Cover to Cover Challenge discussion
Stacie H's 2011 Reads
2.
Here, There Be Dragons I didn't like this one very much. Some of it was the narrator- his voices wore on my nerves. However, most of the problem was that I found the story predictable, flat and simplistic. Plus, I really hated the way he took real authors- a whole laundry list of brilliant writers spanning centuries, not just the three main characters- and reduced their works to what he was doing... copying from other creations. It just rubbed me the wrong way.8hr 27min
3.
The Vikings: A Very Short Introduction Apparently, I know very little about historical Vikings! And despite learning that the elaborate funerals involving dragon-prowed ships heaped with treasure and set afire are entirely fictional I am definitely interested in learning more ;)168 pp
4.
Jobe the Robot This short story/mini-novella was, sadly, a waste of the time I spent reading it and the energy it took to download to my Nook. The plot is nonexistent, the characters are flat and interchangeable. The 'storyline' is jumbled and unbelievable; it is constructed like a text version of manga... and it doesn't work well at all.66 pp
5.
The Legend of Darkness and Light I had fun with this one... it was a rollicking 'pulp' adventure. It wasn't actually written that well... there were quite a few spelling and grammar errors, as well as some huge plot defects (think SyFy Chanel type movies and you're on the right track), but despite that I still had a good time reading it. I am glad it was a free download though!141 pp
6.
Reckless This is YA, and despite all of the fairytale elements, it is not intended for the 'younger than teenager' crowd. The reviews for this one are all over the place, but I really liked it. It's a dark and dangerous- as all the best fairytales are- and not everything gets fully explained, but the language is beautiful and the story captured my attention right from the first and held it all the way through. This is billed as the first in a new series, but the story stands on it's own and while there are elements that can be picked up and followed in future books, it doesn't end with a cliffhanger. Yay! I listened to the audio version and the narrator was, for the most part, very good. 6hr 47min
7.
The Jungle Books I'm glad I finally read the whole thing, and not just the familiar excerpts found in school books. There were, of course, the Mowgli stories that most people are familiar with but there were also a great many other stories I'd never heard of... and I loved (almost) all of them.432 pp
9.
Shakespeare: Ten Great Comedies Sadly, this did not meet my expectations. There are several places where the audio repeats itself due to poor editing. The narrator, or lecturer in this case, mixes up character names a few times which was really distracting and came to several conclusions that didn't make any sense... and he had an annoying voice that was made infinitely worse by his reading style. I will NOT be listening to anything else by Professor Shargel if I can help it.8 hrs 28 min
11.
Oliver Twist Wow! Much better than I remembered it being from school. Without some knowledge of the historical time period, the sarcasm and irony get completely missed and the story becomes painful to be dragged through. I'm so glad I decided to revisit Dickens... I'm discovering that I really, really like him!507 pp
12.
Revelation Good (for a media tie-in) but nothing Earth shattering. I'm probably going to wind up reading the others in the series (because I'm a total nerd and LOVE the games) but I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone who isn't already a fan of the franchise.336 pp
13.
The Modern Scholar: Dante and his Divine Comedy I picked this up because I thought this might help me get inspired to try Dante again (I've started on The Divine Comedy about six times but can never even get all the way through The Inferno). I really like the narrator/lecturer- Prof. Shutt is enthusiastic, entertaining and makes the subject clear and easy to follow... but I still don't think I'll be reading The Divine Comedy itself any time soon (although it is still on my list of things I'd like to get through... someday, LOL)!8 hrs 31 mins
14.
Un Lun Dun This is the second thing I've tried by Mieville and I guess I just don't like his writing :/ The characters were flat and inconsistent, the pacing was frenetic and disjointed, the resolution unbelievable. It felt like this was trying too hard to be clever and imaginative and just came across as forced. By the end I was vaguely dissatisfied at the time and effort I'd spent reading it.
18.
Escape to Witch Mountain It's been decades since I read this last and I was looking forward to revisiting a childhood favorite. Sadly, it wasn't quite as good as I'd remembered. Still good for it's target audience (8-12 yr olds) but not something that really holds up to an older audience.
20.
Clockwork Angel Very entertaining... even if I found the main character's 'Victorian helplessness' frustrating at times.
21.
The Sandman: Book of DreamsI was intrigued by cross-genre aspect of this collection- it is a collection of short stories based on the characters and world from a set of graphic novels. I think that most of the authors did a really good job with their stories :)*Read this for Feb. Read-a-thon mini challenge #1- Not Quite a Chunkster
22.
The Help*Read this for the Feb. Read-A-Thon mini-challenges #2 (No More Peek-A-Books) and #6 (Member's Choice- Nancy's shelves).
23.
Mountains of the Pharaohs: The Untold Story of the Pyramid Builders I liked that Hawas concentrated on one limited area of Egyptian history and gave a clear and detailed treatment. Granted, he does make several, um... self-serving... statements throughout the book, but overall this was a well written and interesting history. I listened to the audio version so I'll just add that the narrator did a great job.*Read for the Feb. Read-A-Thon mini-challenge #4 (Random Fortune)
25.
