320: The Lake

Expectation: This would be a mystery and suspenseful.

The Good

I have been reading so many books that have been epic fails lately that I forgot how it feels to actually like a book.
What I love about Japanese fiction.

• Japanese people think differently than Americans.

I felt that this book was quieter with its messages. American authors try so hard sometimes that it is annoying. I enjoy the style that most Japanese authors write in.  The weirdest thing is that usually at  or near the fifty percent mark of most books I feel angry because at that point this book is not going to have a turn around. All my expectations are not usually met, the book was not what it advertised.  I reached the last 8 pages of The Lake and was like wow this is what this book was. I was okay with the overall story. The funny thing is that this would not seem like a book that at this moment I would like. Right now I have been dnfing or putting books down until later because they are not filled with action.

• messages- I feel that it dealt with so many different messages. So many of the messages are different from Americans opinions.
• Very straight forward, characters are blunt sometimes that it feels rude.

It is not plot driven so do not expect a mystery like I did. Then again after a couple of pages I knew this book was not going to be that.

The Bad

Sometimes the book had message or moments were I was like what. This happens when I watch Japanese dramas there is a moment were some of the messages feel like too much or don’t fit. Sometimes the main characters were really rude for no reason.

Conclusion: I felt happy and ready to read more books. This is the feeling I should feel after reading a book. I just thought why don’t I read more Japanese fiction? I need to read more Japanese fiction.

332: Peter Pan

The Good

I started reading this book online a while back. I tried to keep reading it but it was not happening. So I started over from the beginning at the time it was really good and even now I do not regret starting over. When this story is good it is good. Adventure is in full force here. It is darker than  the mass majority of children books.

The Bad

Certain aspects of the book bothered me such as Wendy coming  basically to Neverland to be a maid mother.  I know that I probably have to take into account time period but it still bothered me.  Once I finished Peter Pan I did not feel a urge to continue to Kensington Garden so it is a dnf.

The Meh

I just feel that overall it will be a okay forgettable book. Yes, I will go on rants about other books or media keeping true to the story but this book does not have a place in my heart.

325:The Observations

The Good

The beginning introduced me to a character who had a unique voice. At first the mystery was interesting.  I got little tidbits here and there adding to the mystery. I did get something out of it even in the last half of book.

The Bad

Unfortunately, like Tigana the tidbits are a ploy that lures you into thinking that the story is going to go somewhere. No this book does not go anywhere important or interesting. Just like Tigana, once I reached close to 50 percent of this book I got bored and angry. I stopped caring. The ending was anticlimactic.  A climax involves a book that does not drag on a story that could have been cleared up in 250 pages or less. I sometimes think it is crazy that I put down books so much. Then I am introduced to books like The Observations and realize that there is a fundamental reason some books get put down so easily. The mystery turned out to be really lame.  The pacing was terrible. I made excuses for the book using such words as it is “slow”. I believed that there was foundation being layered to get to something more interesting. Then the main character randomly gets feelings she did not have in the first place. It felt convenient for the author to progress the story. Then the back story of the maid was mildly interesting but after a while the author kept milking it to garner sympathy from the reader. I stopped caring a long time ago so it just felt like a bunch of filler at this point. A lot of this story feels like filler to a mystery that once again could have been dealt with in half the pages.

Conclusion: You are wondering why did I finish this book while actively being bored by it? Why did I finish a book that I knew in my heart of hearts was not going anywhere? I do not know honestly.

319: Clotel

Synopsis “The first novel published by an African-American, Clotel takes up the story, in circulation at the time, that Thomas Jefferson fathered an illegitimate mulatto daughter who was sold into slavery. Powerfully reimagining this story, and weaving together a variety of contemporary source materials, Brown fills the novel with daring escapes and encounters, as well as searing depictions of the American slave trade. An innovative and challenging work of literary invention, Clotel is receiving much renewed attention today.”

The Good

• There are a lot of oh snap moments.  This book adequately addresses and refutes all the pro-slavery arguments.  I usually hear the bible scripture about how a slave should obey their master. But, I never have ever heard the counter scripture that refutes that scripture. A lot of the ideas that Williams Wells Brown writes about is ideas that we believe today. I was surprised in a way to see these ideas presented during this time period. The way that history is taught sometimes makes me believe that people during these times would not think certain ways.
• Poems I like how the poems were integrated into the story. Using the poems at the beginning of chapters is a common practice in classic novels. William Wells Brown uses a poem at the beginning and end of the chapters.
• The non-fiction elements add to the story.  William Wells Brown uses real stories in Clotel. The non-fiction elements add realism to the story.
• To see a classic novel that show African-American characters who are not a stereotyped or offensive is so nice.

The Bad

I personally avoid slavery books most of the time because I assume that they are going to be depressing. It was not depressing for many reasons. One of the reasons it was not depressing is I felt a wall that stopped me from connecting with the characters. I wish that the story would have gotten into their personal lives. Instead the story jumps from one character to another only offering a snippet of what happened to progress the story.

Book Cover

My next idea is using a doll on the cover to represent Clotel. One of the important things is her light to the point that she can pass as white skin tone. That is a very important aspect to the novel.

My other idea was for her to wear a suit which she does not  necessarily have to wear in this idea. I think that black dolls need to be on book covers more in general.

Library Checkout {8}

Finished

 + One of the things I worried about is if knowing the basic plot and being spoiled would ruin the story. I am happy to say that it did not ruin story and actually gave the story a different feel. Honestly, since I did not see the movie I did not know every point of the story anyway.

