My August Reading
Life of Pi - Yann Martel - A book that, frankly, only gets really interesting at the end, for reasons that I don't want to get into, and that, based on other reviews I've read, either you get the point or you don't. I thought it was very interesting; others found it... disorienting? Confusing? Thought it wrecked the rest of the story? I think they missed the point.
Operation Storm City - Joshua Mowll - The final book in the Guild of Specialists trilogy, and as good as the first two. Definitely still top of my list of books for boys.
Blindness - Jose Saramago - Brutal, intense book. I'm not sure what else to say, really. I don't think I can quite adequately describe it. What I will say is that you have to decide if your intrigue regarding the subject matter is sufficient to put up with Saramago's rather bizarre writing style. And although it's doable (I did it), as a result of said writing style, it's not the best book to read on the bus, or in any other regularly-interrupted situation.
Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman - Nice little piece of urban fantasy. Nothing too complex; definitely fluff, but some of the better fluff I've read.
The Serial Killers Club - Jeff Povey - Entertaining premise; sucky execution. If you're going to write a book about serial killers, you have to make them charming, likable characters. You have to. These people kill many other people for shits and giggles. They have to have some redeeming qualities if a reader is going to be remotely interested in them. I did not like a single character in this book. Seriously. Not one.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon - A book I read more because I felt I should than because I was interested in it. It was OK. Seeing life from the perspective of an autistic kid was very interesting; I will give him that. But generally, it wasn't really my thing.
Operation Storm City - Joshua Mowll - The final book in the Guild of Specialists trilogy, and as good as the first two. Definitely still top of my list of books for boys.
Blindness - Jose Saramago - Brutal, intense book. I'm not sure what else to say, really. I don't think I can quite adequately describe it. What I will say is that you have to decide if your intrigue regarding the subject matter is sufficient to put up with Saramago's rather bizarre writing style. And although it's doable (I did it), as a result of said writing style, it's not the best book to read on the bus, or in any other regularly-interrupted situation.
Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman - Nice little piece of urban fantasy. Nothing too complex; definitely fluff, but some of the better fluff I've read.
The Serial Killers Club - Jeff Povey - Entertaining premise; sucky execution. If you're going to write a book about serial killers, you have to make them charming, likable characters. You have to. These people kill many other people for shits and giggles. They have to have some redeeming qualities if a reader is going to be remotely interested in them. I did not like a single character in this book. Seriously. Not one.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon - A book I read more because I felt I should than because I was interested in it. It was OK. Seeing life from the perspective of an autistic kid was very interesting; I will give him that. But generally, it wasn't really my thing.