five!

I have a plan.

Five books this month. Three for sure. Four.

It's my birthday, people. At least in a few weeks. Good enough reason, yeah?

They are:

1-3) Hunger Games series.

Me and my skeptical self borrowed 1 and 2 from my SIL. Now I wish I had them because I need to reread, even though I read them first not too long ago.

This girl (me) doesn't retain information well nor does she pick up on most details on the first read.

It's been a crazy summer.

4) Forever by Judy Blume.

I was initially against even looking at this because I hear the name Judy Blume and for some reason associate it with Ramona Quimby. And while the various Ramona books were and are awesome and I'm introducing my seven-year-old (that's right!) to her, I'm not really in the mood anymore.

But I'm intrigued upon closer inspection of this book. A book written in 1975 is just as controversial now as it was then?

Oh hell yes.

5) The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen.

Okay. So, weird. I'm a TOTAL black sheep in this area and have a confession to make: I'm not a big Sarah Dessen fan. I first read her because I learned she was big (okay, huge) with the YA crowd and I wanted to know what her style was, her MO, her stories, what made her a success. I read This Lullaby and was, uhm, not incredibly impressed.

I'll admit the woman can write. It's clean. Squeaky clean. Not in a moral sense, but in a technical sense. Everything has a purpose. She ties up every single loose end. Her dialogue is believable and realistic.

But I felt as if Dessen slapped me in the face with her message (for lack of a better word--and please don't ask me what the message was. I'm exhausted, it's been a while, and someone has my copy right now).

It was just too clean. I need a little mess! Not too much, but a little. It doesn't seem real enough without a little mess.

I suppose I'm touchy about the message because my writing teacher pounded it into our heads that we needed to write with a message in mind. I am writing this book to prove...

And then, I couldn't write. It became about the message and not about the story.

Anyway, Sarah's books strike me as slightly formulaic. Kind of like how certain factors in every Nicholas whatshisface...oh! Sparks books are rather predictable. I could totally be wrong in my word choice there, but that's the impression I get.

But, that said, I have to respect her talent. I have to respect a writer who can command her audience the way she has. She has a following, a very loyal one. And a good friend of mine who has never, ever steered me wrong suggested I read one of Dessen's books while I visited last summer. I think it was Keeping the Moon. I liked it better than Lullaby. I read it in about two days, two busy days (keeping in mind that I didn't have any kids or husband or house to deal with while I visited).

So after reading a review of The Truth About Forever at Forever Young Adult, I figured I'd give her another go. Third time's the charm? Maybe I can force myself to fall in love and get what the big deal is.

Maybe. Maybe there's a good, cheap used version somewhere.

In the meantime I still need to get through The Book Thief. It's not that it's a bad book. So far it's interesting enough.

I'm just lazy.