I'm not going to be terribly organized about this because to be honest, the most important thing to me is to just keep going when I can. So this post is going to be random and all over the place.
First off, The Classics Club is hosting Shakespeare in January, a celebration of the Bard and his works. I have the best of intentions of reading all of his works at some point in my life, so I am looking forward to jumping head-first into this. I'd like to read/listen to 3 Shakespeare plays. I have an audiobook version of Hamlet and would also like to read King Lear and Richard II. They will be hosting a different event every month and while I don't plan on participating in every event, many of them appeal to me so plan on seeing more of that.
Finally, I finished two books today so I'm going to review them. I can't always keep up with blogging about all the books I read -- I read too many and have so many other obligations that sometimes they fall by the wayside. However, I have been fortunate enough to receive many great books from publishers and NetGalley and I want to attempt to review as many as I can. So... on with that.
First of all, have you ever read the blog Hyperbole and a Half? I have been reading it for years and it is hilarious. She writes about her memories and simple every day emotions and events with a humor and bluntness that is refreshing and laugh-out-loud funny. I was very excited to see that Allie Brosh was writing a book from her blog; however, I was disappointed at how much of her content was simply repeated in the book. I was hoping to see more new stories. While there were some scattered throughout the book, they didn't quite live up to the original blog posts. Honestly, I'd recommend simply visiting her blog -- you could easily spend hours there (I have). However, if you want to get to the best-of posts quickly, the book is the way to go.
3 stars
I read Divergent about 18 months ago, and I liked it decently, although to me it didn't measure up to The Hunger Games, to which it is frequently compared. While I liked it, I wasn't overly excited to dive into the remaining books in the trilogy. However, with the final book finally out and the buzz surrounding the movie, I decided it was finally time to finish this series. I found Insurgent to be more compelling than Divergent. The characters and their choices are more complex than I sometimes see in YA and especially dystopian YA -- there are so many nuances to each decision. In that sense, Insurgent reminded me of Mockingjay. A war is being fought but there are more than just two sides, and each side has many flaws as well as merits. The adventure of the story kept me invested, and the many twists kept me reeling. While Insurgent is not a book that shattered my illusions or had a lasting impact on me, it was an entertaining read.
3 stars
