Rate the last book you read!!

[Cajuncowboy]

Going Rogue

Fantastic.

[vta]

Originally Posted by ethiostar

I'm disappointed to hear that. I recently read The Narrows, The Overlook, and The Scarecrow by Connelly and I wanted to read The Poet since a couple of the books I've read make references to the 'Poet's' case. I actually looked for it at the book store a couple of days ago but they didn't have it.

That's too bad.

Oops, hope I didn't ruin it for you.
I just really found his writing pedestrian with very childish dialogue. I felt like he was inspired by Silence of the Lambs and he thought that by going to extremes, he would somehow reach a new level. Problem is SOL is a great read for far more than the fact it has some shock value.

[ethiostar]

Originally Posted by vta

Oops, hope I didn't ruin it for you.
I just really found his writing pedestrian with very childish dialogue. I felt like he was inspired by Silence of the Lambs and he thought that by going to extremes, he would somehow reach a new level. Problem is SOL is a great read for far more than the fact it has some shock value.

No, you didn't ruin it for me. I read Connelly's books for what they are. Detective crime mysteries with some plot twists, not much more. But he has become notorious for his unsatisfying endings or just a lack of consistency and momentum in the second half of most of his books. This is particularly true in his later novels. It seems he is more interested in churning out quantity than quality.

I will still read The Poet but I won't expect much.

Right now I'm about to start reading 'The Alchemist' by Paulo Coelho.

[WoodysGirl]

Brain, I could've warned you about Nora Roberts. She's a long-time romance novelist. She's written in all forms of the romance genre. So I'm not surprised you found her work leaning heavily in that direction.

Right now, I work so hard, I don't take the time to read as much as I used to. I think the last book I read was by Cedric the Entertainer. Pure mindless entertainment that got me through a hair appt.

[ScipioCowboy]

Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov, 9/10

Like the majority of Nabokov works, Pnin is a literary masterpiece; however, it falls somewhat short of the standard set by Lolita and Invitation to a Beheading. Pnin chronicles the events and mishaps that befall a Russian emigre, Timofey Pnin, working as a professor at an American college in the 1940s. Nabokov interjects a great deal of humor into the work, especially when narrating Pnin's struggles adapting to American culture and his failures to master the English language. However, there's also an undercurrent of tragedy; at times, the reader sees just how lonely and isolated Pnin is in a culture that is, for the most part, alien to him.

[ScipioCowboy]

Lost Boy, Lost Girl by Peter Straub, 5/10

Incidentally, I selected this author on a recommendation from VTA. Unfortunately, I was not impressed by this particular work despite its accolades -- the 2003 Bram Stoker award. The novel is interesting, but I wasn't over enamored of the constantly shifting point of view.

[kmp77]

The Road 10/10

I don't think I've ever bee this moved by a book before.

[masomenos]

Originally Posted by kmp77

The Road 10/10

I don't think I've ever bee this moved by a book before.

McCarthy is a brilliant writer, very powerful. The last paragraph of the novel has stuck in my head, since the first time I read it.

Possible spoiler - last lines of the book to follow, doesn't give anything away in regards to the story

"Once there were brook trout in the streams in the mountains. You could see them standing in the amber current where the white edges of their fins wimpled softly in the flow. They smelled of moss in your hand. Polished and muscular and torsional. On their backs were vermiculite patterns that were maps of the world in its becoming. Maps and mazes. Of a thing which could not be put back. Not to be made right again. In the deep glens where they lived all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery".

It reminds me of the scene in The Wrestler, where Randy screws up one too many times and he's on the floor with his daughter and she tells him that sometimes things that are broken just can't be fixed. That's a pretty powerful concept, the idea that our lives have certain event horizons or tipping points, from which there's no coming back. Sometimes an action really does have permanent, meaningful consequences.

McCarthy's other stuff is all top notch as well, I especially enjoyed Blood Meridian.

[kristie]

"to kill a mockingbird"

10/10

a classic.

i'm currently reading "profiles in courage". another classic IMO.

[vta]

Originally Posted by ScipioCowboy

Lost Boy, Lost Girl by Peter Straub, 5/10

Incidentally, I selected this author on a recommendation from VTA. Unfortunately, I was not impressed by this particular work despite its accolades -- the 2003 Bram Stoker award. The novel is interesting, but I wasn't over enamored of the constantly shifting point of view.

