The Great Reading Experiment Continues

All I've been doing lately is playing with the monster, cleaning, and reading. And I'm pretty happy about that. Ok, not so much the cleaning part, but what can you do? Anywho, I've decided it was time to list my accomplishments thus far and maybe get a more concrete list together, since at this point I'm just grabbing books at random.

Here's what I've read so far:

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher:

• Summer Knight
• Death Masks
• Blood Rites
• Dead Beat
• Proven Guilty
• White Night
• Small Favor
• Turn Coat
• Changes

The Dresden Files are awesome and I am slightly in like with Harry Dresden (and by "slighly" I mean "very much"). I am, however, glad to have a little break from him. The next book comes out next week, and as excited as I am to find out what happens next, I won't open it until I finish some other books first.

The Immortals Series by Alyson Noel:

• Evermore
• Blue Moon
• Shadowland

This is a great YA series that you're going to have to google if you want a good summary. I will say this: it's a lot like Twilight only with less teenage angst, better written, and, let's face it, it's a lot more interesting. There are a lot of similarities between the two series (from what I've read so far) but I really think that if Noel's publisher had worked a little harder to promote this series it would have done a lot better than Twilight. But then again, maybe tweens/teens care more about sparkly vampires than studly, magic wielding immortals.

Books not part of a series (or at least not yet):

• The Scarlet Pimpernell by the Barroness Emma Orczy- now one of my all-time favorite books. There is nothing I enjoy more than swashbuckling tales of espionage during the French Revolution and knee-breeches (seriously, when are they going to come back in style?!)
• Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn- this one has been on my reading list for a while now and I happened to grab a dirt cheap copy from the wonderful bargain bins at my not-so-local Borders. (Some of my favorite books/series have come out of those bins.) This novel reminds me a lot of the Starz tv show "Spartacus" only with less gore, sex, and penises. Speaking of which, I really hope the actor who plays Spartacus has recovered from his bout with cancer. Anyway, it was a really light and enjoyable read and I look forward to reading more of Ms. Quinn's novels.
• The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas- favorite book ever, though I like the version I have in print a little more than the Kindle edition. I never realized how much slight word change can really change a story's impact. It's still a good copy, and I believe it's free, so everyone should download it.
• Dead Reckoning by Charlene Harris- ok, so this one is part of a series, but since it's been a year since I read the rest of the series, it's not counting as one in this post. It's not my favorite of the series, but I definitely enjoyed it and I cannot wait until the next one. I also really can't wait until this Sunday's episode of True Blood.

Next Up and Currently Reading:

Pride and Prejudice- that's correct, I have never been able to finish P&P and I am determined to do it this summer.

Cleopatra's Daughter, Michelle Moran- I'm only a few pages in, but I'm very curious about Selene. I'm hoping she isn't a tween throughout the whole book, though. I need a little adult content if a novel is set in Rome. (I blame Suetonius for that.)

A Dance with Dragons, George R.R. Martin- I am soooo excited to read this book! I'm so glad that I didn't have to wait six years for this release like everyone else had to, but I would have gone crazy. I don't read much fantasy, but this is such a great series. I'm hoping to finish C's Daughter and P&P soon so I can get started on this one.

Ghost Story, Jim Butcher- hopefully Nick reads this by next weekend so I can steal his Kindle and read it (all the Butcher novels are on his Kindle, not mine).

Ok, so that's all for now. Sorry if this post bores you. Actually, no I'm not. Bwahaha!