Last year was not a book heavy year for me. There are some years I tear through books left and right, but last year there was a lot of other things going on. Which means I started listening to audiobooks. Some of my favorite audiobooks that I've had a chance to listen to: Wee Free Men A Hat Full of Sky Wintersmith written by Sir Terry Pratchett, and the narrator does a fantastic job with the wide range of characters from the practical main character to the wild pictsies and the wise old broads that inhabit this world. (And I honestly don't think they'd mind being called broads.) Diviners Written by Libba Bray, and the narrator brought the world in the 1920's alive, and managed to make a scary book terrifying. (I had to stop listening and go grab the book to make sure a character was going to be okay because the character was in danger, and then the chapter switch happened...) All told, there were times when I laughed along with the main character, and other times I held my breath as the narrator described a tense moment, scene, and more. Fantastic book. My only complaint - it's the first part in a series. I thought it was a stand alone, so when the ending happened, I groaned a bit because I know I'll be eagerly awaiting the next title, but I was much more in the mood for a stand alone. A Monster Calls Written by Patrick Ness, and the narration... Any format of this book is amazing. The narrator handles the story very, very well. Amazingly so. However the book has some illustrations and arabesque flourishes on the pages that just add to the story. If you don't know they are there, you won't miss them. But after reading the book, and listening to the story, the illustrations just add a bit of creepy and amazing (one would say awe as well). An amazing story. Some of my favorites from last year (although A Monster Calls is probably from the year before, but it's on the Abraham Lincoln list, so I added it to this year). Anyone listen to any good audiobooks I should put on my radar?

Kill my mother collected reviews

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2014/08/28/kill_my_mother_a_graphic_novel_by_jules_feiffer_review.html http://www.npr.org/2014/08/21/342197283/nostalgic-for-noir-feiffers-kill-my-mother-is-a-toxic-treat http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/17/books/review/jules-feiffers-kill-my-mother.html?_r=0 http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/books/ct-prj-kill-my-mother-jules-feiffer-20140829-story.html http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/jules-feiffers-kill-my-mother http://www.comicbookbin.com/killmymother001.html http://www.tcj.com/reviews/kill-your-mother/ http://www.geeksunleashed.me/2014/09/02/augusts-graphic-novel-of-the-month-kill-my-mother/

Roses of berlin

http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2013/10/cover-details-revealed-for-nemo-the-roses-of-berlin/ http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/02/26/reading-league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen-nemo-roses-of-berlin/ http://comicbook.com/blog/2014/03/23/nemo-the-roses-of-berlin-a-mediocre-entry-in-an-extraordinary-universe/ http://www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/2014/review-nemo-the-roses-of-berlin/

http://thebookmonsters.com/graphic-novel-review-the-undertaking-of-lily-chen/ http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=user_review&id=7153 http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/03/graphic-novel-book-review-the-undertaking-of-lily-chen-danica-novgorodoff

Candy Bomber

Man, 2013 is rapidly disappearing. The summer, busy as it was, went very quickly. That said, I have read a few items lately, and immensely enjoyed them. Candy Bomber: The Story of the Berlin Airlift's "Chocolate Pilot" by Michael O. Tunnell I will admit, I have a soft spot for any book covering either the Berlin Airlift or the Candy Bomber. I remember first reading about the Berlin Airlift in junior high, and it just caught my attention. It's shown up every now and again, and my father once gifted my mother with the Berlin Airlift Hummel, which he showed me just after the three of us watched a documentary on the Airlift and we had had a conversation about it. When we were told that we would be moving sixth grade to the young adult section at our library, and that would entail us taking over the Rebecca Caudil awards, I looked at what was on the list, and excitedly picked this one. It happened to be in, and I took that as a sign.

This book is wonderful. The pictures and memorabilia added so much to the narrative. The author wrote the book to be aimed at kids, and does a wonderful job making history accessible to middle school student. The writing is easy to understand and the author does a good job of explaining the lead up to the Berlin Airlift without making it too childish or too complicated.

a+e 4ever

This was an interesting graphic novel that received a lot of accolades. I thought it was well done with some minor complaints. However, the problem with this is that I have no idea where to put it. The topics discussed are very HS appropriate (sex, sexual identity, being an outsider, being different, body image) but some of the images and language is more appropriate for adult. There is a lot of nudity and the discussion of sex is frank and honest. However, since we don't separate out older teen, where I think this would be a little more appropriate, from younger/middle school teens, it is something that I feel would be more appropriate for the adult section. As I mentioned, this book has received a lot of accolades, and justly so. In some ways, this book reminds me of Blankets, but for non-cis teens, and for a bit more brutal of a situation. More reviews and thoughts on this later.

Not a graphic novel, but read The Hate List

The Hate List by Jennifer Brown I originally set out to review graphic novels and gather information to use if any were ever called into question at my library. I'll start doing that again soon.s However, I do need talk about this book, especially in regards to the current talk in our culture. This doesn't discuss really why the events happened, but the book focuses on the girlfriend, Val, of the shooter, Nick, and follows her through her first day back at school to the end of the book. There are flashbacks to the day of the shooting, as well as different snippets of news reports. You see Val interact with her therapist (who can do back handsprings), her family, and her schoolmates. Through it all, there's the underlying question that Val has to deal with which is how much is she at fault? How much did she encourage Nick when she started keeping a Hate List of people that bullied them, pissed them off, or picked on them. The Hate List started as Val's idea, and it was something that tied them together through their years of dating. You get the idea that Nick's life wasn't the greatest. However, things aren't totally rosy for Val. True, she gets pretty good grades, lives in a nice house, and has a nice younger brother, but ... well, her parents fight all the time and would have been divorced if it hadn't been for the shooting spree at the school. Plus, most of the kids call her Sister Death and go out of their way to torment her. (On the day of the shooting, one of the girls broke Val's mp3 player on the bus to school. She was one of the first people shot by Nick.) (Okay, her dad is also a complete asshat. I know what the author said in the back of the book, but what her father said to her was beyond wrong.) While we are seeing all of this colored through Val's eyes, she rings true as a narrator, and as a traumatized teen. The last quarter of the book had me in tears. I felt so much for Val and what she was going through. The ending worked. I will say, though, given this amazing book, I have a hard time bringing it up to teens. It may be me, but in light of the number of shootings, it's hard for me to bring up the topic. I do plan on putting this on a realistic fiction display and seeing how it does. I highly recommend this book. Brown did a fantastic job writing the story and creating realistic characters.