Becky has
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| # | cover | title | author | isbn | isbn13 | asin | num pages | avg rating | num ratings | date pub | date pub (ed.) | rating | my rating | review | notes | recommender | comments | votes | read count | date started | date read |
date
|
date purchased | owned | purchase location | condition | format | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
125
| 
| 8124200238
| 9788124200230
| 3.70
| 1,525
| 1892
| unknown
|
This is only the second Sherlock Holmes story I've read - well, second official ACD Sherlock story, as I've read other peoples' stories with or about...more
This is only the second Sherlock Holmes story I've read - well, second official ACD Sherlock story, as I've read other peoples' stories with or about Holmes and whatnot. And I enjoyed it, in some ways more than the first one, but still I felt like this little story was lacking, or unfinished in some way. This was read by Alan Cummings, who did a great job, with two little nitpicky exceptions: 1) that he read just a teensy bit too fast; and 2) that there wasn't enough differentiation between Holmes and Watson. It was hard for me to tell them apart unless there was a "Holmes said" or "I said" (since, of course, the stories are narrated by Watson). The story was interesting, in so much as it's always interesting to see what Holmes can learn from an everyday item, but honestly, I wasn't interested in the mystery behind why he was commissioned to do so. I didn't much care that the blue carbuncle was stolen, and honestly, if I had a carbuncle of any color, I'd want it to be stolen. TAKE MY CARBUNCLE, PLEASE! OK, OK, this is the gemstone carbuncle, not the hideous boil carbuncle, but still, I didn't much care how, or why, or by whom it was stolen. But, I did like the end resolution in which Holmes shows that he's got both a heart and a little lawlessness in him. No harm, no foul. OK story, more than OK Holmes... 3 stars. :)(less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| Dec 20, 2012
| Dec 20, 2012
|
Dec 10, 2012
| |||||||||||||||
121
| 
| 159307414X
| 9781593074142
| 3.50
| 2,683
| 1997
| Sep 13, 2005
|
3.5 Stars I recently read on someone's blog that it's not good for reviewers to review books without a knowledge of the genre, the author, the series,...more 3.5 Stars I recently read on someone's blog that it's not good for reviewers to review books without a knowledge of the genre, the author, the series, etc to inform their opinion. Hrmph. While I can see why that would be beneficial, on one level at least, I mostly disagree with it overall. I think books can, and should, be judged on their own merit. I think that, if I pick up a book, it needs to stand on its own and not use my previous experience with the author's other books as a crutch. I think that books have a story to tell, and they should just tell it without me needing to know every other story like it before I can form an opinion on it. I thought of that blog and the ridiculous message it was sending (that opinions of books are only "valid" in certain circumstances) after finishing this little graphic novel. Why, you ask? Well I shall tell you! I purchased this book sight unseen based solely on the fact that Neil Gaiman wrote it. I didn't even know it was a graphic novel until I opened it. I read this without having a single clue as to what it was about, because I never read the description. And, I read this entire story thinking that the antagonist looked an awful lot like Alice Cooper, only finding out that it was in fact supposed to resemble Cooper when I read the introduction... last. Well, next to last. I read the book description last. According to that blogger, all of these things apparently make me a bad reviewer. Not that I really give two shits about what that blogger thinks, but it just made me chuckle thinking about how different people think the act of reading should be done. I envision that blogger like this:  Anyway... So, yeah. I bought this book a while back knowing nothing about it other than Neil Gaiman wrote it. I guess in this case I meet ONE of the Her Highness The Blogger's decrees: I have read quite a bit of Gaiman's work. Not all of it yet, but enough. So in a way, this was predictable, both for it being a classic rejection of temptation tale, and for Neil Gaiman writing it. But that's not to say I didn't like it. I have very shifty opinions on when 'predictable' is acceptable, and it mostly was here. I knew where it was going, but not necessarily how it would get there. And that's Neil's gift. The getting there is good. I liked the little nuances of the story, the shiftiness of it, the "is this all in Steven's head, or...?" feel of the story. I liked the abrupt shift from the everyday to dreamlike surreality and back. I liked quite a bit about this story, even though I'm not usually one for "performance" fiction... Circuses, fairs, carnivals... not my thing. This was pushing the boundary being none of those things, but theater fiction doesn't really do it for me either. So I also liked that that wasn't really the entire focus here. Definitely worth a read, and yet another proof that Neil Gaiman's pen could explode on paper and it'd be worth reading. So, the short, bad reviewer version: "I liked it."  (less)
| Notes are private!
| none
|
1
| Dec 10, 2012
| Dec 10, 2012
|
Dec 08, 2012
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
122
| 
| 1101617004
| 9781101617007
| 4.50
| 16,329
| Nov 27, 2012
| Nov 27, 2012
|
4.5 Stars OHHHHH SNIPPITY SNAP. O_O I cannot even... That last 25 pages was like... Whut. Apparently, among my circle of friends and Dresdenites, I am...more 4.5 Stars OHHHHH SNIPPITY SNAP. O_O I cannot even... That last 25 pages was like... Whut. Apparently, among my circle of friends and Dresdenites, I am an odd duck, because as much as I liked Changes (and I did) I liked Ghost Story more. It just spoke to me. So after I finished Ghost Story, and was told "Oh, you... just wait for Cold Days!" I expected a story that spoke my language. One that was BAM! Right in the Hallmark Brand overactively emotional empathy gland. But... then it wasn't. Cold Days, dare I say it... the beginning left me a little cold? Ba dum bum. Just a little... and really not for long. Because once things started happening, they fucking happened. This is my first read through of the Dresden series. I say first, of course because there will be more read throughs of Dresden - duh. So, first time, I don't really think that I can have caught all the nuances of the series so far. I mean, things are coming together. They are, slowly but surely, starting to form a whole - but for much of the series I've been reading these as standalone character books with a chronological tie. Not really as they deserve to be read, which is as a single overall story. I have unintentionally done this despite knowing, academically, that they are a single story. But no longer, because Cold Days has really driven the point home, and I get it. I get it. This isn't some series that just happens to share a character and a world among all of its books, a series that doesn't know when it should have ended, like some series I could name but won't because that series's main character is an idiotic mind-reading 3/16ths fairy fang-banger waitress and she already knows I'm talking about her...  *whispers* I think I hurt her feelings. Oops. ;) Anyway... THIS series has substance. It has a point. It has a STORY! Things are starting to come together in this story, things that I care about, and that I want to experience and kinda half fear, because that's how GOOD stories make me feel. Things. Are. Happening. And OH MY SHIT will things be happening in book 15, because that last 25 pages just flipped some shit. And it was great. PS. I'm so glad that Jim Butcher writes fairies/faeries/fae in a way that makes them interesting and not irritating to read about. I think they've actually grown on me, from way back in Summer Knight when they first made an important plot appearance. I don't like reading about fairies/faeries/fae because too often they are just... boring. Butcher's fae are anything but, and their curveballs are wicked. I can't wait for the next book. Is it out yet? O_o(less) | Notes are private!
| none
|
1
| Dec 04, 2012
| Dec 12, 2012
|
Dec 04, 2012
| ebook
| ||||||||||||||
120
| 
| 045146379X
| 9780451463791
| 4.26
| 25,200
| Jul 26, 2011
| Jul 26, 2011
|
I'm going to assume that if you're reading this review, you've read all of the Dresden books up to and including Ghost Story. So, if you haven't, don'...more
I'm going to assume that if you're reading this review, you've read all of the Dresden books up to and including Ghost Story. So, if you haven't, don't complain if I spoil this for you, because I just don't think I can vague-ify this one. Here we go... Reaction immediately after finishing Changes & Aftermath (from Side Jobs):  Reaction while reading Ghost Story: Reaction after reading Ghost Story:  So like... if you know me, you'd know why this motherfucker right here got 5 stars. It made me cry. Many times. I don't really know how many because I didn't count, but I was kind of surprised it happened at all. I mean, I'd recently finished Changes, and I remember how emotional that one was, how much Harry lost, how much his world, his life, changed. How he gained a daughter that he could never know, how he had to murder someone he loved to protect that daughter. I remember these things and the way they affected me. And it was good. I'd never felt that way reading a Dresden book before. But this one upped the emotional ante and (dare I say it?) went all in. I'll probably be turning right back around after Cold Days and saying, "Remember how I said Ghost Story was fucking raw?? Well, color me fucking short-sighted..." If that happens, I admit it, I'll be thrilled. Because I'm deranged like that and love when books gut-punch me. By the way, Ghost Story was fucking raw. I loved all the little ways that this hurt me. From Murphy's distrust that Harry's shade was really Harry, to the way Molly changed after losing Harry, to the fact that it was 10 pages before the end of the story before Harry lets himself think of Thomas... and all that those things imply, the emotional aspect of this one was ratcheted up. I loved (and hated) feeling Harry's loss through his friends, through the city itself, and how it's gone wild in such a short time without Harry's influence there, and I feared what permanence might mean. I loved Harry's growth and insight, and his concern for his friends even after death. I loved all these things, and how they all tied in together to show how much I'd grown to love Harry over the course of twelve books. I mean, I knew I'd loved him... but I don't think I knew how much until I lost him. Yeah... I said it. Cliche FTW. This used to be a series that I enjoyed, but to me it was like candy. Really good candy, satisfying candy, but candy nonetheless. I like it, but I don't need it, I can't live on it. Now the emotional impact has been upped and this is ranging more in the soup and a sandwich zone. It's now got substance and nourishment and it's filling... but leaves me wanting more a few hours later. Pleasepleaseplease let Cold Days graduate to dinner! I'm hungry! Technically, aside from the details, this was kind of what I expected... had I expected anything. Dang, that sentence really doesn't make much sense. I mean, once it started and I knew what kind of story I was working with, the storyline kind of went where I thought it would. Or... rather, where I was fingers/toes/legs/eyes-crossed/hair braided hoping it would. The route it took to get there was unexpected and different, but still. I'm thankful it DID get there, and didn't go the closeish route of having Harry join Captain Murphy's team. While I'm sure that would have been interesting, and Harry'd have found some method of interaction, I was hoping for the full Monty. THANK YOU, Jim Butcher, for letting me have that. I can't wait to see where Cold Days goes. (I'm a little frightened too, though.)(less) | Notes are private!
