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impersonaGAAAAAH I SO TOTALLY FORGOT A BOOK AND I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS. THIS WILL KILL ME. Meaning that I shouldn't wait like, two months between each of these posts T_T.
Book: Winterwood
Author: Patrick McCabe
Genre: Contemporary, horror, psychological
Pages: 240
Plot in ten words or less: History of abuse never truly leaves, adventures of creepy sonuvabitch
Why I Picked It: Recommended by my coworker John
Review: THIS SHIT MESSED ME UP SO HARD. SO MESSED UP. This is coming from someone whose read most every Stephen King book. This is so messed up and crazy. Well, on top of that, it was a really really really slow-building book, and I didn't actually get into it until the last fifty pages or so. Would not read again, though I understand why it is was a critically acclaimed book, cause the writing and mood and delivery was stunning. This was equivelant to the Where The Wild Things Are movie - you KNOW it's a good piece and you appreciate it, but you don't actually enjoy it.
Book: On Writing Well: An Informal Guide To Writing Nonfiction
Author: William Zinsser
Genre: how-to, self-help
Pages: 187
Plot in ten words or less: GET SCHOOLED ON WRITING, YO.
Why I Picked It: It's one of my long-time favorite books on writing.
Review: This book is like an old friend to me, like the Elements of Style book. It's not specifically about fiction writing, but who cares, it still has a lot of excellent advice about grammar, structure, and editting. Plus, Zinsser has a lovely sense of dry humor and also some quite cutting insights into the failings of writers.
Book: Spindle's End
Author: Robin McKinley
Genre: Fantasy, fairy tale, adventure
Pages: 384
Plot in ten words or less: Unknowing princess being a ruffian, talking animal friends, plot twisting.
Why I Picked It: ROBIN MCKINLEY
Review: I'm suspecting that I'm getting burnt out on her, and that I should ease off for a while, cause I feel that I did not enjoy this book as much as I rightly should have. I only came around to liking Rosie near the end of the book, and the ending actually struck me as jarring. McKinley did right what she always does right - creating a beautiful world, a thick sense of enchantment, lovely dialogue and friendly, warm tones that invite you in as a fairy tale should. But I'm feeling like all of her heroines are starting to look the same (except for Rae), and her endings constantly confound me. I find her book climaxes hard to follow and often unsatisfying, not unlike CLAMP's endings, really.
Also, I loved Kat. So hard.
I need to finish the current book on Japanese mythology I'm reading. After that...I don't know. It's high time I read myself a Pratchett, methinks.
Book: Winterwood
Author: Patrick McCabe
Genre: Contemporary, horror, psychological
Pages: 240
Plot in ten words or less: History of abuse never truly leaves, adventures of creepy sonuvabitch
Why I Picked It: Recommended by my coworker John
Review: THIS SHIT MESSED ME UP SO HARD. SO MESSED UP. This is coming from someone whose read most every Stephen King book. This is so messed up and crazy. Well, on top of that, it was a really really really slow-building book, and I didn't actually get into it until the last fifty pages or so. Would not read again, though I understand why it is was a critically acclaimed book, cause the writing and mood and delivery was stunning. This was equivelant to the Where The Wild Things Are movie - you KNOW it's a good piece and you appreciate it, but you don't actually enjoy it.
Book: On Writing Well: An Informal Guide To Writing Nonfiction
Author: William Zinsser
Genre: how-to, self-help
Pages: 187
Plot in ten words or less: GET SCHOOLED ON WRITING, YO.
Why I Picked It: It's one of my long-time favorite books on writing.
Review: This book is like an old friend to me, like the Elements of Style book. It's not specifically about fiction writing, but who cares, it still has a lot of excellent advice about grammar, structure, and editting. Plus, Zinsser has a lovely sense of dry humor and also some quite cutting insights into the failings of writers.
Book: Spindle's End
Author: Robin McKinley
Genre: Fantasy, fairy tale, adventure
Pages: 384
Plot in ten words or less: Unknowing princess being a ruffian, talking animal friends, plot twisting.
Why I Picked It: ROBIN MCKINLEY
Review: I'm suspecting that I'm getting burnt out on her, and that I should ease off for a while, cause I feel that I did not enjoy this book as much as I rightly should have. I only came around to liking Rosie near the end of the book, and the ending actually struck me as jarring. McKinley did right what she always does right - creating a beautiful world, a thick sense of enchantment, lovely dialogue and friendly, warm tones that invite you in as a fairy tale should. But I'm feeling like all of her heroines are starting to look the same (except for Rae), and her endings constantly confound me. I find her book climaxes hard to follow and often unsatisfying, not unlike CLAMP's endings, really.
Also, I loved Kat. So hard.
I need to finish the current book on Japanese mythology I'm reading. After that...I don't know. It's high time I read myself a Pratchett, methinks.
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Date: 2010-03-05 01:43 am (UTC)