A book a month in 2012- February: I read two books this month.
The first was He’s Just Not That Into You by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo. I found it, coverless,for a $1 at a book drive. I’ve seen the movie, and I’ve seen passages and quotes from the book for years since its peak. It’s a very thin book, I read it in less than two hours cover to cover. It was pretty redundant in hitting you over the head with “HE’S NOT INTO YOU IF..” but that pretty much is the whole point, there. Talk to any of your girlfriends about guy woes and you still won’t hear that as a possible explanation, so perhaps it needed to be that annoyingly blunt. I didn’t relate to many of the situations the book pulls upon or really makes me understand guys any more or less, but I suppose it helped me remember that guys are pretty simple, and we just tend to make the situation more complicated and/or settle for it.
The second book I read was Sabriel by Garth Nix. It was the first sci-fi fantasy book I’ve read with the exception of the first Lord of the Rings. My best friend Michelle lent me this book over three years ago and I finally decided to pick it up. As soon as I did, I read it straight through, all 491 pages in one sitting during my sick day.
Sabriel was immediately engaging, and surprisingly easy to follow for such a complex fantasy world. The story is of Sabriel, the daughter of the lone necromancer who keeps the undead of two kingdoms at bay. When her father is trapped in-between the gates to death, Sabriel sets off to save him while also taking his place as necromancer, just as all the undead, including a powerful being, find an opening back into the kingdoms.
The title character is such a strong heroine, perhaps even the strongest I’ve ever read or seen on screen. Sabriel’s main objective, and the plot’s focal point, had very little to do with falling in love or finding a man. In fact, we don’t meet her possible love interest until after she’s gone through several intense adventures, and even then, it is a side plot. Sabriel definitely needs to become a movie.
