It was alright/enjoyable enough to follow through. But I don't think I will read another book by the author.
Street Corner Bookers’ Pile Reduction Chal...moreIt was alright/enjoyable enough to follow through. But I don't think I will read another book by the author.
Street Corner Bookers’ Pile Reduction Challenge, #18 (challenger: Teccc)(less)
Kind of interesting with astute observations about how life can change your goals, your personality, your dreams, your values, your love - everything...moreKind of interesting with astute observations about how life can change your goals, your personality, your dreams, your values, your love - everything - without anybody really noticing the process. The twist at the end was surprising, but also pretty realistic. The whole book lacked something in my opinion. Sadly, I cannot pinpoint it.
Street Corner Bookers’ Pile Reduction Challenge 2011, #22 (challenger: Nomes)(less)
I remember exactly that moment over 21 years ago when I picked up the German edition with its drab, blue, stars-and-moon-clad cover. I proceeded to re...moreI remember exactly that moment over 21 years ago when I picked up the German edition with its drab, blue, stars-and-moon-clad cover. I proceeded to read the longish, rambling blurb and felt a fascinated tingle run down my back: The plot description sounded so deliciously wacky but did not reveal much concerning what the book really would be about that I wrote down the bibliographic details and determined to buy the book as soon as I managed to save the right amount of money.
Well, I saved my money, I ordered the book, I read it fired up with anticipation and I was disappointed and a little angry although the ephemeral, liquid prose did resonate within me. The blurb had promised the entrance to a glittering treasure chest full of strange people and coincidences, but the book did not really cover much mysterious plot or pushed me off my rocker by astonishing turns. But since I spent so much pocket money on it and had to go without sweets for a while to afford it, I did not pass it on to my friends but kept it.
About a year later I picked it up again (having re-read everything else too often, I suppose), unconsciously geared up my page-turning pace, shook my head in wonder that I had been in fact devouring it and declared myself utterly enchanted. I was extremly puzzled about my own reaction and thought about it quite a lot, re-reading it a second time. I concluded that since the book stayed exactly the same I must have changed. Maybe at 13/14 I was still a bit embarrassed/shocked by Angela's brazen, self-confident attitude towards her body, that breathless, sexy encounter in the dark and the morning-after giddyness the lovers let shine through. Scenes of the book I came to love fiercely and look forward to as an older teen. And although I remember feeling sympathy for Tycho on the first go, I did not get his attractivenes, his beauty, at all. But when I was re-reading it for the first time, I already was 100% with Angela, when she says "I'm sick of this." [...]"I don't know everything I feel, but I do know this. You mustn't ever want anyone but me, Big Science. If you look at any other girl I'll kill her."
Now I've consumed the book for maybe the sixth time and I still love it. And I love the cover of the 2002-Collins-edition. It's perfect and it fits the mood I am in after closing the book. It won't be the last time I savored the story of the girl who went to look for her parents' love and found her own and the guy who had to let his science book drop and step upon the Catalogue of the Universe to see himself in a new perspective because "The Ionians Rule!".
TBR Pile Reduction Challenge 2011, Book #14 (challenger: Nomes)(less)
After reading 59 pages and waiting five months for summoning up enough motivation to go on reading (all my Goodreads friends seem to love the book wit...moreAfter reading 59 pages and waiting five months for summoning up enough motivation to go on reading (all my Goodreads friends seem to love the book with abandon - so what's wrong with me?), I have decided to finally put a lid on the case and throw the book out of its designated and by this time slightly dusty spot on my nightstand. I had this subconscious fear that maybe I have detoriated and am not able to concentrate on "real" grown-up books anymore. All I seem to enjoy these days are young adult novels drenched in romance, coming-of-age-problems and/or magic or adults-targeted Urban Fantasy series' in the vein of "Kate Daniels'" or "Rachel Morgan's" neverending adventures. Thus the task of finishing "The Gargoyle" became a necessary proof of my still "intact" diverse reading habits (among my all-time favorites you will find works by Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Haruki Murakami and Astrid Lindren). Today I realized that waiting until I am 40 will not do. Maybe I'll have switched to thrillers and detective stories by 2013. But who cares? All the stories I've consumed stay with me in bits and pieces and fleeting images. And what I choose to add to that conglomated blob of reading history at which time of my life does not define my maturity as a reader. Reading is just my favorite pasttime, not my job. So, dear friends, please forgive me for not trying harder to get this book with its hidden gem of a love-story. I sincerely hope the hero's perfect face and much-needed penis will be presentable again at the end of the book. But finding out for myself takes too much effort. Maybe you will be my Scheherazade and treat me to a very condensed version? I am looking forward to meeting you in the chaiselogue corner.
