I've been doing a pretty good job regularly reading books lately. I've nearly finished my first alphabetical read of everything on my Kindle from 2014 or before, and now I'm about to start my alphabetical read of everything I've bought on Kindle since then. So it seems like a good time to start a new blog series that hopefully I'll update every so often. These are the last 10 books I read and, very briefly, what I thought of them.
1. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. I somehow ended up with two purchased versions of this book, one illustrated, one not. I didn't have high hopes for it, as my only reference point was the really dull Andrew Lloyd Webber musical adaptation, which I saw on Broadway several years ago. The book is... a little better, but still not exciting in any way. I like how it switches back and forth between several different narrative points of view, but the narrative itself is somehow simultaneously both convoluted and tedious, and I never feel that it comes to a satisfying conclusion. 4/10.
2. You Never Can Tell by George Bernard Shaw. A play by the famed English writer. This had some good witticisms and some interesting commentary on relationships, even though it ultimately falls a little flat. 6/10.
3. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. How on earth did this become some sort of symbol of gothic romance? The characters in this book are all awful people. Heathcliff is a cruel, abusive person, and Cathy is a petulant, spoiled brat, and they're never portrayed as anything other than such by the author, so how did it come to be known as anything like a love story? It's such an unpleasant narrative thanks to its repulsive characters. 2/10.
4. Sea of Silver Light (Otherland #4) by Tad Williams. I finally finished up my reread of the Otherland series, which is four very, very large books that I hadn't read in ages. By the time I got to this one, I was fully re-engrossed in the world and zoomed through it faster than the other three in the series, despite the fact that it's like 1200 pages long. I had forgotten how it ended and found it both fascinating and moving. 8/10.
5. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Oh gosh, this is such an engaging read. 9/10.
6. Accidental Saints by Nadia Bolz-Weber. I do so like Nadia from her online presence but I'd never read a full book by her. I love how open she is about her shortcomings and how much grace she has for God to be working in the lives of people around her. 8/10.
7. Against the Twilight by Donald James Parker. Uh, so I don't remember why I had this on my Kindle. I feel like somebody I know asked me to read it and snark it for the blog. Unfortunately, while it's bad, it's not quite Rothdiener bad. There's some actually tense moments and none of it is written as incompetently as good ol' JLR's stuff. It is pretty terrible, though -- it's about a Christian guy convincing a woman who's written an incredibly popular vampire series that vampire books are demonic, and then you THINK they're going to get married, but nope, they each hear from God that they're supposed to marry someone else, so they quickly propose to that other person despite having not been in any kind of dating relationship with them prior. It's just right into engagement time. That's always smart relationship building. 1/10.
8. After Alice by Gregory Maguire. Why do I keep reading Gregory Maguire books? Next time I'm about to, somebody stop me. His prose is so pretentious I can't handle it. And nine times out of ten, his stories go NOWHERE. This is an example. Ugh. 1/10.
9. The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey. I remembered mildly enjoying the movie of this when it came out, and I mildly enjoyed this. The shifting POVs were pretty well done, the reveal is smart. It's not great characterization but it's a fun little post-apocalyptic YA book, especially if you have a fondness for that genre (as I do). 6/10.
10. All the Dirty Parts by Daniel Handler. Well, the title is correct, this book is pretty dirty, and at first I wondered if that was legitimately all I was going to get. But then it takes some interesting twists and turns emotionally as it goes on. I'm not convinced that I care for how it ends, but it's a surprisingly compelling journey to get there. 6/10.
What have you read lately? And have you read any of these? Share your thoughts!
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