Reading Round-Up: May and June {Reposted}

I'm going to need to do this a little differently this time, as I am dreadfully behind.


Here are the books I read in May and June:

1. The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch
2. The Merchant of Venice - Shakespeare
3. The Anybodies - N.E. Bode
4. Spilling Clarence - Anne Ursu
5. Mansfield Park - Jane Austen
6. Healing ADD - Daniel Amen
7. Gilead - Marilynne Robinson
8. Called out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession - Anne Rice
9. Spilling Open - Sabrina Ward Harrison
10. The Nobodies - N.E. Bode
11. Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt - Anne Rice
12. Catalyst - Laurie Halse Anderson
13. We the Living - Ayn Rand
14. The Somebodies - N.E. Bode
15. Tourmaline - Joanna Scott
16. Fablehaven Book 4 - Brandon Mull
17. The Wednesday Sisters - Meg Waite Clayton
18. Camilla - Madeleine L'Engle
19. Every Last Cuckoo - Kate Maloy


Yeah. That's kind of a lot. Have no fear, I am not reading nearly as many this month (although I have

So, my top recommendations from the above list are:

Spilling Clarence (again, I may choose this for my bookclub pick, so don't read it yet)

Healing ADD (if such a thing is of interest to you, this is one of the best ones I've read to date) Gilead

We the Living

Camilla

Mansfield Park

And best for getting some creative juices flowing: Spilling Open

Best children's book: The Anybodies (yes, Fablehaven was good, too. But we've already discussed Fablehaven, haven't we? Whatever I said before still applies).

Best for feeling introspective: The Last Lecture

Toughest read: The Merchant of Venice (really, what has happened to my brain? I swear I had no idea what was going on for most of this book)

Biggest Surprise: Christ the Lord (and I'd recommend reading Rice's Called out of Darkness for a more in-depth look at how she went from writing vampire stories, to writing historical fiction about the life of Christ).



And that's about it for now. Just because one of the books I read didn't make any of my "bests" lists, doesn't mean they weren't good, I just can't think anymore. If I had more time, I would tell you what I liked and disliked about each of them. But you can go to my Goodreads page if you want any more reviews, my friends. :)



So, whatcha readin' this summer? Do you think summer is a better time to tackle some longer and more difficult reads or do you stick to lighter beach reads or just read what you normally read? Or do you take a break from all things requiring mental effort and veg out as much as possible?



And really, do you think I read too much? Maybe? heheheh, catch me if you can . . . :)