Mine has been fairly smashing so far, I must say. :) I've gone to Austin to see some college buddies, tube a river and soak in Barton Springs, done some hiking with Miss Mia, gone to see a movie or two, gardened, played a little tennis (not as much as normal-- I've managed a couple of injuries that have really curtailed my normal playing time-- big bummer!), and I've read some really interesting books. What's to come? Maybe a trip to Dallas in early July for my brother's birthday, a definite trip to Duxbury, MA to see my Auntie and my cousins, and possibly a trip to Yellowstone in early August-- all sprinkled with my normal BoCo activities. All in all, a very fun and relaxing summer. Just what the doctor ordered so that the batteries are recharged for '11-'12.
What are you guys up to? Do tell!
As some of you know, I am in two YA book clubs this summer, so I picked out 12 books to read. First, I read Coraline by Neil Gaiman. Loved it. It's short, but good and creepy in a very British sort of way. Next up was Unwind by Neal Shusterman. I would only recommend this book to very mature middle schoolers, but to them, I recommend it highly. This book blew me away, stuck with me for weeks and I couldn't stop talking about it. But it is very, very graphic in parts and it definitely requires a mature mind to process all the topics. Now I see why it was a Blue Spruce nominee! The third book I read was The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan, a gothic/romance tale featuring zombies. Don't sound like they go together, right? :) It was good brain candy, albeit a bit dark after Unwind... I must admit, my dreams were disturbed for a few nights! After that, I finished What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell which I was very excited to read and a bit disappointed with when finished. It won the National Book Award and has had tons of praise heaped on it, but it just wasn't my style. I could see some girls really liking it, though! Right now, I'm about halfway done with American Born Chinese, a graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang, and I'm really enjoying this one. It won the Printz Award for YA Literature. I was recommending it to my friend Ms. Luchies who teaches at Silver Creek, and she says, "I know! I teach that book." Well, blow me down. :)
So that's where I am with my reading so far. What are you guys reading? Anything good? Anything awful?
Post away!
:)
Mrs. P
