November Reads 2006

[ValkyrieRaven88]

I actually managed to read quite a bit November! (I have been too busy to read much since high school began, except for in the summer.) Let's see what all I did...

Still reading Dracula: Prince of Many Faces. I'd give it a 8.5/10 so far because it manages to keep things interesting even when the history is slowing.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman--spontaneously suggested to me in a book store. An easy 9/10. I couldn't put it down.

Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman--a wonderful anthology. I adored it. I have to give it a 10/10.

Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer--it was okay, but not quite as good as the other ones. I loved the new character of N01, even though I thought Minerva seemed Mary Sue-ish, mostly because she was too similar to Artemis. A 7/10 because it wasn't up to the standards of the previous books.

What Is Goth? by Voltaire--reread this because I was bored. I didn't have money at the time, and there's no decent library near here and the closest book store is almost forty minutes away. Luckily I had forgotten some of the jokes in it and it still made me laugh. 10/10 for not taking himself too seriously and making the goth scene sound cool while making fun of it a bit.

...I need to move someplace where there is a bookstore. I think I also read a couple of the Neil Gaiman Sandman comics but I can't remember if that was in October or November.

 

[Lucia416]

Gem's question about Mighty and Almighty

In answer to your question, Gem, I found Madeleine Albright's The Mighty and the Almighty quite readable. And I have been known to abandon books on the topic of religion and government that were not. I love Albright's objectivity and her honesty when describing her own decisions and actions as US Secretary of State. I'm going to read her memoir, Madame Secretary soon.

 

[jaynebosco]

A Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks
Searching for Bobby Orr by Stephan Brunt
Before I Wake by Robert J. Wiersema
The Stone Carvers by Jane Urquhart
Flirting with Pride & Prejudice: Fresh Perspectives on the Orginal Chick-Lit Masterpiece edited by Jennifer Crusie

 

[SFG75]

November 2006:
Lisey's Story; Stephen King
The Time Machine; H.G. Wells
Double Deuce Robert B. Parker
The Satanic Verses; Salman Rushdie
American Pastoral; Philip Roth
Dispatches from the Edge; Anderson Cooper

 

[Gem]

In answer to your question, Gem, I found Madeleine Albright's The Mighty and the Almighty quite readable. And I have been known to abandon books on the topic of religion and government that were not. I love Albright's objectivity and her honesty when describing her own decisions and actions as US Secretary of State. I'm going to read her memoir, Madame Secretary soon.

Thanks Lucia, I think it just may get added to my amazon list.

SFG75, Dispatches from the Edge - Anderson Cooper, ok so I know who Cooper is, but is the book a memoir or a social commentary type thing? And is it any good?

 

[bren]

For November:

The Man in the High Castle - Philip K. Dick
Final Poems - Rabindranath Tagore
Black Swan Green - David Mitchell
Strangers on a Train - Patricia Highsmith
Port Mungo - Patrick McGrath
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
Asylum - Patrick McGrath
The Penultimate Peril - yes, Lemony Snicket
The End - "Snicket" again.

Also started Joe Jones, by Anne Lamott.

 

[SFG75]

Thanks Lucia, I think it just may get added to my amazon list.

SFG75, Dispatches from the Edge - Anderson Cooper, ok so I know who Cooper is, but is the book a memoir or a social commentary type thing? And is it any good?

It's pretty good actually. It's more of an autobiography. I had no idea he was a Vanderbilt(through his mother's side) and that he worked for channel one in the earl 90s. He also writes quite extensively about the death of his father and his brother's suicide. He weaves that in and out of the book. It is interesting how he got his start-he went to war torn areas with his own equipment, paid his own way, and then sold his stories to main news establishments. It is amazing as he recounts the human suffering that occured when a flash flood hit Sri Lanka that killed thousands. His commentary about Katrina is something else too.

 

[Libre]

East of Eden - John Steinbeck - 5/5
Disgrace - J. M. Coetzee - 4/5

 

[Gem]

It's pretty good actually. It's more of an autobiography. I had no idea he was a Vanderbilt(through his mother's side) and that he worked for channel one in the earl 90s. He also writes quite extensively about the death of his father and his brother's suicide. He weaves that in and out of the book. It is interesting how he got his start-he went to war torn areas with his own equipment, paid his own way, and then sold his stories to main news establishments. It is amazing as he recounts the human suffering that occured when a flash flood hit Sri Lanka that killed thousands. His commentary about Katrina is something else too.

Thanks SFG, it sounds very interesting, I'll see if i can get a hold of it. I'm reading The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard and it is very very good. I think you'd love it - it focuses on Rossevelt's journey down the River of Doubt (a tributary of the Amazon), in a detailed, suspenseful and readable way.

 

[Phlebas]

November - seems like ages ago.
managed three I think ....
Eragon - Chistopher Paolini
Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami
Lean Six Sigma: Combining Six Sigma Quality with Lean Production Speed - Michael George

 

[Smila]

I looked and couldn't find a thread for this so forgive me if I'm posting a double What did you read this month? I read:

The Magicians' Guild by Trudi Canavan (A-)
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks (A-)
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (A)
Child of the Prophecy by Juliet Marillier (A)
Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kayden (B)

I have to know if you enjoyed I Am Legend! I have seen the movie version with Vincent Price. The movie version is, of course, dated but the plot line is so intriguing that I would love to see it remade. I have saved the book in my Amazon cart. Is it worth the read?

 

[Notibuti]

HermioneWeasley, Sputnik Sweetheart is by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, it is as Notibuti says, very strange (but then everything I've ever read by Murakami is strange). It is basically a love triangle, the narrator loves a girl who in turn loves another woman. But of course it's not just as simple as that. You know, I can't believe I'm finding it so hard to sum it up, perhaps Notibuti can do a better job.

Oops! Sorry if this reply is a tiny bit late, but i have to say that it took 38 mins longer than expected because that's precisely how long I've been trying to explain the book further without giving anything away!!! Didn't want to use spoiler tags or it'll just be a whole blob of black.

So here I am waving the white flag in humble defeat. You win Murakami! YOU WIN!!!

I think I've jammed my 'Backspace' key ...

More about Sputnik Sweetheart here

 

[HermioneWeasley]

appolonia-what did you think of smoke and mirrors? and everyone else who read it, too.

phlebas: what did you think of eragon? I personally don't like paolini at all, but i want to hear what you think first.

bren-what did you think of snicket's latest books? I personally thought #13 was amazing.

valkaryie raven: i agree on the artemis fowl, minerva was definately a mary sue. I was roleplaying the other day and apparently my character ended up being a mary sue. that's my biggest problem when i write.

how's the dracula book going? i reacently read In Search Of Dracula, kind of the same thing, and then I read the Historian.

 

[beer good]

I have to know if you enjoyed I Am Legend! I have seen the movie version with Vincent Price. The movie version is, of course, dated but the plot line is so intriguing that I would love to see it remade. I have saved the book in my Amazon cart. Is it worth the read?

Personally, I thought it was an excellent read. For a vampire story, it certainly read a lot like a zombie movie... one guy trapped in a house with an army of Not Human people trying to force their way in at the same time that he's trying to cope with his impossible situation and try to find a solution to it. Paranoid, hilarious at times, sad at others, and the ending is absolutely magnificent - a great spin on the entire novel.

There's been plans for a third movie version for years (the first two being the Price movie and Charlton Heston's "Omega Man"), and it seems there's finally one on the way, due for release in late 2007. The bad news is it stars... *shudder*... Will Smith. So if I were you, I'd read the book.