Goodreads.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariellecalderon/books-to-read-before-they-hit-the-big-screen

I feel like I've been reading like crazy this summer but my Goodreads account says I'm really far behind my reading goal of 100 books in 2013.  Ugh!

I've read both Divergent and Insurgent by Veronica Roth.  Eh.  There were a lot of characters to keep up with, a lot of "factions" and a bunch of stuff about simulations and serums.  I think I like Hunger Games better.  I'm getting a little tired of reading about dystopian societies.  While I love that this series, as well as the Hunger Games, have strong female leads, I'm just over the whole bleak, depressing, futuristic, Mad-Max theme.

I'm glad to see The Book Thief is being made into a movie.  It's one of my favorite books!  And I've got Monuments Men on my queue.  Should be a good movie (Clooney?  Matt Damon?  No problem!).  I really, really hope Reese Witherspoon does NOT play the lead in Gone Girl.   Amy is insane and I don't know if Reese can tackle that level of insanity.  IDK.  Maybe after her recent run-in with the law . . . maybe she can do crazy.  And I really, really hope Rob Pattinson does NOT play the lead in 50 Shades of Gray.  Ick.  Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper are teaming up again and I think I'm the only person on the planet that was not impressed with Silver Linings Playbook. 

This summer I've read Wife-22 which was pretty funny.  I'm about 125 pages in
The Wolf of Wall Street and it's pretty insane (see the trailer here:  http://youtu.be/iszwuX1AK6A). 
And I also read Bossypants by Tina Fey.  Hysterical.  I could totally be friends with Tina Fey.  And Amy Poehler. 

Summer Reads

I'm not sure why summer reading or beach books are separated from other genres.  Nobody seems to make a list of "top 10 books to read this winter!"  I don't read one certain type of book based on my geographic location.  I read what I read when I read. 

But, since I'm always on the lookout for a good book and love a great suggestion, I have read or am about to read a couple of books off People Magazine's 2013 summer list: 
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/38269.People_Magazine_s_Must_Read_Books_for_Summer_2013

This past weekend I read The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls: A Novel.  I've got The Engagements on my Nook queue as well as Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen (I've read some of his other stuff) and the Widow Waltz.  I'm thinking about Sisterland: A Novel by Curtis Sittenfeld  but I just couldn't get into Prep so I'm not sure if it was the author's style of prose that didn't do it for me or the subject matter.  The Astronaut Wives Club: A True Story looks interesting, too. 

I'm currently reading Divergent (only a few chapters in). You can check out the author's blog here: 
http://veronicarothbooks.blogspot.com/  Divergent is being made into a movie and this link gives a a quick review as to what this book is all about:  http://insidemovies.ew.com/2013/05/14/divergent-tris-dauntless-exclusive/  And here's the IMDB link:   http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1840309/?ref_=sr_1  It will be interesting to see if this series is as popular as The Hunger Games.  There also seems to be several discussion boards/forums dedicated to which is better:  Hunger Games vs. Divergent.  On a personal note, I loved the Hunger Game books but didn't really like the movie -- I thought some of the graphics were a bit cheesy and a little too CGI for my taste, however, I can appreciate a strong female lead and both books seem to have that in "Katniss" and "Tris."