What I'm Reading- 6/5/13

~The Pillars of Creation~

by Terry Goodkind

This book is kind of strange...but in a good way, I guess. This series- at least so far- is centered around two characters: Richard and Kahlan. This book, however, doesn't include them at all. It's about two young adults named Jensen and Oba. I know because I skimmed through the whole book, not reading anything, but looking for names to see which characters were talking. As far as I know, they're only mentioned, but they aren't actually in the story. They may actually be in it, but only for small stretches that I just missed. It's kind of throwing me for a loop. It's not like it's bad reading, but it's just weird that the main characters aren't present. It is set in the same world/timeline, so it's indirectly pertinent, but I don't think that this kind of thing is done very often. The book is interesting so far, but I'm just waiting to see the point of telling me all of this information. I may need to wait until the next book (Naked Empire) to see why...hmmmm. I'll let you know how it goes, but I'm only on page 122 of about 725, so it may take a while.

~Treasure Island~

by Robert Louis Stevenson

I recently started reading Treasure Island, and of the few pages I've read, I like it already. I'm really only a couple chapters in, but Stevenson's writing style appeals to me. It's simple, yet fun to read, and the language isn't archaic. This is good, especially because I don't really like reading books with a maritime setting. They're just so boring most of the time. I hated "Moby Dick" and "The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle" (which I had to read in 7th grade). The only books set at sea that I liked are "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" and "The Odyssey" or books that are only partially on the water, like "The Swiss Family Robinson" or "Robinson Crusoe". I have a good feeling that I'll like this book, but we'll see what happens. I'm going to try to block out memories of the many variations of this story in movies that I've seen (Muppet Treasure Island is my favorite) so that I read and understand the "real"/original story. Looking forward to the rest of the book!

I Can't Decide...

So I am close to finishing one of the books I'm reading and I'm having trouble deciding on which book I should read next. Let me know what you think! Should I...

A) Continue on with the series I'm currently in?

Faith of the Fallen- Terry Goodkind

B) Read another fantasy novel?

The Name of the Wind- Patrick Rothfuss

C) Continue with a previous series?

The Templar Salvation- Raymond Khoury

D) Read a historical fiction novel?

1356- Bernard Cornwell

E) Re-read a favorite book from my childhood?

The Swiss Family Robinson- Johann David Wyss

What I'm Reading- 9/16/12

Wow, it has been a long time! Even though it has not been as often as I would have liked, I have been reading since my last update in January. My last semester of college and the current job search have made that more difficult, but I'm managing. Here's what I've been getting myself into as of late:

Soul of the Fire- Terry Goodkind

Yes, I'm still reading this book... a bit shameful, yes, but it's a long book! My last semester was VERY busy (...and I admit, I read The Hunger Games trilogy instead of this for a while...). I did get a chance to read quite a bit this week while my girlfriend was visiting. She just got around to reading The Hunger Games, and I worked on finishing this one. While I'm not done yet, I am 617 pages in on a 788 page book. So that makes me 78.3% through the book with  only 171 pages left. I can do this! It is an enjoyable read, and I am looking  forward to how it ends, as well as the next book of this series (Faith of the Fallen) when I finish Soul of the Fire.

Call of the Wild and White Fang- Jack London

I decided a while back that I wanted to expand out of my reading rut. While I love reading fantasy novels, it's pretty much all I read. I wanted to read more of the classics. This is fortunate because I have a shelf full of them, and I haven't read most of them! I resolved to read one fantasy novel and one classic at a time, and started out by reading The Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling (which was during my 9 month long-time-no-post period), which I liked for the most part. I have read some of the classics (or at least books I consider classics), like The Iliad, The Swiss Family Robinson, Animal Farm, To Kill a Mockingbird, etc., so it's not like I'm some uncultured ingrate or anything... I just really enjoy fantasy. I haven't gotten very far with Call of the Wild, since I just started reading it, and I have been trying to finish Soul of the Fire. The reason this book piqued my interest is because I watched the 1991 Disney version of White Fang (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103247/) when I was little and really enjoyed it. It will be interesting to see the similarities and differences in both mediums.

The Crystal Shard- R.A. Salvatore

Yeeeeeep, still "reading" this one. Definitely putting this one on the back burner for a while. Not that it's a bad novel, it's just that there are other books I'd rather be reading right now. I'll get around to finishing it one of these days- I promise :)