The Forest of Hands and Teeth, by Carrie Ryan

I don't know where I first heard about this book, but I had been looking for it in Cleveland for quite a while — I wanted to read it, but I had too many other books to read to bother putting it on hold. When I was at my library in Jacksonville the other day looking for a completely different book, that I could not find for the life of me even with the help of a librarian, I was like, hmm. Is it here? It was!

And then I read it. Way.

At first, I was concerned that the book would be like the movie The Village, which was TERRIBLE and no one should ever have to watch it. It starts off rather the same, with creepy things in the woods that break in every once in a while and then the villagers have to hide lest they be taken away. I don't remember what's supposed to happen to those villagers in The Village (traumatic experiences and all that), but in this book they get eated and turned into ZOMBIES. A zombie book! Yessssss!

That's all you really need to know about this book — well, I guess also that it's a young adult novel so it's all full of teenage protagonists and whatnot. But whatever, ZOMBIES. Nomnomnombrains.

Welllllll... okay, so there are zombies, which is awesome, but they are really secondary to this story of a crappy future where zombies have taken over and there's a village run by fundamentalists who keep lots of secrets and they tell everyone that there's nothing else out there, just this village and these zombies (well, they say Unconsecrated, but zombies) but our hero, Mary, is all "My mother told me about the ocean" and not really down with what those fundamentalists are selling. It's more than zombies. But there are zombies. And sequels, which I will definitely be reading.

Rating: 8/10
(Support Your Local Library Challenge)

See also:
book-a-rama
Book Addiction
Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'?
books i done read
Devourer of Books
Book Nut

Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.

Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go, by Dale E. Basye

Teehee. This is a really cute little book. Do you remember watching your favorite shows as a kid and loving them, and then watching them again as an adult and going, "Wooooow. There are a lot of jokes in here that I would not have gotten all those years ago"? That is totally what this book is like. For example, when the kids get to Heck, after dying in a freak marshmallow explosion accident at the Mall of Generica in Kansas, Marlo says, "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." Or when one of the many other dead kids in Heck realizes he's heard of his teacher, a Mr. R. Nixon, before, he says, "You're that crook from the history books!" Nixon's response? "I was NOT a crook!" There is a lot of that. It is mostly hilarious.

The story itself is iffy, but who needs it? Basically, the aforementioned flaming marshmallows land Marlo and Milton (oh, gosh, another pun: after Milton loses the dice off his ferret's collar, he puts up a sign reading "Milton's pair of dice: lost." It's terrible and awesome all at the same time) in Heck, where the bad kids go, until forever or their eighteenth birthdays. Marlo, a bad kid, is not really okay with this, but Milton, a very very good kid, is incredibly upset. After a few days of lame Heck school and lame Heck food, they decide to bust out, with the help of someone called Virgil, of course.

This is the first book in a series, but I probably won't read the rest unless I have a craving for delicious fluffy puns.

Rating: 7/10
(Support Your Local Library Challenge)

See also:
books i done read
Reading in Appalachia
Back to Books

Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.

The Invisible Gorilla, by Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons

A few months ago, I listened to a pretty interesting book on CD called How We Decide. I liked it, it was an interesting topic, but by the end of the CD I was all, "I am going to pistol-whip the next guy that says 'pre-frontal cortex.'"

Basically, you could go to that review, swap out the titles, and replace "pre-frontal cortex" with "illusion" and you've got my review of this book.

Don't get me wrong, it was good for the first five or six hours (out of nine-ish?) that Scott and I listened to it on our drive from Cleveland to Jacksonville. The title story is really the best, and there are a lot of other good examples of people overestimating themselves or being overestimated by people — the book is basically about how we think we're awesome at remembering things or at talking on cell phones while driving, but we are so not.

But then it starts getting old, and THEN the authors go into a diatribe about how you should totally get your kids vaccinated, which I agree with but man, I was starting to think about not vaccinating my hypothetical children out of spite. It was seriously annoying.

Once we weren't stuck in the car anymore, it was hard to get up the will to finish this book, but we did, and it does end on a good note. But like How We Decide, I would highly recommend getting it in book form so that you can skim the super annoying and super boring parts.

Rating: 7/10
(Countdown Challenge: 2010, Support Your Local Library Challenge)

See also:
[your link here]

Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.

The Physics of the Buffyverse, by Jennifer Ouellette

This is the first book I checked out from my new library system in Florida, so I'm glad it was fairly decent. :) It was on a shelf full of non-fiction science books, which are okay in general, but one look at that title and I was sold. I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer, even though I've seen probably only half of the episodes (this is getting slowly rectified through the wonders of Netflix), and I've been in an on-again, off-again relationship with physics for a long time, so why wouldn't I pick up this book?

