December 2011
2 posts
"Go away or I'll call the Goon Squad!"
Title: A Visit from the Goon Squad Author: Jennifer Egan   Setting: New York City mostly, but also California, Italy, and Africa, across many years. Characters: So many characters that are intertwined, but also isolated by chapter. Time is a character. So is Music. The temporary fleeting aspect of life and living are the biggest character of them all! Main Problem/Conflict:  When he was 20...
Dec 31st
4 tags
12-12-12
Two years ago, two ladies, inspired by something similar on Library Thing,  set a challenge to themselves:  Read 10 books in 10 genres by October 10th, 2010. The genres were self created with the hope that they would expand their reading to outside their literary comfort zones. Of course, I found out about this November 2010, but that’s besides the point. It’s a really awesome idea...
Dec 30th
1 note
October 2011
2 posts
4 tags
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Title: Something Wicked This Way Comes Author: Ray Bradbury Setting: A small town in the midwest sometime in the middle of the twentieth century, late October. (Actually, starts on October 23rd so like, 60 years ago yesterday) Characters: Jim Nightshade and Will Halloway, best friends on the cusp of their fourteenth birthdays; Charles Halloway, Will’s dad, and Mr. Dark and Mr. Cooger,...
Oct 25th
4 tags
The Gunslinger, or "I don't get it."
Title:  The Gunslinger Author:  Stephen King Setting:  A post apocalyptic limbo-ish parallel world type place with a desert, a mine/railway station, and a town on the edge of the previously mentioned desert. Characters: Roland, the Gunslinger; The Man in Black, but not Titus Welliver (sadly); Alice, a barmaid in the town, and Jake, a young boy.   Sorry Smokey, maybe you’ll be in the...
Oct 5th
3 notes
September 2011
1 post
3 tags
Sep 10th
6 notes
August 2011
1 post
11 tags
Oh hey! I still read books
Sorry for the lack of posting. I have been reading. I just haven’t felt motivated to do a report on each book. So here’s a roundup: Interview with the Vampire, by Anne Rice: If you watch the movie, you don’t need to read the book) Lost Boy, by Brent Jeffs: FLDS is scary. Very interesting read. The Hobbit, by J.R. Tolkien: Dragons! Adventure! Magic rings! Oh my! The Stepford...
Aug 14th
December 2010
1 post
3 tags
The Jungle: Not the book I was expecting.
Title: The Jungle Author: Upton Sinclair Setting: Chicago’s “Packingtown” at the turn of the 20th Century Characters: Jurgis, a Lithuanian immigrant seeking the American Dream; Ona, his wife; 50-some-odd relatives, most with difficult names; Packingtown, the slaughterhouse and factory district, and Socialism, a political ideology. Main Problem/Conflict: THE AMERICAN DREAM IS...
Dec 2nd
July 2010
1 post
4 tags
Definitely Dead (the sixth[?] Sookie Stackhouse...
Yeah, I read this a while ago. It was pretty ok, I guess. Sookie’s vampire cousin is dead and she has to go clean out her apartment in New Orleans. She discovers (with the witch landlord) that there is a werewolf/vampire living in Sookie’s dead cousin’s closet. Also, Sookie’s cousin was totally scissoring the Queen of Louisiana. Oh and Sookie is dating (like not...
Jul 10th
44 notes
June 2010
2 posts
3 tags
Dead as a Doornail (The 5th Sookie Stackhouse...
Title: Dead as a Doornail Author: Charlaine Harris   Setting: Bon Temps and Shreveport, Lousiana Characters: Sookie Stackhouse, a barmaid with the ability to read minds; Sam, her shape-shifter boss; Eric, viking vampire sheriff; Bill, Sookie’s vampire ex-boyfriend; Alcide, a werewolf; Claudine and Claude, fairy twins; Charles Twinings, pirate vampire; and about a million men who are...
Jun 28th
44 notes
4 tags
Dead to the World (The 4th Sookie Stackhouse...
Title: Dead to the World Author: Charlaine Harris Setting: Bon Temps and Shreveport, Lousiana Characters: Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic waitress with an affinity for the undead; Eric, a sharp, sexy vampire from Scandinavia who is the sheriff of Shreveport; Pam, his sidekick; Jason, Sookie’s brother; Sam, Sookie’s shape-shifter boss; Alcide, a werewolf; Debra, Alcide’s...
