Throw in the Towel

My color is red, my dad's is blue, my mom's is pink, and if you squint a little, you can see my brother's orange.

Call me a quitter, but that's precisely what I think I'm going to do. 

With only about a day left to go, I think I've finally rested my case for the annual family reading contest.

I had a good run, with 14 books read: two over my personal goal for the summer, and one over what I do believe was my previous record.

See the red dot? That's me, with my goal of 12 books. and

I read some good ones, that's for sure, of all kinds, 

from the autobiography Life is so Good by George Dawson and Richard Glaubman to what I predict will be the next Hunger-Games-esque craze-book, Legend, by Marie Lu.

I finally read The Help by Kathryn Stockett, which was ridiculously wonderful, and remarkably close to the movie (give or take a few scenes), 

A little project I played with after finishing The Prestige.

and The Prestige by Christopher Priest which was remarkably different from the movie, but good nonetheless.

I finished series that I've loved for a long time with Nevermore by James Patterson and Starclimber by Kenneth Oppel...

And classics like Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and Lord of the Flies by William Golding.

And of course there were a few that weds just in a class of their own, like Tigerheart by Peter David (for anybody who loves fairytales) and Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom (at the end of which I wept deeply).

See all the red petals? Those be mine, fellow readers!

I like books that make me think, that stick with me for a while. Pretty much all of them did, no matter how quickly they were read, how short or long they were. Plus, the satisfaction of having been literarily productive when I could have done zilch?

Pretty great.

How many books have you read this summer? Let me know!

-Riley