Now, I'd say you really need to have some sort of relationship with physics to read this book. It's not so much "The Physics of the Buffyverse" as it is "Regular Physics Explained Through the Use of Events in Buffy and Angel," which is still cool but by the time you get to string theory, your head might explode, and not because of a scream that resonates as the same frequency as your head (Ouellette's explanation for the death of the Gentlemen).

Other than that, the writing is solid and Ouellette does a pretty good job keeping the confusing bits interesting. I was just really hoping for some creative made-up physics rather than the "Well, this could never happen, but here's something similar that could" avoidances, so I ended up disappointed. In the book, anyway. All of the little spoilers Ouellette gives out have made me even more excited to watch Buffy, and even Angel, which I have never actually seen. Let me just run off to my television now...

Rating: 7/10
(Countdown Challenge: 2006, Support Your Local Library Challenge)

See also:
[your link here]

Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.

Tell-All, by Chuck Palahniuk

What a... very odd book. I'm not really sure what to say about it. I definitely would not have picked it up except that my book club is reading it this month, and I almost didn't want to read it anyway.

Maybe it's because I don't follow a lot of celebrity things and have never read a tell-all book, but I really really really hated all the name-dropping, made even more irritating by the fact that every proper noun was in bold face. It's mostly spread out, but every once in a while there's a sentence like, "By now, Lillian Hellman wraps two fists around the invisible throat of Adolf Hitler, reenacting how she sneaked into his subterranean Berlin bunker, dressed as Leni Riefenstahl, her arms laden with black-market cartons of Lucky Strike and Parliament cigarettes, and then throttled the sleeping dictator in his bed." And then I cry.

The really exciting bit (one might call it the plot) doesn't come until halfway through the book, but once it starts it's quite interesting. I was sure the book was going to end one way, and it sort of did but there was more to it that I had not at all anticipated. I like that. But I wouldn't read this again, or make you read it, either.

Rating: 5/10
(Countdown Challenge: 2010, Support Your Local Library Challenge)

See also:
[your link here]

Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.

Booking Through Thursday — The Meme

Today's Booking Through Thursday is a big long series of questions, which is awesome 'cause I haven't done one of these in a while. Let's begin!

1. Favorite childhood book?
The Secret Garden — I had three different copies of this book. Sadly, I couldn't really tell you the plot of this book today. I should really go re-read it.

2. What are you reading right now?
Fingersmith, by Sarah Waters

3. What books do you have on request at the library?
-goes to look- Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins (because I hope it's better than Catching Fire); The Lifecycle of Software Objects, by Ted Chiang (that one is for the hubby); Scott Pilgrim Vol. 1, by Bryan Lee O'Malley; and Death Note Vol. 4, by Tsugumi Ohba.

4. Bad book habit?
I am pretty much incapable of reading a paperback book without cracking the spine. I try not to, but it is inevitable.

5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?
Let's see... Foiled, by Jane Yolen (which I just finished); Fingersmith, by Sarah Waters; The House of Tomorrow, by Peter Bognanni; One Amazing Thing, by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni; Girls on the Edge, by Leonard Sax; Get Connected, by RoseMary Honnold; The Island of Lost Maps, by Miles Harvey; and finally Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, by Roddy Doyle.

6. Do you have an e-reader?
No, but I may break down and get a Sony Reader someday.

7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?
I can't really do several, but I often end up taking a break from one and reading another, like I did with Foiled because I wanted to read it and knew it would be short. Or I can be reading a book and have an audiobook going in my car. Once it gets past, like, three books I'm done.

8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
I certainly read a lot more, though I don't know if that's a blog thing or a having-lots-of-time being-unemployed thing. I also don't have as many impulse reads as I used to, because I've got this big long list of TBR books from the blogs I read!

9. Least favorite book you read this year (so far?)
Cat Breaking Free. Wow, that was a painful one.

10. Favorite book you’ve read this year?
I'm going to go with I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President. Highly amusing.

11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
Often, I suppose? Because I get most of my recommendations from the blogs, I'll read pretty much anything that sounds interesting to me.

12. What is your reading comfort zone?
I'm not sure I have one! There are genres I avoid in general, like romances and westerns and epic fantasy, but if someone tells me there's a good book in one of those genres I'll go read it willingly.

13. Can you read on the bus?
Back when I worked ten-hour days, those fifteen-minute train rides were the only time I had for reading! I got through books very slowly those days. Then I got jobs that required car rides. I miss public transit like whoa, especially here in JAX where buses come every hour or more instead of every fifteen minutes.

14. Favorite place to read?
I'll read pretty much anywhere. I do like reading in my comfy brown chair, though.

15. What is your policy on book lending?
I only lend to people I trust to return my books.

16. Do you ever dog-ear books?
Nope.

17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
Only if I'm planning on writing a paper about them!

