Last book you read and your rating - book reviews

[wychwood_drinker]

Battle royal. 5 out of 5.

I'd seen the film a while ago but read the book on a whim. its better than the film. more deaths in better detail, less confusing than the film (i found the editing in the film meant i got confused between some of the students).The weird creepy guy? done so much better in the book.

read it! it wont change your life but it dose kick ass.

[DEMON212]

When I read books, bad things happen to the people I know.

My recovering Grandad died. My Nana needed an out of the blue major op. My mate got blew off course in a jump for charity and nearly died (Landed on a factory and landed so fast that he rolled off the roof just missing some spikes but instead hitting the floor). Brother nearly died, twice. Same mate lost his voice that very hour when I walked into a Waterstones etc...

All of these happened when I started to read a new book.

Things break too (Our Car, P.C etc...) so I'm not allowed to read books anymore.

[RandomDave]

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

was an alright book, but not as good as i was expecting

[RMA]

Kingdom Come by JG Ballard.

About consumerism in the suburbs driving people insane and leading them to embrace a fascist movement instigated by a third rate tv presenter and a burnt out ad exec searching for the truth behind his fathers murder.

Enjoyable but as usual with Ballard the descent into the muck and the mire is wearying.

[Shortay]

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows - Needs no introduction, I presume

9.8/10 for me

[Jonno]

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows- Yes. Fun, exciting. All you need to know until you read it.

10/10

[Jupiter Adept]

Gregor and the Code of Claw.

It's the last book in the Underland Chronicles series, which you should give a chance. The first book is Gregor the Overlander- read it.

8.7/10

[Adorkable]

The Stranger by Albert Camus.

Great book, sadly a lot of people find Albert Camus' novels to be dull and boring, but his works all ways pull me in.

4 out of 5, I'd say.

[Danny]

Richard Pryors autobiography

10/10

This was a fantastic book written by the comedy legend himself, it told a tale of his life and i could not stop laughing from start to finish. It was even hilarious when he was talking about his fathers death, good ol richard pryor.

[Jogurt the Yogurt]

My latest academic reading adventure was Paul Gilroy's The Black Atlantic. An interesting reevaluation of the impact of slavery on global modernism. But not light reading, that's for sure! I'm just glad to have a break from reading this stuff for a couple of days.

[The shoemaker]

Originally Posted by Jogurt the Yogurt

My latest academic reading adventure was Paul Gilroy's The Black Atlantic. An interesting reevaluation of the impact of slavery on global modernism. But not light reading, that's for sure! I'm just glad to have a break from reading this stuff for a couple of days.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. - Great book, and a nice finish to the series. Also it's the best in the series too. 9.5/10

Joey Pigza swallows the Key - Um it was funny and odd. 8/10

The Garbage King - a great book, based in Ethiopia about the homeless (but in a story that is interesting) 9/10

Joey Pigza loses control - better than the first one, a little bit sad at the end. 8/10

Now you see it - This book was writen by Richerd Mathen, a horror book telling guy. Great book, full of mystery and suspense, you'll never no what will happen next. 9/10

Yeah in school we had to read a lot of books... Except Harry Potter and Now you see it I read because they looked good.

[Spore]

Lord of the Flies: Exciting story and premise. There are so many ways symbolize every character that I feel I must read it again to come to a firm conclusion of what the book means. Civilization, religion, war; there are so many different ways to interpret every character. 9/10

[Juice_Lee]

Of the books I was required to read in High School, I probably minded reading Lord of the Flies the least. I would even say that I really liked it a lot. Definitely should be on every school's curriculum. It has a lot of lessons to teach and questions to ask that are essential.

I guess I have been reading The Lord Of The Rings on and off for many months...I haven't really completed a book since If On A Winters Night A Traveler, which was amazing. It taught me more about reading and writing than I have ever learned in school. It is truly a molotov coctail of style, criticism, biting wit, and top notch short stories. I would go more in depth, but I don't want to say any more if I don't have the book in front of me, and my girlfriend has it now.

