Becky has
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| # | cover | title | author | isbn | isbn13 | asin | num pages | avg rating | num ratings | date pub | date pub (ed.) | rating | my rating | review | notes | recommender | comments | votes | read count | date started | date read |
date
|
date purchased | owned | purchase location | condition | format | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
53
| 
| 0307238024
| 9780307238023
| 3.68
| 357
| May 01, 1991
| Jul 25, 2006
|
If it weren't for my bookclub, I probably would never have even heard of this book. But it was chosen, and so I read it. I finished it in less than a...more
If it weren't for my bookclub, I probably would never have even heard of this book. But it was chosen, and so I read it. I finished it in less than a day, so it's compelling enough, I'm just not sure I can say exactly why. This is just the story of a family, the Hazens, trying to make it season by season, year after year, living close to and off of the land, and with faith. They don't work 9 to 5 jobs so that they can go down to the Super Wal-Mart to pick up the things they need. Instead, Susan grows their vegetables, Gary and their sons hunt or fish for their meat, they barter for goods, etc. That's not to say that they are completely cut off from modernity - Gary does odd jobs for money to buy generators and freezers and such, and surely to pay taxes, though that wasn't mentioned specifically, but they try to live by an ideal of respect for the land and simplicity. The two boys, Gary David (24) and Kevin (19) were raised to this life... but Kevin is itching to get out of it. He's the first in their family, ever, to go to college, and hates that he feels trapped by obligation to live a life he's no longer sure he wants. He's got a liberal vegetarian girlfriend who doesn't believe in killing animals for any reason, including meat, and she tries to get Kevin to refuse to hunt in the upcoming season. Gary David is more accepting of the lifestyle they choose to live and responsible, a role he sees as being necessary as the first born, but in his own way he's rebelling too, by choosing a life with someone not North Country born, and in a position of authority over the Hazens - an Environmental Conservation Officer, investigating the Hazens for a reported hunting violation. The story begins with a prologue from Susan's perspective, recounting the early morning departure of the three men on hunting season opening morning, and leaves us with a sort of aimless sense of foreboding. The remainder of the book takes us through the weeks leading up to that day, and we get to see how the Hazens live and interact with each other and their community. Gary and Kevin are drifting apart. They both want life on their own terms, but their terms are completely opposite, and so they butt heads and each resent the other for making things difficult and not understanding the other's perspective. Gary's lifestyle is a tradition based on necessity that's no longer truly necessary in this society of modernity. He doesn't understand how life could be fulfilling in any other way. His lifestyle gives him purpose and a sense of accomplishment, as well as an ingrained respect for the nature around him. Kevin just sees it as a ball and chain holding him back from his own chosen path. To tell the truth, not very much happens in this book. There's not very much conflict, aside from the familial type I mentioned above. There are a lot of beautiful descriptions of the Adirondacks and the community in which the Hazens live, but for much of the book, what I've written above just about covers it. It's definitely a slowly building story, which makes the end and the resolution feel like it was on super fast-forward, unfortunately. This book's told in quite a lot of different perspective chapters, all in 1st person narrative except for Kevin's chapters, which are in 3rd person. I honestly do not have any idea why Kevin was singled out for a different narrative style. It really doesn't make sense to me. The only thing I can figure is that we're supposed to associate the difference in narrative with the foreboding from the prologue, and it's supposed to generate some suspense and worry about what will happen to Kevin. And I guess, in a way, there was that, because obviously it came to mind, but mainly it just stood out like a sore thumb. And even now, after finishing the story, I still have no idea why the choice was made to change the narrative for Kevin. His perspective could easily have been written to match the others, and in my opinion, would have worked better that way. Third person created a distance from him that I didn't want. I wanted to know him as I knew everyone else in the story. Why should I get to hear the innermost thoughts of a waitress that is only in the story for a few pages here and there, but be kept distant from one of the main, pivotal characters? Frustrating. Coming back to the ending, I have to admit it was a bit of a let-down. There was all this build-up, all this manufactured suspense, and then the main event is completely skipped, and we only see the outcome, with an explanation of what apparently happened from those who weren't there. And then the epilogue is just a pat, too conveniently perfect resolution, one that doesn't fit what I know of the characters. Honestly, I wish that the epilogue had been left off. I think the ending would have been better that way, even if it was problematic. One other note about the writing. Some of the phrasing and sentence structure was a bit awkward, and I'd have to read a line 2 or 3 times to get what was being said. It felt like it was trying too hard to be beautiful prose, and it didn't need to try at all. In fact, considering the stark way of life they chose, less would have been more. Overall though, I can't say that I disliked the book. I read it in less than a day, and something about it kept me turning the pages. I don't know what that was, but it was there. (less) | Notes are private!
| Kenny
|
1
| Jul 07, 2012
| Jul 07, 2012
|
Jul 07, 2012
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
52
| 
| 0743296435
| 9780743296434
| 3.95
| 61,262
| 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, normally, 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
| ||||||||||||||
51
| 
| 0385343833
| 9780385343831
| 3.36
| 46,314
| Mar 08, 2011
| Mar 08, 2011
|
OK... So here's the deal. Maybe this book is the greatest thing since sliced bread, but I just couldn't take it anymore. I made it through almost 3 of...more
OK... So here's the deal. Maybe this book is the greatest thing since sliced bread, but I just couldn't take it anymore. I made it through almost 3 of 9 discs of the audio, and every time I turned it back on, I immediately found myself getting annoyed and frustrated. Seriously, immediately. There was no transition from perfectly fine, through tetchy to peevish to annoyed. Nope. I turn on this audiobook, and then I hear the narration, and 2 seconds later I want to rip out my car CD player in a Hulk-like rage. RAWR! It's not that the story is bad... I just found it so hard to actually focus on the story that I wouldn't know. The Grandfather's Deathless Man story was good, but his part was read by someone with talent. So there you go. The other parts, meaning 90% of what I listened to, was read by a woman who sounded like she was reading a grocery list in an almost monotonously saccharine-sweet British accent. I wanted some variation to her tone, some TEXTURE to the reading... something to give some personality to this woman who is telling this story. Instead, the only variation came when she read the part of a worker who resented the main character butting into his business. She made HIM sound like he was malevolently evil and just waiting for her to turn her back on him so that he could smash her skull in and rob her corpse. It was just so extreme. Either there's no inflection, no personality, no LIFE in the reading, or it's completely melodramatically over the top. And then there's the description. Oh my gawd. Natalia walks into a kitchen, and there's 10 achingly dull minutes spent on describing the kitchen, all in jagged list-like pieces: the light reflecting off the neck of the bottle, the dusting of flour on the counter, the droplets of water in the sink from the dripping faucet, the cracked window pane looking out onto the garden, the quality of the sunset light. On and on and on and on and on and on... I wanted to rip out my hair with each new description. And that was only 3 discs worth. I wanted to like this. A friend recommended it and I trust her judgement. But man, when I start yelling at my car radio to get the fuck on with the story, I think that's time to call it quits and go our separate ways. Not to mention that I've been working on it for 13 days and barely made it through 3 discs. I'm just glad I didn't pay for this.(less) | Notes are private!
| none
|
1
| Aug 31, 2011
| Sep 12, 2011
|
Aug 25, 2011
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
50
| 
| 0143039008
| 9780143039006
| 3.85
| 3,960
| 1969
| Sep 28, 2004
|
Ugh. I was so utterly bored by this book that I wanted so badly to abandon it. But I forced myself to continue, even though I skimmed big chunks of it...more
Ugh. I was so utterly bored by this book that I wanted so badly to abandon it. But I forced myself to continue, even though I skimmed big chunks of it. It just seemed like nothing was happening. And the things that DID happen annoyed me. Seriously, the "manservant" of the aunt you JUST met put marijuana in the urn containing your just-that-day-fresh mother's ashes, and that's just that? And then, when the police come to claim the urn for testing, they'll just need a tiny pinch so that they can test for the presence of mary jane? What the hell kind of shake was Wordsworth smoking? All of the drug references in this book grated on my nerves because they just didn't ring true. It was more like Greene just wanted to write a 1969 drug book, and this is what he came up with. Aunt Augusta irritated me. It's one thing the be fun-loving, but another to be flighty and domineering at the same time. Her whims and mood changes left me with freaking whiplash. Not that Henry was any better. He might as well have been called Doormat. So frustrating! I didn't enjoy this one. Not a good intro to Greene. I had hoped to enjoy it, but, yeah... not so much. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
|
One too many
| Aug 16, 2011
| Aug 20, 2011
|
Jul 26, 2011
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
48
| 
| 0142417793
| 9780142417799
| 3.55
| 2,621
| Jan 07, 2010
| Dec 23, 2010
|
Alrighty... This book reminded me a bit of Looking for Alaska by John Green, but I think it fell quite a bit short of the standard that Alaska set. I...more Alrighty... This book reminded me a bit of Looking for Alaska by John Green, but I think it fell quite a bit short of the standard that Alaska set. I couldn't really connect with or care about any of these characters, and something about them, or the writing or both, just felt... contrived. It didn't feel honest at all to me. There was just so much telling going on here, it was like it was happening to someone else and Colt was just acting as the middle-man to us. Maybe that was the point, since both he and Julia had idealized versions of each other, but if so, it didn't really work for me. Julia's diary entries/letters were repetitive and didn't really add anything to the story. It just all felt so contrived and cliche to me. There was a lot of drinking and sex, but very little substance. Yeah... I don't know what else to add... I just didn't care for this one. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
|
1
| Jul 30, 2011
| Jul 31, 2011
|
Jul 04, 2011
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
49
| 
| 0765325551
| 9780765325556
| 3.74
| 1,468
| 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
|
1
| Aug 13, 2011
| Aug 14, 2011
|
Jun 27, 2011
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
45
| 
| 1932796061
| 9781932796063
| 4.00
| 4,740
| 1998
| Jun 22, 2004
|
