Every fall my reading slows down. The free time of summer is gone, and a new school year hits me like a ton of bricks. But this fall I really stopped reading.
Fall was good, but then fall got rough. And I didn't want to read.
For the first time in my life, reading didn't provide a therapeutic escape for me. I even stopped caring about being a "book pusher" at school.
Thankfully, it snowed. And snowed. And snowed. And snowed.
So -
I'M BACK!
Here are the few books I've read lately.
Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
An interestingly crafted historical fiction that intertwines the life of a teen Brooklynite with a young girl living during the French Revolution. If you like music, you'll appreciate this book, which takes pains to bring music into almost every page. Let's just say you could create an entire playlist using the songs referenced in this book. A long playlist. I think if you like historical fiction (which I do), you'll enjoy this.
There are times where the plot gets a little sketchy, but you'll let it slide.
All in all, I enjoyed this book by Donnelly much better than her A Northern Light.
Forged by Laurie Halse Anderson
A companion to Chains, which was awesome, this follows the life of Curzon (the slave with whom Isobel ran away). Curzon fights in the army. Honestly, I didn't like this and only got about 3/4 of the way through it. It was dry and lacked passion. However, like all of Anderson's historical fiction, it was meticulously researched.
The Tudors by G. J. Meyer.
A nonfiction piece about the reign of the Tudors. I really dug this book, especially the alternating chapters that would detail certain aspects of Renaissance life from what the people ate to the spread of the printing press. However, this is no light book. If you want to know almost everything about anything that went on during Henry VIII's reign - pick this one up. BTW, Henry the VIII was an ass. Like I said, this is a pretty hefty book - let's just say it's a horse pill. In fact, I only made it up to Mary's death, and then I had to return the book to the library. I have every intention of taking it back out to read through Elizabeth's reign, though!
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin.
An excellent read. Ellis, a young Irish lady, finds herself traveling to America for employment. She lives in a boarding house, must learn to acclimate to her new job and new land, and fight her own homesickness. Awesome book, especially if you liked A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
