Summer reading

Hi all,

My summer reading list is VERY varied this year. I'm taking on everything from classic lit to light young adult reading. Here's a sampling of what's on the list:

• Crime and Punishment
• Old School
• Insurgent
• The Knife of Never Letting Go
• Heroes of Olympus

The reason for Crime and Punishment and Old School is not necessarily because I would have chosen to read them for entertainment purposes. Actually, these books are a shout-out to my supersmart sister-in-law who taught English to college freshmen in Boston. Shelly recommended them.

She's moving back to Utah and is now going to teach AP English to high school seniors. These books are their assigned summer reads, and I'm taking up the challenge. 

I'm not really sure what inspired me to do this. Maybe because my other sister-in-law, Annie, said she would do it if I did. Maybe because my inner English-major self misses putting myself through the torture of wordy, convoluted classic lit? Because I hope these books will make me smarter? Because I will have access to a high-school level study guide to help me get through the material?

I'm also re-reading The Knife simply because I want to. Those books were amazing. And this time I'll force my husband to listen to it on audiobook. Then there's the obligatory fantasy, adventure, and other young adult fiction that I can't live without.

Have other recommendations? Lemme know.

Long Time No Read?

Just because I haven't posted in a while doesn't mean I haven't been reading.

And just because most likely no one even looks at this blog doesn't mean I'm not going to post in it again.

In other good news, if anyone has been checking on this blog from time to time, you may have seen all of my updates over in the right sidebar there, feeding from Goodreads.

Thank goodness for audiobooks. If not for audiobooks, I probably wouldn't be reading. (Let alone writing analytical reviews of everything that I read.)

So this post is more like a check-up, really. Because, being totally honest, I don't have what it takes right now to write eloquent literature reviews. My reading/listening hobby has become what many people like to call "escapism."

I hate that term. I'm not really sure why, but it seems like some high-brow readers use the term in a derogatory way to describe people who read for fun instead of for intellectual advancement.

What's so wrong with that anyway?

Last time I checked, even the most simple, pure-for-the-entertainment-of-it novel was a gazillion times more enriching than the latest episode of "we beat the dead horse of reality TV again for the 5th straight night." If it takes escapism to get away from depressingly awful TV (or a long and lackluster commute with only construction cones for scenery), then so be it.

Can we just call our reading habits something else? How about "adventurism"!?

Who wouldn't rather be called an adventurist? (Note the difference between 'adventurer.' I like to be an 'adventurer' too, but when it comes to book-clubbing, then I put on the 'adventurist' tag. Make sense? If you're just joining this blog, remember, I make up words.)

I have several up-and-coming adventures that I'm pretty excited about. When you drive 45+ minutes each way to and from work, you tend to get excited about series(es) that promise to be spine-tingling, imagination-exciting, and mind-occupying.

• Game of Thrones
• The Knife of Never Letting Go
• The Maze Runner

 I'll start at least 1 of these series next month, and hit up a 2nd if I finish it.

Good thing there's way too many novels in the world for me to run out of commuting adventures.

Review of Poison Study by Maria Snyder

The library did not have an audiobook of Poison Study, so I had to go back to reading hardcopy. I was a little worried about having time to read, but it turns out it wasn't a problem.

I blazed through this book.

It was easy reading, but that's not to say it wasn't also intelligent.

An intriguing idea - the comparison of love to slow poison. Or is being in love only like slow poison until you confess it, share it, and find out it is returned; then is love the antidote?

Yelena, the main character, is likeable for a number of reasons. She's a bit gritty with some dark history and bleak sentiments - making her similar to what a real person might be like who undergoes what she does. I liked that about her.

She is believable as a jaded character but not in a whiny or cheesy or one-dimensional way. In fact, Yelena is actually quite... decisive. And...

Dynamic. That's the word.

I'm still deciding about the love story.

On the one hand, I loved that it started out subtle. You don't realize that you've already met the love interest until, well... you start looking for him. And then you start reading into small reactions a little bit more.

But then once the love story started to gain steam, I felt like a few things happened a little too fast.

*SPOILER ALERT BELOW*

The Mortal Instruments rollercoaster

Okay, I admit. I finished the Mortal Instruments series.

I'm serious! I turned into a reading zombie this past week and stayed up late reading and I could not wait to know what happened.

After City of Bones (book 1), I had to read the City of Ashes (book 2), and then I just had to finish City of Glass (book 3) because I could not concentrate on folding laundry, making dinner, or getting anything done as long those books were unfinished.

I'm comparing this series to the best, star roller-coaster attraction of the paranormal genre. It was... amazing.

Here's my goodreads review of the last book. I promise I don't give anything away.

What do you think of Uglies so far?

Ok, so for those of you who are still reading Uglies, here is a post for you.

In my previous post, "Tally's transformation," I talked about the books from the perspective of having finished the series. But for you who are still reading Uglies, I want to know what you think.