Good reads of November

I've only read two books in the last month: Divergent by Veronica Roth and The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson. Both are the first of trilogies; one is fantasy, one is dystopian. I have to say that I really find myself gravitating toward the dystopian books that have been coming out. I think all of us have a kind of morbid fascination with the idea of the world ending as we know it, and some new world emerging in the midst of it. Television and movies have definitely been mirroring this idea. It makes me wonder if it's any coincidence that this month will mark the end of the Mayan calendar...

Fiction, especially fantasy, always mirrors reality in the most universal ways and I think that's my favorite part of reading and writing stories. I just told someone recently that I could never be a journalist- and what a drastic difference in writing content with fiction vs. journalism (even nonfiction vs. journalism)- because I live real life all day long. Why in the name of all things holy would I want to write about it?

But anyway, I digress...

I really liked Divergent. I knew when I bought it it was something big. I actually told my friend it was the next Hunger Games and I feel that way even more now that I've read it. There are things about it that I feel are lacking, mainly in the character department, but I'm banking on the fact that it's the first of a trilogy and more information will follow in the next books, which makes me all the more excited to read Insurgent. (I just got my copy in the mail!!)

The Girl of Fire and Thorns was not what I was expecting. I'm not sure I had any defined expectations, just that I had heard good things about it. With my upbringing the way it was (I was raised in a stiflingly religious home, which I left at my earliest opportunity), I'm not sure that I really enjoy stories centered around religion. It rubs me the wrong way. This one started out that way for me, but I warmed to it by the end, mainly due to the excitment of the plot and the development of the main character.

Now I'm on to The Hobbit, which I haven't read in years and had forgotten how good it is. I also started A Christmas Carol, which is my first Charles Dickens novel I've ever read. I'm definitely enjoying it so far, but who doesn't already know and love that story, right?