Title: The Catcher in the Rye
Author: J.D. Salinger
Genre: Coming of age
Brief Synopsis: We follow Holden Caulfield a psychologically unstable boy as he faces growing up after failing out of his school, Pencey Prep. Through his first person narration we journey with him through his days in New York encountering different people and situations that frame the plot of the story.
Comments: With The Catcher in the Rye having such a big reputation on the list of classics, I went into this book expecting a revolutionary work comperable to Golding's Lord of the Flies or Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. I was a bit disappointed. I kept waiting and waiting for that moment that would change everything, that little profound piece that I was missing...and it didn't really come for me.
Classify: Short read
Worth reading?: I didn't find it profound enough or entertaining for that matter to recommend it, but of course it's always open to interpretation.
Would I read this again?: I don't see that happening, at least not for a long time.
Kendal <3
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Sense and Sensibility
Title: Sense and Sensibility
Author: Jane Austen
Genre: Romance, Classic
Brief Synopsis: Elinor and Marianne Dashwood are two young women living in a society ruled by class. They deal with love and loss, and try to cope with the society that encourages marrying for connections rather than love.
Comments: I came into Sense and Sensibility with high expectations, having read Austen's excellent work of Pride and Prejudice. I'm sorry to say that this piece fell short of my expectations. The author's style didn't seem quite as well formed as in Pride and Prejudice and the characters at times seemed merely two dementional. It didn't hold my interest nearly as well either. While still a seemingly charming book, it wasn't Austen's best work.
Classify: Long, slightly boring, love story that seems quite familiar.
Worth Reading?: I would say not. And perhaps try Pride and Prejudice instead.
Would you read this again?: I have no intentions to.
Kendal <3
Author: Jane Austen
Genre: Romance, Classic
Brief Synopsis: Elinor and Marianne Dashwood are two young women living in a society ruled by class. They deal with love and loss, and try to cope with the society that encourages marrying for connections rather than love.
Comments: I came into Sense and Sensibility with high expectations, having read Austen's excellent work of Pride and Prejudice. I'm sorry to say that this piece fell short of my expectations. The author's style didn't seem quite as well formed as in Pride and Prejudice and the characters at times seemed merely two dementional. It didn't hold my interest nearly as well either. While still a seemingly charming book, it wasn't Austen's best work.
Classify: Long, slightly boring, love story that seems quite familiar.
Worth Reading?: I would say not. And perhaps try Pride and Prejudice instead.
Would you read this again?: I have no intentions to.
Kendal <3
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Twilight
Title: Twilight
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Fantasy, Drama, Romance
Brief Synopsis: A teenaged girl moves to a rainy town called Forks in Washington state to live with her father after her mother remarries. She finds herself more comfortable in the town than she originally thought, making a few friends, one in particular a beautiful mysterious boy named Edward Cullen. She finds herself attracted to this obvious danger, and can't help it. The story is centered around the strange love story of Bella and Edward...who isn't human. We examine all of the flaws in the unnatural relationship between the two characters--and yet you can't help falling in love with them both--and the entire book.
Comments: Might I start out by saying I was prepared to hate this book. The whole vampire thing completely turned me off. But I'm eating crow--for I LOVED this book (Yes, yes, Lauren, you were right). I felt like it didn't have a boring spot in the whole thing, I could not put this down. It was really refreshing reading a book in which I had absolutely NO idea what was going to happen because it could go so many ways. I was very captivated by the completely different story and I fell in love with all of the characters which were all so relatable.
Classify: A fast paced love story with perks of action! Quick read--despite it's look.
Worth reading?: Yes. Absolutely yes.
Did you find this book particularly easy or difficult?: Easy, it's very easy, and very fun.
Would you read this again?: Yes, I already have :]
How long did it take you to read this?: Er...two days? Quicker than I thought.
Really read this! It was great, so were New Moon and Eclipse!
Kendal <3
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Fantasy, Drama, Romance
Brief Synopsis: A teenaged girl moves to a rainy town called Forks in Washington state to live with her father after her mother remarries. She finds herself more comfortable in the town than she originally thought, making a few friends, one in particular a beautiful mysterious boy named Edward Cullen. She finds herself attracted to this obvious danger, and can't help it. The story is centered around the strange love story of Bella and Edward...who isn't human. We examine all of the flaws in the unnatural relationship between the two characters--and yet you can't help falling in love with them both--and the entire book.
