Becky has
2068 books
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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 |
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date purchased | owned | purchase location | condition | format | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
88
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| 0345026241
| 9780345026248
| 3.93
| 221,368
| 1962
| 1971
|
4.5 stars My oh my, what a difference time and format can make. I remember the first time I read this book. It was probably 2005, maybe 2006, and I wa...more 4.5 stars My oh my, what a difference time and format can make. I remember the first time I read this book. It was probably 2005, maybe 2006, and I was working in the "Consumer Relations" department at my customer service job. Basically, I was the helpdesk, tech support, and the person you talk to when you call somewhere pissed off about something and ask for a manager, but you aren't connected to a manager - you're connected to me. (Believe me, we hate that just as much as you do - we got all the shit and none of the pay. But I also hope you believe me when I say that usually talking to me was the better option. Not all managers know or can do customer service. Just sayin'.) Anyway, I remember that we had a really slow period, and one of my co-workers had this book on her desk, and so I read it between calls. And... Meh. It was OK. I could see why some people would really like it, but for me, it just didn't do much. Now, I should mention that the copy she had was the American version with only 20 chapters. I'm not sure if that last chapter would have really made a difference to me way back when... but I think it does now. So, when this was selected for my bookclub for May, I was actually really excited to read it again and see if I felt the same way, or if maybe reading it in fits and starts while at work had been the problem, or if maybe getting back into an appropriate mental place after getting yelled at on a call had given me trouble. Who knows? Back then, I was 23 and I likely assumed the fault was in the book, not in my reading of it. This time, I also made sure to get the author's preferred version with 21 chapters, and opted for an audiobook. Of course, I still listened to it at work, but I have a different job now, and interruptions are less frequent and much less angry. ;) I think listening this time allowed me to really experience the story in a way I hadn't before. Nadsat was hard for me to wrap my head around when I read this before (though that could have had to do with HOW I was reading it), so I probably skimmed, and probably didn't get as much out of the text as I could have. It was like there was no connection there between the slang and the meaning, and I didn't take the time to put them together. But listening, I couldn't skim. I listened to every word, and in context, it was perfect. It no longer felt like work to figure out what Alex was saying. It no longer felt awkward at all - it was just this boy telling me his story, and me drinking it in. I will say the reader read extremely slowly. I understand this, actually, because if I were to read this book out loud, it would be a catastrophe. The language just doesn't roll off the tongue easily - it's like a tongue twister in another language. So he took his time reading it, and I can't blame him for it, but it was hard for me to listen like that. Thankfully though, I could adjust the play speed to 2x. At that setting, it was maybe just a hair faster than normal talking speed, and sounded SO much more natural for Alex, him being, like, used to the lingo and all. If it was only Alex that was read so slowly, I'd think it was intentional to make him seem more relaxed, more in control and sure of himself. He's the brains and the leader of his little band of droogs, and even at home he speaks and others listen... if they know what's good for them. But, the other characters in the book were read at the same slow pace, so I think it was more a concern for reading clearly and not tripping over the Nadsat. Anyway, moving on to the story itself, I was really impressed this time around. (Fair warning, I discuss the plot from this point on.) The book jumps right into showing us Alex in all his unapologetic depravity. He's a real shit. And at only 15, it's frightening to think of how long his reign of terror could go on if it weren't for his friends turning their backs on him and turning him in. Let's be honest here, he's a little naive in thinking that his leadership is absolute - but he is extremely smart, and had the potential, if he were only a little more observant of human nature, to put down the quiet plot against him and continue in his ways for as long as he cared to. But his way has always been one of smash and grab. Take what you want, don't ask, and it doesn't matter if the person doesn't like the taking - strength and audacity are key. Subtlety is lost on him, except in music, and to him, it's impossible that any of his group could be harboring resentment toward him for anything - or if they are, that they'd ever act on it. But they do, and Alex finds himself caught, and now on the receiving end of the brutality. And here's where things get impressive for me - because I knew I was being manipulated to feel certain ways, but I couldn't stop it from happening. I started to feel sorry for Alex, and want to stand up for him, especially when it comes to the Ludovico treatment. Actually, I'm not sure if it's Alex specifically, or human nature and choice and freedom, that I felt this way about. Alex was just the representative body showing the extremes... as well as the danger of an uninformed decision. It was kind of heartbreaking for me to watch his reconditioning being flaunted and praised, because his freedom of thought was taken from him. He had no choice, and even thinking of defending himself against the man they hired to attack him, or having sex with the woman they hired to entice him, made him so sick that he felt like he was dying. That's a much worse fate than simply being in prison. At least there, your mind is still your own. And it bothered me, a lot, that he was basically told not to complain about the process or the horrifying fact that the music he loved and appreciated would carry such awful associations and cause such sickening physical reactions (though he couldn't express it in those terms), because "he made his choice". Ugh. It probably seems ridiculous, considering some of Alex's crimes, but for me, this was one of the most horrifying concepts in the book. That they wouldn't tell him exactly what he was signing up for, and that they'd use the process on a teenager, is criminal in itself. Yes, he is a criminal, and one of the absolute worst because he does it for fun. His M.O. is random mayhem and destruction of lives, and that's unforgivable. But the adults, the doctors who hold his whole future in their hands, are the ones who really frighten me. And if you consider the implications of music being used, it really hits home just how terrible this could be. Hearing music isn't something that one has control over. It's not a conscious decision, robbing someone, or beating or raping them. There's music everywhere, and using a popular classical piece of music that one might hear in a store, or museum, or in a movie or any other innocuous place or event is just short sighted and horrific. Even if the treatment worked, and Alex completely retrained his thought processes to avoid triggering the sickness, he could be subjected to it time and again, without warning or any means of prevention. And of course, what happened is pretty much exactly that, only used purposefully against him rather than him just encountering it accidentally. In that situation, his only means of escape was to try to kill himself. Is it any wonder that as soon as he was healed from his attempted suicide he'd go back to his old ways? He wasn't cured of anything - he was just tortured every time he thought. Of course he'd want to go back to "normal" after that! Stanley Kubrick ended his movie there, and for American editions of the book, that's the end of the story. That some people are unable or unwilling to change and are unrepentant and irredeemable. But Burgess's story doesn't end there, and Alex does grow out of his rampaging ways. He just loses the "mood" to tear things down. This epilogue, for lack of a better word, seems almost too abrupt for such a change of heart. But I didn't think so. He likely wouldn't have had it if he hadn't gone through the Ludovico Fiasco, but he did, and I think it made him see pain in a new way - not as something done for fun to others and never thought of again (as he'd likely always seen it before), but as something that can ruin lives - including his own. And I think that seeing the grovelling, begging thing he became in the midst of his Ludovico sickness made him feel too close to his victims, and it was no longer fun. I'm just speculating at Alex's feelings here - the final chapter is brief, and really all that happens in it is that Alex meets his old droog Pete, and Pete's new wife. He visualizes himself married, and has a vision of his own son, of what it would be like to be a father, trying to teach your kid right and wrong, and realizing, I think, how his own father must have been frustrated by his failure to do so. But he embarks on this new chapter in his life anyway, which, I think is rather commendable and wise for someone only just turned 18 and so used to the ultraviolence on the streets. Sometimes, it just takes a little perspective to make a change, not being forced into it. Go figure that. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| May 21, 2013
| May 22, 2013
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Apr 24, 2013
| Paperback
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85
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| 0715642936
| 9780715642931
| 3.33
| 247
| Jun 01, 2011
| Feb 16, 2012
|
I really enjoy Max Brooks' stories. I love his insightful way of looking at the zombie culture, what it represents, what it means for us, what we woul...more
I really enjoy Max Brooks' stories. I love his insightful way of looking at the zombie culture, what it represents, what it means for us, what we would, or could, do about it if it were to occur. I recently recommended Max's World War Z to a friend, and loaned him my copy so he could read it. (Don't worry, it's back in my possession now, and unharmed. :D) He returned it with the comment that it was probably one of the best stories about society in crisis he'd ever read, and that the realism was incredible. I completely agree, which is why I recommended it to him in the first place. ;) So anyway, my point in mentioning this is that Max Brooks' books have been on my mind recently, and so when I was browsing Audible last night looking for something to listen to so I could clean the kitchen (What? Like you don't...), I discovered Closure Limited. I'd never heard of it before, so I was kinda excited by the thought of new material. So, I downloaded, listened, and cleaned... in that order. Priorities, people. O_o Overall, I liked this - maybe not AS much as Zombie Survival Guide or World War Z, but close. I think part of what detracted from this a bit was the format and the reading. For one thing, the reader sounded a lot like Max Brooks himself to me. I have heard Max read on the WWZ audiobook (the abridged one - I've yet to listen to the newer unabridged version), and I've seen him on that one zombie documentary show that I can't think of the name of... *IMDBs* "Zombies: A Living History". So for the intro, the reader's voice worked fine for me... but in the stories themselves... it wasn't the best match. That's not to say that the performance wasn't good... It was good, but I am kinda picky when it comes to audiobook readers, and I wouldn't say that Christopher Ragland is among my favorites. The male voices were OK - but the females were... not. And three times he had to do accents: one from The Netherlands (if I remember right?), another from Vietnam, and then a woman from China. Oddly, the Chinese woman's voice distracted me the least, which was kind of contradictory to how I felt about how he read other women - maybe it was the more staccato way in which he read her that helped. Not sure. Before I talk about the individual stories, I'll just mention one other thing that detracted from this book for me, with regards to the audio version. That issue is that each story is headed by a chapter. "Chapter One: Closure Limited". I didn't