3.5 Stars - I am still a relative noob to Martin's Song of Ice & Fire series. I've read the first three books in the series, and loved them. I can...more 3.5 Stars - I am still a relative noob to Martin's Song of Ice & Fire series. I've read the first three books in the series, and loved them. I can't wait to read the 4th and 5th! So when I saw that my podunk library actually had this graphic novel, I snatched it up. Yoink! I love Martin's world, and I want more of it. More more more! But, I can only say that I just liked this. Well, maybe a little more than "just liked" but I felt like it was missing something. There were a lot of characters, a lot of knights and sigils and relationships. I was already familiar with many of the houses shown in this, although the individual knights and men weren't familiar, but I still felt like the connection wasn't really there for me between them and who they were. Like they were just names and a litany of stuff and deeds and whatnot, but I didn't know them, so it meant little... A is B's son, who is C's brother, who was supposed to squire for D until D died when they fought E at the battle of FGH against the IJKs. That sort of thing works in prose, especially novels so intricate and detailed and awesome as Martin's Ice & Fire books, because one can take the time to give that history and detail and show the reader what they need to know. But here, the format limits the way that the story can be told, so rather than seeing the connections for ourselves by the careful wording and subtle guidance of the story, we're told of them outright through Dunk, and the artwork presumably fills the gaps. But without the connections (or a cheat-sheet), I kept forgetting the Targaryen Who's Who... All their names are incredibly similar, and without the history and the story, there was nothing for me to really latch onto to connect the name to the person and the deed. Aegon, Aerion, Daeron, Baelor, Maekar, Daemon... O_o This is not the best graphic novel I've read, but this kind of intricate story doesn't strike me as the best candidate to be adapted to this format. Simply because graphic novels do require a different telling than prose. I do plan on reading the short story at some point in the future, and I imagine that it will work better for me. That being said... I DID like this for what it is. I enjoyed meeting Dunk and Egg, and I rooted for Dunk to succeed, and for Egg to be able to squire for him. I enjoyed the little bit showing why there are two different Fossaway sigils. I liked seeing familiar names and only wish that there was more about the "side" characters in this whose descendents become the "main" characters in the novels. I liked that feeling of 'the more things change, the more they stay the same'. I did like the artwork that accompanied the story. I thought that it was very well done, and fit the story well. I didn't much care for AMOK's artwork depicting the characters at the back though. Those pieces were OK, but seemed to be awkward and to me lacked finish and life. Just my opinion. Anyway, overall, this was enjoyable... I prefer the books, but given the choice of either reading this or not, I'm glad I did. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
|
1
| May 31, 2011
| May 31, 2011
|
May 31, 2011
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
44
| 
| 1587672286
| 9781587672286
| 3.26
| 6,172
| Jul 2009
| 2010
|
I like baseball. Watching it. I don't follow or understand stats or anything, and I'm not "down with the lingo". I understand the basic concept of the...more
I like baseball. Watching it. I don't follow or understand stats or anything, and I'm not "down with the lingo". I understand the basic concept of the game and am pretty good with the rules, but that's about the extent of it: I enjoy watching baseball games. I know now that I do not like reading about baseball. I am familiar with the game, but even I had a hard time following all of the lingo and action. To Stephen King's credit, the parts I did understand were vivid and easy to see, as usual, but it's one thing to see something described, and another to listen to someone describe something in terms you're unfamiliar with. And there are a lot of terms that I think would be unfamiliar to people who are not baseball fans. Some that I only guessed at figuring out by context, like "We won the next game, lost a squeaker on getaway day". Umm... OK. I'll take your word for it. This book reads like exactly what it is supposed to read like: An old baseball man talking to a real baseball fan about a crazy season back in the day. Which is fine, but it'll work best for real baseball fans who know what RBIs are and what a good batting average is and where the foul line is, and how many balls to a walk, etc. The baseball stuff was OK for me and that's a big, big part of the book. It's almost a character itself. The other characters were OK as well, none as fleshed out as I'd like, but none really cardboard cutouts either. I just wanted a bit more. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
|
1
| Apr 22, 2011
| Apr 23, 2011
|
Apr 20, 2011
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
43
| 
| 4770029055
| 9784770029058
| 3.91
| 8,122
| 1997
| Jul 11, 2003
|
I wanted to like this one more than I actually did like it. The beginning of the story, learning about Yayoi, Yoshie, Masako, and Kuniko was interesti...more
I wanted to like this one more than I actually did like it. The beginning of the story, learning about Yayoi, Yoshie, Masako, and Kuniko was interesting, and the death and immediate aftermath was interesting, but I just found myself losing interest shortly after that, and struggled to finish. I think that this book would work for a lot of people, but I found it kind of disappointing. I found it hard to connect with these characters. I kept thinking how I would react and act and think differently in almost every situation. I was distracted by the writing as well, especially when the narrative would switch to a different POV and circle back to show something from a different perspective, and I had to figure out that is what happened every time. And then the cat thing was just ridiculous. Really. This one just didn't work for me. *shrug* (less) | Notes are private!
| none
|
1
| May 08, 2011
| May 11, 2011
|
Apr 14, 2011
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
42
| 
| 0385738757
| 9780385738750
| 4.02
| 59,240
| Oct 12, 2010
| Oct 12, 2010
|
Wow. That was a thrill ride! James Dashner really knows how to ratchet up the tension. This book was very different from The Maze Runner, much less ee...more Wow. That was a thrill ride! James Dashner really knows how to ratchet up the tension. This book was very different from The Maze Runner, much less eerie and creepy mysterious, but what it lacks there, it more than makes up for in tension and action. We learn more about the world outside of the maze, and about the flares and the Flare, and we meet Cranks, which reminded me somewhat of the "zombies" suffering from Rage in 28 Days Later - OK, well, at least those past Gone. We have some shifting of characters in this one. We lose some and gain others, and others just seem like new characters because of their role in this phase of the story. Minho has a much larger role here, and this makes me happy, because he is awesome. I love his character. There are twists and turns and crazy plot developments aplenty, and I felt like a ballerina for as much as I was on my toes reading this. This isn't a book one skims - blink and you've missed a shift and the story is now going in a completely unexpected direction. Fantastic stuff... Is it October yet? (less) | Notes are private!
| none
|
1
| Apr 13, 2011
| Apr 14, 2011
|
Apr 10, 2011
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
40
| 
| 0899193099
| 9780899193090
| 3.92
| 42,400
| Nov 1984
| Nov 02, 1984
|
3.5 stars. I really liked this book, but I found it much easier to listen to this book than to read it. I grew up in the south, but I still had a hard...more
3.5 stars. I really liked this book, but I found it much easier to listen to this book than to read it. I grew up in the south, but I still had a hard time with the vernacular as it was written in this book. The 'should/would/could of' ones got me the most, more than 'terreckly' in place of 'directly', 'cain't' in place of 'can't' etc, because I kept thinking it sounds exactly the same if you write 'could've', etc, so why purposefully write it wrong? Listening to it was much less distracting. I really loved the characters in this story, which is a good thing, because this is such a character driven story that lacking amazing characters, there would be no story to tell. The story is these characters' lives; their faith and their deaths and their scandals and their everyday. My favorite character was Grandpa Blakeslee. I loved his take on life. I loved his take on faith and loyalty and life in general. He was just such a refreshing character to meet, one who had such a realistic and "homegrown" faith and relationship with his God. I loved his take on faith, that it is not a guarantee or reward, but rather a way of life. I really liked Will Tweedy as a narrator. I liked that he was young and in the thick of things because he was at that middling age where one is almost adult but still considered a child when it comes to adult issues, so he was privy to a lot of things that he maybe shouldn't have been, but his interpretation of those things was nothing if not interesting. The foreshadowing was a little heavy handed, but it served its purpose, and in a novel as gossipy as this one, it worked pretty well. I would have liked for a few of the social issues, like prejudice and racial segregation and women's rights to be addressed more fully... all were touched upon, but none really explored at all. Overall, I really liked the book. I think that Grandpa Blakeslee will stick with me for a while after reading this one. He's just one of those characters that imprint a part of themselves on everyone who meets them. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
|
1
| Mar 19, 2011
| Mar 30, 2011
|
Mar 05, 2011
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
47
| 
| 0007191375
| 9780007191376
| 3.85
| 14,806
| Sep 09, 2003
| unknown
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There's something about stories like this that just make me cry from sheer pride and happiness. I love when people are who they are, and when they're...more
There's something about stories like this that just make me cry from sheer pride and happiness. I love when people are who they are, and when they're willing to fight to be happy and not live in someone else's world, but make their own if that's what it takes. It's the opposite of the gut-wrenching, soul-crushing, hollow-me-out-and-leave-me-weeping stories that I love. These fill me up with such pride I just want to SQUEE! all over the place, but end up always with something in my eye instead, making it all watery... So, I loved this one. This is a celebration and examination of so many things... What it is to be gay, what it is to be a teenager, what it is to be in an unhealthy relationship, what it is to love, what it is to be something other than what is expected of us, what it is to be brave and stand up for what's right, what it is to be a friend... Gosh there is so much in this little book, I don't know how Levithan fit it all in. Maybe he writes really small. I loved this community. Everyone, well, MOSTLY everyone, is so unbelievably accepting and quirky and fun. It's like Perfect Small Town Community, Exhibit A. There's the park with a lake with paddleboats with names and personalities; there's the I Scream Parlor, which serves up horrifying ice-cream concoctions while playing horror movies; there's the music shop run by a couple with polar opposite taste, and the shop reflects that by being split down the middle; there's the movie rental place run by the guy who won't rent to anyone he doesn't know, won't help people find anything, and categorizes based on his own personal thoughts about the movies... and VHS format only. The football team quarterback and the Homecoming Queen is the same person, a drag queen called Infinite Darlene, and our main character's kindergarten teacher outed him for being gay on a progress report and nobody thought this was strange at all. I loved the community, but at the same time, I couldn't help but be a little distracted by the unrealistic perfection of it all. If the world were really like that, it would be amazing. Unfortunately, it's not, so the paragon of acceptance shown here comes off feeling a little cartoonish, a little too-good-to-be-true. This, and one unresolved issue, are the reasons why I can't give this 5 stars. The next town over, where Tony lives, is much more realistic, and this is where most of the stuff got in my eyes and made them water a lot. Tony's parents are of the religious variety, and aren't exactly accepting of their son's preference for boys. Seeing Tony struggle with the two aspects of his life, his parents and his heart, was hard for me. Paul's friendship with Tony was invaluable here. He provided the support that Tony needed to cope with these two warring forces in his life. There were some amazing lines in this little gem of a book. So many quotables that just stand out and shine. I'm surprised that this book doesn't glitter like Edward Cullen on a sunny day. (Actually, this is a library book, and there's something spilled on the back of it, and it seems like it's the image of a Sasquatch. He seems friendly though, from his stance.) Anyway, right. I could kind of quote this whole book, but then it would be plagiarism and that's not cool. But here's one of my favorite sections in the book: "The first time I met you," he says, not directly to me, not directly to the floor -- somewhere in between, "I honestly couldn't believe that someone like you could exist, or even a town like yours could entirely exist. I thought I understood things. I thought I would get up every morning with a secret and go to sleep every night with the same secret. I thought my life would start only when I was out of here. I felt that I had learned something about myself too soon, and that there was nothing I could do to undo the truth. And I wanted to undo it, Paul. I wanted to so bad. Then I met you in the city and on the train, and suddenly it was like this door had been opened. I saw I couldn't live like I'd been living, because now there was another way to do it. And part of me loved that. And part of me still hates it. Part of me -- this dark, scared part of me -- wishes I never knew how it could be. I don't have the courage that you do."It's kind of heartbreaking, right? Beautiful though. I really loved this book for everything that it is. On the surface, it's just this happy little boy meets boy book, a little whimsical, and fun, but underneath, it's so much more. I highly recommend it. (less) | Notes are private!
