I still advocate that it is, but I can't exactly ignore how often I hear, from intelligent college aged adults, ' I hate reading - it's so boring, I'd rather watch a movie' and how excited I get when someone reads anything for fun. So, for any fellow book lovers out there I offer you this - books read in 2011 by yours truly.
1. The Lucky One By Nicholas Sparks
2. The Choice By Nicholas Sparks
So these are not the only books by Nicholas Sparks that are on this list and I clearly had a bit of a phase going on. I'll admit it as much as I hate weddings and the fake relationships that seem way too plentiful I have a soft spot for romance, true romance. I'm a romantic and while I think Nicholas Sparks is a one trick pony with almost every story being set in the south, and someone is named Savannah and there's the predictable building, climax/conflict, and resolution every.single.time. and that the writing is not elegant or complex I still love these as my guilty pleasure, same with the twilight series(don't get me started on those plot line issues). My biggest defense for reading these is that these books and the twilight series got a lot of non readers to read and regardless of content that's remarkable and worth praise and worth checking out. just saying
**BACK TO LIST**
3. The Buddha and the Borderline by Kiera VanGelder or VanGolder (I can't read my writing) - I loved this book. It's about a woman who deals with having Borderline Personality Disorder and finally getting it diagnoses and seeking the appropriate therapy. Part of why I love this book is that I find the Borderline Personality Disorder the most interesting in part because it's the one associated with my personality type. I am 80 percent mercurial personality so I have an understanding to her struggles on a lesser scale but for the psychology nerds out there it's worth reading whatever your personality type.
4. Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks (newest book out by him and a little more edgy than his past work)
5. Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks (the list gets better)
6. Myths About Suicide by Thomas Joiner - this read was a little dry, but extraordinarily informative I read it as part of my self decided preparation for my internship which is the walk of hope that focuses on remembering those lost to suicide as well as the preventative efforts to lower that number. (The walk is Sept. 10th 2011 - I'm sure you'll hear more about it on here)
7.As I Cross the Bridge of Dreams - I read this in my honors class last spring semester and I felt like rereading it. I don't know how to properly explain it but I'd say check it out.
8. The Rough Guide to First-Time Around the World by: Rough Guides
This guide is everything you would ever need to know about taking a trip around the world and while I doubt my first adventure traveling post graduation will be around the world because it's not cheap I'm excited to have read this and started my plan for my eventual around the world trip.
9.The Wedding Nicholas Sparks
10.Little Alters Everywhere by Rebecca Wells - I picked this up at my local thrift store and loved it. The writing was great, the book was set up in multiple person views switching with each chapter and jumping all over time to paint a picture of a family, a dysfunctional broken family, and it was heartbreaking but good.
11.The Carrie Diaries By Candace Bushnell - for the sex and the city fans this is the voice of a high school aged Carrie and I'm torn. I liked it as a cheap and fun read, but I didn't get a sense of Carrie. It felt like it's own story didn't like the 'meet carrie before the city' angle used to promote it.
12. The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zefon - this author is one of my very favorites. There is something so beautiful and captivating about how he writes and this book was no exception, however I felt like it was obvious at a certain point where the book was going and like a hundred extra pages were shoved in between that point and the resolution. Worth reading though. Highly recommended.
13. Flower Children by Maxime Swann - a look at life for the children of hippies in the sixties. It was good and well done, quick, quick read but I felt like I couldn't fully appreciate the book because I don't have the life context of the 60s first hand.
14. The Greatest Stories Never Told by: Rick Beyer - just read this book. It is so crazy cool. It is about history from 1400s to 1990s and it's things you'd never believe. True, entertaining and great.
15. The Great Gatsby By: F. Scott Fitzgerald - I read this book in high school and then I saw it on my nook for a dollar and I thought ' alright' and I bought it and read it in a day. I truly didn't appreciate this book in high school. Sure we analyzed the symbolism then, and that helped in my second reading, but just reading it as an adult compared to an angst ridden teen made a considerable difference. I loved it and it's up there with the Old Man and the Sea as my very favorite book.
16. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
17. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
18. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
the hunger games trilogy is worth reading. It is marketed as a young teen fiction and it is but it's not poorly written and it has merit for all ages. These are remarkable books that raise very interesting points about the costs of a human life, the struggle of change, the way change is achieved, the role and rule of government, the danger of being apathetic or extremist. If for no other reason, read these books so we can then grab a coffee and discuss all the amazing things these books cover and the questions they raise. I won't mention all the questions because that would give away key elements of the books. Just read it. Don't hesitate GO BUY THEM NOW.
19. Smart Words by Mim Harrison - this is a book about words. It's well written, funny, and a great source for when you feel like your vocabulary is getting stale. Also on a slightly nerdy note (cause this book screamed cool kid) I also saw a few words and enjoyed their place in the Harry Potter series.umbrage meaning annoyance sounded a lot like kitten obsessed professor Umbridge(or was it spelt the same way too?) and draconian meaning harsh named for an Draco an ancient Athenian whose methods were so harsh they came up with the term draconian to describe them. I'm not sure if that was intentional by JK Rowling or not, but I enjoyed it and now want to read those books and find the other insightful word choices.
20. Something Borrowed By Emily Giffin - books of this nature are something called chick lit which I find offensive but it does fall into the romance category and of course there was the movie that was out not too long ago. I liked it. I hated Darcy cause I have had too many friends just like her in fact most of my former friends fall into that selfish, high maintenance, entitled, overall not great friend material category. Not all but a fair amount, and the only thing I felt missing in the book was a solid punch to her face. However most people I know fall into the Rachel category sweet, hardworking, maybe lacking a little with dating skills/assertiveness but good people. I think her character was very well developed and easy to relate to.
Right now I'm presently reading the Diary of Anne Frank, Ending Hunger in our Lifetime, and about five others I can't properly remember and don't care to go track down.
That's my input on what I've been reading now I have to go rock out some internship things and STLF things. Holla!
No comments:
Post a Comment