Books

It's November 8th. Since November 1st, I have read a total of four and a half books. Sure, one of the books shouldn't count as I wrote it and know some passages by heart, but if you count if, I've read a total of 1826 pages. 1402 of those words came from two different hardcover books; the rest from paperbacks. I don't have a word count for how much I've read in the passed few days. It's just more than normal. And I think it's because I'm taking a sabbatical from writing. And you know what I've discovered? I've really, really, really missed reading as much as I used to. Writing kind of encroached into that time and it's just... I haven't read a lot lately and I'm glad to be changing that for awhile.

"Speak Aloud, Scream Alone." (145 pages, paperback)Which I wrote. And no. It does not deserve an underline.

The Evidence of Things Not Seen (125 pages, paperback) by James Baldwin. I hate this book. This is the book that is making my project so difficult. This is the book that obfuscated on purpose because the writer wasn't smart enough to clearly portray his argument. Not to mention that Baldwin's argument is just as faulty as the faulty investigation he was complaining about. Siiiiiigh. I try and do a simple, easy report on a serial killer and I get one that's fraught with the racial controversy! I just can't get away from the race issue. It follows me. I'm serious. Racism stalks me.

The Son of Neptune (521 pages, hardcover) by Rick Riordan. Fun read. So much better than The Lost Hero. Jason Grace remains a drag. Percy Jackson remains one of the best teenage heroes ever written. Yay Percy. And the side characters weren't awful. Sure, it wasn't as great as his first five books, but it was seriously enjoyable.

Inheritance (880 pages, hardcover) by Christopher Paolini. WARNING: SPOILER alert. I'm going to rant. And if you're planning on reading the book and don't want the spoiler alert, skip to the next paragraph. The book sucked. It took me like... six hours to really read. On a kindle. There was one great scene. A few good scenes. And the rest was just fun to laugh at. The ending was just plan disappointing. You'd think that after he forces us to wait for years he'd just go ahead and give us his perfect little ending that he laid out way back in book one. You'd think he'd have the guts not to bring back the dragon race. But no. He has to tell us the ending. He doesn't show us the ending. He had to "fulfill" Angela's fortune telling with half-truth and a ridiculous reason. His characters were completely unrealistic turning the ending. He didn't have the decency just to suck it up and send Arya away. With Arya and Murtagh running around with Firnen and Thorn, it doesn't matter that Eragon left. There was no point to his actions, nor Arya's. The ending just plain and simply sucked. Enough that now I'm mad at the whole series. Paolini should use OYAN. Actually. I'm not sure I want his name associated with OYAN. It's too epic for that.

And the book I'm reading now is by Tim O'Brien... The Things They Carried. It's about Vietnam and it's epic. There's some heavy language, so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who that bothers, but I'm enjoying it. It's... gritty. And thoughtful. And bizarre. And yeee-wow some people are messed up. The book is down right creepy in a terrifyingly epic way. I'm reading it because the English supervisor - yes. In a school over 1700 kids, the English supervisor knows who I am =P - believes I need to expand the number of contemporary and non-fiction books that I've read. Yes. Ms H. That's why I'm taking Contemporary Lit next semester. Ms H is great. Hysterical. She's epic.

Next on the immediate reading list: Mistborn (the first one) by Brandon Sanderson, No Safe Place by Kim Reid (it's for the same project as the Baldwin book is for), Snowcrash by somebody or other, and In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (another Ms. H contemporary). That's the immediate list, I s'pose. There's so many other great books out there. I'm just excited for reading. And it's a good feeling. One I haven't felt in awhile. Yayz.