This month I transitioned from George R.R. Martin's "Fire and Ice" series to some young adult fiction. I'm getting a little nervous about reading the "Fire and Ice" books too quickly. There will be seven books total, and I just completed 3/5 published books in the last few months. If I read them all so quickly, I'll end up waiting YEARS for the next installation. I get a little impatient with current ongoing series. Like the Sookie Stackhouse books. You wait a year (or more) for the next book, devour it in a couple of days (or less), and then are back to waiting for the next installation again. And of course, most of the details of the story are hazy anyway. Are we supposed to be rereading the whole series each time a new book comes out? I don't have the dedication, time, or interest to do that.
But, having said that, I keep picking up new ongoing series. One of the young adult books I read this month is 3/4 in an ongoing series. It's the Missing series by Margaret Haddix Petersen. It's quite compelling historical fiction/sci-fi about famous children kidnapped from history (and maybe future as well) by time-travelers. One of those kids, with his sister, go traveling in time to return the kids' stories to "true time." Since they are young adult, they are easier to catch up with after a year of waiting, as opposed to Martin's huge epic tomes. But alas, I am sure I will not be able to last much longer before I plunge into book 4 (it may even be on my nook already...).
A really cute book I checked out from the library this month was "Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos" by R.L. LaFevers. I meant this to be for Lauren to read, but as usual, she ignored my picks and stuck to reading her Garfield comics. That's probably a good thing, because the story is ripe with Egyptian black magic which could have been nightmare-inducing in my imaginative little girl. I'm not sure if this is a series. It has that potential. I would definitely enjoy reading more of Theodosia's adventures, and when Lauren is a little older and less scared-of-her-own-shadow, I'll recommend it to her as well.
I finally read "The Lightening Thief," the first book in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series. That was fun. I've always been drawn to Greek mythology, and while some of his interpretations of the gods didn't exactly feel right to me, I got into it. I especially enjoyed the Annabeth character. She's a little reminiscent of Harry Potter's Hermione, but there can't be enough Hermione-esque characters to suit me (or Scout Finches, either). If you are going to emulate a character, emulate the best. I am a huge Hermione fan.
I read a sample of James Patterson's "The Gift" from his Witch and Wizard series. Definitely readable. I mean it is James Patterson, and he can obviously write addictive vacation-reads. It's a forgone conclusion that sooner or later I'll read the whole book. But it's not worth a buy - this one can wait for the library copy.
And the kids and I/Jon are almost done with Funke's "Dragon Rider." Only a couple chapters left, but Lauren fell asleep while I was reading last night, so I couldn't polish it off. It's overdue at the library, and I really don't want to renew a third time....
On deck for November: "The Strain" by Guillermo del Toro (yup, the director). It's part 1 of a trilogy, not sure how much of the trilogy is completed yet. Jon just bought me "Anno Dracula" by Kim Newman, which has enormous potential (including a glowing review by Neil Gaiman). And there's still that copy of "Dune" sitting ominously on my bedside table where Jon set it a few weeks ago.
Now to get that fireplace switch fixed, and I'm set to curl up and read.
