34 ratings (3.94 avg)
6 reviews

Mark

Add friend

Mark’s Bookshelves

to-read‎ (0)

currently-reading‎ (4)

read‎ (31)

Stats | More…

Mark is Currently Reading

Mark rated a book liked it

A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)

by George R.R. Martin

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Mark said: " Scored the audio CD version of this from the library today -- 28 CDs! Got hooked on the car ride going home -- it's like "The Lord of the Rings" only a lot more violent and not at all a nice place like the Shire was.

Now I am converting them to MP3s ...more "

Jul 14, 2012 04:52PM · see review

Mark rated a book liked it

We Need to Talk About Kevin

by Lionel Shriver (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in June 2012

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Mark said: " Another book club book -- without my book clubs, I'd read maybe 3 books a year, instead of 24-30! As usual, it is not quite like I expected ... seems like a modern gothic horror novel, a bit... instead of an "issues" novel ... definitely gripping and Another book club book -- without my book clubs, I'd read maybe 3 books a year, instead of 24-30! As usual, it is not quite like I expected ... seems like a modern gothic horror novel, a bit... instead of an "issues" novel ... definitely gripping and well-told... reminds me of "The Haunting of Hill House" in the isolation of the narrator..
*******

Update: Well as with all my Book Club books, I'm not sorry I read it, but it got progressively more depressing and frustrating to where I got impatient and skipped the last 50 pages just to read the ending and confirm my suspicions. And it didn't make me want to read the pages I missed.

I liked it being in first person and describing the narrator's increasing alienation a la "Hill House" .... and I guess the dark side of being a parent ... very intense and original... but it got into a track where the only thing you were waiting for was how the next bad thing that happened could possibly be worse...

It is probably a better book then I am giving it credit for here.

********
Update 2: Yes, I decided it was a better book after talking it over with the book club. I think I labeled Kevin as "a bad seed" and it is a little more ambiguous than that.

Also I saw the movie with Tilda Swinton -- boy, is she a great actress. Even though she says she prefers not being in front of the camera. Also, there was an extra on the DVD, a brief interview with the author, in which she explained she wrote the book when she making a "final" decision about whether she would have a kid or not in her life, and her fears around that, and it happened during a period when there were a lot of school shootings ... and so she worked out her nightmare about that... In fact, all the extras were great. It is pointed out that the mother is recalled the events from her current shell-shocked state, and that may be distorting them somewhat.

I would say the movie could have used just a touch less of the color red in it, but on the other hand they left the things to the imagination that were best left that way.... ...more "

Jul 14, 2012 04:44PM · see review

Mark is currently reading

The Night Circus

by Erin Morgenstern (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Mark said: " Another book for my book club -- got if from the library as an audio book, with a vincent price-sort-of narrator..... Seems like it might be a little in the vein of Harry Potter, though darker... anyway, engaging enough so far.... "

Jun 27, 2012 08:08AM · see review

See all 4 books that Mark is reading…