I listened to podcasts and then I read YA books

This happened.

I like books, I like podcasts, some podcasts talk about books, and there you are in the library’s YA section.  This library happened to have a handout about the Printz Awards, which are for YA literature.  You could do far, far worse than to read anything on the Printz lists!  In particular, books that I have liked from that list include An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak, Airborn by Kenneth Oppel, and American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. I have heard good things about a lot of the other books, too.  They have a lot of women authors too, in addition to a few that I list below.

the YA books I got at the library recently, or as gifts, and loved:

Fangirl, by Rainbow Rowell. It took me forever to pick up this book, but… Ok, everyone was right! This book is so fantastic (see what I did there? FAN-tastic?). It’s about a young woman that goes off to college, and her family, and the people she meets, and how she tries to adjust. The woman also happens to be extremely active in the online fan-fiction community and is a passionate writer trying to find her place in the world. Recommended by everyone, and now by us too!

I got Doll Bones by Holly Black from the library because it looked interesting, but I haven’t read it yet. Has anyone here?

In the library I put down several books that I’ve heard are probably good (e.g., Gregor the Overlander) because they looked like they were all-boys, all the time.  I was bored with that.

I read The Archived by Victoria Schwab, which I finally picked up in a local indie bookstore after having it on my wishlist for a while. It was great! I can’t wait to read the sequel. Mac knows that the dead aren’t gone, they’re just… shelved. Cataloged. Organized. Archived. Sometimes they break out… In a family reeling from loss and grief, Mac has to find a way to deal with catastrophe in her own way.

Ask the Passengers, by A.S. King, is another book I heard a lot about from podcasts. I think it was probably Rebecca Schinsky at Book Riot who talked about it (though it could have been Veronica Belmont from The Sword and Laser. But I think Schinsky.  Or, no, wait, it could have been Jenn from The Bookrageous Podcast).  Holy cow, this book is amazing.  I love how it’s written, the voice of the main character, Astrid.  I like the chapter titles, the way it’s structured, and of course the characters.  Just go read this book, it goes quickly, and it’s worth it.  Reeeeeaaddddd ittttt.

I also recently re-read Tamora Pierce’s Beka Cooper trilogy (starting with Terrier). All I wanted to do was read this book and not go to work.

Finally, I greatly enjoyed Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells: An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy, which isn’t technically YA, but whatever.  The first story, from which the book title is taken, is lovely in particular.  The editors are famous for the excellence of their work on fantasy anthologies of all sorts, and rightly so.  Read the first story and you’ll want to read the rest.

Other suggestions?