winter reads

“A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest.” 
-C.S. Lewis

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The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan

My little sister had the full set of these books, my 15-year-old young women loved them, and I was in a little bit of a reading ditch so...there you go.  And it was cute.  Cute enough to read another one?  Maybe, maybe not.  Mostly I liked all the Greek mythology.  Definitely a kid's book, but a pretty good one.

Insurgent - Veronica Roth

One of the perks of babysitting is finding the next book in your series on their bookshelf.  Awesome!  I just have to finish it in a week = speed reading.  These Divergent books are a quick read and move fast, so it's easy to eat them up, and this one did not disappoint.  And that ending left me with a real cliff hanger - now I definitely need to go get #3!  Too bad their mom took it on vacation with her...

 Inferno - Dan Brown

I think I'll always be a Dan Brown fan.  David and I laughed about this, but I just seem to walk away from his books feeling smarter!  About art or history or science - and that is a fun thing.  This particular novel of his has a fun twist right from the beginning that gives it a very different feel than some of his other work (or so I think), and it's pretty intense right from the get go.  It's got all the classic Dan Brown twists that make it a fun read if you're in the book hunting doldrums.  But my critique?  That ending, Mr. Brown, it sure wasn't my favorite.

 The Sea of Monsters - Rick Riordan

Alright, lets be honest here.  I finished Inferno, and was on the hunt for the next book in the Divergent trilogy with no luck.  Meanwhile, this pile of teen lit was sitting on my dresser and, yes, I picked up the next book in the series.  You wanna know what I really think?   I really think I need to stop reading these books.  They're meant for 12-year-olds.  End of story.

 Allegiant - Veronica Roth

So this is the last book in the Divergent series, and, it took me a while, but I finally hunted down a friend at church who would lend it to me.  My thoughts on it?  Well, this whole apocalyptic storyline is pretty intense and at some points your almost not sure who the good guys are.  Ms. Roth got a little heavy handed on the politics side of things, but not too bad.  Ultimately, just be warned: there's a huge bomb dropped on you in the last few chapters that is like - What?????  Why would you do that???!?  Be ready.