Listening to: Ballad of a Thin Man - Bob Dylan
Do you read verse novels?
I keep coming across YA books with interesting synopses, only to find that they’re in verse – somehow that’s not remotely appealing to me. I like poetry and I like novels, but they don’t make a satisfying hybrid. Am I really missing out? Does anyone love them?
19 November, 2008 at 10:42 pm
there are a few free verse books around actually. among some i’ve read are:
1. frenchtown summer – robert cormier
2. the watcher – james howe
3. out of the dust – karen hesse
4. stop pretending: what happened when my big sister went crazy – sonya sones
19 November, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Can I ask what it was that you liked about them?
Did you find them immediately engaging, or did it take you a while to get used to the language? And did you like them because of the verse, or was it really about the stories, or both equally?
20 November, 2008 at 8:32 am
i like free verse books because it reads like prose but in a poetic way because of the stanzas and spacing.
i don’t have a favourite free verse book, but i enjoy reading them when i come across one. usually, i choose them for the stories, just as i would with prose. i even wrote a book in free verse for my class assignment once!
21 November, 2008 at 12:06 am
Thanks! I’ll try some of the books you recommended.
(And thanks for commenting in general.)
2 June, 2009 at 1:50 pm
I think you know where I stand on verse novels! I particularly like ones by Steven Herrick.
6 June, 2009 at 7:35 am
Heather, I really need some book recommendations in general. I keep reading non-fiction!
6 June, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Nothing wrong with non-fiction!
How about some of these (assuming you haven’t already read them
A ghost in my suitcase/Gabrielle Wang
Everything beautiful/Simmone Howell
If I stay/Gayle Forman (this one keeps popping up on book review blogs, but I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet)
Naomi and Ely’s no kiss list/Cohn&Levithan
Paper towns/John Green
The beginner’s guide to living/Lia Hills
These are all on my “to read” list – maybe a good review from you will inspire me
Happy reading!
11 June, 2009 at 8:34 am
Oh, I know, and it’s quite good non-fiction (some Mark Steel comedy/socialism books and, uh, Joanna Bourke’s Rape: a history from 1860 to the present), but I need balance! So thank you – I am off to the library this weekend.
It’s nice to see you here!
16 June, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Balance is good! Hope you manage to find at least one of them. I look forward to your review…
It’s nice to see you here too! Thanks for all the postcards and keeping in touch with us Adelaide library folk