I can haz books? Reading log (started Nov 2015)

wreade1872 wrote: »

Well remember if you have any sort of ereader a large portion of all the worlds english writing is out of copyright and free on the net.

This is true but I haven't quite managed to buy one yet. There's just something about having an actual book! Someday maybe!

Now, it has to be said that I am a fan of these sci-fi dystopian novels at the best of times but I really enjoyed through this. Ate through the book in fact! This was another charity shop buy, I had never heard of it before or done any research so I was really going in blind.

The concept of the silo is great because it forces the idea of being the only ones which is something other dystopian societies struggle with usually. If you can see the boundary, someone will want to cross it. Not so here where there literally is nowhere to go and the dead bodies scattered remind you of that! The novel is well paced with some little niggles (like the lottery) that kept popping up in my mind a few days later.

All in all, really enjoyable. Ordered the next two in the series from Amazon and in doing the research found out that this was initially a self-published book. How cool, quite inspired by that! The only niggle I would have is that at the end I didn't quite get the name. I don't remember any reference to Wool in the book? Maybe the next ones clear that up.

This is a tiny little book but it packs an emotional punch. Cal tells the story of a Catholic lad growing up in a poor Protestant area during the troubles. I got this book during a book swap from a Scottish girl. It's on their reading list in school and she was surprised that I hadn't heard of it.

This book is likely a love it or hate it book. The story is dark and depressing, mirroring the area at the time and that's the point. This isn't supposed to be a happy book with a rewarding character arc and a happy ending. The Troubles didn't have very many happy endings.

The reason I imagine this book is on reading lists is that it's filled with imagery and very much open to interpretation, particularly the ending. While some imagery is blatant (the slaughterhouse) some is a bit more subtle. I particularly liked the turns of phrase used to talk about sex (with another or oneself) without sounding dirty. It's also been quite a while since I've read a book that ended like that. A lot of books are too worried about tying up all the loose ends before the finale.

I can see why people would dislike this book. I felt a bit sad for the world after reading it, particularly with the current situation with ISIS. It's a great anti-war book but, like many other classics, I doubt that is much appreciated by kids forced to read it at school! I enjoyed it, but it will be some time before I attempt a re-read.

So this is the sequel to Wool which I really enjoyed. More so than this book if I'm honest! I really, really wanted to like this book. It's not that it's not enjoyable, it's a very interesting premise. It really fills out the history of how the occupants came to find themselves in this world and gives us claustrophobia and regret in place of the protagonists anger and quest for truth in the first book. It's just that sometimes I don't want to know every detail of how the sausage was made!

So what was not to like? This book felt like a long flashback that really advanced the plot in no way. "Shift" is a period of time on-duty, but it could also describe the shift in quality between this book and the last. The three "shifts" read like separate books. Had they been peppered through the main story it might have been very interesting but I was too interested in the fate of Juliette and her silo to care that much about the back story. Especially not when the back story is longer than the *actual* story. In fact, if these three books were a movie trilogy, Shift would be the one you could skip and just read the synopsis to fill in the blanks.

The other major problem with this book is that the plot is front and centre at the expense of everything else. The characters are very much caricatures of themselves and it's difficult to care about them. I also lacked clear image of the characters, not helped by the fact that they aren't described very well (or at all). There are no redeeming characters in this story. I think anyone could be cast in the movie version of this and I would accept it. The twists also felt very heavy handed throughout the novel and, even though I know it's sci-fi, some of the plot holes were hard to read through.

In saying all that, there were some interesting concepts posed even though they weren't really explored. I will read Sand, the final book, but only because I have already bought it. I will also need to take a break and read something romantic or easy first to break this dark streak!

This is a very embarrassing review for me. I read this book under the belief that it was the third book in the Wool trilogy. You may remember that I wasn't a massive fan of Shift so I was hoping the final book would get back on track with the story. Based on all of this, I went into Sand with an open mind. In fact, I really got into it after the first few chapters. Sand is set in an apocalyptical world where everything is covered in sand (unsurprisingly). People have technology that allows them to dive through the sand as if it's water and these sand divers scavenge for relics of the lost world. About half way through one of our main characters, Palmer, discovers a new massive underground structure...

