Extreme seasons of stress at work move me to unearth the Young Adult/Fantasy book collection on the Kindle. Difficult boss? Hogwarts magic. Annoying colleague? Iron Druid violence. Career conundrums? Shamelessly Percy Jackson. There is nothing as soothing as ignoring the real world around you and pretending your problems don’t exist, or can be solved by an iron amulet or the Elder Wand (though that didn’t work for Voldemort either).
Last couple of weeks, I have reread (for the third time?) the seven-book Percy Jackson series. Then I reread all the Percy Jackson “companion” (i.e. milk the franchise books) literature. Now, I have nothing appropriately escapist to read, and my work stress level is still high. But at least the situation has not gotten bad enough to whip out Twilight!
No, going through Amazon’s best books is hardly escapist reading (going through that list as well though). Those books require emotional engagement, a full sensory awareness of the plots and prose; some books can even tire you out.
Here are a few of the books I wish were out right now.
Book Title: Tricked
Author: Kevin Hearne
Series Name: Iron Druid Chronicles
Sequel Release Date: April 24, 2012
Preceded by: Hounded, Hexed, Hammered
Comments: Looking forward to Oberon’s next obsession. Iron Druids are cooler than Vampires/Werewolves/Zombies, and maybe as cool as Wizards. Kevin Hearne’s prose matured throughout the series; the stories about Thor and the ending of the last book were superb.
Book Title: Insurgent
Author: Veronica Roth
Series Name: Divergent Trilogy
Sequel Release Date: May 1, 2012
Preceded by: Divergent (my book review here)
Comments: Love the strong female character in this book. Maybe not Katniss Everdeen, but I am still inspired to be dauntless.
Book Title: The Serpent’s Shadow
Author: Rick Riordan
Series Name: The Kane Chronicles
Sequel Release Date: May 1, 2012
Preceded by: The Red Pyramid, The Throne of Fire
Comments: Classic Rick Riordan coming of age, formula book. It does get tiring sometimes but I do want to know how the Kane siblings mature in their new found powers.
Book Title: The Enchantress
Author: Michael Scott
Series Name: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel
Sequel Release Date: May 22, 2012
Preceded by: The Alchemyst, The Magician, The Sorceress, The Necromancer, The Warlock
Comments: Well maybe I am not really looking forward to this one. Michael Scott jumps all over the place and the stories aren’t tight. He lost me on the super race preceding humankind arc. Still, I just want to know how it ends.
Book Title: The Mark of Athena
Author: Rick Riordan
Series Name: The Heroes of Olympus
Sequel Release Date: Fall 2012
Preceded by: The Lost Hero, The Son of Neptune
Comments: I can’t wait long enough! Rick Riordan should just stop writing 39 clues and The Kane Chronicles to just finish this series!
Book Title: The Twelve
Author: Justin Cronin
Series Name: The Passage Trilogy
Sequel Release Date: October 16, 2012
Preceded by: The Passage (my review here)
Comments: After slogging through the very thick first book, I wonder if Justin is going to come out with something as long. It probably will be, since it took him 2 years to come up with a sequel. And the third book is not going to come out until 2014.
Book Title: Days of Blood and Starlight
Author: Laini Taylor
Series Name: Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy
Sequel Release Date: November 6, 2012
Preceded by: Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Comments: One of Amazon’s best books of 2011 and a Goodreads favorite. I just have to see whether Karou’s family is still alive and whether she will seek revenge. The most Twilight-y of all the books in this list. Reserved for extreme crisis.
Related articles
- What’s the right age for YA? (keystrokesandwordcounts.wordpress.com)
- Nathan Fillion Joins Percy Jackson Sequel (geeksyndicate.wordpress.com)
- A Middle Grade Discussion (keystrokesandwordcounts.wordpress.com)
- Books, 2012 (awamiba.wordpress.com)
- ~Review~ The Son of Neptune – Rick Riordan (kraftingkittenreads.wordpress.com)
- A Book Is a Gift You Can Open Again and Again ~Garrison Keillor (livelaughwrite4eva.wordpress.com)
- The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. (inthelifeofabookworm.wordpress.com)
- Ya know, there is a whole other world out there beyond Twilight… (littlelitgirl.wordpress.com)
- New and upcoming releases for kids and teens (fremontlibraries.wordpress.com)
- 10 on Tuesday: the book series I enjoy edition (audneal.typepad.com)
- Percy Jackson (time.com)
Thanks for some great ideas on different authors/series to check out in the YA section! After seeing Katniss on the big screen I’ve decided to reread “The Hunger Games” trilogy, but I know that will go by quickly so I’m happy to have ideas on where to go next. lol!
Glad to be useful:) hope you dont read them too fast or you would get the itch to reread them again and again.
P.s. my daughter insists I include the mortal instruments series here, too. So if you burn through these books quick enough try reading Cassandra Clare too
Thanks for the advice!
I’ve actually read the Mortal Instrument series and enjoyed them! Well – the first three, anyway… I need to go back and read the book that came out a couple of years ago… (a prequel, I think?) I never got around to that one. 