Kimberly Reviews the Fated Sky

Title: The Fated Sky

Author: Henrietta Branford

Why I Read It: Book Club Book

Rating: 1 Star

When her father and brothers are killed in battle, Ran, a young Viking woman, has no one to protect her. And as she travels with her unloving mother and a cruel stranger to take part in a winter sacrifice, Ran's safety and future are uncertain. Now sixteen-year-old Ran must learn to fend for herself -- and discover that she has the ability to control her own destiny. Henrietta Branford, Guardian award-winning author of Fire, Bed, and Bone, brilliantly recreates the mysticism and the harsh realities of the Viking world in this tale of strength, romance, and thwarted fates.

So... Apparently this style of book is NOT for me.

When we chose this book for July's read, I was interested. Vikings! That will be cool, right? I always enjoy a good historical romance too.

It was not what I expected at ALL.

I think the author was trying for a particular style... I really don't know. All I know is that I did not care for any of the characters in the slightest. Each death was just words on the page. I felt no emotional connection whatsoever to the story or the characters. I think that the author was trying to reflect a harsh world and the way people living in that time would have reacted. I think. As it is, they felt far too passive aggressive.

We're meeting today to discuss the book, I'm interested to hear what the others thought of it.

Unfortunately, this was not an enjoyable read. But you might like it! There are several 5 star reviews on goodreads.  (There are also a lot of 1 star ratings). Some readers even think it was very historically accurate. (I'm not too sure about that...)

Share some of your favorite historical fiction novels in the comments! 

Tahleen reviews: "One Summer: America 1927" by Bill Bryson

Title: One Summer: America, 1927
Author: Bill Bryson
Publisher: Random House Audio, 2013 (print available through Doubleday)
Narrator: Bill Bryson

Rating: 4 stars

Of course you all knew I would get here eventually. Bill Bryson is one of my very favorite people in the whole world, and I love just about everything writes. As usual, I got an audio edition of his latest book, One Summer: America, 1927 and enjoyed his narration.

Bryson tells the many stories of what went on in the United States in the summer of 1927, as the title suggests. He mostly chronicles aviation and how Charles Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic sparked off this huge reaction around the world, but he also talks about Babe Ruth and his record-breaking 60 home runs in a season, Al Capone, Sacco and Vanzetti, Prohibition, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, various sensationalized murders, and lots of other things. A lot happened that summer.

And that was part of the problem with the book, I think. There is TOO much going on. If I am going to read anything about history, I'd rather have Bryson write it, but the sheer amount of information in here made it difficult to keep everyone straight, especially since I was listening. I would often find myself wondering who he was talking about. That said, this made it easy for me to turn off and back on again without feeling like I needed to know what was going to happen next.

Bryson has this conversational tone that makes me feel like I'm hanging out with a very interesting and very smart friend. That's why I love his books, and that's why I will continue to buy them so long as he keeps writing them. He can make anything interesting, and I know a lot more now about the 1920s than I did before, that's for sure.

Disclosure: I bought this audiobook.

Tahleen takes a literary trip to Hawaii

Ever since my honeymoon, I've been kind of obsessed with reading books set in the beautiful islands of Hawaii. I've read fiction and nonfiction, adult books and children's literature. Anything that takes me back to that place and its people and culture. I've found a good number of books that are not only set there, but are also great reads. Or movies.

Me, on a catamaran tour of the Napali Coast of Kaua'i

The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings

I watched the movie before reading the book, and I have to say I did enjoy the former better than the latter. Though I must say, never have I seen a movie that lifted so much of the dialogue right out of the book it's based on. Both are good.

The Descendants the movie

The movie is much richer visually, for obvious reasons, and thus gives a much stronger sense of place. It also developed the land issue that Matt King must figure out (he is the head of a trust that owns a huge piece of land on the island of Kaua'i and must decide whether to sell or not). I just think the visual medium is a better way to tell this story, and I like the characters better in the way they are portrayed here.