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1
| Jul 23, 2011
| Jul 23, 2011
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Oct 20, 2010
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
37
| 
| 0345476255
| 9780345476258
| 3.91
| 4,997
| Dec 16, 2004
| Dec 28, 2004
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I have to admit that when I first started reading this book, I wasn't sure if I would like it. The main character, Blair Mallory just seemed so shallo...more
I have to admit that when I first started reading this book, I wasn't sure if I would like it. The main character, Blair Mallory just seemed so shallow and ditzy and ridiculous, but then as soon as Wyatt Bloodsworth came onto the scene, things turned around and really started getting interesting. When Blair witnesses a murder outside of her business, the murder of an annoying copy-cat who went to great pains to imitate Blair's style and look, she soon realizes that she might have been the intended victim. So enter police lieutenant Bloodsworth, and things get all interesting, like I mentioned before. No, I don't mean in a sexual way, because that is very non-descriptive, but in a Clash of the Egos way. And it was hilarious. Blair, still bitter about a failed first attempt with Bloodsworth where he just hit the road without a word after 3 dates, goes out of her way to make him pay for it. Little things like hiding the remote, making lists about the ways that he annoys her, and just generally being a pain in the ass. But a funny one. I really enjoyed this story a lot more than I thought that I would. The plot is pretty thin, and the resolution feels a little like an afterthought, but the characters were fun and intriguing and made up for the lack. I really enjoyed the Mallory's family dynamic, and Dad giving Wyatt advice just really cracked me up. This is a great beach read, or lazy weekend day read, nothing too risque or naughty, but a lot of implied risqueness and naughtiness. You're pretty much guaranteed to hoot with laughter though. That makes it worthwhile. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| Oct 02, 2010
| Oct 03, 2010
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Sep 17, 2010
| Mass Market Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
38
| 
| 0316098337
| 9780316098335
| 3.95
| 206,667
| Sep 13, 2010
| Sep 13, 2010
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I kept seeing this book everywhere, and it certainly seemed interesting, so when I saw a copy at the library, I grabbed it. I didn't know much about t...more
I kept seeing this book everywhere, and it certainly seemed interesting, so when I saw a copy at the library, I grabbed it. I didn't know much about the concept before I started the book, only that it was about a little boy who has always lived in a Room, but I thought that there had to be something more to this story, or it wouldn't be getting quite so much face time and such great ratings. I was actually prepared to think that this was a child abuse story. I was ready to hate this little boy's mother for all the manipulation and reduction of his life in confining him to this room for his whole life... but once I actually started to read it, I realized that wasn't the case at all, and that I was quite wrong. So I read it. The beginning was fantastic. I felt a bit lost in this world that is Room, being showed 5-year-old Jack's world and life as he lives it. He doesn't understand very much in terms of why anything is the way that it is, he simply accepts that it is that way because it has always been that way. Through Jack's eyes, we gradually begin to see that both he and his mother are victims and prisoners. They cope with the limitations of their lives in myriad tiny ways, rationing everything from cereal (100 daily), to TV, to trash. The only things that they do not lack are love and creativity. I really enjoyed the telling of this story from Jack's point of view, because you could really see how his world is interpreted in his head. This story told from the mother's point of view would just lack something - a kind of innocence I think. Jack provides that innocence and freshness, without being too annoying. I loved how we were given so many different perspectives through Jack's narration, without his even knowing. I did think that Jack got to be a little tedious toward the middle and end of the book. I'm in awe at the patience and restraint that Ma shows with him when he simply refuses to believe something new. What a frustrating situation!! I also felt that the book started to drag in these sections as well, which is why I can't rate the book higher. I loved the way that the story was handled, and the hope and determination and perseverance and love that it shows, and the way that we can all adapt to a bad situation when we need to. Over all, I thought it was a good book, but the last half could have been a little more concise. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| Oct 26, 2010
| Oct 29, 2010
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Sep 15, 2010
| Hardcover
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36
| 
| 0786224150
| 9780786224159
| 4.11
| 50,390
| Jan 01, 1995
| Mar 01, 2000
|
I grabbed this one from the library yesterday after having it pushed on me by a friend. So I borrowed, I read, and I liked. This was a very quick read...more
I grabbed this one from the library yesterday after having it pushed on me by a friend. So I borrowed, I read, and I liked. This was a very quick read, and felt even more so due to the fact that the library only had it in large print, so it seemed like every 19 words, I was turning a page. I have only read maybe 1 or 2 Nora Roberts books, but I never really found it high on my priority list to read more. But I really enjoyed this one, and it was a quick and fun read, so I think that I will be reading more of this series as time and obligation permits. I really liked the character of Eve Dallas. She is tough, and smart, and upstanding and courageous and badass. She doesn't shy away from anything but intimacy and trust, simply because those things have hurt her in the past. Sounds pretty cliche, of course. But she's got heart and a soft side that makes her likable and easy to identify with and root for. Roarke is yumtastic. He's rich, powerful, brilliant, unscrupulous but honest and trustworthy, and unafraid of doing the things that need doing even if the accepted or legal method needs to be detoured. I thought that it was a little unrealistic for him to be so attached to Eve so quickly, but many people believe in love (or at least lust) at first sight, so I can move past it. And I find it sexy, (even more than the sexytime scenes, which had me wiping the steam from the pages just to see what was going on), that he was willing to be there for Eve and support and help her. I don't read a lot of romance, or romantic suspense or whatever. But a friend of mine is laboring to change that. I think this is the second romantic suspense novel that she's got me to read, and I have to say that I still love Diaz (from Cry No More - Linda Howard) just a smidge more. He's ruthless hardcore badass/sensitive, which is soooo sexy to me. But Roarke has many an opportunity to become more badass and ruthless, as he's in like 47 other books, and Diaz is only in a standalone. Breakin' my heart, Diaz! I really enjoyed the plot of this one, and the pacing. Roberts/Robb kept everything moving right along, and exciting. I liked that this is set in the future, as it gives a little more wiggle-room with details and story that doesn't require walking the same path that everyone else has walked. I liked the way that she portrayed the not-to-distant future, as a far more free and open society that has moved past a lot of the ugliness that we now have, but she shows that we have still hung on to some of the most insidious ugliness that there is. I will definitely be reading more of these in the future. I very much enjoyed it, and look forward to the next one. :)(less) | Notes are private!
