Books read in 2007: MrStevens

Hi. I accidentally posted this in the Book Talk group and someone corrected me. Here is the list of books I've read so far this year. My favorite, so far, has been The Remains of the Day.

1.
Title: The Chocolate War
Author: Robert Cormier
Title: Classic boy coming of age story. A very controversial book about authority figures and bullies at private religious schools. Asks the reader to ponder how much freedom they actually have. Liked it a lot because of the way it broke from the feel-good YA books.

2.
Title: The curious incident of the dog in the night-time
Author: Mark Haddon
Notes: Terrific book about Autism. I have never lived with someone with this disorder so I can't tell how accurate the author's portrayal was, but I could easily relate the story to Dustin Hoffman's character in Rain Man. Don't we all feel like the main character sometimes? He merely takes it to extremes.

3.
Title: I am the Cheese
Author: Robert Cormier
Notes: Having read The Chocolate War, I thought I would check out another one of Robert Cormier's famous novels. The story was intriguing but I tend to feel cheated with these types of books. I am more of a Flowers for Algernon plot type person.

4.
Title: Island
Author: Aldous Huxley
Notes: Another book based on a utopian society. I heard that Huxley got the idea from Walden Two but I haven't confirmed this statement. I found it an enjoyable read.

5.
Title: Life of Pi
Author: Yann Martel
Notes: Wild story. Wild imagination.

6.
Title: Piano, Guided Sight-Reading
Author: Leonhard Deutsch

7.
Title: The Remains of the Day
Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Notes: My new favorite book. The way that Ishiguro shows the situations through people's thoughts is fresh and insightful. I especially loved the ending.

8.
Title: The Secret Life of Bees
Author: Sue Monk Kidd
Notes: Touching story. Easy read.

9.
Title: Speak
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Notes: Witty with a heart-wrenching story.

10.
Title: Stargirl
Author: Jerry Spinelli
Notes: Looking for Stargirl!

11.
Title: The Time Traveler's Wife
Author: Audrey Niffenegger
Notes: Wow. This book changed my demeanor while I read it. It really gets under your skin. Needs to be experienced.

12.
Title: Walden Two
Author: B.F. Skinner
Notes: Blueprint for Utopia. It's a nice thought but communes like Twin Oaks have proven that it is not completely practical. The way that the dialog was written got boring quite quickly. I know that the back and forth arguing was meant to answer the critics of the system but it made the book seem pompous.

13.
Title: Breaking Through: How the Polgar Sisters Changed the Game of Chess
Author: Susan Polgar
Notes: The story of the Polgar sisters' rise to the top of the Chess world.

14.
Title: A Walden Two Experiment
Author: Kathleen Kincade
Notes: So here is the description of the commune, called Twin Oaks, that was created to mimic the utopian society in the book Walden Two. It talks about the first five years. I hear the follow-up book, Is it utopia yet:, tells how the commune changed over the next 20 years and how they moved away from the book.

15.
Title: The Giver
Author: Lois Lowry
Notes: Terrific book for the most part. The way that the story builds up to the ending was a nice touch. I was disappointed with the last few chapters though. The story seemed rushed and manufactured towards the end. I did not like the attempt at shocking the reader. The sloppy ending sets the tone for the next two books.

16.
Title: Gathering Blue
Author: Lois Lowry
Notes: Average follow-up to the Newbery Award winning book The Giver. The environment is too "in your face". We see poverty and abuse of authority. People constantly slapping their kids, killing each other, fighting for weapons. And yet they aren't in total chaos. There is no indication as to the thing that keeps this village functioning in a semi-civil manner. The world is less believable than The Giver.

17.
Title: Messenger
Author: Lois Lowry
Notes: This book was very disappointing to me. After reading Gathering Blue I was hesitant to start on this book. But since it is only 170 pages I figured I'd give it a shot. The world is now completely unrecognizable to readers of the previous two novels. The book tries to tie the previous two books together and end with a glorious conclusion. However, I felt that it fell miserably short. There were numerous story plots that were left hanging. During a flashback scene , where Matty (Matt at the time) is leaving his previous village, he is speaking without the accent he had in Gathering Blue.

I was extremely disappointed with these two books.

