Failed New Year's Resolution

At the beginning of the year, I decided to make a New Year's Resolution. Usually when I make one, it's about losing weight or working out or... you get the idea. This year, I went a different route. I decided that I was going to read one book every month.


This may not seem like a very heafty goal to you, but for me it's a lot. I just don't have time to read anymore. This is why I decided that I need to make time for myself and do something that I enjoy.

Well, I failed. Sort of. I'll explain more later.

January - Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

That's right, I jumped on the Twilight bandwagon. I had a hard time staying interested in this one. I think it's because I had already seen the movie, so I knew what was going to happen. There are a few parts in the book where it explains the background of some of the Cullens, and I found that interesting, but the rest was just pretty good. It kept me mostly entertained.

February - New Moon by Stephanie Meyer

Aaaand I continued on the Twilight bandwagon. Honestly, I was less than impressed by New Moon. Synopsis: Edward left because he loves Bella so much (um... yeah). Bella becomes depressed. Bella is still depressed, very very depressed. Now she's depressed and hearing voices. Oh, and did I mention that she's depressed. Yep, still depressed. Oh, look, Alice came back because she thought Bella killed herself. Edward also thinks that Bella killed herself and went to Italy to make the Volturi kill him. Bella and Alice go save him. Then there's a lot of "Oh Edward, I love you SO much. Never ever ever ever leave me again!" and "Oh Bella, I love you so very much. I'll never ever ever leave you again!" and "Oh I love you so much I can't live without you."
Ok, so the part about the Volturi was pretty good, but WOWZA it sure took a long time to get there!

March - Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer

Yep, still on the Twilight bandwagon. I was expecting this one to be really good because everyone was telling me that this was the best book of the four. I was a bit disappointed. And I'm starting to notice a pattern here. The first few chapters of each book are really good, it sucks you in. Then the middle is very drawn out and boring. And the last few chapters are really good again. Each time I've been so bored in the middle of the book that I've been this close to quitting, but I know that the end will be good again, so I keep going. And the intense ending to each book makes me want to read the next one. This Stephanie Meyer knows what she's doing I guess.

April - The Pearl by John Steinbeck

Ok, so I jumped off the Twilight bandwagon this month. And this is where I failed (sort of) my New Year's resolution. The only reason I read this book is because it was an assignment for one of our students, and I read it to her. Plus, it's only a novella, so I'm not sure if it really counts. It only took us, like, four hours to read.
So let's just pretend that this counts toward my one-book-per-month goal. It was a pretty good read... up until the end.

SPOILER ALERT!

This book takes place somewhere near the Gulf of Mexico. It is about a man named Kino, his wife, Juana, and their baby son, Coyotito. They are very poor. Kino dives for pearls for a living, as does everyone else in their small village. One morning, Coyotito is stung by a scorpion and in order to afford a doctor for him, Kino needs to find a nice pearl to sell. Well, luck was with him and he found the biggest pearl anyone in the village had ever seen. Then things start going terribly wrong. They are attacked several times by thieves trying to steal the pearl, their house it burned down, Kino ends up killing a thief and they have to run away in order to avoid punishment. So the three of them run, but are being tracked and followed. At the end the trackers end up blowing Coyotito's head off with a gun.

The End.

It was a terrible ending. The end was very intense and I was really into it, and then that happened. Ugh, terrible.

May - Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer

Back on the Twilight bandwagon. We'll see how it goes. So far I've read the first chapter. I wonder if the last book of the series will hold my attention. Here's to hoping!