February

Thank goodness for a leap year or the only book I'd have read was our current book club pick. I imagined posting about a good 3 or 4 books for February courtesy of our mid-winter get-away, I never learn. Traveling with kids doesn't allow for the kind of reading I used to get under my belt on vacations. I'm not complaining though, just commenting. 

                                                    

Hana

by Lauren Oliver

Releasing as an ebook the same day as the second Delirium book Pandemonium (February 28, 2012) , Hana is a short story told from the perspective of Deliriums main character's (Lena) best friend. While the stories are overlapping, Oliver keeps it fresh by by sharing not only a completely different perspective but a character that has entirely different reactions and motives to similar experiences than Lena from Delirium. And the last line drops a bombshell that I not only didn't see coming, it makes me want to re-read the last few chapters of Delirium to see if I missed something. Overall I enjoy short stories that fill out a story line and if you have read Delirium and enjoyed it, Hana is worth reading.

When you write things out it makes you more aware of them, so writing for just the last two months my booklist makes me realize that I need to expand my literary horizons. I need to reign in my inner seventeen year old self that is apparently in control of all my book purchases lately. Which isn't to say I'm giving up my YA reads, but maybe I need to temper them with some more grown up choices? 

Andrea