Last Book You Read and Your Review of It

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Originally Posted by Quin

I always thought Holden was a whiny little bitch who needed to grow the smurf up, and the book really annoyed me.

Though it certainly is well written and worth a look.

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I always got the impression that the book was a discussion of depression way ahead of its time. I get that impression from all of his novels I've read. All the characters seem like they're coping with depression. It's interesting, I wonder if JD Salinger had it.

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Originally Posted by Del Murder

Middlesex

Pretty entertaining look at a family over a couple generations. It deals with gender roles pretty effectively and convincingly. The main character (narrator) is very well portrayed and almost seems like a real person. Not a gripping page turner by any means but are really interesting read.

4/5

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I'm currently reading it, and loving every second of it.

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Originally Posted by Delilah

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Originally Posted by Quin

I always thought Holden was a whiny little bitch who needed to grow the smurf up, and the book really annoyed me.

Though it certainly is well written and worth a look.

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I always got the impression that the book was a discussion of depression way ahead of its time. I get that impression from all of his novels I've read. All the characters seem like they're coping with depression. It's interesting, I wonder if JD Salinger had it.

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Same I suffered very badly with depression back then, and everything just felt so fake, and I guess the book just reached out to me and let me know I wasn't alone in feeling that way.

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Originally Posted by Booga

The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

I first read this book when I was 16/17 and I fell in love with it. Holden Caulfield's way of thinking mirrored mine at the time, and it made me feel that I wasn't alone. Five years later and I still love it as much as that first time I read it. It's well written, a simple and belivable story and with characters that you could belive in. The first time I finished it I wanted to know what happened next, I couldn't believe that was it. It's the only time I have ever cared about a character in a book so much. I can't reccommend it enough, everyone should read this book.

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Agreed...

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
by Marjane Satrapi

super good but what a crappy ending ;(
9

Books I've read in the past 3 weeks:

A Dirty Job - Christopher Moore
Loved it. Quirky and funny, and surprisingly touching.

The Rainmaker - John Grisham
First book I've ever read from John Grisham. After I was done reading, I threw the book across the floor. Awful, just awful.

The Nanny Diaries - Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
Picked this up at a used book store for like $2. No wonder it was so cheap, it was pure junk.

The Namesake - Jhumpa Lahiri
One of those slowburning books that doesn't quite grab you until it's all over and you can look back on the entire book, esstentially look back on these character's journey's and appreciate the quiet beauty of it all. I've read a lot of books about the immigrant experience, and I think the Namesake captures so much of the experience of being a foreigner better than any other book I've ever read.

Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
Read it for the nostalgia. One of my favorite books as a little girl. It still makes me cry.

I'm trying to get through Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky but it's a tough read. Postponing trudging through the book by reading another book, The Brief wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. It had be from page 1. "No matter what its name or provenance, it is believed that the arrival of Europeans on Hispaniola unleashed the fuku on the world, and we've all been in the :bou::bou::bou::bou: ever since."

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Originally Posted by Delilah

The Hand Maiden's Tale - Margaret Atwood

My first Atwood novel. Dsytopian literature at its best and a very interesting foray into feminist lit without it being too much. The historical and psychological aspects of it were fantastic. What an imagination. I have to argue that I think this may be a better dystopian novel than A Brave New World.

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I think it's better than both A Brave New World and 1984. I also enjoyed Atwood's The Penelopiad.

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Originally Posted by Miriel

The Rainmaker - John Grisham
First book I've ever read from John Grisham. After I was done reading, I threw the book across the floor. Awful, just awful.

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Haha, don't read most other books by him, then. Grisham's novels tend to be awfully formulaic. I did enjoy Runaway Jury, though - possibly just because I was young, it was the first of his books I'd read, and I hadn't gotten sick of his formula yet (the movie is still cringe-worthy).

Franz Kafka's "Der Prozess". The author describes the life of a mid-aged bureaucrat, Mr. K, who one day gets waken up by two policemen, stating he was arraigned. Mr. K then starts to look for his complaimant and the actual charges he's been arraigned for, but whenever he's near to get an answer, he seems to become shaken off.

As much to the plot.. I personally LOVE Kafka's books, he always creates a depressive mood in his books which he's eerily able to project on his reader, so the books's themes and contents may also keep you busy afterwards. =)

science of mind, good read, everythings gotta be taken with a grain of salt NO?!

Last book I read was The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. I agree with all of the claims associated with this book (best sci-fi novel ever, fantastic piece of literature, etc etc)

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Originally Posted by Miriel

Books I've read in the past 3 weeks:

A Dirty Job - Christopher Moore
Loved it. Quirky and funny, and surprisingly touching.

The Rainmaker - John Grisham
First book I've ever read from John Grisham. After I was done reading, I threw the book across the floor. Awful, just awful.

The Nanny Diaries - Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
Picked this up at a used book store for like $2. No wonder it was so cheap, it was pure junk.

The Namesake - Jhumpa Lahiri
One of those slowburning books that doesn't quite grab you until it's all over and you can look back on the entire book, esstentially look back on these character's journey's and appreciate the quiet beauty of it all. I've read a lot of books about the immigrant experience, and I think the Namesake captures so much of the experience of being a foreigner better than any other book I've ever read.

Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
Read it for the nostalgia. One of my favorite books as a little girl. It still makes me cry.

I'm trying to get through Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky but it's a tough read. Postponing trudging through the book by reading another book, The Brief wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. It had be from page 1. "No matter what its name or provenance, it is believed that the arrival of Europeans on Hispaniola unleashed the fuku on the world, and we've all been in the :bou::bou::bou::bou: ever since."

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Originally Posted by Delilah

The Hand Maiden's Tale - Margaret Atwood

My first Atwood novel. Dsytopian literature at its best and a very interesting foray into feminist lit without it being too much. The historical and psychological aspects of it were fantastic. What an imagination. I have to argue that I think this may be a better dystopian novel than A Brave New World.

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I think it's better than both A Brave New World and 1984. I also enjoyed Atwood's The Penelopiad.

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Ooooh, I was looking at The Brief wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and wondered if I should get it, but decided against it for another book since I was low on cash. I'll pick it up next time

Just finished Seneca's Thyestes. It was a pretty good read and was insanely brutal, though I much prefered reading Euripdes: Medea for the course I'm taking.

Next up on the list is The Intimate Adventures Of A London Call Girl once I finish A Farewell to Arms. The latter is very, very impressive but I'm not far enough in to really make a full judgement.

Nervous Conditions

Post-colonialism feminist novel.

Verdict: good.

God it's been so long since I read a book. The last one I read was close to a year ago, and it was The Art of War, that old book on Military strategy. It was actually a very interesting read, although it was a lot shorter then I had expected.

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

A very bizarre novel about The Second World War and time travel. It's a little disorienting at first since the novel jumps back and forth through time periods at a moments notice, but i think this makes it fast-paced and a lot more interesting.
It's extremely well written and Vonnegut weaves minuscule thoughts and ideas throughout the story to reference each other, so I thought that was interesting.
An interesting spin on coping with war.

I just finished The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz and it was brilliant. One of the most innovative and downright interesting books I've ever read. It's been a long time since I've so thoroughly enjoyed reading a book.