21 posts tagged “2007 reading”
The past month I've been in a place where I've been reading about six different books at once very slowly and not finishing any of them. Even on vacation and on the plane, i didn't really read. Instead I watched the movie and chatted with other passengers. Have I broke my reading brain?
Thankfully, I finished one book yesterday.
This is a book that made me want to go out and do more for my community. It's very inspirational and if you're in the midst of a moment where you think most people suck, this is a good book to read. Because it shows how much people really do care about others and how the simplest things can make a big difference in someone's life.
I grew up with two parents who worked in non-profit for various charities, so I was around philanthropy all my life, but I still feel like I don't do enough most days. I'm trying to work on that and this book was a great motivation, reminding me that if a sick kid can raise money for children in Africa, I can do something too.
So I recently picked up two novelizations and read them. So I'm gonna add them to my reading list for the year.
I wanted this one because it was set in the Charmed universe, but featured adult Chris & Wyatt. And I loved chris like whoa and really thought that he managed to revive the show for the season he was on.
Now, I know not to expect brilliance from novelizations, but most are enjoyable if you enjoy the world its based in. That said, even if you're a fan of the show and/or Chris, do NOT read this. It's pure drivel and the way the characters were written did not resemble the ones we saw on television.
There is bad fanfiction out there that looks genius in comparison to this. Seriously horrible book. I can't believe I read the whole thing, even if it did only take two hours.
On the complete opposite end, I really enjoyed this first Supernatural novelization. It's wasn't amazing writing, but it was enjoyable for someone who loves the show and the main characters. The boys acted/talked like they would and the monster-of-the-week mystery of the book wasn't too boring or lame.
But really, here's the thing with a novelization. I'm reading it because I love the characters, so as long as you do right by the characters, I walk away like I didn't just waste time and money too much. This author gave me a Sam & Dean I recognize and enjoy.
My "all reading, all the time" phase seems to have passed. Mostly because vacation is over and work/real life has been slightly insane, so I'm taking longer with finishing a book again. Le sigh. Stupid life. Doesn't it understand how lovely book ingestion is?
I finished this book two days ago and I'm still not quite sure how I feel about it on a whole. I love Brashares style of writing and there were a few bits of the novel I found myself stopping to write down excerpts as quotes because I just related to it.
That said, the three main characters and their inability to communicate amongst themselves (even though they claimed to be close & to share things) drove me crazy. And I think that was part of the whole theme of the book, but it still annoyed me and I wanted to shake them.
The end was predictable, but I still enjoyed the ride of the story. And sometimes that's all I need from a book - a great ride.
I'm also not sure if I'm unfairly judging this book because I loved and adored her Sisterhood of the Traveling pants books. That series of books created characters that I adored and this book just didn't really do that for me.
If you're interested, you can check out all my latest reads and such over at my good reads account.
I finished this book yesterday on my lunch. 3 down, 1 to go in the Chesapeake Bay Saga. So far, Cam's story was my favorite (the first one), but this book was enjoyable. I loved the further development of all the characters and how Seth slowly, throughout all three books became a part of the family and the mysteries of his history with Ray were revealed.
Like most romances, it has the predictable love story/romance that unfolds, but it was enjoyable.
Definitely recommend the books.
Having finished these three Nora Roberts' books, I realize what it is about the romance genre in general that drives me crazy. It's not the relationships - love and relationships are innate to being a human. It's something we all experience at some point in our lives...so I enjoy reading about relationships, find them fascinating. But in these romance novels, it's not so much the relationship as the emphasis on the notion that "I never thought love would happen and then you appeared" or the "I never had a problem closing myself off, but you wormed your way in" idea. Where are the romances where it's like, "Yeah, I've loved before, but never the right person at the right time...and now I think I've finally found that." Is that too ordinary? Too much like what most of us have probably experienced in our life so the readers clamor for this idea of one true love that finally finds his/her way to the other person? I guess I'm just not much of a romantic in the general sense and it makes for interesting reading in this genre where sometimes I roll my eyes.
I'm in one of my "rather be reading" moods where I overlook most things in favor of a good book.
