I did it.

Or rather I didn’t do it? I didn’t finish a book. I was struggling through Witches of Eastwick. I told myself to get to page 100 before I made the decision to quit. I hate not finishing books. I feel like i failed. I feel like I missed out. I wonder what happens, what if it got good??

But I couldn’t even get to page 100. Each night I was only reading a page or two. And when I had free time I was always putting netflix on instead of reading (in that defense, Friends is pretty addicting).

So I did what normal people do in this day and age; I polled Facebook. Most readers said they forced themselves to finish the book no matter what. Or at least come back to it. But the minority that had answers like Life is too short to read a bad book and I read 1/4 of it, if it’s not good by then it never will be, were the ones that I kept coming back to. A friend asked me if i’d continue a bad movie or tv show, and pointed out how that isn’t any different. It’s all entertainment she said and the author failed not you. 

So I put the book down (admittedly not yet returned to the library), and decided on my other choice for a book published the year I was born Boy by Roald Dahl… 

I’m already half way through.

A book made into a TV series : Under the Dome

On Goodreads I rated this book 3 out of 5 stars, and perhaps if they had half stars I would have given it 3.5. Before I continue on my review I’d like to make a note that I am not one to care for science-fiction type books. The only “out of reality” books that I read are usually Harry Potter. That being said this book challenge is certainly expanding my reading choices.

I found this book to drag on a bit more than I would have liked. The story spans for about a week and a lot happens, however I feel the main point of the story could have been told without so much detail. King does a great job of bringing you right into the story with him, and one thing I noticed was he talks as the narrator at times, completely removed from the story which I found to be interesting (“we don’t have to stay here, we can do check out what the other folks are doing” or something to that affect). There are a vast amount of characters and King does thorough job of following each one through out the various aspects of the story line, as well as cutting off at the right time in order to keep you in suspense while he switches to another character.  He makes it clear which characters the reader should cheer for and which ones they should dislike.  It is interesting to see how fast a town can fall apart under crisis. King also likes his guts and glory, so try not to read it as your eating your breakfast like I often did.

I would have to say the most disappointing part is the ending, I won’t spoil it, but it’s one of those things where I just spent a month reading over 1000 pages and I thought Really ? This is how it is going to end?

Next up: A book that came out the year you were born : “The Witches of Eastwick: by John Updike published in 1984.

A book based on or turned into a TV show

Choosing my next book for the Reading challenge was difficult as every category is interesting, and I can think of many books for each. So I left it up to chance,pulling the next category out of a bowl.Next up: A book based on or turned into a TV show. I didn’t want a whole series of books, and I originally thought of Orange is the New Black, however there were holds on all the copies at the library. So I took to the internet to see what else I could find and as soon as I saw Under the Dome I knew I wanted to read it. I had watched most of the first season of the TV series and enjoyed it. I have only read one other book by Stephen King, but my mom has read them all. I’ll admit, when I found the book on the shelf at the library I was a little bit daunted by how big it is (1074 pages to be exact), mostly because I am determined to accomplish this reading challenge, (as well as my Goodreads challenge of 100 books in 2015). In a little over a week I have put a good dent in the book, and next week is research week so hopefully I will have my review soon than later.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

I finished this book last week, but was a bit hesitant to write a review. Not because the book was bad, but because I wasn’t sure what to say exactly.

First, I was very excited when my hold came into the library (yes as a poor student I am taking full advantage of the public library).

Second, I couldn’t help but read it in Dr. L’s voice, specifically as if she was talking to Danny in that, duh-Danny-I-know-everything-and-am-awesome voice we all and love.

I chose this book for my reading challenge as a funny book. Now, here comes the hard part, it wasn’t as funny as I imagined. (It hurts me to say that as I LOVE the Mindy Project)  But this was also written pre-Dr. L days. (also, how did I have no idea she starred in and wrote for the Office?). The book was still good, and I finished it in less than a week. Mindy has a light-tone but still covers a wide range of topics; from zits, to bullies, to her days prior to any sort of fame. The thing we love about Mindy, is she is just like us. She doesn’t like to work out, she has insecurities and is a bit of a nerd. These are the things we love. and she still was pretty funny. If you love Mindy, and want some light reading, this is definitely a good book  to read; I just didn’t laugh my butt off or anything.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest

The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest
by Stieg Larsson
Published by MacLehose Press, an imprint of Quercus
pp. 602

(part of my 2015 reading challenge… A book that was originally written in another language)

[Note: Slight spoilers if you have not read the 1st two books in the trilogy]

The novel begins with Salander in the hospital awaiting trial for numerous charges, including attempted murder. The story surrounds characters that are either on Salander’s side or are against her. In her corner is Blomkvist, the journalist and friend Salander made in the first novel when she helped him with a mostly unrelated matter. But of course the story is much more complicated than that; involving murders, government conspiracies, multiple sub-stories, and a vast amount of characters that are sometimes hard to keep track of.

The novel is a plot driven crime-thriller that is a wrap up of Larsson’s second novel in the Millennium Trilogy:  The Girl Who Played with Fire.  While there is not a surplus of action and plot-twists, the novel switches between characters quickly, sometimes even between paragraphs, which often leaves the reader on the edge of their seat waiting to find out what happens next.

The hardest part of this originally Swedish novel is differentiating between all the similar names and places. Occasionally new characters are introduced and it takes a bit to understand their relevance to story (or to figure out if they have been introduced previously or not.) Sometimes words, ideas and storylines are repeated, and it’s unclear if it was written that way or is simply due to translation. (For example, all the characters ever seem to eat is cheese sandwiches and coffee).  It happens enough to be noticed but not enough to affect the storyline.

The novel is long at 602 pages, with an abundance of description (mostly background information but at times also includes every item in Salander’s grocery bags) , but is necessary to read in order to tie up everything from the second novel as this novel picks up where that one left off. It may not be a quick of a read as other crime thrillers but if you have time to plug away at it, (and perhaps not a short attention span), as well as have read the second Millennium novel, then this book a very interesting read.

Up next.. a funny book….. Mindy Kahling’s Is Everybody Hanging out Without me?