Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller

The Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller is well known by many people for it's reputation. In fact, I bet that over half the people who have an opinion of this book have never even opened it. TV episodes of Seinfeld and general stereotypes have given this book a bad name. However, I actually quite enjoyed it.

Let's get over the first stereotype right away, that this book is only about sex. I didn't get that, at all. Yes, it is about a young bachelor in France who enjoys his sexual encounters, but it in no way is solely about sex. In fact, it was MUCH cleaner than any modern day romance book. I suppose young, immature, preteens could read this book and thing they were reading something really dirty upon the mention of syphilis or the clap, but that is in no way the meaning of the book.

In fact, the book is quite humorous. The main character is meant to be the author himself, Henry Miller, an ex-patriot who is living in Paris as a starving author, trying to make enough living to eat, sleep, and afford the occasional woman of the night. Many time I found myself laughing outloud at the protagonist's thoughts or events.

However, the book does occasionally stray from the main story or plot into the musings and values of Mr. Miller, and that was when I started losing attention. There is not much pure action in this book, but rather it focuses on the life and times of Henry Miller during his stay in Paris. He often looks down on those around him, though he cannot afford a constant form of shelter and goes days without food. He is actually the ultimate moocher, having a different 'weekly meal' wet up with at least 8 different people or families at any one time. Quite clever if you ask me.

Any book that can make me laugh gets extra props. However, the constant straying from the plot often lost my attention. Therefore, I give Tropic of Cancer 3.5 OUT OF A POSSIBLE 5 STARS!

Reading Next:: TBD

The House of Seven Gables, by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The House of Seven Gables, by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a very interesting read. It takes a while to really get into the story, and while the beginning chapters have a small tie into the story, I am not sure they could be considered a necessity to the plot. This is one of the biggest turnoffs of this book. The reason I really dislike this aspect is, right when I started getting into the plot that Nathaniel was working into, he changed into a completely different plot and it took me even longer to get into this plot. In all actuality, it took about the first quarter of the book to really begin enjoying the main plot.

When we finally get into the main plot, we meet Hephzibah, a grumpy elderly woman who lives in a giant house with only her brother, Clifford. It is immediately obvious that she does not have a good reputation among the neighbors. Soon, a distant relative, Phoebe, crashes the house, asking Hephzibah to take her in for a while. Although Hephzibah is obviously unsure about the situation, she cannot surpass Phoebe's constant persistence, and allows the young woman to stay.

Phoebe is a ray of light in the House of the Seven Gables, lightening the moods and attitudes of both of the inhabitants of the house. Of course, things are not happy in the house. The real crisis begins when Judge Pyncheon, another distant cousin of Hephzibah's, visits the house. Of course, it would rude to ruin the plot for you, so I'll leave you with that little cliff-hanger.

All in all, I give this book THREE STARS OUT OF A POTENTIAL FIVE. When the plot finally becomes consistent, and begins thickening, it becomes very enjoyable. However, it takes FAR too long for the plot to become consistent and enjoyable, at least for my personal tastes. The older style of writing takes a bit of time to get used to (the book having been written in 1851), but it is actually quite accessible for being over 150 years old!

Reading Next:: Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller (I'm a little scared!!)

To the Lighthouse, by Virginia Woolf

I'm going to start off by saying that I really wanted to like this book. I had every intention of enjoying it. However, no matter how hard I tried, I continuously failed. At first I believed it is mostly due to the writing style of the author that turned me off, but upon finishing the book I realized that there was really very little about it that I did like.

The book starts off normal, a young boy wanting to visit the Lighthouse with his mother, who is trying to have optimism that the weather will clear up by the morning, and his father adamantly contradicting the mother. However, after this initial chapter, I became lost and confused. We meet some other characters, many other characters actually, none of whom we get to know very well. There is a Chinese girl who we cannot forget is of Asian decent since the author always refers to her Chinese eyes, yellow skin, and black hair. It an older book, so in the days it was written perhaps this was considered admissible at the time, but I found this to be completely unnecessary.

The first half of the book goes into great detail of one evening of this family's lives. Some kids go to the beach. The father sits on the porch with a friend smoking a pipe. The mother knits socks while the son cuts pictures out of a magazine. The Chinese girl paints and has an intellectual conversation with a family friend. The family gathers around for dinner and then they all head to bed.

The next few chapters introduce some unfamiliar and unimportant characters, and they also pass an uncertain amount of time during which 3 of the main characters have uneventful deaths. After the deaths the previous characters (well, some of them) regather for no apparent reason and we get another simple description of their day, and that's the end. There's no plot, no description of time passed, and no protagonist, antagonist, or climax (which I always thought were necessary to any novel).

There were some fun moments in this, but the book only gets ONE OUT OF FIVE STARS. I am still trying to decide why this was on the list to begin with. Perhaps it has to do with the deep meaning behind the book, but I had trouble catching that also. It didn't help that the used copy I read was marked and highlighted all over the place (I hate highlighting)

Reading next:: The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton

I LOVED Michael Crichton’s Andromeda Strain, so of course I was excited to read his Jurassic Park. My high expectations were not at all let down. I haven’t seen the movie in a while, so I can’t compare it to the book, but the book is definitely a must read! It was one of those books that you couldn’t believe covered such a short amount of time, because so much happened during it, but at the same time, it wasn’t an unrealistic amount of activity.

