Books, Books, Books (Take Three)

Last we left, I was obsessed with Jules Verne and loving him because of his great work on Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Let's just say that the rest of the Verne collection did not go well for me. I tried to read The Mysterious Island, but, as far as I could tell (30% through the book according to my Kindle), it is the most boring island on the planet and the dear fellows stranded on the island are also hardworking, industrious folk who don't deserve their fate, but are going to make the best of it. Snoozefest. I made it about five pages into Around the World in 80 Days before I just gave up and admitted that my Verne love didn't extend any further than the trip around the sea.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was also a disappointment to me. This canonical work is important, sure, but it's also dreadfully boring and nothing nearly exciting happens until three pages until the end. It doesn't help that the main character, in whose mind we exist, could make watching paint dry seem exciting. I'm glad I read it, but please don't make me do that again. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was not bad and Irving's descriptions were amazing (I could see Ichabod Crane in my head, I could see the horse coming at him, I felt like I was there) and, again, I'm glad I read this canonical book, although I probably won't pick it up again.

At this point, I think I was starting to get nervous that I just don't like the classics. So I busted out more Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes character and read The Hound of the Baskervilles. Loved it!! Holmes is brilliant. I have more Sherlock Holmes to read on my Kindle.

Then a friend recommended the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. It's a young adult series, in the manner of Harry Potter. The premise of the books is that the Olympic gods are real and have children with mortals, called demigods. The main character, Percy Jackson, is a demigod, and adventures ensue. I've read all five of the books and I enjoyed them. J.K. Rowling doesn't have to worry about Riordan ruining her fan base, but I think folks who like HP would like these books.

Another friend recommended The Magicians by Lev Grossman, telling me it was like Harry Potter, but with grownups. The book is GREAT. I adored it and had a hard time putting it down, especially towards the end. I highly recommend this. The characters are messed up real people, acting just as how I would imagine most of us would act in strange situations. The book is made up of four "books" and the second book is pretty awful, but the other three more than make up for it in characterization, setting, and plot. Go read it now.

This same friend recommended the MaryJanice Davidson Undead series. Chick accidentally gets turned into a queen vampire. I read the first two books (Undead and Unwed and Undead and Unemployed) and enjoyed them both in a bath tub, light reading kind of way. The dialogue is sharp and I love the references to the Twin Cities. I'll probably finish the series, but I don't feel a rush to do so.

I downloaded the book Daisy Chain: A Novel by Mary E. DeMuth because it was free. It was excellently written and depressing as hell. At the end of the book, I wanted to crawl into my bed and stay there for the next year and if you like reading stuff that hurts you inside, go for it. For my part, I'll never open that book again. Too sad.

Faking It by Elisa Lorello is a good read. I also purchased this one because it was free and I almost stopped reading it early on when I thought it was just going to be another book on how hard it is to be an academic. Since I know how hard it is from first hand experience, I really didn't feel like I needed fiction to tell me. Anyway, this turned into a different book than that, more about open-mindedness and growing self and that makes it sound like it was boring and it wasn't. Two words: Male escort. Pretty good book. I'll give it a B-.

The Picture of Dorian Gray. Hmmm. I hate to say that I gave up on a classic, but at 26%, this book was KILLING me. I was avoiding my Kindle, knowing Oscar Wilde would be there mocking me. So I gave up. I thought the dialogue was contrived and cheesy (example: two men just met and one of the men is IMMEDIATELY telling another man that he's beautiful, but it's too bad he's just going to get old and die). I thought the plot was taking FOREVER to actually get started. And so I stopped. Sorry, Oscar.

I did read The Time Machine by H. G. Wells and it was an okay read. I wasn't riveted, but I could see how it could have been quite creative and important in its day.

I also read The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong and it's a young adult book about supernaturals and I loved it. I could hardly put it down. It's the first in a series, but I refuse to get the rest of the series because it's not free. But my guess is that my vow to not read the rest of the series will come to a grinding halt the next time I'm evenly remotely short on things to do.

Synopsis:
Couldn't finish Verne or Wilde
Bored by Ichabod and Dr. Jekyll
Yay Sherlock Holmes and Lev Grossman (A++)
DeMuth and Lorello are probably worth reading
MaryJanice Davidson gets my shout out for hometown references
Really just want to read young adult fiction (Kelley Armstrong and Rick Riordan)