Any review I give this book right now isn't really going to be fair as I spent the time wondering when we were going to get back to our friends in the Silo and it wasn't until I had literally finished the book that I realised it was in fact the wrong book. Heaven only knows how I managed that! It turns out that Sand is actually a stand alone book that Howey is currently working on a sequel to. Yes, yes, I'm an idiot. I will have to re-read Sand with the knowledge that it's a standalone book but here are my first thoughts.

The structure of 5 distinct sections is very similar to Shift and Wool. In many ways, the world depicted in Sand is the antithesis to Wool. Life in the silo is constrained by order and structure while in the world portrayed in Sand is defined by the struggles of characters to add some form of structure (both literally and socially) to their environment. The characters are sympathetic (a big step up from shift) and the book just feels a bit more mature. The language used in the book is a bit stronger and the sex scenes are more graphic.

I can see why people would dislike this book. The author goes to a lot of effort to tell us about this desert world that the characters find themselves in, going so far as to give us a glossary of sand terms. However, then we have this amazing sand dive technology that's not really explained at all! In fact, somewhat ironically, there is a scene in the book where a character refers to technology that he doesn't understand that seems like magic to him. Another issue for some may be that we don't get any explanation as to the year, or what happened to the world. We just know that this is the world they are in now. None of these points really detracted from the book for me.

The only thing that bugged me about this book is that it ends too suddenly. Everything kind of just... works out. It's almost like the author was working to a word count and suddenly realised they didn't have much room left. The end just left me a little unsatisfied I guess. Another thing I feel could have been fleshed out more is the day-to-day details of the world. I mean, we know water is scarce etc. but what do they do for food? There's mention of jerky and cannibalism once or twice but nothing really about the day-to-day.

All in all, I'm undecided. I'll leave it on the bookshelf and come back to it in 6 months maybe. It definitely has some interesting ideas but I was looking for something else reading it. I will order Dust (the actual final book of the Wool trilogy) next time I am ordering on Amazon.

Ok, ok, I double checked that this is actually the correct book this time!!!

"Dust" jumps back in right where both "Shift" and "Wool" left us off. Jules is now in charge of the silo and she knows a lot more about the world than anyone else (Silo 1 excluded.) I really wanted to like this book but I can't quite bring myself there.

Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of positives. Firstly, the book was an easy read. I never struggled to pick it up. It also did a great job of raising the tension throughout and making the reader feel some of the panic, distrust and confusion of the silos.

However, despite the above, the pacing was just a little off for me. There were passages that just felt "dragged" and that didn't really bring anything to the story. Then there were passages that I really wanted to see more of (e.g. that creepy wedding, the thing with the twins and the scars disappearing) that just kind of... fizzled out. There also seemed to be too many characters. In some books (Game of Thrones is a great example), characters bring conflict and complexity to the story. However, in this book many of the characters are interchangeable. This is particularly true for characters that we haven't met before this book. Even the main characters don't show much development.

As for the ending itself, well it just seemed a tad convenient. Now I do believe that the author had written himself into a corner and had limited options at that stage. I said it about Shift and I'll say it again about Dust- it really felt like the author was working towards a word count. That would explain all the "filler" content that goes nowhere in the middle.

I would have been much happier if the author had put some additional effort into rounding out the ending. We got an ending (of sorts) for silos 1, 17 and 18 but the fate of the remaining silos is just ignored. We also never learn anything more about the world.

At the end of the day, I'm glad I read this book. It finished out the series for me, even if I wasn't entirely satisfied with how that was accomplished and left with unanswered questions. I probably wouldn't recommend this book to others though all the same for the reasons that I've mentioned above.

War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.

First of all, I bloody LOVE the cover of this book! I mean, it's so fitting and yet so simple.

This book is one of those classics that I had always meant to get around to. Boy, was it a mistake to wait so long. Although I knew the book from references and I had the general idea of Big Brother and constant surveillance, I was pleasantly surprised with how well-thought out this book was. 1984 itself has become shorthand for the surveillance state, the power of the media and totalitarianism. But the universe created in 1984 is so much more than that. Given the complexity of the messages in the book, it's going to need a second and maybe third read to appreciate all the nuances I think.

