A book for those who might be interested in weird stories, goth-rock music or both, Heart Shaped Box is perfect.
The book tells of a Kerry King look-alike who buys a ghost off the internet in the form of an old man's suit. However, this purchase does not come without it's consequences. Upon opening and unfolding the suit, problems begin with a pin prick to the finger. After this one accident Judas Coyne's life goes into a downward spiral with problem after problem occurring with a massive climax.
We have stories of ghosts appearing in dreams, infections forming in said pin-pricked hand, memories and visions of past partners and crazy former in-laws. The story is a constant run of events which keeps the reader peeled and wanting to find out what happens next. Hill's writing is modern and original with concepts I've not read before (and I've read a LOT of horror books) which is something which should be applied to more books of this era/generation. Some might say he writes with his foot on the pedal of a suped up Mustang.
Hill has also done his research into modern and older metal bands with many being referenced throughout the book with the 4 parts taking the names of well-known songs along with the title being that of Nirvana's fame. Bands mentioned include Nine Inch Nails, MCR (yuck!), Good Charlotte and Rage Against the Machine. Joe Hill clearly has taste.
I found there to be no parts in this book that I wanted to skip or think "Meh" to, it was all full-on good reading.
Heart Shaped Box is a well-written and exciting book with many twists and turns and a somewhat trippy climax to a story of ghosts, crazy women, dogs' souls, strange radio broadcasts and weird dreams which would only normally occur when under the influence of LSD. If you're a fan of books that could be equivalent to Dark Side of the Moon this is one for you. If not, I'd still recommend it to anyone - it may even get people reading.
Overall rating: 5/5
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Thursday, 8 July 2010
Monday, 7 June 2010
The Desperate Diary of a Country Housewife by Daisy Waugh
Firstly: apologies for not writing a review on months, college has been a bit crazy what with catching up on old essays etc but I finally managed to finish the book that's been opening and closing for the past 3 months.
Spoilers follow
Moving on, this book is exactly as I expected it to be with the woman moving away, her husband being elsewhere and a builder hitting the scene. As I said in an earlier post, I planned to read some sort of chick-lit and here it is.
I did actually quite enjoy the book myself with there being moments of becoming buried within the pages hoping that this would happen etc. However, it isn't a book I would pick up and read again (or maybe I will but that'll be a long time from now) unless I really had the urge to.
The story tells of a married mum-of-2 who thinks she'll find paradise in the countryside, surrounded by fields, country pubs and the smell of nature. However, from the day she moves into the house things go wrong - her husband is constantly away for longer periods at a time, the house gets "hexed" and the kitchen falls apart after just being built. And then there's the builder she has an eye for - not the best of things to do when the other half is away.
And so the story moves on and I'm sure we can guess what happens when attraction begins between Mr. Builder and mum-of-2 but I'll let you find out the full story for yourself. This book may give you second ideas of moving to the countryside so also treat it as a handbook.
I found that the story was written in a rather typical fashion similar to "Confessions of a Shopaholic" with the woman being oh so womanly and pregnant with a kid which could have belonged to either man.
If you're a woman (or man) who is into typical chicklit then I'd say pick this up if you can find it (I managed to find it in Poundland when the actual RRP was £6.99 - bargain!), if you can't then it's no big loss.
In a nutshell: 4.5/10
Spoilers follow
Moving on, this book is exactly as I expected it to be with the woman moving away, her husband being elsewhere and a builder hitting the scene. As I said in an earlier post, I planned to read some sort of chick-lit and here it is.
I did actually quite enjoy the book myself with there being moments of becoming buried within the pages hoping that this would happen etc. However, it isn't a book I would pick up and read again (or maybe I will but that'll be a long time from now) unless I really had the urge to.
The story tells of a married mum-of-2 who thinks she'll find paradise in the countryside, surrounded by fields, country pubs and the smell of nature. However, from the day she moves into the house things go wrong - her husband is constantly away for longer periods at a time, the house gets "hexed" and the kitchen falls apart after just being built. And then there's the builder she has an eye for - not the best of things to do when the other half is away.
And so the story moves on and I'm sure we can guess what happens when attraction begins between Mr. Builder and mum-of-2 but I'll let you find out the full story for yourself. This book may give you second ideas of moving to the countryside so also treat it as a handbook.
I found that the story was written in a rather typical fashion similar to "Confessions of a Shopaholic" with the woman being oh so womanly and pregnant with a kid which could have belonged to either man.
