kaylaraeintheway: ROOT 2014!

My goal is to read 15 books for ROOT 2014

Welcome and good luck! :D

Books

My goal is to read 15 (possibly more!) of the books listed below. These are the books I've been meaning to read for a while, and it'll be helpful for me to have them all here in one handy-dandy list so I can quickly see what I have read, and what I still need to get to.

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
1984 by George Orwell
Contact by Carl Sagan
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind
Walt Disney: An American Original by Bob Thomas
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong by James R. Hansen
The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
The Gangs of New York by Herbert Asbury
Giant by Edna Ferber
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Fraser
11/22/63 by Stephen King
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent
The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice
Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Ben H. Winters
Little Woman by Louisa May Alcott
The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Welcome! Looks like a good selection of books. Good luck with your challenge!

Thank you! :D

Good luck, Kayla!

Thank you! Good luck to you too :)

Hi Kayla. Good luck with your challenge.

Thank you :D

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone had a fun and safe New Year's Eve! I'm so excited to start reading! My first book of 2014 (for this challenge anyway) is...Walt Disney: An American Original! I love all things Disney, so I can't wait to dive in and learn more about Walt.

Walt Disney: An American Original by Bob Thomas

I really enjoyed this book! Thomas was able to interview those closest to Disney, including Walt himself, as well as read important documents, correspondence, and transcriptions in order to give a well-rounded and detailed account of Walt's life. Of course, I would love an even more detailed biography (360 pages isn't enough!). And while Thomas clearly admired Walt and wanted to do right by him, he does not hide the fact that Walt was a difficult man to work with. Shoot, I would definitely not want to work with him!

Through quotes gathered from speeches, memos, meeting minutes, and interview transcripts, I was able to get a sense of how dedicated Walt was to the idea of "Disney" and family entertainment. He had so many goals, and although he didn't live to see all of them completed, he still achieved so much, as we all know. I admit I teared up a little when Thomas reached Walt's death.

I have read the book (I forget the author) on the history of Disney animation, so now I want to pick up a good book on the history of the Disney parks. Any suggestions??

Congratulations on finishing your first ROOT of the year! I didn't personally know of a book, but I got curious and found Walt Disney's Imagineering Legends and the Genesis of the Disney Theme Park on Amazon. It looked interesting.

Hey, that does look like a good read! I'll have to check it out. Thanks for the recommendation, and for stopping by!

Hmmm...do books I get from Early Reviewer/Member Giveaway count towards ROOT? I mean, they are technically mine, so I say yes.

I have 4 books that have been patiently waiting for me to read and review them, so I think I'll start on those now.

I'm about 1/4 of the way through Netherworld: Chronicles of Diana Furnaval by Lisa Morton, which has been fun so far. I also have The Year That Trembled by Scott Lax (which I need to start...), and then I just received 50 Reasons to Hate the French by Jules Eden from the December ER batch. Oh, and The Weight of a Feather, Judy Croome's short story collection that I won in the Member Giveaway.

Whew! I better get started :D

It's your challenge, so you get to decide what to count and what not. We're all just trying to whittle down our stacks of unreads. Have fun doing it!

I count them. I count new purchases, too, but even if I didn't count those I'd still count ER, as not only are they on your shelves but they "need" to be read asap, too.

Good point! Ok, now I don't feel so bad :)

Finished another book! However, since this was a LT Giveaway book and not on my original list of ROOTs, I'm not going to count it in my total. But I enjoyed it, so I wanted to give a quick review:


The Weight of a Feather and Other Stories by Judy Croome (2013)
3 out of 5 stars

I feel bad that it took me so long to get to this book, since I won it in the LT Member Giveaway. This collection of short stories by Judy Croome (find her on LT!) took me a few stories to really get into. Her stories range from a few lines of "Flash Fiction" to almost a page to 10+ pages, yet all of them provide a fascinating portrait of her home country, South Africa. I loved the stories that incorporated myths or tales from South Africa, and I enjoyed when she included Afrikaans words (even though I have no idea how you would pronounce them!).