Street Corner Bookers’ Pile Reduction Challenge, #12 (challenger: Kristy)(less)
In short (maybe I find the time to elaborate later, maybe not): Right now I feel like I've got a wyvern in my guts - shredding tissue like mad. Not be...moreIn short (maybe I find the time to elaborate later, maybe not): Right now I feel like I've got a wyvern in my guts - shredding tissue like mad. Not because of particularly graphic horrbile scenes, not at all, but because of the narrator's complete complacency and serenety while relating the - to us - nightmarish story of her life. All the while making it perfectly clear that to her no alternative life plan would have been thinkable.
Street Corner Bookers’ Pile Reduction Challenge 2011, #21 (challenger: Morgan)(less)
Okay. A review - or better a hopefully short explanation - after reading 104 pages, which in the case of "Delirium" means, I am still in the middle of...moreOkay. A review - or better a hopefully short explanation - after reading 104 pages, which in the case of "Delirium" means, I am still in the middle of the introductory chapters before the "real story" starts.
I do not know what I had expected storywise, when I pre-ordered the book. There were two factors, that made me do it, though: I had been very impressed by the author's courageous debut Before I Fall and the emotions reading it exposed me to. And - like almost every YA book lover out here - I am on the lookout for great dystopian fiction. Since I have consumed several representatives of that species which simply weren't worth the time I concluded that one by an author whose earlier work I admired should be a safe choice.
Yes, although I did not have fixed expectations concerning the story or the setting, I did have certain anticipations concerning the havoc Ms Oliver would wreak in my mind. After turning a quarter of the pages I am still waiting for my heart to contract, for my mind to reel, for my conscience to have difficulties in taking sides. Instead, I am getting a little bored, since I cannot detect something really new, and the only effort my mind is making (I feel brain-amputated, too, because I cannot love a book I am supposed to love) is to evaluate, whether the teenage heroine Magdalena’s calmness and adaptiveness and believe in the system are realistic or not. (A few weeks ago I watched a documentary about the importance of an infant’s first year for its intellectual and emotional development. Research shows that the exaggerated, fond conversation parents have with their babies – all that positive grimacing and cooing and constant contact-keeping - is so very crucial. Babies who were cared for by parents suffering severe depressions who kept blank faces and did not interact much with their infants, quickly stopped searching for emotional responses in their parents’ faces and were diagnosed as having notable developmental delays later.) Magdalena is one of the rare kids who was cuddled, comforted and loved in secret by her mom. Therefore, in my opinion, she should have more urges to have emotional outbursts than to painfully follow the rules. But I am not sure. Maybe her story is realistic the way it is depicted.
What is is not:
Riveting or shocking or frightening like, for instance, the film Equilibrium, which really shows a controlled and altered society, the consequences of the cropped ability to feel. I think even without the visuals Equilibrium as a book would have sent me into a turmoil a hundred times stronger than Delirium.
It is also not as well explained, as skillfully multi-layered, and as intricately shown from an inside-angle as The Giver by Lois Lowry, although the latter has a lot less pages to make the situation stomach-wrenchingly uncomfortable and eerie to the reader.
And last it is not as exciting as the Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld, which offers a setting that does not differ so much from „Delirium“: Authorities dealt with the human faults that led to a global catastrophe by turning everybody over 15 into pretty, rather dumb and peaceful people, who mind their jobs, meet their kids now and then and are content with partying and working. Like Lena Tally looks forward to her transformation - in her case from ugly to pretty - , to her move into the pretties’ dormitory ... until her best friend starts to install doubts into her mind. And ... whoosh ... the reader is drawn into a breathless thrill-ride that lasts three volumes and makes countless unexpected turns. I flipped through the remaining three quarters of „Delirium“ and – as well as I can judge by catching a phrase here and there – the road to the cliffy ending seems to be pretty straight and allows time for picking pretty flowers on the way.
So. That was the explanation for my taking the next exit and grabbing the next book on my pile. I think, I’ll go for a historical romance – highly unusual for me.
'Hi,' he says. 'Hi,' she says back, and then to her great surprise, she begins to cry. 'You know,' Nick says as he hands her a tissue from the bedside t...more'Hi,' he says. 'Hi,' she says back, and then to her great surprise, she begins to cry. 'You know,' Nick says as he hands her a tissue from the bedside table,' for all this talk about how you don't cry, you sure are sprouting a lot of water.'
This could be a conversation between me and one of my friends: What is is with me and my dripping eyes lately? I always used to read reviews of books I loved but survived with all my lashes still encased in an immaculate layer of mascara and wonder what made my fellow readers' tears spill when I didn't even feel the tell-tale burning. "The Comeback Season" is the third book this year already that had me sniffing almost non-stop and my husband, who tried to practice a really difficult piece on the guitar, to cluck his tongue with slightly annoyed pity.
