Morphy's 2010 Reading Journal

I'm starting mine early because I had to share about an AWFUL book.

I just finished Legacies by Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill, the first of the Shadow Grail series.

There was no hope, no humor. Boring story. Unlikeable characters. I was so happy to see a Lackey/Edghill collaboration. I've loved everything they've done together. But this was the worst Lackey EVER.

3 out of 10 stars just because I was able to finish it. Barely.

Yay Morphy. I'm all for starting as soon as possible. Will definitely flag that one as 'To Avoid'. Do you ever actually give up on books? I can't bring myself to do that once I've started but these awful ones make me wonder whether I should sometimes just cut and run.

Oh, yes. Just look at my collection "Quit, Yuck, Ptooey" for some of them!

:D

Others I've quit:

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Critical Reading - Condescending and too "memoir-ish"

The Prophet - too flowery and airy-fairy

On Beauty - Read half, nothing happened, boring

The Last Samurai - No flow, disjointed, blech

The Expedition of Humphry Clinker - Written in 1700's - unable to get past first sentence, too flowery

A Gentle Madness - Not bad writing, uninterested in subject

Gifts From the Child Within - Dense, annoying self-promotion

The Sound and the Fury - Unreadable nonsense

Wuthering Heights - Hated the characters

Moving Targets and Other Tales of Valdemar - Boring stories, boring characters, boring, boring, boring

The Spell of the Sensuous - Liked the ideas, hated the writing, too florid and poetry

The Name of the Rose - Too dense

Middlemarch - Too much purple prose, didn't care about the characters

The Complete Hans Christian Anderson - Tedious

Wolf Hall - Style made it a slog

I love that collection name ... but now you've made me cry because Middlemarch is on it ;-) I'm listening to Wolf Hall right now. I like it but it took me quite a while to get into it.

I edited when you weren't looking. Sorry about Middlemarch!

Wuthering Heights makes me stabbity.

I liked Wuthering Heights but I read it in the first term of my ill-fated English degree many years ago. I may have been quite precious then.

Wuthering Heights was one of the books I brought with me on a 7 hour plane ride a few years back. The other was The Forest House.

I ended up finishing Wuthering Heights. It was the better of the two. And I absolutely hated it. Just about the only way I could derive any pleasure from WH was imagining Emily Bronte writing the book to make fun of her sister. Then later on, reading the Thursday Next books helped.

Don't read The Forest House, even if you loved The Mists of Avalon.

I loved Gentle Madness, although I can see how it wouldn't be for everyone.

It seems to me that different books do well in different decades of my life. I loved Gone With The Wind when I was, oh, maybe 13 years old. Today I don't think I could tolerate it - too much racism, too much sexism, horrible characters, and way, way too much glorification of a brutal, destructive, awful war. I think I also liked Wuthering Heights when I was young. I don't think I'd like it today.

But then again, I've read some of Daphne duMaurier books when I was fully adult and in possession of my college education, and definite liberal political views, and still loved the books. They are not politically correct but there is a lyricism about them which captivated me.

I also liked WH when I was young. Haven't reread it for years, but LOVED seeing Laurence Olivier in the role of Heathcliff when I was young. Tried watching it again as an adult and wondered what had happened to it. :o)

ETA: But Middlemarch RAWKS... IMHO, of course.

I immensely dislike the Brontes. I find the heroines to be spineless dreamers who let men push them around. And then they sit around and thank the men for it.

I can't stand that.

Really? What about Jane Eyre? She turns pretty fiesty, takes charge of her life and follows her bliss.

THANK you, Morphy ~ You've saved me from having to break down and read WH and a couple of others on your list that I've been feeling compelled to read because they're, you know, "must reads." BTW, totally agree with you about Wolf Hall. That one made me feel "stabbity." (Love that word and am going to steal it from fleela.)

ETA I just noticed both of the books I mentioned are WH books. The WH in the first line refers to Wuthering Heights.

I think I stole it from Morphy. GD theft is the best!

#13. No. She accepted a guy who jerked her around and just took it. Didn't much like her either.

So....stabbity...means you feel like just stabbing someone?

Being asked to write a feminist literary critique of Wuthering Heights made me awful stabbity in uni. I think the whole 'Go write a feminist critique, whether you actually are a feminist or not' bit was the stabbity straw that broke the camel's back and made me run away to the East ...

