Monday, September 2, 2013

Mini-reviews #2

Basically my whole summer has been a big blogging slump (in addition to reading slump that I suffered from in the beginning of the summer), so to start from kind of a clean sheet in the beginning of autumn, I'm going to simply mark down all the books I read in summer but did not write about (except for Classics Club ones, since I want to talk about them longer).
 
Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde - there is nothing I did not love about this book, except that I only managed to find a copy with this horrible cover. Covers by Hodder are wonderful and I managed to find four other books out of the first five with these covers (although I had to order them from different sources), but not the second one. Bummer. It's always going to stare at me from the bookshelf yelling "I'M THIS DIFFERENT COVER AND IT'S EVEN MORE ANNOYING 'COS I'M AWESOME AND YOU KNOW THAT".
Anyway, the wonderfully literary-witty-hilarious adventurers of Thursday Next continue in this sequel, which I maybe liked even a tiny bit more than book number one.
 
5/5 on Goodreads.
 
 
Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin - a well-crafted and -flowing book on a sensitive subject of intersex people. Multiple POVs were well done, characters were able to draw my sympathy, there was no sugar-coating and many events happening in the book felt very life-like, instead of fairytale-ish.
Despite its very accessible writing, the book has potential to make you ponder over all kinds of deep and existentialist matters, such as staying true to yourself (trust me, in the light of the subject discussed in the book, it doesn't come off as cheesy as it may sound).
 
4/5 on Goodreads.
 
 
 
May We Be Forgiven by A.M. Homes - how can I even begin to think anything remotely objective about this book, having read it after it became announced as winner of this year's Women's Prize? It was a very different book and it made me curious about the author's other works (apparently she has quite a lot of published texts out!) This was not your smoothly following narrative, no; this book was dry, and snarky, and sarcastic; it dared to make fun of its own heros and the world in general. I can't remember a single descriptive scene from May We Be Forgiven! And that is exactly what I appreciated about this book. Although it did not sway my (undying?) love for Life After Life, I gave May We Be Forgiven a solid
 
4/5 on Goodreads.
 
 
You're All Just Jealous of My Jetpack by Tom Gauld - I won this book full of intelligently funny comic strips from a giveaway, which was perfect since I had almost bought it myself once, earlier. (So I was going to buy it if I didn't win it.) If you haven't visited Tom Gauld's Tumblr page, do your literary slash geeky self a favour and do it - although I did not get all the jokes (which unfortunately lowered my rating because even though it may be my own lacking level of intelligence that stops me from getting references, I think a good comic should attempt to apply very wide audiences), this book and Tom Gauld's works are hilarious. (Oh and did I mention literary? And nerdy? Yes.) And the drawing style is just adorable. 
 
I hope I'm not violating copyright, but here's a strip from Gauld's site that I linked above, the one that inspired the title of the book, and is poignant, and so hilarious:
 
 
 
4/5 on Goodreads.
 

 
Matk naeratuse eest by Adam Bahdaj, Agu Sihvka annab aru by Jaan Rannap and Roostevaba mõõk by Eno Raud - the middle-garde reads that my young self enjoyed (all are re-reads, obviously; some even multiple re-reads). First two books are outright funny - these guys know how to write hilarious characters. The third one is more of adventurery type, focusing on comeraderie and moral values. How can you even begin to give rating to the books that shaped part or your childhood? (And so many books did that for me, and I am willing to give 5/5 to them all, without a blink of an eye.)
 
5/5, 5/5 and 4/5, respectively.

8 comments:

  1. Looks like you read some excellent books over the summer! I've got May We Be Forgiven on my pile now (yes, I gave in and bought it) so I will get to that soon. I am intrigued but, like you, I don't think it will beat Life After Life. I must read more Jasper Fforde...

    I hope you have a good reading Autumn and find a way out of your various slumps :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Ellie! Hope you are loving (or loved) May We Be Forgiven. I've enjoyed Fforde books immensely, but since I've read three of those now in a relatively short time frame, I'm gonna take a break now (even though I have a few more on the shelf, waiting... sooo... tempting...)

      Delete
  2. So many great books you've read! I want to read May We Be Forgiven soon since it's an award winning novel and all! I started the Thursday Next series last year and haven't read beyond the first book. I really need to get on that, but the first book didn't live up to the hype for me so I'm afraid I won't like the rest of the books.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, I am glad I didn't know of the hype - I basically read it after a few bloggers had recommended it. But I don't think it's a book for everyone and it can take you to the point where you just think "what's the point in all of this..."

      I would recommend trying May We Be Forgiven, it's quite a different from this whole bunch of other Women's Prize novels I read myself.

      Delete
  3. Yay for more Thursday Next love! That cover is pretty awful. It looks like the cover I have for the 6th TN book.

    Now I'm off to check out Gauld's Tumblr

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm telling you, the cover is... but the "right" cover was impossible to find. Don't know why the second cover is the only one difficult to locate, all the rest seem to be pretty freely available.

      Delete
  4. I think Lost in a Good Book has been my favorite TN novel so far. It was just so dang GOOD.

    And I need to remember to check out that Tom Gauld Tumblr when I get home (work blocks Tumblr, which is annoying).

    Here's to an autumn full of reading!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, Lost in a Good Book had some really great moments. I read the third one now and feel a bit worn out, so I will take a little pause from Thursday. I actually have one of Fforde's other books, Shades of Grey, so I possibly will take that into consideration at some point before continuing with the Thursday series.

      Delete

Leave a comment if you feel like it - it warms my little bookish heart. :)