[AjNejedi]

Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth

if you haven't checked out this series and you either like Harry Potter or mythology then you are missing out. 4 books down, one to go!!! Movie in 2009!!!

[Fierce Deity]

Deaths Shadow by darren shan
Awesome book, very gory and an awesome plot, what else to expect from the master of horror ? This was book 6 out of 10 in darren shans demonata saga.

Rating : 10 / 10

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by Joanne Rowling
I was loving the book, this was a great book with a great plot and loved the tense moments but all this got ruined by the ending. I have been imagining the ending of this series for many years and to be honest, joannes attempt at ending this book was pathetic.

Rating : 7 / 10

Richard Pryor - Convictions by Richard Pryor
Anyone who knows richard pryor will know that he is a very funny guy. Even his autobiography was hilarious, he described his life and his journey to fame in this hilarious novel. Even as he was telling of his fathers death i was clutching my sides with laughter. I definately recommend this book to any richard pryor fan or anyone at all who has a good sence of humour, never laughed this much at a book before, an excellent read.

Rating : 10 / 10

[Juice_Lee]

Last book I completed:
Lolita by Vladamir Nabokov - 9/10
Nabokov is pretty brilliant in all respects. He writes things with such detail and texture that it makes even the creepy subject seem beautiful. And really, the subject isn't creepy for long. The reader gets such a good view of the narrator's mind and perspective that it seems completely fair. The way you learn about something is to learn about a defective version of it. Lolita is a beautiful book about tragic love.

Last book I actually read:
Sex, Drugs, And Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman - 7/10
It's alright. For the most part I agree with his opinions, but that doesn't really matter. He articulates his thoughts very well and in a very funny way. Sometimes I feel like he is in opposition to me, which I guess brings out how mean he can be sometimes, but even when his words hit a harsh chord, it sadly makes sense to me. Brilliant chapters about how Star Wars: The Empire Strikes back is essentially Generation X, among other great essays.

[Ajirikowic]

Angels And Demons - I love the book. It is so good.

I guess I will give it a 10/10

[Kanti 3000]

Catcher in the Rye

A fantastic, if slightly dated book. It really deserves to be called a classic.
9/10

Alice in Wonderland

a fun read. Its interesting trying to shake off all the modern interpetations off the story and getting back to the original text. Made me laugh a few times to. I just wish I read it when I was younger.
7/10

[VirtualBoyFan]

Fight Club - 4/5 - I thought the book was a lot better than the movie. Real interesting read. I'm reading Choke now. I'm on a Chuck Palahniuk kick.

[Slayerking45]

Darren Shan is my favorite author i dont read many books but when i do they are usually by him but anyway

the cirque du Freak series 9.8/10 awesome series great plot lots of action and a wonderful ending now am off to reading the Demonata series am on book 1 which am almost done wit its a very good book with soo far a enjoable story

[pdRydia]

"HELP FIGHT TUBERCULOSIS: A Story for YOU"
(c) 1947 by the National Tuberculosis Association
(50 cents at Goodwill, 5 stars out of 5)

We all need healthy lungs!

[Kanti 3000]

Twilight

I'm slightly ashamed to admit it, but I enjoyed this book a lot. I liked it in the same way I enjoyed the Da Vinci Code, and Angels and Demons. Sure the characters got annoying at times, and its overly sappy, often cliched, and the characters two dimensional; but its still rather enjoyable in a mindless way.

I doubt I'll ever feel the need to read it again, but I'll probably read the sequels...in secret of course.

6/10- Its like popcorn, nothing special and kind of annoying at times (in the case of popcorn when you accidentally eat a kernel, in the case of Twilight, when Bella won't shut up about Edward, both of which occur often) but its enjoyable while it lasts.


In lighter news, I also just finished reading Coraline, by Neil Gaiman.

Its a childrens book, but like any good childrens story, its also enjoyable for adults.
A fun read that only took about an hour, but it was a well spent hour.
When I have kids I'll definitely be giving it to them to read.

