Book Olympics!

I don't really care about the Olympics.  If anything, I have Olympics apathy (which is better than Ryan who has Olympics antipathy).  But... it's books!  Everything is better with books!  As soon as I saw Kristen's post I knew I was doing this and I traced it all the way back to Shannon who started it and awesomely invited everyone to participate and use her graphics.

So here we go...

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

I already love fairytale adaptations, but from the first page, this amazing combination of a Cinderella story, with a spunky mechanic, who is part cyborg! was just an instant win.  (As I mentioned last week, I ended up picking this up to see if the first page was really that good and I ended up rereading the whole series, so yeah.  Definitely a winner!)

Potatoes Come Forth by H. Jonas Rhynedahll

I couldn't decide if it should be something I read on a road trip or where the characters were traveling.  This was both.  I read it on the drive down South to visit Ryan's family and it ended up being quite entertaining.  The characters spend most of the book traveling (the main character is a traveling salesman of sorts), some on foot and some on various steam-powered mechanical things, AND it was a book I had low expectations of that blew me away, so it definitely belongs here.

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (and The Mortal Instruments series)

No love triangle is a good love triangle.  But this one bothered me less than some others.  There were a couple, actually, throughout the series and in both it ends gently, with a lack of hard feelings, and they all get over their teenage angst.  And we don't spend that much time agonizing over it or vacillating back and forth.  It's more like, "I want this, but I can't have it so I'll take this instead."

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

This story was magical and fantastical and intriguing, but I really felt like there was more to it and I was just skimming the surface.  Certain parts rang faintly of satire, and allusion, and deeper meaning, but it was all over my head.

Uhhh... Nothing

I couldn't find anything in my recent Goodreads history and when I searched my books for "summer" I got nothing.  So... apparently I've never read anything set in summer specifically that didn't continue on for at least a year or two.

The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks (and the Night Angel trilogy)

Sooo much bloodshed.  The first book took me a little while to adjust to just how grim this world is, but I ended up loving it despite the gore.

Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Sooo... if you're into crime or mystery thrillers you're probably scoffing right now, but I'm really not and a lot of my YA reads don't exactly shock with their endings.  I'm sure there were others I could have chosen but this was the first that came to mind.

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

I cry easily anyway, but this one stands out.  Jean Valjean is just so mistreated in this book and there's plenty of other misery to go around.  I cried for Fantine but I wept buckets at the ending.  It's so much worse than the musical.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

1,276 pages, and it was written in the 1800s, so yeah... lots of elaborate descriptions, old-fashioned language, and a plot that unfolded ever so slowly.  I don't think I was ever in danger of quitting, but it was sloooow.

Wise Child by Monica Furlong

There were so, so many I could have chosen for this category.  When I was a kid, I'd reread the same books over and over again, and then lovingly reinforce the spines with scotch tape after they started cracking.  In any case, this was one of my many rereads and, looking back, I like that it had a fun, magical story but also made me think about things like, "Everyone wants to be special.  That's why we take turns."  And stuff like going against society and being kind even in the face of mistrust and hatred.  You know, the usual.

Puss in Boots by K.M. Shea

I had a lot of trouble thinking of something for this category and then I saw that Jess had picked The Golden Compass and I had a derp moment.  But I'll stick with my original answer.

Emotional Freedom by Judith Orloff

This was mostly my fault.  It was a good book, but I got tired of self help and "productive reading" and I set it down for months.  Finally came back and finished it and I'm glad I did!  But even though I thought there were enough good concepts to rate it 4 stars, I couldn't tell you why.  I have retained nothing, evidently.

My Life at the MBRC by K.M. Shea

It was really bothering me that I had trouble coming up with something for this category.  Most of the books I've read focus on a love story and while they have friends, the friendships seem more peripheral.  This one stands out in my memory because at one point the 2 friends have a discussion about a guy and they check with each other before making any romantic decisions and I thought it was nice that for once a friendship had priority, even if only for a few pages.

Nada

I got nothing for this.  Apparently I have never read a sports book.  Lol!

After playing this game, it's become clear to me that I need to read more books about friendships.  Our society, and the YA genre, is heavily saturated with the idea that no story is complete without a love interest.  I enjoy it, obviously, or I'd have noticed before now that this was lacking in my reading, but it'd be a nice change of pace to see friendships weighed more heavily in the balance of things.  Or to see men and women interact without immediately falling into love or messy love tianlges!!!

Who are your book olympics finalists?