I'm in the pro-WH camp; you have to admire a book where the hero hangs a pet dog.

Back to Morphidae's list, and I rate The Last Samurai as one of my all-time favourites. Very few books cause me to snort with laughter in public, and this one did over and over. Fabulous. My face muscles ached.

I'm so glad that there are others out there who aren't afraid to proclaim the awful-horribleness of Wuthering Heights. And Morphy, I nearly spewed my morning Slim Nast all over the keyboard when I read your description of The Sound and the Fury - Faulkner wrote unreadable nonsense? Surely not! LOL! (I totally agree, btw.)

The actual quote is, "I hate hate stabbity stab hate (fill in the blank.)"

I may not get why somebody likes a book like The Sound and the Fury or Wuthering Heights since I couldn't finish them myself, but I will defend their right to like or love things I don't. Everybody's taste is different. I hate hate stabbity stab hate the idea proclaimed in some LT genre groups that if you like/don't like something you are somehow deficient.

I got a third or halfway through some of those books (both WH's), some only a chapter (Samurai), others - only a few sentences (Clinker)!

I'm reading The World is Flat and War for the Oaks.

The World is Flat is very interesting. I'm reading about how India became THE place to go to for IT outsourcing. I understand it now, but still don't like it.

War for the Oaks is a re-read. It was so long ago (15 years?) that I don't remember much though.

War for the Oaks is on my want-to-read list. Is it good?

I agree with you Morphy, people should read what's pleasurable for them. Period. I have phases where I devour classic lit and others where I need fluff. Most of the time, I'm somewhere in-between.

I'll let you know about Oaks. I'm only a chapter in.

I'm a fluff reader who in recent years has added classics and other "literary" books to her repertoire. I can read a certain amount, then I need a hit of fluff. :D

When I was writing my thesis, all I could cope with was fluff. I realised I completely gave up non-fiction for a whole year. Heavens, I even read the Twilight saga ...

Will check back on Oaks, see whether you think it's worth bumping up on my list.

I thought War for the Oaks was really good, as was Finder by the same author. She began writing urban fantasy before it became so popular, and she does it well.

More votes for fluff! Fluff is good!

I do read non-fluff sometimes, but haven't managed to find the point in literary fiction. I like escapism, and escaping to the real world, just doesn't work for me very well. Oaks is already on my wishlist so it must have been discussed on LT before.

I finished up Territory not too long ago by Emma Bull. It's very good as well. Old West/fantasy cross-over that's very well written.

The more fluff the better, imo. I do read more nonfiction and literary fiction these days than I did before, mostly to broaden my horizons, but I read books the same way many other people watch TV ~ as a way to escape my reality. If the horizon-broadening book isn't doing it for me, I don't hesitate to put it gently aside. Or throw it against the wall, depending on how stabbity I feel.

Morphy, half of your Ptooeys I agree with you, half I LOVE. (Middlemarch & The Sound & the Fury RAWK, as clammy says.) To each hir own, tho.

I'm going to give War for the Oaks by Emma Bull seven out of ten stars. It was running a solid eight until the last battle which was given a total of two pages and felt like a total wimp out. I didn't like Eddie at first, she seemed wimpy and emotionally immature. But as I "got to know her," she became more likable. One "surprise" bad guy, wasn't a surprise at all. It was a good enough story though that I spent the afternoon reading it instead of working on other tasks. "Just one more chapter..." turned into finishing the book.

Next fiction book is another old favorite that I haven't read for 15 or 20 years, Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins.

oh, I have read a few by Tom Robbins and loved them but it has been a few years. Perhaps I need to pick him up again.

I do so love the use of "stabbity" on this thread!

#3-hated wuthering heights also. Kept waiting for the huge romance to develop, but it never seemed too. Hated the characters too. Kept waiting for the big 'oh yeah that's good' moment because everyone raves about it but it never happened.

#3-hated wuthering heights also. Kept waiting for the huge romance to develop, but it never seemed too. Hated the characters too. Kept waiting for the big 'oh yeah that's good' moment because everyone raves about it but it never happened.

#30 - Great minds, and all that. ;o)

I am trying to find ways to use stabbity in a regular sentence during idle chatter with real people...

I was able to use stabbity in idle conversation at work today. I was talking about one of the attorneys I work for and how he makes me feel sometimes. :)

You think if enough people use "stabbity" it'll get added to the lexicon? Like "wikiality?"

