Thursday, May 31, 2012

I Read Nancy Drew books and I'm 19

If any of you follow me on Goodreads, then you will know that I have been slowly making my way through the original, yellow-covered Nancy Drew mystery series. I have read the first five and have the next two out from the library, not to mention the dozen or so I bought from the library a few summers ago for a nickel a piece or some outrageous price like that. I plan to read the first ten, and then either continue on in groups of ten or perhaps only read the ones I own. However, since Nancy Drew books are aimed at girls a good five years younger than me at the very least I feel I should explain my reasoning for wanting to read them.

Let's begin with what started my love for Nancy Drew, the video games by HerInteractive. One day, for reasons that are no longer known to me, my mom felt compelled to buy The Secret of the Old Clock video game, which at the time was the newest in the video game series. We installed it on our computer, and both took turns playing it. I really enjoyed it so next time we were at Target, I begged her to buy a four pack of Nancy Drew games which included the first two, then four and five (The third game, for whatever reason, was not in this four pack). We installed all of those on the computer and I eventually went on to beat all of those and to build quite a collection of Nancy Drew Games.

After beating Secret of the Old Clock, I decided to read the book of the same title, the first book in the series. I then read the second one, The Hidden Staircase. I really enjoyed them both. However, when we moved, I became consumed with other things and forgot about my love for Nancy Drew. This love was rekindled last summer and has been growing since then.

Now that I have more time to read, I have decided to at least try and read through the next five I have left this summer. I like the books. The writing is very simple and they follow a distinct pattern. They help young children practice reading. And though I can finish one in three hours, I still want to keep reading them simply because they are the cotton candy of  my reading options. I won't be reviewing the books individually, because that would be silly, but I may review the series as a whole, from what I've seen of it.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Summer Reading Update

So I haven't written a post since March, mostly because what I've been reading since then have been parts of series, and I didn't want to review various parts of series, because the reason you would be reading the  second, third, etc. installment is because you read the first installment and liked it. Or alternatively, I've started reading more "classic" books, which I feel I have nothing creative to say because they've been around for decades, if not centuries, and everything new and interesting has been said about them. However, I will give you an update on what I've read since March, series-wise. 

  • Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter, the second in the Heist Society series. I gave it 4/5 and I am looking forward to the third one.
  • Second Helpings and Charmed Thirds by Megan McCafferty, the second and third books in the Sloppy Firsts the last book I reviewed here.  I enjoyed the second one greatly, but the third one was a little weird in several spots. I also didn't like that she only kept a journal over summer and winter breaks, though I understand as a college student that during the semester one is very busy. I do have Fourth Comings in my possession and will be reading it very soon. 
  • Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter, the fifth, I believe, in the Gallager Girl series. I've really enjoyed this series, and this one proved no exception. This volume had a bit more angst than the previous ones, but understandably so. 
  • The Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan. This was the final volume in his Kane Chronicles series, his only non-Greek mythology series thus far. It was excellent- action-packed and I really enjoyed it.