Recap: My September YA/NA Challenge

My goal for September was to read ALL the YA/NA novels…well maybe not ALL, but a huge chunk. That's why I started my September YA/NA Challenge. 

If you read my Project Read All The Books: September Recap you’ll know that the month of September kicked my butt. I was out a town a good deal and felt mucky pretty much for the whole month. I went to the Dr. on Friday and she did some blood work. Though I don’t know the results yet, she was confident that a month long round of B12 shots, plus some other lifestyle changes would have me fit as a fiddle in no time. …which means THEN I can read ALL the books. ;)

Though I didn’t get make as much progress on my YA/NA Challenge as I would have liked, I did read some good books. I ended up factoring in some middle grade into the challenge as well.

This challenge was suppose to be only for the month of September. I started it to counter my Summer-filled months of romance. I found that I really enjoyed getting back into reading YA after 3 straight months of smut.

What are some new Middle Grade/ YA/ NA books that you have recently read?

Here is a recap of what I read in September….

Middle Grade:

                Counting by 7’s by Holly Goldberg Sloan – 4 Stars

                Sisters by Raina Telgemeier – 3 Stars

                Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson – 4 Stars

Young Adult:

                The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski – 5 Stars

                Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins – 4 Stars

                We Were Liars by E. Lockhart – 4.5 Stars

                Legend by Marie Lu – 4 Stars

New Adult:

                Finding It by Cora Carmack – 4 Stars

                One More Chance by Abbi Glines – 1 Star

Smile by Raina Telgemeier

    Picture it. 2^nd Grade. Field Day….the moonwalk. Like every kid at my elementary school I was beyond excited about Field Day. All the games, prizes, and lack of classroom school was more than I could take. The crowning glory on all of this was the moonwalk. Who knew that this would be one of the worst mistakes I ever made. One minute I was bouncing my way high up and the next thing I knew I was being dragged down the empty hallways to the office. I didn’t understand what was going on until someone shoved a mirror in my face. My pink Minnie Mouse shirt was covered in blood and my front tooth was hanging by a thread…which I easily pulled out. It never dawned on me that this was a permanent tooth and I didn’t need to touch it. This day would start almost ten years of painful dental work. All because of a moonwalk.

     I didn’t think anyone understood this nightmare. Yeah, most of my friends got braces, but that didn’t cover what I was going through. All the metal, bridges, false teeth, and dental surgeries. They didn’t know. But Raina Telgemeier knew.

   A while back I picked up a copy of Smile at the thrift store. After I started reading I felt like Telgemeier was telling my story. Years of appointments with tons of different donists. Embarrassing retainers. Oh, it goes on and on. Telgemeier does a wonderful job of telling her journey through this middle grade graphic novel. I felt her pain, her embarrassment, because I had been there. Her pain was my pain! I know many adults can relate to Smile and not just because of dental work. Telgemeier touches on bully, crushes, and all things that middle school and high school bring, but she does it with wit and humor. It is impossible not to love Smile. We all can relate to that awkward phase in life, but it is important to reflect on it with a smile.

Read All The Books: Week 3

As of the last count…

Number of books TBR (that I own): 89

I really need to stay out of the thrift store…but it is less than a mile from my house and I have an addiction to teapots, so I need to go there! And while I’m there I usually look at the books. I’m sorry, but I can find brand new, great quality books for as low as .39 cents. How could I pass them up? How could YOU pass them up?

Anyways, while I was browsing for books I found 3 books that I wanted to purchase. I found 2 reprinted Diana Palmer books, Diamond Girl and Rogue Stallion. I’m a huge Diana Palmer addict, though her work is always hit or miss with me. The 3^rd book I found was Smile by Raina Telgemeier, a middle grade graphic novel. I have seen this floating around and I really enjoyed Drama, so I thought for less than a dollar it would be a good buy.

That brings the total back to 92. This isn’t good.

I did a crazy amount of reading this week though. Over the weekend I finished up 6 books just by Sunday morning. Here is what I read this week:

Smile by Raina Telgemeier

Wishes by Jude Deveraux

The Billionaire’s Captive Bride by Emma Darcy

Silver Borne (Mercy Thompson #5) by Patricia Briggs

Be with Me by Maya Banks

Robot Dreams by Sara Varon

Days of Our Lives Better Living by Greg Meng

Stranger in my Arms by Lisa Kleypas

A Lady of the West by Linda Howard (currently reading)

I’m very happy with what I read this week because I read a lot of great books(and only one terrible one - Days of Our Lives Better Living)!

3 of the books came from my TBR bookcase (Smile, Wishes, and A Lady of the West). That brings the total down to 89, which brings me right to where I was last week. *Sigh*

Current Total: 89

Oh, look at the teapot I found at the thrift store this week!