actually NOTICE this, though, until midway through the 2nd story, when I was wondering what the hell the events I was listening to had to do with where I thought the story was going. I'm used to stories jumping around at chapter breaks. It gives a different perspective, and progresses the story, etc, so I heard, "Chapter Two: Steve & Fred" and didn't think anything of it being a NEW story, but a 2nd chapter in the story I was listening to already. It was a little distracting, the be honest. Probably in print form, this wouldn't be an issue, because I'd know, getting to the next story, that it's not really "Chapter Two". Anyway, so when I eventually realized that it was a different story, it made a LOT more sense. Moving on to the stories themselves, I really enjoyed them. Closure Limited: Think about a zombie apocalypse... You know that the undead are everywhere, and that they are relentless killing, and turning, machines. Think about your loved ones, the ones that are now out of contact with you in your safehouse, or compound, or whatever. You don't know whether they are alive or dead or undead. You hope that they are alive, but the odds are... slim. After a while, the wondering starts to get to you... it starts to be harder to live with NOT knowing than it would be to just mourn. That's where Closure Limited comes in - they allow you to end that uncertainty. They provide a service that gives just what their name says: closure. Granted, there's a certain amount of self-deception that's required, because, after all, you HIRED this company to give you closure... but if you just need the symbolic aspect, you're all set. This one really made me think... It is kind of awful in its way, and extremely risky, but could I really say that I wouldn't want something like this to exist if I was in the situation of needing it? At the very least, it would be cathartic to destroy the hope that just stubbornly hangs on and insists on tormenting us... Steve & Fred: When I listened to this one last night, I was... not impressed. It didn't help that I didn't realize it was a new story (as I mentioned above), but to add to that the story also has a shift of its own. So, to be fair, I listened to this one again this morning, and I've changed my initial opinion. This is a GOOD story. It's like a little polaroid of a story, one that is still working on developing toward the middle. There's not much to this one - it's 22 minutes long, so, maybe I'd estimate a similar number of pages if the reader goes through 1 per minute. Maybe double if he reads slower. I dunno. But either way, the way it expands to show the whole situation is impressive, and enormous in its capacity for dread. And the irony of the story-within-a-story aspect is not lost on me. This is good stuff. The Extinction Parade: This one is probably my least favorite of the lot, and oddly enough for the "unreality" of this zombie story containing vampires. Yes. Really. I mean, it's not that I'm against vampires and zombies in the same story; in fact, usually I'm good with that. But in Max Brooks' universe, zombies invade the normal, everyday world due to a virus. There's nothing paranormal about them. So the insertion of the paranormal here just felt... out of place. That being said, if I put that aside, the story is still a good one. It brings to light the concept of resources - that if suddenly a previously thought continually renewable resource suddenly starts to dwindle, would those who rely on the resource notice in time to stop it... COULD they stop it even if they did? The Great Wall: This story, previous to my re-listen to Steve & Fred, was my favorite of the four. Now, I'd say they are tied. I loved this story for everything that it represented in terms of human resilience and stoicism and courage. It brought tears to my eyes, both of pride and sadness, and I loved every second of it. This one is definitely a keeper for anyone who enjoys zombie lit, or who is a fan of Max Brooks, or both. I definitely recommend it. (less) | Notes are private!
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1
| Apr 05, 2013
| Apr 06, 2013
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Apr 05, 2013
| Paperback
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86
| 
| 0446580309
| 9780446580304
| 3.84
| 5,235
| 2006
| Jul 10, 2007
|
Despite like 20 people I know having read (or wanting to read this), I'd never heard of it until discussing the best Urban Fantasy books and series......more
Despite like 20 people I know having read (or wanting to read this), I'd never heard of it until discussing the best Urban Fantasy books and series... And then, because I'm half-demon myself, this one stood out from the crowd and sounded like it'd be something I'd really enjoy. To be quite honest, I'm a little tired of the vampires and the werewolves and whatnot, so demons and ghosts seemed like a nice change. And it was. I really enjoyed this book. I've been in a bit of a slump lately, and so it seemed like it took me forever to read this, but I got there in the end and I liked it a lot. I loved the kind of... gritty realism the book had. It felt less like fantasy than real life - if real life had ghosts and demons and those who were capable of seeing and dealing with them. This book seems to come with an intertwined recommendation: If you like The Dresden Files, read Felix Castor. And vice versa. (Again, odd, because last year I read EVERY SINGLE HARRY DRESDEN BOOK THERE IS and Felix was mentioned not one time to me... HMPH!) Anyway, I can kind of see why, because Felix and Harry both kind of have that snarky, just-a-guy-who-can-do-stuff thing going on. But, they were quite different, too. I've been thinking about it this morning, and it's taken me a little bit of time to realize it, but in SOME ways, I liked Felix more than Harry. (What? Like it's WEIRD to brood over fictional characters or something. Pfft.) I don't want this to be come off sounding like a criticism of Harry, because it's not. Some of the things that I'm going to mention are parts of WHY I love his character so much. But they work in HIS world - not so much the one that Felix lives in. First, Harry has this kind of (to use Hermione's words from The Order of the Phoenix) "saving people thing". He's chivalrous and kind-hearted with a dirty mouth and a quick temper. He has a lot of internal doubts about his ability to be the man -or the wizard- that he needs to be. Which is, of course, what makes him that man/wizard. Harry Dresden knows who he is and what his powers can do, and he has a kind of feeling of responsibility to use them to help people. I love these things about Harry, because the man that it makes him (without giving anything away) is one that I love and pity in equal measures. But Felix was... just a guy. And I liked that. OK - maybe just a guy who was slightly more in tune with the no-longer-alive than most other people. He didn't have the hero thing going on. He didn't really head out into the fray to protect "his" city or to do good deeds... he just got caught up in a mess. He has his own doubts, his own dark history, his own fears. I really hope to see more of this in the remaining books in the series. I liked the plot as well, and I think that it lent a good deal to the realism of the story. This was an already fucked up situation that went completely FUBAR, and then some. There are books (like The Dresden Files) where the fantasy is so entwined that to remove it would be impossible - and I wouldn't want to. But then there are books like this one, where the fantasy aspect is more... like an addition. Take away the ghosts and demons and whatnot, and you STILL have a really good story. With them, and you have a really good urban fantasy story. And I really liked that. But the fantasy aspects never felt tacked on or like an afterthought. They meshed perfectly with the story and the world, especially old city London with all its history, and I loved it. I will definitely be reading more of this series. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| Mar 27, 2013
| Apr 13, 2013
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Mar 23, 2013
| Hardcover
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84
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| 074758110X
| 9780747581109
| 4.46
| 895,237
| Jul 16, 2005
| Jul 16, 2005
|
I remember when this book was originally released. I'd gotten into the Harry Potter phenomenon late, after the 5th book was out, and during the time b...more
I remember when this book was originally released. I'd gotten into the Harry Potter phenomenon late, after the 5th book was out, and during the time before Half-Blood Prince was out, I'd read and re-read the first 5 books... A LOT. So then comes the 6th book's release, and by this time, I'm just as rabid for it as everyone else. I need to know what's happened. I need to know whether Sirius... but no. What I really need to know is What Will Harry Do Now? The day comes, and, at the time, I was working a late shift. I got out of work at 11:15pm, raced to the bookstore for the midnight release... and found it closed, dark, and the parking lot nearly empty when I got there at 11:30. OH! I was LIVID. I immediately, literally standing in the parking lot, called the bookstore and ripped the manager a new one. The book releases at MIDNIGHT. I HAD A PRE-ORDER!! You don't get to sell it early just because you don't feel like being there into the early hours of the morning! I was so angry that Mr. Sheepishly Apologetic Bookstore Manager even offered to reopen the store for me. I refused on principle. (What? He made me mad and I just wanted him to know it. Though, honestly, if I was really feeling vindictive, I should have made him re-openThe summumabeech.) What does this story have to do with anything? Nothing much, except to establish my almost desperate frame of mind... I NEEDED that book. But I knew they'd be available everywhere. That night, there were so many copies of Half-Blood Prince around that I could practically have snagged one off of a passing owl. And just as an aside, I'll tell you that when the 7th book came out a couple years later, that bookstore was open and selling them properly. I take personal credit. Not that I was there... I went to a different store, again on principle. Because I hold grudges like that. ;) Anyway, with my new acquisition, I raced home, told my boyfriend he had to go out with his friends so that he didn't disturb me, and I devoured the book in hours. And it was like... a cool drink of water after you've been thirsty for a long time. I HAD A NEW HARRY POTTER BOOK! But after finishing, I was like, "Eh, it's just a filler, bridge to the last book, book." I wasn't disappointed - don't get me wrong. I had loved it. But I am admitting that it took me a couple reads to really, REALLY appreciate it properly. All the things that we learn, all the ways that this book brings all the things that we'd seen in the first 5 books together, how Harry finally realizes what it all means and what he'll have to do, how he can't just hope to keep defending himself and those he loves, but knows he'll need to go on the offensive if he hopes to win... It was all amazing, brilliantly woven together into this awesome next-to-last book. When Harry tells Ron and Hermione about the real prophecy, and he is grateful to them for not shrinking away from him as though he'd suddenly turned leprous, it hits home just how alone Harry truly is. I never expected them to do differently... but Harry feared they might. It shows how much of a complex Harry has about his role in everything - he's always been alone, separate, so it surprises him that his friends would stick by him. And even at the very end, he is again surprised when they refuse to let him shrug them off and take the Horcrux Hunt onto his own shoulders completely. Harry. Harry... You have better friends than you can possibly know. What I wouldn't give for friends that would stand with me like that, time after time after time, and in the face of such danger and fear. Silly boy. I also love Snape in this book. He's as much of a jerk as always, but in the chapter where he's running from Hogwarts, when he screams at Harry not to call him a coward, how his voice is described, how he's STILL trying to teach Harry, but Harry is too full of blind rage to hear, to think, to learn... It's... brilliant. Harry reaches his conclusions and refuses to see any other alternative, despite what Dumbledore has exemplified year after year - openmindedness, trust, understanding. Damn, I love this book. Just amazing. (less) | Notes are private!
