To Read or Not To Read

I think it's hard to stay haunted after a book ends. I take a book, read and finish it, then move on to the next. I reflect a little bit about it when it's over, but I usually find myself thinking about that book a couple days after I finish it, long after I've read a couple more books. Jennifer Donnelly and her books break that curve. It was hard to put A Northern Light down, and harder to look at These Shallow Graves and not pick it back up. In this post, I'm going to review two of Jennifer Donnelly's books. I'll list them below and then they'll each have their own section and review. If reading her books have taught me anything, it's that she's probably one of my favorite authors now. Her writing inspires mine. I can't quite put my finger on what makes it so awesome, but I'm glad she's set the bar so high. I'll continue to sing her praises below, so enjoy. In order of publication: A Northern Light - 2003 These Shallow Graves

I thought this was fun to do a couple months ago, and I've decided to do another post like it. Here's the good, the bad, and the ugly of 2017 so far. THE GOOD: Ready Player One   by Ernest Cline  was surprisingly intoxicating. I'm not a gamer, and never have been, but I found that I couldn't have cared less about the gamer-basis of the story. I liked it, don't get me wrong, and the concept was great. I really loved how the book addressed the difference that technology can have on our lives. I also enjoyed how the main character realized that our lives can't be a game, and that we have a duty to the real world, not a world that was created to be an oasis for us. Lastly, I liked how the main character and all the other characters learned that it's not about what we look like that's important; it's the make up of our minds and thoughts that make us who we are.  Lord of Shadows   by Cassandra Clare  was an engaging read. The second book in