the sign of a good book. I can’t wait to read more by this incredible author.

The Lost Conspiracy by Frances Hardinge

Synopsis: Two young sisters who live on a beautiful island soon become caught in a deadly web of deceit. Neither girl is exactly what she pretends to be, and when they are drawn into a sinister conspiracy, one discovers that the only thing more dangerous than the secret she hides is the truth she must uncover.

Known as Gullstruck Island in the UK, this was a complex yet accessible tale of a fascinating land very different from our own. I haven’t read much high fantasy recently, so this was a nice trip back into the genre. The world was so well-crafted and the characters so fascinating that I enjoyed every page. There were sentences I  had to go back and reread because they were just perfectly phrased. I love when writing is so strong that it seems absolutely effortless.

Fortune’s Folly by Deva Fagan

Synopsis: Ever since her mother died and her father lost his shoemaking skills, Fortunata has survived by telling fake fortunes. But when shes tricked into telling a grand fortune for a prince, she is faced with the impossible task of fulfilling her wild prophecyor her father will be put to death.

I could be a bit biased since I had the pleasure of meeting the lovely author over the weekend, but I really enjoyed this book. The main character’s plight drew me right in, and its fairy tale feel made the story even more enjoyable. I loved the strong-willed, clever heroine, and I couldn’t wait to see how she was going to get herself out of her predicament. This is exactly the type of book that would have appealed to me when I was about ten, but my adult self had a great time reading it too.

What have been some of your recent good reads?