The Daughter of Time - Summer 2010 - Genre: Crime

Genre #15 - Crime
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
read 7/23/10 - 7/31/10

This book dragged for me. It was a murder mystery, but the whole thing was solved academically from an invalid's bed. I thought that I'd be intrigued by the unique plot, but it actually felt quite slow to me. It was also full of history (which, unfortunately, isn't my cup of tea). For me there were too many names of obscure historical figures to keep track of, so I stopped keeping track and just plowed through. Those who love English history would probably enjoy this book. It just wasn't for me.

This book was part of my 2010 summer reading program.

The Man Who Knew Too Much - Summer 2010 - Genre: Suspense

Genre #10 -- Suspense
The Man Who Knew Too Much by G. K. Chesterton
read 6/30/2010 - 7/1/2010

This was a fantastic read. I'm not sure why I haven't read this book before. Each chapter was its own separate mystery, which I really liked; however, all the chapters were tied together and came to a great conclusion in the final chapter. The mysteries were very ingenuous and quite enjoyable. My only regret is that I wish I knew a little bit more about English history so I could follow the politics of this book. I highly recommend this book and am considering having my high school students read a few of the chapters, if not the whole thing.

This book was part of my 2010 summer reading program.

The Big Sleep - Summer 2010 - Genre: Mystery

Genre #5 -- Mystery
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
read 6/10/2010 - 6/12/2010

You can't really go wrong with a good ol' fashioned mystery novel. I forgot that I had seen the movie, so as I was reading, scenes from the movie kept flashing into my head. Fortunately, I didn't remember the end, so the ending was still a surprise for me. I actually kind of had a hard time tracking with this book. I think part of it was due to the fact that a ton of characters are introduced in the beginning, and I didn't really have enough time to "get to know" the characters and distinguish them from one another. Also, for a 1930's novel, I was quite surprised by the quantity of cuss words--over the top.

This book was part of my 2010 summer reading program.

Library Summer Reading Program 2010

I first began participating in my library's summer reading program in 2010. That was actually my most "prolific" year to date. (It was before I had kids; need I say more?)

I really enjoyed the format of the 2010 summer reading program. The library selected 15 genres, dividing them into 5 groups. So, each little group had 3 genres. The goal was to choose 1 of the 3 genres in each of those 5 groups (thus, reading 5 books by the end of the summer). Well, since I've always been an over-achiever, I decided I wanted to read all 15 genres. It was such fun! The library gave recommendations of books and authors in each of the genres.

I originally posted my reviews on Facebook, but now that I have a blog, I'll also post them here.

Here are the 15 genres:
Fantasy (I actually read 2 for this one)
Historical
Horror
Literary
Mystery
Adventure
Thriller
Gentle Reads
Women's Lives
Suspense
Romance
Sci Fi
Western
Inspirational
Crime

Hope you enjoy the reviews! What's your favorite genre to read?