The Weekly Read: 5

I didn't get as much reading done this week as I originally wanted, but some weeks are just like that. That's the problem with going out and doing things, I suppose. :)

READ: FLOW: The Cultural Story of Menstruation | Elissa Stein & Susan Kim

When I first saw this book on Goodreads, I was immediately interested in it, both because the cover was so cute, and because it's a topic that I don't know much about as far as the science of it goes. This book is beautifully designed and illustrated, full of ads from as far back as the 1800s and as recent as the 2000s. I loved seeing not only the ads, but also what women had to go through "back in the day" before tampons, pads, and underwear! Shocking, right? ;) While full of interesting and entertaining information, this book was often wordy and overly repetitive. The authors' style was too conversational at times, and a good editing would have cut this book down by at least 50 pages and have still gotten all in all the necessary info. Also, I found the authors to be too aggressively feminist in their opinions, especially in relation to what they call the "femcare" industry. While it is true that perhaps we shouldn't leave education on this topic to companies just trying to sell their products, we shouldn't be mad that these said companies saw that something was lacking and provided the resources to educate women about their bodies? Overall, I did enjoy this book, and would recommend it to all women to read. Men might get a little squeamish, but I'm sure they'd learn a lot, too. :P

READ: Poison Study | Maria V. Snyder

This is one I hadn't heard of before I went looking for a book to fit a task in the Season Reading Challenge (Read a book with a weapon in the title: poison). I'm so glad I picked it up, though - a ya (young adult) fantasy/romance, and the first in what looks to be a fun series, too!  This was an emotional and exciting story that definitely lived up to its exciting premise: a girl, sentenced to die, is given the option to study poisons and live as the commander's food taster. To keep her from running, though, she is given a poison, and must receive the antidote every day in order to survive. Yelena is a fantastic heroine to root for, and Valek a great counterpoint to her character. This is an intriguing world, with what seems to be a rich history to explore, as well as a supporting cast of characters that are entertaining and lovable.  I'll be the first to admit that I am biased to these sorts of books, but I couldn't put it down! I had to stop myself from reading in order to go to sleep, and the next night, I read until it was finished. I'm hoping to pick up the second one in the series in the next few weeks. :)

STARTED: The Children's Book | A. S. Byatt 

This is the 3rd book that was due back to the library on Friday, and clearly I didn't finish in time. At 675 pages, I was not going to get through this one in 2 days unless I read 24 hours a day, and I just didn't have the time. So I returned the book to the library, and bought it for my Kindle. :) I think it will be worth it, though, because I think I will like it, and now my mom and sister can read it, too. I'm about 10% in; so far, so good. This is not a fast-paced-action-thriller type of good, so not much has actually happened so far, but I feel as though I've made some new friends, and gotten to know the characters fairly well. One of the hardest parts of large novels is that there are often lots of characters, and they all blend together; Not so in this one! I think that is definitely a good thing.  P.S: I LOVE this cover! It's so rich and velvety-feeling.

So, this next week will be a finish up week, I think. I want to finish The Children's Book and Watership Down, and hopefully fit in The Egypt Game to finish off the Newbery Medal task for the Winter Challenge. Also, I want to post a list for you tomorrow of all the awesome books I got this weekend during my used-book-buying-fest (aka Bookspedition, or Bookapalooza, or Bookfest) with my friend Cait. Muahaha! :D