2010 books in 2010! (sike, just 100!) discussion
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Meagan
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Finished "Dead Until Dark" and I love the book. it gets 5 stars from me. It's funny and well written and having watched "True Blood" on HBO first, I feel it has enhanced my enjoyment of the book. Sookie Stackhouse is the sole reason this books works as well as it does and makes it feel original and fresh. I loved it and I would recommend this to anyone and everyone.
"Living Dead in Dallas" was a bit of a letdown for me, which was bound to happen since "Dead Until Dark" was so completely awesome...it was still a good book and I am still excited about reading the rest.
oh, shuddup. My library here only has the last three, reading Deffinatly Dead right now, :P.
The first book and the series are so awesome to me, that eventually I was going to be let down. "Club Dead" was alright...but there are some quirks to Sookie's character that are getting on my nerves. Her immediate tude about people being wary of vampires...hello, there frickin vampires...her hypocricy concerning Sam sleeping with a homicidal creature, pot meet kettle...and she gets beaten up a lot in this book, I was never sure if the vampire blood she ingested would help her cause it seemed to fail in other areas. The book dragged except when she was bathing in the sexual tension with Alcide, now that was some good readin! The ending though is what saved this book and makes me want to see what else happens.
..thanks, started with the fifth here!!!
Just finished "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. This book defintely does not give the warm fuzzies, thats for sure, lol. Took me about a 100 pages for me to get into and to care about the characters...up until then I was just like "c'mon already...get to some sort of point"...which it did subtly...but after about 100 pages, things start to happen. The book has no chapters and I think that was a clever way for McCarthy to convey the journey and mindset of its characters...the book just goes on and on and on...and so do they. There are so many nuances that I am only getting on reflection and may not get at first reading. I will say that while I did end up liking the book, I am looking forward to my lighter read of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, lol.
"Dead to the World" was an okay enough book. I was spoiled for some things and completely surprised by Debbie...didn't really love it or hate it, just was comfortable with it.
"Olive Kitteridge" deserved the Pulitzer Prize award...this was an amazing book. It's a novel told in short stories of not just the title character, but 13(?) other people/couples...but Olive Kitteridge is there through out. Most of the characters were well written and thought out, even though most only had such a short time to develop. I enjoyed this book from beginning to end and my only complaint is that I didn't have the time to read it as quick as I wanted to.
"Dead as a Doornail" was actually refreshing for me. I can't say why, but I feel like the story flowed much more smoothly without getting boring like some of the previous books. I liked that there were consequences to actions in "Dead to the World". The characters and relationships are growing and changing and that's what's keeping things interesting. Although Harris needs to watch it cause in "tv land" there is nothing that makes fans hate the main female character more then when every man falls in love with her; but she is keeping Sookie pretty grounded and I like that. I haven't liked Sookie this much since the first book. The mystery flowed and was actually a little suspenseful...I was surprised a lot, didn't expect a lot of what happened.
This may make me unpopular, but I think what I liked most was how little Eric was in it. I just don't find the same appeal in him as most do I guess.
Overall I really liked it.
"Push" was an intense book. Luckily it is short because I don't know how if I could handle it being longer...although it can be hard to read at times...for me both emotionally and literally...I found the story to be compelling and touching. I had complaints about the way it was written...it's written from the perspective of Precious, the main characters, and she is an uneducated, illiterate abused girl...so for me it was hard to get through at certain times...although the story picks up and goes from page one...I don't think I ever hit a point where I was bored.
I had wanted to read this book because I had seen the previews for the movie "Precious" and I wanted to see what it was about, and I'm glad I did. As short as it is, it makes you feel and think and question and wonder...I do recommend this book but with the caution that it is graphic with the abuse.
I am counting "Push" in my count because I am involved in other challenges and I don't want to think of this book as a waste, but with respect for the rules, I put an astirik by it and I will consider this challenge finished at 101.
"Definitely Dead" was good except for the fact that it took over 100 pages before it even touched on the synopsis for the book, that and the main subject was a continuation from a short story in another book made this book very off putting. I never felt lost because Harris tends to recap everything for you anyway, but I was confused and felt like I missed something...which took me out of the story for a while.
