Friday Reads

As a consequence of a lack of reading, there has also been a lack of blogposts. But now I've started reading, and enjoying it, again, so be prepared for more posts. First off, let's update you on what I'm currently reading.

Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
Ever since read Tess of the D'Urbervilles, I've been interested in reading more of Hardy's work. I was intrigued by his writing and his story telling and I decided to read another of his well-known novels. Especially because I've been wanting to see the newest adaptation of Far From the Madding Crowd, I chose this one. I'm currently at about 25% and I'm thoroughly enjoying it, even though it's much different from what I had expected. So far, it's not even a little bleak - as opposed to the depressing Tess, and though not always the smartest characters, they're not nearly as annoying as some of Tess'. I know now I should stop comparing the two, and continue reading Far From the Madding Crowd as a separate novel. I am interested to see how the story develops, though, because I'm pretty sure it will turn darker soon.
In case you're unaware of the plot, here's the blurb (because I'm having trouble summarising it myself):
Hardy's powerful novel of swift sexual passion and slow-burning loyalty centres on Bathsheba Everdene, a proud working woman whose life is complicated by three different men - respectable farmer Boldwood, seductive Sergeant Troy and devoted Gabriel - making her the object of scandal and betrayal. 
Vividly portraying the superstitions and traditions of a small rural community, Far from the Madding Crowd shows the precarious position of a woman in a man's world. 

Justice by Michael J. Sandel
I've always been interested in philosophy, but to be honest, I never read anything about it except for what I had to read for courses. Now I'm done with uni, and I'm kind of missing these obligatory texts. I discussed this with a colleague and he recommended this book. I bought it, and now finally have started reading it. And it's good. It basically discusses what's the 'right' thing to do in several scenarios, using many different philosophical points of view. I must say that I'm a person who's had to read a lot of theory devoid of examples in uni and although I found this difficult and sometimes craved a concrete example just to be able to understand certain theorists, I think this book could do with a few less examples. Sandel wants to reach a large audience, and this style of explaining does contribute to that: There's only few large pieces of text you'll have to get through, and every single idea is shown in examples. I started to find this tedious and consequently I haven't read in it for a good week. I'll start again, because I do find it interesting, and Sandel surely is a smart man I want to learn more from.

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
Scarlet is the second book in the Lunar Chronicles: a science fiction young adult series of fairy tale retellings. The first one, Cinder follows a girl who's a cyborg, and the story resembles that of Cinderella. This one, you may have guessed, follows Scarlet and her adventures with her grandmother and a wolf (yes, it's Little Red Riding Hood). That is not to say these are standalones, it does continue the story of the previous book, but it's now taken a different perspective.  
I don't read much YA anymore, but as I got this one and the third book in the series for my birthday, I decided to give this a go. I enjoyed the first one far more than I probably should have, and I was interested to see how the series continued. This is my 'bedside read', and to be honest, I don't read that much before going to sleep, so this is taking me a while. It's not my top priority even though I'm actually loving the story and thrilled to know what will happen next.