Swatkat's Book Debrief Vol. I

[swatkat]

msgenevieve, check out what JKR has to say about the PoA movie. Looks like we're going to have to watch this one with a magnifying glass. *g*

~

Meanwhile, I've been reading. A lot. Feels good reading new books after a long, long time. *g* I still have a few new books in hand, not to mention the couple of contemporary history and economics books I nabbed from my father's bookshelf yesterday.



Voices in the Summer – Rosamunde Pilchard

I knew there was something wrong with this book the moment I had it in my
hands. But my cousin said it's a good book, and I had to take it – you know,
just to keep her happy. Right now, I can think of only one phrase that suits
it: mind-numbingly boring. What exactly was this book about? Is it a
romance? Is it a family story? Is it the author's attempt to preach family
values and importance of marriage? I couldn't figure it out. After slogging
through the first few chapters, I flipped through the rest of the book.
Nothing happens. At all. I think the author realised it too, because she
tried to sex things up a bit by throwing in some mysterious anon letters –
but it's equally pathetic. Why is this book a best-seller? (Or so they say
on the cover. But then, *all* books are best-sellers.)

She's quite a popular author, from what I gathered from amazon. Just not my type, I guess.

The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown

So. Finally got to read it. It's a good book. A good read, difficult to put
down. Just the way men's thrillers are – racy plot. Little character. To the
author's credit, the characterisation isn't too bad, and the hero is human.
What really impressed me was the author's choice of subject. It's
controversial. He's writing for a primarily male readership, but he's picked
a subject that's bound to interest women. And he's also thrown in a fairly
interesting female lead to seal the interest. I wouldn’t recommend this to
anyone whose religious sensibilities might be hurt, but otherwise, it's a
good book.

Just for curiosity's sake, I dropped by amazon.com after reading the book.
The reviews vary from "it's the One True Book" to "BURN EVOL BOOK NOW!"
*smirk*

Shelters of Stone – Jean M. Auel

Apparently, mum is *big* Auel fan. She only owns Book 5, and in a
I-need-something-new-to-read-or-I'll go-crazy moment, I picked it up. Bad
idea. Very bad idea, actually. Even the fabled sex scenes didn't impress me
at all. Instead, I sniggered through the most of them because I recalled
someone from f_w calling them the 'caveman sex books'. So. Not reading any
more. Maybe I'm doing the series a grave injustice. Maybe I should get the
first book and give it a try. But I'm not going to.

Mum: (mildly) Um, maybe you should get the first book and try again? It's a
good series, you know.
Dad: (vehemently) You couldn't read it? Me either. I stopped reading [the
first book] after she (Ayla) started talking to animals and inventing every
damn thing on the planet.



So, what new books have you been reading?