Book Goodies

I don't need to clarify that this is a book mainly about a set of teenagers who all have various types of cancer. That plays an important role, yes, but past that, this book is a love story. The two great loves of this book occur between Hazel and Augustus, and also between Hazel/Augustus and a book called An Imperial Affliction. I enjoyed the characters, plot, etc., but more than that, I love to read about people who are infatuated with a book. I am always a sucker for any story where a character is so deeply concerned about engaging with a piece writing that it actually drives the plot along. The whole ordeal with Peter Van Houten is just too great and there was no way I couldn't enjoy reading about something like that. As far as younger adult fiction goes, I think John Green might be proving to be one of my more favorite authors in that genre. I'd like to check out his other titles and see how they match up with the other young adult fiction I've enjoyed like Perks of Being a Wallflower or Thirteen Reasons Why.

I enjoyed When She Woke very much, but it didn't move me nearly as much as this novel. I got through this one in 2 days, but I feel like I will be dwelling in this story for a long time. Just when I thought I had everyone figured out, some character would find a way to surprise me. This happened again and again--always something that I take as a signal of good writing. The story has a nice build in part one, but it really grows into itself once Jamie and Ronsel return to Mudbound with their war scars. Their internal struggles end up perfectly guiding us into the situation that allows the book's other concerns to become realized. Jordan does a great job of reminding readers that although the story reads like it is set in the 19th century, it is actually happening just after WWII. That was roughly sixty years ago, which really gives the novel some impact when you think about how little time sixty years is. It's the same feeling that I get when I'm reminded of Civil Rights movements from the 60s. How can all of that still be so recent? How can I live in a world where people like Pappy might be a vivid memory in the lives of my generation's parents? The racism of the rural Mississippi setting flows with such a passion that it is almost impossible to believe this wasn't something from former centuries. However, as much as I want to not believe the viability of this story, I know that it could have happened. People are capable of so much, and that can be channeled into positive and negative activities that in both cases are capable of leaving me stunned. The issues of Mudbound are ones that are still present today, although they have taken new forms and shapes in which they can torment. Jordan has written a compelling and important novel, and I am happy to have it tucked away in my mind.

This was initially a 3 star for me, but after some more consideration I'm thinking a 4 star would be more appropriate. (Mostly because of how bad ass I think the allusion of the chrome color spectrum pretty much making a rainbow is for sexual preference rights. Totally rad.) People are saying this is a fine combo of Handmaid's Tale and the Scarlett Letter. I haven't read the former, and I can no longer remember the latter, but I will toss in another world that I am reminded of, which is Children of Men (awesome movie, but I couldn't get through the book. Yeah, I do work in a bookstore. Whatever.) So if you like any of these stories, then I'm thinking this read will be good for you. This book gives a lot to talk about with its interest in abortion, feminism, sexual preference rights, racism, etc. The protagonist, Hannah, finds a way to face it all in the short time we spend with her (I think about 4 months? 5?) and although I found myself constantly frustrated with her character, I had no trouble following her through what I regarded as a horrifying world. It is one I would certainly be ashamed to be a part of as a human. Hopefully I'd have the guts to help out people like Simone and Paul/Vincent. It was a fun read for me to have during breaks from Infinite Jest. I'm really looking forward to meeting the author and bouncing a couple questions off her. I'm hoping to read her other title, Mudbound, but it will have to wait until after Telegraph Avenue! Check this one out--I think it is a worthwhile read even if it isn't making your all-time favorites.

A great story to work with here. Sometimes we all need to read something that just feels a little good. In all honesty, you could just look at the cover on this--The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman, The Horse That Inspired a Nation--and have a good gist of what is in store for you. However, I enjoyed going deeper into the history. There is a lot of heart, determination, and communication that goes into a sport like horse jumping, so it is nice to read about those times when a rider and a horse can just use these simple tools to take a championship without having to tack them to a checkbook (horse pun!). The writing is really nothing to speak of. Repetitive, predictable, and all very matter of fact. Not that author, Elizabeth Letts, really has anything she needs to be doing other than making it readable, but compared to other non-fiction I've encountered with this type of format there is no real style. I'm also a little baffled on the heights of all the jumps. At Grand Prix events these days you aren't going to find horses doing clean rounds over several 6ft. oxers, but maybe they just threw horses over them back in the 1950s with no real regard to the safety of anyone or anything. I'd recommend this if you're looking for a nice easy read, if you have a horse, if you have any interest in horses, or if you happen to have a significant other that rides horses. I also imagine that if you have any literate horses in your present company then he/she would enjoy this one too. At the very least it is a book that can really help you out with learning some horse knowledge and lingo.

