Last book you read and your rating - book reviews

[hayes1516]

Originally Posted by Jogurt the Yogurt

You're crazy! I love that book!

The Tin Flute by Gabrielle Roy (5/10)

Good setting, aggravating characters. Half-decent thematic execution.

5 is being generous! I hated that book when we had to read it in high school.

Odd Hours by Dean Koontz (4/10)

Normally i really like Koontz's stuff but every once in a while he delivers a stinker (probably from the fact that he does 2-3 books a year and you can't hit every one out of the park) and this is one of them. As far as the Odd Thomas books go, this is the worst of the lot.

[Kiwi the Tortoise]

Dune (9/10):
Now I know why a movie-adaption would never work well.
Great book

How to Train your Dragon: Book I (8.5/10):
Great book for a younger audience & really fun to read. The scribbly pictures are neat too. For those that saw the movie: The book bares no real resemblance to the movie, so you could enjoy both.

Next up:
The First Men in the Moon
How to Train your Dragon: Book II (How to be a Pirate)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Lat den rätta komma in (Let the Right one in)

[Jogurt the Yogurt]

Originally Posted by Kiwi the Tortoise

The First Men in the Moon

Maybe my favourite H.G. Wells book.

Originally Posted by Kiwi the Tortoise

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

My favourite overall novel of all time.

[LinkFanatic]

Double Exposure.....10/10
This is a collection of the first three books of The Apprentice Adept series (Split Infinity, Blue Adept, and Juxtaposition) by Piers Anthony. Magic, robots, unicorns, all sorts of other fantasy creatures...the best science fiction/fantasy material there is and done by one of the best writers...IMO

[SKTTR]

World Without End

Took me some time to read this bible.

Not as good as the outstanding classic prequel The Pillars of the Earth, especially in the end, but being excited for the most part reading more than 1300 pages means it's nothing short of an excellent story.

9/10

[Kanti 3000]

Idoru by William Gibson (8/10)

Another great book by Gibson. This one is alot less grim than his other books, but it hits all the familiar cyber-punk themes: AI, Cyber-space, mega corporations, and crime. Unlike his other books, the setting doesn't quite seem as dystopian as usual. In some ways it seem more realistic and the future this book envisions seems even more plausible than most of Gibson's books, especially it's ideas on the evolution of the media and celebrity. The story itself isn't as exciting as Neuromancer, but it's still pretty good. The real draw here is Gibson's speculations of the future, the pictures he paints.

[SlurmNator]

Originally Posted by Kiwi the Tortoise

How to Train your Dragon: Book I (8.5/10):
Great book for a younger audience & really fun to read. The scribbly pictures are neat too. For those that saw the movie: The book bares no real resemblance to the movie, so you could enjoy both.

I have this book but barely read any of it because it wasn't like the movie. But is the story as good as the movie?

[Betagam7]

Originally Posted by SlurmNator

I have this book but barely read any of it because it wasn't like the movie.

Wouldn't that be MORE of an incentive to read it? Reading something that's exactly the same as something you saw at the cinema would be rather dull surely?

[SlurmNator]

Originally Posted by Betagam7

Wouldn't that be MORE of an incentive to read it? Reading something that's exactly the same as something you saw at the cinema would be rather dull surely?

it wasn't anything like the movie.

[Kiwi the Tortoise]

Originally Posted by SlurmNator

I have this book but barely read any of it because it wasn't like the movie. But is the story as good as the movie?

It isn't anything like the movie, but it's a good thing imo.
It targets a younger audience than the movie & I think it's absolutly charming that way.
So far I read the first 5 volumes and I enjoyed them a lot.
If you want to know why the movie is different, you might check out the book "The Art of How to Train your Dragon". It shows pretty well how all the changes came to be.

If you already have the book, just read it. It shouldn't take more than a few hours to finish it anyway.
I agree with Beta, the differences make it worthwhile after you saw the movie.