If you’ve seen the movie, I imagine you know the general story (and if you haven’t seen the movie, you are either REALLY young or sheltered…) It’s a few years in the future, and scientists are going through biochemistry overload. They are learning about genes, DNA, and cloning. It’s to be expected that someone’s going to come up with the idea of cloning a dinosaur!

However, why just clone a dinosaur when you can clone a bunch of dinosaurs! And what better to do with them than make an amusement park-style zoo on a secluded island for people to observe the prehistoric animals at will. Dr. Grant, a fossil expert, is invited to this park with his associate Ellie in order to study the animals and perhaps offer some expertise. However, he is not expecting the danger that can be involved in a rushed project with security flaws.

Of course, you can put two and two together. Dinosaurs plus security flaws equals intense danger and constant action! OF COURSE I’m not going to give away the plot, because I want you to read this intense novel. Just know that the action in this book is not to be contended. Reading it at night before bed was a bad idea, because the action kept me up and excited throughout the night, and I didn’t get the best sleep.

So awesome plot, awesome action, of course I’m giving this book FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS! I mean, I loved this book, it would be silly for me to give it less! Another fast read, but I may have just taken more time to read it because I loved it so much. Definitely not one of those books where you have to read each sentence three times in order to truly understand it

Reading Next:: To the Lighthouse, by Virginia Woolf

Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

Well I believe it's probably obvious, but if you enjoyed Alice in Wonderland, you're also going to love Through the Looking Glass! So adorable. In this book we finally learn Alice's age, 7 1/2. Some familiar characters, such as the red queen and the red king, reappear, but we get to meet loads of new friends! A white queen and white king, Humpty Dumpty (that's right, he's legit), and many other odd creatures, all of whom seem to have a sort of obsession with fish-related poetry.

Alice's purpose while in the Looking Glass Land is to become a queen. She's in a sort of chess game, starting as a pawn. She has to surpass 8 tiles or stages of her adventure and then she can be crowned a queen. As she begins her journey, she attempts to reach a hill located off in the distance. However, whenever she heads towards the hill, she ends up bumping into the house that she is trying to leave. Of course, in the Looking Glass world, one must walk away from their destination in order to reach it. That's perhaps one of my favorite parts, because it kept me wondering about it for days after I read that situation. I mean, how does one see the progression their making on their destination if they're headed away from it?!

Perhaps her experiences aren't quite as odd as those in Alice in Wonderland. For example, there is no awkward and sudden growing and shrinking. I was rather bummed that we didn't get to meet the Cheshire Cat again (a personal favorite) - with his wide grin that always seemed to stick around for slightly longer than he did. Her entrance into this world is slightly easier, walking through a Looking Glass instead of falling for miles down a rabbit hole.

At the end, we are notified that these adventures were definitely with a dream. But Lewis Carroll wouldn't give us that solid of an ending, would he? Of course not, for we're not sure who was dreaming this dream. Was it a day dream of Alice's, or did it belong to the Slumbering Red King? And what about the kittens she was playing with before her adventures. Did the little black kitten turn into the Red Queen, and it's white sibling turn into the White Queen, and if that's the case, what exactly was Dinah in this long dream?

I give this book FIVE STARS OUT OF FIVE, a quick and easy read full of humor, adventures, and fun. I love when a book can make me laugh outloud, and this one certainly succeeded.

Reading Next:: Jurassic Park by Michael Crighton

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

It seems like it was just yesterday that I was posting about Dracula... oh yeah, it was! That's right, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is PERFECT for the busy student, mom, worker, etc who just wants a fun and feel good read. Such an adorable book, and it's great fun to compare the book to the movie. Honestly, I don't feel the movie captures the uniqueness and oddities that the book spotlights with such ease.

I'm pretty sure most of my readers know the general story of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. While laying out on the grass with her sister one fine spring afternoon, Alice sees a white rabbit go running past her. She watches as the white rabbit pulls out a pocketwatch, and then frantically calls out "I'm Late, I'm Late!" and goes running into a rabbit hole. Of course, Alice cannot resist following the creature down the rabbit hole, which is evidently much deeper than she initially imagined as she falls for an unmeasurable amount of time.

When she reaches the bottom of the hole, she discovers a tiny door and the key to it. She drinks and shrinks, eats and grows, and goes through this process a few times until she somehow manages to escape the room (though not through the door she initially hoped to use). This begins her adventures. As she travels through this wonderful land, she meets many odd creatures, such as a hookah smoking caterpillar, a grinning Cheshire Cat, a Mad Hatter, a Dormouse, an animated pack of cards, and a Queen with a beheading obsession.

This book was such a fun and easy read, I would recommend it to anyone. Honestly, I've never been a big fan of either of the movies made on the book, but allowing my own imagination to create the scenes and creatures worked much better for me. I haven't found one thing that I don't like about this book. It was an amazing escape from the tedious world of college. Of course I am giving this FIVE STARS OUT OF FIVE! It's just to amazing not to. Read it, now! Seriously, its adorable.

Reading Next:: Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll

Dracula, by Bram Stoker

My best friend recently purchased a Kindle (due to envy of my Nook), and since we both got Dracula for free on our devices, we decided to read it together. It took a while for the two of us to free up our reading schedule so we could start at the same time, so news of our plan got around the music department. Soon I was having people coming up to me left and right telling me how amazing of a book Dracula was. I'll admit, I was a little iffy. For one, I'm not the biggest fan of the 'classics'. It's just the way I am. Also, I had just finished reading the nowhere-near-horrific-but-still-decent Frankenstein. Since Dracula is also perceived to be one of the classic horror stories, I was a little unsure.