I don't know why I can't sympathize with any of these characters (except maybe Shane), but I can't. I wish I could find a way to enjoy or appreciate the """poetry""" style of narrative, but it just isn't happening. The easiest way to sum it up is that some books are made to cater to certain tastes, and this book just simply has nothing that coincides with my preferences. At least I tried.

From the first page, readers can never quite know what to expect from any writing that has been crafted by the hands and the mind of Danielewski. Readers find themselves in the midst of a party where Chintana listens along with five oddly named orphans to a dark tale from a mysterious figure. The story told to these characters and us is one that speaks of a quest to quiet a deep and painful darkness. However, the further one goes to vanquish this darkness, the more one finds themselves embracing the darkness. Danielewski and T50YS fulfill the usual promise of taking readers into a realm that contains those essential bits of plot, character, and in one form or another, narrative. More important than offering us a gripping tale of a man navigating a forest of shattered sound and mountains echoing solitude in an attempt to gain the perfect weapon, T50YS offers its readers a truly refreshing literary mode of delivery. A great writer wants language to engage with its audience, and communicate to them a new method for seeing, for reading, and for thinking. I certainly feel this desire to be at work in T50YS. On all of these pages I read novella. I read short story. I read the lyric of poetic verse. I read visual abstraction. I read language and image that are willing to push the limits of genres and their conventions so that they can achieve greater writing. What I’m reading, here, is Danielewski.

A fantastic read that has completely lived up to the high bar people set for it as they told me about their experiences with the book. This one and Hard-Boiled are both taking the top two spots when it comes to my favorite Murakami. In fact, both are high up on my "list" of favorite novels. In my opinion, the Noble Prize for Literature would be well aimed if it were to land in Murakami's lap after his decades of contributing unique and interesting writing to contemporary lit.

What a book. I had so much fun as I went through this one. The smokes are great, the characters are interesting, the settings accurate, blah blah blah--its got all that stuff that makes good books and I don't need to explain that to anyone on this website. More importantly, this book took me back to the good old days of reading as a kid. Those were the times when I read purely for pleasure outside of school (I still read for pleasure often, but I also have grown to appreciate the education and experience of reading difficult books that although rewarding, can hardly count as "pleasure" reads). Cronin guides the reader along with that changing point of view style that makes you practically faint when you realize the chapter you just read with all the built up tension isn't going to be addressed for a couple more chapters because you are being dropped back into that other point of view, which also had a ton of tension and you had forgotten how invested you were in this other part of the story since you were still freaking out over the last crazy thing going on and then you start thinking about that other character who was definitely in trouble several chapters ago and and and!?!!??.... Sorry, it's like that in my head. You simply have to know how each aspect of the story is going to work out. It compels you to read chapter after chapter after chapter... You probably get it by now. This is what makes it fun, though. You've got to keep going at 1am after a full day because you can't live without knowing what happens, and you don't really want to sleep anyway because you are pretty sure Cronin is all up in your head and you really have no intention of allowing yourself to dream about the crazy scary vampire stuff floating around your brain. I'm not too interested in summing things up about the story (obviously), but I just want to use this review to acknowledge that this book really hit the spot for me. To make things better, I should be getting my hands on an ARC of The Twelve soon here, and I'll also be meeting J Cro at the Tattered Cover next month. Definitely check this out if any of the following apply to you:1. You want to reclaim vampires. They are totally reborn and spookified in this novel.2. You are in the mood to tear through roughly 700 pages of awesome.3. You know that the next book you read needs to be a home run because those last few sucked (vampire pun!). 4. You know that I have great taste and if you couldn't tell, I really liked this book.5. You are aware of the fact that Halloween is coming up, so a scary book would be very fitting for this time of year. Tis the season for the virals!

In his latest adventure, we see young Aldo begin to face the trials that come to many fifth graders. As Aldo decides to be Einstein for Halloween, we also see him stuggle in Spanish class, argue with his best friend, and even enter a dangerous situation at great personal risk. The fifth installment in the series, we begin to really see the depth of Aldo's relationships grow. On top of this progression, we begin to see the setting and world of the Aldo series expand with new characters and places. This all allows for readers to start connecting with Aldo in a way that goes past the initial enjoyment experienced in the first four books. Readers get to connect with larger issues that many young kids will likely be facing themselves. We can all be sure to look forward to the next book in the series due later this year.