Reading for the Holidays

I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving!  (At least, those of us in the US.)  I've definitely enjoyed the break from work.  The weather has been frightful, but the company was good!

I did just a bit of shopping this week, which included a trip to Half Price Books.  My haul is tucked safe in the rain, so I can't show you pictures.  I bought a vintage cookbook for my dad, some old C.J. Cherryh novels with great pulp covers, a couple of Eloise James romances, and a copy of SHARP OBJECTS by Gillian Flynn that was on clearance for $1.

As for what I've actually been reading, my focus has been on my reading for the CYBILs.  I'm on the panel for YA Speculative Fiction, and it seems like the deadline looms ever closer!  The shortlist will be revealed January 1st.  I did take a break to read THE CASQUETTE GIRLS by Alys Arden, review to come.

My niece is definitely a budding reader.  She came prepared to Thanksgiving dinner with a book: Anna and Elsa #4: THE GREAT ICE ENGINE.  Frozen fever is still going strong for her!  She had me read a few chapters to her in a quiet moment.  I found it interesting that the book appeared to be diving deeper into the economics and industry of Arendelle -- an interesting choice for a kids' book!

My fourteen-year-old cousin also loves to read and came prepared to Thanksgiving with two books.  She only got to one of them that day, THE ROSE SOCIETY by Marie Lu.  She liked it so much that she had a book hangover!  We (plus a few others) went to see The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 on Friday, and she started the second book afterward.  She said that the movie helped clear her head of the characters, who were lingering.  The second book was one that I gave her for her recent birthday, WINTER by Marissa Meyer.  The Lunar Chronicles are her favorite series, as noted when we were playing the favorites game to entertain my niece and nephew.

My younger, sixth-grader cousin might not have been reading those days, but she let me know that she loved THE NEST by Kenneth Oppel and illustrated by Jon Klassen.  Apparently it's become one of her favorites since I gave it to her!  She's a total fan of creepy-cute things, so I figured she'd like it, but it is nice to know for sure.