Halfway there!

Earlier today I finished my 56th book... and do you know what that means? That's right, I'm over halfway to 111!!! I have to say it feels pretty good. :D And just in time too, it's almost July and I am just barely on schedule. But that's okay, I've got 6 more months!

The special book number 56 was When Joy Came to Stay by Karen Kingsbury. This was the first Karen Kingsbury book I had read, and I loved it! I have to admit that I've been a little snobby towards Christian fiction... I mean there are a lot of badly written Christian fiction books out there. But really, that's true of any genre. And When Joy Came to Stay definitely doesn't fall in the bad category; it was great! Since Karen Kingsbury has written something like 50 novels.. you will probably see several more of her books popping up on my reading list.

Book number 55 was another Sarah Dessen book, Along for the Ride. It's about like every other Sarah Dessen book I've read, but that didn't stop me from staying up til 4 in the morning to finish it! I loved it and I would most definitely recommend it.

Longest book of the year right here!

Well I'm pretty proud of myself because I just finished a 1,258 page book! Yep that's right, 1,258 pages, and in 8 days too! Not too bad, right? Maybe I'm getting back on track.

Anyway, this book, as you might have guessed by the length, falls in the epic fantasy genre. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson is the first in what will eventually be a 10(?I think) book series. The book was really good, especially if you like epic fantasy. If you aren't an epic fantasy fan, then I probably wouldn't recommend it. It's long, complex, a little slow at times, and a lot confusing. But I think that's part of what I loved. So many small details, little clues, big revelations, hints at bigger revelations to come... I love it. And the characters! I fell in love with Sanderson's previous books because of his characters... and he did not disappoint with in this book. I feel so invested in them and their world already after one book.. how will I feel after 10?

There is one problem though. This is only the first book, and the second one won't be out for another year. With 10 books, and 1-2 years in between... I can't imagine this series ever ending. And that's a daunting thought. I will likely be 40 years old when this is over! I am hesitant to get involved in such an enthralling series so early on... but it's too late now. I am already invested. Maybe I will wait until I am 40 and all 10 books are released before I read another one. But probably not, I won't be able to wait that long. And part of the fun is the speculation, right? It might be kind of fun to follow this series through from the start.

Anyway, if you are a Wheel of Time or Sword of Truth fan, you'll like this. If you like fantasy but don't want to get involved in lengthy epics, try one of Sanderson's stand-alone novels- Elantris or Warbreaker.

I'm still alive but I'm barely reading

Barely reading. What can I say? I guess I'm not quite the avid reader that I was so proud of being. Or I just got a little burned out. Either way, I've hardly been reading at all lately. I realize I didn't post a progress update at the end of May- it was because I didn't really read much in May. I didn't feel like there was much to update. I thought June would be better. So far, it's been worse. I've only read two books- and really we should say only one, because the other one was an audio book that I've been listening to for months and finally finished. But that one book I did read was a good one- 1984 by George Orwell. It was on my must read list AND it's a classic, which I have to read 10 of this year (this makes two). So I do feel a little proud of myself for finishing that, and for the most part, enjoying it.

Hopefully my reading will pick up in the next month or so, because I'm going to the beach. (Twice!) There is something so appealing about the idea of spending a day just reading a good book on the beach. So in anticipation I've been saving two supposedly awesome books for beach reading- Divergent by Veronica Roth and The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. Hopefully they will live up to my high expectations, and get me back to being a reader again. I'll let you know.

In the meantime, if you are looking for some good beach reading, might I suggest Delirium by Lauren Oliver? You won't regret reading it, I promise!