Challenge: 50 Books discussion
Finish Line 2011
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Heather P's 50 books challenge, Round 2! (2011)
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My thesis is due in a few months as well. Good luck to you!
Go Heather! Even if you don't make it all the way to 50, the journey is still worth it. :-)
Simply recording the books you have reads is the most enjoyable aspect of these lists!
Haha, my thesis has been getting in my way too! Good luck and enjoy it!
Thanks for th encouragement, guys! I agree, Amanda, that the fun is in recording your reads, so am looking forward to seeing how everyone's reading progresses over the year!
1. Breathless- Dean Koontz (3 stars)Ahh, Dean Koontz, King of rivetting chapters and disappointing endings. In all my years of reading, I've yet to come across another author who unravels a story so effectively that you cannot put the book down, then consistenly fails (practically every time) to deliver a satisfactory conclusion to said story. It's a rare talent, indeed!
Breathless is essentially two books rolled into one. On the one hand, it's the story of the discovery of two incredibly strange beings and the efforts of the US Government to suppress the knowledge of their existence. On the other hand, it's the story of a sadistic killer hell-bent on comandeering the life of his identical twin brother, and the supernatural twists he encounters along his path.
The two stories KIND OF overlap towards the end of the book, but not nearly enough to give the reader a sense of cohesion between the story lines. I felt that the killer story-line was more effectively told, but it was also the more redundant of the two.
For the last few years, Dean Koontz seems to have forsaken qualitity for quantity in his writing. I think it's great that his wonderfully creative mind is churning out interesting idea after interesting idea (and I'm sure it's more profitable than ever!), but I really wish that he'd go back to writing those tomes of books filled with beautiful, rich characters and worlds ala Dark Rivers of the Heart or Shadow Fires, rather than the short "mehs" he produces these days.
2. Darkness Under the Sun- Dean Koontz (4 stars)After bagging Dean Koontz in my last review, I now go ahead and give him 4 stars! This was an excellent novella, essentially a prequel (though also a stand-alone story) to What the Night Knows.
It's a wonderfully creepy little book, detailing Alton Blackwood (the villian in the WTNK)'s encounter with a young boy, which led to his decision to move from killing single individuals to entire families. I don't think Koontz was entirely successful in conveying how exactly this encounter led to Blackwood's decision, but the novella was still excellently done and extremely intense!
I read this before reading WTNK, but I'd recommend that people read it afterwards, as I felt that I missed out on many subtle nuances that I otherwise would have noticed had I been more familiar with the characters. I still don't think I would have understood his rationale for changing his criminal behaviour, but you never know!
3. What the Night Knows- Dean Koontz (4 stars)This book, Kootz's latest, is a breath of fresh air and marks a return to traditional Koontzness, following his last few years of mediocrity. For a long time now his serial-killer books have been so much better than his supernatural books, and this is no exception (though one could argue that this qualifies as both a serial-killer and a supernatural novel, so maybe that's the winning formula!). The book was exciting and tense, with excellent characters and great plot development. As is usually the case with Koontz, the ending left a little to be desired, but only a little. Overall, an excellent effort by Koontz and hopefully a sign of what's to come from him!
4. Misery- Stephen King (5 stars)This book was INSANE! It was my first real introduction to King (besides the Gunslinger books, which are in a whole other category) and I have to say I absolutely loved it! I couldn't put it down. I have always loved the movie, but it's nothing compared to this. The character development was excellent, the pacing was fantastic, and it was so intense. THIS is how you write a suspense novel, Dean Koontz!
In particular, I loved the character of Annie and how she developed over the course of the book. I thought it was great that she was ridiculously crazy from the get-go (something which isn't really portrayed in the movie), and was horrified- though engrossed- to watch her get crazier and crazier as the book went on. She's definitely one of the best villians I've ever encountered in a sory, written or otherwise. I don't know why her character was dulled down so much in the movie (still crazy, but not this level of crazy), but I thought the book was so much better for it. Brilliant writing on King's part.
Anyone who liked the movie has to go out and read this NOW!
Misery is a great Stephen King book. One of my favorites. If you're looking for more, I highly recommend The Shining (MUCH better than the movie).
Thanks for the recommendation, Kate! I had a few other King recommendations last year but can't for the life of me remember what they were, so any recommendations are much appreciated!
I'm a big Stephen King fan. I would recommend "The Stand", it's my favorite. "It" is a really good one, too.
Well, The Shining is one of my favourate horror films - but if the book is better, I guess I have a real treat in store for me this October. I've finally found a copy of The Shining and am saving it for my Halloween read! I havn't read or seen Misery though - I really should read more Stephen King. I really liked The Green Mile, but got put off by Gerald's Game.