| none
|
1
| Nov 28, 2012
| Dec 04, 2012
|
Nov 28, 2012
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
118
| 
| 192913214X
| 9781929132140
| 4.19
| 2,563
| Mar 01, 1993
| Mar 01, 1993
|
OK so... Everyone poops. Duh. I'm not really so sure what the point of this book is. If it's meant to be funny, it kinda failed, because I don't think...more OK so... Everyone poops. Duh. I'm not really so sure what the point of this book is. If it's meant to be funny, it kinda failed, because I don't think that toddlers will appreciate "poop" as a funny word yet. You have to get to the age where poop can be embarrassing and therefore be subject to becoming a joke... Five maybe. Or ten. Or thirty-five. If it's meant to be informative, it kinda failed there, too. It's not informative as a potty-training book because it has no information about potty-training at all, other than showing both an anatomically correct little boy pooping in a diaper and another little boy pooping on a toilet. And a grown man pooping on a toilet too. Sans anatomical illustrations there. Pity. It's not informative as a guide to bodily-functions, because the book doesn't explain how food becomes poop. It barely even informs its target audience that food is linked to poop production at all. It's just "Everyone eats, therefore everyone poops." It's like saying "The sun rises, therefore people work." The two pieces of the statement aren't obviously cause and effect to someone who has to be told that everyone else poops too. If you're not at a stage of awareness that makes it apparent that you're NOT the center of the universe and that everything you do (like pooping) isn't brand new, I think explaining how food becomes poop should be necessary. If it's something an 8th grade Health & Nutrition class covers, it's probably something to mention in a book about poop for a toddler or a pre-schooler, just in simpler terms. Maybe something like, "Food goes in your mouth, and then your belly squishes it up and gets all the energy out of food, which makes you run around and drive Mommy crazy all day, and then later your butt shoots it out on Daddy. Never, ever, ever on Mommy." Yeah. I'm gonna be a great parent. Who wants me to babysit? Anyway, this book was boring. I "read" it via YouTube in 2 minutes flat, and that was that. I can now say that I read it, but got nothing out of it at all. Maybe it'd be a good scratch-n-sniff? Stocking stuffer material right there! Tis the season and whatnot. Two turds. It was colorful at least. (less) | Notes are private!
| Jackie
|
1
| Nov 29, 2012
| Nov 29, 2012
|
Nov 28, 2012
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
119
| 
| 0765333104
| 9780765333100
| 3.99
| 461
| Oct 02, 2012
| Oct 02, 2012
|
I read and discussed this one with a couple friends, and though all three of us have very different reading personalities, we pretty much all felt the...more
I read and discussed this one with a couple friends, and though all three of us have very different reading personalities, we pretty much all felt the same way about this book: It had potential, but was ultimately just a mess. There was just too much going on in this book, and not nearly enough story to support it. It felt manic, like the author tried to cram every cool idea he had into it, but didn't explain anything in a way that felt natural or even coherent. Everything was just presented, world-building, magic system, characters, plot, investigation, resolution... All just told, and the reader has to accept it because we have nothing else to go on. Everything that happened in the book was like this and it was frustrating. We don't get to know why something happens, or the significance of an event, or how anything works, or what the point is, or even what IS happening until after the fact, or until the very end when the epilogue tells us everything that couldn't be followed in the story, point by point. One of my friends said it felt Holmesian, except that Sherlock Holmes will explain HOW he came to the conclusions he did, not just that he came to them. There was a lot of cool stuff in this book. A lot of fantastic ideas that, more carefully formed and better presented, could be amazingly good. But this book felt unfinished. Just when I'd expect to learn something, about the magic system, for instance, I'd see WHAT it can do, but not how or why, which is the basic building block of creating something that feels real. You can tell me something until the cows come home, but until it's presented in a way that allows me to KNOW it, it doesn't stick - it's not real. I'll give you two examples: 1) Alt Couloumb(sp?): (The fact that I'm not even sure how to spell the setting even after finishing the book, is a bad sign.) As I was reading this, I kept picturing AC as a kind of old gothic town, lots of high and dark church steeples, narrow alleyways, cobbled streets, a port, steam-powered... You get the picture. There were centers of activity - the church of Kos Everburning, and the vampire/Craftsperson's club, but otherwise, this city in my head was practically empty. In my head it was population 5,000 maybe. So imagine my surprise when I read the book description after finishing and see that this city, this "metropolis" actually has 4 million residents. FOUR MILLION. I don't know where they all were. The city I live in has less than a million residents, but I see people all the time. Walking down the streets, going about their business, doing what they do. I see them. I am one of them. But Alt Couloumb was filled with driverless carriages and not much else from what I could tell. It just wasn't real. It was like an impressionist painting where the onlooker can get the idea of what's being presented, but the detail isn't there. In art, I'm OK with that. In world-building for a book series, I'm not. If I'm going to invest my time and energy into a series of books, I want to LIVE in that world. Tolkien is a master world-builder. I'm not just reading about Middle Earth, I'm there. That is how a fictional world should be. I shouldn't have to fill in an author's gaps to make it work. 2) Craft: This is the magic system in the story, and from the little that I learned of how it works (regarding starlight and soulstuff), I will admit that it was pretty cool. However, and this is a BIG however, there was no rule set or limitations to the way it could be used that I ever saw. Craftspeople learn how to use it, and then they're off! Apparently anything they can imagine is possible. I can't recall seeing a single limitation. Not one thing that couldn't be done with Craft. Yet at the end of the book, one of the characters mentions that she's surprised that an engineer wouldn't cotton to the rules of Craft... Which left me a little mind-boggled, because it doesn't seem that there were any until it was convenient to say there were to tell another character (and the reader) how certain things happened. Blah. I need structure. I don't enjoy "Anything Goes" magic systems. It's uninteresting to me... there's no danger if all you have to do is imagine your way out of a pickle. "Anything Goes" magic systems are built in deus ex machina devices, and that's just unimaginative. I don't want to see a character succeed at everything simply by using magic. Which is exactly what happens in this book. No really. Our main character is newly-graduated/evicted from school (no idea why the eviction, though), and is hired on a trial basis for a hugely important trial regarding deicide, and then she's made responsible for the investigation, the trial proceedings, and other stuff besides. Yup. This untried rookie is made lead in a murder case for a GOD. Nopressure. But never fear, Tara's here! There's never any chance she'll fail, because she'll always just Craft her way out of anything. She's got a backdoor or a trick up her sleeve, or the perfect solution for every fucking situation imaginable. Gah. This is getting long. I'll wrap this up quickly. The first trial: Ridiculous. Evidence? Who needs evidence! This is a cage-match. The second trial: No need for proof or evidence here either. Pure conjecture allowed. Pronouns when dealing with default or unknown persons: This was really annoying to me throughout the entire book. Almost always, the pronoun used for someone whose gender or identity is unknown was feminine. Being a woman, you'd think that this would be refreshing, but instead it was just baffling, because there seemed to be no reason for it. This wasn't a matriarchal society. There wasn't anything feminist that I could tell. There wasn't even a greater number of women in the story. The only thing I can think is that the author was trying to score brownie points with female readers. But it was inconsistent. ALMOST always it was feminine, but not every time, and not consistently depending on whose POV we were seeing either. Likewise with Craftswoman (usually), Craftsman (sometimes), Craftsperson (occasionally). It was just random. The Plot: I really have no idea. I asked my co-readers what the firm was even hired for (still can't remember the name of the firm either, despite seeing it maybe 20 times), and that's just really not good. The plot was just so convoluted, and there was so much that the reader just had to accept and keep track of, that what seemed straightforward in the beginning ended up just wandering around for a while until everything just magically (Craftily?) came together at the end, and then the reader was told the missing pieces we couldn't know. *sigh* Like I said at the beginning... This had potential to be great. But it wasn't anywhere close. The execution just wasn't good enough to make this a coherent, enjoyable story. Maybe the second book will fill in more of the history and world-building and magic system rules and character personality... but I need that stuff to draw me into the series. It's not enough to try to hook me with mysteriousness. I need substance, not smoke and mirrors. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
|
1
| Nov 17, 2012
| Nov 28, 2012
|
Nov 17, 2012
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
115
| 
| 1416503862
| 9781416503866
| 3.70
| 701
| 2010
| Apr 20, 2010
|
This book was a 2 star, middle of the road, didn't hate it, didn't love it, it was OK kinda read until the last 40 pages or so. At 40 pages from the e...more
This book was a 2 star, middle of the road, didn't hate it, didn't love it, it was OK kinda read until the last 40 pages or so. At 40 pages from the end, I stopped reading, stared at the book, and asked it: "Are you fucking kidding?!!" It didn't answer, probably because I'd shamed it into silence, but the answer is no, it was not fucking kidding.  Lemme back up a bit and work up to my vocal incredulity. This book was selected as the November book in my real life bookclub. And so I read it. I was assured that the author is "hilarious" and "smart" and that I would "probably love this book". Huh. Not so much. I'm gonna talk about what led me to stare down and then yell at this book now, so if you have intentions of reading this book, or just don't want me to ruin it for you, stop reading right about.... Now. Let the rant commence. OK, so, we start this book with Charlotte grieving, unable to get out of bed or deal with her day without a plan. Through her memories, we see her daily morning interaction with her absent husband, Matthew - how she's a horrible morning person, how he would tease her that her right side is still sleeping and tell her left side not to wake her, etc. So cute, sweet, loving... *HURK*. Oh, 'scuse me. I just ate. Anyway, so, we add together Grief + Missing Adorable Husband, and we end up with the assumption that he's dead. Turn that in to the professor and we get a big red FAIL for faulty logic. He's not dead... he's just estranged. And Charlotte is a fucking wreck. Alrighty... I don't know how long they were together before they got married, but from the bits and pieces of their courtship, where Mattypoo is impossibly adorable in spite of (if not because of) his OCD, which necessitated Charlotte learning his mannerisms and body language, meaning that she is The Only One Who Gets Him, I really did not get the impression that it was very long. Maybe a year? Then they were married for 5 months, when seemingly out of the blue, Mattypoo says he's moving out. Which he does, until a month later when he changes his mind and comes back home. Which sends Charlotte into a mental crisis tailspin of worry and doubt and what-the-fuckery where she ends up masturbating on the cold bathroom floor in the middle of the night, before skeeving herself out and then scrubbing said floor at 3am. Charlotte: OMG! My beloved husband left me! This is terrible... I'm sad. -Later- Charlotte: He's back! Wait. Why? Why is he back? Did he sleep with someone and now he feels guilty? Did that someone (who is, of course, blonde and beautiful, and utterly uninhibited) do things that I would never let him do, so now that oat is sowed (sown?) and he can come back? Does he love me? I love him. I don't know if he loves me. But he came back. But he left. He loves me though... he came back. But he doesn't. (At this point, I was like "DID YOU TRY FUCKING ASKING HIM WHY HE LEFT?! *slap slap*) Charlotte, cont'd: He loves/doesn't love me. Everything is falling apart. If I don't have him I don't exist... but he doesn't want me... or maybe he just doesn't want to be alone. Or maybe blah blah blah blah [edited for brevity]... *Complete breakdown/bathroom scene* And that is how, after being unable to cope with her husband deciding to leave OR stay, SHE decides to leave HIM... apparently in order to save her marriage. Or... something. 