Gone too long!

Pop quiz: what happens at the intersection of National Foster Care Month and the organization one works for changing their name? A book blogger falls off the map, that's what! But, thankfully, I'm enjoying some much-deserved vacation time and I have been reading, reading, reading. Sadly, Goodreads is down for maintenance at the moment, so I'm going fully from memory.

My first big accomplishment: finishing The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon. Now, you all know that I love the Outlander books. That said . . . whew, those books take a lot out of a reader. The level of detail that Gabaldon includes in her novels is astronomical. I find that I have to read when I've tucked in to bed at night because that gives me a level of concentration that I don't have otherwise. The really cool thing: such a high and intricate level of detail means exquisitely developed scenes and characters. It's a book where you can really feel as thought you've been dropped into the middle of Fraser's Ridge and are looking around you and seeing exactly what the characters are seeing. The not so cool thing: there are times when it gets tedious. I admit to skimming a few paragraphs (ahem, okay, pages) from time to time. And I admit to rolling my eyes now and again. But, in my defense, how much can happen to one person?! Caution: minor spoilers ahead: kidnapping, hanging, shooting, snake bites. Sheesh! It's a miracle anyone ever survived the 1700s in America at this rate! Regardless, I'm still curious to find out what happens next . . . after a break in that particular series, of course.

So, aside from The Fiery Cross, I've read a few others. I ducked back to childhood to read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which was just plain fun. I had actually not read the book before, but I've always had a love for the original film. It's pretty neat how close the film is to the book. Even pure stretches of dialogue came directly from Dahl's pages! I tried another novel-to-film book, P.S. I Love You, but I just couldn't get into it. Only about 75 pages in and it was so different from the screen version. I know the book came first and all, and that's why I generally try to read a book before seeing the movie. I find that I just can't let the author take me away after I've seen it on the big screen.

I also went to the big kick off of Greenfield Public Library's Never-Ending Book Sale and had a lot of fun there. Found several books for my sister's classroom, as well as a few titles for myself: Erik Larson's In the Garden of Beasts and A Crafty Killing by Lorraine Bartlett. 

So! What have you all been reading? Or what's on your to-read shelf? I need an update!