I discussed this book with the best friend and my sister at lunch this past weekend and we agreed that there was barely any Marcus, which makes us sad. And what we really want are Marcus' lost notebooks. We think that should be published rather than any more Jessica Darling books.
This is hard for me because I absolutely love the first two books of the Jessica Darling series. Book three was okay and this book was okay as well. But it gets to the point where it just felt like it was writing for the sake of writing, with some really contrived plot bits that bugged me a tad.
I still do enjoy Jessica's style of sharing her story with sarcasm and a heavy vocabulary, and it moves along rather quickly.
I enjoyed it enough, but I wouldn't bother unless you've loved and adored the first three.
I picked this book up because I really like Elsewhere and it didn't disappoint. It's a quick read about a young high school girl who loses her memory. It was abrupt at points, especially toward the end where it felt like everything got wrapped up much faster than I, as a reader, could savor and enjoy, but overall, interesting characters and a story that didn't necessarily go where I expected it to.
Zevin has a great ability at creating fresh stories. Definitely recommend.
I finished this book a few days ago. It's a long one, but an interesting look at Einstein's life and his lifelong belief in the importance of daydreaming and imagination. Of course there is science talk, but it's nothing that someone completely illiterate in science (ME) couldn't understand so it's not daunting. I enjoyed learning more about the man behind the crazy hair and important discoveries.
This is the second book in the Chesapeake Bay saga of books. I've never read Nora Roberts before these books because I'm not that big into romance, but it was recommended to me as an easy, fun read. And it is enjoyable. The romance isn't too much that it makes me want to kill myself and the characters continue to come into their own and you care about them.
If you like romance, you'll love it. If you like beach-type reads, you'll probably like it too.
I finished this book last night and enjoyed it. Quick read. Romance with interesting characters. Most Nora Roberts books aren't really my thing, but people highly recommended this series of her books, so I decided to give it a try. I was a bit wary considering the narration is third person omniscent so it was jumping around to everyone's thoughts, but I truly enjoyed the story and came to love Cameron and his brothers. I'll definitely continue reading the rest of this series (after I read the next Jessica Darling book and a few I have from the library).
I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys romance - it's not too overwhelming in this book and there is an actual story.
I started Eclipse on Thursday and finished it today. I read the past two books in this series in one six-hour sitting, but for some reason these characters that I've come to love in the first two books were annoying me this time around. An interesting conclusion, though I'm not sure how I feel about how after three books, the epilogue suddenly switches to someone else's first person perspective. I'm not sure that fit with the rest of the story, but rather more like something the author just wanted to write.
Overall, enjoyable. And I plan to read it again along with the rest of the series (Twilight, New Moon), but far less superior to the others.
Now I shall get back to one of the three other books I've started. I don't know why I go around starting more than one book. It's like I have a compulsion - like I need to start them, unable to wait until I'm done the first. Le sigh. I need help.
Latest book read of the year:
I finished this book yesterday afternoon. It's only the second book I've read by Jodi Piccoult, but I enjoyed it a great deal. She has an interesting style of storytelling with mixed narrators and time jumps, and it works for the book. She even made a character who did such a horrendous thing somewhat loveable and I found myself feeling for him.
It's a tad bit depressing as it deals with a school shooting, but if you think you can handle that, I'd recommend it.
Next up in my readings, I have two memoirs and the new Neil Gaiman. Do other people read more than one book at a time? I don't know if it's my lack of attention or what, but most of the time, I like to jump around.
Due to having a project that needed finishing and therefore working on Saturday, I didn't read this until Saturday night/Sunday morning. Definitely enjoyable. As to avoid spoiling this for anyone, I'll only link to my review in my livejournal post - SPOILERS.
This book is pretty much preaching to the converted as I already view myself as a feminist, but I think it's a great introduction to all the issues that face *every* woman. I also think it's a great book to pass onto younger women who are slowly coming into their own. Definitely recommend it. It's filled with a lot of basic information and ways to get more involved in the fight for women's rights.
I just picked up a few books from the library today so I'll probably read those next. Then I'm thinking of going back and re-reading the entire Harry Potter series now that I know how the whole thing plays out.
As always, feel free to check out my good reads account.
