Monday, May 23, 2011

Finished: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Title: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Author: J.K. Rowling
Start Date: 22 May 2011
End Date: 23 May 2011
Genre: Fiction, fantasy

What I liked about it: EVERYTHING!

What I didn't like about it: NOTHING!

Would I recommend it? Obviously.

Rating: a zillion stars. Out of four.

Only ten more books to read this year to have read more than last year!
-Allie.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Finished: St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves

Title: St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves
Author: Karen Russell
Start Date: April 2011
End Date: 22 May 2011

What I liked about it: Almost all of the short stories seem to take place in the same location, with some characters in common. Each story has a crazy twist, and even though some end without resolution, it does not feel unresolved.

The eponymous story, strategically the last story in the collection, was the best.


What I didn't like about it: like I said - overuse/misuse of certain words. Unrealistic dialogue/dialect for particular characters.


Would I recommend it? Sure, it is an easy, fast read. The only reason it took me almost two months to complete is because I did not commit to reading until I cam home from school. But once I picked it up at home, I finally finished the first story and plowed through the book in about three days. I probably will not read it again, though.


Rating: two-and-three-quarters stars (of four).


My new goal is to read more books every year than I did the previous. In 2010, I completed twelve books. In 2009, I also completed twelve (and did not finish two). And I started tracking in September 2008, so I only have four charted.

I am only two books into 2011. I gotta get rolling!
Ambitiously,
A.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Currently Reading

Title: St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised By Wolves
Author: Karen Russell
Genre: Short Stories, Fiction

I am not particularly enthralled by the writing (she over-uses certain words that have a unique quality to them, seemingly misuses other words) but every story has an element of mystery to it. One of the stories was about a family in which the father was a minotaur. It is never explained why the mother married a minotaur, and then had children with no minotaur-like qualities, but that added to the uniqueness of the story.