Comments: Might I start out by saying I was prepared to hate this book. The whole vampire thing completely turned me off. But I'm eating crow--for I LOVED this book (Yes, yes, Lauren, you were right). I felt like it didn't have a boring spot in the whole thing, I could not put this down. It was really refreshing reading a book in which I had absolutely NO idea what was going to happen because it could go so many ways. I was very captivated by the completely different story and I fell in love with all of the characters which were all so relatable.
Classify: A fast paced love story with perks of action! Quick read--despite it's look.
Worth reading?: Yes. Absolutely yes.
Did you find this book particularly easy or difficult?: Easy, it's very easy, and very fun.
Would you read this again?: Yes, I already have :]
How long did it take you to read this?: Er...two days? Quicker than I thought.
Really read this! It was great, so were New Moon and Eclipse!
Kendal <3
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Pride and Prejudice
Title: Pride and Prejudice
Author: Jane Austen
Genre: Classic, Romance
Brief Synopsis: Pride and Prejudice is an infamous love story about Elizabeth Bennet, a girl of low class and standing. Her mother is a silly woman, of which the only thing on her mind is getting her five daughters married. Throughout the story we follow the Bennet family and courtships of Mr. Bingley, Mr. Wickham, and Mr. Darcy. It's a story much to do with finding true love, disreguarding class, and overcoming pride and prejudices.
Comments: Let me begin what is sure to be a long winded review, by saying I LOVED this book! I know I'll read it again, and get so much more out of it. I was really afraid of reading this book because of some prejudices of my own. As I'm sure most of you know (since I talk about it a lot), I read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, and pretty much abhorred it. So I skirted around the books written in generally that time period. But by a stroke of luck (or rushing?) I picked up Pride and Prejudice and I am very pleased that I did so. Alright so let me actually start...I love the witty dialect in this book! It's probably one of my favorite things about it. The characters all seem so well made that they seem extraordinarily real! Everything seems quite plausible (well, not in our time...) which just makes it all that more enchanting. Elizabeth is soo easy to relate to, that it seems impossible not to fall in love with her. As I said before the dialect is very witty, there's a good measure of humor, it was just a very enjoyable book for me. The actual story, the plot, was good. It was nice to see a development in the characters. There was one particular spot I thought it rather slow, but it was most definitely worth reading. I think if I had read this when I was a bit younger I wouldn't have liked it, I probably would've been a bit bored. But definitely excellent.
Classify: Love story--complete classic.
Worth Reading?: Absolutely, most definitely.
Did you find this book particularly easy or difficult?: I found quite a few words that I didn't know, which makes it a bit more on the difficult side.
Would you read this again?: Yes. I really believe I will.
How long did it take you to finish?: I started Monday afternoon and finished Thursday afternoon. It's like 430 pages.
--Kendal
Author: Jane Austen
Genre: Classic, Romance
Brief Synopsis: Pride and Prejudice is an infamous love story about Elizabeth Bennet, a girl of low class and standing. Her mother is a silly woman, of which the only thing on her mind is getting her five daughters married. Throughout the story we follow the Bennet family and courtships of Mr. Bingley, Mr. Wickham, and Mr. Darcy. It's a story much to do with finding true love, disreguarding class, and overcoming pride and prejudices.
Comments: Let me begin what is sure to be a long winded review, by saying I LOVED this book! I know I'll read it again, and get so much more out of it. I was really afraid of reading this book because of some prejudices of my own. As I'm sure most of you know (since I talk about it a lot), I read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, and pretty much abhorred it. So I skirted around the books written in generally that time period. But by a stroke of luck (or rushing?) I picked up Pride and Prejudice and I am very pleased that I did so. Alright so let me actually start...I love the witty dialect in this book! It's probably one of my favorite things about it. The characters all seem so well made that they seem extraordinarily real! Everything seems quite plausible (well, not in our time...) which just makes it all that more enchanting. Elizabeth is soo easy to relate to, that it seems impossible not to fall in love with her. As I said before the dialect is very witty, there's a good measure of humor, it was just a very enjoyable book for me. The actual story, the plot, was good. It was nice to see a development in the characters. There was one particular spot I thought it rather slow, but it was most definitely worth reading. I think if I had read this when I was a bit younger I wouldn't have liked it, I probably would've been a bit bored. But definitely excellent.
Classify: Love story--complete classic.
Worth Reading?: Absolutely, most definitely.
Did you find this book particularly easy or difficult?: I found quite a few words that I didn't know, which makes it a bit more on the difficult side.
Would you read this again?: Yes. I really believe I will.
How long did it take you to finish?: I started Monday afternoon and finished Thursday afternoon. It's like 430 pages.