If you're a woman (or man) who is into typical chicklit then I'd say pick this up if you can find it (I managed to find it in Poundland when the actual RRP was £6.99 - bargain!), if you can't then it's no big loss.
In a nutshell: 4.5/10
Saturday, 17 April 2010
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (Penguin Classics)
Word of note: The edition I will be reviewing is the Penguin Classics edition so your version may be very slightly different to this.
WARNING: SPOILERS FOLLOW
Frankenstein is a book not for the light-minded. By this I mean you have to be willing to read through some early 19th century English, and it's tricky! If you can do that you are on your way to reading in my opinion, a slightly above average book.
The story begins with a selection of letter sent from a sailor to his Sister, Margaret. He goes on about the sea and such like (basically whatever sailors wrote about back then) until he mentions about a strange creature floating of a raft beside the ship. Obviously he takes the man on-board (who, by the end of the book we find out is Victor Frankenstein) and Franky proceeds to tell a story.
We hear of Frankenstein's background, what inspired him to become a (mad) scientist and his family, although I don't recall being given a reason as to why he decided to create another life or how it was brought to life. Maybe my mind skimmed it.
From herein it gets more interesting. We read of Frankenstein being ill and nearly dying (a common occurence/theme throughout) due to the shock of realising what he has created - a monster capable of doing unspeakable things. Nine months of illness and Franky is finally back on his feet again, and reading letters sent from his Dad with information about his sister being found murdered. Instantly our Doctor snaps his fingers (sic) and realises what his creation has done or become.
We're now sent on a journey of searching through snow, wilderness and water until Franky finds his monster. The monster now proceeds to give us a long account of what happened since he diappeared from Frankensteins lab. It is here that we start to feel slightly sorry for him as he is constantly rejected and thought of an evil and grotesque being but this will change in good time.
Our Dr. then takes us on a journey of murder, mayhem and dungeons until he ends up getting married only to have his wife killed by his own creature. Now begins the years long persuits until Frankenstein ends up floting onto the aforementioned ship. The story then goes back to the letters and finishes with Frankenstein dying and the monster being upset and disappearing into the oceans.
When I first ppicked up and opened Frankenstein I was expecting a "thrill of a read". Instead, I was presented with endless dialogue and some boring narrative but it was a good book. Regarding Shelley's writing, I'd have to say it was only average. At points she made it exciting but at others it seems she just wanted to fill up a page. This book didn't reach my expectations, I'm sorry to say. However, I would still recommend it to anyone interested in reading it.
There is one very common mistake when it comes to putting the monster on film: He is not green with a rectangular head and bolts sticking out of his neck; he is made of body parts taken from graves.
Final conclusion: 3/5
WARNING: SPOILERS FOLLOW
Frankenstein is a book not for the light-minded. By this I mean you have to be willing to read through some early 19th century English, and it's tricky! If you can do that you are on your way to reading in my opinion, a slightly above average book.
The story begins with a selection of letter sent from a sailor to his Sister, Margaret. He goes on about the sea and such like (basically whatever sailors wrote about back then) until he mentions about a strange creature floating of a raft beside the ship. Obviously he takes the man on-board (who, by the end of the book we find out is Victor Frankenstein) and Franky proceeds to tell a story.
We hear of Frankenstein's background, what inspired him to become a (mad) scientist and his family, although I don't recall being given a reason as to why he decided to create another life or how it was brought to life. Maybe my mind skimmed it.
From herein it gets more interesting. We read of Frankenstein being ill and nearly dying (a common occurence/theme throughout) due to the shock of realising what he has created - a monster capable of doing unspeakable things. Nine months of illness and Franky is finally back on his feet again, and reading letters sent from his Dad with information about his sister being found murdered. Instantly our Doctor snaps his fingers (sic) and realises what his creation has done or become.
We're now sent on a journey of searching through snow, wilderness and water until Franky finds his monster. The monster now proceeds to give us a long account of what happened since he diappeared from Frankensteins lab. It is here that we start to feel slightly sorry for him as he is constantly rejected and thought of an evil and grotesque being but this will change in good time.
Our Dr. then takes us on a journey of murder, mayhem and dungeons until he ends up getting married only to have his wife killed by his own creature. Now begins the years long persuits until Frankenstein ends up floting onto the aforementioned ship. The story then goes back to the letters and finishes with Frankenstein dying and the monster being upset and disappearing into the oceans.