'Or something' because she somehow thinks that makes sense... She makes absolutely ZERO effort to discuss anything with him, aside from inviting him to her family functions, because she insists on pretending as though there's nothing wrong at all to her family, while at the same time acting as though the sun just fell out of the sky to her friends, acquaintances, co-workers, and casual passersby, whom she expects to behave the same way. She could make a silent indy film called THE PERPETUAL DARKNESS OF A MATTHEWLESS WORLD. In miniature. Cannes would love it. (Remember the miniature part. This will be important later.) Seriously, her behavior at this point in the story (pre-incredulosity, remember) is so out of proportion to the situation that I was hoping something really awful would happen to her just for some perspective. (It didn't.) So anyway, then she makes a new friend, who introduces her to roller derby, which performs the oh-so-painful-but-necessary role of distracting her from her miserable, fucked up life, while at the same time teaching her confidence, and, umm confidence, and... conf-Zzzzzzzz...  But not really. Because she's still clinically UN-FUCKING-ABLE to make a goddamn decision about what she wants to do with her life. Or even cope with being a human. There was the part where a male friend is going through a mini-crisis of his own, and she hugs him, during which he kisses her on the cheek/corner of her mouth, and she freaks the hell out. Going into a panic attack/crying fit because a "man has touched her" and she can't cope with that. As if she'd been raped or assaulted or something, rather than just having her husband leave her and then come back. How traumatizing!! Have I mentioned she's 30? She's MY AGE. And I am a Libra, and as such, I am technically allowed to be indecisive. But for shit's sake, I don't think that a break up with a boy EVER incapacitated me to this level of stagnation... not even when I was in full on BOYS ARE THE UNIVERSE mode at 15. I don't even think that I'd get that way now if The Boy and I were to split, and we've been together 24 times the length of Charlotte's pathetic ass Kardashian marriage. But I digress. Friend > roller derby > other shit which is too pointless to mention > leads to a Much Needed Girls' Getaway Vacation. (Brace yourself, the incredularity is coming soon.) During the MNGGV, Friend asks Charlotte, "What did he do to you?" And this is where Charlotte breaks her long silence and tells Friend what led to Mattypoo leaving in the first place. (Ready?) She is a miniature artist. By which I mean to say that she makes small things and displays them as art. Shortly after the wedding, she did a show, wherein a gallery owner got all flirty with Charlotte and Mattypoo got jealous. Mattypoo's not real good with his words (despite being a LAWYER!!) and so he tells her to keep him out of that aspect of her life... Until one day he gets drunk, comes home, they argue... and he breaks her miniatures. And I quote: "He opened the door and threw the scraps of my work out onto the porch.And then this... "'He left two weeks later. I think he couldn't handle what he'd done.' I just... I can't. He didn't hit her. He didn't call her a whore for allowing Gallery Guy to flirt with her. He didn't threaten her. They argued, and he broke the miniature art piece that she had been working on. Which ruined their marriage and sent Charlotte into an 18 month long depression. Oh yes, you heard right. 18 months. The depression was longer than their marriage, and possibly longer than their entire relationship. Over a broken miniature art piece that they couldn't find it within themselves to work past.  Aside from the utter fucking ridiculous catalyst for the entire story, I didn't find anything particularly funny, though it was definitely trying, and I didn't like the writing all that much either. Things just randomly happen, huge time jumps occur and suddenly it's 1, or 5, or 18 months later, with no feeling of change or progress at all. Charlotte's nicknames are both "clever" references to her emotional state: Char (as in burned) and Hard Broken/Broke-Broke/Broken. And of course by the end, after all her Roller Derby Confidence Fixes Everything, she dumps the jerkbag and scores a date with the hottie from roller derby with the crush on her that she never gave two seconds thought to previously. I'm trying to think, and I can't come up with a single redeeming thing about this book at all. Overall, I'd describe the entire book as TSTL. It felt like it was trying too hard to be unique or quirky or something, but just felt cliched. Add in completely unlikable characters I couldn't identify with in any way, and a catalyst that's TSTFB (too stupid to fucking believe), and I want my wasted time back. (less) | Notes are private!
| Jess
|
1
| Nov 06, 2012
| Nov 08, 2012
|
Nov 06, 2012
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
116
| 
| 045146317X
| 9780451463173
| 4.52
| 27,368
| Mar 18, 2010
| Apr 06, 2010
|
 Yup. That about sums it up. Holy craptoid this book was intense. I know that I said that I found Turn Coat to be predictable, but Changes was anything...more Yup. That about sums it up. Holy craptoid this book was intense. I know that I said that I found Turn Coat to be predictable, but Changes was anything but. It started off with a Whopper and then added jalapenos and Sriracha and some pickled habaneros and holy shit is this going to be regrettable later. I never knew where this was going to go next, and each time another explosive ingredient was added, my intestines clenched.  And on top of that, this book was surprisingly emotional as well. EVERYTHING changes and many things are lost for good. Harry makes choices that I was sure NOTHING would ever cause him to make, and rather than losing respect for him for these choices, I have even more because after 11 prior books and several short stories, it's perfectly clear how dire things would need to be in Harry's view in order to lead to that point. And for him, it was. And it was heartbreaking. I had no trouble at all accepting Harry's reaction to the bomb that was dropped on him regarding Maggie. Though I did think that anyone else would have been there for the wrong (selfish) reasons, but not Harry. He went from zero to Super-Dad in 0.006 seconds. And it made sense. In the very first Dresden story, the short that comes before Storm Front even, we see him go to the wall for a little girl he doesn't know who has no ties to him in any way, so of course for family he'd go through the wall and demolish the house and the ground it's sitting on if necessary. Whatever he needs to do. And though my intestines were clenched, I loved and dreaded every minute of it. I really liked the Red Court/Maya correlation, and I think it makes perfect sense. That's probably what really happened.  Yes. So. Changes. Wow. Awesomeness, and I can't wait to see where it goes from here. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| Nov 05, 2012
| Nov 10, 2012
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Nov 05, 2012
| Hardcover
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114
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| 0451462564
| 9780451462565
| 4.42
| 28,238
| Apr 07, 2009
| Apr 07, 2009
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3.5 Stars This book was a little... predictable, in my opinion. Maybe not the supernatural threat in this book, because that was new, but quite a few d...more 3.5 Stars This book was a little... predictable, in my opinion. Maybe not the supernatural threat in this book, because that was new, but quite a few different things were extremely predictable, and I figured out the whodunnit way, way early. I almost never put all the pieces together before Harry does, but in this one, I did... over and over. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy the book. I really did. Harry is his usual snarkrageous self, and I loved him. Things got dicey here, and the tension was pretty palpable, especially because I was listening to the audio. The voices were very different than I'd heard the characters in my head, but I still enjoyed the reading quite a lot. Very interested to see where the next one goes. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| Nov 03, 2012
| Nov 05, 2012
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Nov 03, 2012
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
111
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| B009WW5JG2
| 4.14
| 616
| Sep 25, 2012
| Sep 25, 2012
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I love Neil Gaiman. I heard about this story about an hour ago, and it being NEIL GAIMAN, whom I love (refer back to sentence 1), I downloaded it. It...more I love Neil Gaiman. I heard about this story about an hour ago, and it being NEIL GAIMAN, whom I love (refer back to sentence 1), I downloaded it. It doesn't even matter what it's about. It's NEIL. And narrated by Neil. *swoon* Checking my ipod after I downloaded, I see that this story is actually only 12 minutes long. 10 minutes, if you don't count the author's introduction regarding All Hallow's Read, and requesting that people download this book (which is free on Audible.com through Halloween) to benefit educational charities via DonorsChoose.org. Do it. It's 15 minutes out of your life, you'll have done good in the world, and get a fun little story out of it. Download here: http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?... Anywho, so, I admit that I was a little disappointed that this was so short, but after listening to it, I don't think it could have been longer. It was just perfect, with a nice little twist ending, and did I mention that Neil Gaiman narrates? Because he does. I just love the way he reads, and how he brings every character to life, even when none of them have a name, or history, or more than 10 minutes to work with. It's downright scary how brilliant Neil Gaiman is. So, yes. I really enjoyed this one, and I definitely recommend it for the story itself, but even more for the cause. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| Oct 26, 2012
| Oct 26, 2012
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Oct 26, 2012
| Audiobook
| |||||||||||||||
110
| 
| 0156032872
| 9780965818674
| 3.90
| 691,879
| Jul 05, 2003
| 2003
|
I am not a romance reader by nature. That's not to say that I don't enjoy them from time to time, but I just don't usually gravitate toward romance. A...more