Boy were my doubts wrong! This novel was absolutely amazing! The first chapter sucked me in, and in only a few pages I was beginning to feel tension, suspense, and a smidgen of fear as I followed to adventures of Jonathon Harker. Even when new characters began being added, I did not get lost because of the excellent form of organization exhibited by Bram Stoker.

In Dracula, we follow Jonathon Harker, a type of real estate agent, as he visits the home of his newest client, Count Dracula. Before he even arrives at the home of Dracula, he begins suspecting that this man may be slightly different than what he would consider a normal client. Of course, it's probably just that he's traveling through a strange land at night, who wouldn't be frightened. The story quickly becomes weirder and weirder from there, but I would hate to give away the plot! You HAVE to read this one yourself, so I'll just leave the summary hanging there to entice you further.

On the down side, there were a few sections of the book that I would deem 'unnecessary', and it was in no sense a quick read. Definitely not the best book for the night time reading that I only have time for right now in my busy, college life. However, I do have to put a quick plug in for my Nook! I am absolutely in love with this eBook reader. It was a birthday gift for my mom, and I use it constantly! I have compared it side-by-side to a Kindle, and I have to say that I MUCH prefer the Nook! Probably one of the best things about it is while you're reading it, people don't get down in your face and personal bubble trying to read the title page of the book you're reading. Also, it is great for those people who enjoy reading while they eat, such as myself, or reading while doing other random activities.

Back to Dracula. Great plot! Slow read. A few unnecessary spots, and a pretty slow read unless you're willing and able to sit down and really delve into it. However, it provided me with the suspense, thrill, and horror that I was expecting. Therefore I give this book FOUR STARS OUT OF FIVE. I know many of my readers are mothers or college students, but seriously, read it. It may take a few months, but it's worth it.

Reading Next:: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott

This was the first book off of my 1000 novel list that I read on my Brand New Nook, a birthday present from my fabulous mother. I highly recommend Nooks, they are great! I am a reader, I like reading when I work out, when I eat, and I like always having a book with me. Nooks are thin, easy to handle, and ALWAYS lay flat (no more trying to use knives to hold open my book while reading!)

This book is the most adorable book I've ever read! I was honestly expecting to hate this book, just because it's an older book and considered a 'classic', and I honestly think that many classics are just boring. however, this book was just so cute! The 4 girls, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, remind me of the sisters found in my Sister-in-Law's family, so I was easily able to assimilate the characters to myself.

I love how the author accentuates the differing personalities in the girls, because this is a phenomena I find so fascinating in real life. Girls who are raised by the same parents in the same environment have completely opposing personalities, and the characters in this book are the perfect example of that. I especially love the male friend Laurie. He seems like the type of boy I would have played with as a child.

***Spoiler Alert***

Of course, not all elements of the book go the way I want. I think the fact that Beth dies is a REAL bummer. I mean, I realize why it is necessary for the growth of the characters, but she was such a sweetheart. She was also the musical character, so I felt that I related with her the best. Jo should have ended up with Laurie. Period, the end. However, I'm fine that she ended up with Mr. Bhaer, because he was equally as perfect for her. However, I don't like that Amy ended up with Laurie. Yes, he helped her grow and nature, but it just seemed so, wrong!

All in all I give this book FIVE STARS OUR OF FIVE! After all, it was absolutely adorable. A story of growing, learning, and most importantly, falling in love.

Reading Next:: Dracula by Bram Stoker

Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley

This book was an exciting find in an small American bookstore called Big Ben Bookstore in Prague. They sell very high quality used books, and since this book was slightly less than mint condition, the shop owner let me have it for free (even though I would have happily paid).

One of the biggest shockers this book gave me was how NOT horrific it was! I mean, if you think of the classic Frankenstein movie, you're expecting to be given chills and get some shocks! However, there was really nothing frightening in the novel. Yes, the monster kills someone, but you hear his entire background story and end up feeling pity for the lonely creature.

Another shock was how eloquent of a speaker the monster was. I mean, whenever I think of the monster featured in this book, I think of incoherent moans and groans. However, when the monster is relating his story to his maker, his speech is so fluent and well-versed, it was nothing but an absolute shock.

I believe the true monster in this book is Mr. Frankenstein himself. He created this creature, and the minute he lays eyes on it he abandons the poor thing. The monster is forced to raise himself, to learn the lays of the land without any parent to teach him, though he learns from experience than everyone has some sort of parent or creator. His appearance is horrific, and no one will give him a chance to explain himself after taking one look at him. He begs his creator for a partner, someone like him, and promises to run away and never hurt another being as long as he never has to live alone. However, the creator selfishly refuses, his thoughts being that the monster would continue killing, despite his promises.

Being a person with a fear of living alone for the rest of my life, I can empathize with the monster, which is perhaps why I'm rooting for him in this situation. While I feel sorry that the creator looses his wife, I feel that he was fairly warned and was rude to the monster. People can find other partners, the monster never could.

In total I give this book 3.5 OUT OF FIVE STARS!! Yes, I enjoyed the storyline, but I feel that Mary Shelley strayed from it a little too much. There were too many moments that were completely unnecessary, not to mention boring. If they had at least had some excitement or humor to them, it wouldn't have been quite so terrible.