Just a thought. :)

This is a cease and desist order.You can no longer use "stabbity" unless you also use "hate hate stabbity stab hate." It's the rule. So there.

Nyah.

stabbity. :P

/me throws a bucket of cold water!***

I don't like stabbity! I don't like the image of people stabbing each other. Icky icky icky ick ick.

For some reason stabbity makes me think of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. So it would be a cartoony kind of stabbing.

yes, the old cartoons were pretty violent...hehehehehe

When I am navigating the cartoons on the cable TV these days I find that the old ones are so much more fun as they frequently have wonderful classic music as a back drop to all the wham, bang, bonging going on. Don't ever remember seeing blood, these days...the more blood the better. Magna seems the context for stabbity to me and I don't like it on TV, or in print, very much. I stick by my previous judgments.

*sings, "It's my thread and I'll stab if I want to..."*

Meanwhile, I'm reading Jitterbug Perfume and still working on The World is Flat.

*dripping*

Hey! They started it!

I like the title "Jitterbug Perfume," what's it about?

It's an odd story about perfume, beets, Pan and long life. It's hard to describe.

Hmmm. I remember the perfume, Pan and long life. I don't remember the beets. Why were there beets?

As a base for the perfume. The book starts with someone leaving beets for some of the main characters as a hint.

How are you doing on The World is Flat? I bailed about halfway through that last year. I loved the premise, but I found it sort of repetitive.

I'm about halfway through and doing fine. I can see why though. I'll let you know if it gets better.

#43 maggie1944: You're navigating in the wrong places, I think. There are some fantastic cartoons out there these days - very educational-based; they use classical music, with no violence at all. Check out NickJr and PBS kids.

ETA: To my mind, the -bity (best diminutive ever) takes the ick out of it and leaves the cute.

I confess that I can't get into Middlemarch either although a dear friend swears to me that I made HER read it. (She loved it...) On the other hand, I wouldn't put it under the category of Hate Hate Stabbity Stab . More under the heading of Just Too Challenging.

I'd say the only one that gets a Hate Hate Stabbity Stab Hate rating is The Prophet. Probably because I went in with high expectations of something uplifting and special and got repetitive airy-fairy fluff.

Others were "Ugh" or "Yuck" or "Not For Me." Middlemarch was simply a "Not For Me" book. Same with Wuthering Heights and Wolf Hall.

I put my books aside for a super easy read because I have a cold and even Jitterbug Perfume is an effort. So, I'm reading Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King and am enjoying it very much.

Jitterbug Perfume inspired recipe: http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2010/09/beet_burgers.html

I zipped through Eyes of the Dragon yesterday. I found it a good read except for the quickly-over climax. It felt... anti-climatic. Like King said, "Oops, I have to finish the book in 5 pages. Okay, done!"

Still, I'd give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Can I use Morphy-syntax? I hate hate stabbity stab hate Stephen King. It's funny because as a teenager I used to devour his books with aplomb but I just can't stand him now. It's not book-snobbery because I like a bit of fluff as much as the next man but for some reason, he's not a writer I was able to carry through to adulthood. Maybe I just overdosed when I was younger because I do remember getting to the point where I felt he was getting a bit same-y. I came to dislike his lack of characterisation. Possibly I should try again. I'm having a bit of a reading renaissance and reconnecting with a lot of books that I read as a youngster.

Yup, I agree about King. Bleak. Repetitive. Not worth my precious time.

I'll just have to put him on my Shelf of Shame then.

:P

Well, I guess I stole your stabbity ;-)

I really will have to revisit some of the King I used to love though. It's really funny doing that with the eyes of age. I've been really surprised at the undertones I missed in some of the books I used to love. Plus, I'm much more sensitive to out & out sexism than I used to be, which crops up in a lot of the fantasy I used to wolf down. When I was younger, I just concentrated on the stories.

I finished the re-read of Jitterbug Perfume. I had kept the copy for "sentimental reasons" when we did a book purge. I remember enjoying very much a couple of decades ago. But I found it waxed a little too philosophical for me this time. I wanted more story and less soap-boxing.

In other words, the Suck Fairy waggled her wings over it a bit. Not a lot. But it's been smeared forever...

Hmm, 5 out of 10 stars.

I read The Valcourt Heiress by Catherine Coulter (an LT ER) and gave it a 5 out of 10 ten stars.

