Hard or Soft?

I'm not talking about tacos. Or massage pressure. Or even your favorite pillow.

I want to know what you prefer. Hardcover books or paperback? I find this question interesting because I can't really pin myself down on what I like the most.

Paperbacks are generally cheaper (which is a bonus) and easier to transport. But there's something so nostalgic about hardback backs that can't be replaced. Plus they are more fun for collecting and decorating.

So spill it. What's your poison?

Read more...

The Time Traveler's Wife - E's Review

I really, really wanted to like this book. In fact, I wanted to love this book. I was hoping that it would join the ranks of one of my favorite books of all time like it has done for so many others. But alas, my expectations were not met.

I have always been intrigued by time travel so I was especially anxious to see what rules defined the world she had created where life moved through the past and to the future. But I was most disappointed in her implementation. Let's face it, I got bored. And the only thought going through my mind for the last half of it was "this sure will make a better movie than it does a book".

I hope I'm right.

Read more...

Lost

So, Netflix added Lost to the instant play list. And, yeah, there is a whole lot a Lost going on....but not so much reading. Balance. They say balance is a good thing.

Read more...

Time Traveller's Wife--Lisa's Review

I didn't like it. I wouldn't read it again. I wouldn't recommend it. And YET I could hardly put the thing down. What's going on here? In my opinion, Niffenegger's idea of time travel is utterly and irresistably intriguing, so she had me hooked. But then she turned out a somewhat bland story. Apparently, the remedy for a slow story is to throw in a whopping measure of good ole S-E-X to spice it up, and this one could make your eyes water. I'd rather have had a better beginning. And middle. And ending.

Read more...

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn--Lisa's Review

I've been putting off this review for far too long because frankly, I just don't know what to write. Let it suffice to say that while I enjoyed Sam's tall-tale-telling style and humor, I still couldn't help letting out a tiny "whew" when it was all over. I was just in the mood for something else, I guess. Still, I'm glad I read it. The words "Huckleberry Finn" will always conjure up a slew of happy images in my mind's eye... lazy summer days... a boy on a raft... wild adventures... unlikely friendship...

Read more...

The Time Traveler's Wife - Anna's Review

So did Clare love Henry because of who he was going to be in the future to her past? Hmmm.

I find myself at odds with this book. I feel almost as if the author took out a loan on my interest using the unique idea of a time traveling husband as collateral, but then never paid me back in full. I read through Clare and Henry's perspectives, I trudged through the boring middle, all with the hopes that there would be something good at the end. If there was, I missed it.

The most intriguing aspect of this book is that Rachel McAdams is going to portray Clare in the upcoming movie adaptation.

Read more...

Can't Do It

-Anna

She delivered a vicious blow, penetrating his rib cage, and withdrew her hand - with the ninja's still-beating heart in it. As all but Lady Catherine turned away in disgust, Elizabeth took a bite, letting the blood run down her chin and onto her sparring gown.

This is the point at which I decided I was finished. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies would have to go on without me. I could no longer give my time to something so ridiculous. I can only hope that my future readings of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice will not be marred by the graphic and parodiable inserts of Seth Grahame-Smith.

So, I haven't read PaPaZ in its entirety, but if you want my opinion anyway...see below.

1. I am slightly annoyed that this cut and paste version of Pride and Prejudice made the New York Times' best seller list. Really? So anyone with Ctrl C/Ctrl V power, zombies, pus and ninja terms can tack onto Jane Austen's dialogue, character development and storyline (something I might add she had to write out with quill and ink probably by candlelight) and get best seller? Sure, Jane Austen's name is on it, but it's not her book, her vision, or consent.
Still, if that's all it takes to gain a bestseller, I'm thinking Jane Eyre and Aliens. Anyone?

2. I was willing to be intrigued by PaPaZ because I read a review that labeled it as an adventure. I was thinking Lewis, Tolkien, Rowling. I was not thinking graphic video game. I wasn't reading a novel, I was reading a game concept for X Box. X button = Lizzy sidekicking zombie. Y button = Lizzie beheading zombie. X,Y,X,Y, dead, pustilous zombies and gore.

3. Who? Who are these people buying this, liking this, making this a best seller? Ahhh, I see. They are mindless zombies feeding on the disembowled entrails of Jane Austen's masterpiece, Pride and Prejudice.

Read more...

E's Review - Huck Finn

-Erin

Everything you would expect - friendship, adventure, a raft, a boy, bad guys, good guys and heart.

And I a lot of things I didn't expect - social issues, race, politics and vernacular that drove me crazy.

You could spend hours discussing the moral implications of this book and this time period. For whatever reason though, the romanticized illusion of Huck Finn just being the story of a boy on a raft is enough for me.

And I'm happy to have finally read Mark Twain.

Read more...