Reading, Knitting, Movies

So most people are under the impression that teachers have absolutely nothing to do during the summer and are lazy. Last year that was definitely not the case for me. I allowed myself to get involved in so much that I barely got to sit down and relax during the summer, and when school started I badly needed a vacation. This year I decided I would have that teacher's summer I always wanted. So, as soon as school ended I packed my bags and left. I am just finishing a week in Virginia with my cousin where I have basically done nothing but read, watch movies and knit. Oh yeah, and I would cook her dinner too, because she is actually working. With that in mind, I thought I would share a little about the books I've managed to read.

"Flabbergasted" and "A Delirious Summer" by Ray Blackston
These are the first 2 in a series of 3 books. They follow a group of young twenty-somethings in North Carolina, and their search for love at church. They are quite humorous as both books are told from the POV of guys, so it has a different spin on the "search" from what I am used to. The first book follows Jay, who decides to start going to church to meet women, ends up in a Presbyterian singles class, goes on a beach trip and then is sucked into many interesting adventures as he discovers what church is really all about. The second book follows Neil as he visits Jay's town in NC and is sucked into the same group of singles, only this time the girls are church hopping and rating churches based on the quality of guys. Another humorous look at what some people do for love, and others only think about doing. I didn't get a chance to read the third book "Adventures in Rooville" because they are my cousin's books and I was leaving NY. I was, however, informed that it was not as good as the first two.

"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" by John Boyne
This book was excellent. Right now I'm very interested in books written from a unique point of view, and this certainly is that. It is a story about the holocaust, but it is told from the perspective of a 9 year-old German boy. While it follows a 9 year-old it is not a book intended for 9 year-olds. The innocence of the boy as he is taken with his family to live outside a concentration camp is what pulled me into the story. Bruno, the boy, befriends a child on the other side of the fence, even though Bruno does not understand why the fence is there at all. The story follows the budding friendship of these boys as the war is happening around them. I originally got this book in December because the movie was coming out, I still have not seen the movie, but when I do, I'll let you know how it is. I'm usually very hard on movies if I've read the book, though.

After that, I had to finish some knitting and so I have spent a lot of time watching silly movies that I didn't need to concentrate on in order to get that done. If you have read any good books lately, please let me know, I keep a list so when I do get some free time I don't waste it trying to pick a book. =)