I found a lot lacking. The characterizations were flat. I never got a real sense of who Merry and Garron were and didn't care all that much about them. I didn't feel like they were ever in any real danger. Perhaps because the magic felt tacked on. There was no reason for there to be magic and the only person who had it was the main villain. And the villain only did it for the money? You didn't find out anything about the magic system, either. There were plot twists - and I use the term lightly - that got solved with a passing paragraph. Lastly, the dialogue and mannerisms were too modern. I gave it five stars out of ten because it was an easy read and I liked that the heroine made lists.

"and I liked that the heroine made lists"

LOL!

>63 MrsLee: :P

Finished The World is Flat. The first third of the book got 8 out of 10 stars. Interesting and thoughtful stuff - I learned a lot. The second third got a bit boring and repetitive, so it gets 5 out of ten stars. The final third peaked my interest again and so it got 7 stars. It also scared me a bit. I liked reading about the inner workings about businesses going global and their reasoning. I'm going to average it out to 7 stars. Pretty typical rating for my nonfiction reading.

The thing about Stephen King is his prose is so deadly boring. I guess his books make good movies because of the scare factor, but jeeze, learn how to write a decent sentence (then a paragraph, then try to learn about pacing, oh I should just shut up).

Different strokes for different folks. I don't find him boring at all.

Hey Morph! You doing the read-a-thon today? Have fun!

(By the way, I've downloaded Pet Semetary for my next Kindle book - going to give Stephen King a try again).

Yep! I'll post the books tomorrow. Those plus the last couple days of reading will be quite the list! I'm posting updates on my blog:

http://lessismorph.blogspot.com/

I thought your visual book title was fun! I hope you're enjoying your read-a-thon.

Thanks! Yes, I just finished My Antonia and enjoyed it very much. Onward!

Tried to comment on your blog, but it didn't like me and I don't have the steam to persevere. However, just wanted to say that I'm glad you are participating, read a book for me!

Just wanted to say I'm happy to have found your blog and am now a follower. (I didn't try to comment on any of the posts, so can't say whether it's difficult to do, but I did enjoy your updates.)

A bit of catch up to do:

703: How I Lost More Than a Quarter Ton and Gained a Life by Nancy Makin
7 out of 10 stars
Average story but important to me. Wish there was more about how she lost the weight - not necessarily the nutrition/exercise but mind set.

The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov
7 out of 10 stars
Amazing how his stuff holds up.

Beguilement by Lois McMaster Bujold
8 out of 10 stars
Started slow but got really interesting. Liked both main characters. A little squicked by the age difference though.

Highland Velvet by Jude Deveraux
7 out of 10 stars
Love Deveraux. Even her early stuff is good. Wish heroine wasn't so whiny.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
8 out of 10 stars
Always a good read. Makes me want to read the rest again.

Juniper by Monica Furlong
7 out of 10 stars
Bit of a brat which is something I don't care for but otherwise a good story.

A Murderous Yarn by Monica Ferris
6 out of 10 stars
Uninteresting. She has little to nothing to do with figuring out the mystery. Plot was lacking. Will keep reading because of the needlework and local connection.

My Antonia by Willa Cather
8 out of 10 stars
Solid writing. If I had cared just a little more about Antonia would have gotten a "9."

The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
8 out of 10 stars
Glad I listened to my nephew and tried the second one in the series. Better plotting. Good romp.

Sleeping with the Fishes by MaryJanice Davidson
5 out of 10 stars
Her heroines are too abrasive for me. Doubt I'll read much more of her work.

Wow. That's quite a feat, Morphy, way to go!

Someday I'm going to read Rick Riordan's YA stories. I bought the first three for a colleague of mine to read to his young boys. Hopefully he will take time to do it, but if he doesn't, maybe his boys will read to each other.

I'm late to the party, but I stopped reading Stephen King for several (10?) years after reading The Tommyknockers when I was pregnant and nauseous. (That book made me feel much worse.) Interestingly enough, after all those years, I picked up The Green Mile, Hearts in Atlantis and On Writing at the suggestion of friends and enjoyed them all.

#75 clam: Ugh. I was that way with Neverwhere - read it while pregnant and nauseous and so I can't even think about that book without feeling slightly ill. Unfortunate, really, since I love Gaiman, but I just can't like that book very much now.

