Looks like a pretty good start!
To be blunt, I hated it. I found the writing crude, the characters overly simplistic, and the plot unengaging.
Okay!!!! I didn't care for it either, though I didn't have quite the same strong reaction. I found it flat and I found Card much too impressed with his own cleverness in constructing the details of Ender's world. It seemed like setting things up wasn't enough, he had to go into unnecessary detail in telling the story.
I did not go on to other Ender stories.
I'm glad to know not everyone was enthralled by it!
Another title on your list caught my eye.
The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin. How did you find it? I have read
The Boys from Brazil and enjoyed it a great deal. Though, speaking of it caused me to go to my shelves and discover I have lost my copy of it!!
The Stepford Wives was a chilling psychological horror story (and I imagine it's original audience would have found it even more effective than I did), but I was greatly bothered by the lack of attention paid to a decision I thought crucial to the plot.
Diane Duane's Door Into... series is a favorite of mine--I hope you enjoyed them. I have been bogged down 1/3 of the way into The Amber Spyglass since last summer--is it worth persevering?
interesting, I didn't love
The Golden Compass and never bothered with the sequels, I might give it a try.
What did you think of
Your Inner Fish? I got it out the library at work a while ago and keep meaning to read it, but haven't quite got around to it (I'm afraid I always lack motivation a bit when reading non-fiction, I don't know why).
I, too, lack motivation when reading non-fiction.
Your Inner Fish contains some fascinating information presented in a dull and repetitive way. It's short, though, so probably worth the read.
Message edited by its author, Jul 7, 2008, 4:06am.
Thanks - shall give it a go next (before the expiry date runs out!)
How about
The Count Of Monte Cristo? I think it's probably one of my favourite books, just for the sheer page-turner-ness of it!
Agreed.......The Count is on my top ten of all times list also!!!!!
Oh, I adored it! There's not much I can say that wouldn't quickly descend into gushing hyperbole, but
The Count of Monte Cristo is definitely one of the best books I've read this year.
...and what about the Good Faries of New York? I read this recently and very much enjoyed it (mostly just because it was so absurd) - although not quite Count status ;)
I've heard a lot of people say that Perfume is extremely good, but every time I pick it up to buy, I get a bit put off by the blurb I read - do you have any thoughts on it?
I enjoyed the absurdity of
The Good Fairies of New York as well, but it wasn't a particularly notable read for me.
Perfume is very good. It's also very gruesome, and centers around an antisocial and utterly amoral character (my favorite kind!)-- so I can see why one might find it disturbing.
Message edited by its author, Dec 1, 2008, 6:22am.
I found
Hugo Cabret's multimedia approach compelling. The story, on the other hand, wasn't terribly original or captivating (though it was sweet).
Ooh I just adored
The Orphan's Tales and I have the second one waiting to be read also. Such beautiful writing - inspired me to buy my own editions of Arabian Nights, which are also waiting to be read, as I've never read either collection before.
What did you think of
The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye? I liked the first four stories a lot, but really felt that the last could have been cut in half quite successfully...
Heh, The Arabian Nights is sitting in my to-read stack, also thanks to
The Orphan's Tales.
I loved, loved, loved
The Orphan's Tales. They’ve taken their place amongst my all time favorite books.
I enjoyed “The Tale of the Eldest Princess”, but didn’t much care for any of the other stories. They seemed somehow incomplete, and, in the case of the title story, too verbose.
Yes, the last one just, well, waffled. It went on and on and on - and the main character wasn't engaging enough for me to care really.
I really was thinking 'oh, just get on with it!'
I adored
The Thirteen Clocks! A very charming and witty tale. It's the first piece of Thurber's that I've managed to get my hands on (it just came back into print, which is probably why you've been seeing it around), and I will now definitely try harder to find the rest of his work.
I wasn't impressed by
The Kitchen Boy. The plot plodded along right up until after the inevitable murders, and the twist ending seemed predictable and unnecessary.
Message edited by its author, Aug 13, 2008, 10:56pm.
Hi Fog-struck
Thanks for posting
The 13 clocks and responding to my inquiry. This past weekend I read the book and truly enjoyed it. It was also on Flissp's list and if not for your posts, I would not have read this one.
I note book #61 is another of Thurber's works that you read. Can you take a minute and tell me a bit about this book.
I'm glad you enjoyed
The Thirteen Clocks!