The stories were whimsical ("Jannie Vermaak's New Bicycle"), thought-provoking ("Rainbow Farm, Or the Ghost of Christmases Past"), violent ("The Last Sacrifice"), heart-wrenching ("The Gold Miner"), and just plain beautiful ("Autumn Tears", "Crabwalk").

However, I'm only giving this book 3 starts because I thought some of the stories were a little dragged out and heavy-handed with the symbolism and/or message, and the Flash Fiction sections felt out of place among the stories.

I like that cover!

Urgh, i know the feeling (not getting to an early reader fast enough). I once had NINE come to me in one month... WAY overwhelmed and I stopped signing up for all of them for a few months while I worked through them! I'm being a bit more careful w/ what I sign up for now ;)

Anyway.. congrats on your ROOTS!
This is such an inspiring group!

Nine, wow! Are those paper or ebooks?

>21 avanders: Oh my gosh, I can't imagine getting 9 in one month! The most I've ever received is 2 (but one was an e-book so I got through that pretty quickly). I love the early Reviewer/Member Giveaway programs because I read books and authors that I otherwise would never have heard of!

Plus, I get to tell everyone about awesome books that will be coming out soon :)

>22 .Monkey.: there were 5 paper and 4 ebooks... Intimidating!!

>23 kaylaraeintheway: Agreed! I've read some interesting things I never would have read had it not been for the programs! :)

Quite a collection! Where are they all coming from?

I just finished Bad Monkey by Carl Hiassen for my book club. I really enjoyed it! A fun crime novel that definitely doesn't take itself too seriously. I laughed out loud many times while reading this. I'll have to check out his other books now. However, since this was a library book, it doesn't count for my ROOT challenge. However, like with The Weight of a Feather, I wanted to share my thoughts and spread the word :)

For a longer review, check out my Club Read thread!

Always nice to hear about other than ROOT books, Kayla. Just keep them coming ;-))

>25 .Monkey.: they were kind of from all over... I think 1 from LT, 2-3 from Goodreads, maybe another from Bookreporter or one of those other group ones (this was several months ago so I don't completely remember ;)) and the e-books were all from NetGalley -- I had JUST joined the group and didn't understand that you could get so many approvals at once!

>26 kaylaraeintheway: Ooh i've been curious about that book! Glad to hear it's fun to read :)

>28 avanders: Hah, nice.I joined Netgalley ages ago but never wound up requesting any, because, ebooks. Yick. Hahaha.

lol I know... I'm actually trying to be more open to it -- so I've put some of my top "to reads" on my Kindle (e.g., Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore)!

>30 avanders: I've been wanting to read Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore too! You'll probably get to it before I do though haha

> 30-31

Me too! I just have to get a copy of mr Penumbra when I am in Londen, or wait for the dutch translation.

I made the mistake of going inside the library to return my book club book, and I somehow walked out with 4 new books! One of them was Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, which I devoured in 2 days (see my review over at Club Read!). It was amazing, and I highly recommend it!

I also picked up We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo, Skinny Dip by Carl Hiassen, and A Story Lately Told by Anjelica Huston.

I also requested The Monuments Men for February's book club, so I'll be working through that and the other library books before I'll get back to my ROOTs.

So many books, so little time! (Especially with pages and pages of grad school readings every night! There really needs to be more hours in the day...)

I have The Monuments Men out from the library now. Will be interested to hear what you think of it!

I'm excited to read it! The group is going to see the movie right after our discussion, so that will definitely make it more interesting.

I'll be interested to hear what you think of Monuments Men (and the movie) as I'm intrigued by both!

Oh, yeah, can't wait to hear about the Monuments Men also! Skinny Dip is light, funny... I don't recommend listening to the audio version though!

