end of summer

Now that school has started, I suppose summer is officially over. So here's a few more random things to remember it.

Most of the summer has been spent working full-time at the CRS Center, same old, same old, but there were a few times of fun. In July, I went to a midnight premiere of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (movie #6) with my friend Kate. ... well, technically the 12:05am showing. We bought our tickets three weeks in advance and the first show was already sold out! go figure. By the time it was the 15th, the local theater had twelve showings between 12:01 and 12:35 am! It was a mad house with all the people in costume and such, but it was so much fun! (and I have to hand it to Cinemark, they were very efficient despite all the crowds - we didn't have to stand in line at all).

The only other movie I saw this summer, surprisingly since there are tons I still want to see, was Pixar's Up. I saw it 3D, and though I probably would've liked it better just regular, I thought it was really sweet and the animation was simply astounding. Other fun shows I got to see this summer, I saw a local theater production of Damn Yankees, which was a lot of fun since I'd never seen that play before and Kate played several supporting roles in it. Also, just before school started on a totally spontaneous moment, I went and saw the traveling broadway production of Wicked with my new roommate Lisa and our friend Rachel. We bought tickets the day before the show (they only had single seats left in the very top balcony but it was still good) and then left right after work the next day to drive the two hours to Austin to see it. While it was a little tricky to see facial expressions since we were so far back, the performance was spectacular and I loved listening to the music. We didn't get back to College Station until nearly 2 in the morning and I still had to go to work that day, but it was worth it.

A good portion of my summer was actually spent reading. Ever since high school and its required readings, and then college with just no free time, I haven't really read much at all, but a few fun book suggestions last Christmas break and I have rediscovered the entertainment and great escape from reality that can come with a good book. Granted, I've found that I also tend to prefer young adult books still, despite many of them being geared towards middle schoolers. Perhaps I'm trying to make up for all the time as a teenager I could have read them? or maybe I will just always be a kid at heart, lol. Whatever the reason, I've read so many books and that was such a huge part of my summer, I thought I'd take a page from my sister's blog. Here's a brief list of the books I was able to read this summer:

Artemis Fowl series (six books total) by Eoin Colfer- (middle school) a teenage criminal mastermind who discovers the fairy magical community and invents plans to con them; fun, fast-paced and imaginative, perhaps a little too much potty humor at times and maybe a little elementary in writing style, but overall quite enjoyable, 3.5 out of 4 stars

Disclosure by Michael Crichton - (adult) a man becomes the victim of a sex scandal in his company but discovers this is a ploy to cover up a much bigger scheme; intriguing story, thought provoking, well written ... but too racy for my tastes (books really ought to have a rating system, imo), 2 out of 4 stars

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson - (adult) the classic and tragic tale of the man with split personality; it's referenced so much, I've always wanted to read it - I was suprised how short it was, and it's written almost entirely from a casual friend's point of view rather than Dr. Jekyll himself. While some of it was hard to understand, like the culture and language at that time (written in 1886), I found parts of it quite a thought provoking outlook on the nature of man. 2.5 out of 4 stars.

Gideon the Cutpurse series (triology, third comes out this month) by Linda Buckley-Archer - (middle/high school) also known as The Time Travelers Series (books were renamed a year after being published), two children accidentally travel back in time to the 18th century and their adventures while trying to come back to the present; I've always really enjoyed stories about time travel, and this one takes the paradox of it much deeper than I've ever read with lots of twists and mind-boggling questions about what would happen if people could travel through time. good writing style, interesting plot and characters, definitely a page turner - can't wait for the last in the series! 3.5 out of 4 stars

The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton - (adult) documentary style narration based on a true story of a train robbery in Victorian era that shocked the nation; a little slow at the beginning and sometimes reading through the dialect spellings and lingo of the criminals of the time can be tricky (though Crichton oftern interjects with explanations where necessary), but the ingeniousness of the crime and all the thought and preparation that went into it was quite thrilling. 3 out of 4 stars.