[LinkFanatic]

Originally Posted by SlurmNator

I have this book but barely read any of it because it wasn't like the movie. But is the story as good as the movie?

Hey Slurm, I think you have it backwards. Most book enthusiasts enjoy the fact that the books are superior to the movies. Movies are designed to entertain you through what you see, whereas a book is SUPPOSED to be designed to entertain you with your imagination. All books I have read and then watched the movie based on it were superior to the movie EVERY time...this is just my IMO (lol), but a good example would be to watch the Harry Potter movies, read the books, and then watch the movies again. I actually enjoyed the movies more after reading the books (which this is an exception to the rule, normally after reading the book, the movie usually strays more than the Potter films did (exception being Half-Blood Prince))

[SlurmNator]

Originally Posted by LinkFanatic

Hey Slurm, I think you have it backwards. Most book enthusiasts enjoy the fact that the books are superior to the movies. Movies are designed to entertain you through what you see, whereas a book is SUPPOSED to be designed to entertain you with your imagination. All books I have read and then watched the movie based on it were superior to the movie EVERY time...this is just my IMO (lol), but a good example would be to watch the Harry Potter movies, read the books, and then watch the movies again. I actually enjoyed the movies more after reading the books (which this is an exception to the rule, normally after reading the book, the movie usually strays more than the Potter films did (exception being Half-Blood Prince))

The thing is my not much of a book reader so i don't know this kinda stuff

[SKTTR]

Melville: Moby Dick

Good read if you like adventure books.
Of course whale hunting is stupid, but it's just a story.

[Kiwi the Tortoise]

"Hitchcock" by F.Truffaut (9/10):
An Interview with A.Hitchcock a couple of years before he died. They not only talk about his life & childhood, but also cover ervery movie he has made (except for Frenzy & Family Plot which saw their release after this interview).
It is amazing at what level of detail he usually worked and after reading this book you get a lot of insight which motivates you to rewatch all of his movies immediatly.

"Mr.Frisby & the Rats of NIMH" by Robert C. O'Brien (8/10):
I wanted to check this book out ever since I watched the movie (by Don Bluth) for the first time. While the core plot remains the same, there are lots of changes in the movie. These were probably added to appeal to the Star Wars-spoiled generation of kids and contain lots of fancy light-effects caused by some unexplained magic power which is certainly not present in the book.
It's kinda strange to say it, but the book is far more "realistic" (if you ignore the fact that it deals with anthropomorphisms) than the movie. Overall a nice story for kids and superior to the movie.

"Conquest of the Useless" by Werner Herzog (6/10):
As I prepare myself to watch "Fitzcarraldo" for the first time I started reading this book. It's Herzog's diary written during the production of the movie and it is really depressing. It is well known that a lot of s*** happened during the making of the movie like e.g. actors dropping out, disrepute by the local press, assults on the camp, attacks by native (it was shot in the amazonian jungle), and even deaths. But Herzogs thoughts are extremly dark & gloomy, even for such situations. It makes you ask the question: "Why did he do it if he hates the jungle & all the people in it anyway?".
Well, I will watch the movie soon and will see if it was worth it.

How to Train your Dragon Book 2-7 by Cressida Cowell (8.5/10):
I continued reading them and they overall keep their quality. My fav. so far would be the fourth book "How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse" in which Hiccup seeks the "Fruit no one dares to name" (aka Potatoe).

[hayes1516]

Just finished Twilight(Stephenie Meyer...6/10) and it is quite similar to the movie (take that how you will) with not much different between the two. Also just read Duma Key by Stephen King(3/10)...a real train wreck of a book if you ever saw one. I don't think even King knew what he really wanted to accomplish with this one. Currently reading Blaze by King and New Moon. So far Blaze is awesome and New Moon not so much. When you are over 200 pages into a book and the action amounts to riding a motorcycle and going to a movie you know its going to be a long slow trek. Incidentally, I disliked the movie for the same reasons I'm disliking the book.