>36 Caramellunacy: I'll be sure to post a review on both :)

>37 avanders: After I read Bad Monkey, I was told by a few people to pick up Skinny Dip, so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm not a fan of audio books, so no worries there :)

I'm still here!

I've been super busy with school readings/projects that I haven't really had time to do much reading. Or I've been too tired when I get home and I just plop pn the couch and watch Scandal :)

I feel bad for neglecting my ROOTs, but life just gets in the way sometimes.

I think I'll pick up Mrs. Dalloway next. I'm reading A Swiftly Tilting Planet for my February book in the TBR challenge, so I wanted something different from that for my next ROOT.

I'm busy packing, cleaning, and assembling costumes for my trip to L.A. next weekend for the Doctor Who convention, so hopefully I can start reading those books soon (I'm going to attempt to get all my homework done before I leave for L.A. on Tuesday, so that will severely limit my leisure reading time!).

Ooooo exciting! Have a FANTASTIC time at the con! :D

RL gets in the way sometimes! Have a fabulous time at the CON.

>40 rabbitprincess:, 41 Thank you! I'm very excited :)

Dr. Who convention! So cool! Can't wait to hear about it !

The convention was AMAZING! I got to do meet-and greet pictures with Billie Piper (Rose Tyler), the Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann--I also got his autograph and had a beer with him Saturday night), and Mark Sheppard (Canton Everett Delaware III, among many other roles in my favorite sci-fi shows), sat up close on panels with Colin Baker (the Sixth Doctor), Paul, Billie, Mark, Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams), plus the amazing Katy Manning (Jo Grant) and Nicola Bryant (Peri), along with so many other guest stars, writers, directors, and producers of Doctor Who. I couldn't believe how intimate the convention was (my only other con experience was San Diego Comic-Con, which was horrible). The guests mingled with the attendees in the lobby and restaurants, which is amazing. I also was inspired to watch all of the available Classic Who episodes (which I have never seen).

Everyone was so polite and nice and pleasant, and the guests all say thank you to the attendees at the closing ceremonies at the end of the con. I admit I got a little teary-eyed when it was time to leave.

I can't wait to go next year! I'm going to bring my little sister as a high school graduation present :)

Oh, and I got some books while I was there! 3 of them were written by Terrence Dicks, who is a god among Whovians, and he was there at the con, so I got him to sign the books :)

All in all, a pretty amazing experience. I might post some pictures when I have more time to update.

FUN! That sounds great!! And wow, Terrance Dicks! That's great that you got books signed by him! :)

I'm so glad you had fun! It sounds like an energizing and happy convention. :)

Sounds awesome! Glad it was such a great experience for you!

That sounds great - so glad you enjoyed yourself so much! I've had varying con experiences, and I've found the smaller more intimate ones suit me much better as well.

>45 rabbitprincess:,46,47,48: Thanks everyone! It truly was an amazing experience. I'm afraid I'm going through slight end-of-con depression :p

You really had a great time! Very good!!!

Just a quick update: terribly ashamed to report that I have not even opened Mrs. Dalloway yet. I really need to stop going to the library and getting distracted by books that are not my own haha :)

That would help the ROOTcause, Kayla!

I've been so busy with other things that I completely missed my 1 year Thingaversary yesterday! Oops :)

Happy belated! Have fun picking out books to celebrate with! ;)

>53 kaylaraeintheway:

Congrats on that, but I skip my thingamedingsy every year! I don't want to HAVE to buy books on that day.

I can't do it. I can't read Mrs. Dalloway. I tried! I really did. But the stream-of-consciousness style was not working for me, and I found my mind wandering once I started reading. Basically, I was super bored. I won't eliminate it from my library just yet, though...I'll just save it for another time.

Instead, I'm going to start In a Sunburned Country. Actually, I already started it haha but now I'm officially announcing it.

Good for you for not suffering through a book you didn't want to read!

