70. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (529 pp.)
71. Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright (280 pp.)
72. Half of a Yellow Sun by Adichie (541 pp.)
73. Gossamer by Lois Lowry (140 pp.)
74. Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith (227 pp.)
75. Lisey’s Story by Stephen King (502 pp.)
76. The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury (145 pp.)
77. Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho (210 pp.)
78. The Complete Tales of Nikolai Gogol, Vol. 1 (259 pp.)
Pages read in October: 2833
Pages read in 2007: 22,031
It had been over 20 years since I had read a Stephen King book. I used to love horror and love his books. I really, really did. That changed and I don’t like horror at all now. I like scary, suspenseful stories-just not horror. I think I had convinced myself that surely there wouldn’t be that much horror because he put so much of his wife/marriage into the story. I guess there probably wasn’t as much as in his other books, but it was still too much for me.
Stephen King had said that he wrote this after considering what could happen to his wife if he had died in the car accident that he had. I do think he put quite a bit of himself and her into this story. I liked the beginning of the book very much, but then in the middle there was a little too much of the horror element for me. Lisey’s husband Scott flashes back to a horror-full childhood. There were some crazy things that happen to Lisey as well that bothered me because I kept thinking, “How can he think of these things happening to his wife?”
Anyway, it was a good book for the R.I.P Challenge, but I don’t think I’ll be reading another King book for awhile. If you know of one that is very tame, I might try it. Otherwise, there’s just too much horror in King for this wimpy woman.
I didn’t really care for this book, although I loved Fahrenheit 451. I read this one for the R.I.P. Challenge because I knew I wouldn’t get to The Picture of Dorian Gray. Probably the main reason I didn’t like it was because I don’t like Halloween. I don’t even celebrate it at all. Autumn is my favorite season, and I do love everything about it. . . except Halloween. (I’m not a scrooge, though; I still hand out candy if we’re home.)
So why did I read it then? Well, the storyline was quite a bit different from what I expected. I just expected a scary Halloween night story, and it was that, but it was also a celebration of Halloween. Similar to A Christmas Carol, a ‘ghost’ (with a Marley knocker) takes the boys through the celebration of Halloween through the ages. Anyway, if you enjoy the holiday, then you’ll like this story quite a bit.
I’m still glad I read the book, though, because it is Ray Bradbury, and I do want to read more of his work.
November 1, 2007 through January 30, 2008
Click on the button for more info.
Last year’s From the Stacks Challenge was my very first challenge ever, so of course I have to participate again this year. It felt really great completing that first challenge!
The rules for this challenge are:
To read 5 books that we have already purchased, have been meaning to get to, have been sitting on the nightstand, and haven’t read before.
This is an ongoing challenge that includes not only works that Orson Scott Card has written, but also works that he has edited, introduced, and recommended. Officially begins January 1, 2008. For more info, go here.
My working list:
Asimov, Isaac (any)
Austen, Jane (any)
Barry, Dave and Ridley Pearson. Peter and the Starcatchers. Peter and the Shadow Thieves
Bradbury, Ray (any)
Bronte sisters (any) Card, Orson Scott (any)
Ender’s Game
Ender in Exile
Christie, Agatha (any)
Dickens, Charles (any)
Evanovich, Janet (any)
Gaiman, Neil (any)
Smith, Alexander McCall (any)
Tolkien, J.R.R. (any)
Twain, Mark (any)
Tyler, Anne (any)
Wells, H.G. (any)
White, E.B. Charlotte’s Web
White, T.H. The Once and Future King
Winspear, Jacqueline (any)
Extras/Alternates:
Sophie’s World – Jostein Gaarder ‘98
The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver ‘02, ‘06
The Red Tent – Anita Diamant ‘06
Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden ‘98, ‘02, ‘06
Winnie-the-Pooh – A.A. Milne ‘98, ‘02
The English Patient – Michael Ondaatje ‘98
The Other Boleyn Girl – Phillippa Gregory ‘02, ‘06
Northern Lights – Philip Pullman ‘02, ‘06
The Plain Truth – Jodi Picoult ‘02
The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold ‘06
Cold Mountain – Charles Frazier ‘98
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
It had been over 20 years since I had read a Stephen King book. I used to love horror and love his books. I really, really did. That changed and I don’t like horror at all now. I like scary, suspenseful stories-just not horror. I think I had convinced myself that surely there wouldn’t be that much horror because he put so much of his wife/marriage into the story. I guess there probably wasn’t as much as in his other books, but it was still too much for me.
I didn’t really care for this book, although I loved Fahrenheit 451. I read this one for the R.I.P. Challenge because I knew I wouldn’t get to The Picture of Dorian Gray. Probably the main reason I didn’t like it was because I don’t like Halloween. I don’t even celebrate it at all. Autumn is my favorite season, and I do love everything about it. . . except Halloween. (I’m not a scrooge, though; I still hand out candy if we’re home.)
