I came across this site today that claims to have 30,000 free books online. It looks like the majority of those are classics. As a test I checked the last book I read (Kafka) and he was there ready to read! The thought of sitting in front of a computer to read a whole book is not appealing to me, but I can think of better possible uses. It’d be fine for short stories or to read a few chapters to see if they interested you enough to get the book. Check it out.
Tag: Books
The Metamorphosis & Other Stories by Franz Kafka
The Metamorposis. Finished 4-25-08, rating 2.5/5, fiction short stories, B&N edition 1996
Kafka’s Metamorphosis is a bizarre tale full of dark humor that sometimes had us laughing out loud. Gregor is turned into an insect and forced to live out his days at the mercy of his horrified family. Jason was hoping for a little more closure I think. I remember reading it in college and not liking it then and nothing this time changed my opinion. Jason and I read this and a few of the others out loud to each other and were ambivalent.
There were a few stories in this collection that I enjoyed. I enjoyed The Stoker, which I understand is the first chapter of his book Amerika. A sixteen year old, Karl, made his way to Ellis Island and somehow managed to befriend a ship stoker who had grievances with authority. Karl tried to aid him, but only managed to find himself the beneficiary of some very good luck. I can see this as the beginning of an interesting novel.
We both enjoyed A Hunger Artist and I thought In the Penal Colony was very good. These two stories had different things to say about death which I found thought provoking. Josephine the Singer, or The Mouse People was enjoyable if a bit too long. Before the Law was also interesting.
The rest of them I would have been happy to have not read at all. The Judgement neither of us liked, although it was the one that led to the most discussion after. The Country Doctor, An Old Leaf, and A Message From the Emperor were a waste of my time.
Authors on Books
If there’s a book you really want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it. ~Toni Morrison
A house without books is like a room without windows. ~Heinrich Mann
To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life. ~W. Somerset Maugham
Famous First Lines
I’ve posted the answers to Who Am I if you want to check them out.
Here’s how to play…Identify the first lines of these famous novels by telling me what book it’s from. Leave a comment with the # of the first line and the title of the book and I’ll cross it off the list. No Googling, that’s cheating and no fun! If you know them all, please don’t guess every one, maybe five max?
1. It was a pleasure to burn. Jason, Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury
2. Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. Janet, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
3. It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York. The Bell Jar by Plath
4. I am an invisible man. Jason, Invisible Man by Ellison
5. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. Carol, Pride & Prejudice by Austen
6. What can you say about a 25 year old girl who died? Love Story by Segal
7. Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. Mark, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by Lewis
8. If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. Mark, The Catcher in the Rye by Salinger
9. As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. Mark, The Metamorphosis by Kafka
10. You better not never tell nobody but God. The Color Purple by Walker
Hold Tight, by Harlan Coben
Finished 4-19-08, rating 4/5, fiction, pub. 2008
“In the end we’re just their caretakers, Mike. We get them for a little while and then they live their lives. I just want him to stay alive and healthy until we let him go. The rest will be up to him.” Hold Tight, Chapter 2
I mentioned in an earlier post that Jason and I went to a book signing by Coben in Houston a few years ago. He was charming and smart and just goofy enough to make him interesting. I was already a fan, but it was nice to know that I liked the guy whose career I was supporting. I’ve read all of his books and have liked them all, some more than others. I generally prefer his novels written in the first person because so few authors really do it well. This wasn’t in first person, but it was fun and I finished it in one day so that must mean I liked it!
This is a book about parents – the love, the fears, and the lengths they’ll go to to protect their kids. The Bayes fear that they are losing their teenage son, Adam, so they install a spyware program on his computer to keep tabs on him. The decision was a hard one for them and one that plays out to reveal the real dilemma parents face today. The Bayes are not the only parents with problems. Their next-door neighbors need to find a kidney donor for their son. Their daughter’s best friend was ridiculed by a teacher, school has become unbearable, and her father wants to move to protect her. The Hills have just lost a son to suicide and the father needs to move on while the mother needs to know why. The police chief has a stoner son and is willing to lie and intimidate to protect him.
Amazingly all of these stories come together in a fast-paced thriller that will leave you hoping for the best until the end. This is a terrific book, especially if you have a teen in the house. It wasn’t just about the technology, but also many of the pressures kids face today like drugs and bullying. Coben manages to hit on current issues while keeping the story compelling and the action swift.
This is just the lastest installment in Coben’s bestselling library. Enjoy!
Angels Fall, by Nora Roberts
Finished audio 4-17-08, rating3.5/5, fiction, pub. 2006
Reece is a woman haunted by her violent past in Boston who ends up in Wyoming trying to recover. She finds a small close-knit town that looks at gossip as a badge of honor. They watch out for their own. Reece takes a job at the local diner and begins to heal.