>57 Merryann: Thanks Merryann. I used to feel bad for not finishing books, especially those generally thought to be "classics" or "must-reads". But life's too short and there are too many fabulous books that need reading to waste time wallowing in an unsatisfactory book :)

I agree! Being in this group is helping me find that easier myself. It's especially gratifying when the next book I pick up turns out to be wonderful, and I'm glad I spent the time on it and not the 'dud'. Are you enjoying In a Sunburned Country?

>58 kaylaraeintheway: and >59 Merryann: Agreed! SO. Many. Books. Can't read 'em all -- finish the ones you enjoy!

>59 Merryann: I am! I'm only about 30 pages in so far, but I really love Bill Bryson's voice. I haven't read many travel narratives (travelogues?) so I wasn't sure what to expect, but I'm eager to continue with this one! Just what I needed after failing at Mrs. Dalloway haha

You did not fail at her. SHE failed you! Ha!

Seriously, I'm glad Sunburned is good. :)

>62 Merryann: haha! I own a few other books by her, including Orlando, which I've always been very eager to read, so hopefully that one doesn't fail me :)

>58 kaylaraeintheway: kaylaraeintheway: and >59 Merryann: Merryann: and >60 avanders: And I do too!

Just a quick update:

I'm almost done with In a Sunburned Country, which I am thoroughly enjoying! I would have finished sooner if it wasn't for the two 20-page papers I have due...luckily one was due last week, so that's out of the way. My last one is due tomorrow, and I still have a few more pages to write, so I must force myself to stop reading until I get it done. Maybe I'll have my boyfriend hide the books I'm currently reading until I submit my paper!

I'm very much looking forward to summer vacation (which officially starts on May 12th). I'm going to read so many books!!

That is a very good plan!

Good luck on your paper! Hard to stop reading to do work.... ;)

I finally finished my 2nd root! *throws confetti*

I'm too tired to write up an actual review though, so I'll post one tomorrow.

woo hoo congrats!!

>69 avanders: Yay confetti! Thank you :)

In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
4.5 out of 5 stars

Australia is a terrifying and wonderful place. At least, that's the conclusion I came to after reading Bryson's hilarious travel narrative about his exploration of the country/continent (it's complicated). I knew Australia was huge, deadly, and endlessly fascinating, but I did not know the extent of any of these things until I read this book. It made me want to pack my bags and go on my own adventure across the country, even though I hate the heat, am terrified of bugs, and have next to no backpacking or camping skills.

Bryson writes about Australia with obvious love and reverence, and is quick to point out all the quirky charms that make the place great. I feel like I would love traveling with him, since we both share a fondness for seemingly boring novelty museums and kitschy tourist traps. He traveled through the big cities, like Sydney, but also explored the barren and lonely outback, where you can drive on the same stretch of highway for thousands of miles and literally not see anything but the flat desert land around you (I can't even fathom that, being from California). But Bryson somehow makes it all seem beautiful, which I love. He also delves into the strange, and often hilarious, history of the founding and exploration of Australia. Another thing I liked was his discussion on the Aboriginies, the indigenous people of Australia, who unfortunately have been virtually ignored in history books, media, policy, etc. not only in Australia but everywhere else in the world. However, I am lowering my grade for this book by half a star because I think this topic deserved a whole chapter or two instead of a few pages here and there (and because Bryson took a few too many jabs at overweight people, which I thought was in poor taste).

I have the edition with the added appendix on the Sydney Olympics, which was pretty interesting. Everything seemed to go extraordinarily well, especially when you consider the Winter Games that just happened in Sochi...

All in all, a very entertaining and humorous book that shows what a fascinating place Australia is. I'm excited to read more of Bryson's stuff (I'm borrowing A Short History of Nearly Everything from a friend next!).

Australia is mostly empty and a long way away. Its population is small and its role in the world consequently peripheral. It doesn't have coups, recklessly overfish, arm disagreeable despots, grow coca in provocative quantities, ot throw its weight around in a brash and unseemly manner. It is stable and peaceful and and good. It doesn't need watching, and so we don't. But I will tell you this: the loss is entirely ours.
You see, Australia is an interesting place. It truly is. And that really is all I'm saying.