The Calvin Coconut series by Graham Salisbury

 

I love this series, which is aimed at children ages 7-10. It is set on Oahu, and follows the life of 4th-grader Calvin Coconut (yes, it's his real name; his dad is a famous singer who legally changed their name to Coconut before leaving them). I love that the stories are things that aren't about Hawaiian "issues," they are just about Calving getting into trouble or situations and trying to solve them on his own. And yet the Hawaiian culture is such a part of everything regardless, it doesn't need to be explained to readers who might not be familiar with it. And that might be the thing I love the most about this series.

Shark Dialogues by Kiana Davenport

This rich and poignant novel tells the story of Hawaii's history over the course of the lives of seven generations of women. It's a long book, but well worth it—it taught me about the lives of the people of Hawaii during America's seizure of its lands, its annexation, the leprosy plague, and in the late 20th century. It is eye opening and beautiful.

Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell

This is a fantastic nonfiction book about Hawaii's history and culture. I listened to this on audio, and Vowell was great, though she did take a little getting used to.

And now I'm going to leave you with a few pictures from when I was in Hawaii.

At Waimea Canyon

Tunnels Beach

Waipi'o Valley

Do you have any places you like to visit in books?

Kelly reviews "Russian Winter" by Daphne Kalotay

Title: Russian Winter
Author: Daphne Kalotay
Published: Harper, 2010

This books was first put on my radar for having three things I love: Russia, ballet, and separate yet intertwining stories. For some reason I cannot explain, I have a strange fascination with Russia. I've never been there, don't know any Russian people, or speak a word of the language, yet I am obsessed. As for ballet, I was a dancer until I was ten (when I lost all coordination and was extremely short and awkward), but I have still always loved ballet and the loveliness of it all. Combine all of this with one of my favorite literary techniques, and I've got a winner!

Russian Winter tells the story of Nina Revskya, a famous (though fictional) Russian ballet dancer in the 1950s. She has a fabulous career in one of Russia's most prestigious ballet companies and is married to a famous poet. However, she is becoming increasingly aware and uncomfortable in the Soviet lifestyle under Stalin's rule. When friends and family members are arrested or killed, and along with a personal tragedy, Nina makes a daring escape out of Russia and ends up settling in Boston. In the present, octogenarian Nina is in a tangle with a jeweler (Drew) and a Russian language professor (Grigori) who both have interest in jewelry that Nina brought over in her escape from Russia. All three of these character's pasts and futures play a part in each others' stories. I'll admit that I didn't care very much for Drew's story line; it was no where near as interesting or emotional as Nina or Grigori's, but it still added a nice touch.

In doing some research, I found out that "Russian Winter" is an actual military term used to describe the advantage Russia has against invaders in the fact that it's just so darn cold there. Foreign machinery and men don't stand a chance. In fact, Napoleon Bonaparte lost more than half a million soldiers marching in Russia in the dead of winter. (History lesson over now!)

Overall, Russian Winter was fabulous. It took me about 50 pages or so to really get into the story, but once it picked up, it was hard to set the book down! Another note is the ending: it was SO abrupt. I turned the page, expecting more....and there was nothing. It wasn't a cliffhanger or anything...it was just very sudden and felt odd. Still, 4.5 stars to a beautiful and haunting story.

Kelly reviews "Sarah's Key" by Tatiana de Rosnay

Title: Sarah's Key
Author: Tatiana de Rosnay
Published: St. Martin's Press, 2006

After finishing a book about WWII, my initial reaction is "NO. NEVER AGAIN. THAT WAS TOO SAD AND I DON'T WANT TO SOB UNCONTROLLABLY WHILE READING. I HAVE TOO MANY FEELINGS" (or something like that). But seriously, WWII books are real downers, for obvious reasons, and I tend to avoid them. So why on earth did I pick up Sarah's Key? Obviously I like torturing myself.