Jennifer E. Smith has this very distinct voice. I've admired it already in You Are Here. It peels away your protective layers and rubs an already sore spot.
I wanted so badly to say to Ryan, the fifteen-years-old heroine, that things would get back on track eventually, but I knew she wouldn't listen to me. In contrast to her mom, who remarried, and her sister Emily, who was only three in the year of the accident, Ryan ist still not able to go forward with her life. Her view is directed back. She longs for a chance to turn back the dial to the pre-loss era of her family and resents her mom for changing dad-induced family traditions and trying to be happy with tea-drinking insurance guy and golfer Kevin. Somehow Ryan broke apart from her two best friends, who shielded and comforted her during her dark times, but made up their minds to work hard at scoring in-crowd spots at High School lately. When newcomer Nick, a fan of the underdog baseball team, the Cubs, too, actively seeks out Ryan's company inspite of his own popularity, Ryan holds back - already too used to be alone, to munch over this season's possibilities for the Cubs and her dad's would be predictions and bargains: Dad had the habit to promise outrageous things (like becoming a part-time vegetarian or walking to work) to fate should the Cubs win a game. As Ryan dares to give in to Nick's perstistent attempts at friendship - and romance - but detects a terrible secret, she spontaneously offers her own Cubs-related bargain to the baseball-gods - inspite of Nick insisting he does not believe in luck and dad's voice saying that losing points is the fun of a game, because "You never know when there might be a comeback". (view spoiler)[Jennifer E. Smith does the (in my eyes) inforgivable in this book: Until the last page we do not know if Ryan's desperate hope will be rewarded. We do not even know if Nick is still alive half a year later. As a consolation price we are offered a new addition to the family in form of a baby and a kind of experimentally forward-looking Ryan. (hide spoiler)] I wracked my brain after finishing to read and after erasing the last traces of my tears if the amount of offered hope and the degree of positive changes in the heroine's view on life had made the cut of what I demand from an outstanding book. I had to admit they didn’t really, but I am still puzzlingly satisfied and need to press the five-stars button. What on earth happened to my loathing of overly sad stories? Can you tell me?
I recommend to read this book.
TBR Pile Reduction Challenge 2011 Book #5 (challenger: Tina)(less)
This is one of those books I would not have read without the "help" of Goodreads. A lot of my friends here had been reading it last year and discussed...moreThis is one of those books I would not have read without the "help" of Goodreads. A lot of my friends here had been reading it last year and discussed it again and again. It made me curious and I picked up a battered and cheap copy at some point thinking "Well, at this price it won't hurt to give it a go". After the purchase my poor copy slumbered for a few months on my to-read shelf - wedged between constantly changing neighbors whose attention-clamoring-skills were somehow better attuned to my appetite. The book was brave, though. It hung patiently on to its backseat-position and awaited its turn with unwavering faith in its own secret superiority. Which it has proven: I was challenged to read this book by my Goodreads friend Tina last week. With a firm finger she pointed at "Water for Elephants" leaving no doubt that it would be just the thing I needed to savor. She was absolutely right. What a delightful novel! What an unexpected and wonderful ending. It was the kind of ending readers like me always secretly hope for but know that most authors are too chicken to produce because the literary world might label them sentimental, fairytale-addicted or unrealistic.
Thank you, Tina, for picking this out for me and thank you, Morgan, for scolding me months ago when we were sharing photos of our TBR piles at the Corner.
TBR Pile Reduction Challenge 2011 Book #4 (challenger: Tina)
This is it, the moment I had feared: I am sitting in front of my computer and frown. I am scrutinizing the small list of all-time-favorites displayed...moreThis is it, the moment I had feared: I am sitting in front of my computer and frown. I am scrutinizing the small list of all-time-favorites displayed on my Goodreads profile. And I know one of them has to go. It is a sad step, but inevitable. For Where She Went is simply that overwelmingly good. I really, really loved If I Stay and I anticipated the sequel from Adam's point of view like a druggie longs for his next shot, but I still wasn't prepared for the bone-shattering impact. For the turmoil of Adam's emotions after Mia dumped him without even the hint of an explanation, his fame with his band "Shooting Star" and his utter loneliness, angst and despair, his trying to go on, to cope, to cheat himself, for my strong urge to wring Mia's pretty, slender neck when the two of them meet again by fate or chance and she cheerily treats him like someone nice but essentially irrelevant from her former, pre-Julliard life.
About 30 minutes have passed since I closed the book with a soft snap and looked snotty-nosed and leaky-eyed up to my hesitant husband, who tip-toed around me not sure if mentioning breakfast to me would be in the range of acceptable things at that particular state of after-reading-shock. He has fed me rolls and mango marmelade and I have returned near enough to earth to write this review and to make the choice mentioned above.
