ARC, Books

Book 121: The Absolutist – John Boyne

Where to begin…seriously. I finished this novel Monday night after a whirlwind read—I could not put it down. I stumbled across this novel on Net Galley and requested a copy from the publisher and I am incredibly glad I did! The following is my honest response and the views/opinions are my own. I did not receive compensation to review the novel.

I’ve divided my response into three parts: my response to the novel, a brief comparison and my (rambling) thoughts and questions to those who have also read the novel. If you have any desire to read the novel (WHICH YOU SHOULD ALL BE!), don’t read part three. I’ll try not to say explicitly, but it may give some parts away. Sorry it’s such a long post, but it’s such a good book! I will definitely have to re-read it as I didn’t come close to discussing everything I wanted to discuss!

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2012 Challenges, Books

Book 120: The Phantom of Pemberley – Regina Jeffers

Yay for a quick enthralling read! We all know I discovered a love for Jane Austen fan-fiction last year and picked up quite a few volumes at the time. Some I was (and still am) not so sure about and this is one of those. I’m not quite so sure about this one, but at least it counts towards my Mount TBR Reading Challenge.

The major plus to this novel is that the story itself was gripping enough to keep me interested and there was just enough of a plot twist to make me constantly second guess what I deduced early on. The downside to the novel itself was Jeffers writing. Although she tells a captivating story, I wasn’t quite convinced that it was regency era enough for me. It definitely brought in the seedier side of things, but the language and revelations of the story just didn’t have the eloquence which Austen’s originals had. And the quoting was sometimes a bit erratic, like ‘Oh I think I’ll throw in a Pride and Prejudice quote here. And the WORST part was that she even through in an entire scene/section that was pulled directly out of Mansfield Park which really bothered me for some reason.

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Book Group, Books

Book 106: First Blood – David Morrell

Everybody loves a quick read, whether it’s because it’s light or because it’s well written everyone loves one! I would not have gone out of my way to read this book, especially with the cover looking as it does, but my Books into Movies book group chose to read it and here it is. As usual it will be very interesting to hear what book group has to say about the novel and the characters!

Taking place over a span of 3-4 days we follow John Rambo, a former Marine back from Vietnam, and Will Teasle, a veteran of the Korean war, and their battle in Kentucky. The premise makes sense – a soldier with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder is picked up for being a vagrant and when pushed around a bit too much he snaps. And the mayhem that follows is what this book is all about.

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2012 Challenges, Books

Book 103: After Delores – Sarah Schulman

If you have ever been spurned in love, then you know exactly what the unnamed narrator of After Delores is going through. And over the four months of the book she goes through a lot and most (if not all) of it is somehow connected to Delores. This book counts as number 10 of 25 for the 2012 Mount TBR Reading Challenge. This is also my 18th book of the year, meaning I have read 30% of my goal of 60 books this year putting me roughly 6%/4 books ahead of schedule allowing me a little flexibility over the next few weeks.

After Delores reminded me of how much one event can effect an individual’s life. Something as seemingly small as a break up (especially a bad break up) can be life defining. It is clearly a stretch, but this made me think about history and those epic events that happen in an era (think 9/11, any major war) and how the news media casts everything in either the pre- or post-event light. This is what Schulman does but on the individual scale.

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2012 Challenges, Books, The Classics Club

Book 102: Murder on the Orient Express – Agatha Christie

It has been a long time since I read a (non-young adult fiction) book in a day, but this novel certainly sucked me in. It was very easy to read and I enjoyed the characters. And it’s not like I spent the day in my room reading, I was out and about getting my haircut and running errands!

I’ve always wondered how some people are able to read 100+ books in a year (and I may be wrong), but reading novels like this where you fly through the pages could have something to do with it! I would definitely love to go back and read some more of Christie’s works, but I doubt I will unless I participate in some sort of mystery challenge. On the plus side, this book counts towards THREE challenges! It counts towards my Mount TBR Reading Challenge (9/25) and counts as the first book for both the Back to the Classics Challenge (1/9) and The Classics Club (1/85)!

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