18.
Title: The Dark is Rising
Author: Susan Cooper
Notes: Nice book. The way it was written seriously slowed me down. It took about five hours to complete only 220 pages. I couldn't really put my finger on it though. Can someone explain why it was hard to read? It's hard to imagine that this book was written for Juvenile Fiction. Some of the themes were quite dark. The pictures that the author creates are vivid and easy to imagine.

19.
Title: How to Have Confidence and Power When Dealing With People
Author: Les Giblin
Notes: Standard fare as motivational books go. Good solid concepts on ego and how to manage other people's egos. Very short read. There are some practical steps to follow but for the most part I felt like the suggestions were on the shallow side. Not a bad book to read if you have the time.

20.
Title: Living Meditation, Living Insight:
Author: Thynn Thynn
Notes: Terrific book on Buddhism in daily life. I think of it as the next book to read after Power of Now. Q&A format much like Eckhart Tolle's book. The author goes straight to the heart of the questions, some answers only a sentence or two long. Very easy read but will take a long time to digest. I'll probably read it two more times this week to internalize the teachings as much as possible. Free pdf version can be found on the author's website.

21.
Title: Looking for Alaska
Author: John Green
Notes: Laugh out loud funny. This book had me cracking up on the couch which irritated the heck out of my gf. I didn't know YA books could talk about bjs in detail o.O The premise for the climax was a bit weak IMHO. Great characterizations. Reminded me of the movie "Dead Poet's Society".

*nudges*

Our reading tastes are rather similar and I'd like some commentary. I really enjoyed your earlier comments, but you are pushing up against my "three posts with no comments gets ignored rule." Just say no to no comments! :)

Morph, sometimes I have this problem. I might read several books in a row and post them as read and either don't have the time or the inclination to write comments right away. But eventually I go back and edit those posts with my thoughts. Usually when I'm bored at work ;-p I can't do much typing at home...my cat won't let me! She likes to sit between me and the keyboard....spoiled rotten she is!

I wouldn't have said anything, I didn't want to "be a jerk." I just like this person's comments and our tastes seem similar. I figured if I showed that someone was reading his thread, he might do comments again. :)

Oh I didn't think that you were....just pointing out that I hardly ever write a review right away. If I'm at home or work, though I post the book immediately, but sometimes it has to sink before I write about it.

I agree though...there are some people that don't even list the book title, just a count and that's no fun for us (bored people at work) at all! ;-p

I am in agreement. Just seeing someone's list is no fun. I like to know about the book because it probably is something I haven't considered reading but might like to.

Wow! I actually have comments on my post. This is a first for me.

#8 Thank you for the feedback! Now that I know someone is actually reading this stuff I will make a better effort to write something down about the book when I put it up here. Since no one was commenting I thought I was only doing this for my own benefit. FWIW I have an 82% affinity to you :)

#9 Yes, that's partly what was happening. I would post my books while I was at work then write the comments when I had free time later. I guess no one would know that I updated it though.

Yay for comments!

The one for Looking for Alaska pushed me over the edge and I finally added to my TBR list.

I'm glad it helped you add it :) I am confident you won't be disappointed. But I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. You have a very impressive (or is that oppressive) TBR list. It reminds me of the 100 movies in my Netflix queue.

Glad we could be so helpful! For a while no one was commenting on my thread either. I guess I keep the list itself for me and the comments are for others. Being such an avid reader, and working in a bookstore for so many years, it's almost reflex to recommend books to others and if my comments help then, Yay!

Happy Reading ;-p

>It reminds me of the 100 movies in my Netflix queue.

Did you know the maximum number of movies that the Netflix queue can hold is 500?

Who, me, obsessive?!?!

^^ ROFLMAO!

22.
Title: The Blue Sword
Author: Robin McKinley
Notes: Phew! Finally finished this one. What a painful read :( I'm not sure exactly why I didn't get into the book until the last fifty pages. Maybe it was the desert setting. In any case I didn't really feel for the characters. At certain points I was even slightly annoyed with the main character Harry. The funny thing is I remember enjoying The Hero and the Crown. I should go back and re-read The Hero and the Crown again to see if my memory wasn't mistaken.

