Friday, August 31, 2012

August Reads

Terrier, the Legend of Beka Cooper, by Tamora Pierce
Confession: I survived middle school because of the escape offered by Ms. Pierce's books.  Fabulous literature?  ...not exactly.  But a wonderful way to spur imagination, and still some of the most comforting reads in my arsenal (yes, up there with Harry Potter, something I used to read aloud to my youngest brother every night).  My friends and I would compose elaborate notes to each other as characters and pass them off between classes.  Yes, I willingly participated in a fan fiction role playing game.  And I loved it.  But her books that were outside of middle school never quite made it to that stage of adoration, not quite sure why.  It's not a bad book, but it just feels...young.  Then again, I'm probably not the intended audience anymore.

Also--I just remembered I had this:

Wow.  Two are married, one has a child, one girl I don't remember, at all.  It's a long way from April 2000. 

A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson
Two things I take away from this?  There are many beautiful sights left in America, and we don't have many ideas on how to take care of them.  Between invasive species and the "right" way to do things, simply a guess due to the lack of money to do research and figure out the right thing...?  Gosh. 

A Friend of the Family, by Lauren Grodstein
It was...fine.  Honestly, I just don't particularly like reading train-crash-falling-apart-can't-pull-myself away books.  They're depressing, and instead of illuminating the human condition, they simply make me sad. 

Green Riders 1 and 2, by Kristen Britain
I liked them, but they just feel a little bit like the author stole bits and pieces from other famous fantasy works and shoved them in her story (ohhh I like elves!  I will hereby call them Eletians!  ...ok?)

House at Tyneford, by Natasha Solomons
I enjoyed it!  ...but it was a little on the contrived side.

Also, I fell completely in love with Ian McKellan reading Homer's Odyssey on the Olympics commercials, so I'm trying to track down a copy to listen to on long walks. 

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