Gregor the Overlander (Underland Chronicles - five books total) by Suzanne Collins - (middle school) Gregor stumbles upon another world miles beneath New York where people co-exist with talking life-size rats, bats, mice, and other creatures and discovers he is the center of prophecies in the middle of their fight for survival inter-species war; perhaps a little childish at times and some characters get annoying, but overall, interesting plot and full of adventure and brings up a lot of mature ideas centered around war. 3 out of 4 stars (wasn't too thrilled with how she ended it, too abrupt)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - (high school) once a year, two teenagers from every district in the country are forced to compete in a no-rules fight-to-the-death event called the Hunger Games; much more mature and very different writing style from her other series, a very gripping and sad story, full of suspense, never knowing what might happen ... the ending left something to be desired, but I just found out that this is intended to be the first in a triology (the sequel just came out last week), so I'm eager to read the rest. 3 out of 4 stars.

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie - (adult) Detective Hercule Poirot tries to find the truth in the passenger's stories behind a murder on their train; my first Agatha Christie, not too bad, I do like a good mystery, but it took a while for me to read it. Some of it was just so old, made it hard to get into it (like references to prohibition), and the ending was totally bizzare. The mystery itself was interesting enough, with plenty of twists. 2.5 out of 4 stars.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians series (five books total) by Rick Riordan - (middle/high school) When Percy Jackson discovers that the Greek gods of myths are still alive and he in fact is one of their descendants, he and his other demi-god friends must go on dangerous quests and battle monsters as they fight to stay alive and protect Olympia; perhaps a little childish at first, though the writing improves with each book, I really enjoyed this new take on all the greek myths and what they would be like in modern times (for example, Olympia is now in NYC above the Empire State Building), and I really liked the characters and their progression, definitely a fun, fast-paced adventure. (hopefully the movie coming out next year for the first book doesn't ruin it...) 3.5 out of 4 stars.

Timeline by Michael Crichton - (adult) a group of history major graduate students are sent back in time to save their professor and must survive in feudal 14th-century France while scientists try and get the safely back to the present day; maybe it's because it's about time travel or perhaps because of all the medieval culture and architecture history or just the page-turning adventure that has loads of plot twists and suspense, but I really loved this book (probably one of the few adult books I even like), great story line and writing style with just the right blend of technical jargon and sci-fi adventure, kept me wanting more. 4 out of 4 stars.

Twilight series (four books total) by Stephenie Meyer - (high school) a girl falls in love with a vampire ... how else can you sum it up? okay okay, you're probably thinking that I'm just following the masses and getting caught up in the crazy twilight mania. well, partly, yes. practically the only book any of my school friends have read is this series and after hearing so much about it in the past years, whether good or bad, I figured I ought to read them myself before forming an opinion ... and, I'll admit, it exceeded my expectations (granted, they were really low to begin with, I mean, come on, a romance with a vampire?). I've never really read romance, not exactly a genre I veer towards, but I suppose it was okay. The writing isn't wonderful and often quite cheesy and really sappy and sometimes way too bizzare for words, but for some reason, I still wanted to know how it ended and kept reading it all. can't say I liked them, but can't really say I hated them either, but I suppose it's a nice brain candy when you need to escape reality or want a blissfully-too-perfect, near-crazy-obessed romance ... they aren't bad, but still not sure how so many people are crazy about them. 2.5 out of 4 stars.

anyway, now that I'm back in school, I probably won't have the luxury of being able to read three or four books a week (I'll be lucky to read at all), but I'm already making a list of books I can't wait to read during my next break... so far on my list: Catching Fire (The Hunger Games sequel); The Time Quake (last of the Gideon the Cutpurse triology); and Syren (fifth in the Septimus Heap series I read last winter, also a fun fantasy/adventure middle school series, with seven planned total, 3.5 out of 4 stars).