I am not a romance reader by nature. That's not to say that I don't enjoy them from time to time, but I just don't usually gravitate toward romance. And to be completely honest, I had absolutely zero intention of reading this book, ever. But then it was chosen as my October Bookclub book, so my intentions just became irrelevant. So, now that I've read it... Umm... Well. I think that this book did have an interesting premise, and in another author's hands, could have been fantastic. But most of the time while reading this, I just kept feeling, well, manipulated and skeptical. All I kept thinking as I read this was how implausible it all was. And I'm not just talking about the time-travel. Just to forewarn you, this long (really long) Ranty McRanter Review may contain spoilery stuff. This book's description says "[...]this is the remarkable story of Henry DeTamble, a dashing, adventuresome librarian who travels involuntarily through time, and Clare Abshire, an artist whose life takes a natural sequential course. Henry and Clare's passionate love affair endures across a sea of time and captures the two lovers in an impossibly romantic trap[...]". Uh huh.  "Impossibly romantic trap"? Well. A trap of some kind, anyway. My biggest issue here is that Clare's life has been entirely determined by Henry, with a little help from his unknown ally, the Catholic Church. Henry's told her what her life is and will be: She will be his wife. And because of her Catholic upbringing, the concept of predestination is not at all foreign to her (remember, God has a plan for us all), and so she accepts it as a matter of course. She sees him as her closest friend, the person who knows the most about her in the world, the person who loves her the most in the world, and as a young girl who is just starting to form ideas about romantic love, I'd imagine that to her he's like a God. An all-knowing (he knows her future) but mysterious (because he won't tell her about it, or anything about himself), unconditionally loving (I don't think I need to explain this one), metaphysical or supernatural being (time traveler, remember?), and who is just waiting for her to accept him (well, actually, just to get old enough to do so). I don't think it's much of a stretch, honestly. So, leaving aside the paradox of their relationship technically being impossible (they only meet in the present because of Henry telling her where they will while visiting Clare in the past), it strikes me as incredibly unfair to Clare that from 6 years old, when she meets a naked man claiming to be a time traveler in the meadow near her house, her life becomes tethered to Henry. Now, I can see a 6 year old accepting a story of a time traveler. A 6 year old's imagination is a wild thing, and children can accept and cope with concepts that would drive adults to drink. But as Clare gets older, and learns more about her life with Henry - that they are married, specifically - it becomes less and less plausible to me that someone would be able to accept that. How does she know that he's not lying to her, or manipulating her into the life he claims she will live with him? She doesn't know anything at all about him other than the fact that he shows up naked in her yard repeatedly and claims to be her husband in the future. To me, the time travel itself isn't enough evidence. He could be a time traveler AND a liar. It just seems to me like a waste. A waste of a life that Clare could have had that would have been fulfilling and satisfying without Henry in it. Considering the fleeting nature of their relationship, and the massive extent of time she spent waiting for him, I just don't think it was worth it, and to me, Henry is incredibly selfish for pursuing that life for her.  The waiting is just endless... And here's where it gets confusing, because Henry believes that the past can't be changed to affect the future, right? So, 42 year old Henry meeting 6 year old Clare in the past leads to 28 year old Henry meeting 20 year old Clare in the present. It's destined because 42 year old Henry's past contains that meeting at 28. Right? But, Henry's theory is kind of crap because the whole thing is a paradox. He went to a past from a future that couldn't have existed UNLESS he changed the past in order to affect the future. And this is another reason why this book felt manipulate-y. I feel like we're not supposed to examine it in this way, and just read it for the love story and the heartbreaking sadness that this time-travel thing causes in the time traveler's wife's life. We're supposed to see this as an epic romance. We're supposed to see the relationship as the central focus, we're supposed to accept this at face value (as everyone accepts Henry's time travel and 20 years worth of him gallivanting around naked in the Newberry Library without losing his job, which is completely plausible, of course) and not give it too much thought, because if we look too closely, we can see there's not much there. Henry is described as something of a player by everyone but Clare. A cheater, a heartbreaker, emotionally unavailable... yet we never see this. Not one time. Ingrid (who we don't see with Henry in a Clareless present) is the bitter, devastated ex, and whatshername Celia? is the one trying to catch Ingrid on the rebound, so of course she's going to play up the Henry-the-Dog thing. But I don't buy it. Pics or it didn't happen, as they say. If you're going to claim someone's a player, you need to back it up - in real life and in fictional time travel stories. Show him time travel back and interrupt his younger self mid-affair. Then I'd believe it.  Whoops! Instead, all we see is Henry the Totally Devoted To Clare. He loves her more than love ever loved love and therefore they are DESTINED, and so it shall be. Henry knows what's going to happen, and therefore he doesn't even try. He just sits back and let's the future come to him. Kendrick's going to be his doctor because he is. It happens because it has already happened. So no need to get all rowdy and make an effort or anything. *Yawn* In fact that's another thing. There's absolutely ZERO conflict in this book. None. Henry gets arrested for indecent exposure on a freeway in 1963? Conveniently he disappears before he's booked. Want something? Take it. Something's weird? Accepted. Family troubles? Just introduce your new wife, then all tension is gone. If there's a snag, it's always a momentary one, and it always works out in the end. UGH. Jeez! Anyway! Where was I? Oh yes, characters. Clare. She is... Well. This is going to be unpopular, but Clare is just an older, slightly (very slightly) less annoying version of Bella Swan. She has no life other than Henry. Her friends become his friends (because it's not like he has any of his own. Oh, wait, his old Korean babysitter counts, I guess). Her life is completely engrossed by his and there's no part of it that is Henryless. She's completely devoted to this guy who had to ship in an extra to appear at his own wedding because he's too unreliable to actually be there in present time. Just the kind of life every girl dreams of on their big day! :D  Oops, close, but not quite! Supposedly Clare's an artist or something...? Yeah. Something like that. I guess. I live with an artist. And the art TAKES OVER EVERYTHING. There's art and art supplies and potential art supplies and scribbles and drawings and markers and paint and art... just... EVERYWHERE. It's not a hobby, it's a part of the Boy's LIFE. This creative need. So when Clare is described as making stuff like 3 times in the book, complete with step by step directions and an accompanying Create-It-Yourself! shopping list for the reader... it rings false with me. I don't see her as being an artist. I see her as being a toy that Henry picks up and plays with when he's around, and who sits on the shelf and waits for him to come back and play with her again when he's not around. And when it's convenient (aka: will reinforce the romance, like when she sketches Henry), Niffenegger sticks her in a studio with some art supplies and calls her an artist. That's not character development, that's just lazy. Oh but wait, you say, what about the bird sculptures? Oh right, those, how could I forget, because they were so massively important to the story that they were mentioned like one time. Henry's job is mentioned a bazillion times, and Clare's work mentions I could count on one hand. Lazy. For real. The book is called The Time Traveler's WIFE, why is there not more about Clare? Why is there not more TO Clare? And, speaking of shopping lists, seriously, I don't need an entire recipe recitation for each and every meal they eat. And the kinds of meals they eat are ridiculous. I don't believe that a 20 year old and her 2 punk-rock rebel anarchist roommates are drinking merlot and eating wild mushroom risotto. I can't even roll my eyes enough at that shit. But that's not even the best. I mean, Niffenegger's descriptions are insanely long anyway (the quality of the light glinting off of this or that, dew on the thinger I don't care about at all, the texture of the whatchamajig, blah blah blah) but at one point Henry is unpacking groceries and EVERY. SINGLE. ITEM. is listed before getting to the point of the list: a shocker item. THERE WERE 32 ITEMS. THIRTY-EFFING-TWO!! I counted. Unlike Clare, I am not fascinated by celery stalks and cans of creamed corn. So I gave approximately 0% of one shit about 31 of the items that were listed before the SHOCKER ITEM. Gah. Thirty-two. Seriously. Another thing that really bugged me were the miscarriages. There were times that they were written in such a way that I wasn't sure if it was a nightmare of Clare's or reality - I'm still not sure, but I think it was supposed to be reality. I admit to skimming quite a bit, so maybe I missed something. Blood-soaked sheets and bed, and a little tiny fetus breathing its last in her hand? What? Maybe Niffenegger isn't familiar with the stages of fetal development, but lungs are pretty much the last things to develop, so that's just... weird. But then finally, FINALLY Clare gets preggers, with her husband who is time travelling from the past. She cheated on her hubby with her hubby while in bed with her hubby, who is sleeping. But hey, that's OK. They are used to being in bed with each other, eh, 15 year old Henry and 15 year & 6 months old Henry? *elbow nudge* Anyway... Toward the end of the book there are quite a few events that feel manipulative in order to cause a certain event. Henry's feet are important to him. This is drilled into the reader time and again. He runs because he needs to run when he time travels and lands somewhere buck-naked, raising all kinds of suspicions. So of course, something happens to his feet. Not just one, which would have had the same effect, likely, but BOTH. For the shock value. And to me, it was just not necessary at all. Because THE EVENT would probably have happened anyway - it happened in an eyeblink. And the repercussions from that event are... well. We're supposed to be crushed.  I think this book is doing it wrong. I won't lie and say that I wasn't affected, though... but it wasn't because of the characters themselves. It was because I imagine myself in the position of losing someone I love, and know how heartbroken I'd have been. But then I get angry, because in the goodbye letter he leaves for her, the one in which he tells her to live her life and be happy, he mentions - just as an aside, you know!- that he visits her in the far flung future. And that leaves her waiting for him again... for 50+ years. How horribly selfish do you have to be to do that to someone? Is that a comfort? I don't think so. I think it's exactly the opposite. It's torture to make someone wait in uncertainty for over half their life for one brief momentary visit. Such a waste, and the more I think about this book, the more I find to dislike in it. It's not romantic, it's depraved. Yeah... so. I could go on, like about how the different perspectives were written and how even with the abrupt shift in POV I could never tell who was narrating unless I either checked or got lucky and one was talking directly to the other, because there was no difference in character voice at all, but the longer I do, the more annoyed I get, and I have better books I could be reading. (less) | Notes are private!