Deborah wrote: "I'm a big Stephen King fan. I would recommend "The Stand", it's my favorite. "It" is a really good one, too."How funny - 'It' is my favorite King book, but 'The Stand' is a close second! :)
The only one I really didn't care for was 'Insomnia'...one of the few books I just couldn't bring myself to even finish!
This is a rarity, but I believe that both versions of "The Shining"--book and movie--are superior works. I love how one enhances the other.Rose
"Salem's Lot" -scariest book ever! And then "Dead Zone".
Obsessedreader wrote: "This is a rarity, but I believe that both versions of "The Shining"--book and movie--are superior works. I love how one enhances the other.Rose"
Good to hear. I'm a fan of most of Kubrick's work. I've read Clockwork Orange and will be reading The Shining later this year. 2001: A Space Odyssey and Barry Lyndon to go!
Loving the King discussions! Thanks for the recommendations, guys :)
5. Catch-22- Joseph Heller (5 stars)I love, love, LOVED this book! It was so wonderfully absurd and I devoured every word of it. It's quite a difficult book to describe; on the surface, it's a ludicrous, satirical account of the comings and goings of Yossarian, a US bombardier stationed in Itlay during WWII, and various other individuals in his squadron, yet underneath it all is a searing and confronting look at the debilitating effect of war on the soldiers involved, and the politics behind military management.
I really can't gush enough about this book. The characters in particular were wonderful, from Yossarian, who will go to any means to get out of the war, to the entrepreneurial Milo Minderbinder, and the unfortunately-named Major Major Major Major. I also loved the serious turn the book took in the last 50 pages or so, and felt that it was so well handled.
On a totally different note, was it just me, or did anyone else find that this book reminded them of Alice in Wonderland? I thought the absurdity and the acknowledgement of this absurdity by Yossarian was so similar to the absurdity in Alice in Wonderland and the way she addresses it directly throughout the book. I loved that element of AiW, and I loved it in this, too.
Amy wrote: "Deborah wrote: "I'm a big Stephen King fan. I would recommend "The Stand", it's my favorite. "It" is a really good one, too."
How funny - 'It' is my favorite King book, but 'The Stand' is a clos..."
Hey! I have to chime in because I'm a huge King fan as well.
I didn't care for Insomnia at first either. However, I AM a huge Dark Tower fan, and King has said that Insomnia is a keystone book for the Dark Tower series. It's still not my favorite of King books, but that made me look at it in a different light.
Do you have a favorite version of the Stand movie? I heard that King actually prefers the newer one because Kubrik played with some of the themes of the book in his version of the movie.
How funny - 'It' is my favorite King book, but 'The Stand' is a clos..."
Hey! I have to chime in because I'm a huge King fan as well.
I didn't care for Insomnia at first either. However, I AM a huge Dark Tower fan, and King has said that Insomnia is a keystone book for the Dark Tower series. It's still not my favorite of King books, but that made me look at it in a different light.
Do you have a favorite version of the Stand movie? I heard that King actually prefers the newer one because Kubrik played with some of the themes of the book in his version of the movie.
Lindsey wrote: "Amy wrote: "Deborah wrote: "I'm a big Stephen King fan. I would recommend "The Stand", it's my favorite. "It" is a really good one, too."How funny - 'It' is my favorite King book, but 'The Stand'..."
So sorry for the temporary hijack of your thread, Heather! :(
Believe it or not, I've never seen ANY versions of The Stand movies. Come to think of it, it's actually been several years since I've even read the book, so I may need to re-read it at this point and THEN start to check out the films! :)
Amy wrote: "Believe it or not, I've never seen ANY versions of The Stand movies. Come to think of it, it's actually been several years since I've even read the book, so I may need to re-read it at this point and THEN start to check out the films! :)..."I was not even aware there were any 'The Stand' movies. Do they go by the same name?
Oh DUH. I misread and mistyped... I meant two versions of THE SHINING. There is a made for TV epic for the The Stand that is good. But again, all Stephen King movies ruin the end.
And I was not aware there was another 'The Shining' film...that is VERY interesting. Although I loved the Kubrick film, I'll have to have a look for the other once I've read the book!
Haha no worries at all :) Stephen King is a new find for me, so I enjoy these discussions!
6. Dune- Frank Herbert (3 stars)As much as I wanted to like this book, I just couldn't. I'm not sure if it was the book itself or the audio version I listened to (which was absolutely HORRENDOUS- avoid the Audible version at all costs!), but I just couldn't get involved with the characters or the story line, no matter how much I tried. It actually took me over 6 months to listen to, I found it so unengaging, which is a HUGE let-down for a book which had so much "action" in it that it should have been rivetting.
