When I checked my Goodreads page, I was shocked to find that I hadn’t read a grown-up type book since February! I’d like to blame it on my utter exhaustion at bedtime during the school year, and it is partly that, but I will also have to pin a little of the blame on Scramble, a Boggle-like game I played on my phone every night after slipping between the sheets. I often fell asleep during a game (my partners—Sue and Brenda—would occasionally send me messages when they spotted a lower than usual score indicating a nod-off during game play) and would only make it through 2-3 games before hitting the hay.
However, it’s summer time and the gloriously empty days of summer are stretched out around me and I read my first five (three) real non-vocabulary–controlled, non-illustrated, occasionally naughty books in a very respectable time. Here they are:
Inferno by Dan Brown-Robert Langdon, our Harvard professor hero in The DaVinci Code, is back! The novel starts off at a run, when Langdon wakes up in a hospital in Florence, Italy with no recollection of ever having left his cozy Boston home. What the whaaaat? He teams up with yet another gorgeous, smart woman, and begins his chase around Florence (and other cities…I won’t spoil it) putting together clues and looking for something that will basically save the world from mass destruction. It was hard to put down, and great fun to read mostly. In his usual fashion, Brown gives us a lot of art history/city facts/descriptions of locales and after awhile I was all, “Oh my gosh, just let them get into the stinkin’ building! I don’t need Robert to remember how he read somewhere that the columns holding up the portico were hand carved by Julius Caeser himself in a botched attempt to make himself a s’more stick! I have HAD IT with the fun little facts. GET ON WITH THE FREAKIN’ PLOT LINE!” Anywho, the premise was totally believable yet unbelievable, and although I figured out a few things along the way, I really could not fathom how Brown could end this story satisfactorily…but he did it. Definite thumbs up. Get on your library’s wait list (or order the large print edition…there was no wait for that one!) ASAP.
The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls-I had super high hopes for this one, having loved Walls’ The Glass Castle and Half-Broke Horses. It was a lovely story about two teen sisters, Bean and Liz who are basically abandoned by their hippie mother in California. They get themselves across the country to stay with their uncle in Alabama, and lots of things happen to them there. Walls’ writing is stellar. And I would recommend this book, no problem. However, it wasn’t quite as good a story as her first two books.
Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea–Although I told myself I wasn’t going to read any juvenile fiction this summer (which isn’t very responsible of me) I am in a little book club with the other fifth grade teachers in my school, and this was our first selection. I’ll include it here if you have a child around 11-12 years old, because it was excellent. I handed it off to Ben and he’s reading it now and enjoying it (although he won’t admit that to me as he’s mad I’m making him read again this summer). Anyway, all of us 5th grade teachers loved it and I decided I might start off the year with this as my read aloud. It’s very similar to Wonder, another excellent juvenile book, as it’s told from several points of view.
Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple- Okay, I TOTALLY LOVED THIS ONE. This is a fairly light read, but very well written (not a fluffy piece of chick lit). Bee is 15 years old and her mother has disappeared. Most of the book is organized by Bee, who is sorting through emails, letters, notes from neighbors, etc…therefore we are figuring things out based on all these little pieces Bee shares with us and Bee’s occasional comments explaining things. The author wrote for Mad About You, one of my favorite tv shows ever, and I love her writing here so much. I really really really really really hope you read this one, really!
Divergent by Veronica Roth-Doggone on it. I read a Young Adult book. So anyway, Veronica Roth decided to jump on the Hunger Games bandwagon by writing herself a trilogy of books set in a dystopian future. However, unlike The Hunger Games, which had a very cool (though admittedly gruesome) premise, the premise of this book is totally dumb. That said, I could not put it down. I seriously read it in a day or so. Maddie is reading Insurgent right now (the second book in the series) and Ben also read Divergent and is killing time reading Because of Mr. Terupt until Maddie’s finished so he can have his turn. They both love Divergent! The third book in the series comes out this fall. So my recommendation? Go ahead and read it, it’s a real page turner. But quality literature it is not.
P.S.-Ben read it before me and told me there were inappropriate situations in it, and there are, so I probably should have read it first before him. At one point, the characters need to face the things they are afraid of and our main character is afraid of engaging in sex for the first time (she is a teen). They just talk about it though…she does not do it. Also, this same character has her breast fondled in an aggressive way by a male enemy character. Just a warning if you were going to share it with your children who are not yet actual Young Adults.
P.P.S.-Book Three comes out this fall. Ben and Maddie can’t wait!
1 comment:
I read Divergent ( and Insurgent), but I had to go back and read my reviews of both, because I couldn't quite remember what the books are about. That could be a sign that the book isn't very good and memorable, but it is most likely just a sign that I can't remember diddly squat. I am writing down the Bernadette book, thanks!
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