Reading log of an aspiring writer.

bp1989

Well hello there. I'm a 21 year old aspiring writer. I write children/YA fantasy books, which might explain some of the books I choose to read. I'll list everything I've read since the start of the summer, and in subsequent posts I'll begin reviewing new books as I read them.

Stephen King
Misery
Salem's Lot
The Shining
Carrie
Different Seasons

The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
The Gates - John Connolly
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
All My Friends Are Superheroes - Andrew Kaufman

Derek Landy
Skulduggery Pleasant
Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire
Skulduggery Pleasant: The Faceless Ones
Skulduggery Pleasant: Dark Days
Skulduggery Pleasant: Mortal Coil

Darren Shan
Lord Loss
Demon Thief

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry - Mildred D. Taylor
Hater - David Moody

Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games

Books I couldn't finish
Twilight - Stephenie Meyer
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey
Indecision - Benjamin Kunkel

Currently reading The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. I'm a fairly slow reader which might explain why I've only ranked up about 20 titles over the summer.

Pamplemousse19

Carrie isn't really that good- the plot isn't as captivating as you might think. I got really into Stephen King for a while but some of his books are dodgy- The Dead Zone is a terrible read(I think it was written by a ghost writer so that's probably why it's so bad). Surprisingly, some of his non-horror books are very good- The Body(which was made into the movie "Stand By Me") is a nice descriptive story of 4 boys in the 1950's travelling along railroad tracks to find a body. The Shawshank Redemption(a novella, like The Body)is also by King, although you've probably seen the movie which mightn't make it as enjoyable. Also, Firestarter is an exciting thriller about a mutant father and daughter on the run from a government agency.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is probably my favourite book! It's a bit slow to get going and slightly confusing at the start though. Did you not finish it because you didn't like it or what?!

Dorcha

I really can’t stand Stephen King. I think he’s an absolutely atrocious writer. And the man was an English teacher during part of his career, and has even written a book on writing, called (I think) “On Writing”! One day, I felt in need of a laugh, so I bought a copy and gave it away to a Stephen King fan, as soon as I finished reading it. (I know I’m in a minority here.) I did find the autobiographical section of it interesting. I think part of his problem is that he had success too young, selling stories to magazines when he was still a teenager, so perhaps he felt he had no more to learn about the art.

Have you tried any of Eoin Colfer’s books? His Artemis Fowl books are a very entertaining read, fast paced and exuberant , but with cardboard characters. Far above those books, or anything else he has written, is “The Wish List” a book with a bit of true heart and soul in it, and I would certainly recommend it to anyone.

Another good fantasy series is “The Keys to the Kingdom” by Australian writer, Garth Nix. The series stretches over seven volumes, covering the seven day of the week and, although slow-moving at times, has several mysteries embedded in that that keeps one reading. The last two books, I thought, seemed to fail in inventiveness a little.

bp1989

I have a very mixed opinion on Stephen King. His books variate hugely in terms of quality. I actually enjoyed Carrie, along with the others of his I've read. "Different Seasons" is actually a book containing 4 novellas - one of which is The Shawshank Redemption (under a different name). The other novellas are, as far as I'm concerned, pretty much unreadable.

I agree that King is a flawed writer. I have read far superior books by many a lesser known writer.

Pamplemousse19, I didn't finish Cookoo's Nest because it bored and/or confused me to tears in the opening chapters. I usually give a book a couple of chapters to hook me, but if it hasn't by then I'll put it down. I haven't decided if that's a good or bad quality to have.

I've been meaning to check out the Artemis Fowl books for ages, I really must.

Last Friday I finished The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. While not as good as the first, it was still a gripping read. I'm currently on the third and final book, Mockingjay.

I intend to read Steig Larsson's trilogy next.