Posting Next:: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Lake Wobegone Days, by Garrison Keeler

(First blog post in the air! Thanks Delta for the Free WiFi! Will update with a picture when on the ground with better internet)

This book was certainly entertaining, to say the least. Then again, I’m not sure anything that has been developed in the brain of Garrison Keeler could be anything less than humorous. As an avid listener of A Prairie Home Companion, I was excited to read an entire novel about the citizens of Lake Wobegone, a mere segment of Mr. Keeler’s weekly two hour show. The book very much assimilated the radio show in Garrison Keeler’s style, and it was easy to hear his voice narrate the words to me in his sober tone as I read through the book. It was a nice book for just reading while laying in bed, or random short intervals throughout the day. This is mostly due to the fact that there was no constant plot, but rather just short stories about the citizens of this small town, a population of less than 1000 people.

One of my favorite parts about this novel was the footnotes, included in many of the stories with a purpose of extending the story or giving a sort of background. Some of the footnotes went on for pages (literally, I’m pretty sure a footnote including 95 thesis extended at least 10 pages), but they always provided an extra laugh. The town of Lake Wobegone is truly one of a kind. The religions of the town consist mostly of Catholic and Lutheran, though there is a small, family-operated religion that the author and narrator is a member of called the Sons of Knute. The Sons of Knute abstain from dancing, supposed to lead to carnal behavior, but don’t mind drinking or smoking. Because of sibling disputes, there are many different sects of the Sons of Knute, each usually consisting of a father and his faithful worshipers, better known as his wife and children.

We accompany the citizens of this small town for a year. Our narrator is Garrison Keeler himself, and though the book and town are both fictional, he does an excellent job of convincing us that these are his very own memories, perhaps recorded in a journal to allow for the immense amount of details. The members of Lake Wobegone try their best to be humble, and they will assist you in your efforts by not making a huge deal out of your accomplishments, even if they include a 2-hour, weekly, nationally broadcast radio show with a large span of listeners. No, they simply treat you as one of the crowd, why should you receive special treatment for making it big? After all, they remember when you were in diapers and unable to speak, they observed you as you learn to speak, everyone speaks, and so you get no special recognition for speaking in front of a microphone.

Though this book took me a long time to finish due to research projects and homework, I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of time reading it. I easily give this book FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS!!! It is very clean, excluding the occasional cuss word, and I would recommend it to any busy mother who just wants to spend 5 minutes a day with a nice read. There are plenty of stopping points, but it is an excellent choice and will help you unwind from your day as you read the antics of the members of this crazy town.

Reading Next:: Little Women by Louisa Mae Alcott

Tales of the South Pacific, by James A Michener

To be completely honest, I thought this would be an easy, fast, and smooth read. After all, I was in the musical that was based on the book during high school, I should have the plot down (not to be able to sing along every now and then). Right? WRONG! Seriously, I can hardly see how they called the musical 'based' on the book. Seriously, the musical took up a total of 1-3 chapters of the book. That's it. And even the chapters that the musical covered were COMPLETELY skewed! They didn't even have the honeybun dance! Basically, the biggest similarities were the names (and some of those were even off!)

Anyway, this book was based more on war than I ever suspected from the musical, and MUCH less on love (slight bummer). The narrator goes through most of the book nameless, and even though we get his name once or twice, the position or narrator changes so much that by the end of the book you either have forgotten the name or you aren't sure if it's still the same person, or both!

Happily, this book had much more exciting moments than the musical, even though they were few and far between. The exciting times were when the soldiers went into battle. To be honest, I'm really not a history or war buff, so even the battle scenes were a little boring to me, but at times I was held truly captivated. I can see why this book is on this list because it definitely gives you the feeling of what it was like to live in the South Pacific during the war. One cannot argue that Michener does a great job of detailing his book well enough to allow yourself to mentally enter the story.

Although he did a great job of writing the detail, the book just wasn't all that entertaining to me. It wasn't a book that I had trouble putting down. (It's a good thing I'm not grading the musical's accuracy or it would get a zero.) Overall I give this book THREE OUT OF FIVE STARS. Not what I was expecting, but not necessarily a completely terrible turn of events either.

Reading Next: Lake Woebegone Days by Garrison Keillor

Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen

Ok, to be completely honest, I was expecting to absolutely hate this book! I know, it sounds terrible, not to mention super 'Judging book by cover', but I only knew a few things about it. 1 - it was written very long ago, I'm not the biggest fan of older books, so this wasn't a good sign for me. 2 - it was solely a romance. I enjoy romantic comedies, I enjoy romantic mysteries, but I've never been the biggest fan of straight romances before. And 3 - there was a six hour movie based on this book. SIX HOURS! I'm sorry, but I couldn't imagine how long and tedious a book had to be to have a six hour movie based off of it!

I was quickly shown that all of these facts, though they seemed terrible, weren't as bad as they seemed and that the 3rd fact wasn't true at all! The first thing I noticed about Pride and Prejudice was the ease with which I read it. Jane Austen has a way of writing that just lets everything flow. Another plus to this book:: Short Chapters! I love when I always have an easy stopping point, because then I could read the book in times where I don't have too much time.

I think that this book is hilarious. You have the couple that basically experience hate at first sight. You also have the couple who experience love at first sight. You have the man desperate to marry, and also the woman desperate to marry. I believe that Jane Austen did an excellent job of expressing how each gender would approach this sort of situation. Provided, this book was written a while ago, so the manner of dating is slightly different. Well, I suppose dating isn't even the correct term, courting... or just straight engagement, would be the more appropriate term.

