I'm still working on reading from the list of 2011 Nebula Awards Nominees for (science fiction & fantasy) books in the Young Adult & Novel categories, but I only got through 1 book last week. The awards are this weekend, so I'm hoping to cross a few more off the list before I make my prediction for the winners.

Weekly Reading With The Girl of Fire and Thorns

The Girl of Fire and Thorns, Rae Carson. Elisa is the chosen one. But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can't see how she ever will. Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king - a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

I barely took a bathroom break while reading this book - it was that good! Although Elisa is the chosen one, she starts out being very insecure - she doesn't think she's worthy of being the bearer of the "Godstone", and that people don't respect her but see her as a fat, young, dumb, princess. There's a lot going on in this book - Elisa's journey to come into herself as a smart, confident leader, as well as the not-so subtle religious aspects of the book, which I absolutely loved - it was present, but part of the story, and in a time when many books go the opposite route to sort of trash religion, or look at it harshly, it was nice to find a book where it was included as part of the story in a favorable way, and not be preachy or attempt to push an agenda. There were a few things that gave me a little bit of a pause - like how she managed to be captured so easily - but nothing really that detracted from my enjoyment of the book. (Amazon| Goodreads)

*** If you're interested in seeing the other books I've read so for for the Nebulas, check out => Reading the 2011 Nebula Awards Nominees {2012 Reading List} ***

Currently Reading and Next

Firebird, Jack McDevitt. I've been reading this on and off for the last 2 weeks.
Forty-one years ago the renowned physicist Chris Robin vanished. Before his disappearance, his fringe science theories about the existence of endless alternate universes had earned him both admirers and enemies. Alex Benedict and Chase Kolpath discover that Robin had several interstellar yachts flown far outside the planetary system where they too vanished. And following Robin's trail into the unknown puts Benedict and Kolpath in danger. (Amazon | Goodreads)

The Kingdom of Gods, N.K. Jemisin. For two thousand years the Arameri family has ruled the world by enslaving the very gods that created mortalkind. Now the gods are free, and the Arameri's ruthless grip is slipping. Yet they are all that stands between peace and world-spanning, unending war. (Amazon| Goodreads)