Hope you like A Short History of Nearly Everything. That was my first Bryson and I really enjoyed it. My BF read it first and then had to put up with me constantly reading all sorts of facts back to him. Sounds like Sunburned Country will be another "read-aloud" book ;) Great review!

>72 rabbitprincess: Thank you! I frequently read passages aloud that I found funny or interesting, which my BF enjoyed. It's always fun when you can share a book with someone like that :)

>71 kaylaraeintheway: another for the wish list! :)

And did you finish your paper?

I loved "A Short History...", I hope you enjoy it. I was interested to see the title of the Bryson Australia book you had - here in the UK it is called "Down Under" (I loved that book too!).

>74 avanders: I hope you enjoy it!

>75 connie53: I did! I even got a B+ (which is pretty good, coming from the professor I have for the class, who's a notoriously tough grader)

>76 Jackie_K: I really enjoyed it! I saw that the title was different, but I didn't realize at first that it was the same book. I got excited because I thought he had written a sequel haha

Happy Star Wars Day! May the Force be with you :)

Good grade, Kayla

>77 kaylaraeintheway: Congrats on finishing & succeeding w/ your paper, Kayla!

>79 connie53: >80 avanders: Thank you! I pride myself on being able to write good papers despite my terrible habit of procrastinating haha

Maybe it's because of the procrastinating they turn out so well. You can't dwell over them too long and start correcting things that have no need to be corrected.

>82 connie53: Exactly! It kills me when I see my classmates obsess over every single sentence in their quest to write the "perfect paper". If you keep second-guessing what you're writing, then you'll never get it done.

By royal decree, I am omitting Mrs. Dalloway and replacing it with A Dance with Dragons. My goal remains the same, I just switched out the books, since I don't see myself reading Mrs. Dalloway anytime soon.

I blazed through the last bit of Feast for Crows, so I'm anxiously beginning DwD!

lol
I think that's fair ;)

>84 kaylaraeintheway: It's your challenge! I don't work with any list at all. So much easier.

>86 connie53: I decided to make a list so that I can hold myself accountable for all the poor books that have languished on my shelves for more than a few years! Also, I just really love lists :)

>87 kaylaraeintheway: I did too... but i break away from the list on a somewhat regular basis ;)
but lists are fun. so I update them too ;)

I have lists. I love lists! And yours give you something to hold on too, that's great.
If that is what works for you, super!

I'm (hopefully) going to be travelling to Australia early next year, so will definitely need to pick up Sunburned Country (I like to read thematically when I travel!)

>90 Caramellunacy: Fantastic! I hope you find the book entertaining and useful :)

I'm traveling to New York City next month, and I really want to find a good book about the city, but I have yet to start looking.

Argh!! I just want to finish A Dance with Dragons already! For a book that's over 1,000 pages, not a lot happens :/

Don't get me wrong, I love the series, but I feel like they are unnecessarily long sometimes. Especially Bran's chapters. Boooo Bran.

Anyway, I will definitely finish it by the end of this month, so I will finally have another ROOT to add to my total. I'm also going to be ambitious and try to read one more ROOT this month, bringing my June total to 2...I feel bad for not having at least 1 ROOT per month so far, so I'm trying to play catch-up during my summer break.

>93 MissWatson: My sentiments exactly. I also wish he would cut down on the repetitive sex, that should save a lot of pages.

>93 MissWatson: Agreed! More battles and political intrigue, less sexy times :p

Ooh! Did you go to New York yet? How about Only in New York: an exploration of the world's most fascinating, frustrating, and irrepressible city by Sam Roberts? I haven't read it yet (just got it the other day) but opened at random it was quite interesting.

