Anyway, the point of my sharing all of this is that I am now going to force my habit on all of you. I'll let you know what I'm reading and what I think of it all. Sometimes they'll be long, and sometimes really short. Just whatever I happen to fee like. Today we're leaning towards short. Although, I do put up much more indepth reviews and thoughts on the bookclub blog (link below). I will also rate the books on a five asterisks scale (sorry, I don't have any star keys and this is as close as I can think to get right now. They kind of look like stars.), with five being the best.
Here's a key for you:
* - You should just go watch some reality TV instead
** - Maybe the movie will be better ...
*** - An entertaining way to waste some time
**** - This will soon be finding a home on my bookshelf
***** - You're going to need two copies, the display on the bookself copy and the frequently read copy
I also reserve the right to rate a book with either no asterisks (Even I didn't bother to finish it) or six asterisks (If you don't read this book, we can no longer be friends).
In the past few weeks I have read four books that I will be discussing today. The Samurai's Garden, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and Fablehave one and two (haven't gotten to three yet).
The Samurai's Garden (**)
Is it just me or is Japanese Literature really a hot item right now? Lots of books in this genre have become pretty popular lately, and while some are getting rave reviews, this one is getting an "Ehh" from me. It's written in the story-within-a-story style and I'm discovering that this isn't really my favorite thing to read. I'm always way more interested in the inner story and it's characters and I get really frustrated with and mad at the main character whenever they try to interrupt and bore me with their dull lives.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (****)
I really wasn't sure what to think of this book when I started it but I was very pleasantly surprised! It's got some bad language in it, but I found myself laughing out loud more than a few times. Then I would read those parts out loud to Brad and he would just look at me weird. So maybe you have to have the right sense of humor, or I could just be really bad delivering the punchline.
I read a lot of Young Adult books and apparently I really like the fantasy ones because I keep ending up in that part of Barnes & Noble. Anyway, a lot of people kept mentioning these ones so one day I finally picked it up and read it. It's a fresh take on the fantasy genre, partly because it's got a kind of dark sense of humor to it all. Fairies are vain little brats, sarcastic centuars are on the constant search for C batteries so they can watch reality TV on their contraband mini television, and you have to drink the milk of a barn-sized cow in order to see it all, that is, unless you're fairystruck. I will definitely be reading book three soon.
Well, that was a lot longer than I originally thought it would be. I always get carried away when talking about books. But hey, if Brad can review his lunch, I can review my books!
5 comments:
do you read any books written for adults?
Brad's comments sound like Rich's comments to me about the books I read. Rich is always telling me that he reads "Real Books"
I think, using a gross stereotype that seems to be true, that men and women cultivate their imaginations is very different, and yet equally "immature" way.
Women read fun/romantic/silly/fanciful books and men play violent/fantasy/silly/I'm a pro superstar video games. The day that Jeff thinks it's not cool to play a video game about some animated fighter person thing named Halo or a game where he pretends to be LeBraun James is the day he can tell me I'm lame for getting into books about vampires or shopping.
As long as we are all happy, I see no harm.
The samurai book is for adults.
Hi Ali- Yes, I stalk your blog on occasion. Deal with it.
I LOVE Sherman Alexie! I've been meaning to pick up the Part-Time Indian, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Alexie has a couple collections of short stories out, too. I highly recommend "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven".
I actually think that a lot of the better young adult fiction is really complex in terms of plot and character relationships. It gives me a lot to think about, anyway. I agree with Cori - men's imaginary play is just different. And, as a professional in the field of psychology, I think it's often less rooted in key human drives. Men's fiction is all about power and survival. Wahoo. Let's all get some really big guns and outsmart the bad guys or just beat them to a pulp. At least women's (and young adult) fiction has some psychological range!
Ok, enough ranting. You should check out more Sherman Alexie!
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