Best of the Best of Book Titles

I'm not a massive cover whore, but I can be a bit of a title whore. The titles I tend to gravitate towards are usually on the longer side, there is something playful or poetic about them. I've had thoughts about such post for some time, so in order to bring myself from the blogging slump, here it is.

 

These titles are only out of the books I've read and completed - looking at this mixture, there are a few favourites, a few "very good" books and some "OK/meh" ones. An awful book can of course have a very awesome title, but this usually does not happen for me. I will add my own ratings after each title just so that everyone can see what I mean.

 

 

 

10. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz (4/5) - there is something tragic about "brief" and "wondrous" being used in the same sentence. Having read the book last month, the title feels even more poignant. I loved this title before reading the book, and kept loving it afterwards.

 

9. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley (3/5) - this one falls to the "less is more" category. This is the title that always makes me smile inside. It contains all the hope in the world.

 

8. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, David Mitchell (5/5) - I love autumn(s). I love the name, and the character, of Jacob de Zoet. I love David Mitchell. Lots of love all around!

 

7. One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez (4/5) - I read this book in Estonian, but the title is better in English. I think it suits the novel so well, what with its huge extent of time combined with the abstract notion of solitude. If you have read the book you know how mind-fuckish it is most of the time :)

 

6. Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?, Jeanette Winterson (3/5) - indeed?

 

5. The Sisters Brothers, Patrick deWitt (4/5) - this title I didn't really get until I read the book. It's a very playful one, again, all the inner smiling in the world. Excellent match with the contents of the book.

 

4. In Watermelon Sugar, Richard Brautigan (2/5) - can you feel the sticky sweetness? CAN YOU?? SWEET OVERDOSE. Not recommended for children (and speaking of that, this one definitely requires a re-read).

 

3. For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway (4/5) - I wasn't sure about Hem until I read this book. He's a poet in a very minimalist way. Very nice title, and one of my all time favourite quotes also comes from this book.

 

2. Smilla's Sense of Snow, Peter Høeg (5/5) - can we all take a moment and appreciate all the alliteration in this title. It's a book by Danish author, and I haven't seen people talking about it at all, which is a bit sad. Snow, Greenland, and general feeling of kaamos (= the polar night; period of darkness north of the Arctic Circle when the sun does not rise over the horizon - Wikipedia) that we Nordic folk have to deal with the most of the year.

 

1. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera (5/5) - one of my favourite books ever with the best title in the world. The unbearable lightness of being is a state of mind, and I know what it feels like, very intimately.

 

If you also have strong feelings towards certain book titles, feel free to write/talk about them, I'm VERY curious! Are there other booktitle-weirdos out there?

R.I.P. IX reading event

Dear blog, sorry to have neglected you for forever... etc. etc. Summer is over and it's time to get scoring, I mean reading, right? I'm afraid I've forgotten how to read more than 4 pages a day, so taking part in the wonderful R.I.P. seems like as good opportunity to ease myself back into my favourite hobby.

The event is hosted by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings; visit this post to learn more about the event (and possibly join in). The event takes place during September and October. We read from the following genres:

 

Mystery.

Suspense.

Thriller.

Dark Fantasy.

Gothic.

Horror.

Supernatural.

Or anything sufficiently moody that shares a kinship with the above.

 

There are different levels of participation available, but in my current mental state I am incapable of dealing with such a detail, so please go check out the boss post if you got curious.

 

Here's my post about R.I.P. VIII.

Here's my wrap-up on R.I.P. VIII.

 

The list of things I plan to choose from:

 

 

 

1. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen.

2. The Distant Hours by Kate Morton.

3. The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King.

4. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.

5. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco.

6. A story from Lovecraft's Great Tales of Horror.

7. NOS4A2 by Joe Hill.

8. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie - I need to finish this one.

9. Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan - a sci-fi mystery!

10. Dreamcatcher by Stephen King.

11. The Shining by Stephen King

12. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.

13. The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

 

I'll be happy to finish as many as 2 books, that is one per month. Aiming low!

 

Done with July - one month closer to autumn

July was a strange month but reading-wise, successful - I finished eight books mostly because I had three weeks off from work. Now usually when people talk about all the books they are gonna read whilst on holiday I frown because it doesn't work for me - if I go somewhere, I have huge concentration problems when it comes to reading. However, this time we stayed mostly near Helsinki (Robert fell ill - of course - and I had my own problems with my mental well being because summer is tough time like this) and I read a lot.

