23 posts tagged “books”
Suggested by Janet:
How about, “What’s the worst ‘best’ book you’ve ever read — the one everyone says is so great, but you can’t figure out why?”
Well, honestly, I don't know. If a book doesn't get me hooked in the first 30 pages or so, I put it down for good. It doesn't matter if it 'redeems' itself in the middle/end. If the beginning is crap - I'm done. I don't waste my time.
The only books I can think of right now that are not as 'awesome' as people say are the Twilight books. They are just fanfic...it's not great writing. I enjoyed the first one. The characters are interesting to me. I love character studies and highly descriptive writing, so I did like that aspect of Twilight. The middle books were ok, but the last book was positively atrocious. I understand why the teens are loving them though...it's that little obsession that all teens have. Mine was New Kids on the Block. ;) I didn't go nuts over them or anything, I've never been that kind of person. I really dislike that kind of behavior....it's not flattering.
The thing is, while I'm glad teens are reading - I'm appalled that they say things like "omg, they are the best books ever written!". WHAT? Someone needs to introduce these kids to classic literature, STAT. When you read a book and there is layer upon layer of brilliance...THAT is great writing. Twilight is just a nice, cute, safe story - not great writing. But, I'll enjoy the frenzy of Twilight while it's here. It's fun, anyway.
Although, I'll be avoiding any store that sells DVD's this weekend though - mass chaos. Mass chaos. I have no interest in being in a room full of screaming children. LOL
On a side note, there are some books that are 'hyped' up that really are amazing books. The Road by McCarthy is one of them. The Book Thief by Zusak is another. Both of these books are written brilliantly. Not only are the stories within great stories - beautiful portraits of humanity, hope, death, love, etc...but also, the authors were very clever in how they formatted the books. The physical experience of reading these books is wonderful.
In The Road, you are thrust into this stripped down, wasteland of a book - very little punctuation and structure...just like the world you are reading about. You EXPERIENCE the loss, the emptiness, the alarming oddness of it all with the characters. It took a while to get comfortable enough to read the book - and even then, you never really get comfortable. Just like the characters, we experience this unnerving story in an unnerving way. It's moving. It's poignant.
The Book Thief does the same thing. It's as if you are the diary that the narrator is writing upon. Scribbles. Thoughts. Random sentences and random ponderings. Descriptions of images. It pulls you in and you are experiencing these memories with the narrator - like an elderly person telling stories of their youth. Partial - something are faded, some things are vibrant. Sometimes they remember the smell more than the conversation. Sometimes colors are vibrant, even if the memory is not clear. This is the way of human memory. The author did a great job developing a visual style in the book that allows us to experience these memories with the narrator.
Maybe the stories aren't for you - the pain and the dispair. But there is hope, happiness, love as well. What makes these books great is that they are accurate portrayals of humanity. Real, raw - nothing is photoshopped or airbrushed. It's honest. Heartbreaking. Hopeful. Human. I think, if you read these books and allow yourself to actually EXPERIENCE them....you will understand how they are great peices of art.
Hi everyone! Just wanted to send out an update on my podcasts!
The Read Carpet's 2nd episode is live, so check it out! :D (I'm not on this episode, but I'll be in episode 3). The Read Carpet is a new podcast - the brainchild of Adele. :) It's a bunch of people getting together and presenting segments about Young Adult Literature. We include everything from comics to novels to non-fiction, as well as great resources for YA readers! We do hope you like our new podcast. It will only get better with each episode. We can be found on iTunes and you can always listen to us on our website. Episodes are released every 1st and 16th of each month. Thanks for listening!
Pimp My Podcast has taken a short break (we had a few busy months!) but we will be back soon. Hopefully, we will record our 3rd episode this weekend! I'll keep you posted. For now, you can check out the first two episodes on iTunes or our website. Thanks! PMP is here to bring you recommendations of great podcasts and podcasting resources. If you have any podcasts or resources you would like us to mention in future episodes, just let us know! pimpmypodcast @ gmail . com Thanks!
