Fall Goal: Read 12 New-to-me Books

This September I made a list of goals that I wanted to achieve before the end of the season. I haven't managed to reach them all, but I'd like to share with you what I have gotten through!

Read 12 'new to me' books:

I never wanted Ready Player One to end. It is amazing and nerdy and fun. It made me want to draw, and reminded me of how awesome everything 80's is (not that I needed much reminding with Hailey around). It centers around a competition created by an eccentric millionaire. This man created a game which almost everyone in the world participates. People play for entertainment, they attend school virtually, and even work in this game. When the game's creator dies, he sets forth a competition - find the easter eggs in this massive virtual world and you get his entire estate. You follow one young, poor boy on his journey. There's good and evil, reflection on society, suspense, a little bit of teenage romance.  Oh yeah, and real trailer parks stacked up at least 9 trailers high.

The Dog Stars was another future-y story. You follow one man in a world after devastating plagues killed nearly everyone. The book essentially takes place in the main character's head, so dialogue isn't as easily discernible, things happen in his head and then don't happen for real... It started slow, I didn't know what to expect really. I kept waiting for the 'story' to start. And then it did. And I liked it. And it suddenly ended.

The Night Circus is spectacular. Don't read another word of this blog post, just read this book. I fell in love with the world in this book, with the circus, with the characters. Everything is so charming.

One day I was listening to NPR and one of the sponsorship messages happened to say something along the lines of 'Son by Lois Lowry, a sequel to the Giver.' Commence double-take. A SEQUEL? I remember reading the Giver in 4th grade. It was amazing. I still remember how I felt at certain parts of the book (some books really pull me in). So when I heard that I IMMEDIATELY went online to Amazon... and found three more books! Gathering Blue and Messenger aren't exactly sequels. They take place in the same world, but in other places. They focus on people who didn't necessarily fit in for some reason in their respective societies, but accomplish great things. They're all quick reads and I do recommend them.

I love memoirs. Yakuza Moon is a great story about a very different world. It's inspiring. A Piece of Cake is one I cheated on - I've read it before! But it was so long ago, and I've been dying to read it again. The sheer number of things that Cupcake (the name that was put on her birth certificate, though it was changed later) overcame in her life. Read this book, it might make you cry.

I love the shopaholic books. I hate the shopaholic movie. It was awful. I somehow hadn't gotten around to picking this one up yet (I own all the others except for Shopaholic & Sister). It is adorable. It's fun to follow the same character through so much of her life. From getting out of a job she was not suited for, to finding the right man, moving to the US with him, getting married (spoiler: twice!), finding out she had a sister, to being pregnant, and now her daughter is a few years old and a total spoiled brat. These books always have the most ridiculous things she gets herself into, but they are so fun. A little chick lit never hurt anyone.

Yes, I decided to read the Hunger Games books. I watched the movie when it came out (Cameron was eager after having read the first years ago), and really liked it. They did a good job following the book, but obviously some relationships were cut down for screen time. I'm excited to see Catching Fire, it was a great book this arena would be so cool to see. I also really want to see how they portray the different districts. I am less enthusiastic about Mockingjay. It was a good conclusion to the series, but it was my least favorite of the three. Maybe because for once you are more familiar with all the characters that are dying?

Anyway, next time I'll share with you how my baking goal went!