Up until a few weeks ago, I had fallen very behind with my reading. That seems to happen every once in a while. I’ll go on a reading frenzy and then all of the sudden…nothing. I’ll hit a dry spell that can sometimes last for months. I’ll try to get back into it, but when I’m in a reading rut absolutely nothing appeals to me.
I’ve learned that it’s best to just ride it out. Forcing myself to pick up a book, when I’m not feeling it, is never a good idea. Eventually, I come around and it’s always a huge help getting back into the groove when the first book I go for is a good one!
Unfortunately, this time I wasn’t in love with my first book.
I opted for The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I’m a little behind the times on this one, especially since the movie was just released last week.
It’s not that it was bad or that I regretted reading it, I just didn’t love it. I felt like it was too contrived. There were just too many social issues floating around randomly throughout the book for it to ever come together as a whole. I felt almost as though there should have been a check-list at the back of the book so that the reader coud mark off each tragic event as it was addressed.
It did have it’s good moments though, so I’m happy to have finally gotten around to it. This is the only quote that stuck with me after I finished:
“So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we’ll never know most of them. But even if we don’t have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there.”
Next up: Divergent
This came highly recommended from my cousin. We seem to have a similar taste for books in the YA genre. So, when she loaned me her copy I was pretty excited to get started.
I liked this one. The main character, Tris, was probably one of the more likeable female (YA) characters that I’ve come across in a while. The story moved along at a good pace and I’ll eventually read the entire trilogy. I wish it had been edited down a bit. There was so much build up, that when the snit finally hit the fan at the very end it seemed rushed. It would have been nice to have a little less at the start, so that we could have more action towards the middle/end.
On to: City of Bones (Mortal Instruments #1)
Another one I’m late on. Although this time I was purposely avoiding it. For a while I swore off of contemporary young adult fiction AND books with sequels. I was completely DONE with reading one book after another and never really getting an ending. Everything was a slow build, then a sudden halt at the end, with a ‘to be continued…’ staring me in the face. It got frustrating. And expensive. But once I read Divergent I figured why not go for this one too. VERY glad I did. I really liked this one. It moved at a fast pace, I enjoyed the characters and the twist was a little disappointing, but definitely kept things interesting. I’m in for the next in the series!
Finally: Around the World in Eighty Days
I have a thing for classics. My top five books of all time are all classics. So, it’s hard to believe that this was the first time I read Eighty Days. I found it in a dollar bin at Target and couldn’t resist.
I loved this book. Absolutely, loved it. Such a fun read. The characters were fantastic, the craziness they encountered during their trip was at times entirely too funny and it had a great ending too. This one nearly unseated one of my long standing top 5, ultimately it didn’t, but the fact that it came so close speaks volumes!!
Coming soon: The Canterville Ghost…a good time of year for it!
the daily oz 