--Kendal
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Deja Dead
Title: Deja Dead
Author: Kathy Reichs
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Brief Synopsis: Deja Dead is the first installment in the Temperance Brennan series. The lead character Tempe Brennan is a Forensic Anthropologist who splits her time between Montreal, Canada and Charlotte, North Carolina. She works with for the coroner studying bones. She starts assisting the police making connections in cases which she believes is the work of a serial killer. The police don't believe her so she starts trying to prove she's right, and to prevent another grisly murder. But meddling in the work of a potential serial killer puts Tempe and her friends and family in danger.
Comments: I love this author. Kathy Reichs rocks. I have read 6 other books in the series (10 total) and they were all awesome. Deja Dead is the first in the series (I read out of order--not too important). All the books in the series are very fast paced and definitely keep me glued to it until the end. This was one of the more...gory...books. There are all these graphic murders happening in Montreal and Tempe has a feeling they're connected. One of the reasons I love this series is because they are so accurate. Kathy Reichs is a real life Forensic Anthropologist so you get a real insight to that profession. I seriously didn't think I was going to like this Genre in general and now I'm positively in love with the books. Oh and the Fox TV show Bones is based on the books. But I'll warn you they are verrrry different. Pretty much the only thing that's the same is her name and the profession. But I seriously recommend these books. I am completely hooked!
Classify: Exciting, Educational
Worth Reading?: Yes definitely. While not considered a classic, it's really fun to read, and you still learn about Forensics which is really interesting--to me at least!
Did you find this book particularly easy or difficult?: Well...it makes you think about the outcome and what's going to happen, plus there's some French which isn't always completely translated so you have to deduce what it's saying (nothing important). But no not particularly easy or difficult.
Would you read this again?: Once I have seen the plot revealed with books like these I don't typically read them again, but I keep reading more in the series, I positively love them so I think that's a testament to how good they are.
How long did it take you to finish?: I started Saturday afternoon and finished Tuesday morning.
Great books!!
Kendal <3
Author: Kathy Reichs
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Brief Synopsis: Deja Dead is the first installment in the Temperance Brennan series. The lead character Tempe Brennan is a Forensic Anthropologist who splits her time between Montreal, Canada and Charlotte, North Carolina. She works with for the coroner studying bones. She starts assisting the police making connections in cases which she believes is the work of a serial killer. The police don't believe her so she starts trying to prove she's right, and to prevent another grisly murder. But meddling in the work of a potential serial killer puts Tempe and her friends and family in danger.
Comments: I love this author. Kathy Reichs rocks. I have read 6 other books in the series (10 total) and they were all awesome. Deja Dead is the first in the series (I read out of order--not too important). All the books in the series are very fast paced and definitely keep me glued to it until the end. This was one of the more...gory...books. There are all these graphic murders happening in Montreal and Tempe has a feeling they're connected. One of the reasons I love this series is because they are so accurate. Kathy Reichs is a real life Forensic Anthropologist so you get a real insight to that profession. I seriously didn't think I was going to like this Genre in general and now I'm positively in love with the books. Oh and the Fox TV show Bones is based on the books. But I'll warn you they are verrrry different. Pretty much the only thing that's the same is her name and the profession. But I seriously recommend these books. I am completely hooked!
Classify: Exciting, Educational
Worth Reading?: Yes definitely. While not considered a classic, it's really fun to read, and you still learn about Forensics which is really interesting--to me at least!
Did you find this book particularly easy or difficult?: Well...it makes you think about the outcome and what's going to happen, plus there's some French which isn't always completely translated so you have to deduce what it's saying (nothing important). But no not particularly easy or difficult.
Would you read this again?: Once I have seen the plot revealed with books like these I don't typically read them again, but I keep reading more in the series, I positively love them so I think that's a testament to how good they are.
How long did it take you to finish?: I started Saturday afternoon and finished Tuesday morning.
Great books!!
Kendal <3
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
A Prayer For Owen Meany
Title: A Prayer For Owen Meany
Author: John Irving (woot!)
Genre: Pretty difficult to classify...Fiction hehe
Brief Synopsis: Wow. A brief synopsis for Owen Meany is impossible. I think I could write a whole Novel telling you about this story! I'll give it a shot. It's a coming of age story...sort of. It jumps around a lot from the present day Johnny Wheelwright (the narrator and Owen's best friend) telling you about his current life and telling the story of Owen. Owen is an unusually small boy with a wrecked voice (I will never forget how John Irving did his voice!) and he is very intelligent. The book ties in with religion when Owen believe he is God's instrument. The plot goes through everything, war, blood, death, love, and everything in between with a liberal dose of humor. The Vietnam war is going on during the story and becomes a big part of it. Secrecy is another key factor into the story of Owen Meany. You have to wait and wait to find out what it really is all about. An excellent well crafted last scene.