Of course, in the end, everyone is happy.... sort of. But there is just a magnificent road to happiness. I love how Jane Austen really allowed some people to be so obviously pompous, or such a terrible brat! The significantly unique personalities of each character made the novel even more enjoyable! At first it was hard to keep the characters straight, but after you get into the book, you begin to distinguish which Miss Bennet is being referred to.

Time for the grading! This book was just magnificent. And my friends told me it wasn't even one of Jane Austen's best! The characters are unique, the plot is entertaining, and the ending ties the entire book together! Obviously a 5 OUT OF 5 STARS!

Reading Next:: Tales of the South Pacific by James A Michener

The Adventures of Augie March, by Saul Bellow.

Wow - did this book take me long enough to read?! I have to admit that I thought of quitting reading it, but in the end, after finishing the book, I am so happy to have read it. This book was written in 1949, so the writing is much different from the modern writing that I was raised on. One of the things that drove me nuts at first was that the book seemed to have no antagonist, except perhaps Augie's life. However, in hindsight I realize that Augie had multiple different antagonists that he was constantly trying to overcome, and without one the rest of the book would have been completely different.

So, in this book we follow Mr. Augie March, who is the narrator of the book. One of the interesting things in this book is you never really know how old Augie is, so you have no idea how long of a life it's spanning. There are often times where an undetermined amount of time is spanned, making the age of the main character even more unpredictable. Augie starts off in a hard life, and really, it never quite gets better.

Augie's family consists of his mother, who we never know beyond the name Mama, and his two brothers, Simon and Georgie. We quickly learn that Simon is some sort of business-minded overachiever and Georgie has some sort of mental disability. Also living with them is Grandma Lausch, who isn't actually their Grandmother, but is never referred to in any other way.

Augie goes through many trials throughout the book, and many love interests. Actually, often his trials are closely connected to the women. Of course, his rambunctious high school friends also help land him in jail a few times. We follow Augie through many job attempts, college, a giant adventure through Mexico, and through war (they never actually tell us what war though).

The writing of this book is great, though it seemed rather crude for the time it was written. There is quite a few cussing and some sex scenes, though these are easily skimmed through since there is no importance in these scenes. Often there are times where you wonder why a particular scene is in the book, even til the end, since it doesn't change the outcome of the book. I believe that some scenes could be done without changing the outcome, but I do love the ability to look back on the book and find the humor in the adventures that Augie has experienced.

So, hard to read, but great to reflect on. A few humorous times in the book, and a bunch of problems for our main character. I, personally (remember all ratings are purely opinionated), give this book 3.5 OUT OF 5 STARS.

Reading Next:: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

The Andromeda Strain, by Michael Crichton

Yep, still no picture because I read this book in one day, and am therefore still in Prague with the still not so good internet connection. However, if the fact that I read this book in a day (less than 24 hours actually) isn't enough to tell you how amazing it was, let me tell you, it was absolutely amazing! I have never read Michael Crichton before, but of course I have heard about him and seen his endless array of books at multiple book stores. I am so glad that this book was on this list - I NEVER would have thought to read it otherwise.

It starts with government officials looking for a satellite that they had sent out to space. It has landed in the small town of Piedmont, Arizona. Unfortunately, they are sure that the locals have already located the satellite and it is in one of the many homes in the city. And so, as they enter the main street, they encounter an amazingly odd thing. The street is full of people who are dead, just dead. There is no blood or anything. These two officials die almost immediately after entering the city.

The reason the satellite was sent out to space in the first place is because the government is afraid of the possibility that aliens could attack us with biological warfare. They could send a virus into the earth that we as humans are completely unexposed to and it would wipe us out near immediately. The satellite was supposed to collect extra-terrestrial viruses so we could study them and prevent this. (Un?)Fortunately, this satellite was successful. The citizens of Piedmont took it to the doctor when they found it, and he opened it, allowing the virus to spread throughout the city, killing the entire town almost instantly.

Well, the entire town but two people, an old man who suffers from multiple ailments and a young infant you has a clean bill of health. When the government began sending satellites into space for this purpose, they collected a group of 5 scientists who, if they found a virus, would be locked away in a completely sterile facility in order to study the virus. They would try to prevent any illness, if possible, or cure illness, if it had already infected anyone. Unfortunately, the citizens of Piedmont were incurable. If the virus didn't kill them, it got into their brain and caused them to go crazy and kill themselves.

Now these five scientists, members of Project Wildfire, are in this sterile environment. The virus is to be contained in boxes, the scientists using those cool glovey-thingies to study it, along with a wide array of instruments and computers. Along with them, the old man and the infant who survived the virus. They have no idea how this spreads, or how long it would take to spread beyond the city limits of Piedmont. If there is a malfunction, they could instantly die. If the disease spreads, others will instantly die. Will Project Wildfire save the nation, the world? Read it - really, read it - and find out!

There are many things I like that Mr. Crichton does in this book, besides the amazing plot. He has obviously done immense amounts of research. He has illustrations and facts and numbers that I don't understand for the life of me, but definitely make you feel like you are right there, locked underground, trying to solve this case for yourself.

This book easily earns FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS! Remember, this is purely personal opinion. I'm sure some super smart scientist could read this and find a number of problems and malfunctions, but for someone like me it was exciting, realistic, and suspenseful. I highly suggest everyone reads this!

Reading Next:: The Adventures of Augie March, by Saul Bellow

Hard Times, by Charles Dickens

First of all - no picture for this book right away because I am in Prague and the internet connection isn't quite good enough to search for and attach a photo. But - this book is interesting to say the least. Charles Dickens is an amazing writer, as I'm sure you all know, and has a very magical way with words. His sentences flow and her can use the most bizarre words and have them make complete sense. It is amazing. It made reading the book much more enjoyable, because if you love writing, you usually enjoy being able to appreciate someone who does such a fantastic job at it.