So, seriously, if you haven't considered buying this book but are positive that a good book in your book does not indispensably have to include a paranormal creature, a murder or the end of our civilization, Do Consider Now. Reading the precessor from Mia's point of view is certainly beneficial, but not necessary.
An afterthought: Reading a six-star-plus book like this makes me wonder again why publishers choose to buy manuscripts that will inevitably balance out to be raved about by a few, hated by a lot and treated like cheap, disposable tights by most: They last a night of fun and are used to polish boots or given to the perpetually broke flatmate or sister afterwards. Dear agents and editors: Please hold out patiently. Read books like this one, repeat after me: "The real thing is out there." and keep your eyes wide open. Otherwise I'll hold you responsible for my misplaced time.
TBR Pile Reduction Challenge 2011, Book #15 (challenger = Nomes)(less)
Inspite of Jaclyn Moriarty's funky, insightful and sometimes extremely funny writing style, "The Spell Book of Listen Taylor" is in essence a rather d...moreInspite of Jaclyn Moriarty's funky, insightful and sometimes extremely funny writing style, "The Spell Book of Listen Taylor" is in essence a rather depressing book: It tells the cleverly intertwined stories of three women having each an affair and one 12-years-old girl - the one and only Alissa "Listen" Taylor -, being systematically snubbed/mobbed/cold-shouldered by her five former best friends.
I do not know why, but the helpless combination of adultery and lonely childhood makes me painfully sad. The wacky Zing Clan and their family secret (yes, I peeked at the last chapters to be in the know) did not offer enough cheerful balance to let me hitch a ride on the that's-life:-crazy-but-somehow-worth-it-wave.
I have decided to let the book go after 16 chapters (or 148 pages). But I am convinced that for lovers of contemporary, realistic and slightly cynical fiction with an unexpected twist and a big AHA-effect thrown in at the end, "Listen Taylor" is just the right thing. Really.
What I miserably fail to understand is why Macmillan offers the book as a part of their children's line. Because Listen is a young heroine? (The women are aged 28 and up.) Or because Moriarty's other titles are all young adult novels? (That would be absolute bullshit. Who says that an author cannot aim at different readerships with different books? Knowing that the book was originally sold as contemporary adult with the title I Have a Bed Made of Buttermilk Pancakes makes me gnash my teeth even harder.) Heavens, I am not one of those readers who say that children or teenagers shouldn't read books about young teachers or middle-aged mums having affairs, but I think a lot of disappointment is preprogrammed by placing a book for the wrong age group. If you pick up an adult book you should be able to do so knowingly. Same goes for the other way around. In Germany Marked and the rest of the vampie-teeenie House-of-Night-Series is sold as paranormal romance in the grown-up section. And behold what those poor, unsuspecting shoppers are treating themselves to!
To round up my review and to visualize my opinion I close with my favorite quote:
"When she got back from taking Cassie to school Fancy knew that she ought to be working on her wilderness romance. She had promised thirty thousand words to her editor by tomorrow, and she had only written eleven. Specifically: His rhinoceros smelled like a poppadom: sweaty, salty, strange and strong. Her editor would cut that line."
TBR Pile Reduction Challenge 2011, Book #16 (challenger = Nomes)(less)
Gathering Blue is not as powerful as The Giver is, but it captivated me quickly as well and offered a lot of food for thought. Recommended. "Gathering...moreGathering Blue is not as powerful as The Giver is, but it captivated me quickly as well and offered a lot of food for thought. Recommended. "Gathering Blue" is no sequel like the series suggests, but a companion novel.
Street Corner Bookers’ Pile Reduction Challenge, #20 (challenger: Morgan)(less)
I have stopped reading the sequel to The Final Empire after 131 pages although I liked it. And if there were not so many other books waiting to be rea...moreI have stopped reading the sequel to The Final Empire after 131 pages although I liked it. And if there were not so many other books waiting to be read, to be ordered, added, re-read, discovered ... I would have read "The Well of Ascension" until its very last page and would have been quite contented with the time spent with Vin, Elend and the rest of their crew. Probably I even would have rated the reading experience four stars. A strange mixture of feelings made me let it simmer, ask for a friend's opinion and finally "set it free" (I offered it to others).
I feel quite compassionate now that the book has landed on my to-swap-list: The poor little, but pagey thing has just become a true victim of consumerism. I have been earning my own bread - and reading material - for a while now and I can actually afford buying books and putting them away half-read - being half-sated, but actually fed up. 20 years ago I would not only have finished it but made it last a few days longer, because the alternative would have been re-reading my favorites and not-so-favorites for the umpteenth time.
Good old times? Good new times? I honestly do not know.(less)
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