book number 3

I finished my third book of the summer (from my list) last week. While it's not a massive amount, I think I did a pretty good job of reading during the craziness of the summer here. I actually tried to read more and watch less TV. I usually do during the summer, but this year was easier with my handy list all ready. I also tried to make sure that I had the next book on hand (bought or borrowed) for when I finished another book.

Gilead snuck in there and was, by far, my favorite book of the summer. Shadow of the Hegemon was great, but not quite as fantastic as the first two books in the series. This last book, which I bought on a whim at Sam's Club because it was really cheap, was by far my least favorite.

I was really disappointed in this one. Very poor character development. Story was kinda creepy (aka: I would never read it to kids). I mean the whole premise is Greek gods who have affairs or one night stands with humans. These humans have kids and the kids are half gods/half human. It's a premise that wants to be cool, but is just weird.
The characters are very two dimensional. I still don't really care about any of them after reading the entire first book. And, yes, I realize it's a kid's book, but so is Harry Potter. I was hooked after two chapters of HP and knew Harry so well. Percy....eh. Take him or leave him.

This coming week I have an entire 7 days ahead of me with nothing....let me repeat that....nothing...to do but sit on the beach and hang out with my family. So, with that in mind, I have two more titles. One from my list: The Book Thief. One that was recommended to me: The Eye of the World. Plus, I also snuck Catching Fire into my bag just as a refresher for (cue horns and angels singing) Mockingjay coming out in 2 weeks! (side note: Hunger Games was THE book to read for our summer staff this year. I got several people hooked on it. If you haven't read it, do it now! It's ridiculously good!)

I'm feeling a little nostalgic for the wonder I had reading Harry Potter or the Hunger Games for the first time. You know, when you just can't put the book down even at 2am because it's just that good?! I want to find a book like that again. That feeling is the best!