GeorgiaDawn's 2010 Reading Journal

Like others here, I'm involved in the 75 Book Challenge. The link to that thread is http://www.librarything.com/topic/80115.

My reading has been much slower this year. I've spent a great deal of weekend time diving and snorkeling as opposed to reading. My grad classes are also taking up much of my free time.

I just finished Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. I liked the series very much! There were things that I did not like in the final book, but I understood why they had to happen.

Currently, I'm reading Blameless by Gail Carriger and Hunger by Michael Grant. I'm also reading two textbooks; I'll spare you the gory details.

glad to see you here, GD, and I feel much the same about Mockingjay. I confess there is a part of me that would like Suzanne Collins to start three more picking up at the end of this threesome.

Cindy! How's Blameless?

Blameless is hilarious! I love this series! I just wish I had more time. I'm reading more about the "middle school child" and then life science than anything.

I really liked Mockingjay! Yeah, it was pretty heavy, but it was right. Several of my friends and one of my daughters, on the other hand, didn't like it at all. I don't know what they expected, but they didn't like what they got.

Spoiler!!!!!!

E. was definitely Team Gale, so that was her objection, but I was Team Peeta, so I was happy.

Team Gale here! :)

I've added Fahrenheit 451 to my reading this week in honor of Banned Books Week.

I confess that I didn't finish the first book that Gail Carriger wrote. But maybe I was just in one of my very-focused-too-serious modes when I tried to read it.

It is definitely a fluff series, and I have to be in the right mode to read them. They are a bit silly, but I find them charming in their own special way.

GD, I loved Fahrenheit 451 when I read it for our book group. It has held up pretty well over time but it is funny to me how much women are just not a integral part of the story. They almost seem like props. I'll be interested to see what you think.

I've read it several times and never tire of reading it. It is definitely a male dominated book, but there are strong females in small roles who stand up for their beliefs regardless of the consequences. I even like the movie from 1966.

I finished Fahrenheit 451 and enjoyed just as much as I have the other four or five times I've read it.

Due to course work, I haven't been reading near as much. I'm close to finishing Blameless. I have to make a decision for my next book soon!

#12 - Glad to see the Suck Fairy didn't steal your reading pleasure on the Bradbury! :o)

Yes, Clam!! I am, too!

But don't you find Fahrenheit 451 a little depressing? Beautifully written, but still a little sad?

I do find it a little sad and a bit dark. I still enjoy the book and think it has a very important message.

Blameless was just as much fun to read as the previous two books in this series.Gail Carriger has definitely hit the mark.

I also finished Insatiable by Met Cabot and was underwhelmed. It was okay, but just.

As I plow through my "diversity in education" and science textbooks, I'm trying to read for fun. I've just started Hunger by Michael Grant. It's the second in a series that centers around the disappearance of everyone over the age of 14 in a small California town. My students are scrambling for these books! It has all the necessary elements for a young adult novel: good guys, bad guys, bullies, first romance, super powers, and children being forced to make difficult, life changing decisions.

Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon is waiting at the top of the pile because our school librarian is insisting the I "must read this series." I had the opportunity to meet Sherrilyn Kenyon at Dragon*Con this year. She is from the Atlanta area and has attended Dragon*Con for many years. Has anyone read this Dark Hunter series? I'd like to have some input from someone else.

I should say here that the school librarian is a very good friend and is trying to get me to read what she calls "fun books." Her idea of a fun book has a very small plot (barely discernable) and lots of romance.

Small plot, lots of romance. Yep, that's Sherrilyn. If it's not your cup of tea, you won't like it. I do. :)

It's fluff. Fun fluff, but still fluff.

That's what my friend said. I'm going to give it a try! We all need a little fluff every now and then. :)

There's also quite a bit of violence.

Thanks, Morphy! I'll let you know what I think when I get to the book.

Can you have some peanut butter with that fluff?

Clam - That's a great idea! :)

I've finished City of Bones by Cassandra Clare and Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy. I still haven't started he Sherrilyn Kenyon book mentioned above. Tonight I will start City of Ashes. I'm still reading through textbooks.

I bought Quiet Strength for my son and he actually read it and loved it.

I finished City of Ashes a few days ago and started on a reread of To Kill a Mockingbird. As I said of the 75 Book Challenge Thread:

I have read this book many times and never tire of it. It is at the top of my list of favorite books. Each time I read it, I'm amazed at the way Harper Lee is able to bring the characters to life. You laugh with them, and cry with them. This is literature at its best.

I'm waiting on City of Glass from the library and reading through a proposed math textbook.

Totally agree with you on the To Kill a Mockingbird issue. Some 'award winners' I just don't get, but it's completely understandable to me that this one deserves all the praise it gets. Beautiful book. Just beautiful.

My reading is so slow this year! Well, that's not entirely true. My reading for pleasure is going so slow this year; that is more accurate. I've read more education journals than I thought existed!

I just finished After Shock by Kelly Easton. After Shock is the story of a young man who suffers from shock after a tragic accident with his parents. It is told from the Adam's point of view as he strives to make sense of what has happened and find his way home. Through flashbacks, we learn about Adam's life before the accident and watch the changes in his life unfold. Despite the tragedy and sadness that is inherent in a story like this, I loved it. Along with Adam, the reader learns how kind or cruel we can be to each other without ever understanding the consequences.

I'm beginning City of Glass by Cassandra Clare today.

Whoo hoo! I just finished my Life Science text, Essentials of The Living World. This is certainly not a book (a massive book) that I would have read for pleasure, but it was one of the more interesting textbooks I've had to read lately.

I'm still reading City of Glass and looking for another one to start next.

I finished City of Glass this morning. I've got a stack from the library and need to decide what I'm reading next. I'm going to read, read, read for the next three weeks!

I sort of let this thread drop; I'm picking it up again.

Finished Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

The story takes place in a small, rural South Carolina town. A teenage girl, Lena, comes to live with her aging uncle and the town is never the same. Neither is the life of Ethan Wate. Ethan grew up in Gatlin and is waiting for the day he can leave the small town for something more exciting. Lena is just beginning to understand her powers and her family; she wants desperately to be a normal girl. Ethan and Lena know they have a strong connection even though they have never met. They soon realize that very little about their lives or this small town is normal or boring.

This is a very well written young adult novel. The characters have depth and are all integral to the plot. Novels about teenagers with special abilities and powers are nothing new, but the authors put a new spin on the genre with this novel. They seamlessly weave fantasy with reality and superstition. There are twists and turns through the book that all lead the reader to the final few pages.

Here is my 2011 75 Book Challenge thread.