The Weekly Read: 34

After last week's reading feast, I took this week a bit slower for a change.

READ: Sunshine | Robin McKinley

This is one of my all-time favorite books, so I decided to treat myself to a re-read. Way before the whole Twilight phenomena hit, Robin McKinley wrote this quiet tale of a seemingly ordinary girl who gets caught up in a world of vampires. Sunshine isn't ordinary, though. She is, in fact, extraordinarily special. She fights to be normal in an abnormal world, and can't seem to make herself ordinary. Her relationship with the vampire Constantine is unique in her world and ours. She isn't instantly in love with him, isn't obsessed with him. They don't try to stay apart because it's "wrong". Their relationship just is. It exists because it has to. They are drawn together and can't really help it - they need each other to survive. Sunshine is one of my favorite characters because she is blunt, to-the-point, and unromantic in a way that is intriguing and appealing. She is strong and powerful without realizing it, and loves her family and friends deeply without being sappy. Constantine is solid and honest and upright, despite the fact that he is a blood-sucking vampire. You can't help but admire his stoicism, and the way that he has lived his life (unlife? death?) is a testament to how different he is from other vampires. My only wish is for Robin McKinley to eventually write a sequel. She hasn't entirely ruled it out, so I'll just keep my fingers crossed. There seems like there is definitely more to Sunshine and Con's stories waiting to be told, and I would love to hear it.

STARTED: Never Have Your Dog Stuffed and Other Things I've Learned | Alan Alda

M*A*S*H is a TV show that I treasure from my childhood because it is something I watched regularly with my parents. The characters and storylines were blunt and realistic, and no one was more real and appealing than my favorite doctor, Hawkeye Pierce, played on the show by Alan Alda. When I heard he'd written a book, I immediately added it to my reading list, with the assumption that the actor who played so magnificently such a fantastic character would have to be interesting himself. So far, I am right! I've been listening to this one of my way to and from work, and it has been a job. This is another one that I feel like just sitting in my car and listening to because I want to know what happens next. I am looking forward to finishing!

That's it for this week! First up for next week is reading The Color Purple for my book club, and then who knows!