Haven't been updating lately, but have done a little reading. Not nearly enough for the challenge I've set for myself, but considering I read about 7 books over the March Break this year I'm hoping I can catch up over these two summer months off from work (well, off from teaching -- I have a nannying job, but I'll still have plenty of time for reading in between my nannying hours). Anyway, here are some of the books I read but didn't blog about!
26) Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
This is the fourth book in Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians YA series. I love this series, A LOT, and really enjoyed reading this installment. Percy and his friends find themselves on a new quest -- into the Labyrinth, to stop Luke from raising Kronos and taking over Camp Halfblood, and eventually Olympus. It's got lots of adventure and fun, and it really sets things up for the conclusion of the series (or, what I'm fairly certain is the conclusion -- book five, The Last Olympian, which Scooter and I haven't bought to read yet). If you haven't given these books a try, but you like books such as Harry Potter, I'd definitely read them.
27) Dead and Gone (Sookie Stackhouse #9) by Charlaine Harris
I am so cheap and refuse to buy these books hardcover, so I only just now finally read the ninth Sookie Stackhouse novel; number ten is already on bookshelves but it's still hardcover itself so I'll be waiting until next spring for that one too. Book 9 was another great Sookie story, and I'm in love with these characters. I also watch the television series, "True Blood" (which is probably what helps me be able to wait to read the new books in soft-cover, it sort of bridges the gap by having a TV Sookie in my life).
28) Angels by Marian Keyes
I am a huge fan of Keyes' Walsh family. I've read these books completely out of order, but have read three of the four books that each feature a different Walsh sister (I read Rachel's Holiday first, then read Is Anybody Out There? which is Anna's story, and then read Angels, which about Maggie Walsh and comes before either of the other two I read -- the only one I haven't read yet is Watermelon, which is Claire's story and is actually the FIRST of the Walsh sister's books). The good thing is? It doesn't really matter TOO much if you read them out of order, as I've found. I'm eagerly waiting for Helen, the youngest of the Walsh sisters, to have a book featured about her soon too (since I'm sure it's inevitable). My favourite of these books is Anna's story (Is Anybody Out There?), but any of them so far have been great.
29) Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA by Ellen Meister
I picked this up off of the 80%-off shelf at Chapters (a frequent place for my book-buying, since $4.99 is a sweet price for a novel). It was actually not bad, a good beside-the-pool read. The characters are all going through some relationship issues, and there are some affairs/potential affairs/weird moments, but it wasn't a bad story and it had nice pacing. The characters were likeable enough -- if a little sex-obsessed at times.
Alrighty, 29 down and ... oh.. hmm.. you know, only 71 books left to read this year. HA. HA HA HA. /crying on the inside.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
25) A Hollywood Ending by Robyn Sisman
I've picked up a bunch of chick-lit books on sale at Chapters recently, in an effort to read some light stuff by my pool and speed up my "number of books read" as much as I can... haha. The first one I tried was called A Hollywood Ending, by author Robyn Sisman.
This story is about Paige Carson, famous movie star, who is dissatisfied with how things are going in Hollywood and with how she's beginning to be viewed as a bratty star. She takes off to London to perform Shakespeare on stage in order to combat her reputation and remember the reason she became an actress in the first place.
Oh, but before you get to that you have page after page of not-so-great-but-also-not-that-exciting things happen to Paige back in Los Angeles.
When the book switches to England, we somethings get the story from the perspective of Ed, Paige's landlord who is trying very hard to be unimpressed with "The Paige Carson" living upstairs -- he thinks she's a snobby Hollywood type, so he sets out to have nothing to do with her.
Things happen, there's a romance, there's a 'misunderstanding that nearly wrecks the whole romance', then next thing you know the book is done.