Other then that, I liked the pace and action of the book. The revelation by Bill was very sad and I felt for Sookie...her involvement with Quinn was alright, but there is something about him...he just seems like he's hiding something...I also think he thinks waaay too much about getting Sookie in the sack, and that was a little off putting as well.
I find it funny that for a series about vampires, the last few books have been very werewolf centric, although I'm sure the next book brings the vamps back front and center.
Just finished "All Together Dead". It took me forever for a few reasons, one being I'm trying to workout again, and my husband is home for a while, so I never quite read as much as when he's not. The other reason it took me so long is because I truly thought this book was soooo boring...half way through I actually got frustrated because it seemed like nothing was happening...the last quarter of the book is what saved it for me and making me want to start the next one right away. I think I actually missed parts because I think I zoned out a bit while reading...thats how boring it was.
2 out of 5 stars!
Where "All Together Dead" was boring till the end for me, "From Dead to Worse" was on go from the beginning. Even I felt exhausted from the climactic battles and familial reveals. The flow of major events and smaller ones were well written and interesting to read. It was like stacking blocks on top of each other and I was wondering how much could be stacked in one book. I'm not quite sure how I feel about Sookie...I think all the adventure and near death experiences have really taken a toll on her character. She seems so worn down now, I was glad in the end when she had the alligence of pretty much everyone. Although it seems like everything that has happened has made her...rough around the edges if that makes sense.
Her breakup with Quinn was rough, and at first I did think she was a b**ch...but then I thought about it, and I could see her reasoning. There's nothing wrong with him being there for his mother and sister, but he didn't even stick around that night to see if she was okay...he didn't say anything till the next morning...and that actually says a lot and I understood what she was saying. But she didn't have to be angry about it...just because she has been screwed over by the vamps and weres so many times doesen't mean she can now take it out on one guy.
Ugg, and don't get me started on Jason and Crystal.
Lol, okay...now that I got my bitterness out of the way :) I really did enjoy this enstallement, and the ending really opens up a lot of things for Sookie...I give it 3 1/2 stars out of 5
Hmm, "The Time Traveler's Wife" was an interesting read in moral ambiguity. I have some likes, some dislikes, and alot of "hmm" moments. The Likes:
-Even though it deals with a sci fi premise, I liked that it dealt with this very out of this world problem and set it in my reality. I always looks at emotional ramifications in stories and this delivered immensely.
-For the most part, it was written very well.
sadly that's all I can think of.
Dislikes:
-Clare is a case of poor rich girl. I didn't really feel much for her till she made a comment about adoption, "it would be pretending"...my jaw dropped and while I don't hate her or anything, I couldn't view her in the same light the rest of the book.
-There were so many descriptive moments about food I kept skimming...I didn't get it and it just got in the way.
-There was a lot of talk and not a lot of showing...I was being told a lot Henry was a real bad man before Clare, but I never really saw it.
Now my "hmm" moments:
-I don't know how to feel about Henry and Clare. Their relationship is so one sided and so manipulated by Henry. His involvement in her childhood completely skews their relationship, you don't know what happens naturally and what happens because he's stearing the course.
-Not to mention the skeevy undertones of him spending time with his wife as a child, and then when she turned 18?!?!? I didn't really find it sexy or romantic.
-Clare apparently has no other aspirations then waiting for Henry. That makes me really sad for her. Yea she does paper art, but her whole life...all she does and all she ends up wanting is to wait for him.
The ending seems so weird because it just jumps to it. Its hard to explain without giving anything away.
All in all, I give it a 2 out of 5 stars.
Meagan wrote: "Just finished "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. This book defintely does not give the warm fuzzies, thats for sure, lol. Took me about a 100 pages for me to get into and to care about the characters....."Great review. Thanks
"Dead and Gone" felt like a departure from formula for me. Sookie has definitely become jaded through her experiances, and it's understandable really, it's called progression and I can respect that. With everything she's been through, it makes sense her character would change. Although I miss the Sookie from the first few books, especially the first book. I'm hoping the fairies won't be featured much in the future...although this entire series deals with the supernatural, it's dealt with in the realm of our reality, but adding the fairies seems to dip major into the fantasy and I'm not completely down with that. In addition, Sookie's life was made much more worse when the fairies took a primary role in this book.