Aw, scaifea ~ that is so sad, because N----W---- was so amazing!

Too bad a loathing of something bad for you, like smoking, wasn't the result of your pregnancy. (That's how I quite smoking 30-some years ago. Got sick as a dog if I even saw a cigarette in my first trimester. Talk about a cure!)

Shakespeare's Trollop by Charlaine Harris
Read this because I'm reading everything Harris writes. Regular mystery by Sookie Stackhouse author. I think I like this series more than the vampire one. This is the third or fourth book. Best of the Lily Bard series so far. Short and sweet.
8 out of 10 stars

Poop Happened! by Sarah Albee
Read this because it caught my eye in a magazine. Disgustingly fun. History of everything having to do with poop. Sewage, gross jobs, cholera, tp, pooping with huge dresses, potties and lack thereof. They pooped and peed in the halls of Versailles. Gross!
8 out of 10 stars

Rattlesnake Crossing by J. A. Jance
Read this because I'm reading the Joanna Brady series. Solid entry in this mystery series. Wish I was a little more emotionally invested though.
7 out of 10 stars

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
I can't remember why I read this. Not on one of my lists. Perhaps I thought it was. It was okay. I could not relate at all to Chris, the kid who starved to death in Alaska, and felt he was an unlikable and rather idiotic person. It probably should have stayed as a magazine article rather than a book.
6 out of 10 stars

A Whack on the Side of the Head by Roger von Oech
Read this for my 888 challenge (creativity theme.) Enjoyable and lots of good ideas. Put the Creative Whack Pack on my Amazon wishlist.
8 out of 10 stars

Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner
Read this because it was on a few of my lists, especially Ultimate Reading List. Excellent story. Emotional and endearing. Was able to relate to her weight and depression. Fun with actress friend - only thing missing was a book buying spree! I don't typically do chick lit, otherwise I would have rated it even higher.
8 out of 10 stars

I must have a go at some other Harris books - I like the vampire ones, they entertain me, so maybe her others will too.

I haven't read Into the Wild but I did watch the film (which Eddie Vedder did a storming soundtrack to) and I was much of your opinion. I liked the film but the guy was a eejit of the highest degree and I had limited sympathy with anyone that naiive about life in the bush (and with no map!). I may still have to look the book out too though, especially as I'm prepared to be annoyed by him.

I've also read the Harper Connelly series by Harris which starts with Grave Sight. It's about a woman who sees ghosts and helps to solve murders.

Ugh, duplicate post.

I confess Poop Happened sounds rather interesting, not appealing, but maybe interesting. Just the thing to read while in the company of growing boys, they love poop jokes so much.

I had to watch Into the Wild with someone once to be polite. For me, it was like sitting for what seemed to be 10 hours with nails scraping on a chalkboard, then at the end, dead. Ugh. I'll never have those hours back.

What is it about little boys and poop? My 6yo loves that, in the Lego Indiana Jones video game, he can make the elephants poop studs.

78,79,83 - Yes! Vindication for refusing to watch Into the Wild, or read the book.

I read Into the Wild because I like Jon Krakauer's writing and he usually picks interesting adventures to write about but I agree this book was horrible. I can hardly stand reading about anyone's regular death but this one was so pointless, and so slow, and so stupid! Honestly. The only way I can forgive this boy his stupidity is to remember that when the body starts to starve and get too little water the brain is affected and a person loses his ability to think at all. I don't recommend it to anyone.

edits to spell Jon's name correctly, had to try twice )-;

Hey, I loved Into the Wild! I found the book to be much more interesting than the film. It was meant to be a cautionary tale. You aren't especially meant to 'like' Chris, but you're meant to get an idea of what could have motivated him to behave so recklessly, IMHO.