| Allison,
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1
| Jun 26, 2010
| Jun 27, 2010
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Jun 25, 2010
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
46
| 
| 014034893X
| 9780140348934
| 3.73
| 56,190
| 1976
| Oct 01, 1991
|
3.5 stars Having just finished The Help for the 2nd time, I was already in a place to appreciate this book, and for the most part, I did appreciate it....more 3.5 stars Having just finished The Help for the 2nd time, I was already in a place to appreciate this book, and for the most part, I did appreciate it. The Help takes place in the early 60's in Jackson, Mississippi, during the early stages of the Civil Rights movement. It's a very personal story about 3 women struggling with who they are, both in general and in the environment in which they live. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry takes place in the 30's just outside of Jackson, MS, and deals with a lot of the same issues... Roll of Thunder focuses on the Logan family and their land. Paul Edward Logan bought their land in two parts during hard times after the Civil War, and ever since, the man who used to own it has been trying to get it back in an effort to remake the South how it used to be. Things are not pleasant in 1930s Mississippi. There's a definite imbalance of power with white people having almost all of it, and black people having almost none. This story is about the Logans trying to make a change to that imbalance, even though it is a small one. It's also about finding ones identity, and taking pride in it regardless of what others think or say about you. Mostly, I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read for me, and it was brutal and thought provoking. But in a way, it fell short of my expectations. It never really moved me in the way I had hoped to be moved, and even the brutality and the shame and the hurt felt by the characters didn't really affect me in the way that I had hoped it would. I love nothing more than to be heartbroken by these kinds of books, to be left kind of empty and hurting... but I didn't feel that with this one. Perhaps that is due to the fact that this was told in first person by Cassie Logan, who is 9. On the one hand, this worked in the book's favor because it allowed for a sort of innocence and naivete. Cassie doesn't understand the dichotomy of equality in the South. She thinks that the mistreatment and rudeness are due to forgetfulness and a "grownups vs kids" thing, or just a greediness, in the case of some. She blithely underestimates the fact of skin color in the equation. To her, the hate and the meanness aren't due to the fact that she is black and they are white, it's due to the fact that they just want what her family has (the land) and will do anything to get it back. Which is true, partially, but the fact that they are black gives them less legal ground to stand on, and makes the fight that much more dangerous. But where I felt that the 1st person lacked was in the rest of the story. It worked well for the innocence and the idealism, but I didn't feel that the family or their neighbors or the story was all that well fleshed out. There were times when I read sections and didn't know how we got there. One minute Cassie is thinking that she needs to do something about the girl who was mean to her, and the next we're in the middle of a protracted plan of action, with no bridge getting us from there to here. This is Cassie's story, so I would expect to at least have a hint of her plans, but instead it felt like it lapsed into a different story for a bit there. I also felt that some of the things that Cassie saw were unrealistic, and there was a kind of inconsistency regarding when the parents tried to shield her and the other kids and when they didn't or forgot that little ears might be listening. And to add to that, at times I felt that Cassie was kind of annoying in her demands and talkbackitude to be able to tell the story, and that kind of grated on my nerves. At 9, she was both intuitive enough to know when she'd get in trouble for something, but stubborn and oblivious enough to ignore the real potential danger of running off at the mouth... So Cassie heard, and thus told us, a lot more than I think she should have been able to realistically. Finally, I thought that the ending was a bit of a letdown as well. There was no resolution about the land, or about the secondary plots. There's an ending, a realistic one, likely - but it's unsatisfying. Things come to a head, and then it just ends. This is part of a series, and that probably has a large part to play in the way the ending ended, but I just feel that there was a big something missing, and I'm not sure that I was invested enough in the story to continue on with the series. I will give kudos to Taylor for telling as honest and brutal a story as she did, and for not softening the blows or the cruelty or the hatred for her readers. At least I didn't feel that she did. There was a palpable feeling of fear and anger throughout the story, as well as menace and a cruel calculation and manipulation on behalf of the men who have the power. A surety that they will win because the law is on their side. I thought that this aspect was very well done. I am not sure if I will continue on with the series. But I am glad that I read this. It was good, and I feel like if I had read it in school or when I was younger, it would have had a huge impact on me. Reading it today, I can appreciate it for what it is, but I feel like it's missing the impact I wanted it to have. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| Jun 05, 2011
| Jun 06, 2011
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Jun 25, 2010
| Paperback
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34
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| 0396079636
| 9780396079637
| 4.00
| 7,529
| 1981
| 1981
|
I'm really kind of torn on what to rate this one... On the one hand, it's Amelia and Emerson, and they are brilliant characters, but on the other hand...more
I'm really kind of torn on what to rate this one... On the one hand, it's Amelia and Emerson, and they are brilliant characters, but on the other hand, there was just something about this book that left me a little... wanting. I really enjoyed the first book in the series, "The Crocodile on the Sandbank", and fell in love with both Amelia and Emerson in that book. Amelia was so smart, and strong and sure of herself, and her biting wit and force of will made her a creature to be reckoned with. Emerson is gruff and rude and pushy and misanthropic and generally thinks that all others besides himself are morons. But hey, Emerson, when you're right, you're right. Crocodile was fun and the mystery was engaging and it was a great start to what should be an amazing series. But I felt a little let down by the second book, honestly. The writing was still fantastic, though after the beginning, not quite as funny as I'd have liked. The beginning was perfect in my opinion, and set the bar high. Perhaps that's why I feel a bit let down. The story was great, and reminiscent of some classic mysteries (OK, mainly just one, which I'll touch on in a bit), but I just wanted a little bit of the sparkle that Amelia had in the first book back, and it seemed that was missing for me. This story takes place 5 years after the events of Crocodile. Emerson and Amelia are married, and now have a baby, Walter Peabody Emerson (nicknamed Ramses for his precociousness and resemblance to the ancient Pharaoh) who is, to put it bluntly, hell on wheels. He shares his parents' proclivity towards Egyptology and archaeology and has no qualms about digging in and getting dirty in the pursuit. Cute little bugger. Emerson and Amelia are called in as experts to help excavate a new-found tomb after the previous leader of the excavation team died, under what imagination-prone Amelia thinks is suspicious circumstances, as his assistant has gone missing. A reporter, covering local archaeological events, has intimated that the Egyptian gods are displeased with the tomb being opened and desecrated, and has claimed that there is a curse at work. Naturally E&A have no compunctions about getting back to work, curse or no curse, after being in England for so long, away from their beloved Egypt. I think that the 5 years between when the first book ended and the second book began had more of an effect than intended. Amelia seemed a little distant and cold and, I'll just put it out there, bitter at times. She's spent 5 years away from Egypt, and now has a son, but Amelia isn't the parenting type, really. She referred to little Ramses as "it" for a large portion of the book, and seemed to think of him not as a child but as an unknown creature completely separate from herself. In fact, later on in the story, she was more affectionate towards a cat than she was toward Ramses in the beginning of the story. I say this simply because I think that she will grow to be more comfortable with the role of "mother" in later books. It's not something that comes naturally to her, being very calculating and precise as she is. She has high expectations of everyone that she comes into contact with, and heaven help them if they don't meet them, including her son. That's not to say that she doesn't love her son - she does, she just does it in her own way, and most assuredly does not mollycoddle him. The only other mother in the bulk of the story, Madame Berengeria, is an example to make Amelia look like a candidate for World's Best Mother. MB likes to dress and act as different Egyptian queens reincarnated, has a fondness for brandy, and an overabundance of malicious dramatic urges. Her daughter, sweet and innocent Mary is hard put to live with her. Emerson takes naturally to being a father, and encourages little Ramses in his thirst for knowledge, as any parent would, even going so far as to have debates regarding the nature and origin of fossils dug up in the back yard. Like I said, cute little bugger. Emerson and Amelia's interaction throughout the story didn't have the same wit and charm that it had in Crocodile. He barked and she allowed it, sort of, in her own way. She still did whatever she felt that she needed to do, but in a decidedly less direct way than she had before her marriage. I can understand this, marriages were different things back then, but Amelia has always been herself and let nothing decide her actions for her. You could tell that Amelia absolutely adores her husband, and that she respects and admires him as well, chiefly because she's narrating the story herself. Likewise, we know that Emerson's gruffness and commanding attitude isn't how he really feels about her, because she interprets for him. But an outsider look in might see things very differently, and wonder how they could stand each other. Speaking of outsiders, there's a rather larger cast of characters in this book than there was in Crocodile, and it took me a little while to get everyone straight in their roles. There are some definitely interesting characters here, and I wonder if we might be seeing more of them later on in the series. Coming back to what I hinted at before... parts of this book really reminded me of Agatha Christie's novel "And Then There Were None". A large cast of characters who all are suspicious and who could all be the culprit are all gathered together in one area while deaths abound. I don't mind this really, as long as the story comes together and makes sense. And of course, Amelia and Emerson solved the puzzle before too many had died, so it was more of a homage than a copy-cat, but it had the feel. I did like the story, and the characters... My main gripe is just that little missing something in Amelia that she hopefully hasn't outgrown or cast off after casting off her singleness. I hope that it comes back in the next installment... (less) | Notes are private!
| 1
| Jun 04, 2010
| Jun 12, 2010
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May 12, 2010
| Hardcover
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33
| 
| 014311350X
| 9780143113508
| 3.16
| 1,082
| 2008
| Nov 25, 2008
|
I picked this one up on a whim at the library, drawn in by the title and the cover, which is beautiful. Unfortunately, I don't think that the story re...more
I picked this one up on a whim at the library, drawn in by the title and the cover, which is beautiful. Unfortunately, I don't think that the story really lived up to the expectations I formed based on them. An abused woman flees her "Murderer", or her abusive husband, with their two kids, and takes them to her estranged mother's french chateau. The woman's brother and sister-in-law, who has just delivered a stillborn baby after years of trying to become pregnant soon arrive on the scene as well, with baby in tow, as their doctor feels that they should get to know the baby before burying it. Of course Mom has trouble accepting that the baby is actually dead, and refuses to let her be buried. Who didn't see that coming? That's the main crux of the story, but don't feel that I've given anything away, because all of that can be read in the description. This is very sparsely written, and relies on the reader to do a lot of gap-filling. The description mentions that Olivia (the woman) "wrestles with her own secrets about the cruel and violent man she married many years before." Well... no, not really. We are given to understand that he was violent as Olivia is bruised and broken, and she refers to him, as I mentioned before as her "Murderer" (which is supposed to hint to the reader as well as other characters that she is suicidal), but aside from an introversion, there's nothing about that aspect of the story at all. I didn't much care for the choppiness of the writing either. In the dialogue, specifically, pauses are shown with dashes: "And we have to make it -- comfortable." (Pg. 42) It just seems to make everything seem so unnatural, like they are wind-up dolls with certain phrases programmed into them, but run out of steam mid-way through and have to be rewound. And then certain sentences just didn't even make sense. Like this one for instance: "Outside the million-million green and growing things were absorbing oxygen." (Pg. 88) Umm... well no, plants (which I'm assuming are the green and growing things outside) MAKE oxygen by absorbing carbon dioxide and photosynthesis. And there was such an emphasis on slowness. Slowly chewing food, slowly walking, slowly driving... And even stillness. It's like stagnation. And considering that in this novella, nothing really DID happen, except a breakdown, I guess that's fitting. It was like the world was on pause. I can see why some people would like this story, but it didn't really do a lot for me. I had higher expectations. *shrug*(less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| May 19, 2010