Sorry.

I read that book too and was disappointed. His work ranges from creative and interesting (Koko and Ghost Story), to atrocious (Floating Dragon) to flat out boring, (In the Night Room; Lost Boy, Lost Girl).

[daschoo]

just finished a book my girlfriends dad gave me "the boy captives" clinton smith and to a lesser extent his little brother jeffs true account of being kidnapped by comanche and apache indians in texas and raised among them for over five years. was a very interesting book and obviously i learned a lot about what life was like for the native americans. they never shy away from the more brutal aspects of it and talk candidly about battles, thieving and murdering.
would definately recomend it.

[vta]

Originally Posted by ethiostar

No, you didn't ruin it for me. I read Connelly's books for what they are. Detective crime mysteries with some plot twists, not much more. But he has become notorious for his unsatisfying endings or just a lack of consistency and momentum in the second half of most of his books. This is particularly true in his later novels. It seems he is more interested in churning out quantity than quality.

I will still read The Poet but I won't expect much.

Right now I'm about to start reading 'The Alchemist' by Paulo Coelho.

I'd never even heard of him until I found that book. It's ironic the way you put it, because that's how it went. In the beginning it was interesting (or maybe I was just biased because parts of it took place in where I had been just before reading it), then it kind of degenerated overall as it moved along. The first few chapters are like a different novel from the rest of the book.

[Chief]

Originally Posted by daschoo

just finished a book my girlfriends dad gave me "the boy captives" clinton smith and to a lesser extent his little brother jeffs true account of being kidnapped by comanche and apache indians in texas and raised among them for over five years. was a very interesting book and obviously i learned a lot about what life was like for the native americans. they never shy away from the more brutal aspects of it and talk candidly about battles, thieving and murdering.
would definately recomend it.

That looks good.

For anyone interested in reading a great book that mixes the Old West and sports, I would highly recommend "The Real All Americans," by Sally Jenkins.

[BraveHeartFan]

Originally Posted by vta

Two recent books:
The Poet - Michael Connelly. 0/10
I don't even know how this tripe got into my house, I know I didn't buy it. I found it in my armoire and decided to read it. Awful, dismal waste.

If Stephen King recommends a book, avoid it.
I'm going to go read an Anthony Burgess novel to wash it from my memory.

London Blues - Anothony Frewin. 6.5/10
Interesting UK based fiction about the early days of Soho porn, with some factual references. I wonder how much is based on the truth.

Couldn't disagree with you more about The Poet. That was the first Connelly book I read and it hooked me on his stuff right away. I thought it was a very well done story, given the genre it's going for, and I really enjoyed it.

It's my second favorite book of his behind the Concrete Blond. It's because of the Poet that I own every single book of his so far (he's got another coming out this year I believe) and I've read over half of them already.

Sorry you didn't like it but I couldn't disagree more with you about it.

Originally Posted by ethiostar

I'm disappointed to hear that. I recently read The Narrows, The Overlook, and The Scarecrow by Connelly and I wanted to read The Poet since a couple of the books I've read make references to the 'Poet's' case. I actually looked for it at the book store a couple of days ago but they didn't have it.

That's too bad.

Read it. If you liked any of those Connelly books, especially the Narrows, you'll like The Poet. It's a shame that you read the Narrows first though since it's ruined for you the ending of the The Poet but that's how it goes sometimes.

One thing you'll find though is that, unlike The Narrows, Harry Bosch, his main character, is not in the book. The Poet was the first book he wrote without using his signature character and I still think, out of the 12 or so of his books I've read, it's his second best book behind The Concrete Blond.

[BrAinPaiNt]

Originally Posted by vta

Sorry.

I read that book too and was disappointed. His work ranges from creative and interesting (Koko and Ghost Story), to atrocious (Floating Dragon) to flat out boring, (In the Night Room; Lost Boy, Lost Girl).

Koko and Ghost story were both pretty good. Have not read the other three you listed.
I liked his first book with King...The Talisman but hated the follow up to it...The black house.

I have also read The Hellfire Club by him and thought it was a tad slow and boring however the villian in it was very interesting.