Thursday, July 30, 2009

Book Update...

I announced earlier that, for me, this is the Summer of the Book. Who knows how long it'll be before I'm able to sit down and read something other than "Goodnight Moon." And I'm okay with that. BUT I want to fill up before then. Now, when I started out I had 63 books on my list and you all thought I'd lost my mind. And I might have. But I'm now down to 46. I would also like to point out that my summer doesn't end until this baby comes. I'm out of work, remember? Without further ado...


The first book I read was "What Happened to Cass McBride?" I read this while the kids were taking their exams. I think I've posted a little blurb about it before. It was a good book, once I got into it and started thinking back on it. It's one of those books that changes narrators every chapter and it goes back and forth in the storyline so it was a little hard to follow. However, it was a short read (I finished it in one day) and I did like it. It was just a little on the strange side. The book begins with a boy who has committed suicide because Cass McBride wrote a note to a friend about not wanting to date the boy and he found it. He hangs himself in the tree in his family's front yard. The brother, in retaliation, kidnaps Cass and buries her alive. It's not nearly as gruesome as it sounds. I like a murder-mystery and this was a lot like that. It didn't dwell on the hanging and it wasn't gross, which I was thankful for. Since I've been pregnant the gross stuff has turned my tummy. Overall, I'd give it 2.5/5 stars.


The second book I read was "Peaches." It was a really cute book about three girls who live on a peach orchard for the spring and summer breaks. They're all extremely different but they wind up forming a tight bond with one another. I thought it was especially cute because the author used Lane Packing as a source for her information and the story could've easily been set about 5 miles down the road from my house. It's a teenager book and it reminded me of the "Traveling Pants" books, but it was cute nevertheless. I'd give it 3/5 stars.


The third book I read was "The Tales of Beedle the Bard." It was written by J.K. Rowling and goes along with the 7th book. If you've read the 7th book, it's the book that Dumbledore gives to Hermione when they're looking for the Deathly Hallows. It's a book of fairytales for young witches and wizards. I thought it pretty much stunk big time. It was short and easy to read and that was the only plus side. I wish I'd just left it in the book! I'd give it 1/5 stars.


The fourth book I read was "The Secret Life of Bees." So good! It's about a young teenage girl in South Carolina whose mama died when she was just a little girl. She and her housekeeper get into trouble and decide to run away together. The girl has an agenda - to find out more about her mama. They go to Tiburon, SC, and wind up staying with three women - August, May, and June. Such a great (but a little sad) storyline! I loved it! 4.5/5 stars!


Then I started on the Harry Potters again. I read "Goblet of Fire" (4 stars), "Order of the Phoenix" (3 stars - my least favorite of the series), "Half-Blood Prince" (4 stars), and "Deathly Hallows" (5 stars!). The best are the last two. I'm not telling what any of them are about, though, because it would ruin it for anyone who wanted to read them. They're fantastic, though.


Next I read "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. This one has been featured EVERYWHERE so I'm sure you've heard of it. It's the autobiography (or memoirs?) of a man who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He knew that he wouldn't survive, but took treatments to prolong his life. When he died, his three kids were under 7 years old. He wrote the book so that they'd have a piece of him when they grew up. It was a great book, full of life lessons. It didn't seem to be written directly to his children, and it's a book anyone can learn a lot from. It was also a pretty quick read! 4/5 stars!


I read "The Midwife's Apprentice." It was a book that I'd had on my bookshelf at school for several years and I'd never read. It was just ok. It's about a girl who is an orphan and it's set in medieval times. The girl is found by a midwife and she begins helping her for food and a place to stay. She has very little confidence and begins to grow up as the story goes on. It was a cute read, but not one I'd likely read again. Overall, 3/5 stars.

I'm working on the Twilight series now. I read Twilight last summer and just hadn't gotten through the other three. I finished "New Moon" last week and began "Eclipse." I took it to the beach with me but didn't read at all. "New Moon" gets 3/5 stars. I'm not as big a fan as everyone else is. I'm not in love with Edward like all the other girls are. I like Jacob a LOT better. That may come back to haunt me in the last two books. Edward is too intense for me.


I listened to "Coraline" on Tuesday on my iPod while I was getting other things done. I HATED this book. It was one of those children's books where the child disappears into another world. I'm not sure why it's a kids' book because it was SCARY. The little girl, Coraline, goes into another world where there's a witch called her "Other Mother." She tries to convince Coraline to stay with her forever. When Coraline goes back, her parents have disappeared. She has to go back into the "Other Mother's" world to save them. I guess I should've been clued in that it was weird since Tim Burton did the movie, but it was weirder than that, even! Ugh! 1/5 stars!


I've started listening to the Narnia series (The Magician's Nephew and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) while I finish the last two in the Twlight series. I've read both before but they were still pretty great. I've never listened for all the Christian references, especially in The Magician's Nephew, but they're there! Started The Horse and His Boy today.


After that, I'm not sure where I'll head with my reading. Still have a few series to go - Uglies, Eragon, Inkheart, Maximum Ride, and Pendragon. I may go with a non-series book next, though. 46 left! I'll keep updating periodically!

2 comments:

Anna Catherine said...

No wonder you wanted to finish the 3rd book in the Twilight series! You're a Jacob lover! Gross! I'm team Edward ALL the way! That's why I HATED the 2nd book!

jlw said...

Yay for Summer of the Book! I have a bunch I want to read from the NPR list but am having a hard time finding copies (because everyone else here listens to NPR apparently and beat me to the bookstore and library). I just finished Anita Shreve's new one, TESTIMONY, which was decent.