| May 19, 2010
|
May 12, 2010
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
31
| 
| 015694877X
| 9780156948777
| 4.23
| 21,747
| 1922
| Aug 04, 1955
|
3.5 stars I have wanted to read The Waste Land since seeing various quotes taken from it strewn throughout Stephen King's works. My favorites are "I wi...more 3.5 stars I have wanted to read The Waste Land since seeing various quotes taken from it strewn throughout Stephen King's works. My favorites are "I will show you fear in a handful of dust." and "This is how the world ends / Not with a bang, but with a whimper." Those quotes have always given me a little thrill when I see them mentioned in other books and novels, and they seemed to indicate to me that Eliot would be right up my alley, because it seemed that his work is dark, and a little twisted. I am not a poetry fan, but I thought that I might like Eliot despite that. And I did, mostly. I grabbed this from the library, and read most of the 88 pages on the walk home. It was a lovely, although windy, day, and I just enjoyed the walk home with my nose stuck in a book. This collection included the following (listed from the Table of Contents): - The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock - Preludes - Gerontion - Sweeney Among the Nightingales - The Waste Land I. The Burial of the Dead II. A Game of Chess III. The Fire Sermon IV. Death By Water V. What The Thunder Said Notes on 'The Waste Land' - Ash-Wednesday - Journey of the Magi - Marina - Landscapes I. New Hampshire II. Virginia III. Usk - Two Choruses From 'The Rock' I liked most of the poems here, and in fact I can't really say that there were any that I did NOT like, but I just find it really difficult and distracting to read in verse. I really enjoyed the feeling and imagery of these poems, but I still feel like I'm just not perceptive enough to catch everything and to understand the symbolism or meaning or depth of the poetry. This is my own failing, due to my own preference for reading prose rather than verse, but unfortunately, I have to take it out on poor Eliot. I did like it, but I just feel like I should have loved it. I feel a little bad for not loving it, and for only being able to give this one 3 1/2 stars, but such is life. I will try more Eliot though, maybe. At least he writes interesting stuff... ;)(less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| May 08, 2010
| May 08, 2010
|
May 08, 2010
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
30
| 
| 0307409120
| 9780307409126
| 4.08
| 10,428
| Sep 15, 2009
| Sep 15, 2009
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This book was chosen for the May/June 2010 group read in the historical fiction group that I moderate here on Goodreads, and I couldn't wait to read i...more
This book was chosen for the May/June 2010 group read in the historical fiction group that I moderate here on Goodreads, and I couldn't wait to read it, so I started a teensy bit early. *blush* I'd been wanting to read one of Michelle Moran's books for a while, since I hear so much praise for them, and I'd planned on starting with "Nefertiti" with a friend, but that kind of fell apart due to other obligations. So I was thrilled when "Cleopatra's Daughter" was chosen, as it gave me the perfect excuse to shove all of my obligations off to the side for a day and read this. And it literally only took me a day to read it. I could not put it down. I've always been fascinated by Ancient Egypt and Rome, so this one was right up my alley. (All of Moran's books at this point are right up my alley, actually!) I was not disappointed. The book starts with a bang with Cleopatra's rule crumbling around her, and follows Selene (Cleopatra's daughter) as she's taken from her home and country to Rome, which is rife with danger, uncertainty, spies, cattiness and political roller-coasters. Selene and her twin brother, Alexander, are guest/prisoners of the royal family, and never know what the next day will bring - an unwanted and unhappy marriage, slavery, death? It's fascinating. I would have gladly read another 400 pages. There was so much going on between these covers that even though it was not action-packed, it felt like it was, and I just had to know what would happen next. This is the kind of book that made me love historical fiction - books that can bring a name and date-range to life, and make me not only intrigued by their life, but care about them, and empathize with them. So much in history is distant and boring that unless you have a real interest and passion for it, we forget to keep it alive. And much of history was so brutal and harsh that we forget that people who lived it were really people, and had hopes and dreams and fears that were probably cut short by the brutality and upheaval. It's easy to distance ourselves from that brutality, so that 30,000 deaths in such and such battle becomes just a number, and not a staggering atrocity. But this book brought these ancient people to life, and I crossed my fingers for them, and mourned with them, and was angry on their behalf even though they've all been dead for 2000 years. I loved Selene's character. I admired her courage to do the right thing even when it could have cost her her life at any time. Her life was one thread away from forfeited as soon as she stepped foot off of Egyptian soil, but she still spoke up for those who could not speak for themselves. And this, in a time when callousness and bloodlust seemed to be an artform, is admirable. I also loved the way that Octavian Caesar's loyal men were humanized, rather than just being expressionless moving statues which do the Caesar's bidding, they were men who were able to think and feel and hope themselves. I also loved the political and societal issues depicted. Octavian's fear of any potential threat, his genius political maneuvering and manipulation, his ruthlessness all gave me chills. Livia's too, and her pure maliciousness made me want to slap her. I couldn't imagine living under the thumb of people like that. But then to counter them, Octavia, his sister, was kind and compassionate and charitable, even when she had cause not to be, and when it was almost pointless given the attitudes of the time. Moran pulls no punches with this book, and shows the harshness of living in Rome at this time. Slaves were everywhere and harshly ruled and even more harshly punished at their owners' and/or corrupt judges' whims. Babies are cast out for being born the wrong sex, or for having a deformity, or for no reason at all other than that they are unwanted and are left to die of starvation or by the elements if not for charitable wet-nurses. It's appalling, but all of this combined to create a Rome that felt real to me. I also liked the subtle nod to homosexuality in the book, and how it's accepted in private, but kept quiet in public. I'm glad that we're at a point now where being gay is socially accepted (by most) and doesn't need to be hidden. Anyway, in short, I loved this book. The only thing that I can think of to complain about is a single misspelling: quite should have been quiet, and that should have been caught by an editor. ;) I will definitely be reading more of Moran's books. If they are half as good as this one it will be well worth it. :)(less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| May 09, 2010
| May 10, 2010
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May 01, 2010
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
29
| 
| 0451822196
| 9780451822192
| 3.51
| 15,658
| 1983
| Apr 09, 1985
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I saw this at the library yesterday and snagged it, so excited to read it! I actually liked it very much, simply because it is so different from the u...more
I saw this at the library yesterday and snagged it, so excited to read it! I actually liked it very much, simply because it is so different from the usual King offering - lengthy, intricately described works of brilliance. Not to say that this wasn't brilliant, or up to par, it was just different. Like comparing a golf ball to a ping pong ball. Yeah, they are both small, round, usually white balls that are used in sport, but other than that, they are not really similar to each other at all. From what I understand, this book was originally intended as a calendar, with each month telling a little bit more of the story. I read it in book form, and unlike a friend of mine did NOT wait for each month to actually read that month's story. I don't think that I could have done that even if I had had the actual calendar. I skip ahead with those Page-A-Day calendars, so a monthly story by King would never stand a chance. I have no willpower. *sigh* Anyway, getting back to the story itself, I really enjoyed it. I feel like it might have been a little bit of a test for King to write something so short. He is used to writing short stories of course, but this is a bit different. Each month from January to August, we meet a different resident of Tarker's Mills, and learn about their run-in with the werewolf that has been stalking the town. Each story is only 2-3 pages long, and in my opinion, does a really good job of characterization, while still moving the story along at a pretty good pace. The writing is much simpler than I'm used to with King, out of necessity, but he still manages to get his point across and make me feel like I knew these people, even though many of them only live for about a page. I really liked the artwork here as well. Bernie Wrightson does a great job of bringing King's words to life. There are pen and ink "month" drawings, which represent the month for each story, then there is a color story panel depicting a scene from each month's chapter, and then at the end, there is a little ink sketch which kind of sums up the chapter, and is generally a forgotten or cast aside "leaving" of one of the characters. I did notice that there were a few typos and errors here, which brought this down from 4 stars to 3. I also wished that there was just a little bit more to the story, especially in regards to the origins of the werewolf. But all in all, I really liked it. :)(less) | Notes are private!
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1
| May 02, 2010
| May 02, 2010
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May 01, 2010
| Paperback
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27
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| 0439546567
| 9780439546560
| 4.00
| 1,869
| Jun 15, 2001
| Aug 01, 2004
|
I was browsing the YA section of my local library and I stumbled across this book. Or maybe I should say that it called out to me. The blurry cathedra...more
I was browsing the YA section of my local library and I stumbled across this book. Or maybe I should say that it called out to me. The blurry cathedral on the cover just promised to be dark and mysterious. I'm a sucker for dark, broody, creepy, gothic (etc) type stories, and this delivered just that. I haven't read anything by Chris Wooding before, in fact, I'd never even heard of him until I picked up this book. As soon as I'm done writing this review, I'm going to be adding his other books to my TBR. I only hope that they live up to the expectations I have from this book. The story takes place in an alternate version of Victorian London, a bleak and foreboding place where night is treacherous and unpredictable, wych-kin roam and wreak havoc and serial killers pick their victims off with shocking ease. We first meet Thaniel Fox, son of England's most reknown wych-hunter, on the hunt for a Cradle-Jack which has been plucking babies from their cribs for a tasty little midnight snack. Thaniel is independent, courageous, smart, resourceful and compassionate - all the things that an English gentleman should be. Add to that that he is simply bad-ass, and you have the making of one sexy hero. His fight with Curien Blake was... well, it was exciting to read. I'll just put it that way. There's just something about a man with a big knife that knows how to use it that gets my blood flowing. :) Anyway, so we meet Thaniel, and soon meet with a mysterious girl that is in obvious need of help. He brings her back to the house that he shares with Cathaline Bennett, another wych-hunter and Thaniel's tutor, if you will. The three of them discover that there is an ancient wych possessing Alaizabel, and embark on a journey to find out why, and how to get the wych out of her. From there, everything starts to go downhill, and the shocks just keep coming. I loved all of the characters in the story. They all felt real, and acted according to how real people would act. The romance bits between Thaniel and Alaizabel were a little rushed, but I can overlook that when I consider that he saved her and therefore felt responsible for her, and she was saved and was grateful. Both of those things can easily run a bit deeper, especially among teens who have both been alone for a large amount of their lives. To suddenly meet someone that plays such a role in your life, I would imagine that's a kind of big change. I also really loved the London that Wooding created here, complete with it's own Jack the Ripper-esque killer, Stitch-face. It was dark and creepy and definitely not the place one would want to take a casual midnight stroll. I loved all of the little mini-stories that he incorporated into the bigger London-story. It gave me an idea not only of what the city as a whole was facing, but who the people facing it actually were, and what kind of people a city this dark and menacing breeds. It's unforgiving, and that's represented in the characters depicted. I thought that it was a nice touch to add those little personalizations, even if they were only a page or two long. Wooding's imagination is awesome when it comes to the creatures that he brings to life here. I've read a goodish amount of horror in my life, but there were things in this book that gave me goosebumps, and that's not an exaggeration. The thing on the ceiling of Alaizabel's bedroom is seared into my memory as if I saw it myself, which is pretty commendable, as it was only very roughly described. I think that's a testament to a good author, to be able to subtly show us each what we fear without describing it into the light of perfect knowledge. Once we know what the heck we're dealing with, it's not nearly as scary as when we have no idea what's chasing us. I also loved the blending of mechanical inventions and superstition here. Airships on one hand, and cultish Rites and ceremonies and charms on the other. Wooding perfectly brought these two very disparate things together in this book, and made it believable and plausible. I really loved it, and look forward to more from him. :)(less) | Notes are private!