Hi everyone!
I've joined up with another podcast. :)
This podcast, The Read Carpet, is all about Young Adult books and resources! This is our very first episode and we will be releasing a new episode every two weeks (the 1st and the 16th of each month, hopefully). Please excuse some of the audio on this one...we had some trouble with some of the microphones. ;)
http://thereadcarpet.podbean.com/ (we are also be on iTunes)
My segment in this podcast is called Transforming Echoes. I am focusing on young adult books that deal with historical events and/or cultures or specific groups of people. I'll be reviewing historical fiction, biographies, autobiographies, memoirs, and diaries and discussing the historical events and/or cultures spoken about within the book. I'm a librarian, so I also want to present some good resources for our listeners to check out.
In this first episode, I talk about NoveList and YALSA. In my next episode, I'll talk about The Book Thief by Zusak. Hope you'll join me!
Let us know what you think about our podcast, we'd love to hear from you! Please, tell your friends! We hope to be a great resource to young adult readers and teachers all over the world! Thanks!
I'm sure this list will change as I go, but this is my 2009 reading list. So, unless something catches my eyes this year and pulls me kicking and screaming into it's pages (ok, not really)...I'll be reading these 50 books this year. I decided to choose a bunch of the books on my LibraryThing list of books I want to buy or read. I'm a librarian, so I'm constantly adding books from Booklist or Library Journal recommendations. Some of these books I actually started in 2008 (or earlier LOL), but I just didn't have the time to finish them. The list in my LibraryThing library (The list found at this link will change if I change or add to my list for this year).
Mariel suggested this week’s question.
Are you a spine breaker? Or a dog-earer? Do you expect to keep your books in pristine condition even after you have read them? Does watching other readers bend the cover all the way round make you flinch or squeal in pain?
I cannot do that to a book! I do NOT dog ear my pages. I do not break the spine if I can help it. I tend to read hard cover books just because paperbacks always get out of shape when you open them...and that drives me crazy! lol
I try to keep my books in good condition. If' I've put money into the investment, I'd like them to last and possibly be handed down to future generations. Books are meant to last and be read again and again. :)
But all this is not to say that I don't have many old books, that were tattered and damaged when I got them. They have a special appeal to them...character. But, I would never purposefully damage a book just to save the page or whatnot.
And yes, I hate when people bend the cover all the way around. Ugh! Especially people who do it to the library books. HELLO. You're not the only person who wants to read that book...take care of it! You know libraries don't charge for services..and we don't have much of a budget either...it costs a lot to buy books. Please respect them!
Meme Express
Famed fantasy writers Madeleine L’Engle (A Wrinkle in Time) and C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia) were both born on this date. Madeleine L’Engle was born in 1918, and C.S. Lewis was born in 1898.
Today, the Meme Express prompt is simple: “fantasy.” Here are a few optional questions, to get you started.
Have you read any of Madeleine L’Engle’s books?
Which is your favorite?Yes. I read A Wrinkle in Time (the whole series), when I was younger. It's been awhile. I should read them again. :)
Have you read any of C.S. Lewis’ books?I really couldn't say...I honestly can't remember the stories clearly enough. I remember I liked the series a lot though.
Which is your favorite?Yes, Narnia, of course..and a few others. I like his stories.
Do you like fantasy fiction?Mere Christianity perhaps. But, it's been so long since I read Narnia, I couldn't say what my favorite book was out of the set.
Are you a science fiction fan?Very much.
What is your favorite genre of book?Yes, I like a lot of it
I like adventures. Not necessarily the Adventure genre..but adventures within. Journeys...quests. Fantasy, Sci Fi, Adventure. Books like the Road and Moby Dick (my two favorites) are also journey books...the journey is more within (even though there is a physical journey/adventure as well)...and I love those psychological journeys too. :)
From Booking Through Thursday:
I’ve asked, in the past, about whether you more often buy your books, or get them from libraries. What I want to know today, is, WHY BUY?