#87 clam: That side of things is interesting to me (even though I have a high level of intolerance for outward-bound-related foolishness). I know a lady in the UK, my Mum and I call her The Walking Lady, who has been walking round the country living off what she can scavenge and using old carrier bags as footwear for the best part of the last 20 years that we've known her and no doubt much longer. It's a long-winded tale but she came into my Mum's tea room with 6 carrier bags full of carrier bags and asked if we were throwing any food out at the end of the day once a long, long time ago and we've seen her from time to time ever since. She doesn't beg and will only take things that were thrown out anyway. One time, she appeared in the Winter and we let her stay by our fire overnight (I was brought up in a bit of a waifs and strays house) and when we woke up she'd gone but she'd done all the washing up and cleaned the kitched in return for the heat. Any-hoo, the purpose of this tale is to say that when we learnt about her history, she was a brilliant young woman with a place at Oxford University and her father was a Rector of some kind and very educated. Her family was stable but for some reason, in her first year of uni, she just couldn't cope with society any more and she dropped out. She believed she was walking to train herself so that she could leave the country and walk across mainland Europe to Kurdistan and join the wandering tribes. She never has, and just when we think we'lll never see here again, we spy her on a road somewhere with her bags, just walking. Chris in the film kind of reminded me of our Walking Lady. I think I'll look the book out if for no other reason than that.

/off topic ramblings

#88 - WOW! That's some story! I can easily see how some folks could snap under the strain society puts on them.

We have a decent percentage of folks in New England living 'off the grid,' as we like to call it, even with our awful winters. There's plenty of deadwood to burn, for starters. But most of them stay put. I can't relate to the folks who leave home without knowing where they'll sleep! What if there is no cheese to be had? LOL It does seem vaguely LotRish to me, though. Do I see any Rangers out there? (No, not the hockey or baseball teams!)

#87 - That part was interesting, but unresolvable, and I suppose I'm not patient with unresolvable things at the moment. Besides, for me, it was not interesting enough to relieve the unrelenting boredom of the rest of the film. I wish they had ended it when he left the trailer people. I was interested up to that point, and by then I knew exactly what was going to happen, I just had to wait another hour or more for it to happen.

The Spark by Chris Downie
7 out of 10 stars
Good stuff. Surprising. Thought it would be all repeat of the stuff on SparkPeople.com

Lover Revealed by J. R. Ward
8 out of 10 stars
Wonderful. I love how it's not just about the couple but also all the brotherhood. That and the sex scenes are hot. And the emotional scenes make me cry.

Women Food and God by Geneen Roth
7 out of 10 stars
Good stuff. Only wish there were more practical steps. I know it's hard with this subject though.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
5 out of 10 stars
Readable. That's about it. Couldn't relate to Anna until the end. Could sympathize with her rambling train of depressive thoughts. Interesting look at the society.

Despite numerous attempts, I have never succeeded in reading Anna Karenina. I'm sympathetic to her plight but could never warm up to Count Vronsky.

Wow, I'm behind!

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
6 out of 10 stars
Good writing. Far too depressing.
Read to complete the Museum, Library and Archive book list.

Minnesota Minutia by Patricia Overson
5 out of 10 stars
Meh. Was hoping for more interesting facts. Ah well.
Read because I saw it on the local news.

Truthseeker by C. E. Murphy
7 out of 10 stars
Fun stuff. Solid read. A little woo-woo near the end. Skimmed over it. Can't wait until AUGUST for the conclusion.
Read because I like Murphy.

Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher
7 out of 10 stars
Usual Butcher darkness and intensity but it's a PIG BOY story and I love pig boy stories.
Read because I like Butcher.

Christy by Catherine Marshall
8 out of 10 stars
Enjoyed it a lot. Surprised me because it is "Christian Fiction" from the 60s. A very liberal version I must admit.
Read for the Ultimate Book List.

Lover Unbound by J. R. Ward
6 out of 10 stars
Disappointing after I raved about the previous one. The resolution for the heroine made absolutely no sense. It was a "you've got to be kidding me" moment.
Read because I like Ward

Tempting Evil by Keri Arthur
7 out of 10 stars
Am enjoying this series more even though I don't like the heroes. I like Riley though and her adventures. Only problem is that she is heading toward Mary-Sue-ville.
Read because I like Arthur

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
6 out of 10 stars
I should rate this higher because of historical value but can't say I much enjoyed reading it. Found it tedious.
Read because on numerous lists

Whitney, My Love by Judith McNaught
6 out of 10 stars
Both of the characters turned me off a bit. The romance was okay.
Read because I like McNaught

Re: Into the Wild, I too found the young man relentlessly annoying, but I'm a middle aged woman. I do love Krakauer's writing. I enjoyed Into Thin Air, Krakauer's harrowing first person account of the Mt. Everest disaster, much more.

Yes, I like his writing and have also read Into Thin Air.