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1
| Apr 20, 2010
| Apr 24, 2010
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Apr 14, 2010
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
26
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| 0694524646
| 9780694524648
| 4.14
| 38,640
| 2001
| Aug 01, 2003
|
I'm not a fan of Sean Penn, so I never even wanted to see this movie, and didn't even know that there was a book until after I'd read Lehane's other b...more
I'm not a fan of Sean Penn, so I never even wanted to see this movie, and didn't even know that there was a book until after I'd read Lehane's other book Shutter Island, which I really enjoyed. So when I saw that my library had this on audio, I borrowed it, and have just now got around to listening to it. I think that this was a pretty good story, but it wasn't really as gut-wrenching or as horrifying as I'd expected it to be, knowing that it was about the murder of the daughter of one of the main characters. I'd expected this to hit me like a freight-train and make me ache with Jimmy's grief... but it didn't. I don't know if it was the reader who took it out of that realm for me, or if it was just the kind of observant but distant tone of the writing, but it was something. I couldn't really identify with any of the characters, and in a story like this, one that deals with child abduction, molestation, murder, apathy, guilt and grief, that is crucial. The reader took a lot out of this book for me, I think. Often I would find myself focusing more on his voice than on the words he was saying or the story he was telling. The recording was very low to begin with, and the reader would speak softly for long stretches when the story would be dealing with internal thoughts or doubt or fear, so I really had to pay attention to catch everything. On top of that, his voice would sort of crack. I'm not sure if that was on purpose, or if it was just an unconscious side effect of his emotional involvement in the story, or if that's just his normal voice, but it was very distracting. But even MORE distracting was the way that he voiced the adolescents in the story. Every time he said "It'll be cool!" he sounded exactly like Beavis from Beavis & Butthead, and that is NOT cool. Not in a serious story like this one. I just kept waiting for him to go "I AM CORNHOLIO!" Really, it was that bad. I wanted to like this story as much as I liked Shutter Island. But this one just fell a little flat for me, and now I'm sorry that I listened to the audio rather than just reading it. It's one of those stories that you really need to dive in and feel, and I don't feel like I could do that. Too bad. :((less) | Notes are private!
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1
| May 23, 2010
| May 23, 2010
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Apr 14, 2010
| Audio CD
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25
| 
| 1593979800
| 9781593979805
| 3.38
| 5,701
| 2006
| Nov 28, 2006
|
This was an interesting look at how a new civil war in the US might occur. I think that this is one of those books that you should read twice to reall...more
This was an interesting look at how a new civil war in the US might occur. I think that this is one of those books that you should read twice to really get the full measure of the story. I listened to it on audio, and a lot of the time that I was listening to it, I was listening but not focusing intently, so I may have missed a lot of the nuances of the story. However, that being said, I do think that it was very smart and well written, and plausible. Many people might take offense to the militant party which staged the coup to set off the events that start the civil war being liberals, or "Progressives" as they are referred to in the book. We, or at least I, generally think of the right wing republicans as the militant type, and as the stiffly traditional type that would be more apt to take up arms to defend that traditionalism. And in fact, I was surprised by it, because I lean toward the liberal side myself (although I consider myself a moderate - but I am for many liberal ideals), but again... it was plausible. Get any extremist faction together, and no matter what their ideologies are, they will do what they think that they have to do to defend them. I actually got more out of this book from the author's afterword than I did from the story. Not to say that the story wasn't good. It was. The story was interesting, and futuristic and the kind of story that I'm fascinated by, but the afterword was more... informative, I guess. That's not what I'm trying to say, but I felt that the author's words there aligned more with my own thinking than the story that he represented in the pages did. In the afterword, he talks about the hateful rhetoric and divisiveness between parties, and how it only takes one party thinking that they need to actively defend, with arms, their ideals from the attack of the other party, and there you go - we're in a civil war. It's a scary thought, and it's incredibly likely. One thing that really bothered me in the story though is the representation of Fox News. In the story, as the "good guys" (I quote that because both sides believe that they are the good guys, but we're being shown the defenders as good guys rather than the attackers) are Republicans, the use of Fox News as their outlet was quite frequent, and they WERE presented as "Fair and Balanced", which to me is an outright falsity. Fox News is one of the most vitriol-filled and antagonistic and attack-oriented "news" right-wing organizations out there. They no longer even really have "news" segments, it's all opinions and interviews and talk about the news, which is quite different. I have a hard time reconciling an organization that is argumentative, downright rude and would tell a guest to "shut up" when they don't agree with them with a trustworthy and reliable news organization. To me, Fox News does more for divisiveness in this country than any other factor, probably ALL other factors combined, actually. I don't say this as a liberal, I say this as someone who thinks that all opinions are valid and thinks that everyone should have a chance to express their opinion respectfully, EVEN IF IT IS UNPOPULAR - not be cut-off, harassed by the show host and then demonized later. Aside from this ONE thing (and sorry for the rant- but I had to put it out there), I think that this story does a pretty good job of representing the opinions of both sides as valid and realistic. I may not agree with them, but to the opinion holder, they are right. I think that we have to be willing to step back and see things from another person's point of view. If we are not willing to do that, then we probably WILL have another civil war in America - quite possibly in my lifetime. =\(less) | Notes are private!
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1
| May 15, 2010
| May 16, 2010
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Apr 11, 2010
| Audio CD
| ||||||||||||||
28
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| 0064632105
| 9780064632102
| 3.78
| 16,888
| 1884
| Jan 01, 1963
|
My boyfriend asked me to get this book out of the library for him, because he had read it back in school and wanted to re-read it. So, I did. He's lik...more
My boyfriend asked me to get this book out of the library for him, because he had read it back in school and wanted to re-read it. So, I did. He's like the world's slowest paper book reader, though, so the book has been sitting on the coffee table for days and days, and I admit that my curiosity got the better of me, and I picked it up to read. Hmph. I am not a mathematician, nor am I an idiot. I fall somewhere between, although I pride myself on being able to understand general concepts of things. I went into this book thinking that it would be an interesting reading experience about something that I give little to no thought - spatial dimensions. I wish I could say that that is what I read. It's not. I read a soap-box rant about class and race and status divisions and a how-to on Flatlander political manipulations. As a liberal, and even more as a feminist, this book rubbed me the wrong way on several levels. To the point that I actually wrote down a note consisting of a page range and the subtle footnote: "WHAT THE FUCK?!?" Supposedly, this book is supposed to be a kind of social satire. If so, it failed miserably as far as I'm concerned. Satire should involve some form of mockery, letting the reader or observer know that the views are not seriously held, that they are a kind of bastardization of the truth with an aim to ridicule. That's my own definition, not Webster's or OED or anything, but I think it pretty much sums it up. Satire is making fun of something. This was not satire. I have a pretty healthy sense of humor, but I failed to see anything mocking or humorous about the society depicted in Flatland. In fact, I was shocked and offended and angered and annoyed. The entire first half of the book is dedicated to explaining the physical and societal aspects of Flatland. To save you the misery of reading it yourself, here's a run-down: 1) The fewer angles you have, the higher your status and the smarter you are. - Circles are the highest/smartest class, described as doing nothing, but providing the catalyst for things to be done by underlings - Polygons (numerously multi-sided shapes) are among the upper class, law makers, judges, politicians, generally powerful officials - Squares, Pentagons, Hexagons, Octagons, etc, are upper-middle class, lawyers, doctors, etc - Equilateral Triangles are lower-middle class, aspiring up-and-comers - Isosceles Triangles are the working class, servants (both public and private), executioners (due to their sharp angles), generally expendable class, depicted as unruly and dangerous - "Irregulars" are the Criminal class, which consists of those whose angle or sides are imperfect, and are thereby stupid, mean and outlaws, still more unruly and dangerous - Women (Lines), who possess no intelligence, no memory, no aspirations, no rights, and are depicted as purely emotionally volatile beings who are immensely dangerous and devious, and if they are annoyed they will fly into a rage and murder their husband and family. (Their end points are apparently all but invisible, and lethal.) Furthermore, while every other class has the ability to evolve and better themselves (generally, each new generation of offspring adds an angle, thus increasing their status and intelligence with every generation), women do not. They possess no angles to begin with, so they have no hope of ever acquiring any. There's even a quaint little 'Decree of Nature': "Once a Woman, always a Woman." Charming, isn't it? It gets better. Women's Laws: I. Every house shall have one entrance in the Eastern side, for the use of Females only; by which all females shall enter "in a becoming and respectful manner" and not by the Men's or Western door. II. No Female shall walk in any public place without continually keeping up her Peace-cry, under penalty of death. III. Any Female, duly certified to be suffering from St. Vitus's Dance, fits, chronic cold accompanied by violent sneezing, or any disease necessitating involuntary motions, shall be instantly destroyed. Some areas require women to constantly keep their sharp rear points in continuous motion. Others require a male from the woman's household to travel behind her and accompany her everywhere. Others decree that women are forbidden from leaving their homes entirely, except during religious festivals. Furthermore, Men, in their infinite wisdom, decided that since Women had no hope of increasing their angles or station in life, any education of women was wasted, so in Flatland, Women are no longer educated. In fact, Men sacrifice much in an effort to keep their women happy (so that they aren't murdered in a fit of rage), and have even created a dual language which is taught to all males: Woman-speak is all about love and duty and emotions and feelings, "and other irrational and emotional conceptions, which have no existence, and the fiction of which has no object except to control feminine exuberances..." {page 52} Man-speak is about rational ideas, science, math, everything else. Women are prohibited from hearing man-speak, lest they have a thought and seek to understand or pass along an idea to another woman and foment a rebellion or revolution to gain some rights. "Men use language implying the utmost deference to their Sex[...:] but behind their backs they are both regarded and spoken of - by all but the very young - as being little better than 'mindless organisms.'" {page 52} No. That's not a joke. The book then goes on to talk about how the masses are kept down. Equality is frowned upon, uniqueness is outlawed, regularity of angles is looked at as Divine law. All to keep the little people little, and the ignorant in the dark, and the powerful right where they are. Horrible. Again, if this is satire, shouldn't there be the feeling that this is not how our narrator feels? He indicates that he knows the reader will find the treatment of women to be "truly deplorable", but goes on to indicate that it is necessary and accepted and right. So anyway... Speedy recap of the rest of the story, because I'm tired of thinking about (and being annoyed by) this book: The men focus on math and science and increasing their knowledge. Great. So when Mr. Square, our narrator makes his way in a vision to Lineland (a one dimensional place), he tries to enlighten the people there, and succeeds only at offending them. Then, Square himself is visited by a Sphere, and is himself enlightened, after being resistant to the mind-altering information that was being foisted on him. Then, they go to a non-dimensional plane, where a being is immensely happy and ignorant of everything around it. So of course Square, being holier-than-thou, must enlighten it. Thankfully, he fails. He's so gung-ho about sharing his knowledge that he's willing to thoughtlessly ruin a peaceful happiness for another being. That pissed me off. Finally, he is sent back to Flatland, where he alone knows The Truth. And he finds out that sharing this truth, which of course will cause a panic and probably uprisings and the like, has consequences - he is imprisoned indefinitely, which says to me that knowledge gained if not able to be applied in a practical way serves no purpose. So what's the point? Being a woman, I probably just don't get it. Last thing that I'll mention is that this book is endlessly repetitive. In just 108 pages, I was bored out of my mind by the recycling of spatial explanation. Upward, not Northward. Blah blah blah. Yet the narrator keeps saying that the reader will understand without long explanations... and then he makes them again. Ugh. Yet he leaves out all the interesting stuff... motion and building methods and general ways that people live and eat and work etc in Flatland. Anyway... I didn't care for this one much. End of story. (less) | Notes are private!
