The Reading Room (13)

The Reading Room is a weekly update on books I'm reading and planning to read. It was inspired by the feature On Myshelf at the blog All by Myshelf.

For some unknown reason, I've had absolutely no homework this week, so I've been able to finish the books from my last post. I loved A Tale of Two Castles just as much as I thought I would, and La's Orchestra Saves the World was good, too. The only book I haven't finished is - of course - The Iron King. The plot's starting to get more interesting and with the other books read I think I'll be able to finish it this week, but so far I don't like the characters and nothing's pulled me into the story.

With my reading list diminished, it was of course time for a trip to the library. And...well, before I go any farther, I promise, I can explain.

The very first book I grabbed was Lights on the Nile, by Donna Jo Napoli, for several reasons: it was new, it looked good, and it's another book I can add to my reading list for the YA Historical Fiction Challenge I'm participating in. I know, I know. I've already read two books set in Ancient Egypt since the beginning of the school year, Cleopatra Confesses and Cleopatra's Moon. At least this one's not about Cleopatra! And I promise, the next book I find will be something that doesn't relate to Egypt. Well, the next book after The Red Pyramid, which is one of our books for Reading Competition.

I wandered around for awhile after I found this book, looking for another one to take home. There were a lot of new books on display, but most were the second in a series (and of course they didn't have the first one) or just didn't look that interesting. I finally settled on How to Save a Life, by Sara Zarr, which I had looked at but was unsure about until the librarian recommended it. I trust her judgement - it hasn't steered me to a bad book yet.

Two books, however, are not nearly enough for a dedicated bookworm like myself with more time on her hands than she's used to. Plus, I'd found some unused Barnes&Noble gift cards and the 14-odd dollars were burning a hole in my pocket. So after I returned from the library, I downloaded The Fire, the final book in James Patterson's Witch and Wizard series. I can't wait to see where he's going with it and how it's going to end. It left me with only a few dollars left, but there might be another gift card coming my way if I keep up my A in math until the end of the marking period.

Hoping this no-homework trend continues,
~blackandwhitedreamer