I'm In Reading Mode

I don't know if it's because Spring is coming- which may make no sense to all those people who read during the winter when they can't get outside, but for us Spring means baseball which means the concession stand we run which means time to read in between customers!- or if it's just that I haven't been reading much lately, but I'm in reading mode!!! This week I've read 5 very diverse books including three Rosies for 2011-2012, one poorly written and poorly researched Elvis biography, and a re-read of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone- I love that book! Anyway, the Rosies... Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols went too far. The story was OK, and the characters were intriguing though not very likeable. Overall, I was put off by one scene that I think was too overtly sexual. The theme of the book didn't outweigh the disturbance factor for me. Radiant Darkness by Emily Whitman was a fun twist on the myth of Persephone. That seems to be a trend in YA right now, re-writing myths and fairy tales. Beastly by Alex Flinn also made the Rosie list this year. Overall, Radiant Darkness was a quick read, pretty girly, with not a lot of depth. Probably my favorite of the week was The Juvie Three by Gordon Korman. Korman is a master writer; his use of words and images is vivid and stark and unusual. There's a paragraph in the book when he describes the trash on the sidewalk. It was so outstanding I had to read it outloud to others! That's the kind of geek I am. Anyway, this book looks at some tough issues, but is a 'feel good' at the same time.

If you're in reading mode, and I hope you are, remember not to just load up on genre fiction. Sure, it's fun to read, and we all love to get sucked into the hype of the lastest story, but the classics are classics for a reason and deserve your attention. Also, don't overlook biographies and non-fiction. It's really OK to learn from the books you read for fun. Amazing!