Read Any Good Books Lately?

I have!

Since I just moved back to Portland, I wandered over to one of the best Barnes & Noble* bookstores I have ever had the pleasure to visit - the one at Bridgeport Village.

Now, my travels are far from exhaustive, but I have been to a few B&Ns in my day.  I can give you my top three right now: Ashville, N.C., Topeka, KS, and this one.  I liked Ashville because it just seemed to have a good selection of everything.  I liked Topeka because it had the Mabinogion and lots of Doctor Who** stuff.  And I like Bridgeport because it has an awesome children's section.

Yes.  I read children's books.

When I was in middle school, we used to go to B&N, and I'd go over to the Young Readers section, pick out a stack of books so large, I could barely see over the top of them, and Mom would force me to whittle it down to five or six books.  This happened every time.

Still does!  (Except the Mom part.)

The other day I went to the Bridgeport B&N and picked out a few books to bring home.  I read one that very day: Wanderville, by Wendy McClure.

Now, I have to say, I really enjoyed reading Wanderville.  It's a very interesting piece of historical fiction that reads like regular fiction ... if that makes sense.  At any rate, it takes a nice look at an obscure item in our country's historical record: the so-called Orphan Trains that took children to Kansas.  I was unaware of this until I read the book - I'll be doing some research in the near future to find out more.

So I read that one a few days ago and ruminated on it for a while before starting the next one.  The book I'm currently reading is Darkbeast Rebellion, by Morgan Keyes.  This book, unbeknownst to me at the time of purchase, is actually a sequel.  That said, you really don't need to read the first book in order to understand what's going on in the second.  Rebellion is a really, really interesting book.  Fascinating concept, bonding people to animals that way.  Makes me think of The Golden Compass, although the details are completely different.  I haven't actually finished this one yet, but so far it's been, as I said, really, really interesting.


And that's what I've been reading!

I think when I've finished my new small pile of children's books, I'll read Hamlet.

Why, you ask?  Long story.


What have you read recently?  Let me know in the comments!



*I know, I know.  But Powell's is downtown and I'm not ready to go there yet.  Besides, not having lived in Portland since I was 6 years old, B&N is my Happy Place.

**And by the way, I'm really looking forward to Mummy on the Orient Express.  Still not sure what I thought of Kill the Moon.  Creative, certainly.  Great Clara-12 scene at the end (well done, Coleman and Capaldi - well done).  But the episode itself?  Not a favorite.