New job, same old reading habits

It's been a long time since I've posted, but that's because of the holidays . . . and the fact that I started a new job . . . and moved . . . and caught a cold . . . and . . . oh forget it! I'll get right to the books--two books that seem like standard fare but offer up so much more!


Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar
I read this book in one day. I didn't mean to--I had plenty of other pre-holiday things to do--but I just couldn't seem to put it down. This is the story of a boy facing his first year of high school, his mother's unexpected pregnancy, hid older brother's broken dreams, and his own inability to land the girl of his dreams. It's Lubar's wry humor and steady hand that keep it from dipping into predictability, though. Scott is never cruel or stupid . . . just a teenager. He is likeable, endearing, and amusing, just like this book



The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
Not since I read the fevered short stories of Dylan Thomas have I found a book so haunting. Try as I might, I just can't get it out of my head. It's a Holocaust book, which usually makes me sigh gently and wish that publishers could come up with a new topic upon which to fixate. This one, however, is lyrical and bold and different. Boyne writes in the voice of a nine-year-old boy, but not in a flashy, distracting, annoying way. No . . . Boyne's writing is precise--captivating and so utterly true. I was completely drawn in. I've been predicting that The Book Thief will win the Newbery this year, but if there's any justice in the world, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas will give it a run for its money.