Heaven and Hell

Finally starting my summer reading:

***May 29th Update!!***

YAY!!! I did it! Finally got through Dante’s Inferno. Sadly, it wasn’t all that I’ve heard. I mean it was amazing especially being a poem, but for me, it was missing something. Full book review here if you’re interested!

So! What’s next? Well… after looking at the scoreboard (and comments), I was feeling great! There are three people at 80 pts, including myself, yay! So I did a little dance and patted myself on the back for catching up! And then I checked the comments. ACK! Someone is already at 135 points! WHAT!? Ok, ok. I can do this. I finished Dante’s Inferno (high five to myself) so, now I have 95 points and the books left are:

• (5) The Book Thief
• (10) Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
• (20) Lisey’s Story
• (25) Salem’s Lot
• (25) Dangerous to know
• (20) The Blackout by Mira Grant & Halo

Being the VERY competitive person that I am, I think I’ll read the Blackout (which also gives me another zombie book) and Halo to finish the antonym portion, Dangerous to Know and start Lisey’s Story all this week. Whew! If I can get all of them finished that will give me a total of 160. Leaving The Book Thief, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Salem’s Lot for next week so by June 10th I will be completely done with this and that willl give me time to work on the 2nd Summer Reading Challenge! YAY for plans! ❤

I do realize that Halo and Blackout are a bit of a stretch, but surprisingly after looking up Halo I found that they are indeed antonyms. YAY for learning something new today:

ha·lo

[hey-loh] Show IPA noun, plural ha·los, ha·loes, verb, ha·loed, ha·lo·ing.

noun

1.

Also called nimbus. a geometric shape, usually in the form of a disk, circle, ring, or rayed structure, traditionally representing a radiant light around or above the head of a divine or sacred personage, an ancient or medieval monarch, etc.

2.

an atmosphere or quality of glory, majesty, sanctity, or the like: the halo around Shakespeare’s works; She put a halo around her son.

3.

Meteorology . any of a variety of bright circles or arcs centered on the sun or moon, caused by the refraction or reflection of light by ice crystals suspended in the earth’s atmosphere and exhibiting prismatic coloration ranging from red inside to blue outside ( distinguished from corona).

4.

Astronomy . a spherical cloud of gas clusters and stars that form part of a spiral galaxy.

5.

an undesirable bright or dark ring surrounding an image on the fluorescent screen of a television tube, due to some fault either in transmission or reception.

May 1st:

The books that I currently have are in a “To Read” stack and are just waiting for me to pick them up! I’ve been debating, hardest ones first? I have seven pretty easy books on this list but then Dante’s Inferno is going to take me a bit and Wicked will definitely take me a while! So… the stack is set and I may just go close my eyes and pick one to begin with today!

The goal, hmm… what is the goal? Other than to have them all read by September 1st? I think my personal goal is to finish one or two a week. That puts me right at the end of the read a thon! And those weeks when I’m being a bit more antsy or have more time hopefully I can squeeze in one or two more.

Now, when to read Dante’s Inferno… I have to admit, although I have wanted to read this book, quite literally what feels like FOR EVER, it’s intimidating. But, here’s to digging in and having fun while doing it!

May 15th:

 

I have finished the memoir on Elizabeth Bathory, for the memoir, good story but not exactly what I was expecting, quite political actually more than gruesome, but still all in all it was quite interesting. Guilty Pleasures was pretty much a breeze, not completely a Laurell K. Hamilton fan but I may have to get the next in the series and see if it picks up. I do have to say the climax and character arc for this one was quite good though, definitely kept me wanting to know what happened to Anita.

I could NOT put down the P.C. Cast books! I know many people have given Zoey a hard time (I know like she’s a real person, right?) but whether she’s a vamp or not, she’s a teenager people! Come on, you’re supposed to make stupid mistakes when you’re a teenager. I personally love her and have already picked up books 5, Untamed and 6, Hunted. Reviews on book 1, Marked and book 2, Betrayed are up, and Chosen is on it’s merry way!

Now… what has surprised me the most so far? Grim Reaper, End of Days by Steve Alten was marvelous. My husband did not like this one at all but I’m sure that is in part due to the spirituality of the book. I thought the characters were fabulous, the plot literally ran by! I was shocked to be in the middle of the book and it seemed like the plot was just starting. But that’s not a bad thing. It was fantastic. Just finished this baby today but will get it’s review up soon, it’s going to be a promising one!

Whew… what’s next? Dante’s Inferno! YUP! I’m finally going to tackle it. Then I’ll probably read the Bad Place by Dean Koontz to finish off the Antonym challenge. That is, if I get through Dante’s Inferno unscathed!

**Subject to change**

• (5) The Book Thief (A book from World Book Night)
• (10) Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (A book everyone was supposed to read in High School)
• (10) Countess, a Novel about Elizabeth Bathory (A memoir or narrative nonfiction)
• (15) Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton (Read a book in a day, at least 150 pages)
• (15) Dante’s Inferno (Something you’ve always wanted to read)
• (20)  The Blackout by Mira Grant & Halo by Alexandro Adornetto (Pair of books with antonyms in the titles)
• (20) Lisey’s Story by Stephen King (A book that is set in a place you’ve wanted to visit)
• (25) Salem’s Lot (A book written the year you were born and became a movie)
• (25) Dangerous to Know by Tasha Alexander (Pick a bookshelf in a store or library, find the 3rd book from the left, 4th shelf down, at least 200 pages)
• (25) Grim Reaper, End of Days by Steve Alten (A book you’ve heard bad things about)
• (30) Marked, Betrayed, Chosen by P.C. Cast (Trilogy!)

Related articles

• Dante’s Inferno’s Trials Of St. Lucia Gives You Wings [Gallery] (kotaku.com)
• Dante’s Inferno (xingu2.wordpress.com)
• From the Grief-Wrack City to Wackyland (aspoonfulofsuga.wordpress.com)
• On the Contemporariness of Dante’s Inferno (karlomongaya.wordpress.com)
• Lisey’s Story (stacynelliott.wordpress.com)
• Charlaine Harris, living and dying in Bon Temps (kansascity.com)

Tags: adventures of huckleberry finn, Bad Place, Dante, Dean Koontz, Huckleberry Finn, Inferno, Laurell K. Hamilton, literature, Stephen King, Tasha Alexander, writing