Category: Reading

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Checked Out: Week 6

I got back to reading in bed this week, something I had gotten away from probably for the past year or so, and I had forgotten how good it felt to prop my pillow up, shut out the rest of the world, and read. I also rediscovered the joy of heading to goodreads and checking … Continue reading Checked Out: Week 6

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Checked Out: Week 5

“Well, that sure was fast,” I said after finishing Divergent in a matter of three days (and it would have been faster if I didn’t have all this other stuff to do with my life). The speed at which I read that book brought back memories of high school when I was reading a book … Continue reading Checked Out: Week 5

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Checked Out: Week 4

Well, what a difference a week makes! Remember when I said I was deep into The Tyrant’s Law. As it turns out, the most recent time I read that book, or any other for that matter, was last Tuesday right after I wrote the latest entry of Checked Out. That’s for two major reasons. I … Continue reading Checked Out: Week 4

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Checked Out: Week 3

thYou know, since I started this series I find I’ve been taking the time to read more than I was previously. Don’t get me wrong. I have always read a lot, but it seemed like I had fallen off just a little bit, and this series has given me a sort of revival. What has also helped is talking to more people about books. It’s funny how many people I didn’t realize were readers, people I talked to every day about so many other topics, but now I have more reading buddies, which is always more exciting. It also means, however, that my “to-read” list has grown in leaps and bounds. Currently at the top of my “to-read” list:

1. The Tiger’s Curse, by Colleen Houck
2. Divergent, by Veronica Roth

So many people have recommended both of these series that I feel my life won’t be complete until I at least start them. Yes, in this instance I gave in to peer pressure. When it comes to books you should add to your reading list, I think that’s the only time I think you should have no problem following the crowd. I guess I figure you can always stop reading if it doesn’t interest you, so why not at least start? I also recognize, though, that series books are a commitment, which is a reason I like to keep at least a few individual novels to break it up, or for when you’re waiting for the next book in a series (like I am with the Mortal Instruments series).

Books I have Checked Out this week…

1. The Impossible Knife of Memory, by Laurie Halse Anderson

2. The Tyrant’s Law, by Daniel Abraham

3. Little Black Book of Murder, by Nancy Martin

4. Teardrop, by Lauren Kate

5. Sycamore Row, by John Grisham Continue reading “Checked Out: Week 3”

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Checked Out: Week 2

casual-vacancy-cover-art-hi-resI read a lot of books, and on any given day I’m probably carrying around two or three books with me. In fact, I’m in a library right now, sitting at a table with a book on it (I brought the book here). The book I have with me is Teardrop, by Lauren Kate, and if you recall, I discussed it in last week’s “Checked Out.” I actually haven’t gotten too far in it because I’ve been caught up in two other books at the moment, but I brought it with me because I want to play catch up.

People are usually surprised when I tell them I read more than one book at a time, and routinely at that. They wonder how I don’t get confused with characters or with plots, and I honestly don’t know how I do it. Maybe some of you out there are the same way, but it takes me probably a couple of minutes to get back into a plot and I’m all set. The only way it doesn’t work that way is if I’ve “paused” a book and then I come back to it a long time later. And that’s because odds are that I’ve been through a lot more plots and characters in a multitude of books in-between.

It happened to me last week when I got back into The Casual Vacancy, by J.K. Rowling. I hadn’t read the book in about three months and I was thoroughly lost at the spot where my bookmark was. When I get caught in that type of situation I take a deep breath and just go back to the part that makes sense to me and read forward from there. I hardly ever let books lie like that, but sometimes life intercedes. I know. I said the “L” word.

Then there’s the one thing that can make me stop all other books on the spot, when one of my “Top” authors releases a new book and I’m lucky enough to get it from the library or someone gives it to me as a gift shortly after it is released. That happened this week when I bought the new Laurie Halse Anderson book, The Impossible Knife of Memory, with a gift card I received from my mom for my birthday. Oh yeah, and I  bought it electronically to read on my Nook. The horror. Continue reading “Checked Out: Week 2”