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1
| Feb 22, 2013
| Feb 23, 2013
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Feb 17, 2013
| Hardcover
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83
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| 0747569401
| 9780747569404
| 4.37
| 889,383
| 2003
| Jun 21, 2003
|
I remember the first time I'd ever read this book, and how I felt at the end - after everything that was lost... and I still feel that way to this day...more
I remember the first time I'd ever read this book, and how I felt at the end - after everything that was lost... and I still feel that way to this day: shocked, hollow, heartbroken, and furious. OK, maybe not 'shocked' anymore, because now I know what's coming, but my point is that this book has the power to affect me... EVERY SINGLE TIME. And as loud as the emotions can be (Harry rampaging about being kept in the dark all summer when he finally is brought to Grimmauld Place, and After (capital A) in Dumbledore's office), it's the small things that gut me. Lupin's voice being full of pain, Harry's crushing realization that he wouldn't be kept waiting, especially when he was clearly in need. Even writing this makes me tear up. I know that there are a lot of people who dislike the angsty-ness of this book, but I think it's perfect. Harry is 15, right in the thick of his moody teen "I'm So Misunderstood" years, as Phinneas Nigellus is wont to point out, and I loved it. I don't mean to say that I LIKE it, because it is a tad frustrating, but I love it because it's realistic. Harry has been through more than most full-grown wizards, hell, more than some AURORS have been through, and he's left in the dark for so long that it's completely realistic that he should be frustrated and angry about it. I love this book, and I love the way that the circumstances really become real to Harry in this book. After Cedric last year, and then the Longbottoms - I mean, I know that Harry knew what happened to them last year, but really SEEING them this year had to make it tangible how dangerous Lord Thingy's supporters can be, and then Sirius solidified it. There's a lot that comes together in this book as well, most that becomes clear in the last two books, but it's starting to meld into a picture of the link that was formed that day in Godric's Hollow. Brilliant stuff. (less) | Notes are private!
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1
| Feb 10, 2013
| Feb 21, 2013
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Feb 10, 2013
| Hardcover
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81
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| 045146379X
| 9780451463791
| 4.26
| 26,052
| Jul 26, 2011
| Jul 26, 2011
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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!
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1
| Nov 28, 2012
| Dec 04, 2012
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Nov 28, 2012
| Hardcover
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82
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| 0307588386
| 9780307588388
| 3.95
| 267,225
| 2012
| Jun 05, 2012
|
 That was my immediate reaction after finishing this book. Pretty clearly that's not how it ends. It doesn't END that way. Yet, when I tapped Shadow's...more That was my immediate reaction after finishing this book. Pretty clearly that's not how it ends. It doesn't END that way. Yet, when I tapped Shadow's screen to turn the page (Shadow's my Nook's name, FYI) - there were only acknowledgements. And then I thought about it... I gave it just a few minutes' thought, and I decided that I thought the ending was appropriate. Fucked up? Oh my, yes. But fitting too, in a way. We do dig our own graves, don't we? This book kind of reminded of Lemarchand's Box. Every time you try to figure it out, it draws you deeper in, and in the end, reveals the kind of depravity that seemingly knows no bounds. Ineffable. And I kind of loved it. I thought I had this book figured out so early. I even thought I was being clever, despite knowing, KNOWING, that I was being carefully, artfully led to these conclusions. I was creative though. I had it all figured out. All I was waiting for was the vindication when the book caught up with me. And then WHATTHEFUCK?! The twist. Oh my. I never, never saw it coming. Despite having accidentally seen the table of contents, which kind of give it away. But, then if you know me, you know that I don't want to know anything - so I put it out of my mind. And I'm glad that I did. The first line of the Chapter of the Twist floored me. I read it four times, and still felt sluggishly stupid. I couldn't wrap my mind around it. I had never read Gillian Flynn before, only knew that her stories were dark, thriller types. But in that one sentence, I wondered if all along I've been reading a haunting story and not even realizing it. In a way that was right, but it's just haunting in the wrong sense. Or the right one, depending on your point of view. This book kind of... resonated. It's easy to get caught up in it - or it was for me. I could see myself, my boyfriend, my friends and their significant others, pretty much ANY relationship, in this book. And that's disturbing. Everyone changes in a relationship. Everyone. I thought, early on, "Oh, this is a story of how relationships go bad when expectations aren't met - when people change, and grow lax in their status quo relationship..." And it was, in a way. If the When-Relationships-Go-Bad-O-Meter goes to 11. Why not just make 10 more intense? Because this one kind of situation requires it go to ELEVEN. The thriller aspect of this book was fantastic. It's not one of those non-stop rollercoaster thrill-ride books, where every page turn is another exciting development. This was like watching the water drain out of a tub, slowly, allowing you to see, little by little,what lies under the surface. And you realize that it's recognizable but stunted and deformed, horrifying, and clearly dead inside. But you can't quite stop looking. I loved every second of it. Learning about Nick and Amy's relationship, both how it was so right, and how it went so very wrong. The characters were real, disturbingly real. Every word was expertly placed to take the reader along on this journey, and it was brilliantly done. Loved it. The moral of this story: Make an effort. It won't kill you... ;)(less) | Notes are private!
