Carolyn's comments
(member since Jun 18, 2009)
Carolyn's comments from the 50 Books A Year group.
(showing 1-20 of 43)
43.
Grade: A
This series owns my heart. I LOVED THIS NOVEL! It was a bit slower in the beginning but it picked up soon after, and the action didn't stop until the end. Oh, the end, a cliffhanger that left my hanging over the edge of said cliff hanging on by only my forefingers. I can't wait for the third novel in the trilogy and when I say can't wait, I mean I want to raid the publishing house and steal it (although I never would do that) ;)
If you haven't started this series, DO IT NOW! You will not regret it!
42.
Grade: B+
I liked this story- it was a fun, fluffy YA novel with a different twist (living with 7 guys). It was interesting and fun, I rooted for one boy until about 100 pages and then switched allegiance until the end. In some (not many) cases I like endings that are left open, but this was not one of them- I wanted some further closure. It was fun overall, read it- it's cute!
41.
Grade: A-
I'm just going to say it, I love Bill Bryson! His writing is just so enjoyable and infectious, this is the second book he's written that I've read (A Walk in the Woods was my first) and I love him more and more. I laugh out loud which is harder in memoir writing, especially a memoir with a historical base. The fifties were described as the "Golden Age of America" and after reading Bryson's novel, I would definitely agree. Bryson's books are now all on my "to-read" list (and should be on yours too)!
40. 
Grade: B
This was a great piece of journalism and I really wanted to love this book. The one thing standing in my way was the subject: The Dust Bowl- I know, yawn. It really isn't all that bad but I've had sort of an aversion to the catastrophe ever since my ninth grade teacher shoved the Grapes of Wrath into our hands (to which I couldn't finish). The stories of the people were interesting but just thinking about the Dust Bowl nearly puts me to sleep. Congrats to Egan on great writing and despite my "eh" attitude towards this book, I absolutely will read his other works.
Only ten more! Can I do it?! I HOPE SO!
39.
Grade: A
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! Both the film adaptation and the graphic novel were amazing. I even loved it after doing a 10 page research paper, which is a true testament to how amazing this graphic novel is. V's message to fascist England is inspiring, even if the streets run red with blood. Moore absolutely won me over with his political graphic novel!
38. 
Grade: B-
This wasn't my favorite graphic novel by any stretch, but it was as sad as they come (in a way). A story of untold secrets as well as the weight and burden they carry. The traditional family dynamic is challenged and there were so many literary references. It was still a good novel, but I'm not sure why I didn't like it all that much- I think it was more that I compared it to the other graphic memoirs I read this semester.
37. 
Grade: B+
I like historical novels and this was no different, but I couldn't enjoy this as much as I would've liked- but mostly it was my fault. This was another required text but for my US History class and I waited until the last night to read 200+ pages as well as 12 chapter summaries, which took away some of the allure. I liked what I read and it kept my attention; my favorite aspect of the novel was the distinct difference between 1908 and 2008, and how far America has come in 100 years.
36.
Grade: B
I really liked this novel and the fact that it furthered my knowledge of the Islamic Revolution, to which I had known nothing about before this. I loved the symbolism of the veil throughout the entire novel. I would love to see the movie adaptation of Satrapi's novel.
35.
Grade: B
This was more of a "textbook" than a novel, which made it a bit slow to read as well as less enjoyable. It greatly deepened my knowledge of comics and helped me to further analyze the juxtaposition of word and text in graphic literature. Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics should no doubt be dubbed the "comics bible."
34. 
Grade: B+
The second Maus novel obviously didn't disappoint, but rather expanded on the terror and heart break of Vladek's story. Art Spiegalman's memoir as well as his fathers is an amazing piece of Holocaust literature.
33.
Grade: B+
What an amazing novel! It is heart breaking in every way, in that both Vladek and Art struggle with demons to hard to face. The masking effect of anthropomorphism is spectacular with the mice, dogs, pigs, etc. I can't get over what an achievement the first half of the Spiegalman's Maus.
32.
Grade: A-
Wow, this was the first graphic novel I'd ever read and it was part of my required reading for my Freshman English Comp 2 Honors class, which had a focus on graphic literature. I loved every moment of this book; it was about first love and religion and terrors of childhood, and the beautiful way snow can blot out even the most disturbing of stains. Loved Thompson's graphic memoir and would recommend it to anyone!
31.
Grade: B
This was another cute and quick read by Cabot. I absolutely didn't like it over the All American Girl Series, which made me laugh out loud. Meg Cabot has a signiture YA voice that I can't help but love.
30.
Grade: B
Another book I read over the summer (and very quickly as it was only 176 pages), this was different than other novels I'd read but it was quite good. It was incredibly sad and the ending killed me, but I thought it was an alright read.
29.
Grade: B
I only gave this book 2 stars which in my opinion means it wasn't bad but wasn't great either, just so-so. I read it fairly quickly over the summer and can't remember details. I would maybe read it again just to refresh my memory.
28.
Grade: A-
Oh how I loved this book. I literally laughed, cried, ached, cringed; I felt these characters were just so incredibly real and wished I spent my summers at the beach like Belly. I read this book in about six hours and wish I slowed down, savored it, but I just couldn't- the pages just kept turning. I would definitely read this again, maybe even buy it, it's the perfect summer read.
27.
Grade: B
I'm not going to lie, I read this book purely because I'm addicted to True Blood, the TV series that is based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels. I don't normally read vampire novels even since the Twilight Series (which now I can't even stand having them on my bookshelf). This was good because I was aware the first series of True Blood had followed the book fairly faithfully, and yet I was still on edge about what about happen next. I'll definitely continue reading the novels, even though I usually don't care about sex in novels, the sex in this book is rampant and after a while I was like "Okay, enough already." Plus I think I harbor a soft spot for Sam, rather than Bill. Bill in the novels just doesn't have the same charm as the TV series Bill. Over all, it was a fun read.
26.
Grade: B+
This book was really fun, I really loved Will, I found myself wishing I had a boy like him. But I really wanted to tell Kate to forget Anna, I mean I know that they were "best friends" but c'mon. Maybe that's normal, I wouldn't know, I've never had an honest to god fight with my best friend. Over all this was a fun story, I read it in 2 days (with 10 hour work days) in between. I found myself itching to find out what happened next, but I really did enjoy this novel. I would definitely read more Elizabeth Scott novels (and probably re-read Bloom- just to refresh my memory), what can I say? YA novels own my soul.
25.
Grade: B-
This was a fast read, I finished in less than a day, and it was really different in the way it touched upon teen homosexuality. I think if the narrator Ellen had been older (closer to my age) and less naive about homosexuality in general, I would have liked the story more. I also wish there would have been a bit more closure, but then again Life doesn't always have a happy ending.
Happy 25 Books to Me! I'm halfway there!
24.
Grade: B
I think I can say that I liked the first book in the series better, All American Girl. It was funny and cute; the writing isn't amazing, but it's so fun to read that I almost (ALMOST being the operative word) can overlook it.