Morph, thanks for your comments about Good in Bed. I grabbed a copy at my library's last book sale, primarily for my wife, because she liked In Her Shoes a lot. I'll tell her it got at least one positive notice here.

I like the way you do a rundown on the books you've read. I might steal your form, but not sure I could be so concise. :)

I wish I could be more wordy!

Re C.E. Murphy how does her other work stand up? I read heart of stone as an ER book and quite enjoyed it - nothing mind blowing, but an interesting take on the Urban fantasy theme. What else of hers would you recommend?

My favorite is her Walker Papers series starting with Urban Shaman. As you said, enjoyable reads. Unfortunately, that series also has her worst book - the latest one, Demon Hunts.

On my scale of 1 to 10 stars:

9 stars
Urban Shaman - Walker 1

8 stars
Thunderbird Falls - Walker 2
Coyote Dreams - Walker 3
Hands of Flame - Negotiator 3

7 stars
Heart of Stone - Negotiator 1
House of Cards - Negotiator 2
The Queen's Bastard - Inheritors 1
Walking Dead - Walker 4
Truthseeker - Worldwalker 1

6 stars
Demon Hunts - Walker 5

I don't know what's going on, but her last four books got my worst four ratings. I'm hoping to see some improvement in her next books. I'd say stick with Walker 1 - 4 then the rest of the Negotiator series.

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
7 out of 10 stars
Read because it was on several of my lists
I didn't like how depressing it was. I liked the magical parts and the story. It wasn't an easy read but the language, something I don't normally notice, was lovely.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
7 out of 10 stars
Read because it was on several of my lists
While I didn't like the main character, I liked the folk tale style of writing and I liked learning about their life and culture.

Chicken Soup for the Soul by Canfield and Hansen
7 out of 10 stars
Read because I needed the inspiration
I've read many of the stories before; but it was inspiring over all.

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (audio book)
8 out of 10 stars
Read because it was on several of my lists
Narrator was excellent - there were several accents she had to deal with - Spanish, Russian, American, etc. Very well done.

Great story-telling. Would have given a higher rating if it wasn't "literary," i.e. depressing ending.

Butterfly Swords by Jeannie Lin
3 out of 10 stars
Read this because it was recommended by the one book blogger I read. It was awful. Dull story. Dull characters. No sense of place (8th century China.) Dull, just dull. Was able to finish it. About the best I can say. Can't imagine why it was rated so highly.

Masques by Patricia Briggs
8 out of 10 stars
Read because I read everything by the author
Now this I liked. Not sure if Briggs has always been a good writer (this is her first book) or if she tightened this up - probably a bit of both. But this book is a delight. Interesting characters, real danger, good story.

I always wondered what "literary" meant, now it makes perfect sense. ;)

Yeah, "literary" means depressing ending and/or nothing happens - there is no plot. Oh, or there is no resolution to the story.

My definition has always been roughly that you can transplant the whole book onto two women gossipping in a New York coffeeshop. And I've never been to a NY coffeeshop.

I thought I recognised Praticia Briggs' name, but nothing on her author page springs to mind. I wonder who I was thinking of instead?!

I have always thought "literary" meant that the book would be a little bit hard to read, that I would have to "make" myself sit down and read bigger chunks at a time, and that in the end...it usually was a toss-up...sometimes I loved it and thought it was very well done, very interesting, maybe even inspiring and other times...nope. Didn't like it, thought it was a waste of time.

Oh, you philistines! LOL

This made me laugh:

In a June 2006 interview with John Updike on The Charlie Rose Show, Updike stated that he felt this term, when applied to his work, greatly limited him and his expectations of what might come of his writing, and so does not really like it. He said that all his works are literary simply because "they are written in words."

LOL, that's very freeing then clam. Just think, no more fluffy books. ALL books are literary ;-) I like it!

I have been using the term to refer to books whose author tries to excel in all areas: characterization, style, pacing, plot, etc., but I realize that would leave out some books I consider literary, because they don't attempt all of those things. I think it should indicate a serious attenmpt to address at least a couple of those items, particularly style and characterization. I love the idea that it just means a depressing ending.

Holy Crap, I'm behind.

No Humans Involved by Kelley Armstrong
7 out of 10 stars
Reading all of Armstrong's books
Solid entry in the series. Liked the heroine. The story was more about the action rather than the romance.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
9 out of 10 stars
Read because it was recommended by LT and on some lists
Excellent story. Only reason I didn't give higher is that it was a little young for me.

