February read

So, continuing on with my two-year resolution to read more and document said reads, for better or worse, here’s my list for February. Ok, it’s not quite as many books as my January effort, but Kat’s Creations and I are doing this for reals!
Yeah, alright, my book list this month isn't exactly pushing the literary boundaries. But you know what? That's just fine with me.

I continued on with my quest to read all of Richelle Mead's books because the woman has a knack for witty, digestible fantasy. Thorn Queen, the sequel to Storm Born, was okay. Not brilliant, especially the first half. It was the concluding half of the book I really enjoyed and it actually got me excited for the third installment in The Dark Swan series, which is out this month. My problem with the series though is I like my fantasy to have some grounding in reality (like her books with Rose Hathaway, for example) and with these you sincerely have to check your skepticism at the door and just go on this ride. Which I found difficult to do at times.

Avalon High is by The Princess Diaries author Meg Cabot, who tends to write for mid-teens and yes, I know I'm in my early twenties but I was a big fan of her All American Girl series when I was younger. Also, reading John Douglas' book on some of the most brutal, horrific and fascinating serial crimes, I needed something to break up story after story about real life abductions, murders, rapes and serial killings. It's black, black stuff but an interesting read because as one of the FBI's best (and first) criminal profilers, Douglas really gives you an insight into the criminal mind and the situation of the victims - which usually just turns out to be a case of bad luck, bad timing or bad judgement. I saw Avalon High had been made into a Disney movie and Cabot's read was sufficiently fluffy, enough to balance the death of the Douglas book. I appreciated the research she put into all the King Arthur mythology, but all the American highschool cliches were challenging for me to overlook.

Finally, Matched, which reaffirmed my belief that a dystopian future is the new highschool in young adult fiction these days. I'm a huge fan of The Hunger Games trilogy, so naturally when comparisons were made with Matched I was intrigued. But in reality, they're pretty different. Sure, they're both set in a dystopian future where an all-seeing, all-controlling government force controls the masses, but Matched swaps the blood, horror and politics of The Hunger Games for romance and fate dilemmas. It ain't half bad. You can see its been heavily influenced by George Orwell’s 1984, which I read for the first time last month, but author Ally Condie has reimagined it for a younger audience who perhaps want something a tad less depressing. You know, that `hope’ thing the kids are so big on these days? I was hoping to have finished Hunter S. Thompson’s Hell’s Angels by the end of the month, but couldn’t quite get there. It’s a shame, because it might have restored some of my street cred given the Meg Cabot tween orientated novel here. So shoot me? Her stuff is easy to read and I can smash it out in six hours or less, with absolutely no kiddy rape or murder *cough John Douglas cough*. Stay tuned next month.