Comments:This book is smartly written, but not what I was expecting. There's a fair bit of time spent talking about the war in Vietnam (none of which I understood) seeing as it comes to be one of the biggest parts of the story. I feel like if I had tried to write a story in this type of format it would have been the worst thing ever written, but John Irving pulled it off. I absolutely fell in love with the character Owen Meany. He's serious but hilarious, and no doubt heartbreaking. Johnny and Owen live in a small town and all the characters from the town are extremely colorful and are all charming in their own way. The Nativity scene is hilarious and one of my favorites. Irving pulled it off quite supremely. Owen Meany did however take me forever to read and seemed quite long.
Classify: Funny, Long, Heartbreaking
Worth Reading?: Uh...maybe, yes. I haven't read any of Irving's other books but this was enough to know he's superb. If you skip this one, try another. Owen Meany's story, while strange, is different than anything I've read, and quite charming.
Did you find this book particularly easy or difficult?: I had a hard time reading the rants about Vietnam. Since I didn't understand any of that, that was difficult. But other than that no.
Would you read this again?: Oh man, not for a while. It took me forever to read. Maybe some day, but not for years.
How long did it take you to finish?: I'd rather not put a time period on that because it took me a Longggg time. It's about 600 pages. For a long time though I just didn't crave it so I didn't pick it up.
--I hope this helps!
Kendal <3
Author: John Irving (woot!)
Genre: Pretty difficult to classify...Fiction hehe
Brief Synopsis: Wow. A brief synopsis for Owen Meany is impossible. I think I could write a whole Novel telling you about this story! I'll give it a shot. It's a coming of age story...sort of. It jumps around a lot from the present day Johnny Wheelwright (the narrator and Owen's best friend) telling you about his current life and telling the story of Owen. Owen is an unusually small boy with a wrecked voice (I will never forget how John Irving did his voice!) and he is very intelligent. The book ties in with religion when Owen believe he is God's instrument. The plot goes through everything, war, blood, death, love, and everything in between with a liberal dose of humor. The Vietnam war is going on during the story and becomes a big part of it. Secrecy is another key factor into the story of Owen Meany. You have to wait and wait to find out what it really is all about. An excellent well crafted last scene.
Comments:This book is smartly written, but not what I was expecting. There's a fair bit of time spent talking about the war in Vietnam (none of which I understood) seeing as it comes to be one of the biggest parts of the story. I feel like if I had tried to write a story in this type of format it would have been the worst thing ever written, but John Irving pulled it off. I absolutely fell in love with the character Owen Meany. He's serious but hilarious, and no doubt heartbreaking. Johnny and Owen live in a small town and all the characters from the town are extremely colorful and are all charming in their own way. The Nativity scene is hilarious and one of my favorites. Irving pulled it off quite supremely. Owen Meany did however take me forever to read and seemed quite long.
Classify: Funny, Long, Heartbreaking
Worth Reading?: Uh...maybe, yes. I haven't read any of Irving's other books but this was enough to know he's superb. If you skip this one, try another. Owen Meany's story, while strange, is different than anything I've read, and quite charming.
Did you find this book particularly easy or difficult?: I had a hard time reading the rants about Vietnam. Since I didn't understand any of that, that was difficult. But other than that no.
Would you read this again?: Oh man, not for a while. It took me forever to read. Maybe some day, but not for years.
How long did it take you to finish?: I'd rather not put a time period on that because it took me a Longggg time. It's about 600 pages. For a long time though I just didn't crave it so I didn't pick it up.
--I hope this helps!
Kendal <3
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Wutheing Heights
Title: Wuthering Heights
Author: Emily Bronte
Genre: Classic
Brief Synopsis: Told from the perspective of a servant, Ellen Dean, the entire life story of an orphan, Heathcliff, who was brought to live with the Earnshaws. A story of obsessive love and its consequences.
Comments: I had heard that this book was really good, and when I look back on it, it was. I never get to really enjoy these books because of the pressure of having to do a book evaluation on them. It's a little confusing with switching back from past to present, but it is a captivating story.
Classify: Not too long, well written, will keep your attention
Worth Reading?: Yes. It is a classic, and it is really good. I recommend it, but not if you have to rush to read it. It's god if you take your time and really read it.
