Every now and again I find myself in a conversation about high school - fashion, dances, sports, and even course content. Every time without fail, we start talking about the great books we had to read. I throw in the Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh but fall short of naming off American or British classic works. I've decided since I actually now enjoy and have the time to read, I'm going to catch up on the books I never had to read. My first choice was Of Mice and Men. I started reading it today over my lunch hour and didn't want to put tit down to go back to work. I was immediately drawn in by the relationship of Lennie and George as they talked in the woods. I don't know the plot of the story so I'm intrigued to see where it goes in the few 100 pages. It's an easy, short read, and I expect I'll finish it quite quickly.
After nearly three weeks of non-stop listening, I finally finished the book Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side on CD. The book has to be nearly 500 pages because it took nine CD's to narrate it. The last audiobook I listened to was only four CDs. Had I been reading this book, I would have stopped early on. However, since I was just mindlessly listening to it, I continued until the end. I'm also not a fan of not finishing books. There's only one I can think of off-hand that I just stopped reading mid-book.
The author, Beth Fantaskey, is anything but a fantastic writer. I feel bad saying that, but her writing just didn't do it for me. Every sentence was completely over detailed, and whole scenes could have been dropped. The book is written from the perspective of the main character Jessica Packwood, who is a high school senior math nerd living in a small rural town in Pennsylvania. Yet, some of the words she wrote did not sound like the thoughts or words of any 18-year-old girl I knew. On another note, I think the title is misleading. I think something else would have better captured the mood of the story.
I really need to come up with a new strategy for picking out books at the library. I literally walk down and aisle and just start reading every title until something catches my eye. This is a very inefficient approach, but helped me find this gem called Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side. Since I share the name with the main character, I was clearly intrigued. As I read the back cover, I saw Jessica's romantic interest was named Lucius, which is pretty darn close to Lucas. I was sold.
The premise of the book is Jessica (who was adopted as a baby) finds out she is actually a vampire princess from Romania and heiress to an empire of 5 million vampires. She was betrothed to Lucius as babies, and he came to America to find her. Apparently, she will give us the inside scoop of dating, and becoming, a vampire. After having the stack on CDs ride around with me for a few weeks, I decided to pop it in to the player.
From the first sentence, I was unimpressed with the narrator Katherine Kellgren. After several chapters, I still have a hard time getting past her perfectly pronounced words that don't sound like they'd come out of the mouth of a 17-year-old, shy mathlete who has hippie parents. As for her interpretation of Lucius' voice, he sounds nasally and nerdy, not like the hot vampire prince Jessica describes him as.
In my quest to be constantly entertained, I picked up The Lost Symbol from the library a few weeks ago. It's taken me about a month, but I finally got the whole 510 pages read. It's easy to just want to turn on the TV or Netflix and be entertained mindlessly. So i found myself reading a lot over my lunch hour at work. It's a nice change of pace to stop starring at a screen for a while and let me mind wander. I'm a big fan of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. I'm surprised I didn't read this book earlier, as it was published in 2009.
The book is extremely fast-paced. Short chapters and telling the story from multiple characters' perspectives kept me flipping the page. So much was going on but not too much. Even though I read it over several weeks, I was able to recall important plot information. I won't reveal too much but the end has a huge twist. I should have seen it coming; something in the book kept bothering me, but I just couldn't connect the dots.
I'm no James Bond buff, but I've seen a few movies in my day. However, this was my first time reading (listening) to a James Bond book. Devil May Care is an interesting book in the fact that author Sebastian Faulks wrote it as Ian Fleming, who created the legend James Bond. Fleming was born on May 28, 1908, and this book was written to commemorate what would have been his 100th birthday. Oddly enough, I share the same birthday has Fleming; I'm just a few years younger. Maybe this means my destiny is to become a Bond girl... or maybe just a random coincidence.
The plot line, like most Bond plots, take you from country to country to hunt down the bad guy and save the woman. It was at times a little confusing with all the characters and just one guy reading all the parts. We'll see if this one turns into a Daniel Craig film.
