Currently Reading (4/7/05):

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

6-23-05:

I'm still not up to my usual reading standard because things have been so chaotic (heh) lately. But I've started on my summer reading. And by summer reading I mean more than just what I'm required to read, I do my own summer reading because its the only time I get to really sit down and consume books like I would like to during the year. The best part is my job now allows me to read too when we have slow days (every day) and the required reading I need for school is much better than what we were offered last year. I'm reading Vanity Fair and The Stranger for AP Lit. I started reading Vanity Fair a couple years ago but never finished, and I've always wanted to read The Stranger. I'm also attacking Bel Canto on my Creative Writing teacher's recommendation. (She had me read Patron Saint of Liars, which I adored.) Of course I have some Dan Brown and Tracy Chevalier in there to mix up my heavier reading with something light and fun. Hopefully I'll still make it to the 50 books mark again this year.

4-7-05:

Four months into the new year and I've only read 7 books. It's just pathetic really. Granted Iberia was a huge book, but I still feel ashamed. I finally finished Iberia late Feb. I liked most of it, although it was kind of tedious reading about the same kind of places over and over. The chapter on Seville stands out though and it might be the only thing I remember about the book in a few weeks. I also read On the Road, which another friend of mine had recommended. I read it nonstop through spring break. I literally put it down only twice, once to eat dinner and once to let the dog out. Recently I finished Death Be Not Proud, which my creative writing teacher had loaned to me after reading one of my assignments. I was surprised what a quick read it was, sad, but really quite uplifting. I got some new books for Easter including The Kite Runner, which I'm in the middle of now.

1-30-05:

I finished Bird by Bird for my creative writing class, and I think I would have enjoyed the book if my teacher wasn't so obsessed with it. It does offer good advice on writing, but it's mainly advice I've heard before and it's mixed in with tons of description and stories about her personal life. I don't really have an interest in her personal life, and all the advice written metephorically began to give me and headache after a while. She even contradicts hereself sometimes. Let's just say I'll stick to my Elements of Style for writing rules, instead of a narrative. Next up: Iberia.

1-1-05:

Candy Freak was awesome- it was partially about the history of major candy corporations buying out smaller ones, partially about how candy is made and a very little bit about his obsession with candy. It was a quick, cute read. Best non-fiction I've read in a while, especially since I have a vendetta against most non-fiction to begin with. Where's the creativity and fun with the English language? I also finished The Curious Incident Of The Dog In THe Night Time, a brilliant portrayal of an autistic teen. I found it really upsetting, but uplifting at the end. I can't understand how some critics insist on calling it funny. I found parts of it ironic- but not humorous. It was well written though through the eyes of the boy, and I learned quite a bit too. It's chock full of random facts. And on top of that I began Angels and Demons today, I'm about halfway through, it's incredibly addicting. I'm saving the best books for last, although I'll probably read Diary next. I don't think I can wait much longer. :D

12-25-04:

How sweet, Candy Freak! (wow, bad pun) I'm so excited I got a bunch of books for Christmas including Angels and Demons, Diary, The Feast of Roses, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and Candy Freak. And then I'll probably steal Stupid Crooks and the Dante Club from my family. :D Candy Freak is first since its non-fiction and will only take me a lil while to read.

12-23-04:

12-17-04:

So I'm doing a little fun Christmas break reading. The latest Gossip Girl book. They're like drugs, horrible for you but really addicting. I've yet to find a chick book quite as good. Mayor of Casterbridge turned out to be good, it was short enough thankfully, because it just kept getting worse and worse for the main character. And my two favorite characters got together in the end. It made me feel good about my life though. I'm really hoping I'm getting some more Chuck Palahniuk books for Christmas, I still haven't read Stranger Than Fiction yet and I fee like such a bad fan. :D I need to finish Please Kill Me for Syd, get Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and A Clockwork Orange back to Em. I have two weeks to get everything gone. Another perk of Christmas.

11-29-04:

I was really getting bummed out about school because I don't have time to read for enjoyment anymore when I realized, Hey! I'm reading in school! That counts. So I'm adding Brave New World to my list of books and we're currently reading The Mayor of Casterbridge. The Mayor of Casterbridge is actually very good so far, aside from everything going wrong that can go wrong. It's well written and easy enough to read. Brave New World, on the other hand, I hated. I don't care whether its a classic or not, it seemed like a sexed up version of 1984 or Anthem. I know it's meant somewhat for shock value, but honestly, some of it is just plain stupid. Plus it was too fragmented, I had a hard time keeping track of who they were talking about when, plus all the fancy slang.

