I, Claudius

I, Claudius by Robert Graves
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a very well written "autobiography" of Claudius as he witnesses the rise and fall of the emperors of Rome before unexpectedly becoming one himself. I will admit I got bogged down a little in the just how wicked everyone seemed to be. There was killing to get gain, killing to get money, killing to create fear, killing for revenge...so much killing...how was anyone alive? On that level, it was a bit depressing, but the fact that it was based on history was very interesting...if I were to teach ancient history, this is how I would do it. I loved the quote "“, that there are two different ways of writing history: one is to persuade men to virtue and the other is to compel men to truth.” And “And if by serving the cause of truth we admit our revered ancestors to have been cowards, liars, and traitors? What then?" I loved that discussion of history...wouldn't that be a great thing to discuss in a class? Do we really want our heros to be human? Lots of great history, ideas, and writing.

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Chasing the Sun

Chasing the Sun: A Novel by Natalia Sylvester
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a great read....well written, great characters, suspenseful story line. If you can see the ending coming before the characters do, it's only because we are usually the last to know what we should do with our lives. It brought up questions of how we live our lives in the same way until a crisis forces us to reexamine our lives and our relationships. Will we shut down, move on, or move back? And is moving back the same as moving on?

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Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

RMiss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this original, action packed novel. I thought the ideas and characters were fresh and interesting. The plot was unpredictable yet made sense. The pictures which were the inspiration, were fun to see. Ironically, the authors desire to fit these pictures into the thread of the narrative felt contrived and broke the flow of the novel. The very inspiration for the novels brilliance was also the most irritating part of the novel. I loved the story, but it might be a bit dark for younger readers.

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The Marriage Plot

EThe Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I bought this book because it was $5 and had the words Pulitzer Prize on the front. (Also I thought it was a book whose glowing review I had read, but I was mistaken: upon double checking, that book was The Newlyweds). The first 100 pages or so are almost unbearable. I believe one of the goodreads reviewers used the word Pretentious. It opens on graduation day at Brown and you are introduced to a bunch of Pretentious 80's intellectuals who base their relationships on what obscure author they are reading or what philosophical class they are taking. Since no one, even the "poor" students have a job, they can sit around and theorize about all sorts of crap. But because I can never not read a book once I've started, I slogged along and it actually got a little more interesting. Mainly because a couple of the characters had to actually deal with real life; namely, manic depression, and a religious exploration. I found both of those story lines well told and thought out. I especially appreciated that an author would allow a smart, Pretentious youth to search for meaning in religion. The ending was also satisfactory and refreshing. I never did like the Pretentious heroine though. And the book had more sex in it than needed to be there.

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The Mysterious Benedict Society

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Loved this book. Recommend for everyone wanting a clever, fun read. Was told this was an easy read, but I mistook it for a short read and got caught at book club not having finished it....(the downside of e books). But loved everything from the beginning to the touching end.

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The Time Machine

TThe Time Machine by H.G. Wells
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

We read this for book club. It was a good early foray into science fiction. Someone pointed out that it was Wells that coined the term time travel. Indeed, the argument for the possibility of traveling in the Fourth dimension was intriguing and the most logical argument for it that I've come across. Still while the story of the time traveller was interesting, it didn't hold either the interest or horror for me that it would have for earlier audiences. Too much apocalyptic literature these days, I suppose. In fact, The Accidental Time Machine by Joe Haldeman must have borrowed a lot from Wells, because it reminded me a lot of each other. It would be nice if someone travelled into the future and found out that we didn't annihilate ourselves, though. It wouldn't be as interesting, but I'm just sayin, it would be nice.

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Night Film

Night Film by Marisha Pessl
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book. Though I will add the caveat that I have a readers crush on Pessel ever since I read Special Topics.... And I have been eagerly awaiting her sophomore novel ever since. So I might be biased. But I wasn't disappointed.
First of all, can I say I loved the apps and all the extra stuff that came with it?! It made the book that much more alive, and I sort of became obsessed with it. Yes, I read everything on the "syllabus" and looked up to see if I could find the ending of the story of Bartho Lore. The whole app thing made me giddy and it was not disappointing.
I liked the characters, and loved going down the rabbit hole with them. I didn't find the "multiple endings" annoying, rather it leads to an ambiguity that would have made Cordova proud. Another criticism I came across was that Cordova's films didn't even sound that scary. I think that shows little imagination or understanding of scary movies....it is rarely the plot that is scary but rather the way it filmed, the score, the tension, that makes a thing scary. And I assume that Cordova was the master of it. I found it interesting that the plots of his movies all dealt with depravity of man without any supernatural elements. I can't help but think Pessel did this intentionally.
The other thing I appreciated: though the novel had all of the elements of horror...supernatural stuff, S&M clubs, spooky kids, dream sequences, it was all very PG. But in no way boring.
What was distracting, I will agree is the abundant use of italics. At first I even thought there must be a secret second novel made up of the italicized words...there were so many! Also, she describes Ashley with dark hair and then has colored pictures of her with light brown hair...distracting!
Other than that, loved it and will try to be patient for another 7 years while Pessel reinvents another genre.

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