Three Down, Thirty-Seven to Go

I have had the advantage of being able to read during travel and doubling up on my reading by putting books on my kindle and on my iPod. I finished up Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom series just after the new year. I would recommend it to anyone, from middle school age on up to the octogenarians.

I have also had the pleasure of picking up my first Stephen King novel, Carrie, which was the first book I pulled off the book list that I could find for my kindle. I did not know what to expect from this prolific author with such a reputation preceding him, but I was pleasantly surprised. He was as interesting as Crichton, but a little more reader friendly, I thought. Also a little more vulgar, but that never really bothered me.

Speaking of vulgarity, the second book that I finished today also fits that brief: Fahrenheit 451. This was a classic that managed to escape me (one of the many to escape me) during my high school years. I found  myself intrigued. I know I will go back and read this book again and learn more from it some time in the future. There was something strangely comforting about this dystopic setting with all of its odd characters, most of whom were strangely well-read for people who were not allowed to read books by law. It made me wonder how they learned to read in the first place. I suppose they were taught when they were younger, before all the book burning, but I almost feel that some of these characters should have had a little more atrophy of their reading skills. After sounding critical, I will go on to say that I loved this book and I see it becoming one of the books that I will read over and over, just as I have talked about the Wicked series (by Gregory Maguire) and Little Women (Louisa May Alcott). I think it is because I know I have more to learn from this book and that one reading or, in this case, listening could not nearly be enough to truly get at the depth Bradbury offers.

I wish everyone a Happy New Year and happy reading!