10-17-04:

I've read a single book in the last month. Another reason to add to my 'I hate school' list. Finished Clockwork about 3 weeks ago, and haven't had time to pick up another. My friend gave me Please Kill Me about a week ago, and I'm barely halfway through it. Argh. Anyhow, I read the complete version of Clockwork, the 21 chapters, including that last oh so contraversial chapter (and sticking my neck out here, I'm going to say I loved.) Yes, the one Kubrick didn't have in the movie. Brilliant, sickening, everything you've heard about it is true. With possibly the exception of some opinions about the ending. Please Kill Me is quickly growing on my 'Best Books of All Time' list. It's actually told by the people (think about sitting down at a table and listening to Iggy Pop, the Velvet Underground, Andy Worhol, Nico, Danny Feilds, The New York Dolls, The Ramones, and the entire of CBGB on any one night and trying to tell you a story about themselves) so its really messed up. Its the only way to really get into their world, and they're all talking about each other, and trash about someone else, its a head case, but probably the most interesting thing I've read. And I've decided that Sable Starr was amazing despite being a groupie goddess.

8-31-04:

So I lied. I never did read Wuthering Heights, only because everyone I know who has read it has told me its horrible. Someday, perchance I'll plug through it, but not now. I did read however, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Lord of the Flies and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Yay for book rampages! Divine Secrets was very different than I was expecting, since all the girls in my classes just *love* the book, I assumed it be rather bland, giggly teenager-ish. (Not that I don't read those types now and again... in fact I have a particular weak spot for the Gossip Girls books) I was pleasently surprised at the complexity of the book and the wonderful portrayal of the Southern US culture and friendships. I had to watch the movie then, which I was not nearly as impressed with- too many changes, although I loved Caro in the movie. Girl with a Pearl Earring was as wonderful as the movie. Lord of the Flies had me very creeped out- its quite unsettling. I loved the starkness of the ending compared to everything that happens throughout the book. And I loved Simon and the actual Lord of the Flies. Fear and Loathing I borrowed from a friend and read in 2 days. Its basically an outrageously funny acid trip of a book. Next I have Clockwork Orange to read, also courtesy of that same wonderful friend.

8-18-04:

Trainspotting took me a little longer than I expected to get though. Its all written they way they speak, so it can be hard to catch on sometimes. Luckily theres a glossary in the back :D Now I really want to see the movie, because the book was as brilliant as I was hoping. I've found I have to read the book before I see the movie otherwise I find the book incredibly boring. I saw About A Boy, which I loved, and then read the book. Of course I wished I had done it the other way around since the movie was so true to the book I already knew everything that was going to happen. I've seen Girl with a Pearl Earring but I still picked it up to read, since I've heard the book and movie are very different and I loved the movie. I'm reading Wuthering Heights for school next, streching my reading out a little. Classic, fun book, classic, something I actually want to read... etc. So far its a pretty good plan :D

8-11-04:

Alright so it didn't take me long to finish 1984, which I liked. Not loved though, just liked. I really liked Anthem much better. Its the same concept but Anthem is much simplier, very more to the point. It doesn't go into the details of how the negative utopia is run so much as the effects it has. 1984 seemed to repeat itself after a point, even up to the very end. The idea of the ending was good, and I liked how it ended up I just think it could have gotten there much better. If you're going to read one or the other, read Anthem- it just seemed to click with me and I actually cared about the characters. Plus the language concept in Anthem is more strict than in 1984. Everyone talks about how original the idea of "doublespeak" is... how scary, how neat in a terrible sort of way. But in Anthem they don't even have the word "I". They can't think about themselves, because everything is "we". It also touches more on the way the society has gone backwards. Eh... I could go on about this all day, but I won't because theres another book I read. (Joy! I know...) The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I looked at it on the shelves a couple times, and someone in class recommended it- so I figured I'd go ahead. It was a really quick read, half a day. Probably one of the best books I've read from a "teen" point of veiw. The only thing that annoyed me was the main character's extreme innocence. Although, later in the book it helped add to some of the shock value. I've been using a lot of "s. I should probably stop. Anyhow- it struck a chord and I would reccommend it if anyone needs a desperate break from the classics like I did. The ending is really satisfying in a sad sort of way.

