What I've read so far over the past few months and what I thought of them...
2/15/2011
2/1/2011
1/22/2011
I had never heard of this book before until my mother texted me one day and in all caps said I should read it. Curious at her exuberance I quickly went online to try and figure what this "amazing" book was about, too which I received another text from her telling me to stop googling it and just read it. (A. It's strange but comforting how well my mom knows me and B. I'm so glad she can text now!) So knowing nothing about it, I read it. And felt like I got sucker-punched. It's a little wordy at times but I couldn't put it down once I got into it. For those of you who are curious, it's a third paranormal, another third romance, and another third a twisted coming of age tale. I can't tell you anymore because it would ruin the story so you're just going to have to take my word (and my mom's) and read it. And if you want to see something truly heart wrenching, rent the movie. It's beautiful and sad and wonderfully paced and you'll cry until you're dehydrated but it'll be worth it.
2/13/2011
This isn't really a book, it's a novella, or something short in between a short story and novel, and is written by my former professor. It was given to me by his editor up here when I met her the first time trying to see if she had a job opening for me. (She didn't) So still jobless I had plenty of time to read this tiny little piece of fiction and even though I can't say it changed my life or opened up new doors of literary wonder, I can say that it was sweet and nice and left me feeling all "awwww" when I closed it. Set in post World War II Japan, it follows a typist who types letters and correspondences for General McArthur and his daily life with his fellow soldiers and the Japanese. A surprisingly large amount of stuff happens in it's few pages. If anyone is curious what a good short story looks like, read this.
Pure, unadulterated fluff. Literally. There's nothing else to say. You'll read it and by the time you put it down you'll know you lost a few dozen brains cells but you truly won't care.
What can I say about this? Maybe it was because it’s been around for so long and that everyone else in the world and their mother loves this book or because it’s been on the New York Times bestseller list for like, forever, but I kinda…dare I say it? Thought it was a little blah. Yes, it’s told from the pov of a 14 year old and yes, it’s more of a coming of age story than anything else (which have never been my forte) but I found myself skipping over sections of it. I mean come on how many times can you talk about how sad you are? I get it! You’re sad! Granted it took place in the 60s and all of the upheaval that that entailed so there were some exciting plot points there but they were few and far between. But if you like books that have a plot that’s moves as slow as molasses with the HEAVIEST of HEAVY religious undertones, then go for it. Me, not so much.
1/10/2011
This book is about choices, what they mean to us, what it means if they are taken away, and what will become of us if we simply stop making them… which got hammered into my head at least 97 times throughout the pages of this book. I like themes as much as the next person but I don’t need to be reminded of it every other paragraph. Beyond that this book did exactly what it was meant to do: give me some good angsty teenage angst love, delve me into all that futuristic crap we all pretend to think is beneath us but we all secretly love, and give me another excuse to keep reading YA. A friend once told me that she feels her literary evolution died when she reached young adult fiction because everything after that just gets bogged down attempting to outsmart everyone with its literary prowess. That YA is the best place to go for a good ‘ol uncomplicated story. And this book proves that I’ll keep coming back for more.
12/10/2010
It's a behemoth, it's wordy, and at times it's a challenge but it's a book that I will never forget. It's as if every literary technique I everlearned in high school and college is within these pages making not only a good book but a textbook as well. I will never look at the cerulean warbler the same way, never mock the overabundance of commas again, and never failto appreciate the literary genius that it took to write it. Mr. Franzen, ya did good.
