Lots of recent reading
Cause I’ve been lazy. I’m sure I’m missing lots, but whatever. At no point should these scores be related to anything but the scores in this post, because I am totally inconsistent.
Misfortune : a novel / by Wesley Stace. (7/10)
I really enjoyed this. Oh, the ending was rather predictable, but it was still cute and fun, though perhaps a bit long.
A field of darkness / by Cornelia Read. (9/10)
Very good, as a general mystery novel. Nicely written! Based on fairy tales!
The skirt man / by Shelly Reuben. (8/10)
The entire time I read this book, I was angry that the skirt man died. Good? Yes. But frustrating, to be so much wanting to see a character as himself, instead of through the eyes of everyone else.
Our culture, what’s left of it : the mandarins and the masses / by Theodore Dalrymple. (can’t decide)
Ugh. The guy is a brilliant writer, sure, but it’s strawmanariffic.
The night journal / by Elizabeth Crook. (7.5/10)
Another book I liked. Hurray! I recommend it, too. A sort of accepting-your-family, from the adult perspective, ish, book.
A spot of bother : a novel / by Mark Haddon. (8.5/10)
I know this got mixed reviews, but I thought it was really good. It’s hard to make a man losing his mind funny, but he is, as is the just general disintegration of the family.
The pure in the heart : a Simon Serrailler crime novel / by Susan Hill. (5/10)
Bleh, whatever. Didn’t do it for me. You cannot leave every single plotline open at the end of a mystery. You don’t have to tie them all up, but you can’t just end it at “ok, well, enough pages, bye then”.
Black swan green : a novel / by David Mitchell. (6.5/10)
I wasn’t as taken with this as Cloud Atlas. It’s good, but not particularly.
The fearsome particles / by Trevor Cole. (9/10)
Another book I really liked! I seem to be into the multiple viewpoints now. Book about a family figuring out what it means to be in the same family. I also want the wife’s job in this book.
Stumbling on happiness / by Daniel Gilbert. (6.5/10)
Interesting read, though none of it was particularly shocking news.
Theft : a love story / by Peter Carey. (6/10)
It was okay. I found the multiple viewpoints here distracting, because of the tone of the other brother. But I usually like art-world-based novels, so that worked.
Suspect / by Michael Robotham. (6.5/10)
I liked the book until the end, where the credible became in. Another easy to read crime book.
Moral disorder / by Margaret Atwood. (4/10)
Something about this one gripped me at first and then totally let me go.
October 26th, 2006 at 11:05 pm
I agree with you on Black Swan Green. Two years ago when I read Cloud Atlas (has it been two years already?) I totally fell in love with Mitchell. I mean, head over heels. The book spoke to me on so many different levels (like Mitchell, I too spent some time in Asia), and it seemed so fresh and creative. The new novel is simply alright, which is disappointing.