Dune, Frank Herbert - it was my second attempt with Dune and this time I finished it, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Amongst the buddy read people, some people didn't finish and the things they said abou this book kind of brought back memories from my own first read, so it goes to show how timing matters. It's a sci-fi classic definitely worth a try. 5/5

 

In the Miso Soup, Ryu Murakami - a short read about an American in Japan, a lot of focus on cultural differences and conflicts they create. I enjoyed the book (and want to read other Ryu Murakami books), but I am careful when recommending this one because of its graphic contents. 4/5

 

The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini - this wasn't the book for me, review here. 2/5

 

The Fall of Hyperion, Dan Simmons - I think Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion are among my favourite reads in 2014 so far. Simmons is a genius and this requires at least one more read to absorb as many references and tidbits as possible. I've ordered the third book in the series, Endymion. 5/5

 

When We Were Bad, Charlotte Mendelson - it was a random buy from the Book Depository sale (not that random though because I think it was shortlisted for Women's Prize), and it was quite a random reading experience as well. It's a family story and it had its humorous moments, but the characters... I mean, I love dislikeable characters more often than not, but a few of those were also complete idiots, and this I cannot handle very well. 3/5

 

Truth & Beauty, Ann Patchett - this must be the first book ever I have been unable to give a rating. It's a piece of non-fiction, written by Patchett about her friendship with poet Lucy Grealy, and it is a beautiful, beautiful, emotional book. However, as non-fiction, I feel conflicted about its contents. Lucy Grealy's Wikipedia page says that "Her sister, Suellen Grealy, is opposed to Ann Patchett's depiction of Lucy in Truth & Beauty.^[5] She claims that Patchett and the book's publisher Harper Collins stole the Grealy family's right to grieve privately." After I had finished the book, it got me thinking that there is no mentioning of Grealy's immediate family at all. I wasn't even aware that she had a sister. Naturally it got me thinking how much else was left out. I understand it is Patchett's take on the relationship, but I felt a bit disturbed in the end. Why did she write it? And how much is this book result of her own feeling of guilt towards Lucy Grealy? So although it was a great read, I cannot possibly rate this book.

 

Totu kuul, Nikolai Nossov - one of my childhood faves, this book is a hilarious bashing of American society written by a Soviet author. Basically, there is Earth, where life is good, vegetables and fruits are huge and money does not exist. And then there is Moon, where live other kind of creatures - they rip each other off, love violent movies and their vegetabels and fruits are tiny (because everything is greater and bigger in Soviet Russia...) Objectively rating, this book is worth 1 or 2 (maybe 2 because it is funny), but I can never give it any less than 5/5.

 

The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters - my first Sarah Waters book, and unfortunately I am not exactly overwhelmed. The beginning was very promising, but there were major pacing issues in the middle (pacing issues in a spooky novel definitely have a negative effect on the whole experience because you kind of fall completely out of the spook aspect...), but I loved the whole gothic atmosphere and where some of the characters went. 3/5

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

 

I bought The Kite Runner already about a year ago and was hesitant to pick it up because although I saw people love it, I always had this fear that maybe the book will fail to impress me - and unfortunately it was so. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

 

The book is set in Afghanistan (among other places - but the focus is definitely on Afghanistan) and granted, it's a book about a culture a regular person does not know a lot about. This book has a bit of a shock value, which also tends to be something that draws readers in.

 

The main character Amir is, most of the time, extremely dislikeable - and this is not something I have a problem with. Although dislikeable, he made human mistakes and human decisions. My biggest beef with Amir was not the fact that he was dislikeable but the fact that I didn't get some of the things he did. Example: Amir's passion in life was supposed to be writing, from the early age he wanted to become an author (regardless of hardships like his father's complete disapproval of such an "unmanly" profession). There is a scene in the book, where another person takes Amir's stories, which he has brought for someone to read, and throws them into a trash bin. Does Amir get defensive about his work, does he get angry, does he do something? No, nothing. Based on the book, not a muscle moves in his body. He just leaves. It gave the impression that he is very passionless author; that it is something he does because it's "just a job". It just felt really odd.

