Awhile ago, Dorchester Publishing ran a small “contest”—fill out a survey, provide some info, and if picked, they’d send you an ARC1 of a soon-to-be published novel. The only stipulation was that if you liked it, you would talk about it. Post reviews to forums, to Amazon, to blogs. Well, I got picked, I read the book, and whether or not I liked it, I knew I would blog about it. It was the least I could do for a free book, I figured.
The promotion was for a Marjorie M. Liu novel, Soul Song. It’s the sixth book in the Dirk & Steele series. I came into this book having never read a previous book in this series, nor any of Liu’s previous novels. It is a paranormal romance, and not one I would have picked up in the bookstore, had I seen it on the shelf. Getting an ARC was a great way to try out a book I normally wouldn’t want to spend my money on. I now have an urge to look up Liu’s backlist, and gorge myself on her paranormal.
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- Advanced Reading Copy [back]
I suppose people have guessed by now that maybe I don’t read the most recent of novels. So far this summer I have tackled Metamorphoses, Frankenstein, and a fair few trashy romance novels. But, I haven’t tackled anything that’s been on a best sellers list at any time in the last year.
It should be no surprise then, that my most recently read book was written in 1803, and published in 1818. Jane Austen has to be my favorite English author of all time. Seriously. The dry wit, and the acute observation of human nature makes Austen one of the few authors where I have to read the books multiple times to get the full depth of what she’s writing. (more…)
I want to start a new feature around here, but I don’t know how well it’ll be received. I read books. A lot of them. This week alone, I’m on my fourth book, and I still have two days to go.
So, what I’d like to do is review books. Not to the extent of a book report, but something similar just the same. I’d love to review ARC’s but seriously, where am I going to get those? (so, if you’re an author, send me an ARC, and I’ll totally review for you).
The book for todays review was published awhile ago, and is a really well known author. I mean, who hasn’t heard of Anne Rice?
I read a book today that I didn’t think would affect me as much as it did.
My sister has been bugging me for a week or to read The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chobosky. She gave it to me earlier in the month, after she had read it, borrowing it from a classmate.
Wow is all I can say about this book. It’s about the freshman year of someone who is different, someone who (I believe) everyone can relate to in one or another. The story is told through letters the narrator Charlie has written to this anonymous person, who he has never met.
The whole time I was reading it, I was thinking “I know how that is. Oh, I’ve lived through that. Yep, that happened to me.” It is such a heart wrenching account of a year in this guy’s life where he has to deal with his best friend committing suicide, his friends from junior high not speaking to him, and dealing with trying to “participate” in life and not just sit on the sidelines.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has ever felt like they were on the outside looking in, like they are the only one who feels the way they do. It’s just so hard to explain why this book is so good.
Ugh, just read the damn thing. It’s so short, you could probably finish it at the book store (and if you didn’t, there’s no way you would be able to leave it behind.)
And I really have not done any amount of justice to how good this book is. If you’ve got a chance, pick it up.
- “Am I Missing,” A Mark, a Mission, a Brand, a Scar: Dashboard Confessional