Her relationship with Eric took some major steps forward...but I have the same problem with them that I did with Henry and Clare in "The Time Traveler's Wife"; how much of their relationship is natural and how much is because of the blood bond? (I know, not quite like TTTW, but if you've read the book you get my meaning :P) I am glad Sookie realizes this and voices it.
The ending climax was more suspenseful then action packed, like the previous books. Wasn't as gripping to me as the previous ones.
Overall it was an engaging book and I was into it. Seems like a natural progression in the story and I am interested in seeing what happens next.
Finally finished "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass". Oh my goodness, maybe it's because I am a jaded adult now, but it was one of the most frustrating reads I have ever read. I can totally see why Tim Burton wanted to make a movie out of this because it reads like one long acid trip. It truly was reading a dream with how confusing and seamless and pointless it was. It's definitely something I'd like my daughter to read when she gets to the age to do so, cause she may enjoy it more then I did. I am glad to have finally read it though and I may read it again sometime in the future, maybe a second read will help me appreciate it more.
lmao, thats because the guy that wrote it, while he wrote it, he was high off opium.
The time it took me to read "Nurtureshock" does not reflect my enjoyment and interest in it. My daughter is turning one on March 29th and these last few weeks have been nothing but planning and dealing with an 11 month old. I think all parents, whether first time or seasoned, should read this book. It's not so much a parenting book in the style of step by step guides, but a case for doing and thinking of certain situations differently. There very interesting topics such as the inverse of praise, how a child learns/views race, the development of language in babies, the importance of sleep in children and more. I found all interesting and well thought out and very well researched. All of these topics were dealt with scientifically...experiments were performed and the findings were analyzed, so nothing is just the willy nilly thoughts of some new-ager. :)
Enjoyed it and like I said, I recommend it for all parents...heck, even for adults without children but interested in child development. I'm going to try and get my husband to read it.
Whew, what was supposed to be a light read took waay longer then it should have. But I had a lot going on in the last few weeks...my daughter turned one (yay!), I had a lot of planning and setting up to do for that, plus I had a lot of family visiting and my mom and brother were staying with me...so a lot of things to get together. Then after they left my daughter, my husband, and I got sick :(...then I found a new obsession called swap-bot...but I am not giving up on my challenge! This is just always the time of year that whatever I promised myself I would do in January would kind of fall apart...but I am working forward and am determined not to let that happen. So "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" is what I consider to be a light read. Just a little over 200 pages and pretty straight forward in the story and especially the story telling. The main character, Christopher who is also narrating, has what I believe to be Aspergers Syndrome, although I don't recall if it was ever specified. But the little I know about it explains Christophers behavior...or really what drives his behavior. It all starts when his neighbor's dog is found dead stabbed with a pitch fork, and he takes it upon himself to find the killer, like in a Sherlock Holmes mystery.
At times I found the narration frustrating because it is over explaining and sometimes overly explaining little trivial things...but this is on purpose and to further get you in the mind of a kid with Aspergers. So in that regard, I found it very fascinating. The overall story seemed a bit soap opera-ish but it does work for the story.
So I liked it and do recommend it as a light read or for anyone interested in Aspergers.
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by: Stieg LarssonI really liked this story. Wasn't anything incredibly new and original and I had a feeling of the who and why halfway through, but I was still intrigued and couldn't put it down for the last half of the book. I thought it dragged a bit in the beginning and the ending, but when it got going in the middle, it REALLY shot into gear and that's where the strength in the story was, in the "not knowing what's gonna happen next" and for a moment I thought it could have gone anywhere. I haven't read the synopsis for the second book so I genuinely didn't know.
The moment that shocked me completely was attack done to Lisbeth Salender, and her backround story was just really sad to me. I don't want to give much away, but that part of the story really surprised me and I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. Like I said before, I don't know what the second book is about, although I will be reading that next.
All in all, I'm glad I read this and I am glad I read this first. I only bought it on my kindle because I friend read "the girl that played with fire" and she gave it to me saying she really loved it. But I knew that was the second in the trilogy so I bought "...dragon tattoo" first.