I wasn't fond of the third person writing. It confused me at times. It probably contributed to my non-attachment to the characters in the book. The narration was too detached. I think it would have served the book better if it was written similar to the narrator in the movie 300. He spoke with passion about his King and their epic battle. The narrator in this book sounded like a historian restating the facts.

I'd like to hear what other people have to say. Maybe I'm looking at it in the wrong way.

23.
Title: The Higher Power of Lucky
Author: Susan Patron
Notes: What a sweet book. I really enjoyed the pace and the innocence of the main character. I also found the other characters to be likeable, especially HMS Beagle.

I still remember being that vulnerable when I was little. Like Lucky, my mother passed away when I was six. I never felt abandoned like her, but I can relate to feeling alone and vulnerable.

BTW, I'm working on my grammar but it's slow going (product of a public school education). The recent grammar course for professionals didn't seem to help much :)

24.
Title: The Dead Zone
Author: Stephen King
Notes: Twenty pages left in the book. I'll finish it later today but since I had some time now I thought I'd get my ideas on paper.

It's pretty standard fare. Since it was written in 1980 I'm not sure how revolutionary the book was. It was a nice, easy read though. The plot moves along nicely and the characters were ok.

25.
Title: Why can't you shut up?
Author: Anthony E. Wolf
Notes: Great book on managing conflict and relationships through managing your own ego. The humor was a nice touch too. Some of it was a little off the wall but that's probably what made me enjoy it more. Short read at 160 pages with fairly large type.

The book was definitely speaking to me. Most of the situations in the book I can relate to. I'm the controlling type btw.

I'm planning on reading it again before returning it to the library and I'm considering buying a copy from Amazon. Good quality hardcover too.

26.
Title: The Tale of Despereaux
Author: Kate DiCamillo
Notes: Awww. What a touching little story. It's a little strange, but still touching. I am feeling melancholy after finishing it. I like it when writers have such a vivid imagination.

27.
Title: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Author: J.K. Rowling
Notes: My first HP book. It was an interesting read. Not spectacular mind you. Already this year I've read a handful of books more interesting to me than this book. I'd recommend it to anyone though, especially if they like magic and a little mystery.

BTW, I'm not getting any feedback to the questions I posed earlier. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I'm not sure which questions you are referring to. Can you give post numbers?

Sure. Message #19, feedback on The Blue Sword and Message #4, if anyone else found The Dark is Rising enjoyable but hard to read. My suspicion in both cases is the language used is difficult to follow. I was looking for other opinions. Thanks.

I haven't read Blue Sword, so can't help you there.

I found The Dark is Rising an easy read myself. I'm not sure why you found it slower going. Perhaps because you were expecting simpler writing because it was a "children's book?" It was definitely more complex writing than Over Sea, Under Stone.

When you say complex do you mean sentence structure or words used? I thought Harry Potter was easier to read but I couldn't tell if it was less complex.

Sentence structure. Some writers "flow" better than others and structure in books for children tends to be simpler than for adults.

28.
Title: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Author: J.K. Rowling
Notes: The series isn't bad but I'm not confident that, at the end of this year, any of the Potter books will make my top ten.

The quality of the cover and binding is outstanding for this edition. I did find the little excerpt on the last page a little strange though. It says that the illustrations were redrawn in 1989. I thought these books came out in the 90s.

I'm copying a post I left in another message board regarding the series.

***************************
Ok, so I've just finished reading the first two books. They are ok but not spectacular. I would use the word "marketable" to describe them. They'll appeal to the widest audience I think. They are also more sophisticated than many of the children's series I have read in the past like the Secrets of Droon books.

29.
Title: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Author: J.K. Rowling
Notes: Book three in the series. Another nicely bound hardcover. This book had seen better days though. Very well-read. The overuse of ALL CAPS throughout the book bothered me. It's bad enough to see that on the internet, I don't need to read it in a book. This was my least favorite book in the series so far.

The difference between the book and the movie was most obvious here. Probably because this book was about 100 pages longer than the previous two. Quite a bit of scenes were combined.

I also noticed that Snape was portrayed very differently from the movie. He is extremely vindictive in the book and the antagonism between him and Dumbledore is quite obvious. I always thought that Snape's character in the movies was more ambiguous.