[SKTTR]

Mikhail Bulgakov: The Master and Margarita (1940)

[Panda_Plays_Games]

Martian Time Slip by Philip K. Dick (again)
I read it the first time when I was about 12. it was the first Philip K. Dick book I read and now he is my favourite author. This is the first time in 16 years that I have read it. Rating it is pointless, because I am too attached to it. I still think it is an amazing book.

[Sharecrow]

I just finished The Knight of Maison-Rouge by Alexandre Dumas. I've got to be honest that, although he isn't my favorite author, he is certainly among my favorites so I am a bit of a fan boy. This book is set during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution. It's really a love story, but has the adventure and the politics that one can expect from Dumas's books. One thing that is interesting about this one is that it was lost for quite awhile and was only recently rediscovered. He was really prolific, so there's plenty of other material out there already, but I've got to say that this book is amazing. Its story, its characters, and its execution are outstanding from the first page to the last. I think I even like this one more than The Three Musketeers or The Count of Monte Cristo. I strongly encourage anyone who is a fan of his work or of these types of books to read this one. 10/10.

[Sharecrow]

Okay, I don't normally read stuff like this but I had to read it for work (long story - not very interesting). Anyway, the book is called Leadership and Self-Deception. It doesn't have an author listed, oddly enough...I suppose it was written by a group of people. Specifically it was written by the Arbinger Institute. Conceptually, I have to say that I like the book and generally agree with its premises. At a high level, the authors assert that most problems at work (or at home for that matter) are cause by self-deception. You have an image in your head of yourself...for example, as a hard-worker...and when you are confronted with a situation that challenges the validity of that image, then you start focusing on other folks' faults so you can justify why you aren't doing what you really think you should be doing. You convince yourself that the problem is caused by someone else. Self-deception, per the authors, is also grounded in objectifying other people. So, whenever you close yourself up and objectify other people, it creates a cycle where the other person tends to do the same thing. Then creativity and productivity get stifled...whomever you interacted with won't give you 100%...and the cycle repeats and sustains itself. Meanwhile, not much is getting done or at least not in a meaningfully cooperative way.

The authors then give some tips for how to get out of this cycle and how to stay out. I like the premise in that I think that a lot of human interaction follows this type of pattern. I won't be a sophist here, as much as I'd like to be, so I'll leave that statement at that.

What I didn't like about the book is that it was told in a fictional story format. This would be okay if it were written better, but sheesh...I would have received it better if it were just an academic dissertation rather than trying to present those ideas through a story. It's not a novel, though, and its objective was never to be a novel but to help people grow as professionals and as members of society. So it's not fair to be too critical about the writing style...it was just annoying for me personally. I'd give this a 8/10 overall. It was a good book for this genre and proposes some new and fresh ways to approach conflicts with others and to bring out the best of what each team member has to offer and turn it into results.

[SKTTR]

C. Dickens: Oliver Twist

The beginning was great. Later parts kinda lack, but that's the curse of being a story that's more than a hundred years old.

[hayes1516]

New Moon...2/10

What a bore. Total snoozefest of a book. I'm surprised any more books were made in the series after that crapfest.

Starting Under The Dome by Stephen King. Its another 1000+ page book so this might take awhile. Heard comparisons to the Stand, but so far that amounts to really long and a large cast of characters.

[TheGreatNads]

Varney the Vampyre -It's a weird take on vampires, pre-dating Dracula and Carmilla(so it's a historical curiosity), but has a heck of a lot more interesting ideas than at least the former book. The opening is classic horror, and it's weird to see that depicting vampires as sympathetic characters goes back this far. It's a bizarre experience to read this though. Characters that seem to be the leads dissapear entirely, much is left unresolved, has repetitive parts, and the book reads like a giant set of tangents. But I liked it. 8/10

[pdRydia]

Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin (10/10)

An amazing set of memoirs from the late 1950s. A white man and novelist from Texas used vitiligo treatments to darken his skin and shaved his head in order to pass as a black man. He then traveled through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, experiencing first-hand the racism that blacks had long since stopped trying to explain to whites. He retells these experiences in a series of journal entries. He recounts how differently he was treated and how differently he had to live due to no better reason than his skin color. He dissects the racist tropes of his day as well as some of our day.

