Book Blog: October 2008
New Moon: Stephenie Meyer
October 20, 2008
Not quite as bad as the first one, but only because it lacked all the new-school setup stuff; on the other hand, this whole book took the Edward/Bella will-they-won’t-they meanderings of the first book and supercharged it into an OH-MY-GOD-ARE-THEY-OVER-FOR-GOOD plot that probably had overly-invested teenage girls everywhere biting their nails to the quick. Which… is kind of what it was meant to do, and I am not a teenage girl, so of course I don’t care, yadda yadda yadda. There is also a werewolf subplot — and technically I should hide that in a spoiler-span, since the word “werewolf” isn’t actually mentioned until halfway through the book, but it is so blindingly obvious that you will be screaming the word over and over and over long before Bella wakes up and goes “OMG, iz WERWULF!!!11one”
Triangle: The Fire That Changed America: David von Drehle
October 20, 2008
A very well-written book that easily beats out its predecessor (The Triangle Fire by Leon Stein) in both the accuracy and the readability departments. It delves more deeply into the causes of the fire, both practical and political, than any other account I’ve yet read, which is definitely a plus. I sniffled at times throughout, but managed to hold my emotions in check — until the very end, where an appendix lists the victim’s names, ages, and cause of death, and then I gave in and cried. That list alone is worth the price of the book.
The Spiritualist: Megan Chance
October 17, 2008
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This could have been an excellent mystery, but — and this is the problem with most of the mystery novels I read — the clever plot is too clever to be hidden in the prose. Meaning, of course, that the author is so busy setting up the mystery that she forgets to hide it from us. It is really, really, REALLY obvious what the mystery is about, why the victim was killed, and who the killer is. By the middle of the second chapter, I knew how it would end, and I was right. The transparency hurts the narrative, but it is reasonable in the context of the story that the heroine-detective wouldn’t guess the truth until it was basically shoved down her throat, because nice young ladies in 1850s New York were probably a bit naive when it came to homosexuality — and the wife is always the last to know, right? It works better as plain historical fiction than as a mystery novel.
Interview with the Vampire: Anne Rice
October 17, 2008
Full Review: Interview with the Vampire
LULZ I READED ANNE RICE! Not the first time I’ve read her, just the first time I read one of her vampire books. It was not all it’s been cracked up to be, but I’ve yet to read any classic vampire work that has actually lived up to its hype. It was, however, considerably duller than I imagined it would be — and this coming from someone who enjoyed The Name of the Rose, which my family will never cease to remind me is the DULLEST. BOOK. EVER. (Haters.)
Twilight: Stephenie Meyer
October 14, 2008
Well, I finally read the book all the girls my age are gossiping about. And… I want that afternoon of my life back. No, that’s a lie; I like to read, and I like being in the loop, so I’m not exactly sorry I read this. But… it was pretty stupid. Even for a “young adult” novel. In fact, the whole thing reads more like a Mary Sue fanfic than a professional novel. The first half of the book is spent getting heroine Bella Swan (see what I mean about the Mary Sue-ness?) to realize that her love interest, Edward Cullen, is a vampire. The second half is spent with everyone falling in love with Bella’s wonderfulness: Edward, the rest of the Cullen clan, all her male schoolmates… you get the picture. Also: glitter vampires ≠ cool vampires. Not in my book, anyway.
The Bell Witch: An American Haunting: Brent Monahan
October 14, 2008
Just as bad as the movie — no, worse, because it’s harder to read a bad book than it is to watch a bad movie. The setup takes even longer this time, and the descriptions of the witch’s pranks are incredibly lackluster; I think the author was trying to avoid trashy horror style in favor of a more legitimate-sounding historical tone, but man, this horror story needs some horror. On the plus side, the story does not have that ridiculous framing modern-day story that the movie had. On the negative side, it still has the ridiculous ending, which is even stupider in writing.
Love Sick: Love as a Mental Illness: Frank Tallis
October 14, 2008
A fun read, but I’m not quite sure what the author was going for: did he just want to point out the coincidental similarities between love and certain types of mental illness, or was he trying to argue that love is a legitimate mental illness? Sometimes he seemed to go one way, sometimes the other.
The Meaning of Night: A Confession: Michael Cox
October 7, 2008
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A nice, thick historical tale of revenge. What bugged me, though, was how the otherwise clever protagonist fell for the oldest trick in the book: the “wait, my girlfriend is actually my enemy’s girlfriend, and she was just helping him bring me down!” trick. Everything was going perfectly until he turned all his evidence over to the wrong person. Idiot.
Dead Men Tapping: The End of the Heather Lynne II: Kate Yeomans
October 3, 2008
Does the Coast Guard really suck this hard? Because if they do, I am never going out on a boat. EVER. So much for my plans to be a professional fisherperson.
Fresh Offerings: New & Updated
- Blog: Weekender #14
- Blog: Weekender #13: Home Sick Edition
- Blog: Weekender #12
- Blog: Weekender #11
- Blog: Weekender #10