The White Deer's plot is unremarkable as far as fairy tales go-- a king and his three sons are pursuing a deer in the middle of an enchanted forest, when the deer suddenly transforms into a beautiful princess; the princess then gives each of the princes a quest to complete in order to win her hand in marriage-- but like
The Thirteen Clocks, the attraction is in the inventive wordplay. I highly recommend it.
Message edited by its author, Sep 2, 2008, 4:23pm.
Thanks for your response re.
The White Deer I'll see if my local library has this. I really like Thurber's writing style.
Congratulations Fog-struck! I hope you reach your goal of 100.
congratulations on reaching 75 Fog-struck, on to 100!
Please add my well wishes to the list of other friendly LT folk who support you in reaching the goal.
Whisper--both of the Thurber books,
The Wonderful O and
Thirteen Clocks appeared on the 1001 Must Read list. They are delightful, but I have to say my favorite was the
The Wonderful O wherein a pirate king decides he doesn't like the letter "o" and orders it eliminated from the language. The complications which ensue are both predictable and delightfully handled by Thurber. I've been reminded to look up more of his work again, since I think my last prior reading involved
The Unicorn in the Garden and
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
Thanks.
I ordered a Thurber book from bookcloseouts.com and I'm anxious to receive it. I'm not sure which one I ordered, but if it isn't
The Wonderful O, I'll get this one and read it.
I wish I had a solid month wherein I didn't have to work and could simply read.
#42 Whisper: I wish I had a solid month wherein I didn't have to work and could simply read. The problem with that is once you have had one solid month to read, then you want another, and another . . .
True Stasia...VERY true.
I think of all the happy memories of my childhood when I had time to read.
A few weeks ago I visited the library of my childhood. It brought back so many good memoires, I had tears in my eyes.
Truly, if I ever get a chunk of money, I am sending a large check there in memory of Miss Alice Blake, an elderly librarian who patiently helped to develop my love of reading and of books.
#44: You could always donate books to that library in her memory. I am sure that the gesture would be appreciated and you would not have to come into a "chunk of money" to be able to do it.
Thanks for your suggestion. I like it!
Hmm-that month to read. Actually, I had an entire school year to do that around second grade. Was in bed with a viral infection (oh, plus bronchitis and pneumonia and a few other choice bronchial things). That's when I first started reading all the time, and I never lost the habit. When you can't move (I wasn't allowed to walk anywhere), and the television had no remote--you start relishing all those other worlds you can visit. My favorite of the time was about
The Little Lame Prince, and my parents ordered a children's series of books, but I also got to read more advanced stuff as my vocabulary built.
I try to repay the libraries around me by donating books, especially texts in common things (math and so forth) that don't change with the wind. I also buy books at school book fairs for favorite teachers of my children. It's a little payback, but every bit helps.
Hey fog-struck! Interesting list. I really liked
Your Inner Fish. The firsts 75 pages or so were stressful because he was pedantic and I was afraid I wouldn't like it, but I persevered. His writing improved, in my opinion, and I really appreciated his ideas. His proofs and logic are elegant.
Perfume still bothers me sometimes but I'm glad I read it.
I love James Thurber. I'm remembering a story called
The Night The Bed Fell, and I LOVE his cartoons. I have 7 books by or about him and two of my favorites are
The Thurber Carnival and
Men, Women, and Dogs. I also recently snagged a 1959 copy of
The Years with Ross at our local Friends of the Library sale and am including it in my 999 Challenge.
I have the series by A. N. Roquelaure.... did you know that that's a pen name of Anne Rice?
edited to add The Years with RossMessage edited by its author, Nov 29, 2008, 7:01am.
Message #49
karenmarie....
Please tell me more about
Perfume and why it bothered you.
Thank you, karenmarie!
The Thurber Carnival is sitting somewhere towards the bottom of my to-read pile. I’ll have to move it up!
Yep, I knew A. N. Roquelaure was a pen name of Anne Rice’s.
The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty was actually the first book of hers I've read, and I was sorely (erm, pun intended, I suppose) disappointed.
Anything combining BDSM and fairy tale retellings should have been right up my alley, but this book had no character development and very little plot. After 75 pages of tedious spanking scenes, I actually fell asleep.
Message edited by its author, Dec 4, 2008, 8:43pm.
So...
I read 82 books, or 29,779 pages in 2008. 68 of the books were fiction, and 14 were nonfiction.
Message edited by its author, Jan 3, 2009, 6:29am.
Sounds like a very nice reading year for you, Fog-struck. I hope 2009 is just as good!
Fog-struck
Happy New Year of reading. Your list in 2008 was very impressive!
(back to top)