And yes, I do think the quality of the audio book drastically impacted my enjoyment of the novel, but I don't think it is entirely to blame for my failure to connect with this book. From a cultural viewpoint I fuly appreciate this book for what it is- a thorough, well-constructed pioneer of sci-fi (and fantasy?) literature. But personally, I just think I'm just not much of a sci-fi kind of gal (literature, that is- Star Wars is awesome!). I really can't get into the crazy names of characters, places, traits, abilities, etc, etc, and I don't have the memory or patience for it! It's just not my thing.
Fantasy is the most I can stretch, and it's nowhere near as crazy!
Still, this book seems to be to sci-fi what Jane Austen is to romance, so if you're into that genre then you should definitely give it a read!
7. Middlesex- Jeffrey Eugenides (5 stars)Now THIS is a book! What a wonderful, wonderful piece of literature. Eugenides has such a beautiful way with words, sucking you into his prose so completely that hours can pass in the blink of an eye. Despite what you may have heard, the book isn't just about an intersex individual ("hermaphrodite", if you want to use the less PC term). Yes, it does follow the life of Callie/Cal, an intersex person who is raised female but lives as a man. More than that, though, it is an incredible, sweeping family saga, which traces the lives of the Stephanides family back three generations, to the forbidden courtship of Callie's grandparents and the impact of this on Callie herself/himself.
This novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2003, a prize which it completely deserved. Middlesex is 500 pages of bliss, and I wish I had 500 more.
7, what a weak effort! On the plus side, I actually thought I was on number 6, so at least I gained a book :P
I agree with you about Middlesex. I read it a few years ago and absolutely loved it. Fantastic story.
A shame you didn't enjoy Dune Heather, its one of my favourates. A bad audiobook can really injure your enjoyment - I listened to The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes last year and the reader made Watson sound like a continually baffled bloodhound! I guess thats the risk we take when we choose to listen to a book rather than read a print copy. At least my Sherlock Holmes was shorter! Glad you enjoyed Middlesex! Its on my list.
Yeah, I'm starting to become quite disillusioned with audiobooks! Some of them I've listened to have been real failures. I think Dune is the kind of book that would really benefit from a quick, intensive read, immersing the reader in the world and the characters, rather than a drawn- out, six-month listen. The way I did it, I just wasn't invested enough to care.
There needs to be a group for the discussion of good audio books, I think. I've listened to some absolutely great ones, like Year of the Flood and Orlando that I thought were really good and I've listened to some naff ones like The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Invisible Man where I wish I had just read the book instead. I'm currently listening to The Color Purple read by Alice Walker herself in her own accent and it is absolutely beautiful!
Audio books can be astoundingly wonderful, and tragically awful! I am listening to an incredibly bad version of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" -- the narrator sounds like a computer-generated voice, with no inflection or emotion. But the story itself is so captivating that I continue listening. Generally, I have found audio books to be good to excellent, but it is imperative to read reviews before ordering one. I agree with Amanda. It would be nice to have a discussion group about audio books. For instance, Will Patten's narration of James Lee Burke's novels is wonderful, and I recently listened to an amazing audio book of "A Confederacy of Dunces." But when they are disappointing, it can be torturous.
I LOVED Confederacy of Dunces, so I'll keep my eye out for the audiobook!
8. Water for Elephants- Sara Gruen (3 stars)This book was just ok for me. Not great, but not bad. The story was enjoyable enough, the characters diverse enough, and the narration creative enough that I liked it (particularly the contrast of the older and younger Jacob). That said, I don't think it lived up to its potential at all, and I was left wanting SO much more info about the side characters, Marlena and August's relationship, Marlena and Jacob's romance etc. Nothing quite lived up to what it could have been, and an extra hundred or so pages would have really fleshed out this novel. Thus, good but not great.
This is the third time I've fed into the hype on Goodreads (first with the Millenium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson and second with the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins) and the third time (well seventh, if you consider the separate books in the trilogies) I've been disappointed. From here-on in, I think I'll stick with what I know!
Kathleen wrote: "Audio books can be astoundingly wonderful, and tragically awful! I am listening to an incredibly bad version of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" -- the narrator sounds like a computer-generated voice, with no i..."Kathleen - there's a great group called All Ears Audiobooks on Goodreads. Interestingly, I listened to Confederacy of Dunces, and I couldn't stand it. I always wonder what it is that others saw in it that I missed.
I couldn't finish Water for Elephants. There was trouble from the beginning, but that sex scene was just icky. There was no going back after that.
9. The Empty Family: Stories- Colm Tóibín (3 stars)This book was really beautifully written. The short stories focus on themes of loss, isolation, and the like, capturing individuals at different turning-point moments of their lives. Not a lot happens in many of the stories, but that seems to be the nature of literary short story collections, right?
