What I Read In August

Audio:

1.  The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck - I hadn't read it since high school, and had honestly forgotten what a beautiful book it is.  The fact that I'm a farmer's child who truly understands the value of the land made the read that much sweeter.

2.  The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton - And I hadn't read this one since college.  It was like a reunion with a long-lost friend.  Of course, the movie version with Daniel Day Louis is also one of my most familiar movies - I saw it in the theater three times (unheard of for me) and it was one of the first VHS tapes I bought - so I know the story extremely well.  Knowing it so well, though, I was still surprised with details I had forgotten.  So much fun!  And soooo emotional.  I can't believe how upset I still get over this book. 

Print:

Ahem.  Apparently I wasn't done with Jamie and Clair after all.

Diana Gabaldon's
1.  Drums of Autumn,
2.  The Fiery Cross
3.  A Breath of Snow and Ashes
4.  An Echo in the Bone

Some notes about my Outlander experience. 

1. It's been a long while since I found a series that engrossed me as completely as this one did.  Typically quality falls off and I get bored or annoyed.  (see Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind.)  While some books are absolutely better than others, Gabaldon has managed to maintain the overall quality throughout....and I quite literally could not put them down.  Bravo. 
2. That's roughly 5,350 pages of reading....in one month.  That tells you just how obsessed I was, just how compelling of a read they were, and just how bad my eyes are right now!
3. OK, so I'm a schmuck for books with solid relationships in them.  Can't help it. 
4. Also happen to really be into history...
5. And here is where I feel a need to write a defense of 'popular' literature as compared with 'literary' works.  I will save you the lecture, except to say that there is value in all...but when it comes right down to it I have to admit I prefer books that are fun and suck me in as completely as these did....so long as they are also well written.
6. The next book won't be coming out until next fall, so I can now move on to something else. 

Hmm...one last book note for today.  I find myself eagerly awaiting Justin Cronin's The Twelve with an excitement almost never felt before for upcoming releases.  I've preordered, and I may have to drop everything as soon as it arrives.  However, it's also been announced that it's the second in what's now going to be a trilogy....and waiting for the third might kill me. 

I'm also happy to report that there is a second book about our wee September from The Girl Who Navigated Fairyland...also coming out this fall!