2011 Books: 26 - 33

Yikes, it's been awhile since I updated. While it doesn't look like it here, my reading speed has been really stunted lately. I'm stuck on a book that I don't find very interesting, yet I feel too guilty to give up on it. Anyway, here are my latest reads.

26: Frostbite by Richelle Mead

This is another one of the books in the Vampire Academy series. It’s been awhile since I read it, and I don’t remember much of what happened. There were a bunch of vampires and vampire protectors at a ski lodge, and then there was a bunch of teen angst lust drama that somehow ended in murder, sloppiness, and then sadness. Everyone kept telling me how great these books are, but I find them more like episodes of Teen Mom. Even as I start reading it, I know that it’s probably not good for me, but they suck me in, and then three hours later I’m left wondering where my time disappeared.

27: The Doll's House by Neil Gaiman

Again, I was a bit surprise to find just how much I enjoyed reading the graphic novel/comic format. In this one, I was able to find a Robert Smith poster hanging in the background of one of the scenes, and it made me love it all that much more. These stories are very dark and there is a lot of violence, but yet the story is engaging and the characters are interesting enough that you want to keep reading to find out what is happening. I also really love the artwork, but that's really what got me started on them in the first place. Overall, I am a fan of this series.

28: The Polaroid Book

I really love the idea of natural, one-snap photography. These days things are so over processed and auto-corrected that it has now become much more intriguing to see a natural photo of something beautiful. That is why I love Instagram (@sughadust if you're interested in seeing my random photos of vinyl, cookies, and cats). It is mostly just normal people capturing everyday life. This book reminds me of Instagram. I loved being able to go through and pick out some of the photographers, but generally I didn’t find the book quite as interesting as I had hoped.

29: The Crow

I am a fan of the dark and macabre. When I saw The Crow movie, I was instantly in love with the story and really appreciated how poetic the story was. However, I really didn’t like the graphic novel that well. I felt demented for reading it. It was so gruesome and unforgivingly violent. Granted, I'll read the Sandman series without a second thought, but I felt like this one lacked the emotional substance that could have balanced it out. However, I did enjoy the art work and loved the use of the Cure and Joy Division quotes.

30 & 32: The Secret Circle, Volume 1 and Volume 2 By L.J. Smith

I have a thing with L.J. Smith’s writing. .I get hooked on her books and can’t put them down. I loved The Vampire Diaries, but I enjoyed the Secret Circle Series more. I like that the story revolved around witches living in New England. I was immediately sucked in and read through both collections in about two days’ time. It’s actually driving me a little crazy that there wasn’t more to read. I love the characters and I felt like the story was just beginning.

31: Recollection: Volume 1 and 33: The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 1

Both of these books came from http://hitrecord.org/, which is the brainchild of Joseph Gordon-Levitt and others. I can’t even do it justice, so I suggest checking out the site and what they’re doing with their lovely community of online artists. I was particularly taken with The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories. I loved that all of the content in the books was entirely original and interesting. There wasn’t a sales spin on anything, and it was exciting to see the process of multiple artists coming together on projects.