I had two problems with it, though: 1) Many of the stories were just SO depressing! I know that's kind of the point of the book, but I always felt so depleted after picking it up; and 2) There are a LOT of graphic homosexual sex scenes in the book. A LOT. And really, REALLY graphic. I don't have a problem with either homosexuality or sex scenes in books, but it got a bit much in this book, especially seeing as how the graphic sex scenes feature in a number of the stories and are focussed predominantly on one-night stands or other relatively-random sexual encounters. It was bit too voyeuristic for my liking :)
Toibin is a stunning writer and it's obvious why he's garnered all the praise and accolades he has. However, this was my first Toibin and only because I've heard about the beauty of his other work would I seek him out in future. If you haven't heard much about him before or aren't prone to read authors just for the sake of it, it's probably better to start with one of my more mainstream books- Brooklyn, The Master, or something similar.
10. Jasper Jones- Craig Silvey (5 stars)I absolutely LOVED this beautiful book! The book chronicles the life of 13 yr old Charlie Bucktin following his discovery of an horrific event (no spoilers!) and his quest to determine the cause of the incident. Whilst on one level it is an excellent whodunit mystery novel, underneath it is a brilliant, insightful look at racism and prejudice in rural 1960s Australia. The characters are wonderfully created and leap off the page, the dialog is excellent (especially between Charlie and his best friend Jeffrey Liu), and it is funny, heartbreaking, suspenseful, all at the same time. To add to the brilliance of the novel, the author Craig Silvey is only 29! If I wrote a book this wonderful at my age (28) and never achieved another decent thing for the rest of my life, I would die a very happy woman. People that talented are a wonder to behold, I look forward to seeing what Silvey produces in future.
11.A Game of Thrones- George R.R. Martin (4.5 stars)I really, really enjoyed this book. It's not so much fantasy as it is medieval adventure fiction (is that even a genre? It is now!), but I have a feeling that become more fantasy-driven in future books of the series. I read this in conjunction with the HB television series, watching a new episode after I'd progressed past that section to the book, and I found this to be an excellent way to go about it! The story and characters were fresh in my mind, and the show was SO true to the book (much of the book's dialogue is utilised in the show) that it added to visualisation of the universe Martin created. SUCH a great show and SUCH a great book! I did feel that it took about 100 or so pages to really get into it, which is why I didn't give this 5 stars, but by half way I couldn't put it down!
A word of warning, though- Martin does have a reputation for killing off major characters within his novels, so if you don't want any spoilers I'd highly suggest avoiding all reviews of the HBO show!
Argh, I can't believe how dismal my efforts are this year! I got to 50 last year, and now I'll be lucky if I reach 20! I'm in the middle of thesis-writing and just do not have the time to read :( Next year!
You'll cerrtainly have a hard time if you keep reading George R.R. Martin's books! The series could take up the rest of your year. The other thing you're going to find interesting is how characters evolve as the books go on. You'll be surprised how differently you feel about them as time goes by.
I'm just getting read to start A Game of Thrones. I've owned it for about 6 months, but have put it off due to the size. But I really want to check out the HBO series and refuse to do so until I've read the book, so it's the next book on my list. Hopefully I enjoy it as much as you did. :)
I hope so, Kate! The show really adds a lot of depth to the book (Martin actually wrote one of the episodes in the season and has been writing some more for Season 2), so I found it was an excellent way to really make the world come alive. Let me know what you think! And Donna, I'm excited to see how the characters evolve...I hope I still like the "good" ones :)
Just wanted to say that I finished A Game of Thrones today. I loved it. It probably will be a while before I can watch the series, but I'm excited for it now. And as for the rest of the books, I'm definitely planning on reading them, but probably not right away. I think I need a little break after that one. :)Also, I was actually spoiled regarding the major death in the book (not going to spoil it for anyone else here) because I had read something about the series, and I kind of wish I hadn't been, because that would have been a shocker. But I still really enjoyed the book.
That death was spoiled for me too! But by the actress Aisha Tyler on her Facebook page, referring to the relevant episode of the series after it screened. I was SO angry, as I never would have seen it coming! Still great to guess how it was going to unfold, but I would have much preferred it had I not known beforehand.
Challenge: 50 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
A Game of Thrones (other topics)Jasper Jones (other topics)
The Empty Family: Stories (other topics)
Water for Elephants (other topics)
Middlesex (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
George R.R. Martin (other topics)Craig Silvey (other topics)
Colm Tóibín (other topics)
Sara Gruen (other topics)
Stieg Larsson (other topics)
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Happy reading, everyone!