270ish pages
1909
Source: Project Gutenberg
Description: This is the semi-autobiographical story of a man who rises up from a working class background to improve his station and become a writer.
Showing posts with label Literature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Literature. Show all posts
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Martin Eden, by Jack London
270ish pages
1909
Source: Project Gutenberg
Description: This is the semi-autobiographical story of a man who rises up from a working class background to improve his station and become a writer.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Dracula, by Bram Stoker
Publisher: Barnes & Noble Classics (My copy. Its in the public domain.)
444 pages
1897
Source: Barnes & Noble
Description: A young solicitor named Johnathan Harker goes to the Carpathians to finalize a real estate deal with Count Dracula. He soon realizes Dracula is a vampire and must help defeat him.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Unfinished books of 2012
I read a lot of books, but I don't finish everything. They aren't all bad books, some just don't click with me and I decide to move on. Sometimes I still have thoughts on them.
Rating: 0.5/5
2011
Reason for reading: I was looking for a fun, cheesy read after finishing House of Leaves and Battle Royale back-to-back.
Description: Hooking up with your twin's long time boyfriend causes family rifts. Who knew?
I read the Sweet Valley High series growing up and I was expecting more of the same. Maybe, if I took down the nostalgia filters, I got more of the same. My expected fun, cheesy entertainment turned out to be moldy Limburger.
After about 100 pages, what finally got me to give up was the ice.
I don't drink, and I don't hang out in bars or clubs, yet I was thrown out of the story when someone requested ice in their white wine and the person offering the drink didn't find this strange. After I was thrown out of the story again when a bartender asked if someone wanted a dirty martini, "on the rocks," I didn't go back.
Rating: N/A
2000
Reason for reading: A random number generator assigned me this book for a group reading project.
Description: Middle-aged man hooks up with teenager, and it actually doesn't come off as creepy. Then we follow his family and the family of his good friend.
This is not a bad book, it just didn't work for me.
The main reason it didn't work for me was, whenever Archie came on the page, Beck's "Loser" started running through my head, and I really hate that song.
Rating: 2/5
2012
Reason for reading: I liked The Passage and The Strain.
Description: Drug dealer passes out drug that turns people into vampires. They run amok in London.
This was an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC), so maybe the "queasy bladder" and the "sagging bladder" will be gone by the finished version. But the unlikable heroes, the plot holes, and the villains who where creepy, but in the wrong way for a horror book, will probably all make it.
The two stars is probably generous, but it might have redeemed itself in the final third of the book.
Sweet Valley Confidential, by Francine Pascal
Source: Borrowed from libraryRating: 0.5/5
2011
Reason for reading: I was looking for a fun, cheesy read after finishing House of Leaves and Battle Royale back-to-back.
Description: Hooking up with your twin's long time boyfriend causes family rifts. Who knew?
I read the Sweet Valley High series growing up and I was expecting more of the same. Maybe, if I took down the nostalgia filters, I got more of the same. My expected fun, cheesy entertainment turned out to be moldy Limburger.
After about 100 pages, what finally got me to give up was the ice.
I don't drink, and I don't hang out in bars or clubs, yet I was thrown out of the story when someone requested ice in their white wine and the person offering the drink didn't find this strange. After I was thrown out of the story again when a bartender asked if someone wanted a dirty martini, "on the rocks," I didn't go back.
White Teeth, by Zadie Smith
Source: Borrowed from libraryRating: N/A
2000
Reason for reading: A random number generator assigned me this book for a group reading project.
Description: Middle-aged man hooks up with teenager, and it actually doesn't come off as creepy. Then we follow his family and the family of his good friend.
This is not a bad book, it just didn't work for me.
The main reason it didn't work for me was, whenever Archie came on the page, Beck's "Loser" started running through my head, and I really hate that song.
Skarlet, by Thomas Emson
Source: LibraryThing Early Reviewers programRating: 2/5
2012
Reason for reading: I liked The Passage and The Strain.
Description: Drug dealer passes out drug that turns people into vampires. They run amok in London.
This was an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC), so maybe the "queasy bladder" and the "sagging bladder" will be gone by the finished version. But the unlikable heroes, the plot holes, and the villains who where creepy, but in the wrong way for a horror book, will probably all make it.
The two stars is probably generous, but it might have redeemed itself in the final third of the book.
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