Let the Challenge Begin – Book Recommendations for Summer 2014
The summer reading challenge has started, and the clock is ticking. If you remember, I wrote two posts, Another 25 Book Recommendations (for the eclectic reader) and 35 Book Recommendations for Summer 2014, which included books for me to read during the summer months. Many of the books on the list, are part of my informal liberal arts education, therefore, I need to read them. Also, if you pay close attention to the 60 books on both lists, you will notice that many of them are the type of books that are on must-read book lists.
Have you read?
7 Big Lessons from Blood Red Road by Moira Young
Rebel Heart by Moira Young a Book Review and Summary
I officially started the challenge a couple of days ago, and I have now finished reading Raging Star (Dust Lands)
by Moira Young from the Dust Lands trilogy. I included Raging Star on my summer reading list because I had already read Blood Red Road (Dustlands, Book 1)
(My Review) and Rebel Heart (Dust Lands)
(My Review), the first two books in the trilogy, and I thought it was important to include books from different genres.
After reading Raging Star, it left this heaviness in my heart, and I do not like the feeling. It has nothing to do with the skill of the writer, Moira Young, but has more to do with me as a person, and where I am in my life. Additionally, I am getting very tired of dystopian novels and their sense of hopelessness – case in point, I also disliked Allegiant, the third book in the Divergent Series Complete Box Set
.
I am not satisfied with either of the authors killing off certain characters in the stories. In both instances, I feel like I wasted the hours I invested in reading the books. But if I am honest, I learned important lessons from both books because there are always lessons if we are open to receiving them. A big lesson is that bad things happen to good people all the time.
Raging Star: Dustlands Trilogy, Book 3
Divergent Series Four-Book Paperback Box Set: Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant, FourThe Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules: A Novel (League of Pensioners)
For instance, important lessons in Raging Star include: Think, plan, then act; each of us has a role to play in life, and to live a fulfilled and enriched life, we have to play the role, act the part; every leader has doubts and fears, but the greatest leaders move beyond them; and take one step at a time to prevent becoming overwhelmed. These are very important life lessons.
I am not going to let my reaction to Raging Star thwart my reading, and in fact, I am now reading The Little Old Lady Who Broke all the Rules
, and it is making me laugh. I am excited about reading the books on my list. Will you join me in the reading challenge this summer?
