If You Read One Series This Year...

 After putting off beginning the series for quite a few months, I can happily say I have finished The Hunger Games trilogy! And, I'm sure most of you have heard many good things about the books, and I can promise you, it didn't disappoint! I cried through each book (I get emotional about characters.. who doesn't?) and I was pleasantly surprised at the series themselves.

I guess I had thought I was done with the "kid-lit" books in my life, being 24 now, which is perhaps why I put off reading the books for so long. But then I finished the first one (bought from Brookline Booksmith).

And instantly bought the next two in the series, Catching Fire and Mockingjay, on my Kindle, so I could start reading them without a moment's hesitation.

And I didn't stop until I finished. Weeping into the last pages, of course.

I have recommended the series to everyone I know. Seriously, one of the best series I've read in a while (and, in my opnion, far superior in every way to the Twilight series!)

(No offense, Robert Pattinson, I still adore you.)

Books not to read alone at night..

So I have started two intense books: 1) the first of the Hunger Games series (in print), which I have started because I've had dozens of people recommend it (even outside of publishing - a lawyer recommended it!!)

and 2) Darkly Dreaming Dexter (on the Kindle), which I know will give me nightmares. But I keep hearing people talk about what a good show it was, and just recently discovered the that the show is based loosely on the books. So far, it's a lot of alliteration (obviously). I'll keep you updated!

New Start: On to 2011

So, I have sadly neglected this blog for far too long (this semester was rough, and I also found few books that impressed me) but one of my New Year's Eve resolutions is to blog more, starting with my newest toy: My Kindle. The first book I ordered was Happy Ever After, the last book in the Bridal Quartet series by Norah Roberts. Cheesy, yes, but I have a soft spot in a my heart for her novels. I mean, who doesn't want to marry a filthy rich, sexy, delicious lawyer who is just as good in the bedroom as he is in the court?

The verdict: I'm a sucker for a happy ending, especially when I'm feeling sentimental, and Nora Roberts knows what she's doing!


More to come, and I'm taking suggestions for more books to add to my Kindle.

So I picked up two new books (alas, not from my reading list - these ones were on sale at Borders, since I still have not found a summer job yet haha) and one I enjoyed both of them. Both books were by authors I had previously read, so I had high expectations for these books. The books, The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen, and Body Surfing by Anita Shreve, did not meet these expectations, as their other books have. Allen's Garden Spells was much more enchanting, though both books had the same elements of families who had a certain gift passed down from generation to generation, and a magicalness that followed certain characters. With Body Surfing, the paragraphs were kept short and choppy throughout much of the book, making it harder to read and lose myself in. I would recommend these authors in a heartbeat, but perhaps not these books.

Summer Reading List

Yay for completing (and surviving!!) my first year of graduate school at Emerson College. Now that I have some free time on my hands (though hopefully that won't last long if I get the job at Pearson!), I want to catch up on some over-due reading "for pleasure." Just a warning, my list will most likely be fluff - I'm all about trashy summer novels on hot days!

Here is my wish list:

Italy, where they drive on the sidewalk

Tonight I went to the Boston Public Library to see Frances Mayes speak. She is probably most well-known for her book Under The Tuscan Sun, made famous by the movie version starring Diane Lane. Frances has owned her house in Italy for over 20 years now, and has actually bought a second home in Italy, and lives there about five months of the year.

I can't even imagine owning my own home in the U.S. right now, much less in a foreign country! However, I am very envious. I spent two months doing a study abroad in Italy, and I have been trying my best to find a way back! For right now, the closes I'm going to get is to read is her other books on life in Italy: In Tuscany, Bella Tuscany, and her newest book, Every Day in Tuscany: Seasons of an Italian Life

A fast-growing reading list!

While I was home for my holiday break from school, I found out that, sadly, the Waldensbooks in our local mall would be closing it's doors for good. Happily, all books were discounted 40-60% off! Naturally, I was in heaven! I quickly began scouring the shelves for books (By the time I looked, the books were so picked over that I was actually excited - as a publishing major, I always want to see people buying books because that is what will keep the publishing industry going upward instead of continuing it's recent downward trend) and I came up with a very nice little list of new books:

 - The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

- Classics for Pleasure by Michael Dirda

 - A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius Dave Eggers

 - American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld


With so many wonderful choice, where to start? I decided on The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and I loved it. It was witty, touching, and made me wish for the time when people still went by snail mail.

For old time's sake, I think instead of e-mailing my penpal Susanna, who lives in Italy, I'll write her a letter - and maybe some of the charm of Juliet Ashton's letters from the book will rub off on my own writing!