| Jen
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1
| Oct 21, 2012
| Oct 23, 2012
|
Oct 21, 2012
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
123
| 
| 1476710821
| 9781476710822
| 3.57
| 1,609
| Aug 01, 2012
| Oct 09, 2012
|
Cuh-reeeeeepy! I do love me some Stephen King and Joe Hill... and writing together? Awesomeness. This was a great little story. Intense and nerve-wrac...more Cuh-reeeeeepy! I do love me some Stephen King and Joe Hill... and writing together? Awesomeness. This was a great little story. Intense and nerve-wracking, and surreal and all too realistic - at least to me. Being lost in vast fields of grass or corn would be terrifying. You think you're walking out, but only pushing deeper into the field. And then you panic and disorientate yourself and things just get worse... This story reminded me a little of quite a few other King stories, from The Lawnmower Man to Children of the Corn, to N, to The Tommyknockers, to The Stand... and specifically of My Father's Mask from Joe Hill, with his special brand of un- and surreality making things quite interesting. I liked it. Yes indeed. I shall now carry a weed-whacker with me wherever I go. :D(less) | Notes are private!
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1
| Dec 12, 2012
| Dec 12, 2012
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Oct 08, 2012
| ebook
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109
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| 1596064854
| 9781596064850
| 4.07
| 4,785
| Aug 31, 2012
| Aug 31, 2012
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I scooped this one up quicker than lightning when I heard it was available for free on Audible. I love me some BSands. And this story did not disappoi...more
I scooped this one up quicker than lightning when I heard it was available for free on Audible. I love me some BSands. And this story did not disappoint, though it wasn't at all what I expected. In fact, the first little while of the story reminded me a lot of a Joe Hill story. I love both authors, and both are men I'd gladly leg-hump in a flicker of a heartbeat were I to run into either of them on the street... or in a bar... or in their kitchens. But I digress. I love both authors, but they have very different styles. Yet the beginning of this story felt like the opening lines of a Joe Hill story, and that was exciting to me. Joe Hill takes the everyday world and turns it on its head and then shows us the fantastical in the everyday. You never know just where he's going to take a story, but getting there is so worth it. And that's pretty much exactly what BSands did here. Well, what he does all the time, only this was a real-world setting rather than a fantasy-world one. Which is why it reminded me of Hill. But, I think I said that. I absolutely LOVED the concept of this story, and the way that it was different than one would expect. I loved the way that the Aspects and Leeds... interacted. I loved the theory behind his particular division of mind, and the ways in which it benefited him. It was fascinating, and I would not at all mind a novel length story based around this character, err, I mean these characters. I also really loved the concept of the mission that Monica brings to Leeds, and the ramifications that could arise because of it. (I'm trying to be vague here, if you hadn't noticed. It's kinda hard. LOL I want to go all rambly raving leg-hump, but I will restrain myself.) Finally, I loved, once again, the way that Sanderson ties religion, or rather faith, into his stories. It's kind of a big deal for me to say that, being of an atheist-leaning agnostic persuasion. I just really like the way that Sanderson gets to the heart of a matter, and lets the story be, without leaning on it with his own opinions, even though we're able to see what his opinions are. He's a believer, clearly, and his stories deal with that - but never in the way I'd predict, and never in a way that feels preachy. And I appreciate and respect that. Fantastic little story, and I highly recommend the audio. (less) | Notes are private!
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1
| Oct 08, 2012
| Oct 08, 2012
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Oct 04, 2012
| Hardcover
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105
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| 0451461894
| 9780451461896
| 4.42
| 32,412
| Apr 01, 2008
| Apr 01, 2008
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OH shizzle! This book was intense. Excellent though, and I loved the humor. I actually really enjoy the faith aspects of these books too, which isn't...more OH shizzle! This book was intense. Excellent though, and I loved the humor. I actually really enjoy the faith aspects of these books too, which isn't something that you'll see me say very often. I just really appreciate how Butcher manages issues of Good and Evil and God, god(s) and religion, or not so much religion but faith. I love Harry and I love these books. That's all that really needs to be said. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| Sep 15, 2012
| Sep 24, 2012
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Sep 15, 2012
| Hardcover
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103
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| 067176991X
| 9780671769918
| 3.73
| 1,203
| 1982
| Oct 01, 1992
|
Well then. I have a feeling that this probably wasn't the best of McCammon's books to start with... or, at least I hope that's the case. I was less th...more Well then. I have a feeling that this probably wasn't the best of McCammon's books to start with... or, at least I hope that's the case. I was less than impressed with this one for much of the time it took to get through it, and while I guess it was interesting enough (as in I was interested enough to continue on and see what happened), I didn't really ever feel invested in the story or the characters. Perhaps it was the fact that I listened to this as an audiobook, a recording from tape circa 1983 or so. The reader was... distracting. He kept reading in a much different tone than I felt that the particular scene or situation warranted. Usually someone sounded wheedling or manipulative or threatening in this man's voice, when I feel that I'd have read the scene without the overtones of menace. Sometimes a question is just a question, not an unspoken threat. There were a lot of "Am I right?" and "Is/isn't that right?" questions and every time - EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. - he read one of them, I'd picture the asking character with their head tilted inquiringly, a fake smile plastered on their face daring the person to contradict. Go ahead. See what happens. And then there's the pronunciations. Oh man. Grimace was always "Grim Ace" and La Mesa was always "Luh Meesa". Luh Meesa. Really. It was just distracting. Because every time I'd picture fucking Jar Jar Binks.  Ye gods, whatta meesa sayin'? Ohgodmakeitstopnow. Yeah, so... aside from that stuff... I don't have much to say about this. I wasn't shocked by the revelations in this story. Rather than being a twisty mountain road with sharp, unexpected turns, this was more like a go-cart course - predictable and tame... I may not have been on THIS particular course before, but they are all pretty much the same. I've seen the twists, the symbolism, the circular references, the good vs evil, the religiosity all before. This story just felt formulaic, and so it wasn't really scary or particularly impressive. Maybe it's because the book is almost as old as I am and I've read a lot of other (better) horror before this. That's plausible, but then I think of stories like Richard Matheson's "I Am Legend", William Peter Blatty's "The Exorcist", or Ira Levin's "Rosemary's Baby", stories that are just as old (older, actually) and still amaze and terrify. This didn't. But I finished it and overall didn't loathe it, so... 2 stars. Maybe Swan Song will be better?(less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| Sep 14, 2012
| Sep 22, 2012
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Sep 14, 2012
| Mass Market Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
98
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| 1563127873
| 9781563127878
| 4.13
| 9,678
| Jun 26, 1948
| Jan 01, 2007
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Hmm. Well. *sigh* Shirley Jackson and I have this thing. I want to like her stories, and I get all "Yay! I'm going to just LOVE this one because THIS...more Hmm. Well. *sigh* Shirley Jackson and I have this thing. I want to like her stories, and I get all "Yay! I'm going to just LOVE this one because THIS is the story that people think of when they think of Shirley Jackson!"... except, that's kind of been all of them, and they all have let me down in some way. This one... well... I think it needed more violence. The climax was just kind of "...andthenthishappenedtheend." It needed more oomph. More, "Holy shit are you kidding me? WTF!" Oh yes, yes, I know. Shirley Jackson is the Master, excuse me, Mistress of the Psychological Whammy. I bow down before her genius and revoke my right to opinion and criticism. Pfft. *eyeroll* She may be called the Mistress of the Psychological Whammy, but I've yet to actually GET that from her stories. To me, it always feels like... I dunno, she just gets off with writing a half-assed story with a kicker in the last line, and then we're all supposed to be awed by the immensity of the talent it took to do it. I'm no writer, so this isn't an "I can do it better!" tirade. I just don't get why Shirley Jackson's stories are so revered. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong and not analyzing them enough. Maybe that's it. Sure. I'll save you the work (spoiler alert): Any tradition that leads up to murdering your neighbors is bad, mmmkay? (less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| Sep 09, 2012
| Sep 09, 2012
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Sep 09, 2012
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
97
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| 9781465936950
| 3.76
| 46
| Dec 17, 2011
| Dec 17, 2011
|
Christmas 2011, I was offered a free copy of The Ghost Child by Simeon... I downloaded it, and there it sat on my sadly neglected Kindle app ever sinc...more
Christmas 2011, I was offered a free copy of The Ghost Child by Simeon... I downloaded it, and there it sat on my sadly neglected Kindle app ever since. Too many books, too little time. Cut to today, with my Goodreads 2012 reading goal sitting at 14 books behind (booo!), and so I go in search of short books that I can read quickly. And I stumble once again on The Ghost Child. And my, I'm glad that I did. I can think of a few words to describe this story: Captivating Impressive Enigmatic Too Short OK, I know that last one is two words, but I couldn't think of another way to say it. This is only part of what I hope is to be a larger story, and I wanted more. I kept watching the progress bar inch to the right, indicating less and less story, and felt that it was too soon for that. I have too many questions, and I need more story to provide the answers to them. The "To Be Continued" gives me hope though. In a way, I liked that we're not given very much to go on. It's mysterious, ethereal. We just follow along moment to moment, and gradually these moments come together into a narrative. There are gaps, and we fill them in and they work with the story. The fantasy aspects of the story were... I don't want to say mundane, but kind of presented in an everyday way. More like magical realism than fantasy, perhaps? The fantasy bits, the abilities and the nature of them, aren't explained, or even detailed. They just are. And I liked that, mostly. Though, there were some bits that I had to read a few times to truly "get", and some I'm still not sure I really got. But, this is 30 pages of a story that could be epic, so I don't know if understanding is even possible at this point. I loved the writing, and the language, and the kind of soft-spoken strength of Marise. I loved the innocence and otherness of Magz. Overall, I really loved this story, and would love to read the full story at some point. Full disclosure: Simeon is one of my Goodreads friends, and I quite like him and respect his opinions and reviews. He has not asked me for a positive review of this story, nor does his being my friend affect my reactions to the book at all. I genuinely enjoyed it for the story itself. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| Sep 09, 2012
