November 22 - November 28

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

This book, the 4th in the Throne of Glass series, successfully holds up to the awesomeness of the other books in the series. I t has been almost a full year now since I last read the previous books, so there were some events referenced and recurring minor characters whose impact was somewhat lost on me because I couldn't remember what context I had last seen them in. It wasn't enough to make me get any less from the story though! I'll probably re-read the whole series when I can though, to get the little details.

This series has gotten progressively more complex and dark as it has continued, which I appreciate. This book had a lot of struggle for the characters between what was right or wrong that gave it a complex moral question that was quite a captivating addition to the already-gripping story. As always, the witch plot didn't grab me so much, but it was still a good addition. Everything seems happily resolved by the end, but it's overshadowed by the knowledge of the impending possible-end-of-the-world thing... I can't wait to read the next one! Basically with this, if you liked the first part of the series then this is a satisfying continuation.

Every Day by David Levithan

If you recall (probably not; I may not have even mentioned it), I read the first chapter of this at the end of Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan, It was an interesting premise, but I didn't feel like I was really too drawn to it. However, I needed a quick read for break and this was a featured available book on the ebook homepage for Overdrive. :)

The premise of this book is that there's an ungendered entity (though it sort of reads from male) that wakes up each new day in a new body. As he ages, he is in older bodies according to his own "age" (and I'm saying he here for easy reference). He wakes up in a mean boy's body and falls in love with his girlfriend. They story is them trying to find a way to be together when he doesn't have his own body. Sometimes he's in boy bodies, other times girls. A transgendered kid even comes in at one point which was nice. 

I read and enjoyed this mostly for the interesting concept, but the actual plot didn't really bring me in that much. It was just a love story, albeit with an obstacle to love that was quite unusual. It was worth finishing the book, and I would say this is a good book if you don't have much else going on for your books-to-read list.

I could see this being a really interesting example book for point of view and/or character because it addresses ideas related to both of these. I would probably just choose a few quotes or moments to use with students rather than have them read the whole thing.