Would I read this again?: I think I will, but not for a while. One reason being that I have about 8 books I have to read before it, but other than that I just want it to sink in a little more and then reread it.
How long did it take me?: Like always, with no time to read, it took me awhile. But if I had more time, I think it wouldn't have taken so long. It's about 280 pages, so its pretty short.
Did I find it particularly easy or difficult?: There are a good number of names to remember, but it's not terribly hard. It's an easy read if you keep everything in line.
Author: Emily Bronte
Genre: Classic
Brief Synopsis: Told from the perspective of a servant, Ellen Dean, the entire life story of an orphan, Heathcliff, who was brought to live with the Earnshaws. A story of obsessive love and its consequences.
Comments: I had heard that this book was really good, and when I look back on it, it was. I never get to really enjoy these books because of the pressure of having to do a book evaluation on them. It's a little confusing with switching back from past to present, but it is a captivating story.
Classify: Not too long, well written, will keep your attention
Worth Reading?: Yes. It is a classic, and it is really good. I recommend it, but not if you have to rush to read it. It's god if you take your time and really read it.
Would I read this again?: I think I will, but not for a while. One reason being that I have about 8 books I have to read before it, but other than that I just want it to sink in a little more and then reread it.
How long did it take me?: Like always, with no time to read, it took me awhile. But if I had more time, I think it wouldn't have taken so long. It's about 280 pages, so its pretty short.
Did I find it particularly easy or difficult?: There are a good number of names to remember, but it's not terribly hard. It's an easy read if you keep everything in line.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Lord of the Flies
Title: Lord of the Flies
Author: William Golding
Genre: Classic
Brief Synopsis: Lord of the Flies is about a group of British school boys that get trapped on a uninhabited island. The boys have fun at first, loving the freedom, loving the life without grown-ups until fear and disagreement splits the island.
Comments: I had heard from several people, prior to reading this, that this book was just plain old gross, which made me hesitant to read it. Despite the comments I still read it, and I didn't find it that bad. Don't get the wrong idea, it's a deeply disturbing book about humans and their behavior in crisis. There were several times that made me sick to my stomach. It is extremely well written. I'm still not exactly sure how I feel about this book. This book was just one of those that I feel is kind of going to carry some weight with me forever. It has such a strong message...disturbing as it is...it makes an impression. I feel hesitant to say I liked it, but not because I didn't...just because you can't really Like what it all represents...but it's a fantastic book. If you read this might make a little more sense to you!
Classify: Short, well written, disturbing.
Worth Reading?: Yes. Definitely. Read it. It's a classic and shouldn't be missed.
Would I read this again?: I'm not quite up to that yet...but yes. Some point down the road I would like to read it again. I think it's one of those books that shocks you the first time around, and you need to read it again to get deeper meaning.
How long did it take me?: It's 200 pages, very short, and it goes by very quickly. It's fast moving and is over before you know it.
Did I find it particularly easy or difficult?: There are some words that I didn't know and there are just beautiful descriptive paragraphs, so it's not really easy but not difficult.
Author: William Golding
Genre: Classic
Brief Synopsis: Lord of the Flies is about a group of British school boys that get trapped on a uninhabited island. The boys have fun at first, loving the freedom, loving the life without grown-ups until fear and disagreement splits the island.
Comments: I had heard from several people, prior to reading this, that this book was just plain old gross, which made me hesitant to read it. Despite the comments I still read it, and I didn't find it that bad. Don't get the wrong idea, it's a deeply disturbing book about humans and their behavior in crisis. There were several times that made me sick to my stomach. It is extremely well written. I'm still not exactly sure how I feel about this book. This book was just one of those that I feel is kind of going to carry some weight with me forever. It has such a strong message...disturbing as it is...it makes an impression. I feel hesitant to say I liked it, but not because I didn't...just because you can't really Like what it all represents...but it's a fantastic book. If you read this might make a little more sense to you!
Classify: Short, well written, disturbing.
Worth Reading?: Yes. Definitely. Read it. It's a classic and shouldn't be missed.
Would I read this again?: I'm not quite up to that yet...but yes. Some point down the road I would like to read it again. I think it's one of those books that shocks you the first time around, and you need to read it again to get deeper meaning.
How long did it take me?: It's 200 pages, very short, and it goes by very quickly. It's fast moving and is over before you know it.
Did I find it particularly easy or difficult?: There are some words that I didn't know and there are just beautiful descriptive paragraphs, so it's not really easy but not difficult.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)