Fall Reading

My Summer post was much longer which just tells you that I had a lot more time to read this summer. I set a goal to myself to read (even for a minute) everyday. That has kept me going. Usually I stop reading until Christmas or so once school starts. Due to this new goal I have been watching significantly less TV, although going to bed later than I used to, for the most part, but sleeping better due to not looking at a screen for a few hours before bed. Enough rambling though here are the books I've read recently.

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin- I heard about this through another blogger and thought it seemed interesting. It's about a woman setting resolutions every month to make her a happier person. It's the reason I set the goal to read everyday. I would not say I am an unhappy person, but reading this book made me think a bit more about things I could do to be happier. I read it in the mornings and on my lunch break, since it was factual and not something I really wanted to think about before bed. I'm hoping to keep this trend going as well, by reading non-fiction in the morning and fiction at night. I think I kept annoying Charlie and my friends by talking about the book too much.

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell- This was reviewed by a blogger so I decided to read it. I didn't realize until I asked for it at the library that it was a young adult book. I had been trying to take a break from those, but oh well. The book was about two high school students who fall in love. Seems lame, but it was actually really good because the girl, Eleanor, has a terrible life and the boy, Park, kind of makes it better. In case you were not aware, I love sad books about depressing topics, so I liked this book a lot. It reminded me a little bit of The Glass Castle. As I said it's a YA novel, but had some pretty harsh language and broached other topics I would not necessarily want a youngster to read. Although whenever I talk about about censoring teenagers book choices I remember that my mom let me read She's Come Undone when I was 13. So see, I loved sad novels even back then! Thanks for not taking inappropriate book away from me Mum. You probably knew I would just sneak it anyways.

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr- I also heard about this book through another blogger. I really need to make some real friends apparently. Dare I say it's the best book I've read all year. Or at least top 3, but most likely number one. I loved everything about this book, even the ending, although I wanted the book to go on forever because I loved it so much. The authors writing style was so beautiful. I read that it took him ten years to write the book and I believe it. Every word flowed so well and painted wonderful images in my brain. It is told from multiple perspectives over many years, flipping back and forth between the years. It's about a young girl who is blind and lives in France at the beginning of the Nazi occupation and details her story throughout the war. It also follows the life of a boy who is an orphan in Germany and is sent to a Nazi training school where he learns to locate where enemy (to the Germans) radio transmissions are coming from. I cannot say enough good things about this book. It actually makes me want to start a book club so I can have someone to discus it with.

I knew it would be hard to follow All The Light We Cannot See so I am starting Unbroken now. It was recommended to me by a real life friend. I am also hoping to get my hands on Lena Dunham's book Not That Kind Of Girl, but it's brand new so I might have to buy it instead of wait 6 years on the interlibrary loan list. I also want to read Amy Poehler's book Yes Please, but it's also new and probably has a 10 year waiting list. Christmas ideas people! Dad! Dad I'm talking to you.

What have you been reading? I love recommendations.

Lauren