Between that last post and this one I've accomplished a lot. I decided to venture out to my local Goodwill to see if I could grab a book or two to read tonight. 15 books and 1 cute Louis Vuitton later, I come back to update you all on my reading.
Since my last post I've read four books: Elizabeth: University Interrupted, Elizabeth: London Calling both by Francine Pascal, Cosmic Rendezvous by Robyn Amos, and Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse. All good enough to keep my attention for the last few hours. :)
The first two novels mentioned are actually updated versions of the Sweet Valley High series that I adored as a girl. For this read-a-thon, I've decided that I'll switch things up a bit and grab a few childhood faves to read (hence the visit to the Goodwill). I saw these on the shelves and had to pick em up to read. In these updated, revamped stories Elizabeth Wakefield has just been betrayed by her twin Jessica while the two of them were on a cross-country road trip with their boyfriends. With nothing but a duffel bag full of clothes and an acceptance letter from University of London's study abroad program, Liz hops on a flight to good old Londontown. She gets there and everything is a disaster. She has no money. Her spot in the University's program has been given away since she didn't respond in the proper time. She ends up becoming a skullery maid for one of London's richest families. Of course, hijinks ensue. I found myself being transported to like age 8 reading these novels. I used to devour Sweet Valley Twins/High/University books as a kid. Pascal's revamping of the Wakefield sisters and their lives is done nearly seamlessly. I kinda wanna find the rest of the books in this series to see how things play out. :)
After Liz and her drama, I kept the lighthearted reading going with Cosmic Rendezvous. Another romance novel, of course. I think I've actually read something by this particular author before because the names sounds familiar. At any rate, this novel is ths story of an aerospace engineer, Shelly London, who has dreams of becoming a NASA astronaut. While working on developing s top secret space travel device for the government, she is introduced to Lincoln "Lightning" Ripley, a cocky Air Force pilot/astronaut. Of course, inevitably they start feeling some kinda way about each other and act upon those feelings. Eventually, there is trouble in paradise as it seems someone is trying to sabotage Shelly and make her seem incompetant in order to keep the government from choosing her ship as the best for their mission. Eventually, Shelly and Lincoln find out that it was one of the other engineers on the team and happy endings all around. ;)
The last book I just finished was Letters From Rifka, which is another YA novel. Also another epistolary novel. Oh joy! HAHA! This one is written from the viewpoint of a 12 year old Russian Jew whose family is forced to flee their hometown because her brother went AWOL from the Army. Through these letter to her cousin Tovah, she recounts their journey as well as the roadblocks that are constantly put up in their way as they try to get to America. Rifka is an intelligent, crafty, strongwilled little girl who, at any cost, always gets her way. Even when she is separated from her family for over a year, Rifka maintains her positivity and strong mind. I actually really liked this book and if I were a middle school language arts teacher I'd try to to introduce it into the curriculum.
Okay, I have no idea what I'm reading next nor when I'll be posting again. This is fun though... :)
2 comments:
You're flying through the books! I can't remember if I read Letters from Rifka but it sounds like a really good read. Happy reading, 12 more hours :)
Good Readathon choices! Hang in there.
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