>31 MrStevens:: MrStevens, heads up, the ability to condense a book into a 2.5-hour film gets more difficult with each volume of the series ... there are more omissions and "combining" in the film version of HP4, and I expect more of the same with HP5.

#32 Thanks for the heads up. They should really consider making it 3 hours or more. The movie suffered from too much condensing.

MrStevens
The Hero and The Crown is one of my favorite books and I also very much liked The Blue Sword. I remember it as being an adventure story with a little fantasy thrown in. I was interested in the structure of the natives(?) life, but I must admit it has been several years since I read this book. Then again, I don't usuallly look for deeper meanings, just like a good story!

I loved The Hero and The Crown and The Blue Sword as well. I think the latter was my favorite. Most of Robin McKinley's stuff is fantastic, though I would not recommend Deerskin. She also wrote a great retelling of Beauty and the Beast - The Rose Daughter, Robin Hood - The Outlaws of Sherwood, and Sleeping Beauty - Spindle's End.

Enjoy!

Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad other people liked The Blue Sword. I'm still planning on revisiting The Hero and the Crown but I'm so swamped with other books I'm not sure when I'll have time to tackle my Books To Read Again pile.

30.
Title: The Millionaire Real Estate Investor
Author: Gary Keller
Notes: Notes to come.

Hi MrStevens,

I've read the Dark is Rising series this year as well as The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown. I found the Dark is Rising series harder to get into, although some of the books were better than others. I thought overall the series was ok but I also found it hard to really sink into.

On the other hand, I really enjoyed the Robin McKinley books. Her imagery and prose stayed with me for a quite a while and I enjoyed the heroines' relationships with those around them. These books were very different from the fantasy I usually read, which I can only describe as 'loud' (lots of overt magic and conflict) compared to McKinley.

sandragon,

Thanks for your input. Have you read The Remains of the Day yet?

31.
Title: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Author: J.K. Rowling
Notes: Book four wasn't immediately available when I went down to the library so I started book five instead. I'm going to read book six before going back to finish four. I've got three days, so more than enough time, to finish six before seven comes out.

I think five is my new favorite in the series. Things really start coming together in this book and setting the plot up nicely for the last two books. I'm starting to appreciate Harry's position in the whole scheme of things. I can see why kids really enjoy the series too. Rowling doesn't talk down to them like some of the other authors tend to do. She tries to speak to them with understanding and empathy. It's refreshing to find people that have not forgotten what it feels like to be a child.

#39: Not yet MrStevens. I haven't read any Kazuo Ishiguro, although I have Never Let Me Go waiting for me on my shelf. I've heard mixed reviews about it and haven't been in quite the right mood for it yet. Is The Remains of the Day still your favorite so far?

#41: Yes it is! The subtlety of the book was what really attracted me to it. I compare it to The Time Traveller's Wife. Never Let Me Go is another outstanding book. I think people tend to misunderstand what the author was trying to do. If you go in expecting a shocking twist like the move Sixth Sense then you will be disappointed. The book is more along the lines of The Remains of the Day with a more fanciful world and how these people view themselves and their circumstances. I'm impressed with Ishiguro's writing and imagination.

32.
Title: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Author: J.K. Rowling
Notes: A nice follow-up to book 5. The love interests are interesting but tend to distract from the rest of the book IMHO. I found it slightly annoying actually. While there is death and destruction around every corner the main characters seem too absorbed in their own petty disagreements. Book 5 is still my favorite.

An interesting thing happened to me when I was half-way through the book. My co-worker gave away the ending. A group of us were at lunch and I had mentioned that I didn't want anyone talking about the last book because I hadn't read it yet. To my horror one of my co-workers blurts out the interesting tidbit in book 6. There are a few things that rank higher than people spoiling the plot for me. Especially since the person hadn't taken the time to read the books but just reads the interesting parts on the internet. I put in a lot of hours to get to this point and that was not a nice thing to do.

33.
Title: A Great and Terrible Beauty
Author: Libba Bray
Notes: Great book. Very interesting read. A little slow at the beginning but it drew me in and held my attention once it got started.