We get a split universe of sorts in Sarah's Key. One world is that of Sarah, and young girl in 1940s Paris. When police officers come to round up her and her Jewish family, she locks her little brother in a cupboard for safe keeping until they return. Her last words to him are a promise that she'll come back for them. Unfortunately, to her unknowing, she and her parents are to be taken to a concentration camp. We follow her amazing and heartbreaking story through the concentration camp as her only wish is to get back to her brother.

On the other hand, we also meet Julia, a journalist in modern day Paris. She does some research on Paris' involvement in WWII and digs up information on Sarah's story and family. Feeling deeply connected to her, Julia tries to track down Sarah's fate and see if she's still alive. Normally I don't like when there are two characters with completely different storylines in a book; usually it seems that one doesn't belong. However, I really enjoyed Julia's story and her own family problems. It's a book I would've read on its own.

I really can't stop raving about Sarah's Key. I've recommended it to everyone I know, even those who aren't readers. It's an amazing story that may not always have happy endings and will leave you feeling sick to your stomach at times, but will still inspire you the same. 5+ stars!

Has anybody seen the movie? I've heard it's a good adaptation, but always feel wary about these situations.

Tahleen reviews: "Unfamiliar Fishes" by Sarah Vowell

Title: Unfamiliar Fishes
Author: Sarah Vowell
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio, 2011 (print available from Riverhead Trade)
Narrator: Sarah Vowell

Rating: 4.5 stars

Have you ever wondered how the United States came to acquire Hawaii? Do you know anything about the history of the last state to join the country? Sarah Vowell, in her typical sarcastically funny and intelligent fashion, takes us through the history of this chain of islands that have been through so much. From the ancient Hawaiians, to the missionaries that first stepped on the shores, to President McKinley making Hawaii officially part of the United States, Vowell tells us all about the dynamic history of Hawaii.

How have I made it this far in my life without reading one of Sarah Vowell's books? This book is fantastic. I loved Vowell's voice; she puts herself into the story as much as all of the historical figures and events, and the story is richer for it. We start with her contemplating her plate lunch, and how all these different cultures are together on one plate in Hawaii. She launches into the history and culture, both past and present. Her biting comments, quirky choice of words, and funny asides kept me listening and eager to hear more.

I picked up this audiobook because my fiance and I are going to Hawaii for our honeymoon, and I wanted to know more about it. Plus, I've heard great things about Vowell. I wasn't disappointed. Not only did I learn a great deal about the history and culture, but I was entertained throughout it with Vowell's unique style of writing. I was kind of surprised at how much I didn't know about the islands, though I suppose I shouldn't have been. We don't learn this stuff in school, and I had no reason to learn about it before this. Not that that's an excuse, but my interest was piqued when I learned I'd actually be going there.

A note on the audio edition: At first I was completely turned off by Vowell's voice. It was whinier than I was expecting. But I got used to it, and eventually started to really like how she narrated her writing in deadpan and in a conversational way. I would definitely listen to another one of her audiobooks, and most likely will. I can't wait to get my hands on Vowell's other work.

Disclosure: I got this from the library.

Jessi Reviews The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

Title/Author: The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
Publisher/Year: Ballantine, 1974
Where I got it: I got my copy from my library's used book sale
Why I read it: I adore reading about anything to do with Gettysburg and the Civil War

Synopsis: 

In the four most bloody and courageous days of our nation's history, two armies fought for two dreams. One of freedom, one of a way of life. Far more than rifles and bullets were carried into battle--memories, promises, love. And far more than men fell on those Pennsylvania fields--shattered futures, forgotten innocence, and crippled beauty. It was a battleground forge for America's destiny and a sweeping panorama of valor, drama, and passion.

Review: 

My family and I have been making multiple trips a year to Gettysburg for as long as I cam remember, so I'm not sure what has taken me so long to get around to reading this. But now that I have, I'm sitting here itching to read more, more, more about this battle and its key players.