8/10.

Can't wait for the Coraline movie either.

[Shortay]

The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy - 9/10

Fantastic novel with a deep plot and a touching portrayal of the protagonist.

[reddevilggg]

No Deal - Harlan Coben 8/10

Brilliant crime writing. More twists than a bent corkscrew. Recommend.

[Yossarian]

More book reviews! More readers!

Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks - Christopher Brookmyre

Good comedy thriller with good pacing and some vitriolic attacks on psychics and alternative medicine. Some excellent twists turn the story into something else at the end.

Now back to non-fiction and A Short History of Asia.

[Shortay]

Tess of the d'Urbervilles - 9/10.

Really liked this book (love Thomas Hardy's writing). The protagonist was presented wonderfully and sadly and, although lengthy, the descriptions of the varied landscapes and many small towns were wonderful. Overall a very moving and tragic book, although there were a bit too many biblical references for my liking.

[PoisonRamune]

I don't know if these count, but these are honestly the last bit of printwork I've read lately.

Lucky Star (manga) - 6/10
No where near as good as the anime. While the jokes are all there (especially since this came before the anime), Konata doesn't look like a little kid in this anime. I'll stop now.

WWE Legends of Wrestlemania instruction manual (Xbox 360 version) - 4/10
Though this tells you how to do the basic stuff, it leaves nearly all the semi-indepth aspects of the game out. I could have figured out how to block by monkeying the face buttons, but could you please give me an inkling as to how the counter system works?

Roland Soljet 700 1200 x 1200 DPI series printer manual - 3/10
Thanks for telling me everything that Kevin, the tech from Nusign told me when my work got this 2 years ago. Just tell me what's wrong with the printer's stupid cutter function and I won't have to insult your proverbial mother.

[Betagam7]

Originally Posted by PoisonRamune

Roland Soljet 700 1200 x 1200 DPI series printer manual - 3/10
Thanks for telling me everything that Kevin, the tech from Nusign told me when my work got this 2 years ago. Just tell me what's wrong with the printer's stupid cutter function and I won't have to insult your proverbial mother.

That's strange, I heard that one was up for a Booker this year

[Yossarian]

Originally Posted by Betagam7

That's strange, I heard that one was up for a Booker this year

I preferred the early stuff.

'Roland Soljet 700 1200 x 1200 DPI series printer manual' could well be the title of a Will Self short story.

On topic, nearly finished A Short History of Asia. Very interesting and not too dry. The sections on colonial rule were truly eye opening and the book goes some way to fleshing out the facts behind some common but incorrect perceptions.

[darthmix]

A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin - 9/10

This is the second book in Martin's unbelievably epic A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series, which tells the story of an extended political conflict and eventually full-blown civil war from the point of view of several characters on both sides. It's definitely fantasy, in that the location is entirely fictional and deviates from our world in certain specific ways (summer and winter each last indeterminate amounts of time, usually decades) and there are clear fantastic elements, but it doesn't feel like fantasy. The tone is one of gritty, grim medieval intrigue; it's not always in your face with magic and dragons and such, so when you encounter those things in the story it feels more significant. I just finished this recently and I'm now on the third book, A Storm of Swords, which is just as good so far. I'm not wild about his title system (every book is titled "A ______ of ______") but everything else about this series rocks.

[Kanti 3000]

Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke-9/10

Wow, what a book. It's short, I finished it in one night, but incredibly interesting. It's one of the few books I pulled an all-nighter to read. It also inspired a Led Zeppelin Album cover. If you like sci-fi read this book.
I'd talk more about the plot, but now I need to get some sleep...

[Kiwi the Tortoise]

Glennkill by Leonie Swann (aka: three bags full)

Crime-story from a sheep-perspective.
The shepherd is murdered, his dog vanished & the flock invastigates.
While the book is pretty funny, the final solution just doesn't feel right.
All in all i would give it 7/10.