Even if you are a die-hard fan of the public library system, I’m betting you have at least ONE permanent resident of your bookshelves in your house. I’m betting that no real book-lover can go through life without owning at least one book. So … why that one? What made you buy the books that you actually own, even though your usual preference is to borrow and return them?
If you usually buy your books, tell me why. Why buy instead of borrow? Why shell out your hard-earned dollars for something you could get for free?
Whoops! I'm a little late. hehe
As a librarian, I obviously use the library on a regular basis..but I do own a TON of books. I have lots of reference books at home - so I have quick access to them. I've kept a few of my textbooks from degrees that I've gotten, because they had good information in them. As far as novels go (and even some non-fiction)...I buy for two reasons. Sometimes I buy something because I want to travel with it. I don't travel (far) with library books. I'm pretty careful with library books. Sometimes, I'll end up giving the book away or selling it or trading it. I keep some too though.
The other reason is the main reason: If I loved a book, I want to own it. After I've read a book and been to that world, I want to return sometimes. And it can be at really random moments too...like 2am. When I have that need to go to that world, I need to go at that moment. I've stopped doing the dishes to run and read a chapter of a book before. Seriously. :) And that's the other thing. I won't read a book cover to cover very often. I read it cover to cover, and then I'll go back and read my favorite chapters or sections. It's usually a year or so before I actually read the book cover to cover again...if ever. But, if I love that book, I want to own it so I can read whatever section I want, whenever I want.
There's nothing like owning a book either....every time you go back to read again, you remember the placement of the words on the paper, where the page turns were, how the book felt in your hands. These all become part of the experience of the book...the memory. It's not quite the same to return to a book you've loved and it's a different copy. You have to start those memories all over again! :D
Here are just some of my books. I have 5 of these shelves full. :)
Yeah, I'm probably not gonna make it to 50 this year. LOL Unless I count all the journal articles I've been reading. ;)
Anyhoo......
This week I read the 4 Twilight Saga books. I really never thought I'd read these books. I'm not into romance and sappy love stuff and teenage drama. Just didn't interest me. But, many of my friends online have read them and were always talking about them because of the upcoming movie (next Friday). I still wasn't persuaded to read them really...but I figured I'd see the movie, just for the heck of it.
Then, I got the flu last weekend and on my trip to Walgreens, they had the books there. I don't know why, but I bought the first book, Twilight and went home and began reading. My friends were very excited. lol I ended up enjoying the first book very much. It wasn't nearly as sappy as I thought it would be. So, I bought the other 3 books and read them too. Finished last night. (Yeah, I tend to read a novel in one sitting, sometimes two. I can't put books down. lol).
So, here are my reviews for the Twilight Saga
Book 15: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
As I said, it wasn't nearly as sappy as I thought it would be. It was certainly a teenage romance book, but it had some depth too. I actually found myself identifying with Bella. She was a bit of an outsider. She was quiet and a loner. She had parents that were separated. She was a bit of a traveler and she adjusted well to new surroundings. When she made up her mind, when she made a decision...she stuck to it. She took care of her mother. She was a lot like her father and had a good friendship with him. She was attracted to the quiet, odd boy. She liked old things. Finally, she was a klutz (I'm not nearly as bad as Bella, but I have a few scars. lol). So, Bella was interesting to me. Then we had Edward, who was written as this beautiful, perfect 17-year-old boy...but that isn't what attracted me to him. I'm not all gaga over him, but I was very interested in the character. I think Meyer did a great job of describing him in such a way that he was appealing and interesting and yet...very, very creepy. The stillness, the reactions, the smiles..they were all in character. Never did he feel like the typical romanantic male lead (thankfully). I really like the character of Edward. The darkness and the conflict of good and bad. I'm not a girl who likes the bad boy. What actually appealed to me about Edward was that he was dark and scary - but when you got close to him and studied him, he was not dark and scary at all. He fought the darkness, and that was cool. I know it's been done before...the good vampire; the vampire love story; etc...but I think Meyer did a good job of describing him as not human and creepy, and she stuck to it. The story was also not bad. I could not agree with Bella on the weather thing....I'm the exact opposite. I love cold, snow, dreariness, overcast days, rain....I hate the sun. But, I could identify with her passionate dislike in regards to the weather. She did finally give in though...and I won't. I do not like summertime and I never will. But, back to the story. It did feel to me that Bella figured "it" out too easily and that Edward accepted her too easily. But, I realize that this was part of the deal...they were like magnets to one another and couldn't help but understand the other. I like that we get little glimpses of Edward along the way...that's he's just as curious about Bella as she is about him. He's just as scared and freaked out too...which is different. You wouldn't think a vampire would be frightened of anything. But, that's the character of Edward. That's part of his personality. So, overall, I think this book is worth the read. I wouldn't necessarily recommend the entire series to everyone, but I think everyone would enjoy some aspect of this book.