| Sep 09, 2012
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Sep 09, 2012
| Kindle Edition
| |||||||||||||||
96
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| 3.47
| 898
| Jan 01, 2012
| Aug 21, 2012
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BAAAAASSSSEEEEBBBAAAALLLLLL!!!! *shakes fist* I like baseball. Well, I like watching it. Not really reading about it, so the fact that King loves writ...more BAAAAASSSSEEEEBBBAAAALLLLLL!!!! *shakes fist* I like baseball. Well, I like watching it. Not really reading about it, so the fact that King loves writing about it is... Well, I forgive him. He's King. But thankfully, this story was less about the baseball than it was about the guy watching baseball. And though this is a very short story, only 32 pages on my Nook, it was a good one. Not great, and not really up to the standards that I've come to expect from King, but good. I think it just lacked a little something to really bring it to life. Maybe it was the length that worked against it. We got a rough sketch of the characters in the story, but King's characters are usually masterpieces, and I found myself wanting to know more about them. Still, for what this story is, it's good. Entertaining, a quick read, and not all baseball stats and plays, which I was kind of dreading. He made me want to read a Harlan Coben book too, which is always a plus. Thanks for the rec, Papa King! :D(less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| Sep 09, 2012
| Sep 09, 2012
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Sep 09, 2012
| ebook
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92
| 
| 4.30
| 294
| Mar 27, 2012
| 2008
|
Read this online for free here: http://www.veryawesomeworld.com/aweso... (Thanks StumbleUpon!) So, yeah, this was OK. Just OK, really. Very colorful, b...more Read this online for free here: http://www.veryawesomeworld.com/aweso... (Thanks StumbleUpon!) So, yeah, this was OK. Just OK, really. Very colorful, but nothing really exceptional. Just an exercise in thinking up the most whimsical scenarios possible, and fitting them into rhyme, with full color illustrations to match, with a moral to not lose the whimsy of childhood's imagination and whatnot. You know, "Dream Big!" That's all well and good. Right now, I'm imagining a purple polka-dotted Beluga whale singing opera while juggling 36 clowns wearing kimonos (what? this is my imagination and if I say that Beluga whales have hands with which to juggle, then dammit, they do!). I'm imagining that, but it's not doing anything for me, because it's not relevant to my interests or my life anymore. So, instead, I do boring adult things like dream about the house I want to live in, or the furniture I'd fill it with, or the job I would need to pay for those things. I dream about the life I want to have, rather than "dancing wild animals with diamond coated wings". But, it's a children's book and it's colorful. Cliche out the wazoo... but colorful. I mean, couldn't it at least have emphasized inventiveness? Something even remotely useful? Dream of what you want to be, or what you want to do, or how you want the world to be... Dream of creating a machine that washes socks without losing any of them... But no. No, this book is just insipid. Dream the biggest, biiiiiiiiiiiiigest craziest most hugestest wild dream evar! Yup. Remember kids... Dream big! Because one day those dreams will get you through your shift at Mickey D's. Eh, you know what, 2 stars is really giving this a lot of credit. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| Aug 31, 2012
| Aug 31, 2012
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Aug 30, 2012
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||||
94
| 
| 0451461401
| 9780451461407
| 4.39
| 33,880
| Apr 03, 2007
| Apr 03, 2007
|
Another exciting addition to the series, and my oh my aren't things getting dicey! I love this world, and I love Harry and I 'specially love Thomas an...more
Another exciting addition to the series, and my oh my aren't things getting dicey! I love this world, and I love Harry and I 'specially love Thomas and Mouse. I love how intricately plotted these books are, and I immensely enjoy them. I don't really have much more to say than that. Oh, except YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE TOE-MOSS. He make you silky-smooth and maybe make sticky with you. Maybe. ;)(less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| Aug 27, 2012
| Sep 04, 2012
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Aug 27, 2012
| Hardcover
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117
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| 045146365X
| 9780451463654
| 4.18
| 15,203
| Oct 26, 2010
| Oct 26, 2010
|
Alrighty... I've been working on this one as I go along in the series, so technically I've been reading this book for the better part of 4 months. But...more
Alrighty... I've been working on this one as I go along in the series, so technically I've been reading this book for the better part of 4 months. But I have enjoyed it quite a lot, and so I never really felt that draggy "Am I done yet??" feeling that I often do when books sit on my Currently Reading shelf for a long time. There were some stories in here that were better than others. Some that you could tell were very early stories in the Dresden canon, but they all were enjoyable, and all were nearly perfect examples of what short stories should be: short, plotted, engaging, and resolved. They all fell into the series pretty well, and while I think there were times that they could have explained just a little more about the situations that led to the story (like the wedding one), I never actually felt like anything was missing. I also really liked seeing stories from other characters' perspectives. It was a nice change of pace. I loved the story from Murphy's perspective, and would have liked to see more of them. She has really grown on me as a character, from when I could not understand or like her in the first few books, to now when she's definitely a favorite. So, overall, I really enjoyed this one, and now I'm itching to pick up the next book in the series to see what happens. O_O(less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| Aug 25, 2012
| Nov 17, 2012
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Aug 25, 2012
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
90
| 
| 0451461037
| 9780451461032
| 4.39
| 34,383
| Feb 01, 2006
| Feb 06, 2007
|
Another great edition in this series. I'm terrible at writing reviews of in-progress series books, and I think I'm running out of ways to say that I l...more
Another great edition in this series. I'm terrible at writing reviews of in-progress series books, and I think I'm running out of ways to say that I love Harry Dresden, because I just finished this book and I'm completely at a loss as to what the heck to say about it. Except that I love Harry Dresden. But we knew that, didn't we? I did really enjoy coming back to Harry's world, and despite the 2 1/2 month gap between finishing Dead Beat and starting Proven Guilty, I picked up right where I left off without any trouble. I like the development of the characters, especially Charity (who, I admit, was really starting to grate on my nerves in the last few books). Now her attitude makes a lot more sense, and I can understand and... well, understand it. Thomas is quickly becoming one of my favorite characters too. I love his unobtrusive strength and steadfast loyalty to Harry. I'm really enjoying seeing them test the grounds and borders of their relationship with each other, though, being men, it's a little frustrating too. The plot in this one was a bit all over the place, as usual, but it came together and then some. Things are starting to really pick up steam in the greater supernatural world, and there's mischief afoot. I really cannot wait to see where the story goes next. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| Aug 22, 2012
| Aug 25, 2012
|
Aug 22, 2012
| Mass Market Paperback
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89
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| 0778328791
| 9780778328797
| 3.85
| 12,231
| Jan 18, 2011
| Jan 18, 2011
|
This is another Audible gem. They were having a "Buy One, Get One" sale, and These Things Hidden was my "Get One" book, chosen on a whim. But for that...more
This is another Audible gem. They were having a "Buy One, Get One" sale, and These Things Hidden was my "Get One" book, chosen on a whim. But for that sale, I probably never would have read this. (I've been kind of unofficially avoiding YA lately, being sick of the love triangles and the YAPNR and the blah blah blah.) But had I missed this one, it would have been a shame, because this book is fantastic. I almost don't want to talk about the plot of the story at all, because I'm afraid of ruining it. The way this is written, from four different perspectives, is perfect, and the story evolves in just the right way, at just the right pace. Each chapter reveals just a little more about what happened to land Allison in prison, and each chapter reveals just a little bit more about how one mistake in an otherwise perfect life can cause ever widening effect ripples in Allison's life, and her family's and community's lives. At the point when the crime was revealed, I was shocked and dismayed. Not only for the nature of the crime, but for how early in the story the revelation came. I remember thinking, "Oh no... This is too early! The rest of the story is going to flop now that there's nothing left to wonder about." I was so wrong. Not only did those ripples keep widening and showing us more of the story of That Night, but the story was so compelling, so heartbreaking and so honest that I couldn't stop listening. I had to know what happened, and what would happen next. This is a relevant and gut-wrenching story about mistakes and their consequences, about decisions we make, and how they affect us and everyone around us. It's a story of second chances, responsibility, and how sometimes things go horribly, horribly wrong just when we think that everything is going perfectly, but that life goes on anyway. I feel like this is a book that needs to be read and re-read to really feel the full impact. My perceptions of the characters in the story kept shifting constantly, like mercury, but I never felt manipulated, which is the mark of a great writer, in my opinion. For an author to move me around like a chess piece but make me believe it's the board moving rather than my feet, they've made themselves a fan. This girl, right here. If I had anything to complain about, it was that the readers sometimes sounded a little stiff and choppy, but I'm not holding that against the book, because almost as soon as I'd notice the reader, she'd be gone again and I'd be drowning in the story. This book may not be for everyone, but for me, it was just what I didn't know I needed to pull me out of a summer long reading slump. This book reminded me why I love reading, and why sometimes the best things show up when we least expect them. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| Aug 20, 2012
