February Books

Well, I can’t exactly claim to be 100% resolution breaking free in the month of February, but I like to think that I at least kept the spirit of my 2010 resolutions.  I have, however, managed to keep my book reading goal.  This month, I finished SIX WHOLE BOOKS!  I also accidentally read 2 young adult novels, which might have had something to do with my sprinting pace.  Per a friend’s suggestion, I have decided that I will rate the books read this month with the age old 1-5 diet coke scale.  As diet cokes are the most delicious of drinks, giving something 5 diet cokes, definitely says something about the utter awesomeness of said book.

Beautiful Creatures
Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

This was the first Young Adult novel accidentally read by me in the month of February.  I probably should have known it was a YA book from the cover art, which consisted of some Gothic looking vines and an elaborate font choice, but that’s the chance you take when you purchase books electronically for your Kindle.  You have limited ability to judge a book by its cover.  This book was in the science fiction/fantasy realm of books, and while I enjoyed the story, I kept worrying that I was reading a Twilight knockoff.  You see, I have avoided reading any of the Twilight series, and this is something of a point of pride by this point more than any sort of “too cool” thing  (although I am also too cool.)  So, while the book was entertaining on a pure story basis, I’m not sure it was really worth my time – therefore earning it a grand total of 2.5 Diet Cokes.

Shutter Island
Dennis Lehane

I seriously started and finished this book in one day.  And it was a work day.  I read it in the morning before work, during lunch, and then after work until I was done.  And then I went and saw the movie the very next day.  I will say, that reading a book and seeing the movie within 24 hours makes a pretty strong impression on you.  It also allows you to annoyingly point out every inconsistency between the two.  Its hard to talk about this novel without giving away the plot, because the book hinges on plot.  I will say, however, that between the book and movie, the book allows for more suspense/character development (which isn’t surprising, I guess), so if you want to choose one or the other – go with the book.  Diet coke rating?  4.

This Is Where I Leave You
Jonathan Tropper

I gave this book to Blake as a Christmas present.  Which, given its title, was kinda a funny moment – I handed him the wrapped book as an afterthought after all the presents were opened, allowing him a double take at the dramatic title.  This book was one of my favorites of the month, although I ended up depressed for several days (although, interestingly, the plot isn’t inherently unhappy or cynical, just dark in its own way).  The novel deals with life, and unhappiness, failure, and death – all happy topics, I know.  But it does so with a sort of dark humor.  Therefore it gets 4.25 diet cokes!!

Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins

The second young adult novel of the month!  Again, I am blaming the Kindle buying mechanism.  I enjoyed this novel WAY more than the first one.  This book also falls in the science fiction/fantasy realm of novels, which seems to be a popular genre for young adult novels.  This book chronicles a sort of survivor/gladiator/fight to the death “game.”  I don’t know that my description does the plot justice, but I just can’t be bothered to write out a full summary of the novel.  Overall, this book was highly addictive.  I have already purchased the second book in the series (that’s right, its a young adult series.  I am awesome like that).  Diet coke rating?  4!

Through Painted Deserts
Donald Miller

I started this book a LONG time ago, and finished it after feeling as though I needed to read something with more substance after my little adventure into novels more often read by 13 year olds.  This book is responsible for my newly planned hiking/camping trip.  It’s one of those.  It gets 3.75 diet cokes.

Let The Great World Spin
Colum McCann

This was my favorite book of the month.  The story takes place in the 1970s over the course of a couple of days.  The characters are only tangentially related to one another, similar to Crash.  The book is gritty, to say the least.  But it is real, and it is interesting, and it forces you to think.  This would be most highly recommended novel for the month and the proud recipient of 4.5 diet cokes.

Blog writing note:  It is very hard to write a coherent blog entry while watching a movie as intense as The Hurt Locker.  I wouldn’t suggest it.