Ivanna S.

Ivanna S. is currently reading

An American Demon: A Memoir
by Jack Grisham

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Ivanna S. is currently reading

A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again
by David Foster Wallace

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Ivanna S. rated a book 3 of 5 stars

Pattern Recognition (Blue Ant, #1)
by William Gibson

read in June, 2012

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Ivanna S. rated a book 4 of 5 stars

L.A. Confidential (L.A. Quartet #3)
by James Ellroy

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Stone Butch Blues
by Leslie Feinberg

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Ivanna S. rated a book 1 of 5 stars

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1)
by Stieg Larsson

read in July, 2009

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I really don't understand the critical orgasms over this book. Amazon pushed it on me for weeks, and the minute I stepped into Borders an employee ran over and recommended it. Thinking, this really better be the best book I've ever read, I took it up...more I really don't understand the critical orgasms over this book. Amazon pushed it on me for weeks, and the minute I stepped into Borders an employee ran over and recommended it. Thinking, this really better be the best book I've ever read, I took it up to the checkstand, where the register guy asked: "Did one of our employees recommend this?" Um, yeah. And Amazon, too. So of course I asked him why.

"Oh," he replied, "we've been told to recommend it this week." That should have tipped me off right there: recommendations handed down by management. Pfft. I hesitate to suggest a conspiracy, but - did someone end up with too many of these in a warehouse in Duluth? Did Oprah make a bet with someone that she could pull strings and make the most boring book in the world a best seller?

But I am suckered in by numerous good reviews and a fairly interesting book jacket description, so I buy it and take it with me on a trip camping with my family. Of course it totally sucks. I'm kicking myself because I feel like I really should have known. But the reviews - ALL the reviews - are absolutely positive from generally reliable sources, so I just DO. NOT. UNDERSTAND.

Here's why I don't like it: I am about a third of the way into it, and literally hundreds of characters have been introduced. NOT ONE of them has done anything interesting, so I am finding it nearly impossible to keep them straight. I am the type that will be more or less satisfied reading the back of a cereal box, but this is BAD. I mean bad. The mystery is dull. The who done it is more like a who cares. The two primary characters are so far not very likable at all - in fact, the review descriptions are more interesting than the book descriptions of them. I'm betting part of the problem is the translation, presumably - but god, there is just some boring writing in here, too. "He went to the store. He bought milk. He was cold. He went home." - BOR-RING! I am not really exaggerating, either.

Actual content:
"He put on a pot of coffee and made himself two sandwiches. He had not eaten a proper meal all day, but he was strangely uninterested in food. he offered the cat a piece of sausage and some liverwurst. After drinking the coffee, he took the cigarettes out of his jacket pocket and opened the pack."

Again, I'm willing to give the author the benefit of the doubt with the translating, but I wouldn't have gotten out of high school writing with that kind of boring and utterly pointless description. It sets the tone of "lonely dude being lonely" but really: two sandwiches? why two? sausage and liverwurst - fascinating.

That's really just a page I opened to randomly - there is much worse. I am truly bitterly resentful of every minute I am stuck on the side of this mountain without a good book to read. I'm ready to browse the mini mart down the way and read the real estate magazines instead. Why have all the reviewers and Amazon steered me SO WRONG???

I am not trying to insult anyone's taste - so please don't get mad about my opinion. But if you love this book, please - tell me WHY. What am I missing?(less)

Ivanna S. rated a book 5 of 5 stars

Shit Magnet: One Man's Miraculous Ability to Absorb the World's Guilt
by Jim Goad

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Really humanizing. I read Answer Me! and mostly hated the fanzine, but appreciated it in a lot of ways, as well. This autobiography was enlightening, honest, interesting and well-written - and made me really really sad. All the wrong people vilified...more

Ivanna S. rated a book 3 of 5 stars

Incendiary
by Chris Cleave (Goodreads Author)

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Ivanna S. rated a book 4 of 5 stars

Little Bee
by Chris Cleave (Goodreads Author)

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Ivanna S. rated a book 3 of 5 stars

Olive Kitteridge
by Elizabeth Strout

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Ivanna S. is currently reading An American Demon: A Memoir by Jack Grisham	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 19, 2012 11:32am
Ivanna S. is currently reading A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 19, 2012 11:31am
Ivanna S. rated a book 3 of 5 stars Pattern Recognition (Blue Ant, #1) by William Gibson read in June, 2012	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 19, 2012 11:30am
Ivanna S. rated a book 4 of 5 stars L.A. Confidential (L.A. Quartet #3) by James Ellroy	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 19, 2012 11:29am
Ivanna S. wants to read Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 14, 2011 02:53pm
Ivanna S. rated a book 1 of 5 stars The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1) by Stieg Larsson read in July, 2009	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I really don't understand the critical orgasms over this book. Amazon pushed it on me for weeks, and the minute I stepped into Borders an employee ran over and recommended it. Thinking, this really better be the best book I've ever read, I took it up...more
Mar 20, 2011 09:16pm · see review
Ivanna S. rated a book 5 of 5 stars Shit Magnet: One Man's Miraculous Ability to Absorb the World's Guilt by Jim Goad	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Really humanizing. I read Answer Me! and mostly hated the fanzine, but appreciated it in a lot of ways, as well. This autobiography was enlightening, honest, interesting and well-written - and made me really really sad. All the wrong people vilified...more
Mar 20, 2011 08:44pm · see review
Ivanna S. rated a book 3 of 5 stars Incendiary by Chris Cleave (Goodreads Author)	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 20, 2011 08:41pm
Ivanna S. rated a book 4 of 5 stars Little Bee by Chris Cleave (Goodreads Author)	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 20, 2011 08:41pm
Ivanna S. rated a book 3 of 5 stars Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 20, 2011 08:40pm

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