A Look at My Bookshelf #6

Hello, and happy Saturday!

Now that it's August, my frantic reading pace has slowed–but only slightly.

I finished . . .

The Ship Beyond Time, by Heidi Heilig

This book did not disappoint! Like the first book, The Girl from Everywhere, I had no idea as to what was coming next, and I loved the unpredictability. I found a bunch of typos, but the plot and characters were so amazing, the typos didn't really bother me.

I started . . .

The Four Loves, by C.S. Lewis

So far, this is another brilliant book of theology/Christian living from C.S. Lewis. It's reminding me more of The Screwtape Letters than Mere Christianity–that is to say, it's more about the Christian living than about the theology. I am enjoying it.

I read . . .

The Penderwicks, by Jeanne Birdsall

What a fun book! Very reminiscent of Little Women, but set in the 21st century. I especially enjoyed the sisters and their relationships to one another, and of the four sisters, Batty was my favorite. I was a little annoyed at first that the girls seemed to have cardboard personalities (i.e. Rosalind is the practical one, Skye is the impetuous one, Jane is the dreamy one, Batty is the shy one), but all of them actually underwent growth throughout the book, which I appreciated.

Wildwood, by Colin Meloy

I loved this book so much! My expectations going into it were extremely low for some reason (I'm not sure why . . .?), but I was quickly sucked into the book. It has everything I love: great characters, fresh, creative setting and plot, good writing. The descriptions were so vivid and perfect. I want to go live in North Wood now.

The descriptions of the terrain during the **SPOILERS** battle at the end **END OF SPOILERS** were hard to follow, but I blithely ignored them and focused on what was actually happening and it was fine. I'm definitely going to be reading the other two books.

The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Field Guide, by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi

I'm disappointed. I was expecting great things from this book, and then . . . there wasn't much of a plot, the characters were mediocre, and the writing was so-so. I guess I liked it that Mallory fences. That was cool. And it was easy to read. I think I read it in about an hour and a half.

Have you read any of these? What have you been reading lately?