8-8-04:

Once again, vactions for me means more books finished. I completed The Brothers Karamazov which I am glad to have accomplished. As weird as that sounds, theres something satisfying in saying, "I read a long, Russian, murder mystery, courtroom drama, theological, thousand page book because someone else wanted me too." Actually scratch the last part, I wanted to anyhow, and am really glad I did. I won't try to explain the plot because its so complicated, but it was well worth the read. I read Frankenstein (the original, true Frankenstein by Mary Shelly) for school required reading. I would just like to say that I have no idea where the modern "Frankenstien" came from- because it was not from that book. Frankenstien is the name of the creator of the monster (who, has no name) there is no "mad" scientist, in fact there is very very little detail on how the monster is created. There are no bolts and flat heads or green tinged skin, and the monster is intelligent. He speaks in thees, thous, and thys. I'm now half way through 1984, which I am ashamed to say I haven't read until now. But at least I'm fixing that problem.

7-25-04:

I went on vacation again, which means more reading time, and on this one I finished Fay: A Novel, which although wonderfully written for the most part had a pretty superficial plot- there wasn't much of a deeper meaning and a rather bland ending. I also read Atonement, by Ian McEwan. After reading Enduring Love, I had to read what is hailed as his greatest novel, and I was not dissapointed- I loved it almost more than Enduring Love. I was trying to summarize it for one of my friends and realized how depressing the plot sounds out loud, sad and heavy, but when you read it it affects you so differently, I was gripped, not saddened by it in the least and would reccommend it a hundered times over to anyone, its a love story in its own right too. I started The Brother's Karamazov as well, me and my friend took turns reading it aloud to each other on the beach. (What a sight we must have been!) I love how he uses huge strange foriegn words and then resorts to "freak" and "buffoon" all the time. It's actually been a quick read (which is saying something for a 1,000 page book) and is funny at some parts, interesting at others, but never dull. I was originally hesitant to read it because it was reccommened by a friend of mine who is always reading novels and books I wouldn't dream of picking up until college, or simply because her tastes can be quite different. But she was insistant I read it, and the next time I talk to her I'm going to have to thank her for it.

7-13-04:

Girlfriend in a Coma put me in one weird mood. Just a warning for those who read it, its one of those books that makes you think. (gasps of horror) But then again, most of the books I read are that way. Anyhow, this one has to do with the "end" of the world, almost, and how this group survives- only they aren't really at the end of the world, its a perception to pull them out of their meaningless lives and start questioning the world aroung them. Its very unsettling, and being the weak nerved person I am when it comes to creepy stuff, I couldn't read it in the dark. But it is well worth the read.

7-11-04:

So I didn't read the Joy Luck Club yet. I went to the beach and read 5 other books though, Jennifer Government, Chemical Pink, Shopgirl, The Wasp Factory and I'm currently reading Girlfriend in a Coma. Jennifer Government was hilarous, its set in the future when you take the corperation you work for as your last name, like john nike, or so-and-so starbucks. But the corperations form 2 major alliances and they start this war between them, and basically the government has no power over the situation, hard as they try. So its kind of the opposite of most sci fi books cause its pro government and still anti establishment. Then I read the wasp factory, which was really unsettling. I dont even know how to describe it. Parts of it are just sick and its really shivers up the spine creepy, but wonderfully written and its got a great ending Its about a guy who you think has a crazy brother who has escaped from the mental hospital, but I wont say anymore or I'll ruin the book. Shopgirl was better than I thought, considering its written by Steve Martin. Its pretty well known, its cute a little cynical but good all the same. It has very good writing, and an ok plot. Chemical Pink is about this woman in woman's body building, and her relationship with this guy who funds it and all the weird stuff he makes her do, the drugs he makes her take, what she eats, etc. He plays these crazy mind tricks on her to keep her there for the money. And I'm currently reading Girlfriend in a Coma, which is the best yet I think, after Jennifer Government. The writing is great, my favorite line is when he's describing the forest they're walking in and he says, "The Jesus loves you sunbeams" I love that line, its so cynical and funny all at once.

7-6-04:

Finished "Rule of Four" earlier. It wasn't as bad as some of the reviews claimed. I think people expected it to be like the DaVinci Code which it wasn't. It was much more complicated in working out the main mystery, so if you were looking for a quick thriller, this was probably disapointing. And the ending doesnt wrap up nearly as nice and pretty as the DaVinci Code. Its left very open ended, but I think realistically, since the latter half of the main mystery was fiction. Unlike the DaVinci code, its only very loosly based on fact, the rest was just the two author's imaginations. Its a nice summer beach read... I enjoyed it because of the complicated riddles and codes they used, but I can understand how everyone might not. Next up I think, is the Joy Luck Club, which a couple people have strongly reccommended I read.

