Katy's Reading in 2007

[katy]

Introduction:
I know for a fact that I don't read anywhere near as much as I used to. I recently (at the end of January) started trying to read more, which is why there isn't as many books that I've read this year that I would've liked.

Most of the books I read have been recommended to me by people or I've seen adverts for or decided to read due to recent media productions (not necessarily ones that I have seen). I like to read pretty much anything. The only books I prefer not to read are LotR or Terry Pratchett-esque fantasy and military crime/thriller.

If you like some of the books that I have read, and have some recommendations for any similar books they would be greatly recieved. I am only going to write reviews of books that I read from this day onwards, but if you would like my opinions on any of the other books written here, just send me a message and I'll get right to it.

To see all books that I have read in recent years, please visit my Livejournal entry (http://k4chii.livejournal.com/73804.html).

Have Read (8):

January:
Nick Hornby - High Fidelity
Mitch Albom - For One More Day

February:
Stephen King - Thinner
John Boyne - The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas
Audrey Niffenegger - The Time Traveler's Wife
Mitch Albom - The Five People You Meet In Heaven
Patrick Suskind - Perfume

March:
Lauren Weisberger - The Devil Wears Prada

On My Bookshelf (6):
These books are ones that I have purchased and not yet read. They may be read in the near future, but may not. It depends on what I feel like reading!

Nick Hornby - How To Be Good
Stephen King - Insomnia
Malcolm Gladwell - Blink
Lynn Truss - Eats, Shoots and Leaves
Charles Dickens - Oliver Twist
Douglas Adams - The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Would Like To Read (1):
These are books that I don't own yet but would like to read at some point. The list probably won't be too long because when I go to find a book to read I travel to the local bookstore and pick up what I think sounds interesting at the time.

Gregory Maguire - Wicked

[katy]

Born in sweaty, fetid eighteenth-century Paris, Grenouille is distinctive even in infancy. He has "the finest nose in Paris and no personal odour". With wit, a Gothic imagination and considerable originality, Suskind has developed this simple idea into a fantastic tale of murder and twisted eroticism controlled by a disgusted loathing of humanity.
Literary Review


I decided to read this book because of the recent film adaptation. I prefer to read books over watch films, and I thought the storyline sounded interesting in the movie trailers, so I'd give it a go.

It is very artisitically written, although translated from its original German by John E. Woods. The language used was very reminiscent of its setting in the eighteenth century, giving it a generally more Gothic feel. Despite its 263 pages you could hardly describe it as 'light reading'.

The concept is an interesting and original one with cruel twists that made me cringe and throw the book down at one point. After all, this is the story of a murderer, what would you expect? He was not particularly brutal, but his intention was twisted for sure.

The book started off quite dreary and uninteresting, it took about two thirds of the way through until I managed to become fully absorbed by it. The ending was an unexpected one, but not disappointing, as some books tend to be.

I would recommend this to people purely for the experience of witnessing an unusual concept. The English language version is indeed quite well written but I fear that it would be better read in German, the language in which it was originally published.

[katy]

When Andrea first sets foot in the plus Manhattan offices of Runway she knows nothing. She's never heard of the world's most fashionable magazine, or its feared and fawned-over editor, Miranda Priestly.

Soon she knows way too much.

She knows it's a sacking offence to wear less than a three-inch heel to work - but there's always a fresh pair of Manolos in the accessories cupboard.

She knows that eight stone is fat. That you can charge anything - cars, manicures, clothes - to the Runway account, but you must never leave your desk or let Miranda's coffee get cold. That at 3 am, when your boyfriend's dumping you because you're always working and your best friend's just been arrested, if Miranda phoned with her latest unreasonable demand, you jump.

Most of all, Andrew knows that Miranda is a monster boss who makes Cruella de Vil look like a fluffy bunny. But this is her big break, and it's all going to be worth it in the end.

Isn't it?


I don't even need to tell you that this book is chick lit, as if the blurb doesn't make it blindingly obvious. This is not the type of book that I would usually read but decided that after seeing some trailers for the recent movie adaption, it sounded like a pretty funny story.

It is not the laugh out loud kind of book that I originally expected - but that is not necessarily a bad thing. The annoying boss got on my nerves as much as Andrea's it seems, which made the ending ever more satisfying. A lot of it (the issues she had with her best friend, family and boyfriend) was portrayed rather seriously, and I end up just thinking 'what would I have done given that particular situation?'

There is nothing particularly special about the writing style. Some of the chapters started really confusingly as the past was incoherently mingled with the present, but that is my only quarm.

The characters were cliché and stereotypical but what more was to be expected from this type of novel?

I recommend this to people for a lighthearted read but not necessarily if you were looking for a book to really split your sides over - this isn't going to cut it. Not particularly insightful, and wouldn't make it to my 'top five' list, but it's a fun read nonetheless. Good, but not something to shout about.