Having such a love for this town and this battlefield, perhaps I am a bit biased in giving this book five stars. I truly believe, though, that someone who has little to no knowledge of this battle could read this and enjoy it. I will say this, though, if you find yourself in that position, don't go into this reading it like a history textbook, or it will read like one. There are battle moves discussed, multiple maps (which I found very helpful actually), and many names. Try not to get too caught up in keeping it all straight.

Shaara writes beautifully, there's no other way to say it. Some of the passages within these pages literally took my breath away. He just has this stunning prose. The other part of his writing that I especially enjoyed was how his characters' thoughts starkly changed upon going into battle. Thoughts became shorter, less reflective and more instinctive. This stream-of-consciousness he employed was really effective.

For me, my favorite aspect of this novel was the characters, and I think Shaara's intent with this wasn't to provide a play-by-play of the battle tactics, but rather to take a look into the thoughts, reflections, and decision-making processes of the men behind the war. With the movie Gettysburg (which I've seen a couple times before I read this) and subsequently this book, for the first time, the Civil War was not black and white, blue and gray, right and wrong. I actually felt for both sides. Of the key players, Longstreet and Chamberlain were the most fascinating for me, and I fully intend to read more on both of them. I still am in awe of how much I felt for these men, even considering the fact that this story was written in third person, not first. I actually found myself close to tears when Longstreet was reflecting before Pickett's Charge. I just loved "seeing inside the heads" of the men of this battle.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. And honestly, if you're still hesitant about picking this one up--read a basic summary of the battle or even look up some pictures of the Gettysburg battlefield and its landscape. It'll help you get a feel for things, even though, like I said, Shaara does not write a "dusty history book." Rather, it is a compelling piece of literature well worth your read.

Jana Reviews Bridge of Scarlet Leaves by Kristina McMorris

Title and Author: Bridge Of Scarlet Leaves by Kristina McMorris

Publishing Info: February 28, 2012 (March 2012) by Kensington US, Avon/HarperCollins UK (will be released in Original trade paperback, retailing at $15 US/$16.95 Can.)
Special Features: Discussion Guide and Asian-fusion recipes

How I got this book: Kristina contacted TB&TB, and offered up a copy if someone was interested. I snatched it up immediately.

Why I read this book: I was born in Japan, and was excited to read a book with ties to my birthplace.

Stars: 4

"A skilled violinist sacrifices her career aspirations and family's approval to secretly elope with her Japanese American boyfriend -- the night before Pearl Harbor is bombed. Torn between sides, she will make choices few people in history dared.

Los Angeles, 1941. Violinist Maddie Kern's life seemed destined to unfold with the predictable elegance of a Bach concerto. Then she fell in love with Lane Moritomo. Her brother's best friend, Lane is the handsome, ambitious son of Japanese immigrants. Maddie was prepared for disapproval from their families, but when Pearl Harbor is bombed the day after she and Lane elope, the full force of their decision becomes apparent. In the eyes of a fearful nation, Lane is no longer just an outsider, but an enemy. 

When her husband is interned at a war relocation camp, Maddie follows, sacrificing her Juilliard ambitions. Behind barbed wire, tension simmers and the line between patriot and traitor blurs. As Maddie strives for the hard-won acceptance of her new family, Lane risks everything to prove his allegiance to America, at tremendous cost. 

Skillfully capturing one of the most controversial episodes in recent American history, Kristina McMorris draws readers into a novel filled with triumphs and heartbreaking loss--an authentic, moving testament to love, forgiveness, and the enduring music of the human spirit."

 (Watch this trailer. It's amazing, and tells a lot about the book, and what inspired Kristina to tell this story.)

I was incredibly excited to have the opportunity to read this book. Japan is filled with amazing people, and I can't imagine the prejudices they have dealt with, especially during the time period of this story.

