LAST DAY TO SUBMIT FOR THE BEGINNING CONTEST! Details here...
I had a bit of time this month to read, and I made sure to read a lot to catch up on my 100 books in a year goal. I'm going to have lots of reading time in August too! I'm glad...
Notes from Underground Anthology - The Literary Lab
The Notes from Underground Anthology is a compilation of short stories, poems, and pictures by twenty-five wonderful writer winners of a contest hosted by The Literary Lab last year. There is amazing variety in this collection, and all of it is well-written, inspiring, and fun.
Misery - Stephen King
Ah, Stephen King. Whenever I read his books, I just feel like writing, especially when I read a book of his involving a writer character. This was a great book about a writer who is kidnapped and held captive by his number one fan, who forces him to write a book especially for her. Quite disturbing, but very fun.
Anthem - Ayn Rand
This is a sort of science fiction story about a man living in a communist society. I wrote a bit about Ayn Rand recently, here.
Post Office - Charles Bukowski
Semi-autobiographical and witty, I liked this book. It was a quick read. It's about the life of a post office worker... I can see how it would not be for everyone, but the author is well known and a great writer, so maybe you'd like it...
The Storm - Frederick Buechner
This is an odd book, based loosely on The Tempest. It is about a man, whose young lover died while giving birth to their child. I wasn't quite in the reading mindset when I read this, so I may have to go to the library and check it out again... Eventually...
Yellow Dog - Martin Amis
Another Martin Amis, one of my favorite authors, and this book did not disappoint. A man gets hit on the head and becomes violent and stuff (I'm so eloquent), and there is a scandal involving a British princess involved. It was interesting and entertaining. But also a bit disturbing, of course, considering that is a Martin Amis novel.
The Plague - Albert Camus
A fictional account of bubonic plague in the 1940s in Algeria, taking place of the course of many months. Exsistentialist/absurdist, this novel was intriguing, with great character development as the doctor and the community suffer through the plague and its effects. Pretty cool, well written, Albert Camus. Yeah.
God Bless You Mr. Rosewater - Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
A lawyer tries to prove insane the drunken firefighter philanthropist, Eliot Rosewater, so his relative can gain control of his company. Kurt Vonnegut has this gift of making things that sound boring turn into exciting adventures. In other books of his, he can make wired things that don't make any sense exciting adventures. I'm not sure exactly what this book, or any of his others really besides Slaughterhouse-Five, is actually about, but it was witty, so, go ahead and read it if you want.
The Touch - F. Paul Wilson
I suppose this series is growing on me. As I said before when I read the first and second books in this series, I was wary to begin because I don't really trust my mother's taste in books, but my dad liked it too, so I decided to give it a try. It is a series of more than fifteen books, and I've officially decided now to read all of them, but obviously not consecutively. This book, The Touch, is about a doctor who discovers one day that he can heal people by touching them, like a faith healer. The writing, as it is in Wilson's other books, is simple but suspenseful. I don't love it, but I'll admit that I like it.
The Island at the End of the World - Sam Taylor
A sort of post-apocalyptic novel about a father and his three children trapped on an island after the great flood. Kind of pretentious, but it was still good.
How the Dead Live - Will Self
Sex, drugs, rock and roll, and dying of cancer. My kind of book! This is a good book by a good author, sort of a story about death, but mostly a story about life. I recommend you read it if you are looking for a laugh, but prepare yourself for some disconcerting scenes as well.
The Almost Moon - Alice Sebold
I seem to have read mostly emotional, disturbing novels this month... This book is about a woman who kills her mother. It takes place over the course of one day. I read The Lovely Bones, by the same author, last year, and I thought it was amazing. This was just as good.
