Three books I've read lately

Someday, I'll again put reading at the top of my list of things to do.

In case you were wondering, I have a degree in reading.  A Master's in how to help others do it.  I only bring up this overly-pretentious pedigree because I also have to shamefully admit that I totally stink at reading.  In the temporal sense, not the literal one; I can read as you may have concluded by the fact that I'm writing - usually they go hand in hand - I just kinda don't.

I've read for work.  I've read the baby books.  Our kids are seriously well versed in Fancy Nancy, Seuss and all things Eric Carle.  Reading for me, though?  Just for fun?  A book I chose for no other reason than I felt like reading it... I hear people still do that in some remote and backwards parts of the country.  I miss reading desperately, and yet it's one of those things that never quite makes it into my list of daily priorities.

I'm trying to remedy that, at least a little.  I'm not revolutionizing anything, but I did set a few literary-type goals for myself in 2014.  You can see I'm not trying for a marathon, just a quick little sprint to dip my toes back in the water before the baby comes.  I've made it through three of five books I set out to read - not nothing, considering the number of books I read for pleasure last year was exactly zero!

Review: Slow to start, and lacking the story arch I anticipated.  Lots of dates, lots of names, lots of art I had to Google in order to place.  BUT ALSO... AMAZING.  I do believe that somehow the men and women of the past were simply made of stronger stuff than I care to ever have to face.  Sometimes, history is better than fiction.

Review: With all the wonderful, creative YA fiction out right now, this one registers as white noise.  Among the ranks of the post-apocalyptic, dystopian-future fiction that has taken off in the last three years, this one starts cleverly enough.  Unfortunately, for me the characters fell flat and the plot was a bit too predictable in its attempt at the standard, earth-shattering Ender's Game, "Katniss, there is no District 12" plot-twist department.  This hasn't been done before, exactly, and yet the whole time I couldn't shake the feeling that I knew what was coming. 

Review: Written by a trio of siblings, this book reads not only as a "how to " manual for positive sibling relationships, but also an answer to the question, "why bother?"  It is a wonderful, Biblical take with very practical wisdom, written in a way that gives enormous credit to the maturity, spirit and self-efficacy of children.  The only drawback for me at this juncture was that it will be much more useful when my own children are ready to internalize the message!  I'll have to remember to get it again in a few years.

I may need to up my list a little, because, though I'm satisfied with my progress, I also realize that I could be reading more if I weren't wasting my down time waiting for library books to come in.  Like right now.

So while I'm waiting... what have you read lately?  Suggestion me!