I really felt for Maddie and Lane throughout the entire book. Their relationship was kept a secret, they had to elope last-minute because Lane's father had already picked out his wife, and then the war and accompanying tragedies split them apart and made their lives so much harder than anyone deserves. Both their families were incredibly against their marriage. Maddie's brother was so mad about it that it solidified his decision to join the army and fight the Japanese. I admire both Maddie and Lane for their strength, for following their hearts, for looking past the opinions of others, and for sticking with each other, no matter the hardships involved.

I learned a lot from this book. I was not aware of the camps the Japanese-Americans had to stay in once Pearl Harbor was bombed. You only had to be 1/16th Japanese to receive this kind of punishment. Children were taken from their families. Some of the Japanese-Americans were forced to enlist in the US Army and spy on the Japanese, translating documents and sneaking into the fields at night to eavesdrop on their plans of ambush or attack. I'm grateful to Kristina for educating me.

Kristina's writing style is gorgeous. She uses symbolic and lyrical passages that distract you from all the underlying sadness. I felt so many different emotions throughout. The heartwarming romance, the constant hope of a better life for these people, and the devastating tortures and death.

The Bridge of Scarlet Leaves a versatile read, and has a little bit of everything. Kristina painted the war as it really was, and I think it's good to be reminded of what mankind is capable of. I think the main message of this book is to remember our pasts, learn from the, and make changes to better the future. I love that!

 About the author: Kristina McMorris

The recipient of nearly twenty national literary awards, Kristina McMorris is the author of Bridge of Scarlet Leaves, declared a "gripping story [that] hits all the right chords" by Publishers Weekly and a "sweeping yet intimate novel" by Kirkus Reviews. Her critically praised debut novel, Letters from Home, inspired by her grandparents' WWII courtship, achieved additional acclaim as a Reader's Digest Select Editions feature, a Doubleday/Literary Guild selection, and a 2011 Goodreads Choice Awards semifinalist for Best Historical Fiction. A host of weekly TV shows since age nine, including an Emmy® Award-winning program, Kristina has been named one of Portland's "40 Under 40" by The Business Journal. She lives with her husband and two sons in the Pacific Northwest, where she refuses to own an umbrella.

Author Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Kelly's Review of "Sex with the Queen" by Eleanor Herman

Title: Sex with the Queen: 900 Years of Vile Kings, Virile Lovers, and Passionate Politics
Author: Eleanor Herman
Published: William Morrow, 2006
Where I Got It: Online

Wow, how awkward is this review title? Nevertheless, I think I have found a new favorite book. In the follow-up book to Sex with Kings (which I surprisingly did NOT like, read my review on my personal blog here), we get a whirlwind tale through 900 years of European royalty, all told through the eyes of the queen’s bedroom. From Eleanor of Aquitaine to Princess Diana, from England to France to Germany to Russia, we go into the secret lives of some of the most famous women in history.

This book isn’t only about the love lives of queens (though it’s hard to think otherwise with the huge red SEX on the cover and a bare butt). The first third of the book is actually about what a queen/princess’ life really was like. Very few of these women’s lives were fairy tales. Most were pawned off to other countries to eradicate men’s debts or problems, lived in a foreign country, and had acquired difficult husbands.

So, as a woman, I of course have a problem with some things. The King was allowed to have as many mistresses as he desired; in fact, it was ideal that he didn’t love his wife. She was only there to produce heirs. On the other hand, if the Queen had even one lover, she could possibly be divorced, or both she and her lover could be imprisoned, tortured, or executed.

Some of these women went through lovers like I go through underwear. It was shocking at the number of men Catherine the Great bedded, even well into old age. Another woman of many lovers was Princess Diana, of whom the author is definitely NOT a fan of. Princess Di was always put in a bad light in this book, yet it is slightly refreshing after her rise to almost sainthood status after death.

The stories are never too long, always short, sweet, and to the point. The only ones that are truly long are Anne Boleyn’s and Catherine the Great’s stories (but they’re both good ones!). Eleanor Herman definitely has a sense of humor and a knack for making history interesting. I’d recommend this book to people who aren’t even history buffs like me. Parts of it read like a gossip column and I read bits of it out loud to my roommates who got a kick out of it. Definitely recommend, especially for females. 5 stars!

