One of the contributers to my lack of posting last year that I've fallen back into reading. For some reason I find I read more in the summer. Perhaps it's the whole, 'too hot to knit' thing. It also helps that we've been going to the library quite a bit. Our library has an excellent Children's department, and we end up there most Saturdays.
The majority of my reading time has been indulging in the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. I'm a big lover of urban fantasy, and this series has everything I love. The Dresden Files is a mix of magic and film noir with probably one of the most wonderful protagonists I've seen in a while. I'd been aware of the series for a while, but after listening to Knit 1 Geek 2 talk about it, I figured it was time to check it out.
I finished the first book in one day. (Sometimes it pays to be bed-ridden with illness) I'm 10 books into the series and it never disappoints. Unlike many series, it is not formulaic at all. I never know what to expect. The normal exposition that comes with such a series is not as painful as in some others that I have encountered. The protagonist is Harry Dresden, a professional wizard living and working in modern day Chicago. And you can't go wrong with an amazing cast of characters, one of my favorites being Bob, a skull inhabited by an intelligent spirit who has a penchant for romance novels and the personality of a dirty old man.
I must admit that the Dresden Files make up most of the non-audio books I have consumed over the last year, but not surprising considering I'm on book 10. Some other books I've had in hand are:
Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day
Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day
The New Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day
I was turned onto this from another podcast, CraftLit. I love fresh bread and I miss all the little Italian bakeries from back home. The idea is that you mix up the dough, keep it in the fridge and over the course of two weeks cut off what you need and bake it. Easy-peasy. The first two listed I borrowed from the library and showed to my Dad. He's already started the process and says it's a winner. And then they gave me the last book for Christmas. I need to get my supplies and hopefully we will be having fresh bread within the next few weeks.
Technical Theater for Nontechnical People- OMG this book. I keep saying this needs to be required reading for everyone at our University. And I don't just mean in our department or the performing arts school. I mean the whole damn University! One of our biggest headaches is that people don't quite get what we do, and this book spells it out in layman's terms. Granted it does need some updating. Things like Polaroids and such are replaced with digital photos and other technology but the gist of the argument is there. And it was about $3 for the Kindle version.
Gunn's golden rules : life's little lessons for making it work-I picked this one up on a whim one day. I've only heard of Project Runway (we still don't have cable or Netflix or the like. I know...we're Luddites), so I was vaguely aware of Tim Gunn. I have to say that his emphasis on hard work and manners is a breath of fresh air, especially coming from the world of 'reality' TV. I don't remember it being anything extremely profound but a nice light read.
Vader's Little Princess- This was this year's father's day gift to Daddy from Little Miss. Last year he received Darth Vader and Son from Little Dude. These are great fun if you are a Star Wars fan and a parent.
The Last Unicorn- I stumbled upon this fabulous graphic novel completely by accident. The Last Unicorn is one of the stories that symbolizes my childhood for me. Then consider my shock and horror when I discovered that my husband was completely unaware of it. How could any child of the 80's not have seen The Last Unicorn. It is iconic 80's childhood along with The Secret of NIMH, The NeverEnding Story, The Dark Crystal, or .. but I digress. The graphic novel is wonderful. I keeps much of the feel of the movie, while being all it's own. The only thing I miss is the unicorns crashing in the crests of the waves...not something a static image quite captures.
I can't remember much beyond that. I know there were a few others.I'm not sure if I should add the myriad of children's books I have read over the last year. Perhaps in another post.
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