A Little Overdue

Well, I wish I had good excuses for being so absent; but alas, I do not. I've gotten completely settled into my new apartment. Classes for my teaching license are going well. I began my tutoring at Bexley High School two days a week and love it thus far. My boyfriend and I celebrated our four year anniversary. I've gotten lots of reading done, but it almost isn't even fair to recap all of it. I will, however, post my September reads with brief reviews, then I promise to try to keep up with my updates. So here were my September reads:

Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson - This is one of those young adult books I was talking about. It was actually surprisingly good. It's definitely one of those I wouldn't mind teaching to my future students because it's something they'll all relate to: cliques, mean teachers, cool teachers, parents who just don't care, etc. Decent read.

Drums of Autumn, by Diana Gabaldon - If you know much about my reading, you know that I LOVE Diana's work. This is the fourth installment in her Outlander series, and I must say that it's one of my favorites. It was nice to be able to see Brianna's life a bit more in depth and to get to know Young Ian a little better. Oh how I love it.

Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer - Oh. My. God. I think I devoured this book in less than 24 hours because I became a woman possessed. I thought that Jamie Fraser from Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series was the fictional love of my life. But I think I was mistaken, because Edward Cullen, the vampire main character in this book, took my breath away. I can't wait to get my hands on the rest of the series.

Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse - Another young adult book for my class. This was a pretty decent one also. It's about a young girl living in the Dust Bowl (Oklahoma panhandle) during the 1930's. It's sort of a journal format, writtenin lots of short poems. It's very unique.

New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer - The second installment of The Twilight Saga. Obviously it wasn't as good as the first, but that's not to say that it wasn't fantastic. I haven't loved books like this since Harry Potter... which I know makes me a bit of a loser. Again, I'm very excited to read the next two.

Plain Truth, by Jodi Picoult - An Amish girl is accused of murdering her newborn baby after giving birth out of wedlock. That makes the story sound simple, but it's not at all. This is my second Picoult, and I wasn't really disappointed. I enjoyed that journey for the truth that all of the characters embarked on together.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, by John Boyne - This story touched my heart. I can't even tell you about it, except that it takes place in Europe somewhere in the 1940's. Read it. It will only take you a day or two to read. It's fast and enjoyable and leaves you thinking afterwards. If I told you what it was about, it would ruin the effect the book has on you. Just take my word for it. Just know that it's incredibly haunting.

So there you have it. If you haven't checked out The Twilight Saga yet... you need to. I hate buying into things that are just popular and aren't able to live up to the hype. These books for sure live up to everything that you've heard about them. The movie comes out soon and stars Robert Pattinson as Edward (RP starred as Cedric Diggory in the Harry Potter movies), and he's the perfect choice. In other Harry Potter related movies... David Thewlis (Professor Lupin) will be starring in the movie version of the last book on my list, The Boy In The Striped Pajamas. If you check out the trailer on IMDB, it'll ruin the effect of the book... but it's still great.

P.S. I promise to keep this updated a little more frequently!