| Lisa
|
1
| Feb 17, 2013
| Feb 19, 2013
|
Nov 17, 2012
| ebook
| ||||||||||||||
80
| 
| 045146317X
| 9780451463173
| 4.52
| 28,220
| 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
|
1
| Nov 05, 2012
| Nov 10, 2012
|
Nov 05, 2012
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
75
| 
| 0778328791
| 9780778328797
| 3.85
| 12,541
| 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
|
1
| Aug 20, 2012
| Aug 21, 2012
|
Aug 20, 2012
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
78
| 
| 0316228532
| 9780316228534
| 3.26
| 77,026
| 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
|
1
| Oct 15, 2012
| Oct 30, 2012
|
Jul 28, 2012
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
87
| 
| 0062200577
| 9780062200570
| 4.23
| 3,869
| Apr 30, 2013
| Apr 30, 2013
|
I have a feeling that this is going to be a rambling kind of review full of leg-humps and drooling. You've been warned. But first, I want to get the no...more I have a feeling that this is going to be a rambling kind of review full of leg-humps and drooling. You've been warned. But first, I want to get the non-leg-humpy stuff out of the way. Technically, I'm giving this 4 1/2 stars, because there were a couple things that just... didn't feel right to me. Forced, one might say. They were little things, in the grand scheme of the book, but they just didn't really work for me, and took me out of the story. I know why they were there, but knowing why someone painted their house fluorescent orange doesn't make it easier to look at. Appreciating a style of art doesn't necessarily mean one has to LIKE it. So my first issue is with the carryover sentences from the end of one chapter, to the header of the next. These are abrupt cut-off sentences hanging in the middle of a page, and the header of the next chapter finishes them. It took me quite a while to get used to this, and it had a tendency not to stick. I don't read chapter headings. This hinders me a lot at times, because, in a book like this, the chapter headings are vital to keeping up with the story. They tell the reader where, and when, we're at in the story. But I find that chapter headers are often times spoilery, or hinty, and this annoys me. I don't want the chapter saying "Hey, watch out for this thing to happen... it's gonna be good!" I just want to read the story and get to the thing when I get to it, and be surprised. I especially dislike the cutesy ones like "Chapter 7, In Which Character A Has Things Happen To Him And Then Learns A Valuable Lesson". Ugh. So I stopped reading them quite a while back. Sometimes it means that I get a little lost in the story and backtrack, and sometimes it means nothing because the only thing I've skipped is "Chapter 3". Back on point - As I mentioned, it took me a long time to get used to the end of the sentence being the beginning of a chapter thing here, but I also said it didn't really "stick". What I mean by this is that there would be gaps of several chapters that ended normally, no carryover, and so the next time I'd see it (usually when it was supposed to be suspenseful) I'd have to pause and remind myself to read the next header. And not only read it, but read it as part of the previous chapter's last sentence. Anyway... Needless to say, it took me out of the story. I've now written more about this carryover thing than some of my full reviews, and I feel like I'm starting to sound like I disliked it a lot more than I did. I actually didn't really mind it so much except that I just had to take that moment and remind myself how to continue. But it DID serve the purpose it was intended to serve, which was to make the reader pause, to wonder where things would go... to create some suspense. And it worked well in my case, for all the reasons mentioned already. Probably better than intended, actually. I tend to... skim. Especially if I'm anxious for characters and need to know what happens. I know that this seems to go against everything that I hate about spoilers and hints, but I don't see this as spoiling myself, because technically I am reading the page - twice. One quick skim to find out what happens, and then a rescan to pick up anything I might have missed on the first pass. I don't do this with every page, or even every book. But the ones that grab me, that have hooked me and know it, they are the ones that I'm likely to skim because I just have to know what happens. It seems contrary - you'd think that the ones that I don't like would be the ones I'm most likely to skim... but no. Those my cause my interest and desire to read to fizzle out and die, and they eventually are just abandoned. Or abandoned quickly depending on how hard I hated it. Moving on... The second thing that took me out of the story was the unlikely relationship at the end. I'm not going to give anything away here, but it just didn't seem realistic to me. I feel like I understand it, but it felt forced and... wrong, somehow. Tacked on, perhaps. And that's all I'm going to say about that. (See, I can be brief!) Moving on to the things I loved about this book... Oh, there are so many. It will be much, much harder to specify these, and much harder to explain just why I loved it... at least without giving anything away. First, I'll just say that this book was not at ALL what I expected. One expects, with a title like NOS4A2 (Nosferatu, if you don't speak license platenese) that it's a vampire story. And it is, but it isn't. It's so much more than that. That sounds trite, but I don't know how else to describe it. It's a book about the mind, and the power of belief, and in belief in oneself, and parenthood, and the nature of innocence... It's really so much more than I expected, though I feel like I should have known better, considering how much I loved Joe's last novel, and the reasons I loved it. To date, I've read everything that Joe Hill has published, with the exception of his Locke & Key series, which I'll be getting to very soon. I started reading him, obviously, because he's Stephen King's son, but I've KEPT reading him because he's an amazing author in his own right. His voice is unique from his father's, he has his own style, his own way of using words and images and music to bring a story to life, and I love that about him. But in this book, there's a distinct shift. Joe's no longer striving to separate himself, it seems, but is now incorporating... There's a kind of linking of the universes. I absolutely LOVED stumbling across the references to other books (The knife Maggie mentions was one that I thought fit perfectly into this story, though not very subtle. :P), but especially from Stephen King's. I highlighted a lot of passages - ones that Constant Readers will recognize immediately. There were a surprising number of them. In addition to that, I felt like this book felt more like one King would write, especially post-2000 King. Don't get me wrong, Joe Hill's hand is alllll over this book, and it's incredible, but I can see an influence here, that's all. One of the major contributors to this is how Joe writes children. Stephen King is known for writing children with perfection, and it's abundantly clear that the apple did not fall far from the tree in this aspect. I want to say a little something about the characters... but I'm not sure what I could say without giving anything away. I'll go vague then. I thought all of the characters were perfectly done. Their lives and their hopes and fears were all handled perfectly and I felt like I'd known many of them for a long, long time. Vic especially. I felt like I knew her better than she knew herself. Or maybe I just had more faith in her. I'm not sure there's a difference. I loved her, her strength, her refusal to give in... she's one to admire, if only for her determination. Goodness knows there's not much else to admire there. She's flawed, hugely flawed, and that's what makes her beautiful. Lou was another one of my favorite characters. I was surprised at how important he became to the story, and by the way it happened, but I almost immediately came to love him. He's the perfect guy to have your back, no matter what it might mean for himself. Anyway, I'm not saying anymore. To say more will be to spoil. I highly recommend this one, as I do with all of Hill's books. They are all amazing, and should be read and loved forever. The end. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
|
1
| May 04, 2013
| May 10, 2013
|
Jul 16, 2012
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
71
| 
| 1852424672
| 9781852424671
| 4.02
| 45,562
| Mar 25, 2003
| May 09, 2006
|
I've started this review 6 times now, and each time, I've deleted it because it doesn't quite convey the right thing. I think the problem is that I'm...more
I've started this review 6 times now, and each time, I've deleted it because it doesn't quite convey the right thing. I think the problem is that I'm not sure just what that thing is. But one thing I do know is that I love books that make me feel like this... that "I don't know what I need to say but I need to say something, to talk about this with someone because this book won't keep quiet in my mind" feeling. I guess it's lucky that this was chosen for our latest group read then, because I filibustered there with every jumbled, messy, half-formed thought that my tired-because-I-stayed-up-until-nearly-2am-with-this-book-then-worked-a-full-8-hours mind could think of... Because this book won't keep quiet in my mind. I finished it last night around 1:30am, tears streaming down my face, hurting for everyone and furiously heartbroken over something so unnecessary and so seemingly unavoidable as what was depicted. Then I slept, and I dreamed about this book, with hazy, distant figures without names or faces, but bigger than life aspects. It's rare that I dream about books. It doesn't matter if I read it up until the minute I drop off; I only dream about a book I'm reading, or have read if it pulled me into its world first. I dream about the books that touch my soul. *cue dramatic music* This book was just... wow. If I were to nitpick anything, it would be that Eva's pen wandered a tiny bit too much into the outside world. I wanted to see her world, the world of her family, or her lack thereof. It took a little bit to get there, and for a while, there were hints but the narrative meandered along in its own time. But oh my, once it got going, it really got going. I don't think it was just my last minute mad dash to read this the day before my bookclub meeting that helped me to read 75% of this book in one night after work... it was unputdownable. Once I glimpsed this family's world, I couldn't look away. There is... so much to talk about in this book. And I don't think that I could even attempt to do the topics or themes any justice (as I didn't in my bookclub, not for lack of trying). This is a book that begs to be turned around to the beginning again and immediately re-read. It's like one of those optical illusions. At first, the picture is simple, but then once you see the hidden picture within it, you gain a new appreciation for the whole. This book was beautifully written, insightful, questioning and heartbreaking. It was nothing at all like I expected, and even guessing the things that I guessed (which turned out to be true), it didn't make the impact any less. This book was so incredible at making me sympathize and empathize with each person's perspective, though we only see these through Eva's brutally honest memory, that it was impossible for me to lay blame anywhere, even though the potential for assigning blame was huge. This was expertly executed (pun intended), and it is not one that I will forget any time soon. (less) | Notes are private!
| Jen
|
1
| May 21, 2012
| May 22, 2012
|
Apr 25, 2012
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
69
| 
| 0743296435
| 9780743296434
| 3.95
| 62,961
| Mar 02, 2010
| Mar 02, 2010
|
Confession time: I had no intention of ever reading a Jodi Picoult book. To me, her books were pretty much equivalent to Nicholas Sparks' books.* Form...more
Confession time: I had no intention of ever reading a Jodi Picoult book. To me, her books were pretty much equivalent to Nicholas Sparks' books.* Formula: Mix one part "issue" with one part "sap" and one part "luuuuuurve", then swallow. If nausea occurs, try Pepto to keep it down. *Sparks' books are still ones that I have no intention of ever reading. I watched 'A Walk to Remember' and 'The Notebook'. That's enough for one lifetime. There's like 50 movies based on his books now or something, and you know they're scraping the bottom of the barrel when Miley Cyrus is the best they can get to So when this was chosen for my bookclub, I wasn't exactly looking forward to it, and prepared myself to be reticent at the next meeting. Aside from that, I was worried about the portrayal of a teen with Asperger's Syndrome, particularly because the only other book that I've read with an autistic character was very disappointing for me. I couldn't help but mentally compare the two books, and my opinion of that other book was constantly reinforced: it just lacked substance, depth. It was just mediocre. House Rules was anything but mediocre. It was interesting, insightful, informative and fulfilling. I'm no Asperger's expert, but I thought that the book worked on many different levels at portraying not only the thought processes and behaviors of one who has it, but also of everyone that is affected by it. I felt that Picoult did her homework, and that she presented the traits, and possible causality, fairly and honestly. There are perspectives on whether heredity, or immunizations, or just randomness cause autism to develop, and I liked and appreciated that it was not treated as an excuse to demonize vaccines. I particularly empathized with Emma and Theo. Their perspectives were so raw and honest that I couldn't help but love them for it. Emma's raised two sons on her own for 15 years - something that is hard enough without throwing autism into the mix. Her whole life has centered around it. She's done everything in her power to give him the best life she can, and if she suffers for it, that's just part of the job. There were points in Theo's chapters where he'd be thinking something that an outsider would think is horrible, and even berating himself for it, and I would just sit there commending him for the things he didn't say. For example: "True confession number four: I don't sit around thinking about having kids, norÂmally, but when I do it scares the shit out of me. What if my own son winds up being like Jacob? I’ve already spent my whole childhood dealing with autism; I don’t know if I can handle doing it for the rest of my life."This is a superficially selfish thought, yes, but then I read the subtext to be that he's assuming he'd be around to take care of any kid of his who has autism. He'd stick it out, not leave like his own father did. He'd try to do the right thing, even if he doubts his abilities to do it. It makes me proud of him, and sad for him, at the same time. Because he's lived on the sidelines of autism for his whole life already. His childhood was constantly colored by the routines and the contingencies and the chaos of his brother's condition. To never have "normality" would have to be a terrifying, daunting thought. Regarding the mystery aspect, I pegged it pretty quickly - about 30% in. All the clues were there, and it wasn't hard to figure out. But I was still interested to see if I was right, or if there would be some twist, other than the one I predicted, to shock me. I kept being a little frustrated with the investigation too. This kid is extremely literal, and extremely honest. Why did nobody think to just ask him directly? I guess I understand why, honestly, but it was still kind of frustrating. And so for that, I knocked off a star. But the rest of the story, the personal and familial aspects, were fantastic. I loved it. Overall, this was a highly enjoyable book, and I will probably be picking up more of Picoult's books now that I know they aren't likely to be tapped for maple syrup anytime soon. ;)(less) | Notes are private!
