September Reading

Monday, September 29, 2014

Hello, and welcome to the end of September!

So when people ask me what my hobbies are, the first one I mention is that I love to read. I believe my love of reading began in third grade. Back then my favorite books were the Bailey School Kids, Magic Treehouse, and Junie B. Jones series, and I was just getting to know who this Harry Potter person was. Now I have a never ending "to read" list, and I am always in the process of reading one book or another.

And today I would like to share what I read this past month!

//The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

I finally read this book after wanting to read it since I first heard about it from my AP English teacher in high school. Each chapter is told from a different perspective of one of the females in the Price family (who else loves multiple perspective books!). The whole family goes on a religious mission to the Belgian Congo and the book covers their experiences and challenges they face individually and as a family. I loved the distinct "voice" Barbara Kingsolver was able to give each character as I learned about her while I read her specific chapters. I could resume reading the book in the middle of the chapter and after a few lines I easily knew whose perspective I was reading from.

To be honest, I expected something spectacular from this book. It was in Oprah's book club for goodness' sake! I thought it was good, but not as amazing as I expected. I do want to read something else by Barbara Kingsolver, though, to see what another book of hers would be like.

//13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

Please ignore the sassy looking girl and pay attention to the stamp with Big Ben. That stamp is what made me check out this book from the library. The story wasn't super amazing or particularly mind blowing, but I did like this book for the following reasons:
1) The main character, Ginny, goes to London.
2) Ginny stays in hostels while she travels Europe and it sparked some reminiscence of the multiple hostels I had the pleasure to experience while adventuring in the UK. Everyone should stay in a hostel at least once in their lives. There is nothing quite like putting sheets on a mattress spotted with unidentifiable stains and knowing you have to sleep there that night. Okay, they're not all that bad, but . . . a lot of them are.
3) The descriptions of the European settings made me want to spend all my money and travel.

One main complaint/criticism I have for this book is that I still don't know who Ginny is. I read the whole book from her perspective as she experienced all these exciting things and she has hardly any memorable personality!

//Everlasting by Angie Frazier

I saw the map design on the cover of this book and decided it would be worth a shot. Simply put, this story involves a part sea, part land treasure hunt with some love and magic thrown in to keep things interesting. It was suspenseful at times and I even had to do that thing where you cover up the rest of the page with your hand so you don't cheat and read ahead. At the time I didn't know it was the first in a series, but after reading it I will most likely read the second book.

//Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

In Speak, Melinda spends nearly all of her freshman year of high school silently carrying an intense secret inside herself, and you just can't wait for her to tell someone about it, goshdangit! Because this book is about some very serious issues (such as rape), it surprised me at how many times I actually laughed out loud at Melinda's thoughts and descriptions about high school. I found them hilariously accurate. I loved this book. It was an excellent story with a fantastic main character and it was a fast read. I can't wait to read something else by this author.

TO ANYONE WHO HAS READ THIS BOOK: Why are the eyes different colors on the cover?? Is it two completely different people? I just have no idea. I read the whole book trying to figure it out and no answers jumped out at me. Please enlighten me.

2 comments

Shelby BoyerSeptember 30, 2014 at 11:59 AM
Have you read Eleanor and Park? I think you would love it. Also, can we catch up soon?? You're beautiful. And this is all.
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