The psychology and politics of this novel are at the heart of the story. The world created is so plausible that it's scary, particularly when you consider when the book was written. This novel is particularly apt when read against the backdrop of today's political climate and with the prevalence of social media.

The manifesto itself takes up quite a chunk of the book. While this information is vital to really understanding the book, I can see how it might be difficult for readers to get through. This is particularly true for school-aged readers - teenage me would have found it an awful bore. However, I really believe that this is a book that everyone should read once, even if it's only to appreciate the impact it has had on pop culture!

My favourite idea in the book, and the one that stuck with me afterwards, was the impact language can have on thought and emotion. The idea of doublethink and the concept that removing adjectives can reduce the range of human creativity and emotion is astonishing. It's a very unsettling read. I'm already looking forward to re-reading this and watching the movie!!

Business books are really not my thing. I spend enough time working, I don't want to be thinking about business issues in my free time! This was one of a handful of books I got for free at a conference and it was in my bag when I finished my last novel so it's appearing on the list!

The concept of this book is to debunk the good guys finish last mentality. That rather than being detrimental, it pays to be nice. It lists some principles of being nice and illustrates why you should try to embody that principle with an anecdote or two.

I will say that I wasn't reading this book looking for life lessons. I've spent enough time in the business world to know that there are some people that should be forced to read a book like this. Honestly though, I found most of the principles outlined in this book to be common sense! I enjoyed the anecdotes but, for me, that's all they were. I'm lucky to work in an industry that's not exactly cut-throat but if I was in an industry like that and I was reading this book for reassurance that being nice wouldn't be a hindrance, I don't think I'd be convinced. I found it a bit simplistic, it deals with good or bad people but nothing in-between. I also find to difficult to believe that people are not familiar with the core concept of this book. They know taking the "nice" option is a possibility, they just don't see the benefit in doing that for them. I'm not sure this book can change that.

I'm not saying that this book is useless. I know it's a top seller. It's also well written and engaging and it's great to hear from successful businesswomen. Maybe it's just a case of not being in the correct target market. I already judge people on how well they treat their inferiors, not their peers. I think this book is targeted wrong to be honest. It would be an interesting read for young teenagers (dare I say particularly girls?) but I feel it's a bit light to really be considered as a business book.

I picked up this book in a supermarket in London after mistakenly forgetting to pack a book for my few days away! This was literally a case of picking a book by its cover as I hadn't heard of the author, but it was a great choice.

Now, this is one of those books where you spend the first 75% trying to figure out what's happening. I'm treading very carefully here as I really don't want to give anything away. This book is a psychological thriller with more twists and turns than the roads in West Kerry. Caleb, our protagonist, is on a downward spiral of depression laced with alcohol. He has a dark past, of which we learn little, that impacts on everything he does. Throw in some local murders and a mystery woman and you've got all the elements of a great story.

I really enjoyed the novel but it's quiet dark. Disturbing even. I'm really glad I hadn't read any reviews before reading it so I was able to take it at face value and feel the tension build. I can imagine that this type of novel would not appeal to everyone, even fans of crime novels might find it a bit dark. There's a quote on the cover from Steven King that calls the book "terrifying" (which I personally think is a bit too strong) and compares it to Red Dragon. I can really get on board with that comparison actually, Red Dragon was the last book that really got under my skin. The prose at times is a tad heavy and almost suffocating but I think this adds to the anxiety of the reader.

The Poison Artist really is a strange but compelling novel and I look forward to reading more from this author.

The Racketeer - John Grisham
The Racketeer tells the story of Malcolm Bannister, a lawyer halfway through a ten year prison sentence for money laundering. He is the only person that knows why a federal judge was murdered and by whom, so he attempts to leverage Rule 35 to get a pardon.