Most mornings I listen to NPR on the way to work, but some days, I just don't feel like being informed on current events. I feel like being entertained. Devil May Care filled that need wonderfully. It also helps to have a book to listen to when driving more 15 minutes. You can only listen to the same songs on the radio so many times. Thinking about a hunky James Bond is a great alternative to start my morning.
A baker finds out she has a special power, helps save the world (sort of), and gets the guy. I finished up the quick read Wicked Appetite today. I was looking for a fun summer read when I picked this book up, and it fulfilled that need. I believe it's the first in a series of books, so will I read the rest of them? No. The best part of the book was the hot super human guy who keeps the baker from being killed while she helps him defeat evil.
One for the Money and Two for the Dough are part of the Stephanie Plum series written by New York Times best-selling author Janet Evanovich. I've read a few of those books and think Evanovich is a great writer who creates easy to read and entertaining stories. I was looking for something a little different than Stephanie Plum's mishap adventures to read so I picked up another book she wrote, Wicked Appetite. The book takes place in Salem, Mass. and is set around a magical set of stones, an Unmentional, a monkey, and the deadly sin of gluttony. It's not life-changing, but it should be a great summer read.
Planning a wedding and searching for a new job really took up my time from January-March, which meant I didn't read anything except my resume, vendor contracts, and emails. I was really glad to get back in the swing of things and pick up a book at the library today. Not knowing what to grab, I looked through the "New Arrivals" section. I caught the name Janet Evanovich and saw the title "Some Like It Hot." I've read one of her previous books, "One for the Money." I liked it and figured this would be a fun, easy read also. The last book I read was the Bible, so I'm ready for something a little lighter. The book is about a private investigator who gets caught up in a murder/robbery. I think it's a great way to start off the spring. Feel free to shoot me any recommendations! I'll be finished with this book in no time.
Seeing that this blog is called My First Time, it's not really fitting to blog about all the continuation of all of my past posts. I usually post about my completion of such activities, but I figured today was worth an update on four things.
I am happy to report it's been one month since I quit biting my nails. They look pretty awesome. A few have broken on me, but there's not much I can do about that.
I am still watching Ken Burns' Jazz. The documentary has 10 discs, each more than an hour long. It's so fascinating. I love how what was happening in America affected the music and vise versa. If I could live in any decade in American history, it would be the 1920's in Chicago or New York.
I am more than a third of the way through the Bible. I began reading it Sept. 2 and am on course to finish Nov. 28. Right now I'm in the middle of 2 Chronicles. I'm very glad I'm reading it, it's been on my to do list for a year or two now. However, it's really boring so far! I'm guessing the new testament will be more interesting with the appearance of Jesus and all.
I am still reading Forty Shades of Grey. OK, I'm not actively reading it since I'm reading the Bible, but I have not completed it either. It'll get done, most likely after Nov. 28.
I've posted a few times about being a new volunteer with the organization Everybody Wins! Iowa. Today was my first time meeting with my reading buddy. The organizers warned us it could take the kids a few weeks to warm up to us. Not my little dude D! He is outgoing, curious, smart, and fun. He likes airplanes and fire trucks. His favorite super hero is Captain America. He has two little sisters and a baby brother. His parents got in a fight so now his dad lives in another house. He can write his own name. He's 5 years old.
Teaching gymnastics I've learned not to underestimate kids. D is just another example. They take in a lot more than we think. I'm excited to see him grow and hopefully, I can help him do that.
Every week we get to read a couple books together. He picked out 3; I picked out Ten in the Bed. I told D my mom used to read this to me when I was his age. He said his mom doesn't have a lot of books. That's partly what this program is about. Studies show reading out loud to kids is very beneficial. The children in Everybody Wins! Iowa get introduced to new places and things through the books and a mentor to hopefully bond with. Needless to say, spending an hour with D every week is going to be fun.