Jun 27th
48 notes
May 2010
4 posts
6 tags
Club Dead (aka "The Third Season of True Blood")
Title: Club Dead: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel Author: Charlaine Harris Setting: Bon Temps, Louisiana and Jackson, Mississippi Characters: Sookie, a telepath who is dating; Bill, a vampire, who works for; Eric, another vampire, who is owed a favor by; Alcide, a werewolf, who has business dealings with; Russell,  the Vampire King of Mississippi. Main Problem/Conflict: Vampire Bill is being...
May 27th
3 tags
Commander Amanda Nightingale or: How I learned to...
DISCLAIMER: This one is going to be extremely sarcastic, bitter-sounding, and border-line offensive post. None of it is serious. Title: Commander Amanda Nightingale Author: George Revelli This whole thing will probably degenerate into a NSFW rant so here’s a break! Setting: London and occupied France, 1944. Characters: Commander Amanda Nightingale, mother, wife, decorated war hero,...
May 20th
14 notes
3 tags
Why I'm reading "Commander Amanda Nightingale" →
Check out my first ever attempt at video blogging to hear all about why I’m reading a really crappy book! You can look forward to a book report soon!
May 18th
2 tags
The Winter of Our Discontent in the springtime of...
Title: The Winter of Our Discontent Author: John Steinbeck Setting: New Baytown, New York in the spring and summer of 1960. Characters: Ethan Allen Hawley; his wife, Mary Hawley; his kids, Allen and Ellen; Mr. Baker, a banker; Maurello, the guy who owns the grocery where Ethan works (and which Ethan’s family used to own); Margie Young-Hung, a witch and temptress; and Danny Taylor, a...
May 11th
March 2010
2 posts
4 tags
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
Title: The Exorcist Author: William Peter Blatty My copy is purple, which makes it way cooler. More after the jump! Setting: Washington, DC, right outside Georgetown University, with brief visits to Iraq and New York City. Oh, this is set in the late 1960s/early 70s. Characters: Chris, an actress, an atheist, and a mother; Father Karras, a Jesuit priest with a background in psychiatry;...
Mar 11th
2 notes
6 tags
Reading "Reading Lolita in Tehran" in Staten...
Title: Reading Lolita in Tehran Author: Azar Nafisi Setting: Tehran, Iran, from 1970 to 1997 Characters: Dr. Nafisi, author, narrator, teacher; The Magician, a former colleague and friend; and a number of female students. Main Problem/Conflict: Living in Iran whilst in possession of a vagina, sense of identity, imagination. Conclusion: Those who choose to stay in Iran continue to die on...
Mar 7th
January 2010
2 posts
5 tags
From Hell by Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell
Title: From Hell Author: Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell Setting: London, specifically Whitechapel, in the 1880s; Bournesmouth; and a brief trip to Austria. Characters: Willaim Gull, Royal Surgeon and Freemason; Netley, his driver; Abberline, a detective; Lees, a psychic; Mary Ann Nichols, a whore; Annie Chapman, a whore; Elizabeth Stride, a whore; Catherine Eddowes, a whore; Mary Jane Kelly,...
Jan 14th
Murder in St. George!
I killed Jane Eyre. First I broke her spine and now she has been dismembered into three pieces. I should have been gentler with it, I know. It was $.95 when it was printed in 1973. Oops.
Jan 11th
December 2009
1 post
4 tags
Book Report Fun! Going Rogue
Title: Going Rogue Author: Sarah Palin’s ghost writer Setting: Wasilla and Juneau Alaska, various small towns and cities across the lower 48-states. Characters: Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska, former candidate for Vice President, mom of five and grandmother; Todd Palin, her super hot husband!; Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper, and Trig, her brood; John McCain, Arizona senator,...
Dec 2nd
November 2009
10 posts
Book Report Depression: Push: A Novel
Title: Push: A Novel Author: Sapphire Setting: Harlem in the late 1980s Characters: Claireece Precious Jones, 16-year-old, illiterate, African-American girl, with one baby by her father and another on the way; Ms. Blue Rain, a teacher; Rita, Rhonda, and Jermaine, fellow students; Mary, her mom. Main Problem/Conflict: Precious is a 16-year-old, illiterate, African-American girl with one baby...
