My Reading Frenzy

Summer Reading: Brain Candy or Lit-ra-chure

I seek out two different types of books in the summer. 

1.  Light reading that some would call "beach reading."  These are the books that are entertaining, often with a charming setting and a happy ending.  To that end I have already devoured Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop of Dreams, Where Have all the Boys Gone?, and Amanda's Wedding, all by Jenny Colgan, a recent discovery of mine.  Additionally I have read Mr. Darcy's Dream by Elizabeth Aston, bittersweet by Sarah Ockler, and The Mystery of Mercy Close by Marian Keyes, though honestly I read that one before the school year officially ended, but mentally I was there already.  I can honestly say I enjoyed each of these books and have an extensive line up of this sort of reading ready for July and August.  I set my expectations low, but thus far have been happy to have been told a good story by competent to excellent writers.  

2.  Literature,  the types of books that require all my concentration.  This summer I WILL read both Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel, both of which have been on my shelf for an embarrassingly long time.  I also have a few by Salman Rushdie, both Midnight's Children that I am really looking forward to and The Satanic Verses.  Not too long ago I read Fall of Giants by Ken Follett, which I loved.  I have the sequel Winter of the World on deck for July as well as Pillars of the Earth.  These books are so chock full of characters and plot machinations that they need my full attention.  I also place non-fiction in this category.  I have trouble reading non-fiction sometimes as it does not always have the quick pace of a novel, but I pick subjects in which I am interested to keep me going.  I am currently two-thirds of the way through Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss.  The writing is excellent, exceeded only by the depth of research on the scary topic of processed foods. 

Fitting into neither the former category nor the latter are Legend by Marie Lu and The River of No Return by Bee Ridgeway.  These are not just entertaining, but also fodder for thought, but do not require quite the same level of intense reading as do Booker Prize winners Mantel and Rushdie.  Lu's book has a sequel to which I am looking forward, along with a bevy of other YA items I have been piling up in anticipation of summer.  I find that sometimes YA fits into the brain candy category and sometimes it does not.  I almost always like what I read in YA, but sometimes find the plots to be too predictable. 

 

Anyway, I wish a full shelf of summer reading for you all!

Recent Romance

Anyone who has read much of this blog knows that I read a wide variety of genres.  My favorites are fantasy and sci-fi though even these wax and wane.  I spent years reading nothing but King Arthur related fantasy as I have mentioned before.  I also really like historical fiction, if it is well researched.  In this genre I had a heavy Queen Elizabeth I phase.  I like mysteries as well; they really give the brain a good workout.  I cannot say I care much for thrillers or westerns.  Not a big reader of horror either.  But above and beyond any of these I am a sucker for romance.  I have never to my knowledge purchased a book from the romance section of the book store.  The genre know familiarly as "bodice rippers," was the favorite of my grandmother, but I do like a well-told love story.  I started when young with Jane Eyre (a truly romantic love story) and Wuthering Heights (which I can now see is really just the love story of two seriously damaged people and not particularly romantic at all).  I also like fiction that just has a healthy dose of romance, like the Anne of Green Gables series (my favorite of all time).  Sparks flew between Anne and Gilbert from the beginning. 

Today I finished reading This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith.  Summer is about to start and I needed something light and romantic.  I got just what I needed.  Ellie, who lives in a small Maine town receives an e-mail obviously not intended for her.  She write back to let the sender know she will not be able to take care of his pet as she is not the person he meant to write.  He writes back and they begin a lively e-mail exchange without knowing each other's names.  While this is improbable it is not impossible.  Unlike Smith's The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight this novel is not filled with things that just would not happen.  Instead, I find that the first e-mail, when a text about Wilbur would have been easier and more likely, is really the only part of the whole story I just could not accept. 

So much of teen romance today is angst filled.  It is nice to read a story with a bit of angst, it wouldn't be YA without it, but without the overwhelming focus on why life is so difficult that too many teen love stories have.  This novel reminded me of Stephanie Perkins's Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door, both of which are fabulously done love stories.   Both really capture that beginning of a romance sweetness that is not easy ot put on paper.  Maureen Johnson also did this well in 13 Little Blue Envelopes.  And The Big Crunch by Pete Hautman. 

Originally I intended to write about a few books I have read recently, but instead this turned into a "Why I love romance" post.  Oh well, time well spent.