NaNaNaNaNaNaNaNa Monday!

Despite what you're thinking I'm not a Batman fan... That's just kind of how I felt today. Just a little hyper. :)
So it's Monday and what am I reading? A lot as you will see. I'm not sure how on earth I got this much reading done this last week. They weren't at all hard books though, and the harder one (Miniatures and Morals) was short so that would explain it. Plus, after my test, I had time to indulge in some reading before cracking the books again. :) Links will take you to the books' Goodreads page. 

I'm continuing to listen to Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South via LibriVox and enjoying it a lot. It will probably take me awhile to finish it so don't expect a review soon. :)

Goodreads Synopsis: When her father leaves the Church in a crisis of conscience, Margaret Hale is uprooted from her comfortable home in Hampshire to move with her family to the north of England. Initially repulsed by the ugliness of her new surroundings in the industrial town of Milton, Margaret becomes aware of the poverty and suffering of the local mill workers and develops a passionate sense of social justice. This is intensified by her tempestuous relationship with the mill-owner and self-made man, John Thornton, as their fierce opposition over his treatment of his employees masks a deeper attraction. In North and South, Elizabeth Gaskell skillfully fuses individual feeling with social concern, and in Margaret Hale creates one of the most original heroines of Victorian literature.

Last week I started and finished reading Dean Koontz's book Odd Thomas. I've read couple of his books before and enjoyed them so my Dad recommended this to me and I loved it just much, in some ways even more, as the others. There are more books about Odd Thomas following this one so I'll probably get around to reading those someday too. Also there is a movie out of it that my Dad likes a lot so now that I'm done I'll have to check that out.

Goodreads Synopsis: "The dead don't talk. I don't know why." But they do try to communicate, with a short-order cook in a small desert town serving as their reluctant confidant. Odd Thomas thinks of himself as an ordinary guy, if possessed of a certain measure of talent at the Pico Mundo Grill and rapturously in love with the most beautiful girl in the world, Stormy Llewellyn.

Maybe he has a gift, maybe it's a curse, Odd has never been sure, but he tries to do his best by the silent souls who seek him out. Sometimes they want justice, and Odd's otherworldly tips to Pico Mundo's sympathetic police chief, Wyatt Porter, can solve a crime. Occasionally they can prevent one. But this time it's different.

A mysterious man comes to town with a voracious appetite, a filing cabinet stuffed with information on the world's worst killers, and a pack of hyena-like shades following him wherever he goes. Who the man is and what he wants, not even Odd's deceased informants can tell him. His most ominous clue is a page ripped from a day-by-day calendar for August 15.
Today is August 14.

In less than twenty-four hours, Pico Mundo will awaken to a day of catastrophe. As evil coils under the searing desert sun, Odd travels through the shifting prisms of his world, struggling to avert a looming cataclysm with the aid of his soul mate and an unlikely community of allies that includes the King of Rock 'n' Roll. His account of two shattering days when past and present, fate and destiny converge is the stuff of our worst nightmares, and a testament by which to live: sanely if not safely, with courage, humor, and a full heart that even in the darkness must persevere.

Randomly I picked up Minatures and Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen by Peter Leithart. It was actually a reread. I had been mentioning to my mother that I wanted to pick it up again sometime in the future but then got carried away with that idea and picked it up that day and started it then finished the next day. I forgot how much I loved it. Leithart really fleshes out her books, looking at them from a deep Christian perspective. My favorite line from the book, and one that I often tell people when I'm giving them my quite opinionated view on reading Austen's novels is; "Real men read Austen." 
So I would highly recommend this book to all Jane Austen lovers and if you aren't a Jane Austen lover then obviously fix that! ;)

Goodreads Synopsis: Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen Not only are Austen's novels still widely read, they continue to influence modern film and literature. In both their moral content and their focused, highly detailed, "miniaturist" execution, they reveal Austen's mastery of the art of fiction and her concern for Christian virtues exercised within communities. She entertains, edifies, and challenges men and women readers alike. From theological and literary angles, Leithart analyzes character and theme while summarizing each of Austen's major works-Pride & Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, Sense & Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion. Including helpful review and thought questions for each section, this book is an excellent introduction to Austen for students and for all who desire a richer appreciation of her enduring genius.

I also started Tolkien's Roverandom, which is actually a children's book about a dog but still with fantasy themes... it is Tolkien after all. ;) It's an fun and easy read and interesting in the light of it being Tolkien. Time will tell what I think of it but so far so good. :)

Goodreads Synopsis: In 1925, while on vacation with his family on the Yorkshire coast, four-year-old Michael Tolkien lost his favorite toy, a little lead dog he was reluctant to put down even to dig in the sand. To console and distract him, his father, J. R. R. Tolkien, improvised a story - the story of Rover, a real dog magically transformed into a toy, who, after many fantastic adventures in search of the wizard who wronged him, at last wins back his life. This charming tale, peopled by a wise old whale and a terrible dragon, by the king of the sea and the Man-in-the-Moon, was a Tolkien family favorite, going through several typewritten drafts over many years. In 1936, Tolkien submitted it to his British publishers as a possible follow-up to The Hobbit. What his publishers really wanted, however, was another story about Middle-earth, and so he set aside this little book to begin his masterwork, The Lord of the Rings.

I have that pile of library books I recklessly got a couple weeks ago that I need to dig into before they're due back. Odd Thomas and Roverandom were two of them but I still have the collection of Mary Westcott's (Agatha Christie's pseudonym in her early years) books and Jeff Shaara's Gods and Generals. I also borrowed Tolkien's Book of Lost Tales back at the beginning of the year that I need to read as well. So no lack of reading material! Just time. :)

Check out these reviews I posted this past week. :)
Book Review- The Warden
Book Review: The Children of Húrin
Book Review: The Comedy of Errors

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