For some reason, I’ve been really into reading recently. That may sound obvious coming from me. But I mean: really into reading.
The weird thing, though, is that almost
everything I’ve read recently has been very out-of-character for me. (Not every
single book, but most of them.) Many of the books I’ve read are not books that
I would normally ever have considered reading before. Since Halloween, I’ve
foregone the high quality I usually aim for in literature, and just devoured
some much more silly/just-for-fun books. I guess I’ve just being reading…guilty
pleasures(?) Something like that, at least.
Oddly, since Halloween, I haven’t read any books
unless they were mass-market paperbacks (with the exception of manga, which
have their own size to them). Even books that sounds appealing to me right now,
I won’t read unless they’re in mass-market-paperback form. Weird. I can't
explain it.
* * *
So then. Since Halloween, I have read:
Novels & Novellas…
Shutter Island by Denis Lehane - 5/5
Of all the books I’m
listing here, this is the first I read. And, at this point, it’s still by far
the best of them all. I had already seen and loved the movie. The movie is
actually very faithful to the book—rare. The book is very well
written. Strong, believable characters. Absolutely great pacing—something you
really don’t want to put down. And, of course, it remains a twisty, wonderfully
psychological story.
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut - 4/5
Congo by Michael Crichton - 3/5
The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad - 4/5
I actually read this
once before, I believe about 8 years ago. I don’t remember having much of an
opinion of it back then, but I thought it was rather interesting this time
around. Very eerie. Good use of setting, and, of course, Mr. Kurtz remains a
deeply interesting character.
Batman Arkham Knight:
the Riddler’s Gambit by Alex Irvine - 2.5/5
Lost Horizon by James Hinton - 3.5/5
I was attracted to this
because it takes place in Tibet. It’s nothing at all like the real Tibet, but
it was still a cool, unique story. And the main character is one of the most
well fleshed-out characters I’ve encountered in quite a long time (definitely
the strongest character from all the books in this list, at least).
47 Ronin by Joan D. Vinge - 4.5/5
Now here’s an
interesting one…this is, in fact, a novelization of the recent Keanu Reeves
movie, which was universally panned. Keep in mind that this means the book came after the
movie. I, on the other hand, actually read this book before seeing
the movie. (I’ve since watched the movie.) That said, the book was GREAT. Very
strongly written. Despite being the longest book out of this whole list, I
breezed through it in about two days. A cool story, all about honor and
integrity. Good emotional impact. The movie was...pretty bad. It didn’t go into
the characterizations nearly as well as the book, and much of the emotional
impact was lessened, or absent altogether. The movie was just an excuse for
action; the book was a powerful story. Definitely—perhaps surprisingly—the
second best book (after Shutter Island) in this list.
Dawn of the Planet of
the Apes: Firestorm by Greg Keyes - 1.5/5
Not very good. Also, it
had more typos than possibly any other published book I’ve read. My goodness,
that editor should have lost his job over this.
Batman Arkham Knight by Marv Wolfman - 2/5
Rita Hayworth and the
Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King - 3.5/5
The writing is good. The
story is good. But, surprisingly, the movie is actually better. Much more
satisfying, and the arrangement of the scenes is a bit better structured. Still
a good plot though, and the characters are probably equally strong (in both the
book and the movie).
Manga…
Final Fantasy Type-0 - 3.5/5
Final Fantasy Type-0:
the Ice Reaper 1 - 4.5/5
Final Fantasy Type-0:
the Ice Reaper 2 -
These are pretty fun,
but if you’re not a fan of the Final Fantasy games already (or
of manga), then there probably isn’t much here to appeal to you. I’m excited to
continue the Ice Reaper series though.
Wolf Children by Mamoru Hosoda - 5/5
Absolutely, positively
wonderful. Beautiful. Not much to say about it beyond that. A great manga for
people who may not really care for manga.
Another by Yukito Ayatsuji - 4.5/5
Books I started but didn't finish...
Mortal Kombat by Jeff Rovin
Yes, this is a novel
based on the video games. Bizarre tidbit about me: of ALL the books I own, this
is the book I’ve owned the longest. Very weird, I know. Of all books, why this
one? I read it when I first bought it (1993), and remember liking it. I dug it
out of the closet last month, gave it another go, and, after about 60 pages,
decided I’d rather just leave it as a fond memory.
The Thousand and One
Ghosts by Alexandre Dumas
Read about half of it.
Pretty interesting and well-written, just not what I’m currently in the mood
for.
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Read the first 30 or so
pages. Even for Jane Austen, this one is especially well-written. Rather
humorous, too. I only set it aside because, like Thousand and One
Ghosts, it's not what I'm in the mood for right now.
Borderlands: Unconquered by John Shirley
Read about 30-40 pages.
Horrible. Just…horrible.
Vampire Hunter D 3:
Demon Deathchase by Hideyuki
Kikuchi
Read about half. Meh.
Coin Locker Babies by Ryu Murakami
Read about 30-40 pages.
The setting is very visual, eerie, and well-developed. However, there are a few
things about it that bother me, of which I will only mention two:
1) Personally, I don’t like
biographical fiction. I don’t want to read about a fictional character’s entire life.
Just isolate the days/months/years most relevant to the overall story and give
me those.
2) If you’re ever going to read
it: absolutely, whatever you do, SKIP PAGE 1. Just start on page 2. It’s okay;
you won’t miss out on anything important to the story. Trust me. The images
described on page 1 are just…not okay. I really wish I could unsee them.
I sort of feel angry that Murakami included them at all; I haven’t quite
forgiven him for that yet—hence why I decided to set this aside for now.
Down the Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrams
Read 30-40 pages (I
guess that’s about how long it takes for me to come up with a basic opinion on
a book…) Fun and quirky. Well written, but a little too cutesy for me right
now.
Again, this is everything I’ve read just since
Halloween. I’ve been very, very busy.
Currently, I’m reading…
The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan
A little over halfway
through so far. Interesting, intense story. Different spin on the vampire
mythos. Not very well written though. The characters aren’t terribly
well-crafted. And Chuck Hogan likes his thesaurus a little too much. I’m
interested enough in the story to check out the other two books in the trilogy,
but I’m not in a hurry to do so. (And no, I haven't watched the TV show based
on these books.)
And, finally, my next book will
(probably) be…
Shogun by James Clavell (I just ordered it though, and it’s possible it
may not arrive until a few days after I finish the Strain. In which
case, I may read one other book in the meantime. Not sure what…)
* * *
So there you have it. :)
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