| Aug 21, 2012
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Aug 20, 2012
| Paperback
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112
| 
| 0316228532
| 9780316228534
| 3.27
| 72,602
| Jan 01, 2012
| Sep 27, 2012
|
 JK Rowling was not even fucking around when she said that this book was for adults. This is about as far removed from a story for kids as it's possibl...more JK Rowling was not even fucking around when she said that this book was for adults. This is about as far removed from a story for kids as it's possible to get. There's no pigeonholing the mighty JK Rowling, that's for sure. She's like an authorial ninja... she comes out of nowhere, lays the smack down in a style of awesomeness you would never expect, and then goes about her business, leaving you reeling.  BLAMMO! Even though I was expecting an "adult" book... I don't think it really hit me how different it really would be. I mean, like most other Potterheads, I've read the books dozens of times and I'm used to the worst language from JKR being mudblood, git, and bitch. So to see words like fuck, whore, and cunt being thrown about like it ain't no thang, I admit that it was a little bit of a surprise. But it's fantastic. Really. It's a book that I feel like I'll need to read again (rather than just wanting to, which I do), because Rowling is so skillful with her pen that I'm not sure I caught every reference, every nuance or intended meaning. It took me a long time to read this book. Longer by far than it should have taken, because I have a lot going on in the world outside of books. That scary place called "reality". *shudder* I'm in the midst of packing for a move so reading has been pushed to the back-burner. But even so, whenever I picked up the book, be it hours or days later, I was right back in Pagford as if I'd lived there all my life. There's no main character in this story. It's told in constantly shifting points of view from several key members of the Pagford community. And at this juncture, I'd like to offer a little comparison. While reading this book, I had to take a break to read my real life bookclub selection The Time Traveler's Wife. Both books are told from multiple POVs, but Time Traveler's Wife abruptly changes back and forth between Henry and Clare's POV. The Time Traveler's Wife's POV switches are clearly delineated by a paragraph break (at the very least), and a header with the new narrator's name. Every time. But there were times reading The Time Traveler's Wife that I had no idea which person was narrating and would have to go back and check. There just didn't seem to be enough difference in their voices to really follow the narration switches without the headers available for reference when needed. This is not the case with The Casual Vacancy. TCV doesn't abruptly change narrators, instead the narrative flows effortlessly among them all. Sentence to sentence the POV can change, but I never, not one time, had any difficulty following it. In fact, I'd read about 1/3 of the book prior to seeing JK Rowling in New York for her interview and signing, and this aspect was mentioned by Ann Patchett. It was like a lightbulb went off in my head, because I felt that there was something a little different about the narrative, but couldn't put my finger on it. After it was identified (Seriously, thank you Ann Patchett!), I could watch the narrative changes in action, and it was really amazing to see the shifts happen but at the same time forget that they were happening at all because it was just so easy to keep up with. If I had one complaint about the narration style, it would be the use of parentheses. There were often asides notated in parentheses, and I really didn't think they were necessary at all, given the flowy almost stream-of-Pagford-consciousness style of the narration. The parentheses broke up the narrative and felt like an interruption to me. The info was necessary, but I wish it would have been worked into the text more seamlessly. A little bit about the characters. First... Oh my. I would NOT want to live in Pagford, that is for damn sure. It may seem idyllic and homey and welcoming... until you actually talk to the residents. There was only one really likeable character in the whole story, and he's the one Rowling killed off about 3 pages in. Everyone else is a complex jumble of neuroses and anger and manipulation and selfishness. It's interesting to me that the teenagers in the story, though having their own set of issues semi-intertwined with the adults' issues, were actually the more civilized among the parish. And that's taking into account the bullying, the ostracizing, the usual teen drama stuff that happens everywhere. Which, I think, should tell you something about this town. One of the characters had this kind of affectation of being "authentic". He'd pretty much just do and say anything at all that he wanted, thinking that each action (or non-action) was the "authentic" one of the moment. But there were times when his "authenticity" seemed so staged and planned that I couldn't help thinking that maybe there was a page missing in his dictionary between "Asshole" and "Authentic" and he got them confused.  I really could mention something about every character - about how they lie to themselves as naturally as they lie to each other, about how they have more faces than Janus, about... well, many things. But I don't want to ruin it for anyone. There are many themes in this book, most pertaining to pain of some sort. Mental illness, depression, addiction and dependency, abuse - both physical and emotional, death, etc, and the way that they were handled was pretty much spot on. Idealism has no place in Pagford, and we rarely get happy endings in the real world. This was a sad story, in a lot of ways, but never manipulative. One of the parts that made me cry was so unexpected that I had to laugh at myself for it, because usually my waterworks are fairly predictable. My favorite character (what? I can like unlikeable characters!) is, of course, the one struggling so much against the current of Pagford's selfish will. I always root for underdogs. But, in this case, it was painful. It was heartbreaking to watch, because each scene kept escalating things, and the two forces (the character and Pagford) were at odds with each other, though not really directly and every time a step forward would be made, there would be two pushes back the other way. Honestly at times I wanted to reach through my nook to slap people... but it only would have made me feel better temporarily and wouldn't have helped the situation. It was just so frustrating! But I loved it. There were moments of humor, but more often I was reading with a grimace of disgust at the horrible things that people can say and do to each other. But then, the mark of a great story is its ability to affect the reader, and this one definitely affected me. Highly recommended. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| Oct 15, 2012
| Oct 30, 2012
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Jul 28, 2012
| Hardcover
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85
| 
| B008ONRAAI
| 3.25
| 4
| Jul 25, 2012
| Jul 25, 2012
|
Once upon a time there was a girl who read a zombie book she didn't like (What?! I know!!), and wrote a frustration-filled This is the review of that book. (Also, surprise! I'm the girl. :D)  (In case you didn't know.) So, what did I think of "Guns, Booze & Zombies"? Overall, I thought it was on the high end of OK to good scale, but a little spit and elbow-grease would make it really shine. I really enjoyed the concept and setting of this story: A zombie outbreak in Prohibition Era New York. It sounded intriguing - I don't think I've seen a 30s era zombie story before. (I mean, I've seen Nazi Zombies, but that's a whole different set of entrails there.) I was interested to see how Prohibition was worked into the story, and to get the feel for 30s NYC. But as much as I liked the concept, I did have some issues with the execution.  See what I did there? Storywise, it was a little too skewed toward the "tell" side of the spectrum, and I wanted more "show". The Prohibition aspect felt sadly lacking, as was the Depression. They were mentioned, of course, but I never truly felt the impact of either one. They never felt like hardships. Benson is evicted, but since the story moves almost right into Escape From Zombie New York, the impact is dulled and I felt as if it was almost unimportant. For another example, we're told that Benson Doss and Emma have rekindled their romance, but this doesn't quite mean anything because 1) we didn't know they had one in the first place, and 2) randomly meeting up in a speakeasy and having a few drinks doesn't exactly scream "rekindled romance" to me. That says, "They're friends, and she's a forward thinking kind of gal that will buy a down-on-his-luck guy a drink." For me to believe the romantic aspect, I wanted to see them react to each other, be attracted to each other, to maybe talk things through and discuss where attempt #1 went sour, commit to trying again, that sort of thing. All of which I missed. I wanted to really know the characters, and care about them, but I didn't really get that as much as I'd have liked. In fairness, this is a novella - it's only 117 pgs on my Nook. But there's a lot of stuff packed in those pages, and I feel like a little more focus on the characters would have brought a bigger impact when bad things happen to them. For example, when we find out about a character's softer side, which leads into a side plot, I was able to sympathize with him more and wanted things to work out for him. But I didn't really feel anything close to that connection with any of the other characters. Two other big story issues affected my enjoyment of this one. First, the side plot I mentioned was never resolved. Maybe there's a 2nd book in the works, which wouldn't be a bad idea, since the second issue I have is the twist at the end which came out of left field. It was just... OK, maybe not as unbelievable as one aspect towards the end was... (view spoiler)[The group of remaining survivors meet up with the Army, and the commander instantly knows who Benson Doss is, and turns over command to him...? My suspension of disbelief turned into a lead weight on that one. (hide spoiler)]... but still out of left field. Finally, my last issue is with the lack of editing. This book is badly in need of an editor. I mention this because, to my knowledge, I was sent a copy of the final, for-sale version. There were quite a lot of misused words, missing commas, unnecessary semi-colons, misspellings, and awkward syntax all over the place. Every instance of the word "quiet" was misspelled "quite", "site" and "sight" were used interchangeably, among other misuses. Also, it seemed that words were switched out in favor of "better" ones that made the sentence awkward in many cases. Often, the simpler word will fit more naturally into the sentence than a less commonly used one. Example: "We allow the team to gather some excess sleep." This just feels clunky to me. It would feel much more natural as "We allow the team to get some additional sleep." I actually did enjoy the story, though, despite my complaints above - I was interested in seeing where it went and what happened, and if there was an explanation for everything. I really enjoyed the goriness of the fighting, and liked, oddly enough, the sentimentality some held toward their loved ones turned flesh-eating-corpses. I would be interested in reading the sequel, if there should be one. I definitely think that G. Joseph has potential. He's one to watch. (less) | Notes are private!
