As one of my 2010 resolutions, I determined that this year I was going to read 24 books. I decided that they should be a great variety of lengths, genres, etc. without specifying how many of each and so far I think I am doing pretty well on both the variety and quantity.
In January, I read 4 books:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald
This novella was very short (50 pages) and different from the movie, which we saw a while ago. The book was interesting and was written more like "imagine this scenario" than an actual novel with a plot. Three stars.
Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card
Having read all of the other Ender series books, I decided to finish out the series (assuming he is done writing these finally!) I was familiar with the story and this complemented the rest of the books quite well. It was a good read. Four stars.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
This is a very interesting book revolving around a girl in Germany during WWII. The beginning is somewhat confusing but once you stick with it for a little while, you figure out who the characters are. Five Stars
A Gracious Plenty by Sheri Reynolds
This is about a woman who tends the graveyard in a small town and is shunned by many of the townspeople because her face was burned when she was young. This was a pretty good book that in some ways reminded me of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. It was entertaining and thought-provoking, although it had some bad language. Four stars.
In February so far (I know, only 1/3 of the way through it yet) I have read:
The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant
A well-written book about a girl in 15th century Florence whose life doesn't turn out at all like she thought it would. There is some material in this book that would make me hesitant to recommend it to others but it was still thought-provoking and interesting. Four stars.
Roots by Alex Haley
An excellent book. It has been a while since I read anything about early American history or Africa. This book is really quite amazing and has caused me to think a lot about slavery and seeing things from a new perspective. It is amazing to read how Alex Haley hunted down the facts about his genealogy and heritage. It made me want to talk to my elder relatives and find out the real details of their lives and where I came from. I highly recommend this book - don't be daunted by it's hugeness! Five stars.
I believe next on my list of things to read is Atlas Shrugged but after just finishing Roots (today) I may need a short little easy read before I jump into that. If anyone has any book recommendations for this year I would love to hear them. Thank you!
4 comments:
This is great! I have a similar resolve to read more books, so thanks for the ideas. I read "Roots" in 8th grade. I have no idea why, since it's probably a little intense for a 13-year-old. But I also remember it being quite thought-provoking.
BTW... I just finished "The Goose Girl" by Shannon Hale. It would definitely qualify as a short, easy read. I loved it. Another one by the same author that I really enjoyed was "Austenland."
I'm working through my list for this year too! I read "Pygmalion" and "Tale of Two Cities." Right now I'm in the middle of "Go Tell It on the Mountain" which is really good and "Catch-22" which I am having a little trouble getting into.
Thanks so much for the good reviews and recommendations. I'm always looking for a good book. I just finished reading The Space Between Us and am now reading The Lovely Bones. I'm also finishing listening to the whole Chronicles of Narnia series. Oh, another one I really liked is Sarah's Key. Keep us posted on what else you read.
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