I've checked off three of the books on my list. Go me!
The first was The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling.
It's not a long book because it's a small collection of wizard fairy tales. I read it in about an hour. I can't really tell you why it sat on my shelf so long. There just always seemed to be some other book I was buried in to take a breath and give Beedle my full attention.
As fairy tales go the book pretty much met all my expectations. Short stories with morals, except the intended audience was wizard children and not muggles. (If you are completely lost, then you need to go read all seven Harry Potter books.) I'm glad the book wasn't extra long because I don't think it would have kept my attention if it had been. I would have been easily bored by much more length. But it was nice to dive into the wizarding world again with some new stories. I love re-reading the HP books, but I think I have them memorized at this point.
Up next was Lord John and the Hand of Devils. This book is the third from Diana Gabaldon about a character from the Outlander series. A friend of mine shares my love for the Outlander
series and since she already owned all the Lord John books she loaned them too me.
I have to admit that I struggled through them. If you've read any of the Outlander books you know that Gabaldon is not short winded. At all. She should stick to that strategy. I feel like she rushed the endings of all the Lord John stories because she had a word limit for all of them. The writing just isn't up to her usual standards. I was dissapointed. In one of her many comentaries in this final LJ book she does say there is a fourth book in the works. I'm undecided right now if I'll read it.
Last night I finished up with The Host by Stephenie Meyer.
Meyer is best know for the Twilight series that people are talking about so much these days. I read and loved all of them. Not so much because of Meyer's writing (which leaves much to be desired) but because it's a good story and I've always had a secret obsession with vampire lore. It's a guilty pleasure of mine.
She released The Host (her first adult novel) some time before finishing the fourth book in the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn. I had seen it in bookstores, but never really had much interest in reading it. Then I received it as a gift and it sat on my shelf for nearly a year. I just couldn't bring myself to crack it open. I love supernatural stuff, but I'm not so big on science fiction. Some people might say those two things are interchangeable, but I don't feel that way.
But, about the book. I'm so glad I read it. I was completely shocked at how much I liked it. I even forgot for a minute that I was reading a Stephenie Meyer book. (Until I found a couple of typo's of course. Her editor is atrocious.) I got really involved in the story and the characters. When I was done reading it I was a little sad that it was over; a tale-tell sign that I thoroughly enjoyed a book.
It isn't the next great American novel by any stretch of the imagination, but I was entertained from the beginning. And that's all I can really ask of a book. I read for the love of reading and to give myself a short escape from reality. I got both of those things from this book.
Up next:
The first was The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling.
It's not a long book because it's a small collection of wizard fairy tales. I read it in about an hour. I can't really tell you why it sat on my shelf so long. There just always seemed to be some other book I was buried in to take a breath and give Beedle my full attention.
As fairy tales go the book pretty much met all my expectations. Short stories with morals, except the intended audience was wizard children and not muggles. (If you are completely lost, then you need to go read all seven Harry Potter books.) I'm glad the book wasn't extra long because I don't think it would have kept my attention if it had been. I would have been easily bored by much more length. But it was nice to dive into the wizarding world again with some new stories. I love re-reading the HP books, but I think I have them memorized at this point.
Up next was Lord John and the Hand of Devils. This book is the third from Diana Gabaldon about a character from the Outlander series. A friend of mine shares my love for the Outlander
series and since she already owned all the Lord John books she loaned them too me.I have to admit that I struggled through them. If you've read any of the Outlander books you know that Gabaldon is not short winded. At all. She should stick to that strategy. I feel like she rushed the endings of all the Lord John stories because she had a word limit for all of them. The writing just isn't up to her usual standards. I was dissapointed. In one of her many comentaries in this final LJ book she does say there is a fourth book in the works. I'm undecided right now if I'll read it.
Last night I finished up with The Host by Stephenie Meyer.Meyer is best know for the Twilight series that people are talking about so much these days. I read and loved all of them. Not so much because of Meyer's writing (which leaves much to be desired) but because it's a good story and I've always had a secret obsession with vampire lore. It's a guilty pleasure of mine.
She released The Host (her first adult novel) some time before finishing the fourth book in the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn. I had seen it in bookstores, but never really had much interest in reading it. Then I received it as a gift and it sat on my shelf for nearly a year. I just couldn't bring myself to crack it open. I love supernatural stuff, but I'm not so big on science fiction. Some people might say those two things are interchangeable, but I don't feel that way.
But, about the book. I'm so glad I read it. I was completely shocked at how much I liked it. I even forgot for a minute that I was reading a Stephenie Meyer book. (Until I found a couple of typo's of course. Her editor is atrocious.) I got really involved in the story and the characters. When I was done reading it I was a little sad that it was over; a tale-tell sign that I thoroughly enjoyed a book.
It isn't the next great American novel by any stretch of the imagination, but I was entertained from the beginning. And that's all I can really ask of a book. I read for the love of reading and to give myself a short escape from reality. I got both of those things from this book.
Up next:
The Fabulous Girl's Guide to Decorum by Kim Izzo and Ceri Marsh
&
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
&
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