| Jess
|
1
| Apr 21, 2012
| Apr 22, 2012
|
Mar 23, 2012
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
68
| 
| 1588365409
| 9781588365408
| 4.01
| 54,647
| 1994
| Oct 24, 2006
|
I really had no idea what to expect as I started reading this book. This was one of those books that I read with a group, and wasn't sure if I'd like...more
I really had no idea what to expect as I started reading this book. This was one of those books that I read with a group, and wasn't sure if I'd like it or not. But after the first chapter or so, I found myself completely engrossed in this story and almost unable to put it down. This was like a Sherlock Holmes story, only instead of Holmes solving the (usually single) crime based on the particular type of mud tracked in on the perpetrator's shoes that is only found in remote regions of Mongolia, and the minty-fresh odor of toothpaste which obviously points to the Dental Hygienist in the Den with the Fireplace Poker, this was based on newly emerging behavioral and psychological studies and theory. And it was great. Someone is killing young male prostitutes in 1890s New York, and pretty much nobody cares; "such boys were their own men" and deserved what they get for doing what they do, after all. Dr. Laszlo Kreizler cares though, and sets out to find out who's behind the murders, and stop them. He enlists the help of a police beat journalist from the Times, a female secretary from police headquarters, and two brilliant forensics expert brothers, and with the furtive approval of Police Commissioner Teddy Roosevelt (yes, THAT Teddy Roosevelt), they set about investigating and trying to stop the murders. And what an investigation it is. Gruesome, harrowing, and mind-boggling, but immensely fascinating. I was glad that this story was told from the perspective of the reporter because we're able to learn all the psychological and psychiatric theory along with him. Or at least as much as we need to know, really. And there were still things that were hard to follow, technical and physiological terms and processes that made absolutely no sense to me, but would be explained, or shown at some point, so that it all came together and made sense. This book was almost perfect, except for three little gripes that I have. First, I was disappointed that this was told as a kind of reminiscence. I understand why some authors will use this technique, but it bothers me, because it ruins the sense of urgency and fear that I have for the character, knowing that they made it through their ordeal. I couldn't really feel fear for these characters because of that. The fact that there are honest-to-goodness real historical people (whose histories I should know) depicted in the book notwithstanding, I would have been more engaged in the story had I been able to worry more about the characters. I feel like this method did the story a disservice, and I didn't really understand the point of using it. It was like framing a piece of art... It's not necessary for the art to be what it is - it's only adding a little something around the edges. And if the frame detracts from the art itself, it's doing something wrong. Secondly, and this is a sort of extension of the first, I felt that the foreshadowing was a little heavy-handed. Because this was told in the way it was, as a man looking back on a part of his life, he was able to hint at things to come in the story, or add little tidbits of knowledge that he wouldn't have had at the time (like Teddy Roosevelt's presidency). While this did add a kind of realism to the story, which I enjoyed, it felt a little forced as far as the tension in the story went. It felt just the tiniest bit manipulative, and I hate that. This is a thriller, and a damn good one, so it didn't need the foreshadowing to help it along. It just felt unnecessary to me. Finally, the ending felt a little rushed and just the littlest bit weak. There was so much build-up to the story that I wanted a big payoff... and then what we got was a lot of "Just as I suspected..." and that's pretty much it. But still, overall, this was a great book, and one that I'm very glad I read. There were great characters, a very interesting and perplexing series of horrific murders, and reasonable theories used to solve them. Add in the awesome detailing of 1890s New York city and its inhabitants, and their mindsets, appalling as they may have been, and this was definitely well worth reading. (less) | Notes are private!
| OSGA
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1
| Mar 30, 2012
| Apr 2012
|
Feb 26, 2012
| ebook
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63
| 
| 3.73
| 144
| 1929
| 1997
|
This story is making the rounds today, it seems. I read this story after a friend mentioned seeing Stephen's review, and he read it based on Wendy Dar...more
This story is making the rounds today, it seems. I read this story after a friend mentioned seeing Stephen's review, and he read it based on Wendy Darling's review. I love seeing books (or in this case, stories) spread like this, each person's enjoyment leading to another and another. This is what makes this site so much fun to use. But anyway, to get to the point and review this... WOW. This story was very short, very poignant, and very intense. I've only read one other Graham Greene book, 'Travels with My Aunt' and I very much disliked it. If that book had been written like this story, I'd have loved it. I think this story may have redeemed Greene for me, actually. It's amazing what 4 pages can do. I have a bit of a fascination with stories about twin connections, especially when one sibling is troubled and the other is not--or at least not in the same way. Wally Lamb's 'I Know This Much Is True' is one of these, and one I highly recommend. It's not an easy read, but it is fascinating to me. This one was different, but the connection between the brothers, their relationship with each other and in comparison with the other is a huge part of the story. One particular passage stood out to me: "To address Peter was to speak to his own image in a mirror, an image a little altered by a flaw in the glass, so as to throw back less a likeness of what he was than of what he wished to be, what he would be without his unreasoning fear of darkness, footsteps of strangers, the flight of bats in dusk-filled gardens."I really felt this... the way that little Francis would want to be like the stronger, elder brother - self-reliant and sure and brave. 'The End of the Party' reminded me a bit of my all time favorite short story, 'All Summer In A Day' by Ray Bradbury. Both pertain to groups of children, both have one "outcast" of the group, both have a whopper of an ending, and both are very emotionally raw stories that hurt my heart and linger there for a long, long time. I won't soon forget this story, just as I've never forgotten 'All Summer In A Day', even after all this time. For being so short, this book packs a punch. Highly recommended. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
|
1
| Jan 07, 2012
| Jan 07, 2012
|
Jan 07, 2012
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||||
61
| 
| 0345391802
| 9780345391803
| 4.15
| 528,499
| 1979
| Sep 27, 1995
|
I really enjoy this book. It's witty, funny, and a little ridiculous and absurd. But I like that. It's really best when reading the entire series toge...more I really enjoy this book. It's witty, funny, and a little ridiculous and absurd. But I like that. It's really best when reading the entire series together. I highly recommend the omnibus - that's how I originally read this and I loved it. This time around, just reading this one book, I thought it was great, but not the same. I do highly recommend it for those looking for something a bit different and quick and fun. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
|
1
| Dec 30, 2011
| Dec 31, 2011
|
Dec 17, 2011
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
57
| 
| 0425121402
| 9780425121405
| unknown
| 3.86
| 8,241
| Aug 08, 2000
| unknown
|
I love this story... I read this years (and years) ago, but when I found the audio online, I decided to listened to it. I'm not sure who the reader is...more
I love this story... I read this years (and years) ago, but when I found the audio online, I decided to listened to it. I'm not sure who the reader is, but wow... whoever he was did a fantastic job. It was so easy just to fall right into this story. The language is so beautiful and eerie, and the tone is just one of perfect paranoia and fear... Good stuff! Reeeeeead it. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
|
1
| Nov 23, 2011
| Nov 23, 2011
|
Nov 23, 2011
| Paperback
| |||||||||||||
51
| 
| 0765325551
| 9780765325556
| 3.74
| 1,501
| Apr 12, 2011
| Apr 12, 2011
|
So it seems that this book was destined to help me make up for lost time! I absolutely could not put this book down once I started it. And I have to s...more
So it seems that this book was destined to help me make up for lost time! I absolutely could not put this book down once I started it. And I have to say that I was completely surprised by this book. It was so much better than I ever thought it would be. It starts out feeling a little comicbookish, a little cartoony. I mean, it's about super heroes, for goodness sake. And that aspect of the story is very comicbookish - not that that is a bad thing. If that was all there was to the story, I'd have still liked it, but it would have been a 3-star like, rather than a 5-star love. But there was so much more to this story than a good vs bad, superhero vs villain story. This was a really interesting and innovative twist on the story that sucked me right in and kept me glued to the pages until there weren't any more of them. And now I feel a bit sad that it's over. I was very surprised at how emotional this book was. I completely identified with the main character's feelings of isolation and desperation and despair and frustration and everything in the situation that she was in. In fact, I thought she handled the situation infinitely better than I would have. I would have probably shut down and closed up shop and said 'screw it, then'. I have to give Celia credit for not doing that, and not giving up. I really loved this book, and as an introduction to Carrie Vaughn's writing, it was amazing. Now my only concern is that her other books might not live up to this one. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| Aug 13, 2011
| Aug 14, 2011
|
Jun 27, 2011
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
76
| 
| 0062060554
| 9780062060556
| 3.82
| 68,573
| Jan 01, 2011
| Jun 14, 2011
|
This morning I woke up and remembered who I am, who the man I live with is, what happened yesterday, and the day before, and the day before, and so on...more