There are parts where I think the imagination has to be stretched a bit and I kept getting confused as to who was talking in a two person conversation. But it was nothing too distracting and I was able to keep up for the most part.
So I really liked this and I will be starting the next one tomorrow.
"The Girl who Played with Fire" by: Steig LarssonThe second installment of "The Girl..." series is just as good if not better then the first in my opinion. The action, suspense, and general story are written extremely well and keeps the reader always wanting to know more. Makes it hard to put down.
The book isn't without it's flaws though: Larsson has a tendency to go into detail very mundane activities which I am sure is to show a person's character quirks, but it just makes for lulls in the story. Another thing was I don't get Salander's reasons for completely shutting out Blompski...well, I guess I actually do and I think the reasons are completely childish but it makes sense for Salander to act that way. So while frustrating, not out of character.
I really liked this story. A friend had given it to me after she spent an entire day (while she was flying from one side of the country to the other) reading it. She had never heard of it before and she didn't know there was a book written before. You don't need to read the first one because while it is referenced, it doesn't really matter to this story. Although reading the first one may clear up some things as to Lisbeth's character, but enough gets covered here to not feel lost.
I definitely recommend this book though. It's about 630 pages and it only took me seven days to read it because I couldn't sit and read all day, although I wanted to! :)
"When All is Said and Done" by: Robert HillThis book gets three stars because I think it goes way overboard with the metaphors. I like that this story wasn't so much a story of who did what to get to there and how this situation happened...but more a snapshot into the lives of Myrmy and Dan and their family, and when it did that I enjoyed what the story was about and thought it was at it's strongest. It's when the descriptions become existential and the sentences last for two paragraphs that my mind would wander.
Maybe it's just me because this is definitely a different style of writing and I can appreciate it for what it is and for trying to tell what may have been a boring story in an interesting way. This style just isn't for me though.
But this is not to say I didn't like it altogether. I loved the dynamic between Myrmy and Dan and how their gender roles were challenged, this being set in the 60's and while both worked, Myrmy is the main bread winner. It was interesting that Dan never seemed to harbor any resentment toward her for that...there were others reasons for resentment, but that comes with a long marriage.
I thought it was interesting, if a little unbelievable, that Mrymy being who she is made out to be in the book did both roles, mother and working girl, so well. But maybe some people have it in them to make both roles work.
What I dislike most is the style of writing, it took me out of the story many times and I would have to re-read what I just read because I would turn a page and not know what happened. I just zoned out.
What I like most is that this book makes you think. I can always appreciate books that do that.
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by: Harper LeeThis is a book I had seen around forever and never read. Then I was given a $50.00 gift card to barnes and noble, and I thought now was as good a time as any.
I must say, I liked it. It reflects a simpler time and therefore was a simple read. Everything is straight forward and the adventures are exhilarating and interesting. Mind you now, when I say simpler times, I don't necessarily mean it as a good thing. I mean it more as people played the roles they thought they had to.
I thought the characters were fully developed and I loved the relationship between Atticus, Jem and Scout. I liked how in a very traditional time, Atticus was in many ways, a modern father. Scout was a wonderful narrator for this story, she encompassed the precociousness of childhood with out the entitlement. Jem and his journey to adulthood was written very well and the specter roles, from villain to hero and all the shades in between were very well expressed.
I have to say nothing really surprised me, but I was intrigued the whole way.
"The Mermaid Chair" by: Sue Monk KiddLet me start off by saying I loved "The Secret Life of Bees", so naturally I wanted to read something else by the same author. But I feel that the heart and soul of "...Bees" was missing in "The Mermaid Chair". Or maybe it's my aversion to stories of cheating to find one self. Especially with the "meet-cute" of Jessie and Brother Thomas, I just find justifications for cheating annoying and an all too easy of a go to for a woman "finding one's self". Yet, I was surprised and bored about the ending, nothing seemed to jump out at me.
When the story focused on Nelle, I was way more intrigued. But the characterizations seemed hollow at times.
It was an easy enough read to get through a six hour road trip.
