251 replies to this topic

[Kamau]

Saving Eve, by Iris Johansen. Though I've been way too distracted playing Kingdom Hearts to make much progress. (It's a great book though!)

[kspr]

Behold A Pale Horse by William Cooper

[Kamau]

Finished Saving Eve; Onward to Close Your Eyes, by Iris Johansen!

[Stars]

Reread Lost at Sea since I got the colorized anniversary edition a while back. There's not much to it, but it's engaging enough.

[Kamau]

I'm not reading it just yet, but because I have all of you to blame for this particular buy...

 

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[Vicious Parker]

Ha. I know I'm not the first member here to have read it, but am I a trend starter?

 

Yes. Yes I am.

[Stars]

Excellent life decision.

[Kamau]

Finished the book I was reading but instead of going on to the logical choice, I instead ended up starting Secrets of a Shoe Addict by Beth Harbison

 

I originally picked it off the shelf because the title amused me and I wanted to tease a friend with it, but then it actually sounded interesting. I'm already over halfway done with it and I started it about 4 hours ago. 

[Stars]

Been getting back into The Shadow Rising and actually making some progress again. Less than 400 pages left to go now.

[Kamau]

I'm not reading it just yet, but because I have all of you to blame for this particular buy...

 

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Done aaand done.

 

Spoiler-laden review below.

 

Spoiler

Overall, there were things I liked about it and things I didn't. Comparing it to the movie, I think each handled certain parts in different ways that I enjoyed. For instance, Sophie's curse - I enjoy how the movie handled that better than the book. In the movie, I could visibly see how the curse affected her, and it was really great watching how she gradually de-aged throughout the course of it. In the book, I barely even noticed when the curse was lifted because the book barely mentioned it until after the effect. All her 'de-aging' symptoms were explained via Howl saying 'you're welcome for that', and her curse was explained by him saying 'IDK Sophie, I guess you just like being old because you're doing it to yourself.' I preferred the interpretation I got from the movie, dealing with her confidence in herself. 

 

In the book, she, at least to me, seemed confident all the time. She was a spitfire, which I really got a kick out of, but that left no room for my movie-curse interpretation, so I was left without a mental explanation. I did enjoy in the book how it wasn't Sophie's fault for getting cursed at all - the Witch's intended victim had been her sister. So it was no wonder Sophie had no idea what she was talking about, whereas in the movie it really just looked like the Witch was having a fit about a hat.

 

I will say, I loved how in the book Sophie had her own magic, and how it was used. I thought it was used well throughout the book, and it made a lot of sense, how she was able to help Calcifer out in the end because of it.

 

I really liked the twist at the end with the Witch's fire demon. I realized in hindsight that I should have seen it coming, but I was too focused on other things.

 

Character-wise, I'm in a toss-up. I enjoyed Howl's behavior and personality in the book, but I prefer the movie's gradual deepening of Howl and Sophie's relationship. I feel like it was rushed in the book, jumping from non-existent to 'let's live happily ever after' with maybe two mentions to the thought that Howl was actually interested in Sophie. And even then, when he commented that he'd hoped her jealousy would keep the demon out, I honestly thought he was just using her the entire time. But then he flipped and went on about happy endings in just a few pages.

 

I enjoyed Sophie's family more in the book; I love how her sisters swapped places and displayed their individual personalities. But I didn't really enjoy the whole 'I'm the eldest, so I'm destined to fail' bit. They kept bringing it back up throughout the book but never really explained (to my satisfaction, at least) exactly why it was like this. Where did each sister's destiny come from? How long has it been around? It seems like common knowledge but all we really learned was that for some reason or another, the youngest child is the most successful. Which I don't really get. 

 

And I think the last point I can recall wanting to comment on, it felt like there were a lot of excess characters who I ended up mixing up a lot. As a rule of thumb, I'm never a fan when every character that is introduced is miraculously connected to the overall plot. Like, how Prince Justin just happened to have fallen for one of Sophie's sisters, and how Michael just happened to have fallen for the other (this one was cute though) and how the dogman just happened to have known Lettie without having seen her before. I know, I know, in this kind of book you just take it and roll with it. It's just a personal distaste of mine, and honestly, all the characters and their relations to other characters sometimes got convoluted in my mind.

 

I did enjoy the book very much, and it was a very fast read for me. As I mentioned when I started, there were some points I enjoyed better in the movie, and some I enjoyed better in the book. For anyone who likes the movie (and even those who don't) I definitely recommend the book.

[Phalanxman]

I've got a fever and the only cure is more Atlas Shrugged.

[Stars]

I don't remember who here said it was their favorite book, but I just picked up a used copy of WebMage. I expect to be impressed since an MPer indirectly recommended it.

[Kamau]

I'm reading Beautiful Creatures, by Kami Garcia. I watched the movie last year or so and really enjoyed it, but the book is waaaay better. Plus, I'm really excited to get through it and then go find the other 3 books in the quartet, to see where the story goes from the end of book 1.

[Stars]

Finally finished The Shadow Rising!

 

Unsure if I want to go straight into Fires of Heaven next. I'll probably take a break from WoT and read something else.

[Puffin]

I don't know why I don't post in this topic, like, ever. Since it was started I've read Red Seas Under Red Skies, The Republic of Thieves, Beauty Sleep, Othello, and, since Kamau posted here about it, I also listened to her copy of the audio book for Divergent.

I've started reading A Dance with Dragons... which is honestly kind of boring so far. I 'unno, I haven't gotten far into it, but I feel like since all of the aforementioned books have much faster pacing (i.e. anything above a crawl) and tend to stick longer with one character, if they switched at all, it's just really, really hard to get back into G.R.R.M.'s books. I might switch over to some light reading in the middle somewhere. My sister did lend me her copy of the Adventure Time Encyclopedia.

[Stars]

Since it seems to be all the rage these days (and since I've been meaning to read it for a while now), I finally started Howl's Moving Castle. Just finished the first chapter, but sadly I'm at work, and my break is about over.

[kspr]

blew through Battle Royale in 2.5 days

[Stars]

Finished Howl's Moving Castle.

 

I still enjoy the movie for the music and visuals, but I much prefer the story in the book.

[Vicious Parker]

Pretty good, no? I only vaguely remember the movie. Though Sophie for some reason made a lot more sense to me in the book that I remember from the movie.

[panda]

Huh, I finally get to contribute to this thread.

 

I picked up a collection of poems by Robert Frost. Amazing how disturbing it can be to bother nature.