As an English major, I can't remember a time when I didn't have a book in my hand. I'm always reading something. I have books all around my room with bookmarks in them, waiting for a rainy day. My bookshelf is literally sagging due to the weight of all my books, so much so that I've had to start a few towers in front of it, and raid the empty space on my sister's shelves. It's been this way ever since I can remember.
So, with school being over, I all of a sudden had this gigantic fear that I just wouldn't read anymore. It freaked me out. I went through my bookshelves and looked for books that I could repeat a reading with and then decided that I would make it a goal to read (at least) a hundred books in 2013.
A hundred may sound like a massive, scary number (especially for all you non-readers out there), but for me, it's more of a challenge than anything else. A homework assignment that I'm giving to myself. I'm a fast reader; it's almost like I inhale the words on the page. The other day, I finished a 575 pager in a matter of hours. There's nothing I like more than being nestled under the covers with a great book.
So, without further ado, here it goes.
1. A Stolen Life: A Memoir by Jaycee Dugard
Written by Jaycee Dugard, this is her memoir about eighteen years in captivity. She writes about her kidnapping and what happened behind closed doors on a regular basis. She also includes afterthoughts about events, letting the reader know her thoughts and feelings on her experiences as a grown woman.
I feel like the torture this girl went through was horrible and she was incredibly brave to invite the public to hear her story. Some of the things she went through, especially at such a young age, are simply things that nightmares are made of.
However, I can't say this book blew me away. It may make me sound like a horrible person for saying it, but it just wasn't that well written (in my opinion). A lot of it just seemed like ranting; as though she sat down in front of her computer and just typedtypedtyped. Like I said, though, I think she was incredibly brave and showed insane courage, both with her ordeal and how she handled it after the fact.
2. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
I grabbed this book just because I knew it was about to be released as movie and I had absolutely no idea what the trailer was trying to tell me.
Set in a tiny town, Gatlin, where nothing ever happens, Beautiful Creatures is about a young man, Ethan, who dreams about a beautiful girl that he's never met before. It's only when she, Lena, shows up in school (the niece of the town recluse) that strange things start happening. Eventually, since it is a teen-targeted novel, there is a romance and you learn that Lena and her family have a secret that makes them very special in comparison to everyone else.
I kind of have a love/hate relationship with this book. On one hand, I thought it was almost boring. This was that 575 pager that I was talking about in the beginning. A lot of it kind of dragged on and I really didn't care for a lot of the characters. Despite that, there were a few elements of the book that kept my interest, forcing me to read to the end to see what happened. As with most YA novels (especially that deal with magic) the ending of the book was the best part and I was very happy that I stuck through with it. Will I read the rest of the books in the series? Eh. Will I see the movie? Definitely.
3. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
Set (and written) in 2007, Nineteen Minutes is a novel about a high school shooting, and the events before and after the ordeal. It brings up serious questions about bullying and about how well we know the people closest to us. I finished this one this morning.
I guessed the ending halfway through. It's hard to surprise a person who reads a lot, just because we tend to see the same endings over and over. In this case, you just can't trust the people the author is trying to make you like.
Overall, I thought it was really well done. Picoult has proven herself to be a very emotional author, one that knows how to tell stories that can really touch us to the core. In this case, you almost feel for the school shooter, as he's been bullied for his entire life, reminding the reader that everything you say and do could and may have a consequence. Be nice to each other.
I'll continue to add novels as I get through them.
Hopefully my "homework" will inspired you to read more too!
Has anyone ever read any of these books? Any thoughts?
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