This wasn't the worst random chick-lit I've ever read. I liked the characters well enough. I did find the ending to be a little short with some stuff left up in the air (such as how her performance in As You Like It actually goes, and whether or not she is well-received again back in L.A.). I felt like the beginning of the book before Paige gets to England dragged on a bit, and my favourite parts of the book were when Ed and Paige were getting to know each other a little and realizing they were wrongly judging one another's behaviours -- but that was only a few scenes, I could have had a little more of that to keep up the romance side of the story.
It wasn't bad, it wasn't fabulous, but it certainly was just the right type of light, lounge-by-the-pool reading that I was searching for.
25 down, 75 to go!
This story is about Paige Carson, famous movie star, who is dissatisfied with how things are going in Hollywood and with how she's beginning to be viewed as a bratty star. She takes off to London to perform Shakespeare on stage in order to combat her reputation and remember the reason she became an actress in the first place.
Oh, but before you get to that you have page after page of not-so-great-but-also-not-that-exciting things happen to Paige back in Los Angeles.
When the book switches to England, we somethings get the story from the perspective of Ed, Paige's landlord who is trying very hard to be unimpressed with "The Paige Carson" living upstairs -- he thinks she's a snobby Hollywood type, so he sets out to have nothing to do with her.
Things happen, there's a romance, there's a 'misunderstanding that nearly wrecks the whole romance', then next thing you know the book is done.
This wasn't the worst random chick-lit I've ever read. I liked the characters well enough. I did find the ending to be a little short with some stuff left up in the air (such as how her performance in As You Like It actually goes, and whether or not she is well-received again back in L.A.). I felt like the beginning of the book before Paige gets to England dragged on a bit, and my favourite parts of the book were when Ed and Paige were getting to know each other a little and realizing they were wrongly judging one another's behaviours -- but that was only a few scenes, I could have had a little more of that to keep up the romance side of the story.
It wasn't bad, it wasn't fabulous, but it certainly was just the right type of light, lounge-by-the-pool reading that I was searching for.
25 down, 75 to go!
Monday, May 24, 2010
21-24) The Vampire Diaries by LJ Smith
I have been really enjoying the new TV series "The Vampire Diaries". I knew that the show was based on Young Adult novels of the same name written by LJ Smith, but I hadn't read the books yet. I decided to give them a try, and borrowed the first two novels (which were combined into one volume) from Martin's sister. The first two stories are The Awakening and The Struggle, the second two are The Fury and Dark Reunion.
These books are dramatically different that the TV series. The TV series is also a hundred times better. There are extra characters in the books who aren't on the show, and there are characters on the show who aren't in the books. The first couple of books are sort of boring, and I didn't really understand the motivation behind some of the actions of the characters -- it was too forced with no explanations. The second two stories, once the characters were more established and there was some action, were much better.
At the bookstore the other day I noticed there are more books in this series, which I think were written a little later than these original four stories, and I do feel like I would like to read them too. However, I'm really glad the TV series is what it is -- the characters are much better explained, I love the backstory they provide, and the characters they've added who are not a part of the books are really layered and interesting.
These books are pretty similar to the Twilight books, which were written many years later than these ones, but the Twilight books are actually a much better read.
At least I knocked four books out of the park in a fairly short time span!
24 read, 76 to go! I know I'm way behind where I should be, but have faith...
These books are dramatically different that the TV series. The TV series is also a hundred times better. There are extra characters in the books who aren't on the show, and there are characters on the show who aren't in the books. The first couple of books are sort of boring, and I didn't really understand the motivation behind some of the actions of the characters -- it was too forced with no explanations. The second two stories, once the characters were more established and there was some action, were much better.
At the bookstore the other day I noticed there are more books in this series, which I think were written a little later than these original four stories, and I do feel like I would like to read them too. However, I'm really glad the TV series is what it is -- the characters are much better explained, I love the backstory they provide, and the characters they've added who are not a part of the books are really layered and interesting.
These books are pretty similar to the Twilight books, which were written many years later than these ones, but the Twilight books are actually a much better read.
At least I knocked four books out of the park in a fairly short time span!
