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May 06
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December 30, 2008
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Bess
is currently reading:
How to Write Songs on Guitar: A Guitar Playing and Song Writing Course (Paperback)
by
Rikky Rooksby
bookshelves:
currently-reading
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my rating:
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December 26, 2008
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Bess
is currently reading:
The Grapes of Wrath (Paperback)
by
John Steinbeck
bookshelves:
currently-reading
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my rating:
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December 23, 2008
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Bess
gave  to:
Tsar (Alexander Hawke, #5)
by
Ted Bell
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my rating:
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read in December, 2008
Bess said:
"My stepmother occasionally gives me books, and while they're often not exactly my cup of tea, I've learned to stop for a minute & realize that my stepmother is the reason I still have a job. She's one of the only people I know who buys books! She d...more
My stepmother occasionally gives me books, and while they're often not exactly my cup of tea, I've learned to stop for a minute & realize that my stepmother is the reason I still have a job. She's one of the only people I know who buys books! She doesn't take them out of the library or obtain them secondhand at the Strand -- no, she'll be at a store shopping for other, completely unrelated things, and suddenly be like, "Hmm, that looks like a cool book, I think I'll buy it." Totally randomly -- without regard for author popularity, good reviews, etc. She'll just see a book and casually spend $30 on it because it catches her eye. And she does this FREQUENTLY! In hardcover!
So she gave me this one, and at first I conveniently "left" it at her house, and then I felt bad (for the reasons above), so the next time I saw her I made a point of retrieving it, and made a vow to myself that, GODDAMMIT I WILL READ THIS THING COVER-TO-COVER COME HELL OR HIGHWATER!
Finished it today, and must say that the writing quality is surprisingly, refreshingly -- dare I say -- excellent for a thriller. But that's the only reason I'm giving it more than zero stars.
If this book contained any more testosterone, it would have given me a female boner. It's got it all: superfluous acronyms, pages and pages of weaponry stats, post-arms-shed "man-to-man" duels, references to any objects besides actual human-being men as "she", sailboats, submarines, zeppelins, helicopters, motorcycles, yachts, various politically-important (and of course simultaneously bombshell) women on multiple continents sweating and/or outright pleasuring themselves in the mere presence of the hero... I mean, the list goes on and on. And the irony is that the male protagonist doesn't really "do" a whole hell of a lot. He mainly just strides around lookin' pertty.
But the writing is more than decent -- poetic, even. It's actually kind of cute that a guy would take the time to read this instead of just renting porn or going on a shooting spree at the mall.
I sure wish authors like this would use their powers for good rather than evil.
(less)
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December 09, 2008
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Bess
gave  to:
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Books of Wonder)
by
L. Frank Baum
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my rating:
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read in December, 2008
Bess said:
"I never read these books as a kid for some reason. So far everything is largely the same as the movie -- except for the part where Dorothy goes BACK INTO her crashed-down in Munchkinland house TO CHANGE. I kid you not. I'm only about halfway throu...more
I never read these books as a kid for some reason. So far everything is largely the same as the movie -- except for the part where Dorothy goes BACK INTO her crashed-down in Munchkinland house TO CHANGE. I kid you not. I'm only about halfway through the first volume, and besides the Scarecrow being all existential and the Tin Woodman's long-ass, distressing and not-made-for-children's-reading history, the only thing that sort of varies from the movie is when the they meet a pack of "kalidahs" (sp?) -- which are animals with tiger heads and bear bodies.
WILL ADVISE.(less)
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December 05, 2008
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December 03, 2008
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Bess
gave to:
Breaking Dawn (Twilight, #4)
by
Stephenie Meyer
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my rating:
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Bess said:
"I don't think I've ever been at quite such a loss for where to begin in criticizing an entire series. Let me just start by saying that if you're a Mormon author, it's probably never a good idea to write about the "imprinting" of full-grown...more
I don't think I've ever been at quite such a loss for where to begin in criticizing an entire series. Let me just start by saying that if you're a Mormon author, it's probably never a good idea to write about the "imprinting" of full-grown men-werewolves on newborn girl-babies. If that had happened in Book 1 instead of 3, I probably would have been creeped out enough not to continue, but unfortunately I was already hooked.
Secondly, knowing what I know about Mormons (i.e., knowing what I'm assuming everyone knows about Mormons), I guess this series can't be classified as the openly anti-feminist propaganda that it would be if it were written by anyone else, because Mormons are reared to truly, honestly KNOW IN THEIR HEARTS that women and men are unequal: that men play sports and fight while women are clumsy and cook dinner. I really hope the whole Princess thing is over by the time I have daughters (if/when), because it's not like I'd forbid them from reading a book, but honestly, this? The main female protagonist is LITERALLY carried around and rescued by strong male superheroes for the duration. I hope my own kids are weird and misfitty enough by then to be smoking cloves and sneaking out to coffeehouses to read FAR less misogynistic vampire YA lit than this.
Thirdly, thing about it that pisses me off the most is that this author CAN write! Lots of her writing is very literary and poetic -- her characters and dialogue are very well-thought-out and leave lasting impressions, etc. -- and this could totally have been what they're calling it in the press (the "female" Harry Potter or whatever), but it's not because (1) all the female figures are portrayed as secondary to their male counterparts, in this weird, Mormon way that you can't fully place since it's not CONSCIOUSLY MEANT to be that way -- it just naturally comes out that way since that's how Mormons are wired -- and (2) it's nowhere NEAR as mindblowingly creative and heartwrenchingly amazing as HP.
Just to clarify: I'm not ranking on Mormons. It was just by chance that I came to learn that a woman of the LDS faith wrote the books, and I don't know if I would have made it through them otherwise -- i.e., if I'd thought they were PURPOSELY anti-feminist.
I'm sure there's more but I can't think straight since my brain is fried from, hmm, I don't know, READING YOUNG ADULT MORMON VAMPIRE BOOKS MUCH?(less)
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November 06, 2008
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Bess
gave to:
Eclipse (Twilight, #3)
by
Stephenie Meyer
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my rating:
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read in November, 2008
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October 27, 2008
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Bess
gave to:
The Knitting Answer Book: Solutions to Every Problem You'll Ever Face; Answers to Every Question You'll Ever Ask (Paperback)
by
Margaret Radcliffe
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my rating:
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Bess said:
"This book really cuts to the chase, avoiding all of the unworthily confusing knitting jargon and ridiculously unnecessary acronyms that have been invented by people with way too much time on their hands. In Q & A format, it answers questions like "...more
This book really cuts to the chase, avoiding all of the unworthily confusing knitting jargon and ridiculously unnecessary acronyms that have been invented by people with way too much time on their hands. In Q & A format, it answers questions like "I just picked up my knitting after not touching it for a year and am trying to determine where the hell I was. How do I figure it out without shooting myself in the eye?" with answers such as "Just make sure you're holding it so that the yarn is on the left needle." instead of "KTOG PTOG YO blah blah", which is what most other books would advise.
My mom has purchased a copy of this book for everyone she knows who's ever touched a piece of yarn this side o' the Mississipp'. She swears by it.(less)
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