Nov 17th
7 tags
Reblog: Brave New World
Title: Brave New World Author: Aldous Huxley Setting: London and New Mexico, 632 AF (After Ford). Characters: Bernard Marx (Alpha-plus, psychologist), Lenina Crowne (Beta-plus, vaccination worker), Helmholtz Watson (Alpha-plus, writer, Bernard’s friend), Mustapha Mond (Alpha-double plus, World Controller for Western Europe), John (Savage), Linda (Beta-minus and John’s mother). Main...
Nov 10th
6 tags
Reblog: Pygmalion
Title: Pygmalion Author: George Bernard Shaw Setting: Covent Garden, the home of Henry Higgins, the home of Mrs. Higgins, and one or two other incidental locations. Characters: Eliza Dolittle, a flower girl with an atrocious accent; Henry Higgins, a phonetician; Colonel Pickering, another phonetician, and other incidental characters. Main Problem/Conflict: Eliza’s Drury Lane accent is...
Nov 10th
6 tags
Reblog: The Witches of Eastwick
Title: The Witches of Eastwick Author: John Updike In searching for an image of the edition I read I stumbled upon this one, which annoys me because the only cat in the book is a white fluffball with polydactyly. It doesn’t belong to any of the witches. Setting: Eastwick, RI Characters: Alexandra (a witch), Sukie (a witch), Jane (a witch), Darryl (a guy) Main Problem/Conflict: The witches...
Nov 10th
6 tags
Reblog: Living Dead in Dallas
Title: Living Dead in Dallas Author: Charlaine Harris Setting: BonTemps, LA and Dallas, TX Characters: Sookie Stackhouse, telepathic barmaid. Bill Compton, her vampire boyfriend. Eric, another vampire, owner of the bar “Fangtasia”, and Bill’s boss. Sam Merlotte, Sookie’s boss. Main Problem/Conflict: Sookie and her telepathy are lent out to a vampire nest in Dallas....
Nov 10th
5 tags
Bonus! Stray thoughts on Living Dead in Dallas...
Before I get into the “Book Report” for Living Dead in Dallas there are a few other absurdities that I feel I need to expound upon. A) On pgs. 79-80 we learn that Sookie has taken to wearing thongs. She needs to conceal her hotel room key somewhere and wouldn’t you know it, her suit doesn’t have pockets! So she puts it in the side strap of her underwear, but: “Oh,...
Nov 10th
5 tags
Bonus! Living Dead In Dallas rant reblog with...
So I am well on my way through Living Dead in Dallas, the second in the Sookie Stackhouse series, upon which the highly addictive show “True Blood” is based. And I must say, so far, this book is better written than the first (which isn’t saying much). I feel I can say this because the first patently stupid line doesn’t appear until page 25. In the first book the first...
Nov 10th
6 tags
Reblog: The Road to Wellville
Title: The Road to Wellville Author: T.Coraghessan Boyle Setting: Kellogg’s Sanitarium in Battle Creek Michigan, 1908 Characters: John Harvey Kellogg, pioneer of good, healthful living and inventor of Corn Flakes; Will Lightbody, patron of “The San” due to severe autointoxication; Eleanor Lightbody, Will’s wife and neuranthasia sufferer; Charles Ossining, President of...
Nov 10th
5 tags
Reblog: Maus
Title: Maus: A Survivor’s Tale Author: Art Spiegelman Setting: Rego Park (1979-1982), Eastern Europe (1939-1945), Florida and the Catskills Characters: Art Spiegelman; Vladek Spiegelman, his father and holocaust survivor; Anja, his mother and holocaust survior; Mala, Vladek’s second wife and holocaust survivor; Francoise, Art’s wife, a French convert to judaism (so she is depicted as a...
Nov 10th
5 tags
Reblog: The Children of Men
Title: Children of Men Author: P.D. James Setting: England, around Oxford, in the year 2021 Characters: Theo, a 52 year old former professor of History. Divorced, one child (deceased). Julian, a young woman who is part of a band of revolutionaries (Five Fishes). Xan, the Warden of England and Theo’s cousin. Rolf, Julian’s husband and the leader of the Five Fishes. Miram, a former midwife and...
Nov 10th