7-5-04:

Finished "Confessions of a Pagan Nun" which I enjoyed. It read like a nonfiction historical account. There was a note in the beginning about the "translation" of the account from Gaelic and Latin, so for the first few chapters, I honestly thought it was historical. (And because I'm oblivious and didn't see the giant A NOVEL on the front of the book) The library had it labelled as inspirational fiction and some of the reviews I read said it was essential for any christian woman to read to deepen her faith. I found it suprisingly anti-christian. Its a woman's battle between her pagan upbrining, druid training, and conversion to christianity- which it turns out is partially forced. It has an upsetting ending, but is well worth the read. I'd reccommend it to anyone who has a love for Ireland, the dark ages, or the druid/pagan lifestyle. Some devout christians may take offense to parts of it, but they are historically accurate. Next book on my list is "The Rule of Four" it was on teh bestsellers list but got horrible reviews online. Luckily for me I bought it on sale.

7-2-04:

Finished "The Queen's Necklace" It was definately one of the better fantasy books I've read in the last few years. Completely breaks the normal fantasy stereotypes. No fairies, no mermaids, no elves. Teresa Edgerton has made a wonderfully believable world with only two new, very unique races: Goblins and Magelore. Both posioned by salt and extremely flammable (that always made me laugh) An epic story, in an entirely believable world, with a system of government that works, and a history that you actually want to know more about. The only compliants I have are that the title is a little strange, it has only a small part in the book, and that the ending is not "And they lived happily ever after" even if it is implied. However, absolutely worth reading, I think I fell in love with one of the characters and certainly wanted the other for a relation. :D

6-12-04:

Finished The Twentieth Wife, which ending up being one of the most romantic books I have ever read. Without any sex- I promise. And it takes place over 30 years. This amazingly determined woman, Mehrunnisa spends 30 years of her life waiting for Prince (and then Emperor) Salim. Her love for him never ceases and yet she goes through all these ordeals in order to honor her family, keep with tradition, and most of all stay true to herself. And after 30 years of all that hard work and love... (this is where I creully leave you to go buy the book) And in honor of my favorite author, Chuck Palahniuk (who has a new book out called Stranger Than Fiction, I've added a long list of his fanlistings to the links page. I also bough Enduring Love this morning on the recommendation of one of my literature teachers, and also have The Awakening, Ironweed, and Wonder Boys on my shelf at the moment.

6-5-04:

Still reading The Twentieth Wife, long but good book, and I have finals. I did a little... ok a lot of researching and came up with a huge list of book log sites, book rings, cliques and fanlistings and LJ communities, which can be found here Have fun surfing through the sites.

6-1-04:

I read Sloppy Firsts, which was interesting, the main character however seemed too good, she kept making big deals out of things that really weren't that important. And a lot of the high school drama seemed overplayed, but it was a fun read, just not as good or as well written as the Gossip Girl series which it has been compared to. I finished Invisible Monsters, the first Chuck Palahniuk book that I've read that has a happy ending, a very happy everything is right in the world ending, it was a treat to say the least. Amusing and written the way only Chuck Palahniuk can. I'm currently reading the Twentieth Wife, its an novel about a historical love afair in indian history, and it's written beautifully. Have some Chai on hand though, because they talk about it so much, it makes you crave it.

5-23-04:

Already I've gotten through 5 books since I last posted, and those numbers are going up as the end of the school year gets closer. During the summer I'll start adding my notes and opinions, and maybe ratings... Right now I'm reading the latest Gossip Girl book, which is wonderful as always.

5-9-04:

After a long hiatus (4 months to be exact) I'm back at Chaotic Autumn with yet another new idea. Biblioholism is a Non-Required Reading List that I put together from all the books I've read. It'll start out with just a list of the books and authors, and gradually expand to include ratings in stars, rating of the content of the book, my comments, and a link to amazon so you can find out more about the book. Navagation is to the right, and my list of books is divided by time periods. 2004 is the most recent, Summer of 2003 is a different section from 2003 because I tend to read more "beach reads" in the summer and have to keep track of them for summer reading at school. 2003 and Back are all the books I have read before 2003 (those are the ones that I have no idea when I read them, and I've read them many times over since then) Enjoy!