[Shortay]

The Stand - 9.5/10.
It - 9/10.

Both by Stephen King, both outstanding.

[Kanti 3000]

Neuromancer by William Gibson- 9.5/10

Holy ****! Another great sci-fi book! I won't get into the story, but I will say it's an early cyberpunk novel, and it's awesome. It's not surprising this book won the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, and the Philip K. Dick Award. What is surprising is that it was written in the early 80's, long before the internet and genetic engineering. The writing isn't always top notch, and the story can get a little confusing (especially when it starts getting into AI's), but overall the story and atmosphere are so entertaining it's easy to forget the little flaws.

If you dig sci-fi, cyber punk especially, I highly recomend this book.

[The shoemaker]

One Rainy Night - Richard Laymon

A good thriller. It's hard to really explain what this book's about without spoiling anything. I'll start by saying it was nicely written, and very descriptive. The book is about 310 pages long, and only has a few chapters, as these chapters are split into very specific parts. Your perspective is put without several individuals, so it's never just the one character.

I found that some parts were fairly grusome, and it had me making several different facial expressions. But it seamed more erotic than scary at times. It seamed more like the events in the book were based around some sort of horny action, like you could almost guess that the solution would be for the girl to take off her shirt. By the end of the book it was still erotic, but felt a little repetitive. Although the events in it weren't cheesy, the reasons for such actions were understanible, it still felt a bit forced.

All in all it was a good book, it did keep me on the edge of my seat and it kept me coming back for more. Not Richard Laymons best though.

8/10

[Kanti 3000]

Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C. Clarke- 8/10

This is my second Arthur C. Clarke novel, and it's another great sci-fi story. Like Childhood's End, Rendezvous With Rama describes mankinds first contact with alien life. And like Childhood's End, Rama is short on character development but big on ideas. The theories and ideas in both books are pretty fantastic. That's where the similarities though, as Rama tells a very different story from Childhood's End. Rama's plot is pretty simple, it focuses on a colossal (literaly, I think it is described as being 17 or 18 kilometers long) and mysterious alien space craft dubbed Rama that is discovered flying through space, and mankinds efforts to make contact with it and explore it. To be honest, the plot never gets much more complicated that. That isn't to much of a problem however, since the novel's real focus is on the mystery and granduer of Rama. My only real gripe with the book was that it could get a bit slow at times, and the ending left more questions than answers (although in the context of the story the ending was appropiate). Still it's a great read, if you dig extremely realistic sci-fi.

wow, my longest review yet. Now if only I was a better writer...

[Earl_Wiggles]

Pnin - 4/10

If you're a big Nabokov fan you might get a bit of a kick out of this, but jesus christ, pretentious doesn't even come close to describing this book. 'A Russian professor doesn't speak english very well and anglicises a Russian word in an attempt to communicate properly har de har har' is stretched to become a chapter. There are positives, it did raise a titter a few and under all the guff is a clever, sensitive novel but boy is that well hidden.

[Kiwi the Tortoise]

"Into the Wild" - Jon Krakauer (10/10):
Great book! It's substantially better than the movie.

"The Island of Dr.Moreau" - H.G.Wells (5/10):
Meh!... Not very entertaining at all.

"In 80 Days around the world" - Jules Verne (9/10):
Still a great book to read.

[Jogurt the Yogurt]

Originally Posted by Kiwi the Tortoise

"The Island of Dr.Moreau"[/B] - H.G.Wells (5/10):
Meh!... Not very entertaining at all.

You're crazy! I love that book!

The Tin Flute by Gabrielle Roy (5/10)

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

[Kanti 3000]

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (7/10)

All and all not a bad read, although it seems more notable for it's influence on later fiction (and on movies) and for it's actual content. The ideas and plot are pretty entertaining, although the characters are a little hollow, and the dialouge kind of comic bookish...still a fun quick read. To be honest though, I enjoyed the ending to the first movie adaption (the Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price) over the actual ending in the book.