>95 Merryann: I just got back today! Totally fell in love with the whole city, and I can't wait to go back. Thank you for the book recommendation! I'll definitely check that one out. Another one I stumbled across was Goodbye to All That: Writers on Loving and Leaving New York, which seems an appropriate read at the moment :)

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
5 stars

This book was infuriating, in the best possible way. Richard Yates wrote characters who are so self-absorbed and realistic that I wanted to reach onto the pages and give them all a smack. It truly is a marvelous book.

I bought the book after I saw the movie, which I loved (Kate & Leo are my favorites), but I only just now got around to reading it (shame on me!). What I loved about the book, as opposed to the movie, was the inner thoughts and feelings of Frank Wheeler, who really is kind of a big butthead, but I still found myself feeling sorry for him, and for April, too. They became stuck in a marriage that was built on false feelings and the seemingly interesting and poignant ramblings of two young people having a good time. The "American Dream" of a stable job, 2 kids, and a house in the suburbs was not enough for the Wheelers, yet they could not bring themselves to fully commit and escape their dreary, "hopeless emptiness" they've found themselves in.

I want to read more by Richard Yates, as he seems to be able to perfectly capture the essence of American life, as frightening and hopeless as it can be.

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
2 out of 5 stars

I really wanted to like this book. But I was not impressed, and I was left thinking at the end, "Oh, is that it?"

I mean, I guess I can see why so many people like it, and why Oprah picked it for her book club (even though that in no way informs my decision on whether or not to read a book), but The Reader just didn't do anything for me. The relationship between Michael and Hanna was creepy and emotionally abusive, and I thought adult Michael was annoying; I really had to slog through the second part of the novel. Michael briefly touches on the people in his generation demanding answers and apologies from the generation previous (the ones who were involved in all of the terrible SS/Nazi business), which I thought would have made a much more compelling story, rather than framing it around a creepy relationship that Michael just can't get over (seriously, dude, make like Elsa and let it go).

And actually, I found the character of older Hanna to be way more intriguing, so if the novel focused more on her maybe I would have liked it better. But, it is called The Reader, so there's no getting around that Michael is the main focus.

Anyway, it's not like I completely hated the book. It was well-written (or should I say, well-translated, since the book was originally written in German). I appreciated the author's/Michael's observations on the reactions of the people during the trial of the horrible events at Auschwitz, and his description of what it felt like to walk through a concentration camp (and how we can never truly grasp what is what like to be there). But, like I said, I was expecting something more, and I was disappointed.

>97 kaylaraeintheway: hmm... maybe I'll have to give that one a shot! :)

A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin
3 out of 5 stars

Finally, after almost 3 months of reading this thing, I have finished.

I am growing increasingly frustrated with this series, not because Martin takes a while to write them (as Neil Gaiman said, "George R. R. Martin is not your bitch"), but because of how much hooplah is in the books. I feel like not...that...much...happens? Like, seriously, this book is 1,000 pages, and I have no idea what was going on, aside from the Big Moments. Did books 5 and 6 really need to be split up. I mean, reeeeeally, George? I get so confused about who is who and who is mad at who and who is dead from book to book, even with the (overly long and not really all that helpful) guide to the families at the back of each book. However, true to form, Martin leaves his readers with a couple of Oh My God What The F*CK Just Happened?! cliff hangers, which leave me giddy and frustrated in the best possible way.

Don't get me wrong, I think a lot of the characters are interesting and I am SO EAGER to see how this all plays out, but I feel like these books could be cut in half and still tell the exciting stories. I'm glad I started reading these books 2 years ago when they were all out, and avoided the 5 or 6 year gaps in between them.

Winter is coming, people!

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
5 stars

This book. THIS BOOK, Y'ALL.