Crystal Singer A re-read for me- this time around my opinion levels off at 'moderate like'. I remembered really liking this book, and it's immediate sequel, back when they first came out in the '80s (I was not quite a teenager when the first came out, which explains a lot!). There's something about the personality and attitude of the main character that is immediately identifiable as a product of that decade ;p While there are no detailed descriptions of the clothing, you just know that shoulder pads abound, and everyone's a Diva, and all the high points are the 'highest' and the lows are the 'lowest'! Come to think of it, that pretty much describes the headspace of a teenager... which is probably why I liked it so much back then and why, about half the time, these are listed as YA now though they weren't originally marketed as such :)
26.
Hebrews, Greeks and Romans: Foundations of Western Civilization Interesting, but not as good as some of his other lectures.
28.
The Book Thief Fantastic! The writing is so rich and layered that this story is best read slowly and savored :)
Stacie wrote: "28. The Book Thief Fantastic! The writing is so rich and layered that this story is best read slowly and savored :)"I thought "The Book Thief" was one of the best books I had ever read! Read the book "I Am Messenger" by Zusak - it will really make you think about life, etc. Would love to hear your thoughts after you read it. ~Lee
29.
King Solomon's Mines I realize that this book is a product of a time with very different sensibilities than our own... but I was horrified through most of this story. The rampant and explicit racism, sexism and gratuitous slaughter of, well, everything in sight really put a damper on my ability to enjoy this one. I can't believe I'm going to say this... but I think I'll stick with the movies!
30.
The Gates: A Novel This was pretty cute :) Not as good as The Book of Lost Things, the only other thing of Connolly's I've read, but solid and cute... plus there were times I snickered out loud :D It is very similar in tone and style to Good Omens (which, actually, was better and should be tried by everyone who enjoys Monty Pythonesque humor).
31.
Ash Ok, but nothing spectacular. Some of the writing was beautiful, especially the first chapter, but the characters were flat and the resolution was unbelievable.
32.
Lily Marin - three short steampunk stories The best thing about this is that it was short :/ The idea sounded promising- a steampunk superhero- right up my proverbial alley. Sadly, the author couldn't carry it off. Poor writing, poor (and inconsistent) characterization, and 'plotting' that doesn't make it past the 'vague idea' stage.
33.
The Drawing of the Three This is another re-read for me; it came up in one of my other reading groups so I picked it up again. I liked it even more the second time. I'm so glad I didn't let the first book in the series (The Gunslinger) turn me off!
36.
A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder I find it mindboggling that as much of a fan of Science Fiction as I am I had never heard of this! It's on par with Wells and Verne even though the ending was abrupt, seeming incomplete. Since this book was published well after the author died I wonder if it is, in fact, incomplete.
37.
The Fellowship of the Ring This is one of the stories that I love more with each reading (or, as in this case, listening). Except for the Tom Bombadil section. I still hate that part.
38.
Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors Interesting and accessible to those of us without advanced degrees in Biology ;)
39.
Batman and Robin Vol. 1: Batman Reborn Ok, but not spectacular. Some of the sequences were visually just too 'busy' and the storyline was not terribly strong.
40.
When The Stars Walk Backwards Started out promising but never really gelled. Still, it's in my preferred genre so I was able to overlook a lot and just enjoy.
41.
Traditional Quilting - Its Story And Its Practice This is an old book (first published in the 1950's and referring to research done in the '30s and '40s) but it is well worth the read if you are interested in quilting. It focuses on the quilting itself, not patchwork, and the plates alone are worth the price of the book- the work shown is absolutely amazing!
42.
The Two Towers I remember how much this frustrated me the first time I read this- the 'main character' and 'main quest' don't even make an appearance entire first half of the book, lol! Now, upon rereading, it's easier to treat this as just a segment in a really long work :)
43.
Prince Caspian The funny thing is that I hadn't intended to read this, LOL! I was just cleaning and rearranging my book shelves and I picked it up. There was that feeling... nothing intrusive or demanding... just a memory of affection. The next thing I know, I'm closing the book again and starting to notice that the light was fading and that I was really stiff from sitting in the floor for a couple of hours! The closest thing I can compare it to is an ambush hugging from an old friend :D
44.
The Waste Lands I'm finally getting around to reading these books (I've read just about everything else by King). If you can get past the first book in the series the rest get better but I'm still not overwhelmed by the 'genius' of his 'masterwork'. Meh... maybe I'll feel differently when I get to the end of the series and everything wraps up.45.
The Modern Scholar Archaeology and the Iliad: The Trojan War in Homer and History This was interesting and, at times, laugh out loud funny.
46.
Ancient Greece Short and very basic. Something I'd recommend for advanced Junior High students or High School Freshmen.47.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
51.
Virals'Virals' reads like the novelization of a pilot T.V. episode (from the early 90's... one that would have aired along with 'The Flash' and 'Nightman'). The main thing that jumped out at me during the entire thing was how often Reichs references her Temperance Brennan series. Very annoying and clumsily done- if you are going to branch out into a new genre, please have the balls to branch out and stop trying to use another (completely different) series to give yourself a safety net!
52.
Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization Not exactly an unbiased account, lol, but it's clear on its slant, well written and easy to understand.
Cover to Cover Challenge
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The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Writings (other topics)
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308 pp