Currently reading
A Walk Through the Wheatfields: The Missing Journals of Vincent Van Gogh
Progress:
45/214 pages
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library (Mr. Lemoncello's Library #1)
The Children of Húrin
The Fall of Arthur
Blood's Pride
Backlash
hidden
Magic's Pawn
Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human
Black Amazon of Mars and Other Tales from the Pulps
This book is really charming and a reminder to why libraries are such magical, fantastical places intregal to growing up. Melvin's local library is an especially awesome place but I gotta say, I hate the way the librarians are drawn. The illustrations could have ruined the story if it weren't for the fact that the story is so strong.
Lester's sweaters were dreadful. They were also awesome sweaters. I loved the illustrations in this book and Lester was a proper nerd- smart, neurotic, and particular. I'd really like to read more about Lester in the future.
The build-up in this children's book was genuinely creepy, but I expected a disappointing ending as it was for children after all, and Snicket has a reputation for being cheeky and a bit off-the-wall. The ending did not challenge my expectations.
I wish there were more of this story. I enjoyed reading an alternate history ravaged by zombies and vampires while remaining much the same. The world didn't come to an end, it simply changed and humanity adapted. I also liked the mystery and that it was the central focus, even if it was mundanely occultish in the end. 
I would not have given Fangirl a try had I read this book first. I didn't like the back-and-forth narration, or the repetitiveness. The protagonists were dull, Eleanor was irritating and I could not muster any amount of care for any of their troubles apart from the abuse at home. The last 40 pages or so were such a drag to get through, it took me hours to finish them.
Fangirl
I admit it: I'm a nitpicky reader. And I found plenty of things to nitpick, and annoying writing habits to obssess over in this book. But after a while I no longer cared about those things. I became so immersed in the story that I refused to stop reading until I finished it at 6 in the morning. I haven't read straight through a book like that in ages.Things I liked about this book:
a) Cath. She was a protagonist that I had to warm up to. I immediately felt connected to her because of our shared insecurities but there was a frequent disconnect as she had this unusually outspoken bad attitude. She didn't come across as unfriendly because she was shy- she was just flat out unfriendly. I couldn't identify with that. But I enjoyed watching her grow.
b) Levi. What an odd love interest. I loved every moment he was on a page.
c) The roomate, Reagan. I admired her no-nonsense-no-drama approach to everything.
d) The fanfiction. I read fanfiction, I'm a fangirl- this is something I identified with immediately. It's why I picked up the book in the first place. At first I was more interested in the pseudo-Harry Potter fanfic than I was the actual story. Then the book reached a point where the fanfic became the least interesting thing about the story. I had a hard time investing myself in a magical, fictional world that we were only getting bits and pieces of. But, like Cath, the fake fandom grew on me and by the end of the book I felt like I was a fan of a series that didn't exist- to the point of being mortified when Cath toyed with the idea of some life- altering changes for one of her fictional characters.
e) I cried a few times throughout this book.
It's been years since I've read A Series of Unfortunate Events and it's probably for that reason that I didn't enjoy this book as much as I had hoped I would. I don't remember the later books in the series very well- I don't even remember how it ends, therefore many of the references in this book mean nothing to me. I like the idea of it, but ultimately this was a boring book.
The Astronaut Wives Club: A True Story
A fascinating look at the lives of the women who seem to have been the backbone of NASA's early space program. I only wish I had chosen the book over the audiobook, then I would have avoided the reader's poorly attempted voices and accents, and I might have appreciated the pictures as it got more and more difficult to keep all the women straight when their numbers increased.
I think sentences like this really speak for the content of the book and the overall attitude of the author towards nerds as well as those who are not what he considers 'his people': "...Bucholtz found that science-fiction fans and females who describe themselves as nerds are both groups that tend to create a small puff of air when they pronounce the t at the end of right."
What-if-I-were-to-write-my-entire-review-like-this-in-a-hyphen-abusing-sort-of-way? Would-it-annoy-you-nearly-as-much-as-reading-several-sentences-like-this-on-every-single-page-of-the-book-annoyed-me? Let's-try-it:Ryan-Dean-is-many-things. He-is-a-stupid-name-and-an-unlikeable-protagonist. He-is-the-author-of-his-own-troubles. He-is-a-loser, he-is-a-skinny-bitch-ass, and-he-is-not-gay. If-you-can't-remember-any-of-this-don't-worry-he-will-incessantly-remind-you-in-a-guy-with-alzheimer's-sort-of-way. Annoyed-yet?
Other things he will repeatedly remind you of:
* He is okay with guys who are gay.
* All three of the girls in his school are hot.
* His one female teacher is hot. As is the one female nurse.
* The woman (teacher?) living in his dorm hall is unhot and probably a witch. And unhot.
* He is a kid. All of two whopping years younger than the rest of his classmates.
Seriously, Ryan Deal will never ever let you forget these facts about himself. On every single page.
But as bad as this all may (or may not) sound to you, it was a tolerably light read with the occasional bout of legitimate humor. That is until about the last 20 or so pages at the end of the book. Had I known how it would end I would never have read it in the first place.
The Last Dragon
Part one of The Last Dragon was cute and charming. Part two was dull and it dragged on far too long.
* Allston really needs to look into a thesaurus. Not everyone in the galaxy can be described as lean. And the two uses that I recall of the word diminutive were two uses too many.* Dialog, particularly banter, does not seem to be a strength of Allston. Except in cases involving the old X-Wing squadron, as demonstrated by their reunion in some very brief chapters. He should stick to those stories.