When I first ppicked up and opened Frankenstein I was expecting a "thrill of a read". Instead, I was presented with endless dialogue and some boring narrative but it was a good book. Regarding Shelley's writing, I'd have to say it was only average. At points she made it exciting but at others it seems she just wanted to fill up a page. This book didn't reach my expectations, I'm sorry to say. However, I would still recommend it to anyone interested in reading it.
There is one very common mistake when it comes to putting the monster on film: He is not green with a rectangular head and bolts sticking out of his neck; he is made of body parts taken from graves.
Final conclusion: 3/5
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Follow me on Twitter
Never really thought I'd do this but I've set up a Twitter page for this book review blog thing. I won't be using it for personal tweets as I'm trying to keep away from all that social networking rubbish for now but I shall return to Facebook sometime, mainly to advertise this.
Anyone else think Facebook is a bit of a waste of time?
On subject: Next review to come up is Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley.
(www.twitter.com/eclecticreading)
Anyone else think Facebook is a bit of a waste of time?
On subject: Next review to come up is Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley.
(www.twitter.com/eclecticreading)
Sunday, 11 April 2010
Emergency - Neil Strauss
After reading reviews of this book on Amazon (after having finished it) I've noticed that many people seem to have thought this book was a survival manual. However, nowhere does it claim to be such a thing. It is quite simply the story of a man's journey of learning how to survive economic meltdown. Now that that's cleared up, lets get to the main bit.
"Emergency" (2009) is the newest book from Neil Strauss, best-selling author of The Game (which I have previously read twice) and "How to Make Love Like A Pornstar" with Jenna Jameson. It is a story of a man who seems to be worried that America is coming to an end, and in a way he is close to being right, what with the recession and many banks going bankrupt etc. This worry inspires him first to try and get a citizenship in another country so he has somewhere to escape to WTSHTF (When the shit hits the fan). Whilst waiting for his citizenship, Strauss spends three years learning how to look after himself in a rural or natural environment as well as shooting guns, wielding knives and slaughtering deers (the latter story isn't really for the faint-of-heart).
Having already read The Game, I already believed that Strauss wasn't exactly with it but then when I finished Emergency, my thoughts were proven to be true. Reading through the book I was thinking he must be a bit crazy to spend thousands of dollars on learning how to shoot a gun in 1.5 seconds or how to slaughter, skin and cook a goat as well as how to build a tent/cover out of twigs and leaves, but he did it and his experience makes a very interesting read.
Emergency definately wasn't as good as The Game but, had I the time, I probably still would have shot through it (damn studying and essay writing). It was interesting, deep, funny and slightly inspiring (although I wouldn't spend 2000 dollars on learning to throw a knife). If you've read The Game in the past I'd recommend this to you. If not then I'd say The Game is the book which should be read first, then move onto Emergency.
Overall: 3.5/5. Not the best book I've read and slightly slow to begin with but when the story got going I spent 5 hours sat on my bed until 2am when I finished the book.
"Emergency" (2009) is the newest book from Neil Strauss, best-selling author of The Game (which I have previously read twice) and "How to Make Love Like A Pornstar" with Jenna Jameson. It is a story of a man who seems to be worried that America is coming to an end, and in a way he is close to being right, what with the recession and many banks going bankrupt etc. This worry inspires him first to try and get a citizenship in another country so he has somewhere to escape to WTSHTF (When the shit hits the fan). Whilst waiting for his citizenship, Strauss spends three years learning how to look after himself in a rural or natural environment as well as shooting guns, wielding knives and slaughtering deers (the latter story isn't really for the faint-of-heart).
Having already read The Game, I already believed that Strauss wasn't exactly with it but then when I finished Emergency, my thoughts were proven to be true. Reading through the book I was thinking he must be a bit crazy to spend thousands of dollars on learning how to shoot a gun in 1.5 seconds or how to slaughter, skin and cook a goat as well as how to build a tent/cover out of twigs and leaves, but he did it and his experience makes a very interesting read.
Emergency definately wasn't as good as The Game but, had I the time, I probably still would have shot through it (damn studying and essay writing). It was interesting, deep, funny and slightly inspiring (although I wouldn't spend 2000 dollars on learning to throw a knife). If you've read The Game in the past I'd recommend this to you. If not then I'd say The Game is the book which should be read first, then move onto Emergency.
Overall: 3.5/5. Not the best book I've read and slightly slow to begin with but when the story got going I spent 5 hours sat on my bed until 2am when I finished the book.
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