Oh boy, I just realised how busy this month has been when preparing to write this post! I was sure I must have left a book out of my reading list, not possible that I only read 2 books in March... but nope. That's it. Just 2 books (and one was started in Feb.). Ouch! That pile of books on my night stand -waiting to be read- must be getting pretty dusty. I guess staying up late preparing classes or working on translations doesn't leave me awake enough to read. I'll have to plan a trip or something in April to find more reading time! :pAnyway, here goes. My "big" reading list for March:
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris.
"Welcome to Bon Temps. It's just your average sleepy backwater town. You know the kind of place... a dime store, a trailer park, a diner, and a gang of newly "out of the coffin" undead."
So this is the first in the series of "Sookie Stackhouse" novels, which was adapted last year as a TV show -True Blood- on HBO (starring Anna Paquin as telepath Sookie and Stephen Moyer as vampire Bill). I picked it up one day in February while I was wandering around the ailses of the Fnac (a very dangerous -for my budget- place I rather futilely try to keep away from), browsing through books and the like. I felt like picking up an "easy" read, as most of the stuff piled on my nightstand is currently "heavier" fare. Since I saw the series last Fall I've been curious about the books. About how well they were adapted, what was different, if it furthered the story and "what happens next". Well, I was a bit disappointed in the novel. Rather vulgar (almost more so than the show, and I thought that was rough), flat storytelling, and some of my favourite characters from the show either weren't in the book (Tara) or were just plain bleh (Lafayette is much more "alive" on-screen). The first person narrative does make for easy reading, and the story is a bit compelling (it's a novel idea, vampires "coming out of the coffin" and trying to live "normal" lives out in the open thanks to the synthetic "True Blood"), but it wasn't anywhere as near as entertaining as the series, and definitely not motivating enough for me to head back downtown to pick up (and so pay for) the next book. If I get hold of them through a library or someone loans them to me then I'll probably read them, as the story does awaken my curiosity somewhat.
Posdata: Te Amo a.k.a. P.S. I Love You by Ceclia Ahern (a friend loaned this one to me so I read it in Spanish)
"Cecelia Ahern's debut novel, PS, I Love You, follows the engaging, witty and occasionally sappy reawakening of Holly, a young Irish widow who must put her life back together after she loses her husband Gerry to a brain tumour."
O.k., so sounds like a potential downer. But if the term bittersweet ever applied to anything, it does to this story. It's a lovely tale of someone trying to make sense of their life and moving on after the death of a loved one. So yes some very sad moments, but mostly... it's FUNNY! Chock full of fun moments as Holly follows the instructions left to her by her dead husband in 10 little notes she's allowed to open once a month.
For those who might say "why bother reading this, I've already seen the movie"... forget it! Two totally different animals. They've got the same premise: young woman loses "soulmate" husband but he left her a series of notes/letters to help her grieve and move forward with her life. But from then on out the only thing the same are some of the names! In the movie she's an Irish-American New Yorker, in the book she's a Dubliner. Her friends are just a small part in the film, whereas they're integral to the novel. Ditto her family. And a totally different ending (that actually makes more sense than that of the film).
So give it a try. Enjoy the sad and the good moments. Don't be afraid to wipe away tears (they will come wether you want them to or ot), and enjoy the laughs that come right after! :o)
And that's that. Dunno if I'll have a chance to read much more in April... It's about time I locked myself back into my thesis with 0 distractions...
Hi - thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving some great comments. I currently have five books going. It's just ridiculous - it's like I have ADD or something. But both of these look like great summer reads.
ReplyDeleteThx for dropping by!
ReplyDeletePersonally I've only ever been able to read more than one book at once when one of them was a big new hardback, and the other a old familiar paperback I'd carry around to read on the bus or in waiting rooms or whatever. I never leave my house (unless am heading out for a fun evening) without something to read in my bag! In this world we spend too much time sitting around places just waiting... books make all that go by so much faster!
(and yeah, I'd definitely put those books in summer read category)