As Reece tries to normalize her life she is shaken when she witnesses a cold-hearted murder. She finds a new friend in Brody, who believes her, but some distrust among others when no body was found. Having been in a psychiatric hospital not long before Reece begins to think that she may be going crazy. Brody’s belief in her gives her hope for her sanity, but she is feeling more and more fragile as the town watches her seemingly fall apart.
I enjoyed this novel even though I thought I knew the killer right away and I was right. It had a great story about a woman putting her life back together, with romance, surprising friendships, and a murder mystery. I rarely read Nora Roberts, but I’d recommend this one.
Chain Letter 2: The Ancient Evil, by Christopher Pike
Finished 4-13-08, rating 2/5, YA, pub. 1992
This may seem like an odd book to review, but I read it on the airplane so here goes.
This book picks up a few months after Chain Letter ends. Neil is dead and everyone believes that he was the Caretaker-the evil behind the letters they had all received. The book begins as Fran receives a letter telling her she must drown her new puppy or she will be killed. She ignores the letter and is beheaded. Allison and Tony lose faith in each other and one falls prey to an evil force.
I remember reading the first book, Chain Letter when I was in eighth grade and loving it. Christopher Pike was always a reading staple of mine, but this was not enjoyable. The main themes of this were satanic worship and evil coming to life, which are not topics I find fun.
The Third Heiress, by Brenda Joyce
Finished 4-12-08, rating 3.5/5, fiction, pub. 1999
Jill is a lonely woman who meets the man of her dreams and he asks her to marry him. Ecstatic, Jill is unprepared for him to have second thoughts and the worst happens. Hal dies because of Jill. Jill flies his body back to London to his super wealthy family and is greeted with disdain.
So, begins the mystery of what Hal had meant with his last words whispered to Jill. She is obsessed with finding the truth and finds an ally in Hal’s cousin, Alex. She packs up her life in New York to move to London to uncover secrets Hal’s family would rather leave buried. Alex is the hero or the villain and Hal turns out to be no prince charming. The pages turned fast because I wanted to know what was what.
I love Brenda Joyce, which should be evident by now since this is her third book I’ve read this year. To me this felt like a departure for her and not her best work. It was a bit disjointed, but with that being said I really did enjoy it. The mystery will keep you reading even if you think you’ve got it figured out because there are so many little questions you need answered. This is more mystery than romance, but if you are open to that I think you’ll like it.
The Greatest Miracle In The World, by Og Mandino
Finished 4-3-08, rating 2.5/5, fiction, pub. 1983
This was my first and most probably my last Og Mandino book. It was sweet, preachy, and a little dated. I think the sentiment was good and did enjoy Chapter 9, The God Memorandum. The problem was the eight chapters leading up to it were not my cup of tea. The story was that Og met God in the flesh and God gave him a memo to print for the world.
The four laws of happiness and success according to God? 1. Count your blessings. 2. Proclaim your rarity. 3. Go another mile. 4. Use wisely your power of choice. These are rules to live by, but it was one chapter. The only thing that kept me reading to Chapter 9? The book is only 98 pages.
I finished this on our layover at JFK on the way to Italy. I left it on a chair, so I have passed on the God Memorandum to someone bored at the airport and now to you.
Who Am I?
I’ve given the answers to the Shakespeare quiz if you want to check it out.
Here’s how to play…Identify the author by leaving a comment with the # and I’ll cross it off the list. No Googling, that’s cheating and no fun! If you know them all, please don’t guess every one. HINT: All of these authors appear on my top 100 list.
1. I was a great novelist, but was loved for my philosophical system, objectivism. AYN RAND
2. Although a skilled writer, I wrote only one novel about the pursuit of vanity and my friend Dorian. Oscar Wilde, Jessica
3. “I am probably responsible for the odd fact that people don’t seem to name their daughters Lolita anymore.” (1964) Nabokov, Mark
4. No one wanted my masterpiece about dunces so I killed myself and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize after my death in 1981. John Kennedy Toole, Jessica
5. Who knew my book about a seagull would get so much attention? Richard Bach, Mark
6. I was married six times and had eight children, but still had the time to win two Pulitzer Prizes before my death last November. NORMAN MAILER
7. The grandson of a slave I wrote my first story at 15 and joined the Communist Party in the 30’s before leaving the US for good in 1946. RICHARD WRIGHT
8. You have all read my short stories, but it is my novel about Puritan adultery that still tops reading lists nad makes women wary of red A’s. Nathaniel Hawthorne, Jason
9. I began my famous “trilogy” guide for hitchhikers on radio, but it became a tv series, comic book series, computer game, and a feature film. DOUGLAS ADAMS
10. I wrote The Awakening, a shocking novel of adultery and suicide and due to bad reviews stopped writing five years before I died of a brain hemorrhage in 1904. KATE CHOPIN
Stacy's Books 