Book Nerd Book Nerd’s Comments (group member since Dec 20, 2018)



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153021 day Willis unwittingly tuned into a treacherous plot that threatened all the colonists on Mars, and it set Jim off on a terrfying adventure that could save--or destroy--them all!
153021 Yeah, it was her first book so it may not be as good as the later ones but I like the fantasy feel of the sci-fi story.
I want to read all the Hainnish stories. I should read Planet of Exile soon.
Feb 17, 2025 09:10AM

153021 I wanted to start getting through some long books so I'm reading Anna Karenena. It's definitely not my favorite so far. Anna isn't really the main character, there's a cast of characters, all pretty obnoxious. Levin is the only one I like at all.
Feb 14, 2025 06:28PM

153021 ’Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
’Salem’s Lot by Stephen King

439 pages

Group Total: 47,122
Feb 14, 2025 06:26PM

153021 I finished it. Really enjoyed the reread.
Feb 10, 2025 04:34AM

153021 Just about everybody in the world knows this is a vampire story so I forgot that until the end of part one it tries to make this seem like a ghost story or murderer. There's only that one mention of anemia as a clue, easily overlooked.
Feb 09, 2025 08:22AM

153021 Yeah, King's not known for amazing prose, he's known for great stories, great character work, and portraying real life. He's also often criticized for his endings but I usually don't agree, keeping in mind that I read a lot of these in high school.

Jen wrote: "I guess this is his second novel so maybe not much development between the two. Book Nerd, you had said later works are written better, no?"
I think he's written muich better stories than Carrie. I'm sure his prose improves as he writes but I'm really not sure when.

I'm about a quarter of the way through. It's been a looong time since I read this so a lot of it is practically new. It's really Stephen King's Dracula.
153021 Jen wrote: "I loved this book! Wouldn't call it horror but I guess it's akin?

My copy had an afterword by author Jonathan Lethem which I found very insightful and deepened my appreciation all the more. How sad she died at 48 so we have only so much work from her. I will go through her oeuvre slowly to make it last :)"

I liked it a lot too.
We're reading The Haunting of Hill House in May.

Jen wrote: "Oh- question... perhaps it escapes me because of my reading pause- anyone know or remember how old the narrator is? I've just learned Constance/older sis is ~28. Cousin who has just arrived is a bit older than her, 32, I think. Disregard. I've read she's 18, so.. she's kinda eerie since her behavior seems much younger."
Yeah, she's clearly stunted by what happened.
"cozy-creepy" is a great descriptrion.
Feb 04, 2025 07:41AM

153021 Welcome to all the new members.
Feb 03, 2025 07:47PM

153021 Rocannon’s World by Ursula K. Le Guin
Rocannon’s World by Ursula K. Le Guin
116 pages
Group Total: 36,283
153021 A sci-fi book that starts off with a fantasy quest.
I didn't realize how short this one is. Reading slowly I'll be done in a couple of days.
Feb 01, 2025 06:23PM

153021 Cool, I haven't read this one since high school more than thirty years ago.
Jan 31, 2025 08:40PM

153021 Welcome Mix and Michael.
Jan 31, 2025 08:39PM

153021 Thousands of miles away from the small township of 'Salem's Lot, two terrified people, a man and a boy, still share the secrets of those clapboard houses and tree-lined streets. They must return to 'Salem's Lot for a final confrontation with the unspeakable evil that lives on in the town.
153021 Rocannon’s World was Ursula K. Le Guin’s first published novel, by Ace Publishing in 1966.

This novel also introduced Le Guin’s brilliant Hainish Cycle, where she describes the universe as having been settled and re-discovered by a race founded on Hain (not Earth, or Terra) as she identified our planet. Le Guin also introduced her instant communicator, the ansible, that has been used in other author’s books and has proven a uniquely necessary concept in the science fiction genre.

This is fun and reveals some of the talent that Le Guin would later display in mastery. Le Guin’s description of different alien races was vaguely reminiscent of Edgar Rice Burroughs.
153021 It's still January and nothing wrong with being a little late.
Jan 30, 2025 04:36AM

153021 Space Cadet by Robert A. Heinlein
Space Cadet by Robert A. Heinlein
222 pages

Group total: 33,364
153021 This was written about forty years before I was reading sci-fi but I would have loved it as a kid.
153021 It's a pretty quick read.
153021 This is the seminal novel of a young man's education as a member of an elite, paternalistic non-military organization of leaders dedicated to preserving human civilization, the Solar Patrol, a provocative parallel to Heinlein's famous later novel, Starship Troopers.
Only the best and brightest--the strongest and the most courageous--ever manage to become Space Cadets, at the Space Academy. They are in training to be come part of the elite guard of the solar system, accepting missions others fear, taking risks no others dare, and upholding the peace of the solar system for the benefit of all.
But before Matt Dodson can earn his rightful place in the ranks, his mettle is to be tested in the most severe and extraordinary ways--ways that change him forever, from the midwestern American boy into a man of the Solar Patrol.