First Post of the New Year

Despite all kinds of ambitions to read during the holidays and to restart my project of recording and rating what I have read, I did neither.

I read one book in the last few weeks of December and one book in the first few weeks of January. Yes--you read correctly. A grand total of TWO books over five weeks. I think this is my most severe reading slump in a long time. Of the two books, one was very good and the other was...interesting.

The first book was The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. This novel is categorized as TEEN fiction. As with the book by Mal Peet that I have mentioned previously, I think this book is directed to a mature teen audience. It is set in WW II also, and is actually narrated by Death (though Death as an actual character in the book has a very minimal presence). The narration is a bit distant and impersonal in terms of the events and characters, but oddly enough this style makes the events and circumstances more poignant. I loved this book--though I wouldn't necessarily recommend it as a "vacation read." :)

The second book was a teen fantasy book called Foundling by D. M. Cornish. This is the first book in a series called Monster Blood Tattoo. As far as I can tell, this is the first book this author has written. I really wanted to like this book. It has an interesting premise of a young "founding" boy named Rossamund who is hired to be a lamplighter for the emperor. There are all sorts of interesting monsters and wizard-like characters, but the narration never really seemed to go any where. Even though this is the first book in a proposed series, I think the book should have its own story, its own sense of crisis-conflict-resolution. This book certainly doesn't succeed in that sense.

Now I have to engage in some speed reading. Finally today I picked up Orlando by Virginia Woolf. I need to finish reading this by Saturday night for my book club--do you think it's possible? :) I'll let you know how far I get...

As usual, I'll end with a question--maybe I'll get a comment or two this time?!? What have you been reading lately and what should I plan to read during my first few weeks of maternity leave (hopefully before the baby is born!)?