Friday, July 27, 2012

50 Book Challenge

Awwwwwwww, yeah. I'm back, bitches! I've been reading up a storm, but on my Kindle and iBook apps, so no purty pictures of books for you. What about a random picture of something I like?


Isn't this picture gorgeous? I wish I could remember who it was - it's from an interview with some writer that I read in a weekend newspaper supplement years and years ago, and it's him with his baby daughter in the 60s. I just love it.

Right, so that's out of the way. Books!

32. Heart Shaped Box - Joe Hill. Started well, but rapidly went down hill and towards the end I was skimming big chunks. This is about a has been rock star who collects creepy memorabilia and buys a suit that comes complete with dead owner. Just as an aside, Joe Hill is Stephen King's son.

33. The Art of Mending - Elizabeth Berg. I could spend a lot of time telling you why I hate this book. Suffice to say that this is about a middle-aged woman whose sister tells her she was subjected to years of mental and physical abuse by their mother, and she doesn't really believe it or want to know about it. And we're supposed to sympathise with her (the narrator, not the sister). Really.

34. No Second Chance - Harlan Coben A pretty standard crime novel. Um, from memory a guy gets shot, his wife killed, and their baby girl goes missing. Stuff happens, twists, stupid ending. Very readable but nothing new.

35. Home Safe - Elizabeth Berg. Why do I keep reading this woman's books? This is about a writer who does... something. God, I don't know. I forgot it as soon as I finished it. Short version: nothing happens.

36. Girl Missing - Tess Gerritson. I remember quite liking this while I was reading it, but I can't remember a single thing about it. Missing girl, I guess?

37. You're Next - Gregg Hurwitz. Crime novel, something happened, guy in danger. Whatevs. 

38. Summer of Night - Dan Simmons. This started off so well, but then the author went and killed off the most interesting, well-developed character and it was all downhill from there. And seriously, if you want a retro story about a bunch of kids trying to save their town from an evil entity that includes a creepy spider-monster and a weird, awkward pre-teen sex scene, read Stephen King's It.

39. Four Past Midnight - Stephen King. One of my favourite King books, I picked this up again purely for The Library Policeman, which has always scared the crap out of me since I first read it over 20 years ago. Noodles is currently reading The Langoliers and getting right into it. *tear* So proud.

40. Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn. WOW. I could not put this down. When I finished it, I really didn't like the ending but I was describing it aloud to Noodles and as I said it out loud I started to come around to it and now I think it's kind of cool. If you decide to read this (and I highly recommend you do), it's best to know as little as possible about it. Don't read any reviews - just get stuck in. A woman goes missing and her husband is suspected. That's all you need to know.

41. Dark Places - Gillian Flynn. I loved Gone Girl so much that I had to find the author's other books. Again, if you want to read this it's best to go in blind. It's about a woman whose family was murdered when she was a child, and it involves Satanic worship and a bunch of other things. 

42. Sharp Objects - Gillian Flynn. I read this author's books backwards - this is her first and the most clunky, but it's still immensely readable. A journalist is sent back to her home town to report on a couple of child murders. Twists ensue.

Currently reading: 
 Bad Science (I've been reading this for weeks, I just keep dipping into it when I'm sitting around waiting, like at the doctor's or for a coffee or whatever).
Calories and Corsets: A history of dieting over two thousand years.

4 comments:

  1. Yay, you're back! Never heard of Gillian Flynn but will have a look!

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    1. Hi Gaelle! If you like reading, definitely check it out. But don't read any reviews before you read it!

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  2. I actually thought that was a picture of Johnny Depp when I first saw it. I love it!

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    1. Ooh, he does look a bit like Johnny Depp! I'd never noticed before.

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