Reading Update

I used to read a lot (really, a lot). Then I barely read at all. Within the last year I've started reading quite a bit again.

My problem is that it is entirely possible for me to read a book without ever looking at the title or seeing who the author is. Someone will hand me a book and say "read this" and I somehow miss the title almost every time. Or I'll notice the title quickly at first and then ignore it.

So I'm going to try to be more aware of what books I'm reading. Learn a bit about titles and authors. Just a bit, that way if I am reading a bunch of books by the same person, I'll realize it!

I'm going to list a lot of books now. These are the ones that I can remember reading through the summer. I'll also put a short description that makes sense to me...even if it doesn't make sense to anyone else that has or will read the book.

And I'll make a reading update post every few books that I read. The sidebar will list the ones that I've read since my last update post.

Monster Island/Nation/Planet by David Wellington. A series of 3 books. People are either dead or zombies, very few that aren't. Old mummy dude gets into people's minds. Mad scientist trying to save wife.

Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer. Boy and grandfather take the foreigner to find his dead grandfathers lover from the war. Dog goes too. It jumps between a couple of stories...the boy/grandfather and the story of the city they are looking for, with bits of stories about the war/stuff thrown in.

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. The guy lives in a very cluttered apartment. He is writing a book. He came to the US from somewhere else. He had a love, did a modeling job, has a single neighbor.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carols Ruiz Zafon. Very good. A boy is taken to pick out a book, a man is trying to destroy the book. There are lots of little stories that tie into one in a very well done way (the blind girl, the bum, the publisher's secretary).

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. His experiences when attempting to thru hike the Appalachian Trail. Very interesting and has me even more interested in hiking than I was.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. A circus story! The almost-vet ends up on a circus train and falls in love. Of course there is an elephant. I really enjoyed this one.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. A vampire story...the dad is telling his daughter his stories after she finds a book.

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Somehow I missed reading this in high school. Ummm, it is about war and the guy's life now and the aliens? I should read it again.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy. A man and his son are walking south. Something happened and the world is mostly dead. Written without extra words and reads very quickly. Many things are left for you to figure out and think about, but in a good way.

The White Castle: A Novel by Orhan Pamuk. A guy from Italy is taken as a slave to Turkey when their ship is captured. He convinces people he is a doctor and gets special treatment from the Pasha. He is sold to a man very similar in looks to himself and spends the next 20 years with him.

I think there are more that I've read. And I hope I matched up my memories of contents with titles correctly (I googled for authors)!