In the past few years, I have gotten more into reading for the fun of it. I think Charlie has a lot to do with this. He is such an avid reader, if I'm taking even 5 more minutes to get ready than him he pulls out a book (he never says anything about me taking longer to get ready). When I was younger, I read a lot. Not necessarily good books, more trash fun books. My mom always tried to get me to read more classic books, like Anne of Green Gables. I tried, believe me, but I found a paragraph full of descriptions just plain old boring. I wanted the plot action in the book. I remember loving Sweet Valley High, The Babysitter's Club, The Boxcar Children, and Goosebumps. I think that high school and college had ruined fun reading for me. Too many horrible books to read-Socrates, Nietzsche, Crime and Punishment, Grapes of Wrath, need I say more? Sometimes parts of these books were interesting, but ah! Long for the days of youth where you could choose a book to write about. Grad school didn't help, not because I didn't like what I was reading. I was just doing so much reading that I didn't feel like doing more reading after all of that school reading. Or I would think I wouldn't have time, but that's not true because we all have some free time. I would watch tv or a movie instead of reading during that free time.
I have since realized that a good book can be good, or hah, better! than a lot of tv. And books can go anywhere with you so that's even better. The key is finding the good books. I love books with a nature theme or with a science twist. It's really hard to find good science books though, because I don't like typical science fiction, the alien, fantasy, whatnot twists and what's left often seems like medical mystery. I have found a few great authors/series that fit this category: Barbara Kingsolver (
The Bean Trees,
Prodigal Summer, really everything by her but the Lacuna...),
Forty Signs of Rain series by Kim Stanley Robinson,
Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear,
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (nonfiction). If you know more authors like these, I'd like to know about them. I have also read some more serious subject books that I find interesting, but they take a lot longer to read as I don't get into them nearly as much as the fiction. Finally, my favorite new *trash* reading may be vampire stuff. Not just anything though, female lead, a typical life that's not too far into the sci-fi/fantasy genre, just with the twist of having vampires existing in a world similar to our own. Blame
True Blood, I just couldn't get enough this year. Having exhausted the Twilight and Sookie Stackhouse Series, I plan on trying the
Women of the Otherworld Series next.
Anyway, here are the books I read last year. I mostly loved them-if I don't love a book, I generally don't finish it. The top of the list are my favorites.
Twilight Series-Best fiction. What you say? Teenage girl reading? That's what I thought too, but it's great for all ages, trust me. If you don't know the plot yet, summary is teenage girl moves to dreary Washington town, falls for very unique boy who turns out to be a vampire. The books are based around her discovering this other world, falling for boy, and often being endangered by the other world. These are the books that kept me up late because I couldn't put them down. I wish there had been more than 4 books. I probably would not have read this if my friend hadn't pushed me to borrow her copy. The books are much better than the movies, so don't judge if you've seen the movies. Read it!!!
Sookie Stackhouse Series-These are the books that
True Blood is based on. They aren't exactly written well, but they are fun. Background: vampires come out of hiding after the Japanese create synthetic blood. Sookie is a waitress who can read minds and the vampires really like using that ability.
Stumbling On Happiness-Best nonfiction (tie). This nonfiction book is more about the psychology of feeling happy and describes a lot of the effect of time and experience on happiness.
Animal Vegetable Miracle-Best nonfiction (tie). As always, I love Barbara Kingsolver's books. This nonfiction book describes a year where they tried to eat everything locally, either by growing or raising it, or from other local producers. Beautiful earthy descriptions, if you read this book you may just find yourself wanting to start a garden and make cheese at home.
The Botany of Desire-Ok I can't remember if I read it this year but I'm including it anyway. Pretty cool culture/history surrounding the cultivation of four crops-tulips, apples, marijuana, and potatoes. My favorite section was probably the apples, because Johnny spread his apple seeds all over southeastern Ohio, so it was interesting to simultaneously read about the history of the apple and where I've been going to school.
Marley & Me-Funny adventures about a horribly behaved labrador retriever. So much better than the movie. I listened to this as an audiobook, it's great for roadtrips.
Dewey-Cute stories about a library cat in Iowa, almost an animal version of "Chicken Soup for the Soup"
Bet Me-Fun trash book, I listened to this audiobook on a road trip. A risk analyst's romance. The ridiculous descriptions of food in this book are definitely part of the fun. Watch for it, I wouldn't be surprised if this were turned into a movie.
The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl-This was fun. It's nonfiction, stories from a woman who held over 50 jobs. She has good stories but not much useful information (it is marketed as career lessons).
Next-I thought I would like "Next" because it sounds like the type of science book I could be interested in. It's themes include bioengineering and patenting genes. It was ok, made a few good points but I felt like the plot didn't develop much. It was just a bunch of independent stories that didn't succeed at being interesting. The reviews on Amazon.com are also so-so. But I did finish it.
Books I couldn't finish:
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance-This "classic" nonfiction book is supposed to be an inquiry into values, and from what I understand a lot of people like this book. The guy spends the summer with his son traveling the country on his motorcycle, and of course it needs to be repaired sometimes. I just didn't get this guy's philosophy, I can't remember when I stopped reading, probably shortly after he talked about the scientific method, but even before then it felt like he was full of b.s.
The Lacuna-I asked for this book for Christmas last year because I generally love Barbara Kingsolver's work. However, this book was a departure from her normal writing. Rather than being an earthy book, it was historical fiction about Mexico. It's not necessarily a bad book, just not my style for reading. Charlie liked this book though.