However, the plot is boring up until the very end of the book. Unfortunately, the beginning of the book is important to pay attention to, or else the end of the book is not entertaining. You see, these random fact and happenings that happened in the beginning of the book turn into a hilarious bout of literary irony in the last 70 pages. I slowly read through this book until the end, when everything FINALLY pulled together and made sense.

While reading the book, I often asked myself why Dickens had added this character when they disappeared so soon after he added them. Luckily, they all came back in the end to add to the irony, but you often had forgotten who everyone was by that point and so I'm positive that some of the humor was lost on my lack of short-term memory.

Another slight problem about this book that the end - while ironic and humorous - was COMPLETELY predictable. As soon as something happened you were sort of like, 'Oh, I totally bet that she will fall in love with him." or "It's so obvious that this guy robbed the bank." And then at the end, you got the satisfaction of knowing that you were right! Ego boost, yes. Enhancing the plot, no.

I usually like to give a slight summary of the plot here, but to be honest, I'm still not totally sure what I read. I know the book is about the terrible nature of our world changing into an industrialist style, and so at least it has a message that it carries out. However, the way it accomplishes this is confusing and anti-climatic. Perhaps this is to help enhance the idea of how terrible this sort of lifestyle would truly be.

All in all I give this book 1.5 STARS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 5. Fabulous writing style with an extended vocabulary and a humorous ending. However, the irony of the ending was completely predictable and the rest of the plot was too boring for this to help.

Reading Next: The Andromeda Strain, by Michael Crichton

The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood

In case you couldn't tell from how quickly this post came after my next one, this book was an amazingly easy read, and an absolutely fabulous novel! It takes us to a time that never happened, or at least that has not yet happened. We meet the narrator, who we never know as any name other than Offred. (Of Fred - showing she is under the possession of Fred). She, as all the women of the time, has been stripped of all her rights. She is not allowed to read, write, speak unless spoken to, or even look another person in the eye. Her job in life is to bear children. Once a month her Commander engages in the act of procreation with her, in hopes that she will become pregnant. The reason she is given this job is because the Commander's wife is old, and therefore infertile. There is no love involved in the act, it is purely for children.

Everyone has a job. Even if it is just to be a rich wife, everyone has a job. Every job has a title, and every title has a color of clothing, a robe to be exact. Not much diversity in clothing. (At least, for the women). Red is the color of the Handmaids, the position of our main character. Wives wear blue, and Aunts (the 'police' force of the women) wear brown. There is also the job of the Marthas, maids and cooks, but it isn't ever sure what color they wear.

In this new world, money is obsolete. It does not exist because it does not matter. They have a type of food stamp, a type of coupon, known as tokens. Each one can buy the picture that it depicts, eggs, steak, milk. Women are not allowed to read, but they still do the chores, so tokens, as well as shops, are represented by pictures. No words are used anywhere in the system. They walk everywhere. This is one of their freedoms, they can wander wherever they may choose, as long as it is within their preset limits.

Offred used to be married. She had a happy family, a husband and a daughter, and they lived in the city of Boston. Until the terrorist attack. The book doesn't go into too much detail, and I do not want to give away the detail that it does give away (since everyone must read this book), but after that, it all went down hill. In the same day women are stripped of their rights to their money and their rights to work. These two occurrences make them possessions of their husbands. Marriages and families are broken up. Women are divided into their proper positions. That is, those who are not killed for their sin.

Our main character remembers life before the change. She often reminisces of it. No one ever saw it coming. It is a story of pain and suffering, but also of optimism and love. It is of finding joy in even the meekest of situations. It is of remembering, but moving on. It is similar to George Orwell's 1984, and yet it is completely different. There are so many indescribable aspects of this book.

In case you couldn't guess, I give this book FIVE STARS OUT OF A POSSIBLE FIVE! Really, you MUST read this book! It is amazing! It makes you wonder, it makes you grateful, and it makes you humble. There is minimal swearing, and no explicit sex scenes, though a few times where the act is implied. Really - read this book. It is an easy read, with lots of possible breaks, though you won't want to put it down!

Reading Next:: Hard Times, by Charles Dickens

Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides

This book was and is very popular. I doubt there are many people who haven't heard of it (especially after Oprah added it to her book club). It is also a Pulitzer Prize Winner. I had heard about it on a television show about hermaphrodites. However, I never would have read it had it not been for the list. Can I just say, thank goodness for this list! This book was perhaps one of the most amazing books I have read ever!

It is narrated by present day Cal, telling his life of how he started out a typical girl of Greek descent, Callie, and came to be who he is today. He starts from the beginning - the very beginning, which means starting with his grandparents, Desdemona and Lefty. When we first meet this couple, they are brother and sister (and also third cousins), but, as you can tell, later on they get married. This allows them to pass on the mutated fifth chromosome that they have been carrying to their children. However, their children do now experience the deformities.

The gene that causes the hermaphrodite 'syndrome' (for lack of a better word) is not dormant or recessive, but it more picks and chooses when it will rear its ugly head. The fact that Cal[lie]'s parents are first cousins helped the gene pass to Cal. It skipped her brother, Chapter Eleven (yeah, that's really his name, what a crack up!). It just chose Cal.

