Book 5: The Magicians By Lev Grossman (Adult Fantasy)
When the salesperson at Borders recommended this book to me when it first came out he described it as an adult Harry Potter. Now that I have read it I would say the first third does indeed have a HP feeling to it...the author even has a reference to the famous series. But as the story moves past school and into life the feel changes and reminds me of C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. As I have just referenced two well known children's series you can tell I think this writer needs some original ideas. Also, even though the author references children's books, this is NOT a story for children to read. There is adult content throughout the story and it is not meant to be read by anyone with a prudish personality. Grossman's writing style is fluid, but he creates many characters you get very little screen time, but yet his main characters don't appear completely fleshed out. With all criticism put aside, that's not say it wasn't a fun read and a sequel comes out this August and I might read that when it's available in paperback or from the half-price bookstore.
Book 6: Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly (YA Historical Fiction)
As most people know I usually read Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Paranormal Romances. This book is not any of those...but the main character does sorta, kinda travel back in time or least think she does. This isn't my first Historical Fiction. When I was 10 and 11 years old I would read Holocaust Fiction, but it's been a while. In Revolution, we follow a high school senior who witnessed the death of her littler brother and then has to live with the grief...which she's not doing a good job at. At a certain point she is threatened with being kicked out of school if she doesn't complete her senior thesis and her father swoops in and takes her to Paris on a business trip where she spends her winter break working on her thesis and accidentally learning about another girl her age named Alex, who lived during the French Revolution. In complete honesty I didn't know if I would like the story or not, but it captivated my imagination and was a fun, fast, and intellectually stimulating read. Here's to books with bibliographies!
NEXT
My next reading quest should cover Summer Reading books 7 - 13. It's a series of books that I've been putting off reading for over a decade and now that the last movie is coming out I think it's time to read it. If you haven't guessed it yet then you are not nearly as much as a bibliophile as I am.
Drum roll please........
Harry Potter! That's right, I'm taking the HP plunge...God help me and my sleeping habits!
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