Met any interesting characters lately?
I started reading again. I was feeling too guilty about falling so far behind my 2014 Goodreads challenge.
My recent reads:
- The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
(Goodreads Avg. Rating: 3.73 | Amazon)
Status:Finished
Recommended if you like Dracula, and don’t mind a multi-stream narrative, and slow pacing.
Thoughts: The Historian starts with a pretty simple question: what if Bram Stoker’s Dracula wasn’t entirely fiction? The story centers around a teenage girl whose father has a lingering obsession with finding the monster. It was a pretty good read for me. The multiple first-person narrative can be aggravating at times; just as something exciting is happening in the present, suddenly you are thrown into another letter about events which mostly take place in libraries. I enjoyed most of it, if not with any great enthusiasm. I was not too thrilled with the ending. - The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)
(Goodreads Avg. Rating: 3.81 | Amazon)
Status:Finished
Recommended if you like a good mystery and/or J.K. Rowling
Thoughts: When I first started this book I didn’t think I’d like it. But I did. The mystery centers around the death of a young model named Lula Landry, who dies on a winter night after going over her apartment balcony. The cops think it’s murder; Lula’s brother hires private investigator Cormoran Strike to show that it’s not. Strike as a character doesn’t exactly break any molds; an Iraq veteran who served as a military investigator, he has gone through a bitter breakup and is barely holding his personal life together. His mostly cheerful, smart, and hard-working assistant Robin (a sidekick named Robin? You don’t say.) is a temp that Strike didn’t even want, but she proves herself useful. The plot is no game changer either, but all in all it was an enjoyable and quick read. - The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker
(Goodreads Avg. Rating: 4.18 | Amazon)
Status:Finished
Recommended if you interact with people in the outernet.
Thoughts: How can you tell if somebody’s threat is the real deal? How do you recognize when someone is manipulating you to lower your defenses when you need them the most? The tips, warnings, and strategies that de Becker sets out are vitally important to anyone who has been caught in an unwanted relationship or interaction, personal, romantic, or business related. De Becker specializes in threat assessment and security for celebrities, but the same tactics are important for everybody. If you grew up around or have experienced an abusive relationship, much of this will not be new to you, but it’s still a must-read if you want to arm yourself with knowledge that could come in handy for yourself, your child, or a friend. - All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
(Goodreads Avg. Rating: 3.93 | Amazon)
Status: Finished
Recommended if you just want to roll around in imagery and words, and pretend you could definitely be a cowboy if you wanted to be.
Thoughts: The words in this book are so goddamn beautiful. I’m assuming most of you have seen the Matt Damon movie at some point (I haven’t), but if you haven’t: following the death of his grandfather, sixteen-year-old Texan horse training prodigy John Grady Cole has lost the only home he’s ever known. He and friend Lacey Rawlins decide to travel to Mexico on horseback to find work on a ranch somewhere. Along the way they pick up another wayward boy and find a lot more than a job. I honestly thought the teenage love story was clumsy, but I really did like the rest of it. I will be picking up #2 and #3 of the Border Trilogy. - Divergent by Veronica Roth
(Goodreads Avg. Rating: 4.36 | Amazon)
Status:Finished
Recommended if you enjoy YA science fiction.
Thoughts: I didn’t jump on this one right away. I was worried it’d be more Twilight quality than The Hunger Games. But you know what? I read it Wednesday afternoon/evening, and quite enjoyed it all the way through. Beatrice Prior is sixteen and it is her time to choose. The city of Chicago is divided into five factions, which all value different qualities, believing that the cultivation of their chosen quality will make society better: intelligence, bravery, selflessness, friendliness, and honesty. After the newly named Tris makes her choice and begins her initiation, she finds that not everything is what it seems.
Currently reading: Brave New World. Probably followed by The Hobbit.