Now mind you, this story is, in fact, a NOVEL. Novel being a fictional story. However, it is based on true events, sort of. Jeffrey Eugenides did a lot of research when writing his novel, and coordinated with experts all along the way. However, one thing he made certain not to do was associate with any real life hermaphrodites. He wanted to make his own character - without basing any characteristics on any one else.

I believe he did an excellent job! I was so unsure about reading this at first. In fact- I started this one because I had enjoyed A Fairy Tale Of New York so thoroughly, I thought I should read something that I wasn't so excited about. Also - I wanted to read something that was a little more modern in its writing. This was an excellent book! I would recommend it to every adult (There are some sex scenes and drug use that you may want to shield children from). An easy read (530 pages that I read in just 4 days!) and an all around excellent book!

You feel that you're reading a real story, a true account. Also - I love how it switches between modern day Cal and the past, the story that got him there. That way you're constantly trying to find out how and why. You become intrigued with the modern character and want to learn more about him. Also - it includes great information about hermaphrodites. This is a real condition! People live with this every day, but they are too afraid to tell the world about it, they do not want to be viewed as monsters. It's not their fault, it's now they were built. I believe it is important to understand others, and this book I believe gives a realistic account of a hermaphrodite.

This book easily gets FIVE OUT OF FIVE stars! There was not one moment that I was bored with the book! There was not one moment that I wanted to put it down, or that I was iffy about reading it. If you are unsure about the sexual scenes, be assured that they are easily skipped through, but they do contain information that is vital to the outcome of the book, and there is no intense imagery that would force you to skip through it.

Reading Next: A Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood

A Fairy Tale of New York, by J P Donleavy

Upon reading the first chapter of this book, I was very doubtful about the classification of 'Comedy' 'by the 1000 books list. We meet Cornelius Christian, a man who has just arrived in New York after a long boat trip from Ireland. During this trip - his wife died, we never find out exactly why. However, life must go on, and after he finds himself a place to stay, Cornelius begins wedding arrangements for his wife's funeral. This is where we meet Clarence Vine, an undertaker who loves his job perhaps a little too much. After giving Cornelius's wife a fabulous funeral, he offers Mr. Christian a job, since the recent immigrant is unable to repay his debts for the funeral service.

This is where we begin seeing the quirky ways of Cornelius. It seems like as soon as the guy gets a decent break, he finds way to screw it up for himself, partially due to his seemingly uncontrollable temper. While working for the funeral home he meets recent widow, Fanny Sourpuss (when I first read this name, I thought Mr. Vine was making fun of the lady - not stating her actual name). She married a rich man who was many years her elder and is now facing the consequences of her actions. However, instead of mourning she chooses Mr. Christian for her first lover. Fanny, we soon discover, is one of the most possesive women in the world, not to mention the toughest. If someone looks at Cornelius the wrong way, she immediately goes into 'protection' mode, and the other person wil not make if out of the attack unscathed.

I must admit, this book was not at all what I was expecting it to be. For one, Mr. Donleavy has a most unique writing style. The book is written like a poem, completely in sentence fragments (excluding dialogue, of course). At first, this is very difficult to get used to, but I actually quite enjoyed it. It gives you the detail you need without all the frufru fillers inbetween. It was written in 1961, so I was definitely expecting a more conservative novel. However, I forgot that this was the beginning of the rebellious era, therefore this book contains more sexual scenes then I would prefer, but these are easily skimmed since they are irrelevent to the outcome of the book. In fact... I'm not sure what is relevent to the outcome of the book. It really misses some of the main aspects of a novel, including a climax.

However, this book has enough humorous parts to keep you reading. There really isn't much suspense, but there are a few times where you want to continue reading just to see what kind of mess Cornelius will get himself into, and how he'll get himself out. There are about as many fight scenes in this novel as there are sex scenes, however, the fight scenes are very entertaining. My favorite part of this book is where a lady gets punched in the face during a bar fight hard enough to knock her eyeball out of it's socket. You have to admit that is pretty darn amazing imagry, not to mention creativity.

If I were to meet Cornelius Christian in real life, I can almost guarantee we wouldn't get along. Though he may be wise to the ways of the streets, he is ignorant in almost all sense of social niceties and common courtesy, not to mention common sense. If someone tries to be civil to him, he has some sort of snide remark to give back. And if someone tries to be rude to them, well t can expect a death threat or a solid punch to the face. These attributes, while amusing to a reader, would not be entertaining to an actual acquaintence.

One of the things I enjoy most about this book is that J P Donleavy only gives a character a name if they are of some importance to the plot. You can tell if a character will only be around for a short while because they will simply get a nickname based on physical appearance. In case you can't tell, I hate when authors add many meaningless characters and make them seem like the star of the book for the entire paragraph they are featured. It is frustrating and confusing.

This book was, in the end, excellent. I will not ruin the ending, but it has a nice rounded and finalized feeling. I find it a shame that, previous to me, it hadn't been checked out since 1975. If you are OK with skimming some sex scenes, and some bad language, it is an amazingly humorous book that has a sense of lightheartedness to it. All and all I give this book FOUR OUT OF FIVE STARS!!

Reading Next: Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides

Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson

I believe the author himself, Robert Louis Stevenson, gives a great summary of his book before the story even starts with his poem to the hesitating purchaser. He promises the book to include sailor tunes, storms, adventure, schooners, islands, maroons, Bucaneers, and buried Gold. Treasure Island is the ultimate pirate story. When asked to explain the plot by my coworkers, the simplest reply was 'think of any pirate story ever told, and that is this book.' We follow young Jim Hawkins with his travels through the world of pirates in search of buried treasure. Throughout his journey he is joined with a numerous amount of characters, including Doctor Livesey, Long John Silver, Captain Smollett, Ben Gunn, and the parrott named Captain Flint.

