A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving
SHOULD I WRITE LIKE THIS NOW? Ok, ok, cheap trick, but after having read this book, who can resist? Owen Meany was fussed about a lot among book bloggers in spring and I got curious. Read the book, thought "meh" - it is a very decent book, but what is all the fuss about? Months later, I still can't get the characters out of my head - it's that kind of a book.
4/5
The Well of Lost Plots, Jasper Fforde
The crazy literary nerdy adventures of Thursday Next continue in The Well of Lost Plots. This book features one of my favourite secondary characters in this series so far - ibb and obb (aka Lola and Randolph). Seriously, how does Fforde come up with this stuff? At times it feels that there is too much going on and it's really hard to force myself to slow down to inhale all the geeky details. I am happy I have two next books of this series waiting on the shelf.
5/5
Ship of Magic, Robin Hobb
Back when I started reading Robin Hobb with Assassin's Apprentice, I was really not sold. By now, I am totally sold - her works have improved for me, book after book. Ship of Magic doesn't have the full-on feel of fantasy; in fact, about the most fantastical thing about this series so far is liveships, but what a concept! In the first book of this trilogy I feel like we have only just scratched the surface of what might come out of the world where certain ships are alive. Also, I am usually borderline phlegmatic kind of reader, meaning I don't easily get overwhelming positive or negative emotions when reading, but in this book, one of the characters... maaan... I just wanted to punch him SO HARD! One of the most unlikeable characters I've encountered lately, who is definitely not two-dimensional, there are reasons for his actions, even though incomprehensible for me, but still... my fists just clenched every time he stepped into my field of vision.
5/5
The Universe Versus Alex Woods, Gavin Extence
What a precious book. A likeable main character, a likeable friendship, very likable secondary characters, focus on a very controversial topic that I personally feel very strong about. It is a very easy read text wise, but never for a moment is it dull. Parts of me sympathise with Gavin Extence (in case he is planning to publish more books) because really, after such debut, how high are the expectations and how does an author meet them?
5/5
OK, I definitely need to get to a Robin Hood book, ASAP!
ReplyDeleteYou might want to try one Robin Hobb book, indeed :) Lately I've seen quite a lot of love for Hobb from different bloggers, I don't know if this is a new trend or is it just that I notice it now that I've been reading her and thinking about her books.
DeleteMaybe I should give Owen Meany a try...it has definitely been around the blog world recently to rave reviews.Oh, Alex Woods...an amazing book and I agree, hard to follow. Good luck with that Gavin! I can't to see what comes next though.
ReplyDeleteI think you might like Owen Meany. It's extremely character-driven book but some good thought provoking topics.
DeleteI LOVED Alex Woods so much. It was such a fantastic book, and even though I can't imagine Gavin topping it, I can't wait to see what he writes next.
ReplyDeleteAnd I totally know what you mean about the Owen Meany book - that's how I felt about Let the Right One In. I wasn't crazy about it while reading it, but I kept on thinking about it and the characters even when I wasn't reading it. That's always impressive.
I will also definitely read Gavin Extence's next book.
DeleteYeah, I think it's great when books are slow growers like that (and keep growing even after you have finished them). This also means that there is great re-read potential and during the re-read you may actually enjoy the book even more.
The only book on your list I've not (yet) read is the Alex Woods one. The others I loved just as much as you did, especially the Robin Hobb novel.
ReplyDeleteThat's great :) I'm going to try to fit in the next Hobb book some time in the end of this year, I eventually want to catch up with all her trilogies.
DeleteI've been wanting to read Owen Meany ever since attending an event John Irving did alongside JK Rowling and Stephen King (An Evening with Harry, Carrie, & Garp I believe it was called), but have somehow not managed to get around to it! A good reminder...
ReplyDeleteWow, that's some heavyweight of authors in one room at the same time. I bet it was an awesome event. I want to read more Irving, because I can't quite figure him out based on this one book only.
DeleteIt definitely was a huge event -- it wasn't like your typical author reading, it was at Radio City Music Hall and you had to buy tickets (not $10 tickets either, more like I concert or Broadway play prices!) -- probably the best birthday present I ever got though!
DeleteI don't think I would mind paying a stadium concert price (or more!) to get several authors I like in the same room at the same time! That must have been wonderful :)
DeleteI always have fun reading Jasper Fforde. His footnoter phone conversations made me read War and Peace! :)
ReplyDeleteThe footnoter conversations are hilarious, although at first it was really difficult to get used to this kind of multi-dimensional storytelling. Fforde is sooo creative :)
DeleteUgh, I really agree with you about that one character in Ship of Magic! I just can't stand him, he's horrible. It's true, every time he stepped onto the scene, it made me go "No, not him again!"
ReplyDeleteOn the one hand I love a good villain but on the other hand he just make a small rage go on inside me. I wonder what happens to him in the next books.
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