fall // winter reads

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” 

- C.S. Lewis
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

I Am Legend - Richard Matheson

Was there a more appropriate read for the oncoming Halloween season than a creepy one about vampires taking over the world?  Dave and I listened to this on tape and the voice actor who read for us didn't help the chills that ran up and down my back.  I'm normally not into scary books anything, but I (kind of) already knew how this one ended...so it was a little easier to listen to.  It's worth noting that Mathson's book is actually nothing like the Will Smith I Am Legend movie that came out a few years ago.  And be warned, listening to this one before bed made me have some really weird nightmares.  Proceed with caution.

The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien

David and I listened to this book together and what a fun, fun read it was.  I needed a little convincing to hop into a book by Tolkien after knowing how incredibly long and detailed his Lord of the Rings saga books are, but David assured me this one was doable.  At the end of it, we both agreed that the book felt like it was written in the style of a grandfather telling a story to his grandchildren, which made the whole thing all the more enduring.  Plus I highly encourage listening to this one on tape because the reader sings all the songs that are written in the book - they are fabulous and not to be missed.

The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern

What a fun and beautiful read.  As soon as I was finished with it I missed Jim Dale's fabulous Scottish and English accents acutely.  The imagery and descriptive words used are just the kind of thing you want to curl up in and let flow over you (another plus to listening to books on tape).  The plot is complex, and almost never really fully explained, but somehow I didn't care and just enjoyed the beauty of Morgenstern's writing style.  I also always seemed to want caramel popcorn every time I put it down...

Divergent - Veronica Roth

As far as teen, dystopian lit goes, this was not a bad one.  I compared it closely with Hunger Games (fair or not), and it leveled up at some points and fell on others.  I was intrigued enough to read the whole thing in two days so that definitely counts for something.  Overall I enjoyed the plot twists and character development, and now I'm very interested in seeing how they're going to portray some of these characters in the upcoming movie.  We shall see how it goes...