+ It did not feel dated

+ All the characters were interesting

+It is a short book coming in at 175 pages

+ It made me excited about the horror genre which has in the past given me mostly duds

I could not get into this…

[to a bit of chapter 2]

[up to a bit of chapter 4]

+Introduction of Tara

Con: Jumping around from this to that without explaining or making me invest in anything. It did not take time to make me care about her, any of the other characters, or the story.

I went to the library to checkout the other thing I had on hold. I decided not to get anymore books. I was on time constraints first of all so I could not be in the library for too long. Then I did not want to get any books that were too big of a commitment. So nothing at 1,000 or 500 pages. Before going to the library I wanted to read the books I own anyway. No library hauls until next year, maybe.

Thank You

1. Tumblr- so many like-minded individuals
2. Goodreads- a collective who like to read and have given me hope in terms of the books out there
3. Blogs- I am thankful for all the great blogs that I follow and read on a daily basis.
4. Blogging- I have come to know myself better as a reader and brought my books left to read down.
5. Netflix- There are so many great books and movies there.
6. The Internet- it connects me to an enormous amount of  people and things.

Library

7.Free books!

8. Atmosphere and feeling that comes from going to the library. The feeling of so many possibilities and books.

9. I have discovered so many great books that I would not discover normally.

10. It is a steady stream of new books. I can take books back and get new books. There is not limit.

Top Ten Books I Would Recommend to people who watch tv

Television

1. East of Eden~ Twisted [sociopath aspect]/Who the (Bleep)Did I Marry?

2. Roswell High~ Kyle XY/Roswell

3. The Hate List~ Twisted

If you like Japanese dramas

4.  Battle Royale

 

5.  Out

I actually thought specifically of this drama while I was reading this book. All the other books have characteristics that Japanese dramas usually have.

6. The Lake

Movies

7.

Genres

8.

9.

10.

Library Haul 11/21/13

I know that I was supposed to be taking a break but my mom wanted a book from the library.

I at least got less books than I usually do so that is something. I did not get every thing I reserved at the library so I will probably be going back soon.

[Wonder Woman Chronicles volume 1] I rechecked this out for my mom. [Psycho] I saw Hitchcock recently which made me really interested in Psycho. [Three Parts Dead] I am happy to see a woman of color in fantasy.

My brother found this, it looks like action and adventure.

Due 12/12/13

Top Ten Tuesday: If I could Redesign covers

My list in no particular order.

1. My cover

    I like this version better because it gives the book personality.  The simple fact that historical fiction about Korea is underwhelming[read almost zero] used means that the beauty of the hanbok is not seen as much as it could be. So this cover is better.

my cover: 2. Buffalo Girls or most Larry Mcmurty book covers…

The best cover he has is for the Lonesome Dove series. Buffalo Girls needs something that showcases Calamity Jane and the women of the wild west.  I have not read Buffalo Girls but I have read Lonesome Dove which has a lot action and adventure. If Buffalo Girls has action and adventure also the cover artist needed to show that.

 show the women in this book doing some action stuff on the cover. Spice it up !

3. my cover

     

Tess of D’ubervilles- so basically any and almost every other book cover is better than mine.   I actually had a book cover on my book even though it is hard cover. I used to make book covers for all my books. I only recently took all the book covers off my books. I wish that I could find the book cover I used from a magazine to cover my book up to show you.

4. Clotel-  I cannot find my books cover online so this one will be used instead. I actually like most of the covers for Clotel but I wish that there more covers that are different to get it more exposure. Most of the covers are similar to this one a woman looking off somewhere. I wish that cover artists and publishers could spread the redesign love over to some of the lesser know classic books to give them more exposure. I am going to be honest seeing all the covers for books like East of Eden or Frankenstein is a beautiful gift. Nonetheless, it pains me so to see books that barely have one cover get no exposure because they do not get 50 different redesigns a year.

My vision for a new cover design  is from one of the scenes in the book were a woman dresses as a man.

http://www.intothefashion.com/2011/02/inspiration-yves-saint-laurent-1966.html

 

5. my cover: 

leo@fergusrules.com no.no.no. These are the only covers for the novel I need to read this novel so I can do a personal cover redesign.

6. It is so basic. I feel that they used up all the cool cover designs for Sherlock Holmes.

7.   I just feel that this cover is okay but could be so much better. I need to read this so I can come up with a redesign.

8. In result of both books having the same name I keep seeing the cover with the white wig and thinking it is a different cover for my book. I actually like both. Not trying to still the cover design or anything but I think that the cover for Scandalmonger with the wig would look nice for a cover redesign for Scandalmonger by William Safire.

my cover

9. For this one I had a book cover on the book for so long that I forgot what the original cover looked.

How I thought it looked:

My cover:  It really shows why I hated the book. A story that starts out about family is taken over by the

epic(ly lame) romance story.

10. I actually had a girls in dresses redesign cover  for this book but I dnf the book. So this is my chance to show the picture I had in mind for my I love girls in dresses review.

 my cover

We Need More Cover Redesigns

• to get lesser know books (mostly classics) more exposure.
• to depict what is actually inside the book.
• Spice it up!
• To get a wider audience of book readers

If only I was a book designer.

Library Checkout {7}

I believe I lucked out with this haul.
 + dialogue, questions that I ask such as why do the women always have to do domestic stuff in these type of situations gets answered, gore, realistic

Comment: Time to watch the show now.

 + action, I can come into this series without reading all the other issues, back story, bat girl is a dimensional character with baggage

 – some of the dialogue

+ action, adventure, animals, a lot of supernatural and occult, artwork is done by paint which awesome

I did not finish…

 [I will come back and  finish it later] + action right away, dimensional character who is so far a jerk,

 I do not like Neil Gaiman’s books.

Conclusion: I am really liking graphic novels and manga right now. Now, I can finally sit and just read my own books. Hopefully, I will not be complaining about not going to the library after a week.