Friday, November 29, 2013

Whatcha Readin'?

With two days left in the month of November, I'm a little sick of talking about writing.  (Not sick of writing, just of talking about it.) So, let's talk about something entirely different - READING!

Yeah, if you're my Goodreads friend, you may notice that I started reading Les Miserables.  I know, I know... it's a monster of a book.  And chances are I won't reach my updated goal of 110 books this year because I'm reading this.  But through some error in my youth, I've never read it before.  (Maybe because instead of assigning great books like this, I got stuck reading Catcher in the Rye and Lord of the Flies.  Bleh.)

I also know good ol' Mr. Hugo can be as dry as dust sometimes.  Thanks to my awesome husband, though, I managed to get through Ninety-Three with no problems.  (And I cried which means I definitely was not bored.)  When we first got married, he handed me his copy of Ninety-Three, warned me about Hugo's penchant for over-describing every little freakin' thing, and told me to flip past those parts.  It made reading Hugo so much less daunting.

So yesterday, we were flipping through the channels and noticed the movie was on a premium channel (which we're getting for free this weekend).  It was near the end, but we watched it anyway.  OMG.  Afterwards, I found a Kindle copy for free at Amazon (because there was no way I was going to be able to sit through a hardcopy of this) and started reading it last night after I finished my writing.  So far, it's pretty bland, but I know amazing things are coming.

I also picked up several other books (all for free) I've somehow missed over the years, but that I always wanted to read - Don Quixote, The Three Musketeers, Tom Sawyer, etc.   With the Kindle, I should be able to knock those out a whole lot quicker than in paper form.

Anyway, that's what I'm reading these days.  What are you reading?  Ever read Les Mis?  What have you always wanted to read, but haven't yet?


6 comments:

  1. I just finished Thea Harrison's KINKED. It was a return to form for her, and I liked it better than some of the recent entries in the series. I'll probably read DRAGOS TAKES A HOLIDAY within a few days. At the moment, I'm beta reading a project for a good friend who has stepped completely out of her comfort zone. I can't say who or what but OMG! I'm blown away.

    I did a series of summer reading projects when I was a kid. Did horror one year, (Frankenstein, Dracula, Hunchback of Notre Dame), Big Book classics (Les Miz, War and Peace, Anna Karina, and others. One year, it was all the Musketeers. LOVED them! LOL One year it was the Scarlet Pimpernel books. I'm now lucky enough to have some of the first editions in my library. And yes, I had to read Lord of the Flies, 1984, Catcher in the Rye. and Fahrenheit 451, among others in school.

    Best of luck with Les Miz. Personally? I'd just watch the movie/musical. *nods*

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    1. I haven't read Thea Harrison yet, Silver. Too cool about your friend's project. I'll keep my fingers crossed for them. =o)

      Sounds like you had fun projects as a kid. And of the books you mentioned (other than the school ones), I've only read Frankenstein. There are huge gaps in my education.

      Heh, Les Mis got derailed because I got a special book via email last night and I needs to read it. I'm still going to finish it - but probably interspersed with other books.

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  2. I'm currently reading "Cold Snap" by Allison Brennan (which I believe you've already read). I love the Lucy Kincaid series!

    Can't say there's a book out there I want to read and haven't yet. I guess because I just read it - Dracula. I figured it was kind of ironic that I write about vampires but have never actually read the book, so since I got a free copy on my Nook, I read it. I really liked it, too. I understand so much more now (especially with the TV series - which I'm not liking so much).

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    1. Yep, Stacy. I inhale Allison's books as soon as I can buy them. She's so awesome.

      LOL, I need to get to Dracula eventually, too. I've seen the movie 'Bram Stoker's Dracula', though. ;o)

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  3. I've been reading Eona for a while now... I loved the first book, Eon, an Asian-inspired fantasy with dragons and palace intrigue and a kickass girl, but the second one is not nearly as good. I need to get some new books for Christmas. Sometimes I try to read classics, but I usually end up hating them, LOL.

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    1. I had Eon on my to-read list, but somehow ended up forgetting about it. Good to know it's worth putting back on. Eh, some of the classics hold up, but I think you have to remember they weren't written to what we expect now. (Like with Les Mis, you have to skip past a lot of description - don't get me started on Fenimore Cooper. I love him, but he can spend pages and pages describing a forest.)

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