I read a lot of books in June. I finally bought a Kindle for traveling so I don't have to use my ipad for reading on trips. I switched to reading ebooks while traveling about a year ago, and it's really helped make room in my luggage for books I find during my travels. Unfortunately ipads are expensive and I use mine for writing so I was always a little stressed about reading on it too. I have a keyboard attachment as well, which made it heavy and awkward for reading. I bought the Kindle to try out on the Europe trip and loved it. Every time we had decent wifi I would download more ebooks from the library, and I always had something to read. The best part about it is that I can read it in the dark, which is great when there isn't a lamp in the hotel and I'm the only one not trying to sleep.
Since I've been home I've read a handful of books but find myself checking to see if there's an ebook version first. I've spent the last two weeks mostly in bed due to a herniated disc in my back. Robert made a library run for me at one point, but I was running out of books at an alarming rate. It was nice to check out a book without leaving the house.
I am on the mend and even went back to work yesterday. One of my nieces is visiting this month, and I'm looking forward to spending lots of time with her. She's a reader too and also into artsy fartsy stuff. I think we're going to spend a lot of time talking, coloring, and watching movies so reading will take a backseat in July.
Here are two amazing books I read in June:
The Lost Vintage by Ann Mah (Adult Fiction)
I read this while I was vacationing in Paris so my love for this novel may be slightly influenced by that factor. Though I'm not a fan of wine or soft cheese, I really enjoyed the descriptions of wines and cheeses. Each time a cheese oozed, which I lost count of after awhile, or a wine was described, it made me giddy with happiness (and possibly hungry, but not for wine and cheese). Even though this is a predictable read, I enjoyed the story, which zig-zagged around the truth and alternated between the present character, Kate, who finds a hidden room in her cousin's cellar, and Helen, who lived during WWII and helped her father hide all the precious wine in the room. There are smaller stories - will Kate reunite with her first love? Will she pass the Master of Wine exam? But I was most intrigued by Helen's story. Was she a Nazi collaborator? Did she join the resistance and survive the war? I would recommend this to anyone who likes historical fiction, particularly WWII historical fiction. I also have to imagine anyone who appreciates wine, France, and/or vineyards will enjoy this read.
Granted by John David Anderson (Juvenile Fiction)
Oh this book! I love the cover so much I made it my lock screen picture on my phone for a few days in the hopes someone would ask me about it. In the process of doing this I noticed Ophelia's broken wing, and because of that I couldn't put the book down. I finished it in two sittings, which is not something I do very often. The world of fairies is beautifully constructed and a little reminiscent of Harry Potter's world. I found myself wondering what kind of fairy I would most like to be - granter, baker, scavenger, mender, whisperer, alchemist? Ophelia is a granter, which is the type of fairy that grants wishes. Because less people believe in magic, it is tough to get assigned a wish to grant. Ophelia has spent a lot of time training, and is finally given her first assignment only to learn how difficult it is to grant a wish. She faces many obstacles, including tearing her wing and losing her ability to fly. Because of this she needs to rely on a dog, Sam, to help her track down the nickel that carries the wish she needs to grant. Sam converses with Ophelia in the same way I imagine my dogs converse with me. I laughed at all of their delightful conversations. For example, at one point, Ophelia tries to lose Sam. "'What are you doing?' she growled. Sam wagged his tail emphatically. 'I am following you,' he said. 'It is like chase, but less fun because you are not going very fast at all.'" As I was reading this, I kept thinking about what a good movie it would be, and now I'm hoping that someone out there is dreaming up the most splendid Pixar movie based on Sam and Ophelia's adventures.
No comments:
Post a Comment