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1
| Apr 16, 2010
| Apr 17, 2010
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Mar 23, 2010
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
22
| 
| 0375813748
| 9780375813740
| 3.98
| 9,289
| Sep 09, 2003
| Sep 09, 2003
|
I hope that nobody will look at me funny when I say that I love reading WWII/Holocaust stories. I do. I'm drawn to the stories of the people - I want...more
I hope that nobody will look at me funny when I say that I love reading WWII/Holocaust stories. I do. I'm drawn to the stories of the people - I want to know what it is in us that makes us so cruel to others. I'm fascinated by people's stories- real or fiction. I don't think that they should be ignored or forgotten, and acknowledging them makes me more thankful for the good things that I have in my life. Milkweed is a story of an orphan in 1930s Poland who knows nothing but survival. Not who he is, who other people are, nothing of the world around him. He knows only that he is small and fast and able to snatch food right from under the noses of the people it belongs to. He is eventually taken in by a gang of orphan kids, and becomes the special ward of one in particular, Uri. I really loved Uri's character. He's generous, kind, wise beyond his years, in tune with the world around him, and street smart. He teaches, or tries to teach our main character orphan (who he later names Misha), about life and how to keep it. His character is almost that of a mentor, or older brother to clean-slate Misha, and I loved that he was stern with Misha when Misha obliviously ran dangerous risks that would endanger both Uri's and Misha's lives. He makes sure that when they have a surplus of food, that other orphans receive it. When Misha ends up branded as a Jew and living in a ghetto in Warsaw, the tables turn a bit and he begins to act the "older brother" role for a young girl named Janina. Janina's family was once wealthy and well-to-do, and living in the ghetto is a hard adjustment for her. Her father, Tobiasz, takes in Misha as one of the family, and Misha smuggles food in from outside the ghetto to help feed the family, and a house of orphans in the care of another man. Janina takes to following Misha on these trips, which is frustrating to me as a reader, because she's the epitome of a spoiled brat. She refuses to do what she's told, or to stay inconspicuous. She willfully causes a scene to get her way, and refuses to accept that her situation has changed. I could not understand why Misha stuck by her. I understand that he now considered her and Tobiasz as his family, but I'd have probably beat her to a pulp in that situation. Her father is a kind man, and next to Uri, the only character that I cared for. He tries to make sure that his daughter is safely away from the ghetto when he finds out that they are being "resettled" elsewhere - a concentration camp - but she stubbornly and selfishly refuses. I couldn't stand the little brat. It's hard for me to enjoy a story where so much focus is put on stupid or annoying characters that I cannot relate to. Every decision that Misha or Janina made was contrary to the one that I'd have made in their place. Janina ended up right where I thought she would in the end, but until then, every time that she wasn't caught by the patrols, it was unrealistic and aggravating, because she was essentially doing everything she could to be caught, and just got insanely lucky time after time. On top of that, I felt like the writing was just... off. I don't know how to describe it, but it felt simplistic to me, even for a YA book. But at the same time, it felt like it was supposed to be imparting some great truths, and while there were a few good quotes, I didn't think that there was anything especially profound here. So, this was OK. Not anywhere close to the best book I've read on this subject, but not terrible. I just expected a bit more, I think. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| Mar 30, 2010
| Mar 30, 2010
|
Mar 23, 2010
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
24
| 
| 1441725741
| 9781441725745
| 3.26
| 21,931
| Dec 24, 2009
| Feb 01, 2010
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I discovered this book after reading a friend's glowing review of it. From her review, this sounded like a book that I would love, the kind that I gra...more
I discovered this book after reading a friend's glowing review of it. From her review, this sounded like a book that I would love, the kind that I gravitate toward, and for the most part, it fit the bill perfectly. This is a story that examines many sides of an issue, namely war and injustice, and how we're all, whether we know it or not, affected by that issue. We can ignore it, we can rail against it, or we can face it head on, but it will affect us just the same. Sarah Blake tells her story with three different women, and three different storylines. The three women were real and felt honest and true, and they all spoke to me in different ways. I couldn't really identify much with Iris, honestly, as she is set in her ways and unbendable about a lot of things, content when her little environment is in order and content not to know what happens in the world outside her bubble. But I could understand, if I didn't agree, with her feelings on this, because it's easier to not know the terrible things that we can do to each other. In contrast to Iris is Frankie, a war reporter who wants to show the world what is REALLY going on in Europe, and make it personal, so that people will stand up and be outraged and want to stop it. I identified most with her, because she was brave and honest and willing to try to make a difference. I loved her. Lastly, we have Emma, who was the outsider of the story. Newly married to the town doctor, she is the kind of link between the two extremes of Iris and Frankie. I liked her character, she was plucky and brave in her own way, but innocent and small in a world that is much bigger than she is, and cruel. I loved the way that Blake brought the scenes and story to life. Maybe it was the reader, but I don't think so (as I have some complaints about her). I think it was just her ability to portray life in a real way, and make us feel it. I got goosebumps listening to the soldiers when Frankie was with them on the watch-lines. There were also a great many deaths in this book that hurt. I have an overactive empathy gland, I freely admit that, but when an author can bring me to care about a character in a chapter, or a few pages alone, to the point that I feel their loss when they die, I think that's saying something. It's always the personal stories that get to me when I read books like this, and this one delivered so much in that vein that I almost felt overloaded at times. As I'm sure Frankie did. I do think that sometimes the descriptive language went a little too far into floweriness. Blake would describe all the little things that one notices during times of stress, when time seems to slow or stop, like the ticking of a clock, or the bang of a shutter, but it seemed to be just a little too flowery in the way that it was described. Just a bit less wouldn't have been as distracting to me, and would have allowed me to focus on what was being said, not how it was relayed. The last quarter of the book lost a little steam for me as well. I wanted it to pull all of the storylines together with a grand finale ending, but instead it was more like a regular firework show that just ends. It's satisfying, because it is beautiful to watch and experience, but it's just missing that little something to tie it all together and let you know it's over. Listening to this on audio, the reader went straight into an afterword, and I had to rewind a bit and listen again before I realized that it wasn't part of the story. The reader was a little bit disappointing to me. She did a good job, but frequently, her conversation tone was very different from how I'd have "heard" the same dialogue if I was reading it. Every female seemed to sound a little unsure, questioning and apologetic. Every male seemed to sound smug and sure and condescending, especially when it was a male news-guy talking to Frankie - even when you could tell that they had a rapport and seemed almost as equals. Will was the exception to this rule, but he was one of the few main male characters, so maybe he got his own personality to the reader... Even outside of the dialogue, her voice just sounded... off. A descriptive sentence would sound as if she's trying to impart a lot of emotion, while an emotional sentence will sound like she's trying to inject a little levity. I had to try hard to not listen to her tone and to listen to the context, because that told me what I needed to know more than her voice did. All in all, the story was very good, and the reader was OK. I would suggest reading the book over the audio, but if the audio is all that's available, don't skip it. The book outshines the reader here and is well worth the time. :)(less) | Notes are private!
