7.11.2011

Cheap Reads

Wow, it's been a while since the last time I updated my 2011 Reading List! Here's what I have read since then. You can see the entire list at my Bookshelf page. Total Current Book Count: 28

Last Chance Saloon - Marian Keyes ***
This book was total girl fluff, but a great book to read at the beach or on a plane when you don't want to have to think too much about it.

Tarantula Woman - Donald O'Donovan (review here)

Sea of Glory - Nathaniel Philbrick ****
This book was about the exploring expedition of the United States, when they went out for four years and discovered land in Antarctica (before they didn't know if it was all ice or not). They also explore the Polynesian islands and the West Coast of the US, which belonged to Mexico and the British at the time. This book is historical, but not boring, like some of them can be.

Surviving the Extremes - Kenneth Kamler ****
This book was good! It is broken down into categories -- desert, jungle, high altitude -- and talks about what happens to your body in such extremes and how to combat the issues that you face. The author is a tad hung up on himself, but he is very knowledgeable and this was a very interesting read.

My Korean Deli - Ben Ryder Howe (review here)

Forrest Gump - Winston Groom **** (I won this at JC Martin - Fighter, Writer)
The book was very different than the movie, but I enjoyed it just as much! The only thing that sometimes bothered me was that it is written in 1st person and the grammar is (purposefully) horrible. Sometimes I have a hard time getting around that.

Beyond All Measures - Dorothy Love (review here)

Crossroads Road - Jeff Kay **
To be honest, this book was a little strange. It started off good. The premise is that this guy's overbearing mother in law wins the lottery and gives them a house and 2 million dollars, BUT they have to live in the same cul-de-sac as she does. They have funny in-law fights, but it gets a little ridiculous at a certain point.

Dirty Little Angels - Chris Tusa (review on it's way)

Just as a side note, I think I spent a total of 12 dollars on all these books, and most of that went towards Sea of Glory, which I bought at Borders at full price. The rest have been bought at Goodwill (.70 cents for paperbacks!) or were giveaways, either from LibraryThing, BookSneeze or other bloggers. I also frequently visit Amazon and get free classics for my Kindle. 

What books can you recommend to me for summer reading? What is your monthly book budget? Do you have any cheap reads tips? 

Don't forget, you can friend me on Goodreads if you haven't already! I want to see what you are reading!

3 comments:

  1. I love your blog. Your travel tips are great and the list of places you have been is inspiring and impressive. I love how you have listed so many books that you have read or want to read. I am an avid reader, who also loves travel. I see myself coming to your blog often for travel tips and book recommendations!

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  2. Thanks again for the link love! I love reading your blog too :)

    I was surprised by Forrest Gump and the whole time I was reading it I thought to myself, how did the screenwriter read this and think it would be a great movie starring Tom Hanks? The book was good but the magic of transforming book to film is something I don't quite understand!

    Right now I'm reading a biography about Catherine of Aragon--I am a sucker for Tudor history but this biographer is Spanish and he definitely takes a Spanish slant to his coverage of her life (which is appropriate since she was a Spanish princess after all)...so far it is interesting and has made me want to go to Spain even more!

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  3. I'm going to have to check out Last Chance Saloon. That was the exact name of our favorite bar in Burlington, VT when I was in college.

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