Reading season.

The year is already more than halfway over, as hard as that is to believe.  With that, I am more than halfway through my reading challenge for the year - I'm actually really close to completing the challenge!  So far, I've finished 35 books in 2012.  Lately all I have wanted to do when I get home is unplug and get lost in a book.  While enjoyable, this is not helping to get the laundry done (much to Kenny's dismay).

I won't be winning any domestic awards anytime soon, but here's what I've been reading.

Lately ...

The Alphabet mystery series by Sue Grafton. I've read the first few volumes several times, but now I am getting into the middle of the series.  I love how the character Kinsey Millhone has evolved over the series so far, and I am really looking forward to seeing where she goes from here.  The stories themselves are really interesting, with great plot twists and whodunnits.  The books are set in the mid-80s, so I also get a kick out of seeing how a detective would get information in the pre-internet age.




The Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris.  I've also been watching True Blood but the books are so. much. better.  I wish I had read them years ago!  I wasn't sure about Sookie at first, but by halfway through the first in the series, I was hooked.  Thanks to Anne Rice and Joss Whedon, I've always had a thing for the whole vampire genre.  These books are more Buffy than Lestat - light and easy reads with equal parts funny, sexy, and scary moments. 

The Redwall series by Brian Jacques.  These are really light reads, but they were some of my favorite books when I was younger.  I've enjoyed re-reading them now as an adult. The series is on the younger side of YA, and they are a little predictable, considering the intended audience.  There are upwards of twenty books in the series, but I've enjoyed falling back into the history of Mossflower Wood and Redwall Abbey.  I can totally see myself sharing these with my kids someday.

The Mayfair Witches trilogy by Anne Rice.  The first book, The Witching Hour, is my favorite book, and the other two in the series do not disappoint either.  It's been years since the last time I picked them up, and I have loved getting into them again. The characters, especially Michael Curry and Mona Mayfair, completely suck you in.  Rice is incredible at creating the vivid world of New Orleans and the inner workings of the Mayfair family, and that's just one reason she's one of my favorite authors.  You'd think you were there.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.  When a friend of mine clued me into the lending feature for Kindle, I rejoiced.  I already share a library with my family, but being able to tap into others' book collections was akin to divine intervention for me - especially when you're friends with English teachers and other bibliophiles like myself.  I had seen the movie version of Water for Elephants recently and I did not love it, so I had no real intention to read the book.  My friend lent it to me to test out the whole Kindle borrowing thing, and I am very glad that she did.  It was romantic and emotional and riveting, what more could you want? Lesson learned - don't judge a book by its movie.

The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oliver Wilde.  I'm on a classics kick, and I have bought several of the gorgeous Penguin cloth-bound hardcovers recently - one of which being the short-by-comparison Dorian Grey.  It was an odd book to me.  It was scandalous in its time, but we're far enough removed from that time that I am not completely sure why.  I liked the story at its core, but I read it so quickly that I know I missed some of the deeper meaning I'm sure Wilde intended.  The more I think about it, the more I like it.  It's a book I will likely revisit and take much more away from it the second time around.  Books like this are the reason I read things multiple times.  You just don't catch everything the first time.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.  I mean really. Does it ever get old?  This has to be one of the greatest love stories ever written.  Mr. Darcy will forever be Colin Firth in my mind, and this is far from the last time I will read this one.  If you haven't read this book, consider your Girl Card suspended until you do.

The Lord Jord Grey series by Diana Gabaldon.  I really love her Outlander series, and these have held me over while I'm waiting for the next installment to be released.  It's not a stand alone series - very much a spinoff and you have to know Outlander to get it, I think.  It took me awhile to read them.  I wasn't sure that I liked the character of John Grey enough to read four books completely revolving around his comings and goings.  They have been a pleasant surprise - page-turning stories, Gabaldon's usual flair for description, and an interesting perspective on a somewhat peripheral character from some of my favorite reads.  Much of the subplot of the series focuses on homosexuality in the 18th century, which I also found to be really interesting.  And yes, she manages to throw in her most favorite phrase at least once per book - "their face went comically blank."


Currently ...

Game of Thrones by George RR Martin.  WHY HAVE I WAITED SO LONG TO READ THIS?! Why didn't you all tell me?  Are we not all friends here?  You've been holding out on me.  I am a little more than halfway through Book One of the A Song of Fire and Ice series, but I knew by the end of the second chapter why these books have been such a hit.  I thought it would be tricky to keep track of all of the characters and smattering of archaic English, but so far the story of intrigue and politics has been more than enough to keep me coming back whenever I have a few minutes to spare. 





Soon ... 

I'm packing for a beach vacation, y'all.  This means combining two of my great loves: getting tan and reading books.  I don't plan to do much besides be in proximity of an ocean and knock out some of my ever-growing to-read shelf.  We're checking at least one bag.  I can bring as many books as I want.  Just kidding ...  I can bring 50 pounds.

Jane Austen - Sense and Sensibility

Sue Grafton - K is for Killer, The Alphabet Mysteries #11

Anne Rice - Taltos, the Mayfair Witches #3

Brian Jacques - Salamandastron, Redwall #5

Charlaine Harris - All Together Dead, Sookie Stackhouse #7

That should do it.  Bearing in mind that most of these are actually on my Kindle, it's not as crazy as it first appears.  It's a ten-day vacay - I wonder how far I'll get into my list?

What are you reading this summer?  What are your favorite series and authors?