The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

                                                           

Ah, this book.  This book left me breathless. It drew on Welsh mythology involving flesh-eating horses that would rise out of the sea. One girl and one man (who made me think of Man from Snowy River...) who both, for their own reasons, decide to ride one of these wild beasts in the Scorpio Races. It is no surprise that this book won the Printz Award.


I had previously read Shiver and Linger by Stiefvater, which pale in comparison to this stunner.  (I guess Shiver is being made into a movie, as will Scorpio Races eventually). But, movies aside!

                                             


The Scorpio Races was recommended to me as a "if you like Hunger Games try this out" book. When I went into it, I was expecting another 'games' type scenario. Not at all, and yet the female protagonist, Puck, held a similarilty to Katniss in her determined spirit. This is not a book for just girls. I would hand this to anyone and say, "Read!"

  (ht Allie at Hyberbole and a half for her awesome art)

The Predicteds by Christine Seifert

 Like so many books that end up in my library bag, I picked this one because I liked the basic idea put forth in this book: what would happen if a test could reveal what you would do in the future? And what if everyone knew the results? Sounds interesting, right? This was a quick read, with fairly predictable characters which I wouldn't have minded so much if I felt this had more....something. In my writer's mind, I could see this having so many layers of interest, but it stayed pretty flat for me throughout.  Still, with it's subtle "who did it" theme, it kept me entertained.

The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin

Most recently I finished The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin.  In some ways it reminded me of Charles Frazier's writing (author of Cold Mountain and Thirteen Moons, both recommended reads...even if you already saw the Cold Mountain movie...books are always better! Ahem.)  My husband loves books where it shows what it means to be a man, dealing with struggle and pain and loss. This book is one I intend to have him read for those reasons, but also because the main character, Talmadge, has a quietness about him that made his simple life choices in the face of turmoil all the more poignant. 

Here is the synopsis from Amazon: 

"At the turn of the twentieth century, in a rural stretch of the Pacific Northwest, a reclusive orchardist, William Talmadge, tends to apples and apricots as if they were loved ones. A gentle man, he's found solace in the sweetness of the fruit he grows and the quiet, beating heart of the land he cultivates. One day, two teenage girls appear and steal his fruit from the market; they later return to the outskirts of his orchard to see the man who gave them no chase. Feral, scared, and very pregnant, the girls take up on Talmadge's land and indulge in his deep reservoir of compassion. Just as the girls begin to trust him, men arrive in the orchard with guns, and the shattering tragedy that follows will set Talmadge on an irrevocable course not only to save and protect but also to reconcile the ghosts of his own troubled past."