Julia Reviews "Phraseology" by Barbara Ann Kipfer

Title/Author: Phraseology:Thousands of Bizarre Origins, Unexpected Connections and Fascinating Facts about English's Best Expressions
Publisher/Year Published:2008 by Sourcebooks, Inc.
How I got this book: eBook for my Nook, then in book form from the library.
Why I read this book: I love learning trivia about language, yet I know little English language trivia
Rating: 3.5 stars

If you recall from the Top Ten Tuesday featuring Books I Hope to Santa Brings I had my pick be Phraseology. Here is what I had to say:

I normally do not like to own books unless I know I am going to read them over and over, but in this case if this book is what I think it is (a font of awesome knowledge of English) I would want it on my shelf. One of my more recent pastimes has been filling myself with Jeopardy like information. This book would not only add to that store, but give me more fun facts about a language that I've spoken my whole life. Because seriously, who the hell doesn't want to know where some of those bizarre phrases came from? I mean I just learned from reading the back that "best man" is an allusion to the best man to help capture you a wife. How interesting.

Well now that I've perused the book, I've come to realize the dictionary-esque reality of the book. This wasn't really what I was expecting. I thought it would be a little less... alphabetical and a little more topic organized. Still it is occasionally the font of some interesting tidbits. For instance, let me just open the book to a random page. Ah! Fell into the I's. We have these following entries:

iceburg lettuce got its name from the fact that California growers started shipping it covered with heaps of crushed ice in the 1920s; it had previously been called crisphead lettuce.

iced tea is the correct form and will probably not change the way iced cream and iced water did.

an idiot card is another name for a cue card

if I were is the correct form when one is referring to a conditional future event

This give you a taste of what you can find approximately 20 per page on 300 pages. It's really interesting trivia, but not something you can sit down and read. Saying as much, I've not actually finished it, but am enjoying reading it in small bites.

I especially like having this on my Nook so I can read this when I don't have too much time to commit to reading; in line at the store, for example. If I get pulled away from what I am reading, it doesn't matter because it's a short sentence of knowledge and I can pick up right where I left off without feeling as if I've left the world I was involved.

In conclusion, a great trivia book filled to the brim with random knowledge. I really think this would make a great coffee table book!

R holds forth on The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

Harper Perennial, 2005

How I got this book: The library

Why I read this book: Seemed like a good idea at the time.

The Professor and the Madman tells the historical stories of two drastically different men in mid-to-late Victorian England (though neither was English) who came into contact with each other through their painstaking collaboration on the compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary. The book also attempts to follow the separate threads of their lives, before, after and during the period of their long-distance acquaintance - The "Professor" James Murray is followed in his trajectory from poverty in Scotland to eventually undertaking the monumental task of editing the most ambitious dictionary until then; and the "Madman" William Chester Minor, a well-born American Yale medical school graduate and Civil War veteran committed to a mental asylum in suburban Berkshire, who found purpose in life through volunteering his time in submitting thousands of references for the dictionary in question.

I must admit to not being as intrigued by this book as I'd expected to be. I'd somehow bamboozled myself into anticipating a more in-depth study of the creation of the OED. However, as I've mentioned, the main focus of the books was actually on the biographies of these two historical personalities. In fact, I believe most of the book consisted of the biography of W.C. Minor - that is to say, a fair bit of it delved into such tangential topics as snapshots from the Civil War. Not a boring subject, certainly, but honestly not quite what I was looking for.

Additionally, I'd also been hoping for a more formal narrative, since I've suddenly developed an inexplicable craving for non-fiction written in a fairly academic style. This book, however, read like a non-fiction novel. Again, nothing wrong with that, per se - just not what I was looking for.

