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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2010 0:17:31 GMT -5
1: Forever Changes~ Brendan Haplin 2: House of Dance~ Beth Kephart 3: If I Stay~ Gayle Forman 4: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time~ Mark Haddon 5: 6: 7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: 18: 19: 20: 21: 22: 23: 24: 25: 26: 27: 28: 29: 30
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Post by Arielle on Feb 16, 2010 22:33:23 GMT -5
Oh hey, cool another one this year! I forgot about last year so even though I probably read all the books I needed to, I forgot. XD Hopefully this year I remember. So this year it's just # of books, not alphabet? I thought the aplphabet thing was fun but at least this way I can update even faster. Let's see if I remember what I've read so far this year... I guess it's somewhat lucky I've haven't had much time to read much lately, makes it easier to remember books. 1: Stardust- Neil Gaiman (Not sure if I started this in 2010...) 2: I'd tell you I love you but then I'd have to kill you- Ally Carter (Ugh, kinda sorta liked it but mostly irritating) 3: Beowulf 4: 1984- George Orwell (Good) 5. The Hobbit 6. Raising Kane 7. The Fellowship of the Ring- Reading right now. 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: 18: 19: 20: 21: 22: 23: 24: 25: 26: 27: 28: 29: 30:
Yea... Not enough time to read, and if I did I can't remember the tittle. Right now I'm reading 1984 and Raising Kane. Hopefully I can remember more later to add to the list. I have a horrid headache right now. Does it count if I started it in 2009 but finished it in 2010? I'm not sure about the dates.
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Post by Rikku on Feb 21, 2010 13:43:34 GMT -5
Finished The Lovely Bones. <3 It was actually very pretty, much prettier than I'd expected for a book about a dead girl. Made me think about evanescence and people and other such things.
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Post by Sq on Feb 21, 2010 20:52:53 GMT -5
I'll do this. I need to read more, anyway. D: ^ = in-progress * = finished 1. The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand ^ 2. Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut * 3. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World - Haruki Murakami ^ 4. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Johnathan Safran Foer * 5. The Sirens of Titan - Kurt Vonnegut ^ 6. Into the Wild - Jon Krakauer * 7. Tuesdays With Morrie - Mitch Albom * 8. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins ^ 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30.
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Post by Jayeee on Feb 23, 2010 23:39:08 GMT -5
Finished Jane Eyre last night. It was good. I quite like reading books like this one. Even though I had to read it for uni, it's the kind of book i'd happily read, and not struggle to get through it. For the most part anyway. The only problem I had was that I kept comparing it to Wuthering Heights and Return of the Native all the time. The three books are quite similar, and because I prefer Wuthering Heights most out of the three, it made it difficult to enjoy Jane Eyre to the fullest. That, and it was very long. Next up, i'm reading Wide Sargasso Sea.
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Post by M is for Morphine on Feb 27, 2010 17:23:36 GMT -5
Went back in for more Pynchon with The Crying of Lot 49 (shorter [and I mean much shorter, polished it off in maybe 4 hours], more accessible, highly recommended).
Next up was Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the Word by Haruki Murakami. It was excellent. Really a 'can't put this down' breakneck read. It had a lot to say and the most interesting setup to say it with.
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Post by Shadaras on Feb 27, 2010 17:57:07 GMT -5
I haven't technically read this this year, but... Camaraderie is by a friend of mine, and it's a wonderful story. The description on that page probably does it more justice than I can, but I love it. And not just because a friend of mine wrote it. xD ..it's a really good story. It's technically a novella, but whatever.
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Post by Chao on Mar 7, 2010 5:32:15 GMT -5
Finally. While during February I barely managed to read more than a few pages, vacation finally provided me with the time needed to read to my heart’s content. So after numerous starts over the last three years I eventually finished ‘Northange Abbey’, which even gained me some strange fame in the hotel. Imagine being suddenly in a museum, concentrating on the exhibits, reading the descriptions and while you notice that another visitor seems to have the same reading speed like you have, you don’t recognize him in the slightest. But he recognizes you, telling you that you are staying at the same hotel he does. Of course you apologize for not recognizing him, and it is then that he tells you that he had seen you reading a book in the lobby which seemed to have been a rather funny book because you were laughing out loud at times. This really felt strange. Well, on the other hand, ‘Northanger Abbey’ definitely has its funny points and Henry Tilney is really great competition to Mr. Bennet regarding the honour of the most humorous male character in Austen’s novels. And I am glad to say that Catherine was not as capricious in her imaginations as she was portrayed in the movie I once saw, though she was utterly and at times downright unbearably naïve. Well, it could have been worse. At least she was steady in her principles and therefore not completely a loss as heroine. ^^ Thanks to Henry this book might rank as my third favourite Austen novel.
Other books I did finish were to ordinary love novels in historical setting by authors with ridiculously false names. I have nothing to say in defence there, but they are mostly fun to read, relaxing, and the only books where I don’t mind an occassional splash from the pool getting them wet. Plus you get nice bits of history which can eventually help you get a better overall picture regarding the European history (though of course one has to be careful to see the difference between fact and fiction). And then of course there is the travel guide I devoured on the flight to Malta.
Right now I am reading ‘The Constant Princess’ by Philippa Gregory, which someone left on the free book shelf at the hotel. Since it takes place in the age of my favourite English dynasty I coulnd’t refuse and so far it is really good and light reading.