"The Help" by: Kathryn StockettI bought this book months ago but I had been a little intimidated to read it at first due to it's size. I was afraid of how long it would take me to read it. I don't know what made me do it this month, the month of my midway point on my goal, but I picked it up and said what the heck.
I'm only sorry I didn't do it sooner. I started it on the first, but I've read 3/4's of it just in the last three days, it was that good I didn't want to put it down. I just had to know what was going to happen next. That feeling doesn't happen often for me, or the feeling of being jazzed after finishing it. It's midnight and I couldn't sleep till I wrote a review.
So if you haven't figured, I loved it very much!!! "The Help" is set in the 60's in Jackson, Mississippi and follows three women during a period when they decide to write a "tell all" of sorts.
I realized early on that what was making me want to continue and making me figuratively sit on the edge of my seat was the tension the book conveys. The 60's was such a tension filled time and when your reading about black maids to white upper class women, you could cut it with a knife. So the tension was built in, but Kathryn Stockett does a wonderful job of writing it in a way that makes you want to turn the page even if your afraid someone is gonna die. And really, in the 60's, there is little to be surprised about unfortunately.
The characters and their relationships to one another was so beautifully written, they are so rich and colorful and you feel what they feel...you felt Aibileen and Minny's bond and Skeeter's awkwardness and the racism is just dripping like a leaky faucet in the backround.
This book made me want to get up and cheer.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by: Junot DiazAfter thinking about it over night, I think this is one of those books that you don't quite understand the point of it until you've read the whole thing. Even now, I still don't get the why of it all...but I still liked it. I liked how the narrator was revealed to be an actual person involved in the story and not just a third person narrative. The history the story was involved in is as rich as it is bloody. The characters were real. It only gets three stars from me though because there were definite points through out the book that I just didn't understand or care why we were going there, like pretty much anything not having to do with Oscar. Considering he is the title's namesake, I thought he'd have more to do except for the last act. It's confusing at times whether the story is truly about Oscar or Yunior.
Despite this I still think it was a good read and would recommend this to friends.
"Dead in the Family" by: Charlaine HarrisLike many others, I eagerly anticipated this book because I am in love with Sookie and Bon Temps, and for me, reading this series at this point, is like visiting old friends whom I love but don't see often. So in that aspect, the book was fine for me.
Glimpsing others reviews before I finished the book, I understand where some were coming from when they said not a lot happened. Not a lot did, till the end, and it was tied up neatly. I am interested in some of the plots points that will probably carry over to the next book, like the registering of the were-people and Eric's situation with Victor. I have a feeling the next book will be more tense and eventful because of that, so I'm looking forward to it.
This book seemed like a segue to the next book or it could have been a short story for all that happened and all we learned. Despite this, I still liked it, although it's definitely not as memorable to me.
I have to say too, that while I get that after everything Sookie has been through, her character was bound to change, it wouldn't have been realistic if she hadn't...but I miss the Sookie from "Dead Until Dark".
I wonder too, if Charlaine Harris writes the characters now being influenced by the show. I felt this was while reading "The Lost Symbol" and thinking Dan Brown was totally writing Robert Langdon with Tom Hanks in mind. It could be just me because I am imagining the characters from the show while reading the book.
"Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim" by: David SedarisI found this book at a library sale which I thought was really kool since I've seen this book all over the place. I've been wanting to read Sedaris for a while cause I've also seen his other books, "Naked" and "Me Talk Pretty One Day" all over the place for years.
I only still want to read the others because I've seen other reviews who feel the same way as I do.
I think the gamble with memoirs is that it can be subjective. Every chapter was a mini essay of sorts and there was never a feeling of end. There was always a beginning, a build-up, then it limped to an end and then we started a while new tale. Nothing really flowed for me, and a good chunk of this was not very interesting to me.
Also, I realized this towards the end...in real life, I don't think I would like David Sedaris as a friend. It's amazing how that made me view the book. It was funny in parts and boring in parts and I never had the urge to finish it. I finished it to finish it.
2010 books in 2010! (sike, just 100!)
Books mentioned in this topic
Getting Mother's Body (other topics)Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (other topics)
Dead in the Family (other topics)
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (other topics)
The Help (other topics)
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