This morning I woke up and remembered who I am, who the man I live with is, what happened yesterday, and the day before, and the day before, and so on. There are things I can't remember, of course, things that maddeningly get stuck right out of reach when I try to think of them, and surely there are things I don't even realize I've forgotten, and maybe I never will. But I can remember the landmarks of my life, leading up to this morning when I woke up, and after reading this book, I realize that I take all this for granted. As almost everyone does. When I started this book, and realized just what it would mean to have no memory of anything upon waking, every single day, I admit that the thought terrified me. I am an empathetic reader; I put myself into the shoes of the characters in the stories I read and live their lives by the proxy of the book. Which, if you ask me, is the way it should be done. I WANT to be able to identify with characters and feel as though the events of their lives are real. I want to care about them, and fear for them, and hope for them. I don't want there to be distance between a story and myself. If there is, it's a problem, and I'm likely to not enjoy the book. So, coming back to my point: This story terrified me. I thought of it in terms of my own life, and how much I rely on my sense of self to propel me through my life. I am me. The thought of losing "me" is terrifying. But it's more than that. Being only able to retain the memories of the events of a single day is a frightening, claustrophobic thought. In a 16 hour day, between periods of sleep, how much time would it take to relearn your life? How much would you need or want to know? And what would you - or COULD you - do with the rest of your day, knowing that as soon as you go to sleep, it'll all be gone and the next day would start again just as the last had. The limitations of such a life are staggering. There's no way to LIVE in such a short time, when you have to relearn everything that came before just to get a base upon which to build. Could you trust the people around you to tell you the truth about yourself? The potential for manipulation and control would be so huge, even if it was done the with best possible intent. It struck me that people who have lost the ability to retain new memories are stuck in a continuous loop of living hell, even if there's nothing overtly bad day to day. The amount of trust required to depend on others in a life like that is more than I could manage. It would drive me insane - never knowing whether the things I was being told were the truth, or if I was being told the things that would hurt or upset me the least. It would drive me insane to feel that I have a right to my own life and history, but not the means to it. So... Just on that level, the empathetic way I put my feet into the shoes of the character, this book affected me quite a bit. I realize that most of this is what I brought to the table, but the story presented the day to day experience of a life lived on these terms in a way that made it easy to identify with, and so I count that as a success. There were a few issues that I had with the book, though. The writing overall was great - easy to read, expressive and filled with imagery, but not overwritten. There were some sections that felt a little disjointed, such as this section: "I am shaking, can barely breathe. I feel that I have not only lived an entire life in the last few hours, but I have changed. I am not the same person who met Dr Nash this morning, who sat down to read the journal. I have a past now. A sense of myself. I know what I have, and what I have lost. I realize I am crying.Besides the lapse into passive voice there, what jumps out at me is this: How can she feel that she has a sense of herself, that she has a history in one paragraph, but then just a few sentences later state that she hadn't attributed those things to herself before, and now finally understood that it was HER life? Perhaps if these paragraphs were reversed, then it would be less of a contradiction: 'I realize with a jolt the journal I've been reading is about my life. I feel like I've lived an entire life time in the last few hours. I now have a history, a sense of myself.' Continuing on regarding the writing, the dialogue was a little wooden, I thought. A lot of name-comma-statements or name-comma-questions - but mostly the writing worked for me otherwise. I enjoyed the pacing of the story, the slow unraveling of the mystery, and the shocks when Christine would realize something that she'd lost along with her memory, and they'd shock me too. How could someone forget about this, or that, or some other thing that others take completely for granted and don't bother even thinking of? I also enjoyed the variances of Christine's personality. The different ways she thought about, and reacted to sex, especially. There were times when I felt clearly that she was in her 20-something memory zone, but trying to think about sex as a 47 year old who'd been married for two decades, despite the sex itself. Or when she thought of sex as a 20-something who hadn't yet settled down would. I thought that this was well done, and illustrated to me how much our personalities are defined by our memory. It was mentioned in the story as well that neither she nor her husband knew who she would "wake up as", but to me, the little details showed this more than the overt mentions did. I felt that the mystery aspect was a little predictable, but at the same time, I feel like the reader is supposed to understand before Christine does. I had quite a few theories in the first half of the book, including (view spoiler)[the husband using his knowledge of chemistry to keep her from forming new memories, as a form of manipulation and control. She'd never even realize, and would be the perfect victim. But as I read, there was no daily pattern that would support this, evening tea, or a nightcap, or "medication" or mashed potatoes with dinner every night, or anything, so I let it go (hide spoiler)], and around the mid-point formulated the winning theory. But the fact that I was right doesn't bother me, as it usually does, because the reader has more info than Christine did, and the details were more intriguing to me than the event itself. I did think that the ending was just a bit too rushed, and that the resolution was somewhat pat, too perfectly open ended, in a way. Overall, this is a great book, and as it's Watson's first, it's impressive. I very much enjoyed it, and I look forward to reading more from him in the future. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
|
1
| Sep 04, 2012
| Sep 08, 2012
|
Jun 27, 2011
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
60
| 
| 1451627289
| 9781451627282
| 4.23
| 104,986
| 2012
| Nov 08, 2011
|
Time travel is one of those things that I just can't ever seem to wrap my head around. There are so many variables and questions... and it just genera...more
Time travel is one of those things that I just can't ever seem to wrap my head around. There are so many variables and questions... and it just generally ends up confusing me, and if it's not handled well, it usually ends up irritating me, too. So, I don't read a lot of time travel stories. But this is King. And once again, he holds on to his title. This book was incredible. I don't even know what to say about it. It's so fresh in my mind, and there are so many things I want to mention, so many notes I took, but mentioning them wouldn't make sense out of context, and I don't want to spoil anything for anyone. So I'll just say a few things. I loved how this story built up and up, layer upon layer of awesomeness. I loved the characters, as usual with King's stories. They could literally walk through the door right now and I wouldn't be a bit surprised. I loved the plausibility of the events, despite the rabbit hole and the Yellow Card Man. But then, I loved the little tie-ins to the Dark Tower multiverse too, and so that made those things fit perfectly in the story for me. I can't think of a single thing I didn't like about this book. It was just incredible. So much win. That is all.(less) | Notes are private!
| Barb
|
1
| Nov 08, 2011
| Dec 11, 2011
|
Jun 26, 2011
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
47
| 
| 0399155341
| 9780399155345
| 4.44
| 770,892
| Feb 10, 2009
| Feb 10, 2009
|
I love this book. I have reviewed the audio edition and everything from that review still stands. This is personal and lovely and heartbreaking. If yo...more
I love this book. I have reviewed the audio edition and everything from that review still stands. This is personal and lovely and heartbreaking. If you haven't read this one yet.... read it.(less)
| Notes are private!
| none
|
1
| May 30, 2011
| Jun 04, 2011
|
May 30, 2011
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
58
| 
| 0142000663
| 9780142000663
| 3.85
| 273,811
| 1939
| Jan 08, 2002
|
Wow. That's just really all I have to say. ...No it isn't. I'm a big fat liar. I have lots to say about this. I just don't really know how. So I'm goi...more Wow. That's just really all I have to say. ...No it isn't. I'm a big fat liar. I have lots to say about this. I just don't really know how. So I'm going to tell a little story, and hopefully that will be enough. Once upon a time, there was a princess who was the most beautiful princess in the whole world and all the other princesses hated me because-- What? Oh, sorry, wrong story. Just seeing if you were paying attention. You pass. Anyway, real story now... and it go a little sumthin' like this: Once upon a time, there was a girl who read The Pearl and thought that she didn't like John Steinbeck. "Steinbeck?" she said, "Meh." But then, one of the girl's friends chose a Steinbeck book for a book chain, and the girl read it, and was very surprised to find that she liked it. That book was Travels with Charley: In Search of America. Now, this girl considers herself to be decently well read, but she tends to choose fiction over non-fiction, simply for the fact that non-fiction can be so dry and boring, so she was very surprised to find Travels engaging and interesting and humorous. Cut to today, Thanksgiving Day in the US, as the girl in the kitchen prepared The Traditional Feast while listening to a full cast audio production of The Grapes of Wrath... and she found herself moved to tears several times, thinking of the hardships that not only the Joads endured, but so, so many people during the Depression. She thought of the table full of food she would soon set down, and the days worth of leftovers she'd have afterward, and thought of the Joads and their like starving, moving over and over and over, trying, trying, trying to make it... and it broke her heart. The Grapes of Wrath wowed her, and Steinbeck's portrayal of these sharecroppers-turned-migrant-workers was as real as the food on her table. The style and language were simple but evocative and beautiful in their own way, and the girl knows that complexity doesn't always equal greatness. Honesty and courage and perseverance almost always do, though. Now, this girl thinks she might just be a little in love with Steinbeck. Fin.(less) | Notes are private!
