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April 25
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Jason
gave
 
to:
The Appeal (Hardcover)
by John Grisham
bookshelves:
read-and-didn-t-like
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my rating:
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read in March, 2008
Jason said:
"John Grisham's books have been getting steadily worse, ever since the Painted House (another lame book). What happened to the excellent author that produced such books as The Client, The Pelican Brief, The Street Lawyer, and Runaway Jury? I think h...more
John Grisham's books have been getting steadily worse, ever since the Painted House (another lame book). What happened to the excellent author that produced such books as The Client, The Pelican Brief, The Street Lawyer, and Runaway Jury? I think he's out to lunch. I keep reading his new books, hoping he'll come back, but so far, no luck.
This is his worst in a long line of bad books. Stay away from this one, as well as his other latest, The Innocent Man. They are boring, long, and a chore to get through. Plus, the Appeal has THE WORST ending, of any book, ever. Don't read it. It's a waste of your time....less
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March 16
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Jason
gave
to:
Twilight (Twilight Series, Book 1)
by Stephenie Meyer
bookshelves:
old-favorites
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in December, 2006
Jason said:
"Ok. There is a LOT of hype over all of Meyer's vampire books. Girls and women all over the nation are gripping them as they drive and discussing them in bathroom stalls. As a male trying desperately to understand women, I decided to give them a try...more
Ok. There is a LOT of hype over all of Meyer's vampire books. Girls and women all over the nation are gripping them as they drive and discussing them in bathroom stalls. As a male trying desperately to understand women, I decided to give them a try, at least so I could maybe understand the hype. This is my review of the trilogy, not just Twilight:
I admit, Meyer has a great idea and I think it is a little bit Harry Potterish - mythical creatures living in our world, but hidden in their own world. Then there is the mortal girl who gets caught in the middle, in the world of vampires and werewolves. So yeah, I was hooked, and I read them all. It is a great idea and Meyer's writing isn't too horrible, so you can get through them. However, I do have a few points:
1) Meyer is not a very good author. Her characters are flat and uninteresting, especially Bella. In fact, I hate Bella. She's clingy and an emotional wreck in most parts of the book. I never even got a decent description of her so I could judge whether or not she was pretty. I never figured out her motivations and never felt like I was in her head. I also could never figure out why these awesome guys like the perfect vampire Edward and the stud muffin werewolf Jacob fawn over her. She's a loser.
2) Emotions and Romance. Gag me with a maggot. It is so gushy that I had to skip parts of it just to keep my sanity. Meyer spends lots of time describing little details about Bella's boring life, especially all her emotions. I guess that's the part that appeals to some women out there, but I found it all annoying and detracting from what I thought was cool - the monsters and their world.
3) Follow up. I was particularly disappointed with the major vampire war (with werewolf allies) in the 3rd book. I was SO excited to read it, and it was so disappointing. She hardly describes it at all. She could have done so much more with it. Instead, we're stuck with wussy Bella in a tent. That is the general story of the trilogy. The parts that could have a lot of potential are disappointing, and Meyer spends her energy and focus describing every emotion Bella has at every given moment. Honestly, do women REALLY have all those emotions, or is Meyer being melodramatic? I think if I had them in such doses I'd explode.
All in all, I think another author should take this fantastic idea and retell it how it should be told. Make the main girl character (Bella) gorgeous and mostly perfect. It just makes no sense for perfect Edward and awesome Jacob to have any interest in Bella how she is. She's not even remotely interesting. Make her a strong female figure, like Laura Croft or something. Ha ha. Second, make Edward and Jacob a lot more interesting. Throw in more love interests and challenges to spice things up. Give them personalities that don't involve fawning over Bella. Finally, flesh out the whole plot involving werewolves, the Volturi, and vampires. Give us more violence, blood, intrigue, politics, history, and death. Make it INTERESTING, for crying out loud!
So yeah, that is a male's perspective on these books that are gripping the women of the nation. I do recommend all you guys to go out and read them. That way when you tell women that you read them, you can lie and say you really liked them. That will make you appear as a sensitive and romantic male figure and will guarantee that the females in your life will like you...or at least will look at you twice. ...less
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Jason
gave
to:
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl (Paperback)
by Anne Frank
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my rating:
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Jason
gave
to:
The Giving Tree (Hardcover)
by Shel Silverstein
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Jason
gave
to:
The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, Part 1)
by J.R.R. Tolkien
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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Jason
gave
to:
Animal Farm (Paperback)
by George Orwell
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Jason
gave
to:
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Paperback)
by Mark Twain
bookshelves:
old-favorites
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my rating:
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Jason said:
"It's no wonder that this book is a classic. I LOVE Mark Twain. He's funny, interesting, creates fascinating plots and characters, and immerses his readers in time.
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Jason
gave
to:
Lord of the Flies (Paperback)
by William Golding
bookshelves:
read-and-didn-t-like
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in January, 1997
Jason said:
"Like many students who have endured this country's public education system, I was forced to read this book as a High School student. I hated it then and I still hate it now. It is gross, depressing, violent, and disturbing. Why it ever became a so...more
Like many students who have endured this country's public education system, I was forced to read this book as a High School student. I hated it then and I still hate it now. It is gross, depressing, violent, and disturbing. Why it ever became a so-called "classic" is beyond me. I remember my teacher blabbing about the author's view that mankind is evil. That view is obvious throughout the story. Since I don't agree with it I guess that is one reason I didn't like this book. So don't read this one despite whatever those kooky English teachers may tell you....less
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Jason
gave
to:
Angels And Demons (Paperback)
by Dan Brown
bookshelves:
old-favorites
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in June, 2007
Jason said:
"This book is much better than The Da Vinci Code. Dan Brown has a very gripping writing style that keeps you hooked, but it is all gimmicks. There really is no deep substance to the characters or even the plot. It's all clever fun fluff, and even w...more
This book is much better than The Da Vinci Code. Dan Brown has a very gripping writing style that keeps you hooked, but it is all gimmicks. There really is no deep substance to the characters or even the plot. It's all clever fun fluff, and even while you are reading it and severely hooked, you realize that it is all fluff and gimmicks and you sort of kick yourself for falling for it. He's not a very good writer, but he is very good at hooking people to the plot by keeping a very fast pace and by providing mysteries and puzzles. So it is fun and interesting, but not deep. But that's okay....less
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