So since I last posted, I spent a lot of time going to dinner, wandering around stores, hanging out at my sister’s house, and sleeping.

And a little time reading.

Two mini-reviews for you: Book: French Kiss by Sarra Manning (Diary of a Crush: Book 1) Time Spent Reading It: 2 hrs 7 min

It’s a cute, quick read.  It falls squarely in the category of romance, which means there’s not much of a plot besides the romance part.  That made me a bit sad, because romance on its own just isn’t that interesting to me.  I’m much more in favor of adventure with a little romance.  This was just a sixteen year old British young woman bopping around France with a bunch of 19 year olds and having a bizarre, intense attraction to a moody art boy.  If you’re looking for a sweet romance, it’s a good read.  It treads carefully in the department of sex, having the main character emphasize how she knows she’s not ready for it while she’s in the midst of all of these university-aged other kids who are hooking up all the time.  I think it’s a very good perspective. 

After Death’s Daughter and French Kiss, I was ready for something more serious…

Book: Stop Pretending by Sonya Sones Time Spent Reading It: 29 min

Boy, howdy, did this one take me in a new direction.  This is a verse novel about a twelve-year-old girl whose older sister has a breakdown.  It’s based on Sonya Sones’s actual experience when her sister had a breakdown.  It made me cry a lot.  Mental illness is an important issue to me, and reading about it always kinda pokes me in a vulnerable spot and is a bit like pushing down on a bruise - it doesn’t hurt when you’re not touching it, it’s easy to forget it’s there, but then when you do touch it, boy is it intense.  I was so happy to read in the note Sonya Sones wrote at the end of the book that her sister is married and a librarian and stuff.  It was such a nice thing to know, that her sister wasn’t forever stuck in a mental hospital unable to connect with anyone or do anything besides just be crazy.  (I know it’s not PC to call folks crazy but when you’re on the inside looking out, it’s easier to call it like you see it.)

Total Time Spent Reading: 6 hrs 28 min

Next Up: The Queen of Cool by Cecil Castellucci