false 13 1091 416 true 5627884 read 2 true 4112617 currently-reading 673 true 4112600 to-read 282 false 4292684 young-adult 224 false 5415667 1001-books-to-read-before-you-die 181 false 4295129 classics 148 false 4295132 historical-fiction 116 false 4295130 modern-classics 112 false 4295136 history-books 105 false 5193734 bbc-big-reads 64 false 4295133 nonfiction 61 false 4295260 sci-fi-and-fantasy 51 false 5306341 modern-fiction 29 false 4483058 mla-s-books-every-adult-should-read 18 false 6187106 pulitzer-prize-winners 16 false 5236731 booker-prize-winners 16 false 4295300 graphic-novel http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/42434935 to: Graceling (Hardcover) by Kristin Cashore
bookshelves: young-adult
From everything I heard about this book, I expected it to be amazing. Easily a five-star, one of those increasingly rare YA books that make me remember why I LOVE the genre so much. But in the end I was disappointed. It's not a bad book--it still ranks four stars--but the second half fell flat for me and failed to live up to both the hype and the promise of the first half.

The first half was great. Romantic, exciting, awesome Grace, awesome fight scenes, I liked Katsa's character and her growth as a person. And then, when Katsa and Po left their kingdom and went on their quest of saving Bitterblue/her mother, I felt like I was reading a completely different (and not nearly as good) book with the same characters.

(1) The book went from Katsa/Po to Katsa/Bitterblue roadtrip adventure...and the entire journey of Katsa and Bitterblue turned out to be pointless because the villain decided to meet them at their destination.

(2) The villain turned out to be the one-dimensional I Am Evil Because I Just Am type of villain, which is disappointing. I don't need the equally lame I'm Evil Because Daddy Abused Me Or Mommy Didn't Love Me Enough backstory that some authors try to shoehorn in. But I need SOME motivation/background/personality, SOMETHING. I guess he's just evil for the lolz?

(3) Resolution to the villain plot seemed way too easy. The ending just felt a bit anticlimactic to me.

(4) I find the debate about Katsa's views on sex/marriage/children in these reviews really interesting. Personally, I felt that the Katsa/Po romance got way less interesting after they slept together, but I am a sucker for UST (unresolved sexual tension) and there wasn't any real conflict after they hooked up (Po's angst at the end too lame to count) to keep the relationship dynamic. Plus, the whole 360 from We're Just Friends! to Wham, Bam, Thank You Ma'am! seemed really fast.

Okay, and this is neither here nor there, but Po is a really dumb name for the male lead. Basically, I think this was a good but flawed novel. I wish I found it as amazingly amazing as so many others do, but I think it's a good first effort and I can see potential for her future books. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77521939 Confections of a Closet Master Baker (Hardcover) by Gesine Bullock-Prado
bookshelves: nonfiction, to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77519622 to: The Aspern Papers (Dover Thrift Editions) by Henry James
bookshelves: classics
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77519598 to: Daisy Miller (Paperback) by Henry James
bookshelves: classics
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77519520 Chronicle of a Death Foretold (Paperback) by Gabriel García Márquez
bookshelves: modern-classics, to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/238564-what-will-you-do-differently Bonnie made a comment in the The Seasonal Reading Challenge group:

The Fall challenge I was "on" and had to finish. The Winter challenge I'm going to be "off." When I complete a challenge I always read books just to get the points; not because I want to read the book or because I enjoyed it.

I'm going home for two weeks for Christmas and I want to spend the time I have with a library reading what I WANT, not what is necessary for the challenge. After that, I need to finish up the books I own because I'm leaving Japan for good in July and need to get through and then sell/give away nearly all my books. Which, again, means I need to read the books I have and not necessarily books that fit the challenge.

That said, there are some tasks for Winter that look really fun (and some that I'm really glad I'm giving myself the chance to opt out of). In the spring, depending on the tasks and how far through the books-i-own pile I'm through, I might try to finish again. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77518621 The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (Hardcover) by Jacqueline Kelly
bookshelves: to-read, young-adult
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77518577 Secret Speakers and the Search for Selador's Gate (paperback, audiobook) by Karey (K.S.R. Kingworth) Shane
bookshelves: to-read, young-adult
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/238813-pj-reads-task-fun-with-the-dewey-decimal-system Bonnie made a comment in the The Seasonal Reading Challenge group:

Okay, so I want to double check that I'm getting this right.

I'm probably going to use Saving Francesca, at 256 pages. 256 is a no longer used number, so I'll go up/down 125. That gives me

130 Parapsychology & occultism
131 Occult methods for achieving well-being
132 No longer used -- formerly Mental derangements

381 Internal commerce (Domestic trade)
382 International commerce (Foreign trade)
383 Postal communication

Can I use something with ghosts in it like Give Up the Ghost for paranormal or something episotal like 84, Charing Cross Road for postal communication?

From 256, going down 250 gets me to computers (ugh) and going up gets me this:

504 Not assigned or no longer used
505 Serial publications
506 Organizations & management
507 Education, research, related topics
508 Natural history

Could I use The Third Chimpanzee The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal? Is that natural history (I should know this, but I don't and wikipedia wasn't too helpful)? ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/238788-10-2-louis-louis Bonnie made a comment in the The Seasonal Reading Challenge group:

(1) Could I use Feathers? Apparently the main character has a deaf brother.

Anyone else have suggestions? I can't think of any out of hand. ]]>