It's a quick read and well-written, covering aspects of U.S. history in details that most teachers gloss over. I strongly recommend it to everyone living in the U.S., and anyone else interested.

[Sharecrow]

I just finished Dune, by Frank Herbert. I want to start out by saying 'wow.' This book is outstanding and I was really impressed with it from the beginning through the end. It is about a Duke family who is granted dominion over a harsh, desert planet, is betrayed, and struggles for quiet but certain revenge. It has the depth and complexity of a James Clavell novel but the imagination of a Robert Heinlein novel... I have trouble thinking of things to really compare it to. I don't want to go into the story too much in the interest of not spoiling anything for folks who haven't read this (and haven't seen film adaptations about which I know nothing). My principal regret is that I waited so long to read this. There are other books that continue the story and I can't speak to their quality or the quality of the overall story, but if the quality of an appetizer suggests the quality of the other courses, Mr. Herbert has my full and eager attention. This book was a beautifully executed melding of well-written prose, lots of depth, and an outstanding story. I sincerely can't think of much of anything to cricize in its execution.

If you love science fiction, fantasy, and/or are simply passionate about good literature, I strongly encourage you to read this book. If you have a book bucket list, put this on it, or, failing that, read it next (or soon). I am looking forward to enjoying the other books in the series. 10/10.

P.S. I couldn't resist thinking a lot about Motavia in the first Phantasy Star game...not just the predominance of the desert, but also the abundant population of sandworms. Awesome...

[Kreegs]

The Hunger Games by Susan Collins. This book was very good for fans of fiction. Its about a country in the future after a war has destroyed the USA. Google it and read the summary if you need more info. I really thought the ideas of this book were well thought out. I could not out it down. I am now onto the second book in the trilogy. 10/10 from me.

[Betagam7]

Venus on the Halfshell by "Kilgore Trout"

In actuality the book was written by Phillip Jose Farmer, what with Trout being a fictional character and everything.

I expected it to be not very good at all but I actually found it to be quite entertaining despite, or maybe because of, the fact that it didn't try to ape Vonnegut, but ploughed its own furrow, it felt very much like a sci-fi comedy version of Gulliver's Travels and, indeed, the sort of book that Trout might have written.

The only thing that really annoyed me about it was that it used that annoying americanism "I could care less" quite regularly; something that set my pedantic bones on edge.

[Sharecrow]

Okay, I just finished re-reading The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo. I liked it somewhat more than when I first read it. But I still didn't care for it too much. I am not entirely sure why...it may be the writing style. I have to say that the characters all seemed rather shallow and undeveloped to me, which is a bit of a shame since the story itself has a lot of potential conceptually. Anyway, as everyone probably knows, it is a portrayal of a deformed bell-ringer who lived in Notre Dame chapel, his devotion to a corrupt priest who had allowed him to live there and showed him some measure of kindness, and his love for a gypsy dancer named Esmeralda, who was trapped in a cruel fate of her own. It works in its own awkward way and I don't regret reading it (or re-reading it), but I think it falls somewhat short of its reputation. 7/10.

[Valentine]

I've been reading The Legend of Drizzt series by R.A. Salvatore particularly Legacy of the Drow atm. I have to say it's leaps and bounds better than Icewind Dale.

