Clean Books for Picky Readers, Part 5

    Merry Christmas, everyone! As a little Christmas present, I'm back again with six more entries for clean reading!

    These six aren't all on my pre-compiled list of books I like, because I just got them recently, and I've enjoyed them quite a lot. Ready?

1. Gossamer, by Lois Lowry

    This is a shorty, which at first I didn't appreciate, because it's just so good (then I wrote a shorty of my own and realized length doesn't matter as much as I thought it did). If you ever wanted to read a book about the fantastical origins of dreams, this one has you covered.

    Mild content warning with this one, not because it isn't clean, but because this book is, in part, about a kid who grew up in a tough home, with an abusive dad and both parents alcoholic. The message is good, but there's a few scenes that are a bit hard to read.

2. Chalice, by Robin McKinley

    I honestly can't believe I haven't covered this book yet. I legitimately thought I had, but apparently not.

    This is a book about a simple beekeeper thrust into a situation she's had no training or preparation for--that of being the second-highest member of the demesne Council. The actual highest member, the Master, is equally unprepared, having been sent to the priests of fire by his older brother, who almost broke the demesne through his mistakes.

    And somehow, these two ill-equipped people have to figure out how to put things back together again.

    And they fall in love by the end. :)

    I will warn you that this book has a total of four chapters (parts) and so reads a bit like a run-on sentence. There aren't a lot of concrete breaks where a reader can put the book down and go do something else while they think, and as a result it's both hard to put down and distinctly overwhelming on the first read-through. Feel free to go slow when you're reading this book, but I do highly recommend reading it because I love the story.

3. Lost and Found, by Orson Scott Card

    Sorry, I found another one that gets a bit hard to read. This time it's because the central plot-problem is human trafficking. Fortunately for us, Orson Scott Card is a master storyteller, and he handles this beast of a topic with incredible grace, but I wouldn't recommend this book for anyone under 12. And even then, I'd probably read it through again to make sure I was actually comfortable giving it to my child before 14 or 15.

    However, all that aside, this is a fantastic book (and so is the sequel, Duplex)! It brings about the concept of micropowers, which are essentially useless superpowers. And there's a therapy group intended to help people with micropowers learn to turn these useless superpowers into something useful.

    Also, the characters are great, and there are plenty of hilarious moments to keep you going in the midst of the darkness they're facing. I love this book. What more is there to say?

4. Princess Ben, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

    This book is not for the faint of heart, or for the limited of vocabulary. Princess Ben's narration rivals my own in terms of sesquipedalian vocabulary, and there were even a few in here that I didn't know. When an author is using words that I don't know, you know the vocab is tough.

    If you're confident in your vocabulary, I think you'll find this book to be a delightful read. It's got comedy, and it's got fairy-tale references, and the main character is a plump young woman with a serious addiction to food. I will admit that the romance pops up at the end a little unexpectedly, but when I was reading through it again, I did see some foreshadowing that I'd missed the first time 'round, so be on the lookout for that.

    A whole lot of the things we learn at the beginning of the book come back at the end, so you'll want to pay attention and be on your toes, because when everything ties up at the finale, the catharsis is amazing.

    Oh, and one last thing. I started reading this to my mom, and she loved it so much that while I was gone at dance class, she borrowed my Kindle and kept reading it. Ultimately, I only read her half the story because she was so thoroughly invested that she was happy to sit down and read for a while--and she almost never lets herself sit down and read.

5. The Stormwatch Diaries, by Kristiana Sfirlea

    You know, after referencing these in a couple blog posts, I figured I ought to recommend them to you officially. There are currently three books (the third came out this last October) and there are going to be more. This author is also inordinately fond of cliffhangers, so if you finish the third book furious with her, you're not alone.

    Though, again, I don't recommend these for the faint of heart. The author, though a big Jesus-lover like myself, worked in a haunted house for a few years, and it shows, especially in the second book (though she is polite enough to warn the reader before the book begins).

    These books have the delightful quality of being dotted with notes from the main character, as they are formatted like a time-travel diary. I won't go into more detail than that, because... spoilers... but believe me when I say that the humor in those notes is fantastic.

6. Mistwood, by Leah Cypess

    I wasn't sure what to expect going in to this one. My online library didn't have it, and it got mixed reviews on Amazon. But I took a leap of faith and bought it, and I'm glad I did.

    If you, like me, enjoy amnesia plots, this one has a unique twist on the traditional version. It also has quite a lot of politics, which I must admit I didn't fully understand, but it was an enjoyable read, and the main character was super interesting, and the big reveal at the end caught me properly by surprise and yet made the perfect amount of sense. For a debut novel, it's pretty wonderfully done.

    The author also has some really nice prose. A lot of first-time authors skimp on this part, which bugs me to no end because I'm a bit of a grammar Nazi, but this book did not disappoint me.

    Also, contrary to some of the Amazon reviews, I don't actually believe it's necessary to understand the political shenanigans to enjoy the book. As long as you can piece together the basics of the decisions the characters are making, the climax will still make sense, and it will probably still pull at your heartstrings a little bit.

    Before I go, I do want to note that I'm currently reading through a couple of other books that may show up on this list. Give me some time, though, because I bought six in that batch, and only one of the six had I read before (it's A Memory of Light, by Allyson S. Barkley, and I believe I recommended it in an earlier "Clean Books" post).

    At any rate, there you are! Happy reading, and merry Christmas!