| JG
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1
| Apr 21, 2010
| Apr 26, 2010
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Mar 14, 2010
| MP3 CD
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21
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| 0425205681
| 9780425205686
| 3.82
| 35,221
| Oct 04, 2005
| Oct 04, 2005
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Ugh. Just... Ugh. I am beginning to think that the more I read of Charlaine Harris, the less I like her. This was just... bad. And creepy. Poorly writ...more
Ugh. Just... Ugh. I am beginning to think that the more I read of Charlaine Harris, the less I like her. This was just... bad. And creepy. Poorly written, weak plot, cardboard cut-out characters, creepy relationships and creepy romance, and trademark Charlaine Harris character name and detail errors all in one book. I don't even know where to begin... I guess I could just write a list, like our heroine, who Charlaine describes as a list-maker with little opportunity, first does 26 pages from the end of the book. You'd think, in a mystery, that a list writer would probably, maybe, keep a list while she's running around tracking down all those clues. Guess not. More likely, Charlaine (hereafter known as "CH") just wanted to rehash everything and wrote in a "personality trait" to do so. Speaking of personality, oh lordy me. Were there any personalities in this book? From ANYONE? Harper was just about as boring and cold and unlikeable a character as I've ever read. Why anyone would want to read an entire series about her is beyond me. Tolliver, her brother, is essentially an assistant/care-giver/babysitter/bodyguard to Harper, and besides being a womanizer, he's boring and uninteresting. Hollis is the Haunted Small-Town Cop™. Sybil is the Cold Rich Widow™. Mary Nell is the Teen Cheerleader (With Jealous Teen Admirer) Who Is Lovestruck for Mysterious Older Man™. There is nobody, at all, in this book that was even remotely interesting or unique. Harper's relationship with her 'brother' is super creepy. SUPER. CREEPY. Even if Harper and Tolliver aren't blood related, their relationship is just... disturbing. Harper is almost totally and completely dependent on Tolliver. She's jealous of his conquests, and he of hers, although neither come right out and say so, but their ONLY disagreements with each other were over the other half making the beast with two backs with some "outsider". They talk about buying a house together, and Harper talks about the possibility of Tolliver marrying, and fleetingly thinks of that for herself, but she seems very reluctant to think about that, and the thought of Tolliver committing himself to someone besides her seems to give her anxiety. Harper's parents were well-to-do who didn't do too well, and became alcohol and drug dependent and neglected the kids, but that's OK because the kids had each other... mostly. Apparently, this, along with Harper's injury, the one which caused her ability to sense the dead, are where her co-dependence on her brother stems from, but I don't get it. OK, right, you're struck by lightning. Sure, you'd be afraid of storms afterward. Logical. What is not logical is sheer panic when your "lifeline" brother is out of your line of sight for any length of time without a suitable male stand-in. OMG noes! HOW will you copez?!1? Harper and Tolliver seem more like exes who realized that they love each other but are better as friends but who don't really want to let go either. He called her "baby" and "honey", and, sorry, but if my brother ever called me that I'd be really, really grossed out. Harper is even described as having her stomach clench when Tolliver "sweet talks" someone else. CREEPY. Then, there's the "back story" that CH probably should start hinting at if she wants to drag this out into another too-long series... This includes Harper Family Mystery and Drama. There's the Parental Situation I mentioned above, for starters. Then there's one missing and presumed dead sister that Harper is very clinically detached and cold (aka "avoiding false hope") about, but determined to find, at least her body, and two other sisters raised by Tolliver's religious and manipulative aunt to despise Tolliver and Harper both for reasons unknown. I'm sure that will come out somewhere in book 8 or 9. Stick with it. All in all, there was just no... substance there. It was like the details were thrown in because they had to be, not because they were the characters' actual histories. Sorry Charlaine, you need to know your characters before any reader can. Giving her a gimp leg and some superficial insecurities along with saying that her hobbies include reading and nail-painting isn't characterization. Nor is giving someone acne scars and then saying that he likes really smooth skinned women probably because of that. Harper's thing with Hollis is another kind of creepy in itself. I really have to wonder what kind of publisher would read this and say, "Yes! This is what we've been waiting to publish!!". We have either a way, way too close brother and sister relationship or a way dysfunctional couple-night stand relationship with extremely-recently-widowed young cop. Hmm... Neither one is exactly steaming up THESE windows. The story takes place in very late October/early November. Hollis's wife Sally died sometime after February. That's eight months. He gets all almost choked up when he talks about her, and he says he loved her, and even hired Harper to tell him some info about how she died. OK... not creepy so far. Then Hollis and Harper do the nasty. Strange, but not unheard of. Then, during the course of the "investigation", this appears: (There are Sally death spoilers!) "I'm sorry," I said, making a great effort. "I know this is dredging up stuff for you that you're trying to put behind you."Then they did. WHAT?!? You go from talking about your DEAD LESS THAN 8 MONTHS WIFE to screwing some new girl in TWO SENTENCES?? It was described as "short and violent and the most exciting encounter Harper had ever experienced." CREEPY. I almost closed the book right there. That was just... too much. But I was curious about the mystery. I wanted to know. I finished it. I want my two days back. There's absolutely, positively no way that I will be reading any more of this series. It's also unlikely that I'll be reading anything else CH's written. It's sad, because I quite liked the first few books of the Sookie Stackhouse series, but now I'm even doubting myself on that. Don't read this. It's BAD. Did I mention it was creepy too?(less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| Mar 09, 2010
| Mar 11, 2010
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Mar 09, 2010
| Hardcover
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39
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| 0439023513
| 9780439023511
| 4.03
| 841,088
| Aug 24, 2010
| Aug 24, 2010
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I'm really torn on what to rate this book. I went back and forth between 2 and 3 stars a few times, but I ended up going with 2 stars for a variety of...more
I'm really torn on what to rate this book. I went back and forth between 2 and 3 stars a few times, but I ended up going with 2 stars for a variety of reasons that I hope I'll be able to convey. I don't think that it was terrible, I was disappointed and irritated by quite a lot of it. I will try not to spoil the plot, but if you haven't read the book, read the following at your own risk: First things first... In The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, I cared about Katniss and Gale and Peeta. They were just these kids who were unlucky enough to live in this society that puts on this horrific event every year. They were born into hard lives of hunger and uncertainty and fear and control, and then victimized and picked off annually for the entertainment of the nation. I felt like I understood Katniss in HG (Hunger Games) and CF (Catching Fire). She didn't have a choice how to live, but she did her best to make a place for herself and do what she could to survive and not become a monster. The same went for Gale and Peeta - they did what they could do and tried to be decent. But in Mockingjay (hereafter called MJ), I didn't feel like I knew the characters at all! I know that there had been a lot of changes and a lot of hard choices and pain and all of that, but in a matter of 6 weeks from the end of the Quarter Quell that ended CF to the beginning of MJ, it's like ALL of the characters that I loved and knew had changed into cruel, angry and unrecognizable goblin versions of themselves. I was really hard pressed to find anything redeeming in any of them quite a lot of the time. Katniss is aloof, angry, consumed by self-loathing and guilt, and just shuts down and shuts everyone out. Gale has become this cold, calculating tactician who has none of the warmth that he had before - not even when it comes to his best friend who is clearly struggling. They argue and fight all the time, even when Gale is supporting Katniss - and even during these times (because he DOES stand by her), she is horrible to him and everyone else. Selfishly acting like she's the only one to have suffered or feared anything. And that's not even to mention Peeta. He is nothing, NOTHING, like the Peeta we knew in HG & CF. Granted, he has valid reasons (more valid than Katniss's selfish ones) for this change, but it was frustrating all the same - and even more so because of the way that Katniss reacted to him. Again I will stress that I understand the pressure that they were all under, and the atmosphere of fear and uncertainty and impending war and all that. I understand it, and even appreciate it, but I felt like the way Collins handled it stripped Katniss, Peeta and Gale of their humanity. These are teens who have had to live through situations that most adults have never lived with - the pressure is intense. But I couldn't really care about any of that because these characters seemed so robotic and cold and unreachable. All of them. And that's incredibly disappointing to me. Even when Katniss and Gale were allowed special privileges to go hunting together as they used to, there was not really any closeness or friendship or support between them, no vulnerability. You'd think that they would rely on each other for support, but the relationship was completely one-sided, with Gale supporting Katniss and Katniss acting like the world is on her shoulders alone. I wanted her to rely on him - ANYONE - and let go a little... to not hold everything inside. To be human. But even when she did break down, it was so clinical and sterile I just couldn't care. Buttercup the cat, who had, at best, bit parts throughout the series, evoked much more emotion from me than any of the major players. Yes... A cat. And Prim is her usual, wise-beyond-her-years, caring, bundle of goodness and strength. I loved her. She is really the only human character next to Finnick, who I came to really like in this one. He was vulnerable and human. So, yeah. My main complaints were regarding the characters themselves. Many times they would act completely out of character, Katniss especially, and I found it frustrating. =====================SPOILER======================== ==================================================== For instance... After wallowing for the entire book and keeping a running list of all the people who have died or been hurt by her actions, Katniss votes YES to hold one last Hunger Games with the Capitol's children, so that they know how it feels. WHAT??? After going through two of them herself, trying to save as many as she could, after becoming the Mockingjay to END the regime that forces the Hunger Games on the people of Panem, she would vote yes to send more innocent kids to slaughter? That makes no sense to me at all. ==================================================== =====================END SPOILER==================== And then I have to say that the way the end was resolved didn't make sense to me. The twists, yes, they made sense and weren't unexpected. But I didn't really feel that Katniss was A) given enough information to lead her to the conclusion she came up with or B) clever or shrewd enough to get there on her own. And if she was, which again would be out of character, then why was this not conveyed? Katniss is telling this story - we get her every thought - even when all that entails is a refusal to think of something. I wasn't disappointed by the relationship aspect - or lack thereof - in this story. Considering that I didn't really like or care about any of the characters, I wasn't exactly sitting on the edge of my seat with fingers crossed hoping for a certain outcome. It was not what I'd expected, but I was OK with it. Regarding everything else, I thought that the dystopian themes and the events in the story (almost all of them) were good, and the pacing was great. Not everything was wrapped up how I would have liked, but it is a definite end, and for that I'm glad, because I don't see how another book in this series would be an improvement for me. I can see why some would really like this, but all in all, I was not thrilled with it. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| Dec 14, 2010
| Dec 18, 2010
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Mar 07, 2010
| Hardcover
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41
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| 1401228305
| 9781401228309
| 3.99
| 6,864
| May 2010
| Oct 05, 2010
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This was freaking awesome. I loved the characters in this story. They were all fantastic. Not only was the dialogue great, but the artwork and dialogu...more This was freaking awesome. I loved the characters in this story. They were all fantastic. Not only was the dialogue great, but the artwork and dialogue together perfectly meshed to create a full story. And the artwork is A-MAZ-ING. I just loved looking at each of the panels so much that it was kind of distracting. Meaning that I kept being distracted by the awesomeness of the art, and all the little details and movements and color and expression, and so I would have to remind myself to continue with the story because I wanted to know what happens next! The story flipped back and forth around in time, with several different storylines playing together, but they all worked wonderfully, and I loved it. There were even some Dark Tower and Stephen King Universe tie ins. Sidewinder, Colorado? A birth date of May 19, 1855. 1+8+5+5=19. Some palaver here and there, a toe-tag I stared at for a full minute, just lots of little things that just make this an awesome, awesome story. Not to mention it's the wild west and everyone's a gunslinger in some way... even if they aren't Gunslingers. I will definitely be buying this one. (less) | Notes are private!
| none
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1
| Apr 02, 2011
| Apr 02, 2011
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Jan 31, 2010
| Hardcover
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