false 23 641 436 true 5674912 read 1 true 1299046 currently-reading 185 true 1299045 to-read 17 true 1324869 paused-reading 2 true 5531633 i-quit 249 false 1423859 books-for-kids 160 false 1392428 own-it 105 false 1693957 books-for-school 81 false 4018444 non-fiction 70 false 4170970 classics 37 false 6630242 history 35 false 5470141 historical-fiction 30 false 3143604 recs-from-friends 28 false 5501224 speed-read 26 false 5123112 romance 25 false 2882052 good-for-a-reread 24 false 4547337 the-cover-was-cooler 22 false 9023390 fantasy 22 false 2477242 wee-bit-overrated 18 false 6542435 books-i-often-recommend 18 false 4141172 so-very-sad 18 false 5581634 feminist 18 false 4066855 wwii-era 14 false 5118002 down-south-yall 13 false 3835195 my-mom-might-like 1 false 5374853 first-reads http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/38805022 to: Neverwhere (Paperback) by Neil Gaiman
bookshelves: fantasy, the-cover-was-cooler
This story was inspired by the screenplay? Well that explains everything. No wonder I felt like I was just reading along the plotline of a movie the whole time, which is the exact opposite experience I want when I read a book.

Still, there was some life here. There's your gangly hero, good-but-evil bad guy, dull but inspiring princess...obviously it was not a story that inspired me, but I can see how it might for others. The fantasy of it was exciting, and I truly appreciated the London-below element of it all. If Gaiman would take this setting and apply it to different, less cliche characters, it might be something I'd want to read and recommend.

Unfortunately, it was neither. Not to be too harsh, but reading this book makes me also question why Gaiman has such a loyal following of readers. Perhaps it's because the stories are a bit formulaic, in the same sense that people criticize Dan Brown? The Da Vinci Code is a completely different story, but you have to admit it shares many of the same plot elements that Neverwhere applies: heroes on a quest for some unattainable object that no one has ever found before, getting by with sheer luck, strength, and specific knowledge.

Anyway, if I read the wrong Gaiman book as my first, please let me know. I'd be willing to try another if you can recommend a better, more interesting piece, since Neverwhere certainly was not it. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/81364553 Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul (Hardcover) by Karen Abbott
bookshelves: non-fiction, recs-from-friends, to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/81250121 Serena: A Novel (Hardcover) by Ron Rash
bookshelves: to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/81217604 The Confederate General Rides North: A Novel (Hardcover) by Amanda C. Gable
bookshelves: to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/80502349 The Symposium (Paperback) by Plato
bookshelves: classics, non-fiction, to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/10295619 to: The Time Traveler's Wife (Paperback) by Audrey Niffenegger
bookshelves: recs-from-friends, romance, speed-read
Okay. I have been reluctant to read this book for some time now, mostly because it has come so highly recommended to me. Somehow I always end up being the Debbie Downer of the group and the one person who can't get into the book, but happily (?), the situation changed here.

This is a book to appreciate, although I did not fully give it a fourth star until at least three quarters of the way through the book. It was not until then that I fully accepted the situation that Clare and Henry are in, and the tragedy of it all finally hit me.

Time travel is a staggering thing, and it took me a long while to wrap my head around Niffenegger's version of how it happens. I think what makes this story go beyond that, however, is that time travel doesn't just happen to Henry; it is inexplicably a part of Clare too, because Henry happens to her.

It's difficult for me to imagine a life like Clare's. Her future is planned out for her in her earliest childhood memories, and I find myself pondering the insanity of this even more now that I've finished reading the book. If Henry had not been the love of her life, would it have been an even greater curse? Was it even a blessing, the fact that she was trapped in this choiceless relationship? Ooh, it is a great thing to ponder.

Overall, it was the time travel aspect itself that hooked me the most. Niffenegger so carefully laid out her plot, and I really love a story that overwhelms me with its attention to detail. As for the characters, I never really liked Henry and Clare. They weren't exactly likable people, but it was their love and their passion that make them worthy for readers to follow.

I'm going to think about this one for a while. Despite being a fairly easy read, it's going to take me some more time to digest. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/80072647 Beautiful Creatures (Hardcover) by Kami Garcia
bookshelves: to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/57631922 to: A Reliable Wife (Hardcover) by Robert Goolrick
bookshelves: romance, speed-read
I had no idea I was getting myself into such a speed read with this. It probably took me around six or so hours to complete, yet I don't think this is a poor reflection on the writing. On the contrary, Goolrick's stark, cold prose elegantly captures the bitter Wisconsin setting - and internally the darkened hearts of our main characters.

I know there are hundreds of books out there set in the wild, cold wilderness of midwestern America, and somehow this is the first one I've ever taken the time to read. Unusual, it is, but not a pioneer of any sort in its genre, A Reliable Wife still managed to captivate me. I'm not sure yet if I'm haunted (or if I will be) by its characters, but so complex and mature they are that for once I've found myself not hating any one in particular or wishing their story to be of a different outcome. No, Goolrick wraps this one up quite successfully, despite a plot line that could have very easily spiraled out of control. Even in its most primitive moments, though, an element of control and author's care is tenderly laid across every scene and sentence, often a little too clearly and painstakingly, but there for the reader to feel its presence.

But, good Lord. Do not let the stark text fool you: Goolrick loves a good sex scene, and he is certainly not one to hold back from creating graphic, almost flush-worthy paragraphs that will have you embarrassed to pass this book on to your elderly grandmother. Even in the non-sex scenes, Goolrick is toying with it. Sex is everywhere - in a character's private thoughts, the scent of a lady's perfume, a rustle of fabric - literally, it is the pulse of this novel that burns to make you uncomfortable and turned on.

As a novel experience, I'd give 3.5 stars, but I'm rounding up to 4 for the passion Goolrick evidently used to shape this book. A Reliable Wife shocked me at times, and but I'm grateful for Goolrick pushing the bounds of these three very real characters - along with my own boundaries as a reader and person.

Another thing: more men should read this. The title does come off as too much of the chick lit variety, but don't shy away. This is a triangle of characters that readers of any gender can appreciate. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79782126 The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (The BuckShaw Chronicles, #1) by Alan Bradley
bookshelves: to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79403462 to: Little Black Book of Stories (Hardcover) by A.S. Byatt
bookshelves: wee-bit-overrated
This would be a 2.5, but I'll bump it up to 3 for writing quality alone.

Not sure how I feel about this one. Honestly, the reviews on the back of the book blew it so out of proportion that I felt I should feel underwhelmed, so the fact that I am is all the more disappointing. Ms. Byatt certainly knows how to turn a phrase, but her stories never found the niche I desired. Were they intended to be creepy? Insightful? Mesmerizing? One cannot know.

I think I hold short stories to a higher standard because I've read some truly incredible ones over the years, so finishing all five of these with barely feeling an ounce of fascination for the character stories is another reason I rate so harshly.

I do believe the last story, "The Pink Ribbon," was the highlight of the collection. This story did captivate me on a larger scale, and the final paragraphs gave me the "Aha" moment I desired. Short, sweet, and a conclusion I agreed with but still surprised me, I wish more of the book had been like this. ]]>