24 read, 76 to go! I know I'm way behind where I should be, but have faith...
20) Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
I teach the first grade and I wanted to read them a novel, as time-filler and to get them used to the idea of not always having pictures to look at in the books they read. I chose the classic story Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. I'm counting this as one of my 100 novels read this year, since I did read it in its entirety and if I didn't count things like this I'd surely never get through this challenge! haha.
It's the classic story of Wilbur the pig, who is rescued by Fern and then raised in Zuckerman's barn. He befriends a spider named Charlotte, who uses her miraculous web-spinning powers to write words in her web to encourage Mr. Zuckerman to view Wilbur as "some pig!" in order to save Wilbur from being turned into bacon. The kids loved the story, and after we finished we watched the 2006 live-action film version of the book starring Dakota Fanning. It was also well-received.
A very classic children's tale, and book 20 in my quest to read 100 books in 2010.
It's the classic story of Wilbur the pig, who is rescued by Fern and then raised in Zuckerman's barn. He befriends a spider named Charlotte, who uses her miraculous web-spinning powers to write words in her web to encourage Mr. Zuckerman to view Wilbur as "some pig!" in order to save Wilbur from being turned into bacon. The kids loved the story, and after we finished we watched the 2006 live-action film version of the book starring Dakota Fanning. It was also well-received.
A very classic children's tale, and book 20 in my quest to read 100 books in 2010.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
19) Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich
A few weeks ago I finally finished catching up on all of the Stephanie Plum novels released so far by Janet Evanovich! Plum Spooky, one of those "between-the-numbers" novels was the last one I had to read. I enjoyed it much better than all of the other between-the-numbers books, but my favourite stories in this series are mostly just the regular numbered Stephanie Plum mysteries. Book 16 comes out this year, so I'll take it out from the library as soon as I can. I plan on staying caught up with each new release, and I'm certainly very glad Janet is continuing to write more stories in this series. I love these characters A LOT.
I'm still reading, just slowly! Ugh!
19 down, 81 to go!
I'm still reading, just slowly! Ugh!
19 down, 81 to go!
Monday, April 5, 2010
18) The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
I'm still enjoying the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. I've just finished Book #3, The Titan's Curse. This one was a really great adventure, I liked it better than Book #2 (Sea of Monsters). I know I'm slightly older than the target audience for this series, but I really enjoy the storyline and I highly recommend it. I just liken it to adults enjoying the Harry Potter series when it first came out -- it really is a good story for all ages. Scooter just finished reading Book #4, so I'll soon read that one as well.
18 down, 82 to go!
18 down, 82 to go!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
17) Thanks For The Memories by Cecelia Ahern
I've read a couple of Cecelia Ahern novels now, and I'm finding I quite enjoy her writing. Thanks for the Memories is about two main characters - Irish Joyce and American Justin. Justin, somewhat against his own will, donates blood during a blood drive at an Irish University where he has been guest lecturing. Joyce, after a terrible accident, receives a blood transfusion.
Along with that, Joyce receives a batch of memories that are not her own.
Joyce and Justin have a strange connection, and randomly see each other at times in the book, not understanding what role they really play in each other's lives. The pacing of the story is good, and Joyce's elderly father adds a nice touch of family and humour to the tale.
If you've enjoyed Cecelia's writing as I have, having additionally read PS, I Love You and Where Rainbows End (alternate title: Love, Rosie), I definitely recommend you read Thanks for the Memories.
17 down! 83 to go!
Along with that, Joyce receives a batch of memories that are not her own.
Joyce and Justin have a strange connection, and randomly see each other at times in the book, not understanding what role they really play in each other's lives. The pacing of the story is good, and Joyce's elderly father adds a nice touch of family and humour to the tale.
If you've enjoyed Cecelia's writing as I have, having additionally read PS, I Love You and Where Rainbows End (alternate title: Love, Rosie), I definitely recommend you read Thanks for the Memories.
17 down! 83 to go!
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