18. Not even with text books?
Especially not textbooks. I resell them as much as possible.

19. What is your favorite language to read in?
Well, English. I am a very slow reader in French.

20. What makes you love a book?
The same things that make me love a person — not that I know what those are. :)

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
It depends on the book, and the person I'm recommending it to. But if I am madly in love with a book, I'll tell pretty much anyone to read it.

22. Favorite genre?
Anything with a bit of fantasy in it.

23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)
Mysteries... I used to read these all the time but have fallen off recently.

24. Favorite biography?
Haha, I don't read those.

25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
Yes. I highly recommend He's Just Not That Into You, if you are a lady with man troubles, which is an entirely-too-large number of ladies, I think.

26. Favorite cookbook?
Um? I have a few cookbooks, but I tend to be a simple cooker — hamburgers and chicken and pasta and every once in a while a really tasty lasagna.

27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?
Er... I guess The Game On! Diet, which has inspired me to kick some butt.

28. Favorite reading snack?
I am way too busy reading to eat at the same time.

29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.
Catching Fire.

30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
Well, I generally only take recommendations from people or critics that I have agreed with in the past, so really quite often.

31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
Dude. Castle. I felt even less bad about hating that book when I got an e-mail on GoodReads from someone saying, "I see you read Castle, I bet you'd like this incredibly similar book!" Mmhmm.

32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose?
I wish I could read better in French. But if I had to pick a new language, I'd pick Japanese. I always feel like I'm missing something in those translations.

33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?
Pillars of the Earth. Looooooooong book, and historical.

34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?
World Without End, by the same author.

35. Favorite Poet?
William Cullen Bryant. Love me some "Thanatopsis."

36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
Usually about ten, depending on how fast I read and how fast my holds come in.

37. How often have you returned book to the library unread?
Not too terribly often. I usually end up speed-reading them right before they go back, and then loving them.

38. Favorite fictional character?
Thursday Next.

39. Favorite fictional villain?
Hmm, I don't think I have one! I'll have to think about this.

40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?
Anything not very heavy (hence the need for a Sony Reader!). Also things that I might not read without all the free time of vacation.

41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.
Hmm. I probably went a month or two at a time without reading anything fun during all those years in school.

42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.
Nightlight: A Parody... it was worse than Twilight.

43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
Not much, if I'm really into the book. If I'm not... really anything will distract me.

44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel?
Stardust.

45. Most disappointing film adaptation?
Any of the Harry Potter movies after the third one.

46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
Goodness. Probably around $50? It's been a long time since I've gone bookstore spree-ing.

47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?
Never.

48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
Lack of plot line, terrible characters, poor writing... a lot of things.

49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
My books aren't really organized, though I do keep series together and I try to keep genres together (with varying levels of success).

50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
I only buy books that I've read and loved, so they stay with me unless I lend them out.

51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?
The Lord of the Rings series. I read maybe 100 pages of the first one a long time ago, and I have been making excuses for not having read them ever since.

52. Name a book that made you angry.
See my previous note on Castle.

53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
On the Road. You win, Mary.

54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
The Weatherman's Daughters.

55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
Graphic novels. So much good artwork!

The Chalk Circle Man, by Fred Vargas

I have... absolutely no idea where I heard about this book, but I heard about it somewhere and was like, "zomg I must read this!" So I put it on hold at the library, and many moons later it finally came in, and I read it. I know, you're like, "No way." Way.

Right. Back on topic. No idea why I read this book, and no real expectations going in, which was probably a good thing, as it is French and therefore super-weird. Just a couple pages in, there is the greatest dialogue of the whole book, which I cannot transcribe for you because I had to return the book to the library pretty much ten seconds after I finished reading it, but which involves Shakespeare-level puns on blindness. The dialogue goes downhill from there, but it is still amusing.

It is a mystery, and the mystery is that there is some guy drawing chalk circles around Paris. Terrifying, yes? He's been drawing them around random bits of garbage, but a detective called Adamsberg who is sort of like Sherlock Holmes but French and a little daft thinks that soon enough there will be a dead body in one of them, so he has his officers go out and photograph garbage for a while. Then, of course, there is a dead body, and the hunt is on!

There are a lot of potential killers, and I thought Vargas did a really good job of leading me around — I thought I knew whodunnit, then I was like, crap, no I don't, and then I was like NO WAY that is ridiculous and also awesome. There is really no character development to speak of, but I still enjoyed all of the characters that she created in their one-dimensional wonder. I guess this is part of a series of Adamsberg mysteries, so I might have to check the rest of them out someday.

Rating: 7/10
(Orbis Terrarum Challenge: France, Support Your Local Library Challenge)

See also:
Back to Books

Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.