| none
|
1
| Nov 23, 2011
| Nov 24, 2011
|
May 01, 2011
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
50
| 
| B003YL4LYI
| 4.20
| 123,174
| Sep 01, 2007
| Jul 12, 2011
|
Whew... OK. Wow. I'm done. Finally. I've been reading this book for over 3 weeks, and that's a LONG ASS TIME for me to be reading any novel. Short sto...more
Whew... OK. Wow. I'm done. Finally. I've been reading this book for over 3 weeks, and that's a LONG ASS TIME for me to be reading any novel. Short stories, eh, I pick 'em up and put 'em down, but novels I read. This one, like A Clash of Kings, had a WHOLE LOT of build up and detail and fill-in-the-gaps stuff. Even more than Clash, I think, because it had to address stuff that A Feast for Crows didn't include. The second half went much much quicker, and progressed the story along, but there are a LOT of things I wanted more of. I won't list them here because that would be a spoiler, but I'll just say that Winds of Winter better effing have what I want. *shakes fist* In true GRRM style, he fucks with my head and plays with my emotions and breaks my heart... sometimes all at one time. It's incredible that he's able to write something that can do that, that has me so invested in the story that I dream about it and feel as though I'm living it through the pages, and that I physically hurt when bad things happen... And I love him for that. But fuck it pisses me off, too. I used to think that Stephen King was the King of the Kill Off - I could never trust him with my favorite characters (still don't), but GRRM has usurped that throne for sure. I read every chapter with my heart in my throat waiting for the sword to fall. And that, my friends, is the mark of a good fucking story. *sigh* Now the wait begins for the next book, and I'm finally one of you kneelers. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
|
1
| Jul 21, 2011
| Aug 13, 2011
|
Apr 21, 2011
| Kindle Edition
| |||||||||||||||
41
| 
| 1904859623
| 9781904859628
| unknown
| 4.29
| 7
| Nov 01, 2007
| Nov 01, 2007
|
Pretty good stuff here. Jello Biafra (the frontman for the Dead Kennedys if you're not familiar with him - I'm not a fan of punk music, but I think he...more
Pretty good stuff here. Jello Biafra (the frontman for the Dead Kennedys if you're not familiar with him - I'm not a fan of punk music, but I think he's brilliant politically) basically talks about a lot of stuff that we should all know but usually don't for various reasons - media doesn't report it, American Idol is on, fear, whatever. Biafra's got an amazing, analytical mind. Even if you don't agree with him, listening to what he's got to say is worthwhile. It'll make you think, and hopefully at least make you want to find out more for yourself. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
|
1
| Mar 18, 2011
| Mar 19, 2011
|
Mar 18, 2011
| Audio CD
| |||||||||||||
42
| 
| 0330320025
| 9780330320023
| 4.30
| 8,393
| 1990
| Nov 08, 1991
|
Last Chance to See chronicles Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine's trips to far flung places to see, and call attention to, endangered and borderline e...more
Last Chance to See chronicles Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine's trips to far flung places to see, and call attention to, endangered and borderline extinct animal species. I listened to the audio, read by Douglas himself (except for the very end which is read by Mark Carwardine), and it was brilliant. Not only does Douglas really bring each destination and trip to life, but he does so in a way that allows the reader to understand his feelings regarding these things, but without sounding judgmental or like a finger-wagging nag. And on top of that, his sense of humor and brilliant mind are like sunshine on a mostly cloudy day. It's all seriousseriousserious... then WHAM! Unexpected funny. What I wouldn't have given to be tagging along for this trip! DA, exotic locations, trying to help endangered animals, and my goodness, if the experts that they talked to were all half as funny and awesome as DA portrayed them, I'd have needed some adult diapers so that when I pissed myself laughing nobody would know and I could keep on trekkin'. As it was, just listening to him imitate them, I kept giggling uncontrollably. Just imagine that with facial expressions. Oh man. But this is really a serious book. It's a bit dated now, from the late 80s or so, but the issues it contains are just as prevalent now as they were then, if not more so. Some of the plights he described, particularly that of the Yangtze River Dolphin, the Baiji. Evolutionarily blind because of the muddy river water, they existed for thousands of years by echolocation, and then when China started to develop industrially and started to use the river with powered boats etc, the dolphins could no longer hear, became confused and would be hit by boats or propellers, or get caught in fishing nets and die either way. And that's not to mention the pollution and poisons in the water from industrial waste, or the fact that people still eat them. Or did, before they were declared "functionally extinct" in 2006. *sigh* Just the way that DA described these poor dolphins broke my heart - blind, confused, hungry due to lack of food due to human fishermen, in constant fear and pain from the pollution and noise pollution in the water, and with nowhere to go... it makes me really hate humanity sometimes. But, in the Chinese people's defense, it seems that they truly didn't know that there were dolphins in the river until almost too late, and then they scrambled to help... But too late won. :( I definitely recommend this book. It's an important and brilliant one. And it's Douglas Adams. That should be enough.(less) | Notes are private!
| none
|
1
| Mar 20, 2011
| Mar 23, 2011
|
Mar 18, 2011
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
39
| 
| 0810984172
| 9780810984172
| 3.87
| 6,187
| May 01, 2011
| May 01, 2011
|
I've never read any of Lauren Myracle's other books. I'm not much into the whole "txt-spk" thing, so those books have never sparked my interest. Not m...more
I've never read any of Lauren Myracle's other books. I'm not much into the whole "txt-spk" thing, so those books have never sparked my interest. Not my cup of tea. Other than those, I couldn't have named another book Myracle had written before today. But this... this book called out to me. Not only because of the absolutely gorgeous cover, but because of the premise, and because it's set in the South. I love me some books set in the South. And because it has Issues. Issues with a capital 'I'. And boy, did this deliver. If it hadn't been written with such grace and honesty, and a light touch and sense of innocence, it could have gone so very, very badly wrong. The Issues in this book are the kind that outsiders abhor and denounce, while those living in and around and with them are almost oblivious to their existence as an 'Issue' at all. To those people, it's just life. Normal. Everyday. This book touched on a lot of things. Poverty, addiction, class division, alcoholism, abuse, homosexuality and homophobia, fear and hatred, small-town politics, friendship and loyalty, etc. So many things that some could have easily gotten lost and confused. But even with all of these issues entwined throughout the story, I never felt that it forgot what it was. I loved the way this story was written. I love the way it was parceled out, little by little, edging closer to the truth and the consequences and the brokenness, like a hungry mouse sneaking closer to a crumb not far from the cat's bed. The mouse knows that rushing will cause it to lose its chance, to be hurt -- but caution and stealth may win it a chance to survive. This book was like that. It crept along, building momentum, until it reached where it needed to be. I instantly fell in love with these characters, especially Cat and Patrick. My heart broke for the things that they lost, both before and after Patrick is beaten and left for dead. I loved their friendship, and the simple acceptance of it. I loved Mama Sweetie, Patrick's Grandma, and her kindness and wisdom and faith. I usually find it hard to accept religion in books, because so very often it comes across as preachy. That was not the case here. It was less religion and more a matter of faith - a simple knowledge that there's something and someone there for us. No judgment, no fire and brimstone, no recriminations for every little thought, just a sense of "If you want, you can - if not, that's OK too." I liked that. This book is gorgeous and amazing from cover to cover, and I was so wrapped up in this community and these lives that I almost didn't want to see, but I couldn't look away. I found one thing, one little thing, about the very end to be a bit unbelievable, but I understand it, and I wasn't disappointed. All in all, I loved this book and I think it's one that I will need to own, to re-read and absorb and love. It's that good. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
|
1
| Mar 04, 2011
| Mar 05, 2011
|
Mar 03, 2011
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
79
| 
| 030726999X
| 9780307269997
| 4.14
| 269,057
| 2007
| May 25, 2010
|
It was worth the wait. (I know you were all dying to know, so I started with that first. You're welcome.) Fair warning: It's 2:46am and I am up way pas...more It was worth the wait. (I know you were all dying to know, so I started with that first. You're welcome.) Fair warning: It's 2:46am and I am up way past my bedtime because I could not leave this book unfinished. Therefore, this review will probably be very random and disorganized. Here we go. The final installment of the series was, as per the norm, super intense and unstoplistenable. That, of course, is a perfectly valid word that will be found in all modern dictionaries. Just trust me. You don't have to look. I'm honestly thinking of raising my ratings for these books all to 5 stars (well, except maybe this one, for the simple fact of just a teensy implausibility) because I truly enjoyed the shit out of them. It's kind of tempting to start all over from book one and listen to Simon Vance seduce me with his Blomqvist voice again. Damn this no re-read rule! Anyway, sleep deprivation fueled weirdness from me aside, I honestly did love this series from start to finish. It is a shame that Larsson was not able to finish the series. I would love to see more of these characters most definitely. Blomqvist only got to have sex with half of Sweden, and I'm sure, had Larsson been able to finish the series, he'd likely have got through Sweden and into Norway. Blommy gets around, if ye catch me drift. *wink wink, nudge nudge* Not that I'm complaining, actually. It's quite refreshing to see sex treated as something fucking normal for once, rather than something that has to be hidden or shameful. I very much enjoyed the discussion of sexual proclivities that occurred in the court proceedings, from Lisbeth's side, anyway. The other side was a right fucking hypocritical prude. How he was imported from the US to Sweden for Lisbeth's trial, I'm not sure, but I hope they extradite him back for his own. BAM! Take that, sucker! Speaking of the trial... I was very baffled for a good chunk of the proceedings because apparently in Sweden, you don't have to ask questions if you're a lawyer, you don't have to answer questions if you're a witness, you can question as many people as you want at one time (as long as they all fit at a table), and you can bust into an Opening Argument at any time you choose, not to mention recommend to the judge what he (or she, presumably) should decide in addition to stating your arguments. I am used to Law & Order style trials where objections are raised before questions are finished and "Badgering The Witness" is an official sport. It was quite different. They only scored Badgering on a scale of 1-5 and I'm used to 1-10 scales. These international differences are just too confusing! Oh jeez... This is what happens when you let me stay up past midnight. At least I haven't been fed. O_O Anyway, the story was great, and I really loved seeing everything unfold. I did think that Lisbeth's recovery was a little too quick, a little too perfect to be entirely plausible. I mean, yes, I can see recovering to the extent she did, but so quickly? It's just very convenient. But I like her, so I'll accept it. I'll finish this up quickly: These are fantastic books, and I highly recommend reading them, or preferably listening to Simon Vance read them.(less) | Notes are private!
