Adrian Reads Books.

I read this in high school and really enjoyed it for the beautiful language and thought provoking story it told, but now that I’ve re-read it just a few days since I graduated college I think I appreciate it more. It’s so easy to look at the past through “glory day” goggles and only see the good and forget the bad. I think Fitzgerald does a great job showing how disillusioned humankind can be. We use times or places or even people as our escapes. Obviously we have to make ourselves happy and can’t rely on others or other things to do that for us.
It’s a beautiful story told with beautiful images and language. I could read this over and over.

(Source: Flickr / jeniee)

I think I might have skipped my review of A Million Suns, but as promised I have finished the Across the Universe series with Shades of Earth by Beth Revis and it was pretty fantastic.  I haven’t read a ton of sci-fi to compare it to but I thought the story was really interesting- a lot of the developments surprised me and I learned not to get attached to any character.  The last book was a hard one to read just because it dealt so much with family and love and independence that it was kind of emotional for me considering where I am with my life right now.  Overall though I really recommend this series and I even don’t mind that it changed covers before the entire series was published (the new covers btw are much nicer and gender neutral than the old ones).

(Source: booknerd.ca)

I have been wanting to read this book for ages now and I’ve been on the waiting list for it since January and last weekend it was finally mine!  This book was well worth the wait.  It was the perfect mixture of adventure, hilarity, and emotion.  Beatrice throws you into this crazy world with her and it’s easy to become immediately absorbed. I cannot wait to get my hands on the rest of this series!

(Source: Flickr / thelightningthief)

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore  by Robin Sloan was a quick, fun, and gripping read.  I loved all of the characters and the plot’s development.  I thought the it opened an interesting debate about actual books vs. e-books. My favorite line from the book might be when Clay says that there are still plenty on people who like the smell of books and Penumbra responds “The smell! You know you are finished when people start talking about the smell.” Also the dust jacket glows in the dark (WHAT??), so obviously this is a must read.

By haeshu

this is what I’m currently reading- a bit of a struggle so far. ~130 pages in, should I keep going?

After seeing an amazing movie, I knew I had to read The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick.  The book definitely not disappoint.  There are a few things that are different in the book vs. the movie as expected but I think the book seemed more realistic for me and I felt like I understood Pat a lot more than I did in the movie.  This book reminded me a lot of Perks, but geared toward adults rather than teens and quite a bit less intense.  TL;DR - read this book- now! :) 

(Source: Flickr / mreames)

Wow. I officially hit book 25 today on my reading challenge and it’s a really good feeling.  Obviously reading 13 young reader books (A Series of Unfortunate Events) is kind of cheating but I don’t care (cue Judy Garland gif).  So what’s the book that pushed me to the halfway point you ask? I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella. 

Poppy Wyatt has never felt luckier. She is about to marry her ideal man, Magnus Tavish, but in one afternoon her “happily ever after” begins to fall apart. Not only has she lost her engagement ring in a hotel fire drill but in the panic that follows, her phone is stolen. As she paces shakily around the lobby, she spots an abandoned phone in a trash can. Finders keepers! Now she can leave a number for the hotel to contact her when they find her ring. Perfect! Well, perfect except that the phone’s owner, businessman Sam Roxton, doesn’t agree. He wants his phone back and doesn’t appreciate Poppy reading his messages and wading into his personal life. What ensues is a hilarious and unpredictable turn of events as Poppy and Sam increasingly upend each other’s lives through emails and text messages. As Poppy juggles wedding preparations, mysterious phone calls, and hiding her left hand from Magnus and his parents, she soon realizes that she is in for the biggest surprise of her life. (Random House Summary)

Back in middle/high school I was kind of obsessed with the Shopaholic series and I think I’ve read them all (not positive, there are so many now) and even though Kinsella’s books are kind of cheesy and predictable they are a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine.   This book was very very similar to Kinsella’s previous works, in fact at some points I thought I was reading another Shopaholic book: pretty young girl in a relationship with a guy so amazing and attractive she can’t believe it and then something happens and she can’t possibly tell her partner and chaos ensues.  I will give it to Kinsella because I thought this book had a bit more depth than her other books but it’s no Farewell to Arms.  From a few other reviews I’ve read this seems to be the biggest critique of the book- “it drags on too long.”  I’m more concerned about Poppy’s clearly messed up relationship with Magnus and how she let’s him treat her as an inferior, but oh well.. This book exceeded my expectations from Kinsella and so I gave it about 3.5/5 stars. It’s a really quick read (took me under one day) and it has some really nice make your heart flutter scenes.  The footnotes were really easy to use on the kindle reader but I would probably get annoyed if I had to keep flipping pages.

(Source: fashion.makeupandbeauty.com)

Across the Universe by Beth Revis is a young adult sci-fi novel (pictured on the bottom of the stack). I have always had a love/hate relationship with science fiction but I kinda loved this book. It centers around two characters, Amy and Elder and tells the story of a ship named Godspeed’s journey to a new planet.  I had heard of this book before and kinda ignored it until I saw a review of the trilogy by booksandquills on youtube.  Right now I have like 5 books that I’m currently reading and a ton of school work to do but once things settle down I’m excited to read A Million Suns!

(Source: Flickr / thisismiki)

Flickr is being troublesome and I can’t find any fancy looking photos on the newest cover so you’ll have to settle with this Goodreads basic for Looking for Alaska by John Green. This book was a catalyst for me to get back into reading when I first finished it almost two years ago.  It has had a special place in my heart ever since and this reread just reminded me of how incredible this book is.  If you love to read, read this; if you hate reading, read this; if you feel stuck in your average teenage life, read this.

Edit: Also, I should probably note that this is book 20 of my 50 book challenge which puts me 9 books ahead of schedule! Who knew senior year of college came with so much freetime?

(Source: goodreads.com)

Still waiting for the library patron ahead of me to hurry up and read ASOUE Book 9 so I read these awesome little John Green creations: Zombicorns and The War For Banks Island.  Now I really want a third book.

(Source: karenkavett.com)