Sunday, May 22, 2011

Great summer read-a-thon of 2011

One of the things that I have missed most while being at college has been reading solely for the purpose of pleasure. I have been collecting stacks of books over the past eight months that have sat waiting to be read.

So this week I began the great descent into the great summer read-a-thon of 2011. My four conquests this week: The Summer I Turned Pretty, Anna and the French Kiss, Something Borrowed, and Sarah Dessen’s new book What Happened to Goodbye. None of which were anywhere near academic reading material—yay! :)

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I am a bad reviewer when it comes to books and movies because I am so easily infatuated with a good story; however, if it’s a bad movie or an awful book and I’ll be the first to let you know. But a few miscellaneous notes on each:

The Summer I Turned Pretty: My mother really encouraged me to read this one (she’s a reader/lover of anything YA) and I’m so glad she did. This isn’t your typical summer beach story, but rather so much more as Belly’s world begins to spin like a top from all the changes brewing around her. But as her life is tossed upside down from so much change, will she realize that everything is simply turning out as it should be?

Anna and the French Kiss: If the title doesn’t scream girly, I really don’t know what does. Although the main character is a senior in high school, this is the perfect book for college freshman as it depicts moving from all things familiar and homey to some place foreign and new; from finding new friends to understanding a new city and gaining your independence. I absolutely loved the fact that I learned so much about Paris—from the landmarks, tourist destinations, to the food and the language. If you can’t travel to Paris this summer, try visiting through this book!

Something Borrowed: I’m one of those people; the ones who have to read the book before they see the movie. Something Borrowed was no exception. I absolutely loved this book, but I found that at the end I was mad at myself because I wasn’t upset that the main character was having this affair with her best friend’s fiancĂ©. In my defense, the author made if very easy to fall in love with these characters and not feel a moment of guilt over their less than moral behaviors. If you read it, you’ll totally understand.

What Happened to Goodbye: I should say first that I absolutely love Sarah Dessen. And this book is no exception. While the story is so very different from most of Dessen’s other books, I still had that same you could totally be my best friend connection with the main character, McLean. And her story of discovering herself, literally, was something that I loved sharing with her. I also happen to love that characters/objects/places pop up from Dessen’s other books totally unbeknownst to readers who haven’t read other Dessen books—I didn’t catch quite a few of them to afterwards.

And so ends the first week of the great summer read-a-thon of 2011.

What’s on the schedule for this second week? You’ll have to check back next Sunday to see :)

And if you would like to leave suggestions or additional book reviews in the comment section below, please do!!

15 comments:

  1. lifeaccordingtoamandaMay 22, 2011 at 6:18 PM

     I love this. This is absolutely my plan as well--read as many books for fun as possible on my kindle. I hope you continue letting us know what you read, I'm always looking for more books!

    Also--read Something Blue. It'll make you fall in love with Darcy too (I know, I didn't think it could happen either...)

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  2. i'm really glad to hear you liked _something borrowed_! i've wanted to read it because my friend and i said we'd see the movie together, but i wasn't sure how to feel about reading it. sounds like it's worth the read.

    i gave you my book recommendations via twitter so you should be all set with those. but if you need them again, or if you need any more, let me know!

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  3. You should definitely try to read Something Borrowed! It was so good.

    And I have your list written down and waiting. I've looked some of them up and I am really excited to read them! I'm trying to get through all the physical books that I have first and then I'm going to Kindle and read my wishlist on there which includes your suggestions :)

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  4. Yay another Kindle reader!! I love mine--and I'm so excited to hear that they're going to be able to work with our local libraries very soon.

    Hahahaha. Your last sentence made this entire comment!! I will add it to my list and let you know if I do in fact, love Darcy, too--because I don't think it's possible ;)

     

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  5. lifeaccordingtoamandaMay 22, 2011 at 9:05 PM

    I know ... I cannot wait to use my Kindle with my library! Although I'm not sure how to see if my library will be compatible ... I hope it is! Have you seen Something Borrowed yet? I'm nervous to see if it will do the book justice ... Emily Giffin is an amazing writer. And you make sure to tell me WHEN you fall in love with Darcy--it is definitely probable :)

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  6. I haven't seen it yet, actually. I'm extremely hesitant too. My mom and my sister saw--and loved--it, but my mother said that she heard that it is very different from the book, even watching the trailer I can see some major differences.

    And I definitely will; I'm letting it skip ahead of some of my others so I should probably be getting to it next week. I just don't think Darcy and love can go in the same sentence ;) But I will take your word for it and keep an open mind!

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  7. sounds good! i'm looking forward to hearing how you like them :]

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  8. Just found your blog and I love it!  Looking forward to reading more.  Come on by my blog and if you would like I would love to have you as one of my followers. 

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  9. I have a summer read-a-thon of my own for this summer! I am SO excited to read What Happened to Goodbye!!!!!!! I have it sitting on my nightstand, but it is gonna have to wait for school to end :(. I also plan to finish up a few old series and I wanna read the Hunger Games! We will see!

    I LOVED the movie Something Borrowed! I may have to check out the book! 

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  10.  Forgot about this! I also wanna read Alex Finn's two new books. He wrote Beastly and his new books are modern fairy tales as well!

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  11. I definitely want to read Something Borrowed, I'm dying to see the movie but I'm the same way. Have you ever read the book Redeeming Love? I wasn't sure if it would appeal to me because I'd mostly heard about it through older women, but I finished it three days after I started it - it was that good!

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  12. Thanks, Diana! I will definitely check out your blog :)

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  13. You will love What Happened to Goodbye, I just know it! Let me know when you finish it :)
    And I definitely suggest The Hunger Games--loved the entire trilogy!

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  14. I have read Beastly, so I will look into his other books, too! Thanks for the suggestion :)

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  15. Read it, read it, read it! I loved it!! :)
    Also--I have not, but I'm adding it to my list! Thanks for the suggestion!

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