In the interests of being fair to summer, I’m posting my Fall reading list complete with short review of everything I read. I know it’s December now and WAY past Fall, but the fall semester just ended here, so I consider myself legit. Also, books make GREAT Christmas presents and there’s still time to order stuff from Amazon. Barely. I should really get on that…
So anyway, here’s everything I’ve read since the semester started in late August:
- The Hero and The Crown – Robin McKinley (I’ve read about gals that I want to be, but never that I wanted to watch like I want to watch Aerin. Fascinating main character, kick ass story.)
- Chalice – Robin McKinley (I just want to move into this world and tend bees. Can I?)
- The 4:50 From Paddington – Agatha Christie (Just as I’m certain, CERTAIN, I know who did it, it turns out to be someone I didn’t want to consider.)
- The Name of The Wind – Patrick Rothfuss (Although well written, it reads like a D&D campaign. I prefer to play them, not read about them. The writing is such that I’ll finish, though.)
- Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief – Rick Riorden (This reminded me a lot of Going Bovine, but Going Bovine was much better written. Not bad, not the best of its kind.)
- The Big Drop: Homecoming – Ryan Gattis (Nods to Chandler and Fante, but is totally its own thing. The best argument for character driven narrative I’ve ever read.)
- Let’s Pretend This Never Happened – Jenny Lawson (Reads just like her blog, which I can’t read in public because I can’t stop laughing in inappropriate ways.)
- Midnight In Austenland – Shannon Hale (A re-read. For the third time. This is likely to become one of those books I can’t read anymore because I’ve memorized too much of it.)
- Kneenock Rise – Natalie Babbit (My favorite in fourth grade. It goes too fast now, but reading it out loud helps, and also made me notice her foreshadowing and savor her word choice.)
- Story Book High, Book 1 – Shannon Hale (yes, I know… a book produced by Mattel? But Shannon Hale. I was torn. It wasn’t bad. At times it was even hilarious, if you like puns. I do.)
- Aunt Maria – Diana Wynne Jones (You read, and you think ‘what the hell is happening?’ but all parts fall into place by the end. This is why I love her. Also, because Aunt Maria is creepy.)
- Self Reliance – Ralph Waldo Emerson (This “updated” version is really reduced to a quaint quote book by the new stuff interspersed between Emerson’s essays. Doesn’t do him justice.)
- The Wave in the Mind – Ursula K. LeGuin (I loved her essays on growing up in 1930’s California and on reading, and then I read her essays on rhythm in writing and fell in love more.)
- Fortunately, The Milk – Neil Gaiman (Wumpires and a time-traveling stegosaurus? Yes please.)
- Let’s Get Visible – David Gaughran (Because I’m thinking of self-publishing. Still undecided…)
- Johnny Tremain – Esther Forbes (In the beginning Johnny is an asshat, and in the end he’s a sap, but between is good. Plot is very coincidental, though.)
- The Things They Carried – Tim O’Brien (So well written, and just full of the fear of war.)
- Persuasion – Jane Austen (A re-read, and a book I love.)
- Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur – Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch (This is the book that made me decide NOT to self-publish. I’m not that cool. I don’t have the mad skillzorz it would take to do it well. I suppose it’s good that I found this out early.)
- Helen of Pasadena – Lian Dolan (total smut in the best way, and extra fun because I know some of the main locations.)
- The Kings and Queens of Roam – Daniel Wallace (Heartbreaking and fable-like. It’s beautiful, but I’m not sure I’ll finish it. I’m not sure I can take it.)
- Candyfreak – Steve Almond (I think I might be in love with this man… mostly because he’s even more of a sugar freak than I am, but also because he’s hilarious. Don’t tell Brian – although he probably suspects. I’ve been reading him snippets of the book for days.)
I also just bought Consider The Lobster and Elizabeth the First Wife, but I’ll finish those after the requisite deadline for reporting what I’ve read. Those will be the first on the Winter Interterm reading list. I’m very excited, especially about Elizabeth the First Wife which promises to be extra smutty.
Casey E. Hamilton 