EDIT: Almost a week later and I finished 'The Constant Princess'. Next will be a Dirk Pitt adventure again, as I raided my parents' home of my father's Clive Cussler collection ;D
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Post by Rachel on Mar 13, 2010 16:32:53 GMT -5
Finished Uglies last night. Absolutely loved it. xD I was so stupid and kept getting the book spoiled because I turned too far in the book, but I thought it had nice writing and got to the point really quickly. There were some great plot twists and I can't wait to read Pretties. I'll see if I can talk to my mom about checking it out from the library soon, or maybe wait until Monday to check it out.
Also 2 chapters away from finishing A Separate Peace. Anyway, I didn't really like the book. Honestly I haven't had any luck with required English readings. :X
Also plan on checking 2 or so books out from the library for my ASL class about d/Deafness. So, I'll see. ^^ I'll have to do some serious reading over the summer if I will complete the challenge.
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Post by Rikku on Mar 14, 2010 1:08:29 GMT -5
Finished a book called Beautiful Creatures by two authors I can't recall off the top of my head, which I mainly bought because a handful of urban fantasy writers had glowing comments in the front of it and I liked the idea of this vague circle of book-writing folk all critiquing each other. It ... I can't quite put my finger on why, but it was off, somehow. Rough. Could stand to be polished. There were some decent characters, a couple that could turn out to be really interesting, just .... the paragraphing was all over the place, things just seemed off in general. Made what could have been a decent book into a meh-ish one. Sigh. Worth reading, though, if you're into teen romance fantasy small-town-in-the-South type books; you might like it more than I did.
... And I will come back here to overflow with glee when I've finished reading Odd and the Frost Giants. <3
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Post by Rikku on Mar 20, 2010 2:09:05 GMT -5
Double post. >.>; But one must keep this thread lively somehow. So, Odd and the Frost Giants. =D I've been looking forward to reading it since I heard of its existence, because Neil Gaiman is a storyteller to his core, and on the rare occasions when I don't personally love the story he's telling, I can recognise the merits of it. (Beowulf is the exception to this. I really dislike that, for some reason.) I wasn't disappointed, not in the least. It's a real little gem of a book. And I do mean little; it was written for World Book Day. What it said on the back? About being 'small but perfectly formed'? Utterly true. I think it's one of my favourite of his stories, actually. It's about this boy called Odd, and him saving the world by being clever and infuriating, and also about how he deals with the loss of his father, kind of. Sort of coming-of-agey. It's beautifully written, as always, no words wasted. It ... is excellent for reading out loud. I mean, I can't read out loud at all, but the characters all have distinctive voices that could be done really well and the pauses are all in the right places and gah. I'm gonna try and dig up the audiobook of it some time, if I can. So yeah, lovely little book. It also has the Norse gods in it. =D Definitely a point in its favour. No one writes the Nordic pantheon like Neil Gaiman. Here is the link to its Amazon page, if you feel like reading the first few pages: www.amazon.com/Odd-Frost-Giants-Neil-Gaiman/dp/0061671738
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Post by Rachel on Mar 22, 2010 0:07:09 GMT -5
Finished Deaf Like Me. Great book, really enjoyed it. While I've been against oralism when it comes to deafness (forcing deaf to speak instead of learning how to use sign language), it brought new perspectives on why sign language is better. It showed all the difficulties and communication problems between the family, all the ups and downs of the family, and how to over come it all. I definitely recommend it.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2010 15:21:11 GMT -5
well, believe it or not, I just finished Alice's Adventures in Wonderland for the first time. I've tried to read it times before, but I've never actually read it all the way through. haha. I love the story so much. <3
next on my agenda is a book called Haters. I can't remember the author, but it's not bad. it reminds me of Mean Girls, but less of 'stupid plastic pretty girls', and more of 'tough, alternative, wicked girls'. I like it a lot. I'll also read Through the Looking Glass if I get the chance.
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Post by Rachel on Apr 6, 2010 1:56:55 GMT -5
Finished Pretties. Not as good as uglies, but still a great book and kept me reading. Finished about 2/3 of the book in 2 days, maybe 3. I think Scott Westerfeld is now my favorite author... and I'm starting to think Uglies passes Harry Potter as my favorite series. >_> Just need to get a hold of a copy of Specials and I'm good to go. Unfortunately it's be spring break this week, and the public library doesn't have a copy of any of the Uglies series books for some reason. oO I'll have to wait out a trip to Barnes and Noble.
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Post by Jayeee on Apr 9, 2010 22:15:15 GMT -5
Right, I've got through 2 more books since last time, so reviews are in order, now.
Wide Sargasso Sea: I'm not really a fan of sequels when they're written by a different author to the original. To me it felt as if this book was trying to tell a story that didn't need to be told. I know that Bronte had some restrictions on what she could write about, given the time, but if she'd really have wanted to make Rochester into a demon, abusing character, there'd have been stronger implications. I just didn't think this was a novel that needed to be written. Just pointless really.
Heart of Darkness: Oh my. I started off quite enjoying it, and then it got worse. The way Conrad writes just makes things very difficult to follow. I was often left wondering what was happening, where the character was, and so on. Not much else to say about it really. I just didn't enjoy it too much because of that.
Things Fall Apart: I found myself disliking this at the start, but I think it did get better as it moved on. I actually found myself quite liking the main character, even though he could be quite harsh. The novel was pretty effective in showing what happened during the Scramble for Africa.
I'm wading through Robinson Crusoe next. I'm 8 pages in, and already struggling. xD
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