[Sharecrow]

Okay, I just finished The Iliad by Homer. I am not sure where to start as far as reviewing it, so I don't think I will. I will say that it is beautiful in its own, classical way and that it is a commendable work. It is set in the Trojan wars in and around ancient Greece. The Greek gods get involved in the conflict in several ways...much of the tragedies presented, though, are made of human hands. I have to say, also, that one thing that really blows my mind is that, not only is it a massive poem that was originally written in a (what I understand to be rather obscure) Greek dialect, but it was translated into English by Pope without any of the awkwardness that can come with translating a work of this nature and, as far as I could tell, without much distortion in meaning either. I never read the original so I can't say that for sure...I'm sure studies have been done on it, though. Am not interested enough to read them personally. But it reads smoothly and, somehow, it even still rhymes. Wow....my respect for the creation of this work is shared by Pope as well as by Homer...for real.

It's not palatable to me to put a numerical ranking on this one. I don't think I'm qualified. I liked it, but I bet if I were more educated my appreciation of it would be even greater than it is. Good book for those who like ancient classic poems.

Next I'm probably going to read something a little more light-hearted.

[hayes1516]

Under the Dome by Stephen King....3/10

Don't be fooled. The comparisons to The Stand are superficial at best. Its about the same length (a good sized brick) and has a large cast of characters. It also falls probably closest to science fiction like that novel but that's where the similarities end. The Stand had a large cast that by and large we were invested in. Not so much here. i don't think there was one person that I gave a rat's ass about in this book. The story seemed highly stretched as well. Retelling the exact same moment from multiple viewpoints does not great fiction make. When you are a quarter of the way through the book and not much has happened its generally not a good sign. Overall I'd advise a steer clear of this one. Its not very good and King can do so much better.

[Sharecrow]

Okay, I just read She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith. This is a comedic play and I'd certainly love to get to see it performed someday. It's about a young lady who wants to get married and her father who is interested in matching her up with the son of a good friend of his. The suitor ends up at their house mistaking it for a hotel, his father's friend for the manager, and his daughter as a bar maid. As you'd expect, a number of misunderstandings develop as a result of this. The young lady, Miss Neville, figures it out and uses the opportunity to learn more about this young suitor discretely. It's humorous and well-written. I'd like to see it performed. 8/10.

[link64]

The Thirty Nine Steps: To be fair I had already watched three movie's and one play based on this book.

However I found the book to very dull and honestly dated.

It doesn't help that the protanganist come's off as a spoilt brat. 5/10

[link64]

The Odyssey By Homer (translated by E.V Rieu): I'm not sure what to say, it's not for everyone however for the most part (some part's are way to long though) I enjoyed this story. 7/10

[Sharecrow]

Phew! Okay, I finished up a book that I first heard about on Book TV. Yes, I am one of the viewers of Book TV. Anyway, it is called The Shah and was written by Abbas Milani. I absolutely loved it but it did take me awhile to finish. It is a historical and insightful discussion of the Shah both as a ruler and as a person. It gave me a much deeper understanding about Iran's progression to modernity and its evolution into the form that it is in today although, to be honest, a lot has happened in the past thirty years as well. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading about history, who is fascinated by the Middle East (politics, people, and/or culture), or who is curious about the events surrounding the Shah's rule.

9 outta 10 for sure.

[Sharecrow]

I just finished Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. I never did like this book too much, although this is admittedly only my second time reading it. It's intriguing in concept, but clumsily executed. The clumsiness was even acknowledged by Mr. Huxley years later, but the work was accepted as it had been created by the younger artist. I can see where he was coming from in not trying to update it.

Anyway, it is about a society that is focused on stability and contentedness and achieves those means, in a morbid sort of way, through suppressing art, sciences (to the extent they don't specifically focus on social stability), and religion. The 'civilized' folks are all bred in tubes and there isn't any natural families. They are also specifically designed for one of a series of castes so that they can fulfill a specific role in society and be perfectly content with it. They encourage a mixture of work, drugs, sexual promiscuity, and other sensory escapades to maintain the stability and the happiness that they believe society craves. A stark contrast is made with those who are not born this way and who do not conform to these practices. The story follows one "savage's" interaction with and reflections on society. Generally, folks who reject the consistency and stability as it was designed end up being exiled (sounds cool to me). I was curious about the groups of exiles and what type of world they would put together but not much is discussed on that front. There are only hints.

