FINISHED: 
Highsmith, Patricia. (1952). The Price of Salt. Mineola, NY: Dover.

[.]

STARTED:

Federle, Tim. (2016).  The Great American Whatever. New York: Simon & Schuster.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Corey, Shana. (2016). The Secret Subway. New York: Schwartz & Wade/Random House.

[.]


STARTED:
Highsmith, Patricia. (1952). The Price of Salt. Mineola, NY: Dover.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Alexander, Kwame. (2016). Booked. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.



[.]




STARTED:
Corey, Shana. (2016). The Secret Subway. New York: Schwartz & Wade/Random House.



[.]


*

FINISHED: 
Castleman, Virginia. (2016). Sara Lost and Found. New York: Aladdin/Simon & Schuster.



[REALLY didn't live up to my expectations.  Name-checks Dicey's Song, so maybe I'll read that one to cleanse the palate...]



STARTED:
Alexander, Kwame. (2016). Booked. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.



[Whoo hoo!  New one from last year's Newbery Award winner!]



*

FINISHED:
Clarke, Susanna. (2004). Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. New York: Bloomsbury.

[FINISHED IT!  An enjoyable read, to be sure, though a bit plodding in places.  HOWEVER, never did I feel like, "I really want to give this up and read something else," nor did I finish it just to say that I did.  She built an entire world here, with complex characters, a full "alternate" history, and injected a whole bunch of deadpan humor.  And I just love that the only name we got for the "gentleman with the thistledown hair" was the "gentleman with the thistledown hair".  Currently in the middle of the BBC adaptation, and finding that it is remarkable true to the source material, annotations and all!]

STARTED:
Castleman, Virginia. (2016). Sara Lost and Found. New York: Aladdin/Simon & Schuster.

[Intrigued because it is about foster kids.]

*

 

FINISHED:
Park, Linda Sue. (2016). Wing & Claw: Forest of Wonders. New York: HarperCollins.

[.]

STARTED:
Clarke, Susanna. (2004). Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. New York: Bloomsbury.

[I'm going to give it go!  The paperback - at just over 1000 pages - is daunting, but I'm intrigued by the BBC series and really want to read the source material first.  I gave it a shot years ago...  Don't remember why I couldn't finish it...]

*

FINISHED:
Cole, Henry. (2016). Brambleheart. New York: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins.

[.]

STARTED:
Park, Linda Sue. (2016). Wing & Claw: Forest of Wonders. New York: HarperCollins.

[A Single Shard is one of my favorite Newbery Medal winners.]

*

FINISHED:
Kibuishi, Kazu. (2016). Firelight [Amulet: Book 7]. New York: Graphix/Scholastic.

[An OUTSTANDING installment of a fantastic series.  SO glad that it's popular with the kids in the library - it's quality stuff that deserves to be read.]

STARTED:
Cole, Henry. (2016). Brambleheart. New York: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Tyler, Anne. (2015). A Spool of Blue Thread. New York: Knofp/Random House.

[An Anne Tyler novel is always a refreshing change.  So many books these days are solely driven (at least, hopefully) by plot, with little character development. An Anne Tyler book is generally the exact opposite:  pure character study.  Sure, things "happen", but that's never really the focus.  Rather, they are about people - great "slice-of-life" novels that spend most of their time getting into the minds/habits/eccentricities of everyday folk.  I'd venture to say that it's almost a guarantee that you'll come across a character, or family situation, in one of her novels that reminds you of someone that you actually know, or of something that has actually happened to you or someone you know.  This one, like many of her tomes, deals with family - how families come to be, how they grow and change, how the develop vivid memories, and how they say hello and goodbye.  One NYT basically called it Anne-Tyler-by-numbers, but another was more favorable.  I'll side with the latter when it comes to an Anne Tyler novel, anytime.]

STARTED:
Kibuishi, Kazu. (2016). Firelight [Amulet: Book 7]. New York: Graphix/Scholastic.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Eagar, Lindsay. (2016). Hour of the Bees. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[(SPOILER!)  Not bad...  Tuck Everlasting is just one of the most ABSOLUTE classics in my eyes, so anything approaching this territory is under heavy scrutiny.  To me, it's just such a fantastic question to hit kids with:  if you could live forever, would you?  It's the kind of dilemma that can bring up so many fascinating discussions.  This one mines some of the same territory, but comes at it from a much more direct (ok, I haven't read Tuck Everlasting in awhile... so I'm kind of guessing here) message of "live in the now, not for the future".  Since this one takes place in modern day, there are questions surrounding how no one - especially those at the nursing home who surely would've given Grandpa a thorough medical check-up before admitting him - can tell that there are folks in this town that seem to be living a lot longer than usual.  Quibbles aside, this really could end up being one of the better novels of the year.]

STARTED:
Tyler, Anne. (2015). A Spool of Blue Thread. New York: Knofp/Random House.

[I love me some Anne Tyler, and normally I read new ones immediately upon their release.  BUT, last year was my Newbery year so anything beyond what was eligible for consideration of the award had to wait.]

*