Book 16: New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
This book was good as well. I liked the four books in the order they are written, liking the final book the least. In this book, we still have Bella and Edward, but they are happily together...in that time in the relationship when they are still new, but they know each other pretty well. Then, the book takes a weird turn. A few things happen and we are left, for nearly half the book, with a depressed Bella, alone and empty. We also get to know Jacob more, a character introduced to us in the first book. I liked Jacob in this book. This book gave us more of the in-your-face supernatural stuff with vampires. Not just the mystery of them. Lurking...knowing what they are, but not really being part of it. In this book, we go to Italy and meet the Voltari. Creepy Italian Vampires that are very bossy. lol We get a lot deeper into the character of Edward too and he's even more interesting now. Overall, my 2nd favorite of the series...although I did cry with Bella for about half the book...which was exhausting. :)
Book 17: Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
This book gave us a very different Jacob...and I hated him. I just wanted Bella to deck him. To smack him silly. I really, really disliked Jacob in this book. Edward and Bella were still themselves..but we got a look at a more violent, angry Edward. We had seen this side of him before, but now he had some added pressures to give him anxiety and make him upset. With that, we also got a closer look at his level of self-control. I'll tell you this...Bella's view on marriage is STUPID and I hated that whole plot line. How incredibly lame. If she wanted to become a vampire and live with Edward forever, practically from the moment she met him, why would she be so against marriage? It's just a flippin' ring to symbolize what she's already asked for and wants. The whole mom hates marriage thing and Bella being all weird about it. That was just stupid. I rolled my eyes at the whole thing. Meyer succeeded in making Bella look like a stupid fool. *sigh*
Book 18: Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer
This was my least favorite of the four. In fact, I can't say I liked this book at all. Edward and Bella were so weird together. Their characters were off...not quite in character. Meyer wrote them a little differently. They didn't feel like they had progressed to this place...it actually felt like I was reading someone's fanfic based on Edward and Bella (and we all know that fanfic writers never get the characters exactly right). And then we have sex scenes...not graphic, mind you. In fact, Meyer cut away as soon as we knew that the deed was about to happen....but still. Everytime the two of them were alone, they were like bunnies. It got old. Also, she had this whole freaky, monster baby plotline...which was disgusting, weird, and not appealing at all. That thing was creepy and I could not identify with any of the characters and their 'love' for this freaky thing. Jacob did redeem himself a little in this book. I liked him better. And then...all this tension, all this drama...and then it's all just 'fixed'. The ending was too 'perfect' and 'happy ending'. Not that I wanted some tragic thing to happen...but it was just so anti-climatic. So yeah, pretty much this book sucked. :)
If you were stranded on an island, what five books would you bring?
submitted by CJP
- The Bible
- The Road - McCarthy
- Moby Dick - Melville
- Jane Eyre - Brontë
- The Lord of the Rings - Tolkien
What book are you reading right now?
I'm re-reading The Road, since the movie is coming out in November.
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