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1
| Oct 31, 2012
| Nov 02, 2012
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Feb 27, 2011
| Hardcover
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38
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| 0743254562
| 9780743254564
| 4.20
| 50,793
| Sep 21, 2004
| Nov 01, 2005
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I love this book. This is an amazing and heart-wrenching and appropriate end to this epic series. This book is the culmination of a huge investment, b...more
I love this book. This is an amazing and heart-wrenching and appropriate end to this epic series. This book is the culmination of a huge investment, both for author and reader, and it's a draining one. So much is found, and lost, and gained and lost and it makes me heartsore. As much as I love this book, I always hit a point on re-reads where I just stall. Not because the book is bad (it's most absolutely definitely assuredly not), but because after taking this journey with these characters I love so much, after being with them for so long, I dread the end... I dread having to put this story back on the shelf when it's over. This is the kind of book that I love beyond almost all others - books that open up their pages and let me fall right in... books that take me with them wherever it is they go, and accept me as part of the gang. This series is the epitome of escapist reading for me. I dream about this series and live in it while I read, and love it for a multitude of reasons that I couldn't even begin to enumerate here. It's amazing... So just read it already. That's all I'm saying. (less) | Notes are private!
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1
| Feb 19, 2011
| Mar 09, 2011
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Feb 19, 2011
| Paperback
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53
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| 1449401163
| 9781449401160
| 4.15
| 4,000
| Oct 01, 2010
| Mar 01, 2011
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Here are 5 words about this book: 1) Hilarious 2) Awesome 3) Learny 4) Read 5) This OK, so #4 and #5 are cheating, but still. And #3... well. Let's just sa...more Here are 5 words about this book: 1) Hilarious 2) Awesome 3) Learny 4) Read 5) This OK, so #4 and #5 are cheating, but still. And #3... well. Let's just say this ain't gonna be approved for use in classrooms any time soon... Or IS IT? O_O I've been a fan of The Oatmeal for a while now, and seriously, some of the stuff Mickel Inderman comes up with makes me cry tears of laughter and gasp for air while I sound like an asthmatic something that wheezes for air. So of course, I had to read this. And since I'm a fan of the guy and wanted to support him, I paid full price for it. $14.99 for about an hour of reading. But lots of LOLz, which makes it worth it! :D This book contains one of my favorite comics evar: Why I Would Rather Be Punched In the Testicles Than Call Customer Service. But I had to drop it a star because it did NOT contain my other favorite: Why I Don't Cook At Home. Although there are so many more that have Almost-Favorite status and were also left out of the book. HMPH! Anyway, Good stuff, and the drawings make me giggle almost as much as the off the wall things that Mr. Oatmeal thinks of. I wish I was 1/100th as awesome as he apparently must be. *sigh* I'll just caress the book and try to absorb some latent awesomeness residue from that. (less) | Notes are private!
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1
| Sep 25, 2011
| Sep 25, 2011
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Feb 11, 2011
| Paperback
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67
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| 1841499889
| 9781841499888
| 4.03
| 9,746
| 2011
| Jun 02, 2011
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Confession Time: I'm very bad at categorizing genres and sub-genres, so it didn't dawn on me that Leviathan Wakes would be considered a "space opera"...more
Confession Time: I'm very bad at categorizing genres and sub-genres, so it didn't dawn on me that Leviathan Wakes would be considered a "space opera" until I saw it in the genre listing on the book's Goodreads page. I still don't really know what that is (space opera, not a Goodreads page), despite having read the Wikipedia page and stuff. I think of "space opera" and this comes to mind:  Probably not the same thing. But I did realize that my last attempt at reading a "space opera", The Warrior's Apprentice, left me distinctly underwhelmed. So, if not for Audible, this book was probably a Lifer. By that I mean a book that will just sit on my radar forever, but never actually get picked up and read -- at least not for a long, long time. I have lots of these, unfortunately. There are just too many books, and too little time in the day. (If only my job would stop being so insistent that I show up!) How did Audible, that evil (MWAHAHAHA!) Amazon company, factor in you ask? Well, not only did they give me a $10.00 credit for my 1 year anniversary of having an account with them (woohoo! free money!), but then they also put this audiobook on sale for $4.95. So Audible bought me this audiobook. And it rocked. Thanks, Audible! So let's get down to business and talk about how much I loved this book.  Wait, wait... no... I was right before. This much: Because I loved The Fifth Element, and I loved Leviathan Wakes. This book had everything. Great, believable, and realistic characters, an interesting plot, fantastic scope and worldbuilding, just the right amount of plausibility to make it terrifying, brilliant humor that was perfectly timed and hit just the right notes to make me laugh out loud, and it had what were awesomely called 'vomit zombies'. In fact, the only thing I can find to criticize, and it's more of a nitpick, is the overabundance of saids peppering the narrative. Holden said, Miller said, Naomi said, Fred said, Amos said, etc etc etc. Listening to the many saids being read was a little tedious, but only occasionally; it was mainly noticeable during long stretches of pure dialogue. Otherwise, I loved everything about this book, and the reading. The reader did a great job at letting the story do the talking, and despite only getting to listen to this in small chunks at a time, I was engrossed in the story. I loved the characters, and especially enjoyed the way that the two main characters, Holden and Miller, interacted with each other. They are from different sides of the personality spectrum, with two completely different ways of handling a situation, but when the shit (or the zombie vomit) hits the fan, they effortlessly slip into "Let's discuss this when we aren't dead" mode, and just kick ass. I loved it. I thought they complemented each other wonderfully, and the arc of their working relationship was realistic and understandable, from both sides. Which brings me to the dual narrative. This story is told by alternating viewpoint chapters, and I thought it worked perfectly. We get to see things from two different perspectives, and it allows for so much more story information to be conveyed without huge info-dumps. I liked the noir detective story feel of Miller's chapters, and it contrasted nicely to the more high-tech, adventure feel of Holden's chapters. And then when they run into each other and become a sort of hybrid, I loved that, too. Speaking of the technology, I thought it was brilliant. We've colonized other planets, and moons, and we can mine ice from Saturn's rings, and travel through space at 7+ Gs. The methods of combating nausea and blackouts during travel at these speeds is interesting, and plausible. The technology that allows us to live on little rocks millions of miles away from the sun is fascinating. But it's still familiar, in a way. RADAR and LADAR are things I've heard of. It's not too much of a stretch to get from where we are now, to where this story shows us in just a few short centuries. The Protogen project is also plausible, and frankly terrifying, as is the reaction to it. I was totally Team Miller on this one, despite usually landing on Holden's side of the opinional axis. I shudder to think of situations like the ones depicted in this book, and can't help but think that it would happen exactly like this if it were to one day come to pass. I would hope that we've learned from past mistakes... but we don't. This is not-too-distant-future, where we've colonized the solar system, but we're still human. Racism and bigotry is larger scale, because our bodies have adapted to living off-earth, but our minds are still stuck in the 'us vs them' small-town mode, and now we just have more differences to divide us. But I digress. I loved this book. I loved the world(s), and the characters, and, well, everything. This worked perfectly as a stand-alone novel, but I definitely cannot wait to read more of this series. (less) | Notes are private!
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1
| Mar 11, 2012
| Mar 25, 2012
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Feb 09, 2011
| Paperback
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