Katie:
- Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith
- The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
I did not read many books this month, as you can see. I've been in a bit of a slump, and I'm trying to work my way past it. That said, I did very much like The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey, which is a fairytale retelling / magical realism novel. It tells the story of a married couple who have not been able to have children, and have moved to Alaska to farm. They are lonely and sad, and wondering if coming to the harsh Alaskan landscape was a mistake. Then one day, in a brief lighthearted moment, they go out in the snow and build a snow-girl. In the morning, the snow-girl has been broken apart, and they catch a glimpse of a real girl in the forest... It's a good book. Read it to find out more. Anyway, I did also like Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith, but as I believe I mentioned last month, I have a difficult time reading books of poetry. I feel like I can enjoy poems read in isolation more than poetry collections, and I think it's because I don't really understand how to read poetry collections. If anyone has thoughts on this, let me know in the comments.
I'm currently reading The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin, which I've been meaning to read for years now, and also The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherine Valente. I'm only a few chapters in on that one, but it's great so far. Great title, great cover, great writing. It's very reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, but the style and story are more to my taste.
Sarah:
- Ben Franklin's Almanac: Being a True Account of the Good Gentleman's Life by Candace Fleming
- Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
I pondered reading Uglies for a long time before I ever actually picked it up, for the simple reason that I find the constant onslaught of YA dystopian novels to be tiresome and, in general, formulaic. Although the book did make use of some of the usual cliches and there were some plot points that could have been written better, I enjoyed the story overall. Although I would certainly not point to it as the epitome of good reading for teens, it kept me more engaged than Divergent managed to do. In fact, I am currently reading the next book in the series, which is, perhaps predictably, entitled Pretties.
Of course, Pride and Prejudice is an absolutely delightful study of human character, and if you have not given it a go yet, I recommend reading it as soon as possible.
As summer ends and our regular routines pick back up, it is easy to let reading fall by the wayside as an unnecessary activity. However, as counterintuitive as it might seem, our goal is to allow the rhythm of autumn to encourage us to deliberately set aside time for personal edification. There is usually more than one way of approaching a goal and it is better to come at it with a positive outlook. This fall, we wish to avoid sabotaging ourselves, and hopefully will actively seek more reading time rather than less.
We do also try to keep in mind that we are always reading, even when we're not checking off books from our TBR lists. Whether it's the news, or blogs, or school assignments, or the back of a cereal box, we are reading something every single day.
Wish us luck in our reading endeavors! We wish you the same, and hope you all have a lovely weekend.
