What I've Been Reading

Summer is such a great time to chill out and read. I've made a run-down of some of the books I've liked so far:


1.
Jodi Picoult's Salem Falls is one of my favorite books by her. A lot of her books teeter on the edge of a cheesy love and loss story and an intriguing plot. This one had a few twists that weren't exactly believable, but it was a good one overall. The courtroom scenes were very good!



Plot: Jack St. Bride has just been released from jail for raping a teenage student of his. He claims to not have committed the crime. He gets a job as a dishwasher at Addie Peabody's Do-or-Diner, and the two become romantically involved. The town of Salem Falls learns he is a registered sex offender and they want him kicked out of town. A group of girls in the town secretly practice Wicca, a form of nature-magic. The leader of the coven, Gillian Duncan becomes infatuated with Jack and tries to lure him to her. After some odd occurrences, Jack is accused of raping Gilly, and the rest of the book focuses on the trial and his relationship with Addie.









2. The one everyone is talking about: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. This is a great book for young teen girls. I like the plot and characters, but so many of the scenes are just so melodramatic and lovey-dovey (which is why it's great for young teens). And the plot gets even more ridiculous with the sequels New Moon and Eclipse. But it's a fun book, and totally unrealistic. That being said, I can't wait to see the movie December 12.



Plot: Bella Swan moves from sunny Phoenix to small-town-overcast-Forks, Washington. Bella is an awkward person who finds herself being popular due to her status as a novelty in Forks. At school, she notices the Cullens, a group of pale but beautiful kids who are ostracized from the other kids. They're all adopted. Edward Cullen is her lab partner and they do not initially get along very well. However, Edward saves Bella from a car hitting her with some sort of inhuman strength that he later denies. Turns out, Edward and his family are vampires who have pledged not to taste human blood. Edward and Bella fall in love, and face another crazy vampire who wants to kill Bella.









3. Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey is the book that spawned my interest in fantasy and science fiction writing. It's an easy read with a few holes that are later explained in other parts of the series of Pern books.



Plot: Lessa, a 21 year old, is working as a drudge on rural planet Pern in the hold of Ruatha. However, before a violent invasion that made her a virtual slave, Lessa had been daughter to the Lord of Ruatha. F'lar, a dragonrider, is searching for female candidates to bond and ride the golden queen dragon that is soon to hatch. He is impressed with Lessa's skills and determination, and she Impresses the gold queen Ramoth. The purpose of dragons is to fight Thread, a substance that falls from the sky every few hundred years and kills every organic substance it touches. However, Thread has not fallen on Pern for 400 years, making the lords and some of the dragonriders disbelieve its existence. F'lar and Lessa do not believe Thread is gon, and plan for its return. When it does return, the dragonriders are constantly exhausted due to their low numbers. Lessa finds a way to have more dragons at a great personal risk . . .




Now, I do realize that all three of these are by female authors; that was not intentional. Also, while I'm not a feminist or anything, I really respect Anne McCaffrey as a female science-fiction writer. It's hard enough to get novels published and mass-produced, and she did it at a time when female sci-fi writers were pretty much unheard of.