34.
Title: Feed
Author: M.T. Anderson
Notes: Mixed bag for me. I really liked the concept and the way the story was told. It makes logging onto the internet feel strange. At least I don't "text" yet. I laughed at the way the author described how communication breaks down in the future. It reminded me of my posts here. How my grammar is rushed and incomplete. My grammar instructor once said "People write emails like they are running from a burning building."

I thought that the deterioration of society was exaggerated and not explained thoroughly enough. It seems like a common pitfall of YA Fiction though. I remember thinking the same thing about The Giver. Probably due to the low page count.

All-in-all a worthy read. Won't take longer than a few hours.

35.
Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Author: J.K. Rowling
Notes: Finally finished the last book in the series. It was a good read. My favorite is still Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix.

As in most of the books in the series there was a nice balance of action, humor, and mystery. Some of the plot explanations were a bit weak for my taste. For example:

***Spoilers***
Dumbledore's history was not alluded to in any of the other books and did not fit comfortably with his characterization in prior books IMO. Not quite a deus ex machina but had that sort of feeling for me.

Harry's death was a nice touch, reminiscent of Nero in the Matrix. Using the crucifixion plotline. I would have preferred it if Harry remained dead though but then it probably wouldn't be a children's book anymore. Reminded me of Stranger Than Fiction where the author opted to save the hearts of children around the world instead of making a better story :)

Snape's storyline was my favorite. For me it was the most well-executed and tied together his characterizations from the previous books nicely.
***End Spoilers***

In conclusion, I really liked the book, and the series. I'm glad I finally decided to give them a read and have not regretted the many many hours spent.

36.
Title: Over sea, under stone
Author:Susan Cooper
Notes: Book one in the Dark is Rising Sequence. I liked it a lot better than book two, The Dark is Rising. I enjoyed reading about the relationship between the three siblings.

37.
Title: Greenwitch
Author: Susan Cooper
Notes: Book three in the Dark is Rising Sequence. This was my favorite out of the first three so far. Also the shortest.

38.
Title: The thirteenth tale: a novel
Author: Diane Setterfield
Notes: What a joy to read. I can see why it is a favorite among LibraryThingers. The book kept me guessing through most of the chapters. Unlike a lot of similar books, I didn't feel the author was talking down to me but rather pulling me along like a big sister through a hedge maze as we both laugh from the thrill.

39.
Title: The Hollow Kingdom
Author: Clare B. Dunkle
Notes: Good story, bad execution. It's an easy read and has an interesting take on non-human characters but I thought the writing seemed amateurish compared to similar novels like the "Song of the Lioness" series or Robin McKinley's stuff. I won't be bothering with the sequels.

40.
Title: Alanna: The First Adventure
Author: Tamora Pierce
Notes: Terrific book. Very enjoyable. I'm looking forward to reading the next three books in the series. The story is nicely written and the characters are fun to read. The ending was an especially nice touch.

41.
Title: Nasty People
Author: Jay Carter
Notes: Average book about how to deal with "invalidators" in your life. Didn't like the tone the author took with the reader. Condescending and unhealthy advice about revenge.

42.
Title: The Grey King
Author: Susan Cooper
Notes: Book four in the five part series. Another great read. The Grey King is the Newbery winner out of the five books. I still enjoyed book three the most. On to the last book!

43.
Title: Silver on the Tree
Author:Susan Cooper
Notes: The last book in the series. It was very satisfying to read the ending to the story. After reading the Harry Potter series I think the HP books shine when it comes to building the relationships of the characters. The Dark is Rising sequence is more technical and plot based (if that makes any sense). I would think these books are more appealing to young boys too. There is a lot of talk about Knights and Kings and the women in the story take a supporting role. There is quite a bit about Welsh and European history.

44.
Title: Twilight
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Notes:

45.
Title: In the Hand of the Goddess
Author: Tamora Pierce
Notes:

46.
Title: Woman Who Rides Like a Man
Author: Tamora Pierce
Notes:

47.
Title: Lioness Rampant
Author: Tamora Pierce
Notes:

I love this book. I am still reading, and i am not done yet. I am almost done. It is so cute how it is about a mouse. i feel sorry for Despereaux, because his tail got cut off.