I am vaguely familiar with Grisham's work having read a few of his novels, but this story feels like a departure for him. It does begin in what one could call a formulaic way, it seems to be the story of a lawyer in trouble with the law, a man standing up to the system. However, the decision to make the lead character, Malcolm Bannister, unlikeable is an unusual one. It makes it hard to know who to root for while you're reading. Malcolm is cocky and a jerk with almost no redeeming qualities.

In general, character development is overlooked in this novel. Outside of Bannister, most if not all other characters are two dimensional and interchangeable. His mysterious lover (whose name I can't even remember) is a great example of this. She turns up out of nowhere and is almost immediately inducted as an integral pieces of Malcolm's master plan. This lack of depth coupled with a focus on mundane details resulted in a lack of suspense. Plot development is also very heavy handed, particularly on the "twists" with some very strange and unbelievable decisions.

The plot itself had good potential. I am not overly familiar with Grisham's novels so I can't comment on whether it's a rehash of other plots or if it follows a standard path. The novel felt a little flat for me, as if it was written quickly and rushed out. Perhaps Grisham's fans don't ask any more of him? It was an ok read for a flight, but I can't say that I'd be recommending it to others.

We Should All Be Feminists - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Based on some excellent reviews, I ordered this book from Amazon. To call it a book would be overkill though. It only has about 50 pages in it and I finished in on my bus ride to work one morning! It's really an essay about gender and gender roles, told with a conversational tone.

This book initially appealed to me as feminism is something that I struggle with. While I am firmly of the belief that women should not be discriminated against, I have a harder time with some of the more militant beliefs shared by leading feminists online today. In fact, for many people the word "feminism" is a negative, leading word. I found this book to be a refreshing take on the topic - there was a lot that I could identify with and it never felt preachy.

A great little read, highly recommended.

Peter Pan - J. M. Barrie

Everyone knows the story of Peter Pan. There are an extraordinary number of Broadway and silver screen versions and spin-offs including the recent Pan. As someone who grew up with Disney fairytales, I found the book much darker than I was expecting. This holds true for many old children's books, particularly anything written by the Brothers Grimm. Not only did I find this book dark, I found it very difficult to read. It is adapted from a play which makes the narrative seem bizarre at times and intrusive.

The characters were the biggest surprise to me here. I had expected some Disneyfication of the characters but I genuinely had a hard time finding a character to like in this book. Peter is an arrogant, self-obsessed bully with strange mommy issues and what can only be described as a bipolar personality. There is a hint that he regularly murders the boys that have the audacity to grow up. Tinkerbell is both evil and jealous. Wendy is a weak stereotype, useful only for "womanly" chores like cleaning, sewing and rearing children. I know that this book was first published back in 1904 so the racial and gender stereotypes are somewhat explainable but, as they still form the spine of the story today, I would have a difficult time reading this to little children.

All in all, pretty disappointed with this novel. The best thing about it is the Puffin Chalk cover! I'm sure many will disagree with me (otherwise it wouldn't have become a classic!) but I found it a tedious, choppy read and would not read again or recommend, especially to children. Still with the movies.

Dress your family in corduroy and denim - David Sedaris

Picked this book up from the reduced price section in San Francisco airport. Sedaris is apparently a well-known US author, I hadn't heard of him though and I'm not familiar with any of his other work. This book is a collection of stories from his life, with a focus on his childhood and adolescence. The stories are used to give us an insight into how his relationships with his quirky, dysfunctional family, particularly his parents, have shaped him.

I found this book incredibly tedious. Short story collections generally tend not to appeal to me, but I did struggle to finish this book. It was amusing at times, but those fleeting moments made the rest of the drab stories feel even longer. I'm not sure if the humour went over my head or it just didn't appeal to me. Perhaps this type of writing is more appealing to people that relish watching reality shows like Big Brother? The whole thing felt very egotistical and self-indulgent. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone and will steer clear of this author in future.

Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton

Another movie book! I was in the Dominican Republic earlier this year and I visited the Amber Museum in Puerto Plata that provided all the amber for the Spielberg movie. A lot of the film is shot on the island too. On the way home, I saw this book at the airport, and I couldn't resist picking it up!