 

The rest of the cast was pretty much very flat. The characters felt somewhat shallow and too much either really good or really bad types.

 

The writing did not grasp me at all. At one point I felt like I was reading a poor translation, only... this book is originally written in English. There were a few chapters where I was simply sighing because it felt like reading a Latin American telenovela (spoiler territory - you know the kinds where at some point it becomes obvious in a very blatant way that all the characters are actually each other's fathers, mothers, grandparents and aunts all at the same time).

 

Khaled Hosseini uses (I believe) Farsi words throughout the novel and although I get that it is supposed to give the text cultural depth, it is a bit of a slippery slope to take. Firstly, I don't think anyone speaks like that - generally in English but a few words here and there in another language. Secondly, the words are not translated in footnotes or separately, so in the end they either remain untranslated or then he just repeats them - an expression in Farsi and then in English. It results in a total hodgepodge, which I personally don't fancy that much. But as said, I get why he did that - I just don't think it came out very well.

 

The Kite Runner is hugely popular and I can totally appreciate it in the sense that it gives a glimpse to a culture that your average western reader is not that familiar with. This is definitely a lot better than nothing. However, I have a feeling that it could be done so much better, with a lot more depth and detail, and a lot less cliche involved. I think one reviewer said something along the lines that "this is the book a white American reads to feel better about the state of the world" and although I find this statement offensive and way too generalising, I have to agree to a point. It is the kind of book we read to be more informed, and nothing wrong with that. I would just prefer that the books, which inform me, were also crafted in a skillful manner and had good, 3D characters. The main problem with The Kite Runner, for me, was that if you take away the layer of the subject matter and the foreign setting, nothing much is left - not that good of writing, no deep characters.

What I've Been Reading - Spring/Summer

New year, same problems. Summer is my time for all kinds of slumping. And let's not even start with how the World Cup has been destroying my life for this past month...

 

But I've read some books in May and June, and some really good ones among them. Here's what happened.

 

 

Hyperion, Dan Simmons - a gem of a book, new favourite. We read Hyperion with my favourite GoodReads group, Booktube Reading Buddies, and I think everyone liked it. This is a really well written science fiction book, one of those I would not hesitate to recommend to people who otherwise are not into the genre. It's not just a good science fiction book; it's an overall great book. 5/5

 

Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Adichie is very popular right now and I can see why. I've taken quite an interest in African literature and wish to read more of it. Half of a Yellow Sun has captivating characters and it focuses on Biafran War. There were parts in book that felt a bit dry, but I am so ready for Americanah. 4/5

 

Cinder, Marissa Meyer - this wasn't a book for me. More thoughts can be found here. 2/5

 

Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides - this was a buddy read as well, and a very good read. The story covers different continents and generations, and although I dislike the word "epic", Middlesex had a bit of epicness about it. Lots of layers, extraordinary writing. 5/5

 

 

Red Seas Under Red Skies, Scott Lynch - I loved the first book in the series and this one, a little less. Which is a bit odd because most people love this one more than the first one. Maybe the novelty wore off. I liked the sea scene and the characters were alrigth (which was expected), but ... it just didn't leave me jaw dropped, and I didn't speed through it, like I expected to. 4/5

 

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, Haruki Murakami - it was the first Murakami's short story collection that I read, and I found it really difficult to get into. When a novel is written in the magical realism key, one has plenty of time to get familiar with all the weirdness going on, but in the form of short story, it was all just big blur. The writing is good and I did like some of the stories, but I would never recommend anyone to pick short stories as the first thing to read by Haruki Murakami. 3/5

 

number9dream, David Mitchell - I think now, after three books, it's safe to say David Mitchell is my favourite author. Mad skill, people, mad skill. This one is set mostly in Tokyo and in modern time. Mitchell writes my kind of endings. Also, in all his books there are little Easter Eggs that refer to his other works, and I LOVE this kind of stuff. 5/5

 

Horns, Joe Hill - This was a pleasant surprise. I didn't exactly intend to read Joe Hill but his books were on sale in e-store and so I got a few. Some great characters, easy prose (but not dumbed down), great creepy atmosphere. 4/5



Too many books, too little space - a book unhaul

Too many books, too little space. Here's a bunch of books I'm getting rid of because... I just didn't like them at all. Some were just okay, but I don't see ever reading them again and given there are a few highly popular authors in the mix, I'm sure there are people who would appreciate them more than I do. A few of those will go to my friends, who have offered to adopt (thanks Hagen, special thanks to Julia who is willing to offer new home to the book I absolutely loathe :p), the rest will go to a used bookstore.

