What’s going on?

Oh, just being a slacker.  I've taken an unscheduled break from blogging and it’s not that I don’t have anything to write about.  In fact, I have several books lined up.  So instead of making excuses, I’ll give a reading update and hopefully this will get me back to my blogging schedule:

Every Day by David Levithan

Spoiled by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt

Night Watch (Discworld #29) by Terry Pratchett

Currently I am reading The Cavalier in the Yellow Doublet by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, and I’m also reading aloud to Venessa, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente.

Also, here are my new library picks:

The Hemingway Hoax by Joe Haldeman

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Camouflage by Joe Haldeman

Goblin Quest by Jim C. Hines

Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days by Alastair Reynolds

This weekend I have plans to visit our local library branch.  For the past three weeks it’s been closed as they move into their renovated location, right next door and today was their grand re-opening.  We’ve been watching their progress as we drive by and have been anticipating this move because they will have a lot more space and the plans looked great.  Venessa and I are really looking forward to seeing their new space because this is the branch that’s closest to us so we’ve been regulars there all summer before they closed for the three weeks.

To Read or Not To Read: King Solomon’s Mines

Since I was no longer feeling A Princess of Mars I went ebook browsing on my Sony Reader. Project Gutenberg is a great place to get free digital copies of books that are in the public domain so I have over seventy books saved. As I was browsing I came across Allan Quatermain by H. Rider Haggard and I thought I’d give it a try. Now, if you read something like this what would you do?:

“I have just buried my boy, my poor handsome boy of whom I was so proud, and my heart is broken. It is very hard having only one son to lose him thus, but God’s will be done.”

Right?! I was completely caught off guard and was drawn in thinking, Oh my goodness, this is so horribly sad, what happened? I read a few pages more and was feeling like I can get into this. Then I did some research on the internet and learned that Allan Quatermain was a sequel to King Solomon’s Mines. Never liking to start a series from the middle I began reading King Solomon’s Mines, intending to follow it up with Allan Quatermain. I probably should have stuck with Allan Quatermain. But then, it could turn out to be just like King Solomon’s Mines.

So what’s so wrong with King Solomon’s Mines. Well, I was first insulted by the DEDICATION of all things!:

“This faithful but unpretending record of a remarkable adventure is hereby respectfully dedicated by the narrator, Allan Quatermain, to all the big and little boys who read it.”

Big and little boys?! As if big and little girls would not enjoy this book?! As Stephanie Tanner would say, “How rude!” Then as I read further I began to understand why it was dedicated to “big and little boys”. They’re the only ones who believe themselves superior and like to hunt and kill animals for sport! This is such a product of the late 19th century; a well-to-do Englishman in South Africa who believes himself superior. I’m offended but at the same time think he doesn’t know better. Then I feel like I’m making excuses for the character, and in turn, the author. I don’t know what to think. I’m confused. But can I still enjoy the adventure? And what do I know of the author? Not much. Maybe he didn’t feel the way his character does and the character is based on someone he has met? And if I just stop reading am I the same as those who have tried to ban the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird? See? Still confused. But, as I have continued reading King Solomon’s Mines it has amused me immensely to make snarky notations whenever Allan Quatermain insults the intelligence of anyone who is not an Englishman. He calls them a Zulu even if they’re not! Even when he knows they’re not a Zulu!

Well, if King Solomon’s Mines gets to be too much for me I’ve got a backup. I’ve finally given in and picked up a copy of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Why did I wait so long? Battle Royale, The Running Man.. yeah, enough said. To be continued...

To Read Or Not To Read: A Princess of Mars

Last week I started reading A Princess of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I feel bad saying this but I’m not feeling it. So far it’s been alright. It’s well written, too the point and moves at a nice steady pace.

I should want to read it. It’s a classic. I wasn’t that into A Tale of Two Cities at first but I’m glad I stuck with it because it got REALLY good in the second half. Maybe the same will happen with a Princess of Mars, but maybe not.

I really want to read it knowing the movie John Carter will be coming out next year and it’s directed by Andrew Stanton, who directed two Pixar movies: Finding Nemo and WALL-E. Then I watched the trailer and I didn’t feel anything for it. When I watched the teaser trailer for The Dark Knight Returns I was pretty excited even though I haven’t been a huge fan of the two previous Batman movies. When I saw The Three Musketeers trailer it angered me. The point is I felt something. With the John Carter trailer I felt nothing. I wasn’t impressed and I think it contributed to not wanting to continue reading A Princess of Mars.

But it wasn’t just the trailer. I was not feeling it even when I began. I was forcing myself to read it and I should have known better. Whenever I try to force myself to read something I lose interest, and not just in what I’m reading, but I lose interest when I try to read other books. Not good!

I love reading! I need a good book at all times! I’ll have to pause and return to A Princess of Mars when it’s the right time. It doesn’t feel good to be in a reading slump and I need to get out of it before it gets worse. Now, what to read... that is the question…

To be continued…