I confess, I was completely hoodwinked. Bamboozled! I seriously had no idea what was going to happen in this book, and I was so shocked and excited when it did! I want to keep this as spoiler-free as possible, so I'm not going to go into plot details. But I will say that this novel was a very interesting examination of gender roles, specifically those in a marriage between a man and a woman, and how each are expected, or supposed to, act (at least, according to the main characters). Misogyny is also addressed, both in terms of men who abuse women physically, mentally, and emotionally through violent and hurtful actions, and those who do it by smothering and saving the women who are "broken". Just...wow.

This is not a comfortable book to read. Almost everyone is despicable in their own way, and I went back and forth many times over who I was "rooting for".

I was so convinced that Nick was the bad guy, then I was so convinced that Amy was the worst human (I still think she is, but after that ending, I'm just like, dear Lord, I don't even know what to think. What has this book done to me?!

A few of my friends just got engaged. If I wanted to be awful, I'd give this book to them as a wedding present haha but I won't!

This book was really fantastic, such a great character study. I'm eager to see the film now (I wasn't so interested before).

>101 kaylaraeintheway: I know I KNOW I've just got to read this book!!!

>102 avanders:: Yes!!

Time to start what will (most likely) be my only ROOT for August: East of Eden by John Steinbeck. I'm very familiar with the Salinas Valley area, so I'm sure it'll be all the more interesting for me.

Just waving: HI!!

It's so interesting being here long enough to learn a few things, like how my friend Shutzie27 really likes Steinbeck books. So, if she sees your thread there may be some interesting conversation upcoming about that book. I, who have never read a Steinbeck book, will just sit back here and see, lol.

>105 connie53:: Hello Connie!

>106 Merryann:: Thanks for the heads up! I hope that we can get some good discussion going :)

Gone Girl....off to Amazon to purchase! John Steinbeck ughhhhhhhh!

>108 Tess_W:: Enjoy! Not a fan of Steinbeck, though, I take it? haha

Not exactly the conversation I expected to see here when I got back, but still, technically it is Steinbeck conversation, lol.

Ugh, I am the worst. Got incredibly caught up with school and all the things that go along with it, plus a huge pile of library books that I still need to get through :/

I'm going to try to finish at least 3 more books on my list before the year is over

I sympathize wholeheartedly with the huge pile of library books! I have six waiting for me to read and another one just came in for pickup. Good luck with school!

Totally can relate! Ooph, good luck w it all!

>112 rabbitprincess:, >113 avanders:: Thank you both! I though this semester would be a breeze since I'm only taking 2 classes, but with all the extra stuff I signed up for, I hardly have time for leisure reading.

For my next ROOT, I will be reading (okay, technically re-reading, but it's been over 10 years since I first read this book, so there's a lot I have forgotten) Interview With the Vampire by Anne Rice. I will actually be reading the entire Vampire Chronicles/Mayfair Witches series, since I have never read past IWaV and I feel like this is something I must do haha.

So the rest of my ROOTs this year will be those books...vampires all the time! Just not the sparkly kind, please :)

Ahh, I likes those books! Really. I've read Heksenuur, Heksenmeester en Heksenkind in a month or so and they were big books! So go for it!

Happy vampiring!

>116 connie53:: >117 Tess_W:: Thank you both! :)

Interview With the Vampire by Anne Rice
4 out of 5 stars

Just in time for Halloween, I completed my re-read of IWtV. The last time I read this I was 15 or 16, so it was interesting coming back to it almost 10 years later. I have seen the movie dozens of times, though. It's a pretty faithful adaptation, and the stuff that was in the book but not the movie was not terribly compelling (although I do wish they put in the bit with the weird Eastern European vampires). I also forgot how young Claudia is in the book when she's turned (5). Things got super creepy as the years went on...

A fun and interesting read, definitely a vampire classic. On to the next book!

Happy Halloween!! :D

Well... I failed :/
Only 7 ROOTS out of 15 (ouch)

I'm trying again for 2015, though, with a lower goal. I am determined to make it!

Happy (almost) New Year everyone :)

2015 is a new year! Great to keep trying! Every bit of progress is a success :)

Happy new year!