 

* Neil Gaiman, American Gods & Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman just ain't my jam. I'm unable to connect to his stories on any level.

* Jodi Picoult, My Sister's Keeper - nyeah. I don't think I will be trying another book by her.

* Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl & Sharp Objects - I want to like Gillian Flynn, but I don't. Gone Girl was too much of a curveball prose for me, Sharp Objects was just... unappealing.

* Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind - I don't get the hype. The book felt quite uneven (look at the chart I made) and there wasn't really anything new in it for me. Plus the appearance of a completely unnecessary dragon.

* Stephen King, Needful Things - I read first 3/4 of this like in 2 days (the book's a beast) and it took me about 2-3 months to read the rest. Not sure what happened there. It's probably me, not the book, though.

* Young Adult ones (all the rest) - didn't impress, won't keep any.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Before I get to the point, I feel that I need to put out a few disclaimers, to level the ground - I don't want to come out as unfair.

 

* I am not, and have never been, very much into fairy tales. Except those of Hans Christian Andersen, but this is a completely different topic. Even as a kid, fairy tales were not something that I gave a lot of thought. I read them, heard about them, adults read them to me, I went to see them in theatre (on one memorable occasion even in opera - and coincidentally, that was also an interpretation of Cinderella) and so on; I didn't dislike them, but they didn't really affect my life in any way - once the direct connection with the tale was over, it was pretty much gone from my head. Later on, I remember thinking how both the curse and blessing lie in the simplicity of fairy tales - on the one hand, they are promising, hopeful and in a very generic level, relatable for everyone; on the other, they are totally unrealistic and for me personally, also boring (due to lack of any kind of depth). I won't deny the importance of fairy tales as such in our culture, though; they are definitely influential and a good match for many people.

 

* So far my experiences with YA lit have been underwhelming (I've read around 10 more recent YA books, or so). I try to keep an open mind when approaching each new one, but I have begun thinking that YA probably just ain't my thing.

 

* I didn't read this book for the pure reason of possibly being able to bash it, though (:p), it's one of the five YA books I left into my science fiction reading list back in November.

 

* I feel uncomfortable when it comes to the whole concept of "retelling" stuff, which seems to be trending right now. I know that hardly anything in the world is completely new, unique and original, but somehow I feel strange about the whole thing of putting it this ... well, blatantly.

 

That being out of the way, I think I can say that I didn't enjoy Cinder a whole lot. I was hopeful at first though because more than once in my life I had discovered myself from thinking - what if you had a fairy tale, but someone took it and turned all those flat characters into more multi-dimensional ones, added a little bit of spice and personality to the setting and overall, turned it into a quite decent story? I still think that the idea has quite an appeal.

 

So in Cinder (which of course is a retelling *smirk* of the fairy tale Cinderella), the action has been brought to future, Cinder(ella) is a cyborg, and there is life on the Moon. Sounds fantastic! Only, did I get more fleshed out characters and rich setting? I felt like I didn't. Characters are still pretty much only two kinds - the really bad ones, and the really good (albeit at times a bit confused) ones. There is a case of instalove, which, I guess, this book can get away with, being based on fairy tales, which are like the mother of all mothers of instalove. The most disappointing was the setting and the world, though. I was quite excited about the prospect of New Beijing, I mean, all the opportunities! But did I learn anything about New Beijing? Nothing springs to mind when I try to envision it based on how it was in the book. It was just the setting, I can't remember even a single description about the place.

 

Overall, for me, this was the textbook example of a book of missed opportunities. The idea of cyborg Cinderella, Moon Queen and New Beijing - fantastic! And then, nothing happened. I almost felt like I was reading that same old Cinderella fairy tale, only it was about 300 pages longer. Also, the blessing and the curse of this particular book - basically you can see all the "plot twists" from three miles away. Which is okay, because it is a fairy tale, but it doesn't really make a chair-gripping read.

 

So it was 2/5 for me, but most people it seems have enjoyed the book (and its sequels), so don't let that discourage you. If you have no problem with fairy tales, YA, and the concept of retelling, it's possible you'll like this book.