...in your pants.

2010-03-16T21:26:00.000-07:00

I fail.

I didn't finish reading "Memoirs of a Geisha". It was a good enough book and I enjoyed starting it, but for some reason it just didn't pull me in a make me want to read it til the end.

I also began reading "Men Who Stare at Goats". It's okay. I don't know if I'll end up finishing this one either, though. I've been reading it for a while and just can't seem to get through it. It's not a difficult read, or even boring. At times.. it's even humorous. I'll let you know if I finish it. But I may need to start something more interesting and absorbing so I can continue reading regularly (and updating this blog that I recently forgot about).

Don't get sucked into the dark side, jedi warriors.

Next book: TBD

The Road... in your pants

2010-02-06T22:09:00.000-08:00

RECOMMEND

I enjoyed reading "The Road". It was a very intense look at the bond that can exist between a father and a son in the wake of an apocalyptic world.

The story follows the man and the boy (nameless throughout the story) on their journey south, towards warmer weather. They travel on the roads as often as possible, but must camp nights out of sight in the woods or abandoned houses - to hide from gangs of cannibals that roam the lands. A few times they do run into these "bad" people, but always manage to escape, even if they have to kill.

The man of the story is trying all he can to keep his son safe and to keep a positive aspect on life, although the man is starting to realize the realities and despair that things have become. He sometimes dreams of the way things used to be: blue skies, electricity, and a continuous supply of food.

The boy was born into this barren world and knows nothing else. His father has tried to teach him all that he can so that he is able to survive, or end his own life if necessary. The boy seems to face up to the reality of their situation much sooner in the story than the father and is very perceptive.

The end of the book, is just the end of this story and leaves room for speculation on what will happen to the boy, how many survivors (or "good" people "carrying the fire") really are left, and what the world will become in the future for those continuing to live in it.

I enjoyed this book. It starts out slow but than becomes an intense story of survival that made me want to keep reading (spoiler: a baby is cooked over a fire). Although they never really say what happened on earth to bring about the extinction of most life (even cows), it does paint a good picture on how humans act and what they do to survive. I can't wait to see that movie (although, movies never are as good as the books they are based on).

Next book: Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden

2010-02-04T23:01:00.000-08:00

I didn't have a chance to zip over to the library today (my day off) because I accidentally slept until 3:33pm this afternoon (I also missed the bank). I did however manage to find a book on my roommate's bookshelf that looked like a good read: The Road.

Reviews call it "wildly powerful" and "consistently brilliant.".. I mean, it was in Oprah's book club and involve both the apocalypse and cannibals.

I'm hoping for good things or disappointment will be had.

Dear John... in your pants

2010-02-03T15:37:00.000-08:00

RECOMMEND (for a quickie read)

Nicholas Sparks, oh how all your books are exactly the same.

I heard from many people that this book was great. I heard that the ending was sad. I heard that it was a good love story. I heard that I should be excited to see the movie because Channing Tatum is in it.

The book started off at a slow pace, doing mostly background information and building the main character's, well, his character... so that you feel for him in the end. The book is broken down into three parts, which I will describe as follows - Part 1: boy's life and boy meets girl. Part 2: boy and girl separate and grow apart. Part 3: boy visits girl years later and can't be with her (but secretly helps out her sick, ailing, saint of a husband).

As I said in my recommendation, this was a good book to read during the day when I wanted to keep things light. It was a quick read (I read the whole thing today). It kept me busy during down time at work and was very easy to follow and feel smart that you predicted the next course of actions.

The only down side was that the story was very ordinary and not very special. It was told in a corny way like the entire book was coated in sugar. Even the parts where the main character (John, if you didn't already guess) was talking about the army and going to war were almost boring to read. If you've liked Sparks's other books than you will like this, but just don't expect too much, because it is a typical 'chick-book' and not much else.

Next Book: don't know. going library browsing tomorrow.

2010-02-02T23:22:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to figure out how I am going to rate the books that I read, but so far... not coming up with anything. SO, I'm just going to either recommend or not recommend the books that I read (hopefully I'll come up with something more creative soon).

Here are some books that I've read recently that I feel I can recommend:
- Jennifer Government, by Max Barry
- Shutter Island, by Dennis Lehane
- Paper Towns; Looking for Alaska; An Abundance of Katherine, all by John Green
- Darkly Dreaming Dexter, by Jeff Lindsey
- Something Borrowed; Something Blue, both by Emily Giffin
- Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
- Book of Lost Things, by John Connolly
- The Southern Vampire Novels, by Charlene Harris (inspired the show "True Blood")
- The Gunslinger, by Hugh Laurie (he plays House.. on "House")
- Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet, by Joanne Proulx
- Ordinary People, by Judith Guest
- Cirque du Freak: A Living Nightmare, by Darren Shan

Not Recommend:
- The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett (it was just very long and seemed like it would never end)
- The Shack, by William Young (what a ridiculous book. the message wasn't bad, but it was told in a completely ridiculous way, in a way that was just the stupidest way ever)

Those are the ones that I can remember off the top of my head, but I know there were others!

Current Book: Dear John, by Nicholas Sparks

Breathers... in your pants

2010-02-01T21:54:00.000-08:00

RECOMMEND

To quote the blurb on the back of the book: it's kind of a "rom-zom-com".

If your unfamiliar with this book, it's basically a zombie book. There's zombie decaying, zombie protests, zombie human flesh consuming, and zombie love. I thought this book was very enjoyable.

It stars a zombie named Andy, who was recently killed in a car crash where his wife died and he is now one of the undead. In this fictional society, zombies have been around for a while. There are support groups (UA: undead anonymous)and protocols for when a zombie is seen in public (calling the SPCA so they can be carted off to animal kennels). Andy, after unknowingly consuming human flesh from his new friend Roy, begins to feel different - he's more ambitious and attuned to the needs of zombie rights; he begins to feel trapped in his home, or rather the wine cellar where his parents keep him because he smells like rotting flesh; he starts to fall in love with fellow UA member Rita and has lots of hot zombie sex.

Long story short: human (breather) flesh is the medicine to heal the inevitable zombie rot to death.

The book was well written and kept me wanting to read more (I finished it very fast). It was funny and ironic and sad, although the ending escalates rather quickly.

Mom's ribs were delicious!

Next book: Dear John, Nicholas Sparks

2010-01-31T20:56:00.001-08:00

If you aren't familiar with the Vlogbrothers on YouTube, that is where I first heard the "in your pants" joke. What that is, is you can add "in your pants" to any book title and it becomes instantly better.

Examples:
An Abundance of Katherines... in your pants.
Jennifer Government... in your pants.
Breaking Dawn... in your pants.
The Dark Half... in your pants.

I took the liberty of finding the first video to mention the "in your pants" joke, if you need further reference:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo7UCwBuUao

I decided to start this blog as a way to keep track of the books I read and whether I think that they are any good. So often I'll read books and then quickly forget about them... someone will ask me if a book that I own is any good and I can't give them an answer. Now, I know I've read the book, but the plot and enjoyableness of the book draws a blank. So, here we go...

Current Book: Breathers, by S.G. Browne