Legacy by Lois McMaster Bujold
7 out of 10 stars
Reading all of Bujold's books
It was good. I didn't seem to care too much about the characters. Not sure why. Maybe because they didn't succeed at much and overall it was a bit depressing.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
8 out of 10 stars
Read to finish the trilogy
He is a gripping writer. He snags you and doesn't let go. Too bad he's gone. I would love to read more about these characters.

Undead and Unfinished by MaryJanice Davidson
6 out of 10 stars
Read to continue the series
Good enough to make me giggle. Bad enough to make me wonder how much more Davidson I'll read. She's a real one-trick pony and it's getting old.

Packing for Mars by Mary Roach
7 out of 10 stars
Read because I've liked her other books
Amusing and gross. Her one failing as an author is a bit of repetitiveness.

The Passage by Justin Cronin
7 out of 10 stars
Read because seemed popular
Average story. Interesting enough that I'll continue the series. Felt a little distant from characters. Had a hard time connecting to them.

Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich
7 out of 10 stars
Read to continue the series
Same fluff, different book.

Rebellious Desire by Julie Garwood
6 out of 10 stars
Reading all of Garwood's books
Meh. One problem with being a completist - first books aren't up to their usual fare.

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff by Richard Carlson
7 out of 10 stars
Read to complete some lists
Some good stuff though I'm probably jaded because I've read so much that is similar.

Mister Monday by Garth Nix
6 out of 10 stars
Reading all of Nix's books
I get tired when there is too much action. Probably perfect for the kids this is aimed at.

Harvest Moon by Mercedes Lackey, et al.
6 out of 10 stars
Reading all of Lackey's books
The Lackey was fun. The other stories left a bit to be desired. Not enough was explained, not enough characterization. Authors need to stick to novels. Novellas need a special touch.

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
8 out of 10 stars
Read because on lists
Excellent story. Really felt for all the characters. Would have rated higher if I felt more sympathy for the shooter. Author tried by it didn't work very well.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
7 out of 10 stars
Read to complete the series
Like this better than the first. Still too bleak to give it a higher rating.

Intrigues by Mercedes Lackey
6 out of 10 stars
Reading all of Lackey's books
Lackey couldn't make up a new character? He is Vanyel + Skif + Karal. Nothing new here. Just a rehash.

No Mercy by Sherrilyn Kenyon
6 out of 10 stars
Reading all of Kenyon's books
Worst Kenyon read so far. Tertiary characters with little to like. Makes no sense that they'd be together. Blah.

The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery
5 out of 10 stars
LT recommended
A third of the book is complaints about how awful her life is. Couldn't it be kept to a couple of pages?

Discord's Apple by Carrie Vaughn
4 out of 10 stars
Read because I love the Kitty books
SPOILER ALERT. Very disappointing. Bad guy wins? Characters are helpless against the plot. Lots of action, little sense. Could have been better considering the concept. And where was her sense of humor?

A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole
5 out of 10 stars
LT recommended
Meh. Just another vampire/werewolf romance. Hero was too much of a jerk. Heroine gave in because he fucked her good? Ish.

Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold
6 out of 10 stars
Reading all of Bujold's books
Average for the series. Didn't like the ending. Felt stuck on and came out of nowhere.

Dust by Elizabeth Bear
4 out of 10 stars
The Women of Science Fiction book club blog
SPOILER ALERT. The death of the main character made no sense. There was no lead in, little explanation and next to no aftermath. Story was disjointed. Hard to connect to characters. Secondary characters had no personality.

I LOVE reading your comments. :)

I agree with MrsLee, although my reactiopn to Cryoburn was quite different. I enjoyed it very much, even the ending (which made me tear up). It did kind of come out of the blue, but that kind of news always does, I think, and I loved the drabbles of individual reactions.

I didn't mind that it came out of the blue so much as it came out of the blue at the end and then just... ended.

Well, my normal reaction to Lois' books is "What do you mean, it's over? I want MORE!" so I guess that didn't bother me more than usual.

And we're going to get more - she's working on a book about Ivan *stops typing and does happy dance* although I gather it's set earlier in the Vorkosigan timeline.

#115 oh oh oh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I spend most of her books wanting to spank Miles. I have zero patience with him any more. But Ivan!!!!!!!!!!!! I adore Ivan!