I found it interesting that the author has a really strong focus on Ford and Shakespeare throughout the book. It seems random in a way, but it kind of works.

I don't expect I'll read this a third time and, if I do, it won't be soon. It is intriguing and has its moments but overall I didn't really feel it. 6/10.

[Kanti 3000]

I just finished reading the first four books in the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin, aka A Game of Thrones, and I must say I'm loving them.
If you've seen the HBO series you know what to expect, it's a fantasy series set in the fictional land of Westeros that is very, very loosely based off the War of the Roses. It starts out focusing on the political mechinations of two noble families and quickly escalates into somethin much bigger and more interesting. I want go into details for fear of spoilers, but trust me when I say that this is a really fun series wth tons of twists and turns, and a lot of great characters. The series is rather dark with a very complex plot, dozens of important characters, and very few clear cut heroes and villians. And despite the fantasy setting has very few "magic" or overtly fantatical elements, if anything it reads more like a historical drama, and a deconstruction of the fantasy genre in general....although the fantasy elements slowly increase as the series goes on.
I plowed through the first three books in about two weeks, and would give them all 9/10's if I had to rate them. The only things holding them back are occasionally clunky descriptive writing and abit too much fanservice ( especially in book 3, Khaleesi), but overall In terms of fantasy novels I'd rank them as second to perhaps only the Lord of the Rings.
The fourth book, A Feast For Crows, stumbles abit and feels less like a continuation of the story and more like a stopgap untill the next book. Still it was an enjoyable read, and works well as a side story, expanding the world GRRM has crafted. I'd give it 7/10.

This is definitely a series I'd highly reccomend to any fan of fantasy stories.

I also read Blood Meridian, Or an Evening of Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy, which is an extremely dark Western set in Mexico and the US during the mid to late 1800's. The story is basically about a kid (called the Kid) who falls in with a group of historical scalp hunters known as the Glanton gang. The novel is about as bleak and dark as it gets, with terrible violene happening on every other page, but McCarthey's prose are strangely beautiful.
It's not an easy read, you really have to have a stomach for violence, and there isn't a single hero in the story. Even more difficult is that McCarthey doesn't give you much insight into his characters, and the book reads more like a description of events rather than a traditional story. It's more about themes, symbols and allusion than pure story, and once you get past the violence, the lack of a straight plot can get dull at times. But in the end it's held together by great writing and style, and a fantastic villian called the Judge.
I won't go to much into it, but the Judge is the real star of the story.
All in all, I'd give it an 8 out of 10. It's bleak, depressing, and at parts boring...but in the end kind of amazing and not something I'll forget. It's definitley a book that is due a reread.

[Kanti 3000]

By the way, does anyone know if there are any sites like Backloggery for books? I've been buying up and renting tons of books latley and i'd love to find a site where I could keep track and talk about them.

[MerlinDrazziw]

Originally Posted by Kanti 3000

By the way, does anyone know if there are any sites like Backloggery for books? I've been buying up and renting tons of books latley and i'd love to find a site where I could keep track and talk about them.

Try Librarything.com! Free up to 200 books.

[link64]

Casino Royale 8/10 I enjoyed it more than the film, Bond does actually question the thing's he's doing and admit's to makeing mistakes, so he's actually a lot easier to emphasize with.

There are quite a lot of difference with the film, Most notable the time period (the book been set in the 50s) but I won't spoil anything.

[Sharecrow]

I recently finished The High Druid of Shannara: Jarka Ruus, by Terry Brooks. I hardly know what to say about it without potentially spoiling prior Shannara books for other readers. I loved it, though. Plus, it had Grianne in it (who I have a secret crush on). Epic fantasy novel. 9/10.