Summer Reading Challenge: Me Talk Pretty One Day

     So put a crown on my head and call me queen! To do penance for my transgressions, I went above and beyond these past two weeks. Not only did I finish The Giver by Lois Lowry, but I finished the whole series! I read The Giver, Gathering Blue, Messanger, and Son! This series is beyond good. I will say they are all pretty compact which is why I managed to read all of them in two weeks. At first, the books seem like individual short stories, set in a dystopian world. Lowry slowly connects these stories and characters in a strange, unified tale, rife with symbolism and allegory. I would definitely recommend these books. I haven't seen the film adaptation of The Giver but judging on the trailer, after reading the book, I would say it lacks the depth and sophistication of Lowry's original work, but I will try my best to remain neutral and reserve judgement. It's going to be hard though, because I'm already head-over-heels-in-love with these books, and I'm going to be very difficult to please indeed!

      For the next two weeks, I'm going to be reading a series of essays and short stories, Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. I'm very excited to begin! 

I would love to know if any of you are reading anything at the moment, and if you have any recommendations. Maybe they might find their ways onto my next list. 

Summer Reading Challenge: The Giver

     So my first attempt at this challenge failed. I've finished The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, however instead of taking two weeks to complete, it took three. I have failed you! I am failure! But I did finish it, and let me tell you; as laughably campy as it is, the book gets downright creepy in some parts. Emily, our heroine is as dull as brick and faints like one too! Seriously I think one could invent a drinking game from the amount of times she literally hits the floor. The story is all over the place, and some plot points are terribly useless (i.e. the black veil, whatever happened to Manchon, the disappearance of Ludovico). And how much better would it be if this story was about Annette and Ludovico? These are two are the best characters in the whole book. Still Ann Radcliffe was a highly influential author, giving rise to some of the greats of gothic literature such as Edgar Allen Poe. If you're a literature-buff you might want to check her writing out.

     For the next two weeks, the next book from my list will be The Giver by Lois Lowry. I have very mixed feelings about dystobian, romance, Y.A. fiction-turned movie adaption shenanigans. However, this is a favourite of a reader who's opinion I trust, and if I'm going to watch a movie adaptation, I must read first! So wish me luck for the next two weeks! Hopefully I'll be able to finish in time!

Introducing: Summer Reading Challenge

     I can't believe July is nearly over. It seems this summer has flown by without me noticing. Thus this challenge is a bit redundant seeming as the summer season is drawing to a close. Still, reading is hardly seasonal! Some of you may have noticed that I have a reading list on my blog sidebar. I pick away at it during the year, but I told myself that I would really make a dent in the thing during the summer months. Alas, summer classes and work and general laziness have shot that horse in the face. But it's never too late to try, and like I said, reading is not seasonal. So, introducing Whats Left of the Summer Reading Challenge (and extending to other seasons too).   

     

      This challenge is a commitment to read a book every two weeks for the rest of summer. After which I may start afresh with an Autumn Challenge. To be fair to myself I have checked a few books off the list this summer (The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and A Picture of Dorian Gray), but keeping within a two week time frame, should speed things a long, and keep me on track. My hope is that you guys will join me, either by following my list with me or by making a list of your own. Every two weeks I will try to update you. Either way, reading is a deeply personal journey, and I hope to widen my horizons, delve into adventure, and keep my mind awake: all those other wonderful things that reading does...but I do hope you guys join me! It will make this challenge so much more fun to learn what you're reading too! 

     Technically I'm still finishing up books I started during the school year such as Crazy Love by Francis Chan, and The Eclipse of Faith by  Steve Whigham, and goodness knows when I'll ever finish War and Peace  (it's going on almost 4 years now: a word of advice, you really have to commit when you pick up anything by Tolstoy), but I'm not going to count those as part of this challenge, seeing as they were started months ago. For the next two weeks I'll be reading The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe. I've already started it and so far it contains a lot of French scenery, and follows a dedicated minimalist and his daughter (who is very delicate and innocent and faints a lot!). It's a classic, gothic novel so I'm looking forward to the eerie stuff. 

     Hope you're all having a wonderful week. I can't wait to see how this pans out. 

Carpe Librium!