Eleanor and Park

I have to say that I was also pretty underwhelmed by number 19 of 2013.

This is a somewhat frequent problem I have been having lately for young adult fiction. I still appreciate much of young adult fiction and many of my favorite books are actually young adult (case in point: Harry Potter and TFiOS). Eleanor and Park, however, did not follow in that example.

I really don't have much to say about it, mostly because my opinion of it really isn't good or bad, just indifferent. It just didn't live up to the quality of some young adult fiction out there. It's generally pretty well-received, though, so this is clearly not the opinion of everyone.

I think I gave it two stars ("It was okay") on Goodreads.

The Little Prince

I wasn't sure whether or not I should be able to include number 17 on my book challenge list because it is technically a children's book... and also very short.

I decided to include The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery ultimately because it's often included in the sort of lists that are called, like, "books you should read in your lifetime" and reading books that I "should read in my lifetime" is the kind of thing that I want to be a side effect of my challenge.

I thought it was a beautifully written children's book that grappled with some not-specific-to-childhood issues. It's clear why adults enjoy it just as much, if not more, than children do.

I decided a few years ago that, every year for their birthdays, I would give my youngest cousins (now ages 6 and 2) a book that either I really enjoyed at that age, or one that I happened to enjoy later that is appropriate for their current age. If you want to know whether I'd recommend it, I plan to give one of them this book for one of their upcoming birthdays. So yes, I do recommend it, and enthusiastically!

Playing Catch-Up

I should clarify. I am several books AHEAD of schedule for my goal of 30 for this year. But I am almost the entire summer behind on blogging... Oops!

Number 16 was a non-fiction pick, the author of which has been recommended to me by enough people to prompt me to check it out. And I actually found it on extreme clearance at Half Price Books for like a dollar or two, if I remember correctly!

It was definitely interesting. Although, for me, it was a little over-hyped and not as compelling as it was made out to be. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't mind-blowing, to be honest.

I think the concept of his other book, Outliers, seems a little more interesting to me, so I will have to check that one out (I wasn't unimpressed enough to be completely turned off from the author).

Despite my underwhelming experience, I certainly learned something, which is always a plus.