Read-a-Ton - Week 3

Sorry all but I have been totally obsessed with reading and saving the world. My first week off was very relaxing and a lot of fun. K and I got another friend into saving the world, of course this was unfair of us. This friend is easily addicted.

Week three of the Read-a-ton from Bubbles in my Head: a literature and writing resource. It's time to update my summer reading list. Because of the holiday I was a little late getting last week's list posted. Again, having trouble with the image uploads from blogger. Hmm, not good. Here are last week's books:

1) Twilight by Stephenie Meyer - When seventeen-year-old Bella leaves Phoenix to live with her father in Forks, Washington, she meets an exquisitely handsome boy at school for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction and who she comes to realize is not wholly human. My boss, the March Hare and every female student I had this year tried to get me to read this. I tried 3 times unsuccessfully to read this. I couldn't get into it, and failed everytime. So I tried once more last week. I don't think this book is for everyone but in the end I really did like it. It's more of a Chick-lit book than I really care for but it is a good story. It's kind of a soap opera with vampires. If you read it, forget everything you thought you knew about the blood stalkers of the night. Those old rules don't apply here. Everything is different! There is action in this book but it is primarily a love story, one of those sweet and perfect love stories.

2) I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith - A reprint of the 1948 novel recounting the story of Cassandra Mortmain, a young woman living on the edge of poverty in a crumbling castle with her somewhat eccentric family, whose prospects begin to improve when new neighbors arrive from America. This came highly recommended by the Dormouse and I have to admit she was right. It was a great book. Kind of Jane Austenish. Cassandra falls for her sister's beau but her sister really doesn't love him. Poverty, love, and high jinx - sounds like Austen or Bronte and I wasn't disappointed.

3) Inkheart by Cornelia Funke - Twelve-year-old Meggie learns that her father Mo, a bookbinder, can "read" fictional characters to life when an evil ruler named Capricorn, freed from the novel "Inkheart" years earlier, tries to force Mo to release an immortal monster from the story. I read this several years back when it first came out but I was having trouble with the sequel (see below) and read it again. As before, I loved it but was amazed at how much I missed. The ability to read characters out of novels is a lot of fun and Funke doesn't disappoint. The world she creates is colorful and a joy to escape to. Her translator Anthea Bell does an amazing job. The translation seems flawless. I wish all books could excite me like Inkheart!

4) Inkspell by Cornelia Funke - Now thirteen, Meggie "reads" herself into Inkworld, where she, her family, and the characters in the book face chaos and danger as the original creator of the world frantically tries to redirect the story. I had such a hard time starting this. The first 100 pages or so just seem so slow. I've spoken about this book to a few people, some agree and some do not. Either way I was told to just keep reading. It is worth it. This time we get to travel into the world of Inkheart itself and meet the characters in their own place.

5) Ella enchanted by Gail Carson Levine - In this novel based on the story of Cinderella, Ella struggles against the childhood curse that forces her to obey any order given to her. This is a lot of fun if you like fairytales, which you must all realize I do. There was a movie made of this book. It was a cute movie. Book is three times better. Ella is "blessed" by moronic fairy at birth with the "gift" of obedience. Things are fine though until Ella's mother dies and her father remarriage. The stepmother comes with her own two daughters, and her in lies the problem. There are princes, giants, fairies, balls, elves but as with any truly great twisting of classic fairytales - it's all different. Great book and a fun read!