That said, the writer's occasional predilection for crowbarring in some of his own speculations I found off-puttingly unprofessional. I can't describe exactly what I mean without giving parts of the story away - let it suffice to say that there are less heavy-handed methods of upping a book's salaciousness quotient than making unfounded allegations.

To be fair, though, I can't really gauge for certain the basis behind any claim whatsoever made by Winchester, as I found the volume utterly bereft of references. Beyond a quick mention in the introduction of being privy to certain official documents that had not otherwise been made available to the general public, there really was no way to ascertain the authenticity of any of the statements laid out to me. Perfectly fine if the writer's intent is for the book to be taken as merely an interesting story, but I must say that its validity suffers as a result.

I give this book 3 stars, thought I acknowledge the blatant subjectivity of my belief in its mediocrity. Perhaps if you went into it knowing what to expect, you'll enjoy it much more than I did.

Lori On Christmas Reading

Goodness!  It's December already!  Normally, I would have a book review for you all, but I've been plugging away at grad school stuff and I haven't been able to read much lately.  And, for some reason, I just don't think you all want to hear about the Jefferson Davis biography I have to review for class tomorrow or the book on Depression-era baseball that I skimmed for my methods paper.

But while I've been working and skimming books, I've been thinking about reading.  A lot.  Mostly, I've been thinking about my Christmas break reading plan and all of the books I want to read over the four glorious weeks when I won't have any homework, when all of my friends will be gone, when I'll be stuck at home with my parents.  Whatever.

The problem is that there are so many books I want to read that I'm going to wind up bringing home 84,000 books.  Inevitably, the one book I didn't bring home will be the one book that my little soul is just burning to read.  I'm trying to figure out what to put all of these books in when I cart them home.  Looking around my apartment, I don't see anything that could hold 84,000 books.  I might actually have to buy something to carry my books home in.

You would think that owning a Nook would help cut down on the books I bring home.  Not so much.  Naturally, most of the books I want to, need to, read over this break aren't on my Nook.  Why would I make it easy on myself or my back?

I've still got a plan because I'm an only child and we only children like to have plans.  I haven't quite gotten to the point of making a list, but I'm getting there.

The first books I will read over break are the ones that I started this year, read most of, but for whatever reason didn't finish.  There are seven in this category: Wuthering Heights, Out of Africa, The Thorn Birds, Hawaii, Gonzo (that Hunter S. Thompson book I reviewed), The Reader and Nine Stories.  I want to start 2011 with a clean slate and no lingering books from years past.

The next category are books that have been calling me lately.  The problem with this is the books in this category change fairly frequently.  And, as I pointed out earlier, the one book I don't bring home will be the one that calls me after I've left.  Currently, some of the books in this category are: Revolutionary Road,  The Golden Notebook, Naked Lunch, Phantom of the Opera, Swann's Way, and Point Counter Point.  Plus, I feel like I should bring my collection of Robert Frost poetry in case it snows and my collection of Sylvia Plath poetry also in case it snows.

Life would be pretty great if I could just stick to these works of fiction that call me.  You see, in grad school, we don't get much time for reading fiction.  So, even though I would love to stock up on fiction to read for the break, there are those non-fiction books calling.  Some of these are:  John Adams (I've been meaning to read this book for ages; plus, I feel I need to read it to see if there's any mention of him being an Avatar [one of my professors is really strange and I have to blame credit him for this quest]), Acid Dreams, Fragments (which just came out and looks totally amazing because I love Marilyn Monroe so, so much), Chronicles Volume One, Secrets of the Flesh, and a couple of the flapper books I bought recently because who doesn't love the flappers?

There you have it.  Some (I emphasize: SOME) of the books that I will probably be bringing home.  A grand total of two of them are on my Nook.  Just so you know, I didn't really get up and look through my shelves to make this list, which means there will be others that get packed up in a couple of weeks.  Not to mention all of the books I have at home.

So, what are your plans for reading over the break? How do you decide what books to bring home if you are still a college student?