Good Reads

You would think by now I would know not to read more than one book at a time. But alas, I love reading so much that I find myself reading up to about 4 books sometimes. So in the spirit of "it's too hot to do anything outside, and if you do go outside the only thing you can do without sweating is reading," I thought I would share some of the books that I am currently reading, just finished reading, or will start reading. 

Here is a picture of them stacked up (with a tired dog to boot in the background!). I felt this blog needed some more pictures, so here you go, a picture of books. I'm that nerdy.

Starting from a not pictured book:

The Princess Bride: I have been reading this book for awhile now. If you LOVE the movie, then read the book. I find it slow, but I think that's only because I'm still "meh" about the author's style. He will write an entire paragraph with only one sentence, and I hate long sentences like that. But I do love the story. If you don't like the movie, I doubt you'll like the book. 

Wicked: I'm borrowing this book from Nicole. I love the musical, which I have seen in full thanks to Youtube, so I thought I would read the book. Man, the book goes into MUCH more detail than the musical. That makes total sense, but man, I didn't think it would be THIS slow. So it's taking me longer than I expected to read this book. I do love the character Galinda in the book WAY more than in the musical. 

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: I loved this book. LOVED IT. It takes place during WWII. Henry, a Chinese boy, is growing up in Seattle and attends a white school, where he meets the only other non-white student: a Japanese girl names Keiko. They form a strong friendship before she gets sent off to the Japanese prison camps. The story is bitter sweet (guess you couldn't have guessed that :) and focuses on them finding each other after she leaves. It's happy, sad, and warm and fuzzy without being a chick flick. My cousin Danny recommended it to me, so even boys like it. Highly, highly recommend. 

A Hopeful Heart: This story kind of reminds me of a non musical version of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. So if you like that movie, read this book! It's about a older woman who opens up a school for young girls out on the prairie, to teach them how to be a good rancher's wife. The story focuses on Tressa, a girl of good city breeding who gets sent out by her ungrateful aunt and uncle. It's definitely a chick flick, warm and fuzzy and has Christian themes (the author, Kim Vogel Sawyer, is a well known Christian author). I love this book. I just finished rereading it. And I will continue to read it. 

Divergent: My friend Cari recommended this book to me. I don't even really know what it's about. Cari said it's a lot like The Hunger Games, which I loved, so I thought I would give it a try. I'll let you know how I like it. 

The Hunger Games: I will be rereading this book as soon as I get started/finished on some of these others! While the themes in this book can be hard to digest for some people, I love how the series ends and it definitely makes you  think. 

The Omnivore's Dilemma: Here is what the back of the book says: "Today, buffeted by one food fad after another, America is suffering from what can only be described as a national eating disorder. Will it be fast food tonight, or something organic? Or perhaps something we grew ourselves? The question of what to have for dinner has confronted us since man discovered fire. But as Michael Pollan explains in this revolutionary book, how we answer it now, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, may determine our survival as a species. Packed with profound surprises, The Omnivore's Dilemma is changing the way Americans think about the politics, perils, and pleasures of eating." I have not read this book before, but I have read one of the other author's books, In Defense of Food. If you are at all interested in the basic science behind food, processed vs. organic, I would pick up this book or the other one I mentioned. It will definitely make you think about how and what you eat. 

Battle Royale the Novel: I haven't read this yet. I discovered this by reading some reviews of The Hunger Games. A few reviews mentioned that THG was a rip off of this book, written by a Japanese author and translated into English. All the reviews said BR was really good, so I thought I would pick it up. Apparently it is more graphic, though, so if THG was too rough for you, this might not be the book for you. 

Happy Reading!