the end of the summer
Tomorrow is my last day of summer break, though this summer has really flown by. Between the trip to Poland and then buying our house, it really hasn't felt like I've had much down time. I did manage to make a little progress in terms of reading for the summer, though not as much as in summer's past. It might be harder to hit 40 books this year than it has been the last 2 years. We shall see.
1. Lion Among Men - Gregory Maguire
2. The Tale of Despereaux - Kate DiCamillo
3. Arrows of the Queen trilogy - Mercedes Lackey
4. Inkheart - Cornelia Funke
5. Inkspell - Cornelia Funke
6. Brightly Burning - Mercedes Lackey
7. Teacher Man - Frank McCourt
8. All the Weyrs of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
9. Inkdeath - Cornelia Funke
10. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
11. The Alchemyst - Michael Scott
12. The Sugar Queen - Sara Addison Allen
13. The Fifth Elephant - Terry Pratchett
14. Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
15. The Magician - Michael Scott
16. Small Gods - Terry Pratchett
17. The Other Queen - Phillippa Gregory
18. The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
19. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier - Ishmael Beah
In brief, The Other Queen was another good historical fiction. Perhaps it's because I love that era of English history (and literature), but I always enjoy the way Gregory mixes fact and fiction into a very plausible version of the personal lives for whom we can't possibly have a precise historical record.
The Time Traveler's Wife was one that I'd wanted to read for several years now, long before they were making it into a movie. While it took a little while to get used to the way the story moved (due to the whole time travel thing), I really liked it, and thought it was a very interesting idea. I would definitely recommend this to others, if for no other reason that it gives a really interesting perspective on the idea of time travel.
A Long Way Gone was definitely not the best written piece of work I've ever seen, but I must say that the stories told are very poignant, and re-emphasize the fact that the "crisis" that various American families face on a day to day basis are still small change compared to some of the problems faced in other parts of the world. If you haven't read this, I recommend you do so, even if you're not a fan of memoirs. I found it very interesting to see such a personal account of a boy (now a man) that went through things that no 12-15 year old should have to face (like being recruited into the army and being told to kill entire villages, etc).
Well, time for bed, so I can get up early tomorrow to enjoy my last day of freedom until Christmas break...
1. Lion Among Men - Gregory Maguire
2. The Tale of Despereaux - Kate DiCamillo
3. Arrows of the Queen trilogy - Mercedes Lackey
4. Inkheart - Cornelia Funke
5. Inkspell - Cornelia Funke
6. Brightly Burning - Mercedes Lackey
7. Teacher Man - Frank McCourt
8. All the Weyrs of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
9. Inkdeath - Cornelia Funke
10. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
11. The Alchemyst - Michael Scott
12. The Sugar Queen - Sara Addison Allen
13. The Fifth Elephant - Terry Pratchett
14. Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
15. The Magician - Michael Scott
16. Small Gods - Terry Pratchett
17. The Other Queen - Phillippa Gregory
18. The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
19. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier - Ishmael Beah
In brief, The Other Queen was another good historical fiction. Perhaps it's because I love that era of English history (and literature), but I always enjoy the way Gregory mixes fact and fiction into a very plausible version of the personal lives for whom we can't possibly have a precise historical record.
The Time Traveler's Wife was one that I'd wanted to read for several years now, long before they were making it into a movie. While it took a little while to get used to the way the story moved (due to the whole time travel thing), I really liked it, and thought it was a very interesting idea. I would definitely recommend this to others, if for no other reason that it gives a really interesting perspective on the idea of time travel.
A Long Way Gone was definitely not the best written piece of work I've ever seen, but I must say that the stories told are very poignant, and re-emphasize the fact that the "crisis" that various American families face on a day to day basis are still small change compared to some of the problems faced in other parts of the world. If you haven't read this, I recommend you do so, even if you're not a fan of memoirs. I found it very interesting to see such a personal account of a boy (now a man) that went through things that no 12-15 year old should have to face (like being recruited into the army and being told to kill entire villages, etc).
Well, time for bed, so I can get up early tomorrow to enjoy my last day of freedom until Christmas break...