Summer was a bit slow for reading this year. Between working full time and getting ready for the wedding, I didn’t have a ton of time to squeeze reading in. That being said, here are my thoughts on some of my reads this summer (if not a little late!)!

Favorites

• Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne. I was so surprised at how much I loved this book! It was such a light and easy read for being a “classic” and was so interesting! It had a good solid plot, good solid characters, and it kept me turning the pages, which is something that a book hasn’t done in a few months for me! It’s not a long read either, so if you haven’t read it, give it a try!

Somewhere in the Middle

• King Raven Trilogy by Steven Lawhead. I have mixed feelings about this series.The plot was excellent; every detail was immaculately placed and insignificant moments from earlier in the series had huge significance later. It was an unique, fresh take on the story of Robin Hood that could have been amazing. There were just two big problems with this series.Lawhead has a way with words, which is very, very apparent in this series, so much so that it is to his detriment. There is just too much wording. What you and I could say in a sentence, he would say in five pages. While his imagery and verbage are impressive, I think it dulled the story down. It was just unnecessary and the plot would have moved along quicker.

  Second, I had very little emotional attachment to the characters. I rooted for the good guys because that’s who I was supposed to cheer for and while the bad guys committed some pretty heinous acts, I didn’t really hate them either. It was a good story, but I just felt totally uninvolved and unaffected. It’s very hard for me to read books when I can’t connect to the characters, which is probably why it took me like four months to finish this series.

Disappointments

• The Hier by Kierra Cass. I really should not have had high expectations for this book considering how I felt about the rest of the series, but I thought a fresh take, she can improve after three books, yeah? Nope. The first three books were about a girl competing to marry the prince; in this book, it’s flipped. The princess is choosing amongst a bunch of boys competing to be her prince. I thought that it would be an interesting and different perspective, but oh my goodness, the main character (what was her name again?) was so unlikable. She was spoiled, selfish, and had no personality. Total Mary Sue. The other characters were just as vapid. If you read the first three books in the series, just stop there. It doesn’t get any better, and this is only the beginning of more to come. I also need to stop picking books based on pretty girls on the covers.

• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Okay, I cheated a bit because I actually haven’t finished this book yet….and I’ve been reading it since February. But I only have a few chapters left! This is my first Dickens novel that I’ve read, but I could just not get into this. It was a very dense read for me, and I would lose my train of thought and have to go back and re-read the last page…or more. It really is an interesting story, but I can’t get past the writing. If you’re a fan of Dickens (then you’ve probably already read this) you’ll enjoy this book. Otherwise, unless you’re like me and read classics for the sake of it being a classic, keep looking elsewhere.

Have you read any good books lately or have any to suggest? I’m in a bit of a book slump!