Monday, November 1, 2010

Books 28-50

I am so bad at writing reviews. But here goes a quick non-poetic recap of the last 22 of my Books.

Lucy
A half girl- half chimpanzee navigates a cruel unforgiving and judgmental world, touching the lives of those around her. Eh, sort of an interesting premise filled with unrealistic and unsympathetic characters.

The Lonely Polygamist
A polygamist in Utah juggles the his wives, kids, job, grieving a dead child, and a secret affair.
This sounds awesome, like a book version of big love, but I just hated it. I don't know why. I guess like the last book I didn't like the characters and the story is pretty slow moving.

The Passage
A zombie (vampire-ish) apocolypse in 2 parts, the weeks preceding the outbreak and then a 100 years later in a surviving colony that is all being viewed through the eyes of a conference on the event and outbreak 1000 years after that- confused yet?. There is a lot going on and a lot of plots and characters to keep track of but that being said, this book is a 700 page epic, and too wonderful for words. Great characters, touching moments, action, romance, zombies, interesting plots and mysteries and there are still 2 more books in the works (the end has some pretty big cliffhangers)! Read it.

Shit My Dad Says
A collection of stories and quotes by Justin Halpern's dad throughout his childhood and adulthood. Hilarious. some quotes:
-Pay the parking ticket. Don't be so outraged. You're not a freedom fighter in a civil rights movement. You double parked.
-Can we talk later? The news is on ... Well, if you have tuberculosis it's not gonna get any worse in the next 30 minutes, Jesus
-"You're being fucking dramatic. You own a TV and an air mattress. That's not exactly what I'd call 'a lot to lose'
-Give your mother the front seat. I don't give a shit if she told you, you could have it, she's polite, she's supposed to say that, and you're suppose to refuse. If you think I'm going to drive around with my wife in the backseat and a 9 year old in the front then you're out of your goddamn mind.

Lost City of Z
A journalist uncovers history and travels the same route as a famous "City of Z (eldorado, city of gold)" expedition that disappeared without a trace.
Both fascinating and exciting, this is a true historical adventure that packs an incredible amount of information into every page.

People of Sparks and Prophet of Youngwood
Sequels to the City of Ember. Not good follow-ups. I guess not everyone can have a trilogy like the Hunger Games. I love you Suzanne Collins.

Outliers
Malcolm Gladwell explores successful people and the factors that made them so.
Super interesting though at times repetitive. I knew that sometimes he was being manipulative with his facts to prove his point but I didn't care. He sold me every step of the way.

Why we feel good: A guide to being fat stupid and lazy.
Dennis Leary's idiotic, unintelligent, unfunny ranting about society. Yeah Dennis you are so above the system you hate every other person who drinks there starbucks and buys their kid play stations and is a cog in the machine. Interesting fact: most of the book he rants about how he hates everything and everyone and then suddenly in the middle of the book there is this chapter about Oprah. He says Oprah is a saint, and interesting and funny and does SO much good for humanity. It was so over the top and suspicious that I looked up if Dennis Leary has ever been on Oprah and I found out that he was on the show ONE WEEK BEFORE THIS BOOK CAME OUT. who iss a mindless disgusting brown nosing cog in the machine now dennis leary? Its you, you wrote a glowing chapter about oprah so she would invite you on her show and promote your book so you would MAKE MORE MONEY. Point, set, match.

Mockingjay
The thrilling conclusion of the Hunger Games. IF YOU HAVEN"T READ THESE BOOKS YET YOU ARE RUINING YOUR LIFE.

The Cell
I love zombie books. This Stephen King one was about zombies that were created from a pulse on cell phones (everyone talking on a cell phone was turned into a zombie at a certain time) and was particularly gory.

Everlost
In Everlost, kids who died and didn't quite "get where they were going" live in a fantastic world where the living are a gray shadow and the buildings and things that died are given a new life. This is a creative and fun young adult novel that I really enjoyed.

Diamond of Darkhold
Another terrible sequel to the decent City of Ember.

Billy The Kid-The Endless Ride
The swash-buckling adventures of Billy the Kid. Less swash-buckling, gun slinging than I had hoped for and more boring historical musings.

The Other Bolyn Girl
This was a quick enjoyable fictionalized read about Henry the 8th and his affair/marriage to Mary and Ann Bolyn.

Alias Grace
Margaret Atwood hits another one out of the park. Lovely fictionalized story about a real life murderess in Canada and her time in prison.

The Tent
Great short stories from Margaret Atwood.

In Cold Blood
Truman Capote's investigations/interviews of a brutal murder of an entire family in the 1960's. Follows both the family/police and the murderers. Like an episode of Dateline Mystery.

The Weight of Silence
This novel unfold in a day as 2 little girls go missing. It was kind of cheesy. Not the biggest fan.

I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to be your Class President
This funny novel from a Daily show writer is about a 12 year old middle schooler who has a lair underground, has hundreds of people working for him making evil inventions, and is secretly the 4th richest person in the world. Of course none of this will help him get through middle school. This was a very fun read!

Earth The Book
This Daily Show book tells Aliens what Earth was like after they find the planet in a post-apocolyptic state. Pretty funny (though not as funny as "America")

The Almost Moon
The story of a woman who over the course of 24 hours loses control and kills her elderly mother and then tries to deal with the consequences. This book is an uncomfortable read though i am not sure I wouldnt recommend it. It's just uncomfortable.

The Lorax
Be Kind to Trees. (yes I sort of ran out of time).

YAY! 50 books!

3 comments:

Julie Ritchey said...

Now that we made it to 50, does that mean that we can move into the 2010-2011 year of reading without all the stress and self-loathing?

Dorothy said...

Oh you speed demons! It's only fair that you wait until the Lampl's catch up!

Julie Ritchey said...

I don't know if I'd so much call myself a "speed demon" as I would say that I was DETERMINED to make it to 50 this year so that for the 2010-2011 reading year I can be more leisurely and less strategic, content with the knowledge that I am, in fact, capable of hitting the 50 book goal.

And you Lampls are well-represented! Last year Andy was the ONLY person to reach 50, AND he read Infinite Jest! That's a checkmate, for sure...