Book Reviews: Graceling & Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

As promised. 
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The fifty-fifth book I read this year was Graceling, by Kristin Cashore. It sounded pretty good: A girl who has the magical power of killing people? Awesome. Not to mention that I'd already read and loved the "companion" book, Fire. (That turned out not to matter, though, because Fire comes first chronologically. It's also the better book, I think.)  
It took me a little while to get into it, but it completely lived up to my expectations. Sinister and dangerous villain? Check. Realistic protagonist? Check. Sweet and loveable love interest? Oh, Po. :) 
The romance, though, went a little farther than I was really comfortable, which is a pity, because otherwise it's such a great book. It didn't ruin the book for me, but it made me rather more hesitant about recommending it. It always makes me sad when I see that kind of thing in an otherwise good book, because it's usually totally unnecessary. 
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Book fifty-six was a re-read, but I'm reviewing it anyway, because I feel honour-bound to talk about all the books I read. It was Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, by Gary D. Schmidt. I've read several of Schmidt's books and he's never once disappointed me. This one is no exception. It's historical fiction that's very beautiful and also horribly sad - and the sadness is made even worse when you find out that it's based on a true story. One thing I especially liked was the character of Turner's father. Throughout the book you discover new things about him, so that he becomes a very three-dimensional character. I also loved Mrs. Cobb and her obsession with her last words. I loved lots of things about it.