I chose this book for my next read for a number of reasons. The Old Men at the Zoo was a complicated read, but Treasure Island is a wellknown book that is cherished by people of all ages. I needed a lighter read. Also, I happened to find a copy that was illustrated - and we all know that pictures help a boo go along. However, I believe there was one major illustration missing in this novel. As I continued reading about Jims adventures, I wanted nothing more than a map of the island that he inhabits in order to find Captain Flint's hidden treasure. I'm not a seafaring person myself, and therefore I have trouble imagining an island off the top of my head. Also - I'm a very detail oriented person and an expert navigator, when given a map (if I do say so myself), so I rely very deeply on maps. Perhaps other editions have maps and I just chose the wrong one from the library - always a possibility..

This was an excellent book, and, as to be expected from a pirate story, included adventure, suspense, and plot turns at every corner. There were many times that I was reluctant to put the book down in order to go to bed and get the required amount of sleep. However, there were a few points of this book that disappointed me. I believe that Mr. Stevenson attempted to add too many characters to his novel in too short of an amount of time. Of course, I knew who the main characters were, but often a character who had no importance previously in the book would be the main character for about one chapter before being killed off. It was really hard to distinguish these different characters, and was often very frustrating.

Another thing that was sometimes good and sometimes bad was the dialogue of the book. Robert Louis Stevenson did an excellent job of capturing the pirate speak in his novel, but it was often difficult to distinguish exactly what they were saying. In a book meant to be a light-hearted adventure, people often don't want to have to reread a sentence multiple times (and occasionally use an internet search engine) in order to understand what exactly the character was saying.

The one thing I did enjoy was how we kept with the main character. It is always a let down for me when we never really understand who the main character is or why they are doing what they're doing. However, I feel we get a great feel for, not only Jim Hawkins, but other main characters such as Long John Silver. Also, there is a great deal of surprise in this book. At one moment you think someone will be the villain or perhaps Jim's companion throughout the book, and the next page they're dead!

That's another thing I enjoyed about this book, he wasn't afraid to add some realistic blood, which wasn't over the top. I grew up with a mother who taught me that if a book didn't have a good dead body, it wasn't a good book. Being raised with this idea, I've read many a murder mystery, and it frustrates me when an author chooses to shy away from a death scene. It would have been especially annoying in a subject as brutal as pirates. However, there was always an awesome fight scene to look forward to.

This book kept me going until the very end. Literally, you don't know what the outcome will be to the main character until the last two chapters! I thoroughly enjoyed following Jim Hawkins through his pirate journey. However, because of the additional characters, overly difficult pirate talk, and sometimes too much detail to hold my attention, I give this book THREE STARS OUT OF A POSSIBLE FIVE

Reading Next: A Fairy Tale of New York, by J. P Donleavy

The Old Men at the Zoo, by Angus Wilson

Upon first choosing this book for my next reading, I was quite excited to find out the plot. It is listed under fantasy and sci fi in the 1000 Novels List, so I was pretty interested to see what exactly the old men would come up with at the zoo. However, this was definitely not the case. Upon reading the scene of the poor boy who got killed by a trampling of a giraffe, and the conversations as to whether the kick to the testicles was the true killing point of the young man, it seemed that the book would have a light and humorous air about it. However, delving deeper into the book I found that this was not the case. In fact, at one point I remember crying out 'Why is he just writing about a bunch of old men at the zoo?!?!' Yeah, ironic, right?

I find the character list, complete with names of characters, their spouses, and their positions, a very vital part of this book. With the immense amount of characters, it is easy to forget who does what and why they're acting the way they really are. Especially with the way Mr. Wilson changes the importance of the characters so frequently throughout the book. AT one point this man is scooping poop in the lemur cage and the next moment he is the director of the zoo.

In case you couldn't tell, I found many aspects of this book confusing. There were many times where they were jumping forward weeks, months, or years, though the exact amount of time was never specified, and how we got to this specific area was often hard to understand. However, the plot of the book becomes slightly more understandable when you realize that it is a satire, conveying Angus Wilson's fears of war to come. Though it was written in the 1960s, it is based in the 1970s, therefore being 'fantastical' because it is written in the future (though now the past).

Despite the confusing aspects of the book, around page 250 the book started getting immensely interesting. The war breaks out and suddenly the struggle for survival begins. Previous to this, the book seems to center around the affairs of the zoo and the possibility of war. However, it takes a while for war to actually break loose. I'm not the type of person to analyze a book, however you can definitely see the correspondence with the affairs in the zoo and the threat of war.

I borrowed this book from my college's library, and one of the most intriguing things to me is it's previous check out dates. It was first checked out in the 1960's, around the publishing of the book. It was checked out once again in 1973, perhaps to compare the current world conditions to the predictions of Angus Wilson. And then, the next check out was me. How shocking to think that this particular edition has not been read through in over thirty years!

This book is definitely confusing, especially if you don't realize it is a satire until after page 100! However, there are many moments of occasional humor throughout the book that allow the book to continue movement well. IT is hard to take a break from this book because the chapters are around 70 pages long with very few breaking points in between. Because of these facts I give this book 1.5 OUT OF 5 STARS.

Now Reading:: Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson