caitlin_89's reviews
523 reviews

Honestly, I didn't think I'd like this so much. I've always said "Anime is weird. I have no interest in it." But my friends were reading it and loving it and recommending it... so I borrowed it. And devoured it. A fun, witty, fast little read. ^.^ And I love the different style! I'm a classic british lit kind of girl, and so this totally different format is a great change of pace.

I read The Host, upon the recommendation of my weirdest friend, Keith. (Hi, Keith!)

This is the part where I'm supposed to get wordy and creative and write a mini book review for you.
...
Will you mind too much if I just tell you that it was super good? Because it was. It was about a Soul named Wanderer who finds herself a misfit among her fellow Souls. The human body she inhabits still houses the willful consciousness of it's former owner, Melanie. Through circumstances beyond their control, Wanderer and Melanie become allies, working together to save the people they love.

That sounds amazingly weird and corny. But it wasn't... really!

And you didn't learn anything, because that's what any old synopsis would tell you. Sorry for wasting your time. <3

The plot revolves around the House of the Seven Gables and the ancestral curse said to plague all offspring of the builder thereof. Sounds intriguing, doesn't it? Despite the mysterious secrets lying undiscovered in the souls of certain characters, the house itself, dark and decaying, so like its cursed inhabitants, and the two young people, come to stay at the House, so unlike, yet "held united by the stiffened grasp of Death", I was not intrigued.

A good book pulls you in, draws you into the life of the characters, tugs at you to keep reading until the end. Sadly, I felt as though I were plowing through this book. "Keep going, there's only 5 chapters left. I can do this!" Usually when I read, I get so absorbed in the story that I lose all track of chapter breaks. Not so this time. I kept waiting to be intrigued, and it just never happened.

However, I pulled a few quotes I really like from the depressing depths of this dark drama:

"...it should be woman's office to move in the midst of practical affairs and to gild them all, the very homeliest - were it even the scouring of pots and kettles - with an atmosphere of loveliness and joy." (written in contemplation of young Phoebe Pyncheon)

How idyllic! I should wish to do just such. Too bad I'm not a character in a book. We real life people don't usually pull that off so well.

"It was the Eden of a thundersmitten Adam, who had fled for refuge thither out of the same dreary and perilous wilderness into which the original Adam was expelled." (description of the gardens in which aged, troubled Clifford found solace)


I should mention that Clifford, upon gazing into Maule's Well, beheld a colorful "phantasmagoria" -shifting faces, mostly beautiful ones. Any joy in these visions was fleeting, though, for a horrible, gruesome face would always appear and ruin the splendor he found in the rippling water. (Hm. I think that was supposed to be a picture of his life. This book had lots of metaphory type stuff.)

I just had to throw that in there because I'd never heard the word phantasmagoria before and thought it was awesome.

"She knocked a third time, three regular strokes, gentle, but perfectly distinct, and with meaning in them; for, modulate it with what cautious art we will, the hand cannot help playing some tune of what we feel upon the senseless wood."
(Hepzibah Pyncheon, aflutter in alarm, knocking upon the door of her brother's chamber)



So, it is finished. I have conquered the House of the Seven Gables.
No longer shall its shadow fall over the stack of other books I've planned to read this summer. ;-)

Basically, manga seems to be an insider thing for people who "get it" and I don't think I get it. I'm enjoying it, but I felt lost in this volume. As with some of the other reviewers, I had a hard time keeping characters apart... A hard time following some of the dialog... And I felt like the story wasn't really going anywhere. Kinda like "oh, hey, let's take a break from the storyline to do this little Valentine's Day thingy..."

But maybe that's just me. :) I'm not complaining, just a little disappointed that I didn't "get it". Still looking forward to Vol. 4.

This was the best thing I've read all year. I didn't want to put it down.
It was fun the way Tom Sawyer was fun - like going on an adventure. But even better, thanks to Merlyn and all the lovely Old English flair, what! If that wasn't cool enough, though, there were lovely little references to "modern" things that popped up here and there, thanks to Merlyn's backwardness in time.

So many, many things to love.
King Pellinor's confuzzled relationship with the Beast Glatisant.
Merlyn's... I dunno. I just love everything about Merlin. He made me laugh out loud numerous times. I love a book that makes me laugh out loud.
The Wart- so eager to learn and eager to please!
Sir Ector's bumbling, flustered, kindhearted ways.

And to top it all off, you finish the last paragraph find yourself facing
-The Beginning-

You know what?
The whole time I was reading this book, I was thinking "hm. Some of this must have been in the beginning of "The Once and Future King" ... because I know I haven't read this, but it all is so familiar.

I just found out (I am so... blonde) that The Once and Future King is a collection of 4 books altogether, the Sword in the Stone being the first of those 4. So, yes, I had read it before.

Well, I guess that just means I can now put this in my "reread and loved" list on goodreads.

Pros: The story did keep me turning pages. I only put it down last night because my head kept falling on the pages. Other than the last 6 pages, I read it all in one day.

Cons: There's a thing or two that I felt were left unaddressed and so are now nagging at the back of my mind. Not good. And I don't think Dekker's writing style is my favorite. I felt like a snob because I kept inwardly groaning at some of his expressions.

A pleasant read, but I'm more of a "meh" than a "yay" on this one.

Very enjoyable... the story was frustrating in that honesty in the beginning would have fixed everything. Instead, their rapturous love was mostly consumed by heartbreak and misery... yay!
But it was a good read, and I super love the obsolete Old English.

I picked up this book based on the fact that the author and I have a super-conservative, fundamentalist upbringing in common. Mostly a collection of essays recalling the questions and fears raised by the church. I was expecting a kind of sarcastic, bitter memoir, but I was wrong. Some sarcasm was definitely involved, but I think it was laced with grace. Humorous, vivid, insightful storytelling. A really quick and pleasant read.

Since I'm owning up to having read nothing but fluff over Christmas Break, I'll go ahead and say this was a fave out of the stack of christian romance I read.
It made me laugh out loud a couple of times, and not just because my brit-lit-snobby self was mocking. I did laugh because some things were ridiculous to me a few times, but I also was really amused by the characters' interactions and reactions.

It was a pretty cute story. Great if you're in the mood for a good chick flick - book style.