Ok, so I have seen this movie a couple of times. Like many of the other reviews, although the setting and most of the general story line are the same between the movie and the book, I am reviewing the book alone.

For those that only recently got Wifi coverage under the rock they've been hiding under, the basic premise is that a billionaire has created a technique to clone dinosaurs. He is planning to create a hybrid theme park cum safari in which visitors can see the animals. Unsurprisingly, it goes wrong. The movie, directed by Steven Spielberg, was a CGI breakthrough which enthralled audiences.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book, especially considering that most of the characters are unlikeable. While the movie is a family favourite, the book is definitely written for adults. There is a much heavier focus on science in the book: the practicalities, the ethics and the theory. I found it really rounded out my understanding of the world, but I can appreciate that it might be a bit heavy for some readers. The book is well written and engaging, as are most of the characters. I thought that I might find this book a bit boring as I was more familiar with the premise that the other movie-books I've read, but actually, the opposite was the case. The book is much darker, much cleverer and much more violent than the movie. The dinosaurs are more intelligent, more surprising and more deadly. Each page is laced with suspense and thrills.

The only thing that I found a bit annoying was the general anti-science vibe that was ever-present. At the start, it did help to explain how the scientific community came to act the way it was portrayed in the book. The science-for-profit scenario is one of the underlying concepts that the book is built on. However, in saying that, the book tends to come down negatively on all science and no attempt is made to show science in a good light. That's only a small personal niggle though, I look forward to reading The Lost World. I would certainly recommend this book for people that loved the movie.

Only Ever Yours - Louise O'Neill

I wasn't looking forward to reading this novel as I had found Asking for It overhyped and juvenile. However, I had received this novel as a gift so I gave O'Neill another chance.

There really is no comparison between Asking For It and Only Ever Yours. While I found the former to be tedious and unimaginative, the latter is an interesting, nuanced story with underlying themes about the place of women in society. Both novels have a "Mean Girl" vibe and ambiguous endings, but Only Ever Yours is by far the better book.

Only Ever Yours is set in a dystopian world where women can no longer be naturally conceived. Women in this world instead have a "design date". These girls are raised together in schools, where they are taught everything that they need to know to be a barbie doll. Original thought or academic inclination are seen as repugnant attributes. These women have one job and one job only - to look pretty, smile and do as they are told. They are constantly ranked on their beauty and behaviour and the dream job is to get a rich husband and pop out loads of babies.

Our protagonist in this story is freida (not a typo, women don't deserve capital letters in this universe), a 16 year old who is preparing for The Ceremony. The Ceremony is a sorting ritual in which eligible bachelors (Inheritants) choose their partners. Once each man has chosen a wife (companion), the other women are divided into concubines (a polite way of calling them whores) or chastities (basically nuns who never leave the school). The majority of girls would do anything to be companions, with the exception of a few promiscuous ladies who want to be concubines. Chastities are looked down upon with pity by both groups.
As places are limited, the ladies are encouraged and even taught from a young age to tear each other down. Bullying, gossiping and anorexia are seen as desirable traits. There are no real friendships, and there is no real privacy.

The story focuses on freida's journey to The Ceremony, and her relationship with estranged friend isabel. isabel is presented as a mystery, she has a secret and that allows her to get away with things that no-one else can. She shows a number of dangerous thoughts including thoughts about bodily autonomy and women's rights. She holds herself distant to the other girls, although none of them seem to mind.

It's difficult to rate and review this book. It's a page turner, particularly if you haven't read a novel like this before. It's thoroughly engaging, even though at times it's not particularly enjoyable. It's satirical and dystopian, yet has many parallels with contemporary society. However, that all said, I was left wanting more. The characters were completely two dimensional and vapid. While I understand that this was by design, at times the constant jibes about beauty and weight and status become tiring and repetitive. I wanted to know more about the early friendship between isabel and freida and how it had deteriorated. I wanted to see the women behind the masks, but I was left wanting. For a novel written by a feminist, there really are no strong female characters. In fact, none of the characters were particularly likeable, a problem echoed in Asking For It. All that said, I would still recommend this book to others.