As promised, here is the second part of my book loot from Thanksgiving and several days thereafter. Unlike the first part, this BHE post features “thick” reads. No picture books. I still hope you find interesting titles in this post. Maybe you can add these to your Christmas wish list? Or your 2013 reading list, perhaps? Books were bought from Book Off San Diego and the Barnes & Noble store in Otay Ranch. Enjoy!
YA Picks
The Alchemyst by Michael Scott | Olive’s Ocean by Kevin Henkes.
Finally got around into collecting the Nicholas Flamel series. An old co-worker once told me it was good. Has any of you ever read it? Olive’s Ocean is my fourth Kevin Henkes book. Iphigene indulged us with a beautiful review of said book last August.
Teen Fiction
Looking for Alaska by John Green | Love & Leftovers by Sarah Tregay
“…if people were rain, I was drizzle, and she was hurricane.” This excerpt from Looking for Alaska got me interested in the book. Myra posted a review of the book (but I can’t seem to find it in our database! Help!). I recently bought Love & Leftovers out of curiosity… and also because we want to reach our goal for the novel-in-verse reading challenge before the year ends! The story is good so far; the title is definitely catchy.
Historical Mystery
The Darwin Conspiracy by John Darnton | Sacré Bleu by Christopher Moore
Given that my favorite book of all time is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, it is not surprising at all why I’m drawn to mystery novels. Nothing is sweeter than reading mystery stories based on history, re-imagined or not.
Love Story
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen | The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano
Water for Elephants is another book that has been haunting me in stores but was never really interested in it. I have not even seen the movie. Have you? I love the cover of Prime Numbers, and the story has a surreal, “Universe-inspired” feel to it.
Drama
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini | Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
It has been a while since I’ve read The Kite Runner. I hope that this Splendid Suns is just as good. When I saw the film adaptation of Into the Wild, I knew I had to get a copy of the book. It was tragic and heart-wrenching but full of heart. I can’t wait to experience it again.
Fantasy/Adventure
Life of Pi by Yann Martel | The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers | The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Because I refuse to watch the movie before reading the book, I decided to grab a copy. I have Martel’s other book, Beatrice and Virgil, but Iphigene said she liked Life of Pi better. I’m so happy that Bluebear was in stock at B&N at the time I was doing my shopping. It hasn’t been on a shelf for a while, and this was the only copy on the shelf that day. Yay me! As for The Hobbit, I’ve seen the movie the other day and I missed reading about Thorin Oakenshield and Company. I’ve only read The Hobbit twice; it’s about time I read it again.
FEATURED BOOK OF THE DAY
Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin
I love Alice in Wonderland. I’ve been a fan for God-knows-how-long. Discovering this book in a thrift store made it one of the sweetest finds I’ve ever had. “Part love story, part literary mystery, Melanie Benjamin’s spellbinding historical novel leads readers on an unforgettable journey down the rabbit hole, to tell the story of a woman whose own life became stuff of legend. Her name is Alice Lidell Hargreaves, but to the world she’ll always be known simply as ‘Alice.’“
I also have the Nicholas Flamel series here in my bookshelves but haven’t read them yet. You know how I feel about Looking for Alaska and nope, I didn’t post my review (wink wink). You’ve told me about the solitude of prime numbers, let me know if it’d resonate with me. I found “A Thousand Splendid Suns” to be even better than Kite Runner. It’s a tear jerker. And you know how I feel about Bluebear (Moers) – lovelovelove the man. Alice I have Been also looks real nice. Great loot here baby girl!
WordPress should really start putting an option to “like” comments. LOL! How many books does the Nicholas Flamel series have? And how come Iphigene knew about your “review”? Did you e-mail it to her? Haha! Glad to know that Splendid Suns is better! I’m soooo excited to read Alice I Have Been. Maybe next year when all the year-end excitement dies? Hehe.
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