Summer Reading

Happy Second Day of Autumn!  On Wednesday Chloe asked if she could run through the sprinklers.  I figured since it was the last day of Summer (and 90 degrees outside.  WTH, Mother Earth?) I'd let her have one last run in the sun.

We had a really great summer and I'm sad to see it come to an end.  Remember when I said this was going to be my summer of reading classics?  (Of course you do.  How could you forget a thing like that?)  Well, I'm a liar. 

Early this summer my friend Wendy gave me a copy of Shannon Hale's Austenland.  It's about a single woman who is obsessed with the A&E movie version of Pride and Prejudice.  Her aunt dies and in her will leaves the woman an extended stay at a resort known as Austenland where everyone dresses and acts like they're in a Jane Austen movie.  Delightful.  It was a quick, fun read.  Chick lit without the guilt.  (You know, the "I would never admit to anyone I read this" guilt?)  I enjoyed it so much I went in search of more books by Shannon Hale.  I spent the summer reading everything she ever wrote (minus The Actor and the Housewife because I hear it's no good).  My favorites were The Goose Girl and Book of A Thousand Days.  I also spent a few sleepless nights reading The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins.  Also excellent and deliciously scary.

This is probably a good time to repent of my evil ways.  A while back I mentioned that the book store is my happy place and that I didn't care for libraries.  For shame!  It turns out, I just didn't know how to use the library.  (Yes, I know.  You get a card and borrow books.  Duh.)  I didn't know how easy it is to request books, renew books, and send books from one branch to another all online.  Dude!  Not ever being able to find the book I wanted and racking up late fees have always been my library issues.  I have figured it out and now we spend at least two afternoons a week at the library.  It's the happiest of happy places for me. 

So, I'd like to take a moment to thank Shannon Hale, Suzanne Collins, and the library for making my summer awesome.  Also, many thanks to t.v. for sucking it up big time this summer.  (Wipeout and Big Brother?  Really?!  That's what ya got?)  I couldn't have done it without you.