Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Blame the Writer's Strike...


I've been on a reading kick lately. I put 5 or 6 books on hold at the library over the last 3 or 4 months. And they literally ALL came in within a week of each other. And when there is a waiting list for a particular book I am reading, I can not renew it. So I had 5 books to read in 4 weeks. This normally wouldn't seem so daunting, but one of those books was more than 1,000 pages and I did nothing for a month but work, eat, read, and sleep.


Here is a quick blurb about the books I have most recently read:

1) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. This is the first book in recent memory where I have cried during reading. I couldn't see the pages through my tears, but it was VERY good. Devastating but redeeming.

2) Into the Wild by John Krakauer. After reading this, I became obsessed with the story for a few weeks, and since the movie was out of the theaters but not yet at Blockbuster, I still haven't seen it. Actually, it should be in my mailbox today. Very touching story.

3) World Without End by Ken Follett. The follow up to Pillars of the Earth. I really enjoyed it. It has been a few years since I read Pillars but it is well-written and epic. Read Pillars first, though!

4) Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay. I read this, along with its two sequels after watching Season 1 of Dexter on TV. I am glad I watched it first because the show writers added in a great deal of detail to make the story more interesting. Also Michael C. Hall is great in it. The books follow a good idea about a serial killer who only kills people who deserve it, but, after watching the Showtime show, I am not as enthralled with the books.

5) Persuasion by Jane Austen. I am a big Jane Austen fan. Another big JA fan recommend Persuasion as her "favorite Jane Austen" novel. So I gave it a shot. I enjoyed it, and I like that the heroine is more mature woman of 27 or 28 instead of 19 or 20, as in most of her other books. But Pride & Prejudice still takes the cake for me as her best book. Who doesn't wish she were Elizabeth? Oh, Mr. Dahhhcy..

Remaining to be read:


1) The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Just started this. I read East of Eden a couple of years ago and absolutely loved it. I love his writing style. And since I had never read Grapes, I felt it was high time.


2) Heyday by Kurt Anderson. This one caught my eye a while back. I love novels set in 19th century America.

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