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1
| Jul 28, 2012
| Jul 31, 2012
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Jul 28, 2012
| Kindle Edition
| |||||||||||||||
84
| 
| 1452107408
| 9781452107400
| 3.86
| 207
| Mar 21, 2012
| Mar 21, 2012
|
Last weekend, I was visiting my brother and I saw that he had a copy of this book. He mentioned having another copy that was signed so I asked for one...more
Last weekend, I was visiting my brother and I saw that he had a copy of this book. He mentioned having another copy that was signed so I asked for one, and he gave me the unsigned copy. The cheapskate. I am the elder child, therefore I should have all the prime goodies, dammit! *sigh* Although... It was free and has zombies I won't complain TOO much. Maybe. Anyway, so, even though it was the obviously less desirable copy, I read it. "Read" being mostly figurative, since there are only 80 words in this entire book. Exactly 80. I counted. I'm not terribly impressed, though. I was hoping that it would be funny, but instead I flipped through it and was just kinda... underwhelmed. Probably it was just that my usually fantastic sense of humor did a little hiss-pop-fizzle and pooped out on me, but I just don't get why zombies would hate this stuff. With few exceptions, it just... doesn't make sense. And don't give me any of that "Zombies aren't real, so it doesn't have to make sense" crap, either. You know what zombies hate? Helmets. It's like having cans of food but no can opener. That's what zombies hate. Not kittens or balloons or mermaids or weddings. Maybe they'd hate meteors, because that could crush and kill them (again), but probably not re-gifting. Because zombies only give the gift of zombiism, and that's a gift that keeps on giving forever. So zombies LOVE re-gifting. Duh. Seriously... Kittens? Fucking zombies love kittens. They taste like chicken brains. And zombies mind celery, so this book is a lie. Celery is not brains, bloody intestines or human-meat, therefore, zombies do not like it. Vegetarian zombies. Come on. Most of this stuff is just silly, and it's like it's trying too hard to be silly, which makes it not funny, but just silly in a non-funny way. There will be groaning as you read this, but only from the poorly executed, silly but not funny jokes that make you roll your eyes. Also, zombies don't love me. I kill zombies. Do it all the time. I killed one last week and he distinctly said he hated me for doing it right before he died for permanent. True story. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| Jul 21, 2012
| Jul 21, 2012
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Jul 20, 2012
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
82
| 
| 0307238024
| 9780307238023
| 3.68
| 357
| May 01, 1991
| Jul 25, 2006
|
If it weren't for my bookclub, I probably would never have even heard of this book. But it was chosen, and so I read it. I finished it in less than a...more
If it weren't for my bookclub, I probably would never have even heard of this book. But it was chosen, and so I read it. I finished it in less than a day, so it's compelling enough, I'm just not sure I can say exactly why. This is just the story of a family, the Hazens, trying to make it season by season, year after year, living close to and off of the land, and with faith. They don't work 9 to 5 jobs so that they can go down to the Super Wal-Mart to pick up the things they need. Instead, Susan grows their vegetables, Gary and their sons hunt or fish for their meat, they barter for goods, etc. That's not to say that they are completely cut off from modernity - Gary does odd jobs for money to buy generators and freezers and such, and surely to pay taxes, though that wasn't mentioned specifically, but they try to live by an ideal of respect for the land and simplicity. The two boys, Gary David (24) and Kevin (19) were raised to this life... but Kevin is itching to get out of it. He's the first in their family, ever, to go to college, and hates that he feels trapped by obligation to live a life he's no longer sure he wants. He's got a liberal vegetarian girlfriend who doesn't believe in killing animals for any reason, including meat, and she tries to get Kevin to refuse to hunt in the upcoming season. Gary David is more accepting of the lifestyle they choose to live and responsible, a role he sees as being necessary as the first born, but in his own way he's rebelling too, by choosing a life with someone not North Country born, and in a position of authority over the Hazens - an Environmental Conservation Officer, investigating the Hazens for a reported hunting violation. The story begins with a prologue from Susan's perspective, recounting the early morning departure of the three men on hunting season opening morning, and leaves us with a sort of aimless sense of foreboding. The remainder of the book takes us through the weeks leading up to that day, and we get to see how the Hazens live and interact with each other and their community. Gary and Kevin are drifting apart. They both want life on their own terms, but their terms are completely opposite, and so they butt heads and each resent the other for making things difficult and not understanding the other's perspective. Gary's lifestyle is a tradition based on necessity that's no longer truly necessary in this society of modernity. He doesn't understand how life could be fulfilling in any other way. His lifestyle gives him purpose and a sense of accomplishment, as well as an ingrained respect for the nature around him. Kevin just sees it as a ball and chain holding him back from his own chosen path. To tell the truth, not very much happens in this book. There's not very much conflict, aside from the familial type I mentioned above. There are a lot of beautiful descriptions of the Adirondacks and the community in which the Hazens live, but for much of the book, what I've written above just about covers it. It's definitely a slowly building story, which makes the end and the resolution feel like it was on super fast-forward, unfortunately. This book's told in quite a lot of different perspective chapters, all in 1st person narrative except for Kevin's chapters, which are in 3rd person. I honestly do not have any idea why Kevin was singled out for a different narrative style. It really doesn't make sense to me. The only thing I can figure is that we're supposed to associate the difference in narrative with the foreboding from the prologue, and it's supposed to generate some suspense and worry about what will happen to Kevin. And I guess, in a way, there was that, because obviously it came to mind, but mainly it just stood out like a sore thumb. And even now, after finishing the story, I still have no idea why the choice was made to change the narrative for Kevin. His perspective could easily have been written to match the others, and in my opinion, would have worked better that way. Third person created a distance from him that I didn't want. I wanted to know him as I knew everyone else in the story. Why should I get to hear the innermost thoughts of a waitress that is only in the story for a few pages here and there, but be kept distant from one of the main, pivotal characters? Frustrating. Coming back to the ending, I have to admit it was a bit of a let-down. There was all this build-up, all this manufactured suspense, and then the main event is completely skipped, and we only see the outcome, with an explanation of what apparently happened from those who weren't there. And then the epilogue is just a pat, too conveniently perfect resolution, one that doesn't fit what I know of the characters. Honestly, I wish that the epilogue had been left off. I think the ending would have been better that way, even if it was problematic. One other note about the writing. Some of the phrasing and sentence structure was a bit awkward, and I'd have to read a line 2 or 3 times to get what was being said. It felt like it was trying too hard to be beautiful prose, and it didn't need to try at all. In fact, considering the stark way of life they chose, less would have been more. Overall though, I can't say that I disliked the book. I read it in less than a day, and something about it kept me turning the pages. I don't know what that was, but it was there. (less) | Notes are private!
| Kenny
|
1
| Jul 07, 2012
| Jul 07, 2012
|
Jul 07, 2012
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
100
| 
| B008B7VCBK
| 3.66
| 802
| Jan 01, 2012
| Jun 26, 2012
|
Quickie review for a quickie story. This was an ok story but not anywhere near the level I expected from CRZ. This was like a rough draft of a story r...more
Quickie review for a quickie story. This was an ok story but not anywhere near the level I expected from CRZ. This was like a rough draft of a story rather than the story itself. I wanted more from this - more substance specifically. Not bad but not as good as I wanted it to be.(less)
| Notes are private!
| none
|
1
| Sep 12, 2012
| Sep 12, 2012
|
Jul 03, 2012
| Kindle Edition
| |||||||||||||||
83
| 
| 0061430226
| 9780061430220
| 3.92
| 2,488
| Aug 02, 2007
| Jan 29, 2008
|
I am not a fan of verse even free verse. I like proper grammar and paragraphs and commas. So I was wary about reading this book when I saw crazy staggerin...more I am not a fan of verse even free verse. I like proper grammar and paragraphs and commas. So I was wary about reading this book when I saw crazy staggering lines of text wandering around my nook screen. *** But a friend's review made me reconsider and so I read the book and I mostly liked it. Mostly. Mostly because I still don't like verse even when it's free. Also because I want to see the picture that is being painted not just be told what it's of. I feel like too much of Sharp Teeth was telling telling telling and not enough showing. And the book is kind of schizophrenic jumping here and now there and then somewhere else randomly. Is it now? Or is it then? When is then? Who is she? *** I liked the love story and Anthony on the beach and vulnerable. I liked the dog angle and the brutality but a single dog cannot eat an entire human and then have human dinner too. It would 'splode. *** Not bad but I was ready for it to end when it did. *** I'm getting a dog. Know any good shelters?(less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| Jul 03, 2012
| Jul 08, 2012
|
Jul 02, 2012
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
78
| 
| 1595142967
| 9781595142962
| 3.51
| 778
| Sep 30, 2010
| Sep 30, 2010
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I picked this book up on a whim a while back, when it was on offer at a favorite discount store here. I'd never heard of it before, but thought that i...more
I picked this book up on a whim a while back, when it was on offer at a favorite discount store here. I'd never heard of it before, but thought that it looked interesting, and for $2.99 I'm willing to chance it. So now I've read it, and... well... There were some things that I liked, and some things that didn't work for me. I liked the interweaving of fairytale characters into the story. I thought that the way it was done was pretty neat. But I felt like they were all just kind of name-dropped, with the exception of just a few, and I wanted to know more about their alternate existences. Like Detective White, who is a tough, take-no-guff cop, who got to be so tough by fighting off the seven men she lived with... What? In what way? Sexually? Were they drunken abusers? This little tidbit raises a lot of questions, because in my mind, the Seven Dwarfs took Snow White in in her hour of need, and sheltered her, and helped her. They weren't creepy old men crawling into her bed at night, or abusers, which is what the reference in this book makes me think. Yet there's zero additional information given, nothing to clarify the statement. It's true that the characters we see in this book aren't the characters we'd expect, but... dang. I liked the way fairydust was depicted... I liked the way it was used, and exploited, as if it's a drug (which is pretty much accurate). I really liked the way the City is kind of modernistic, with a big, name brand thaumaturgical (read: pharmacological) industry, complete with loose morals and even looser principles... and advertising, too. I also liked the concept of the divisive nature of the City and its inhabitants... Hominids vs. Animalia. Just shows that we'll latch onto anything to keep from being too accepting of the neighbors. They're different! THE HORROR! I didn't much care for or about any of the characters here... I thought they weren't developed well enough. (This is in addition to wanting more evidence regarding the libel perpetrated on seven innocent until proven guilty dwarfs.) I thought Henry was atrociously bad at investigation... I mean, jeez, he strolls into the Bad Guys' Lair and proceeds to ask said Bad Guys where they hide their Evil Doings. "Is it behind that curtain over there that says 'Keep Out! Bad Guys Only!'? Mind my own business? OK." For realsies?? Ugh. I thought that this had a good concept, but I just didn't think that anything was developed enough. The characters felt flat, they weren't even described except in the barest terms, there really wasn't anything to identify with, and I certainly didn't understand Henry's motivation for anything... It was like he was just doing things to progress the story rather than having any actual purpose in doing them. "I'm gonna go left now." "Why?" "Uhh... Because that's what I have to do in order to be in place for Chapter 6." "Umm... OK." That's really all. Good concept, not so great execution. (less) | Notes are private!
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| Jun 29, 2012
| Jun 30, 2012
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Jun 29, 2012
| Hardcover
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