OscarWilde's reading log 2017

So, this is me in 2017. My fourth year in Club Read and I'm enjoying it even more each year. As some of you probably know, I'm not too active in posting but I usually follow many threads around here and add books to my ever-growing TBR pile.

I am a high school teacher of English and mathematics. My job allows me to read a lot on vacation, but there is usually not that much time or energy left for reading everyday. This is why I always set some modest reading goals for myself at the beginning of each year.

My goals for 2017:
1. Read a book with more than 1,000 pages.
2. Read at least 25 books this year.
3. Finish some books off my shelf.

This post will serve as my reading summary and provide some stats about my overall reading.

Books off my Bookshelf: This year's challenge



Currently reading:


__________________________
Finished in 2017
#1: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway ()
#2: Far From True by Linwood Barclay ()
#3: Nenne drei Nadelbäume: Die witzigsten Schülerantworten by Lena Greiner ()
#4: Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King ()
#5: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher ()
#6: The Last Mile by David Baldacci ()
#7: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare ()
#8: A Short History of England by Simon Jenkins ()
#9: The Testament by John Grisham ()
#10: The Racketeer by John Grisham ()
#11: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through The Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll ()
#12: Cannery Row by John Steinbeck ()
#13: Everything's Eventual by Stephen King ()
#14: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger ()
#15: The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick ()
#16: Mathilda and Other Stories by Mary Shelley ()
#17: End of Watch by Stephen King ()
#18: Let Me Be Frank With You by Richard Ford ()

__________________________
2017
Books read: 18
Pages read: 6,403

2016
Books read: 28
Pages read: 10,426

2015
Books read: 20
Pages read: 8,280

2014
Books read: 27
Pages read: 7,164

2013
Books read: 26
Pages read: 11,618

Happy New Year! I look forward to seeing what you read this year.

Dropping off my star :)

Happy New Year, OscarWilde87! I look forward to following your thread again this year. I hope all is well with you. :-)

Happy new year and happy reading!

Last year I mostly lurked in Club Read. This year I hope to comment once in a while. Looking forward to following what you read this year.

Welcome to my thread and a happy new year to all of you! :)

#1: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
(99 pages)

The Old Man and the Sea is fascinating in that it is both simple and complex at the same time. The plot is easily told. Santiago, an old fisherman who lives near Havana, Cuba, sets out to catch fish after a streak of 84 days without catching anything. While the old man seems very fragile because of his age he is very resolute and dead bent on catching a really big fish. Relatively quickly, a marlin bites and the old man and the fish drag out a days-long fight for life and death. After being dragged out to sea for three days, the old man can finally catch the marlin when it comes up to the surface. Because of the marlin's size, the old man cannot get it into his small boat but ties the fish to it. On his way back to port, sharks attack the small boat and take bites from the marlin. While the old man tries to fight them off he grows more weary with each attack. When he finally arrives back in the city, only the tail and the head of the marlin remain.

I can actually not put a finger onto why exactly I was so fascinated by this short novel. While Hemingway's writing style is highly readable and pushes the plot forward with simplicity, there was so much this story made me think about. I guess it just works on many different levels and you can interpret a lot into it. I am still gripped and I am sure that I will reread this novel some time. 4 stars.

Very nice first boon, Oscar. I would like to re-read this. A non-reader as a kid, I seemed to have slipped one day an actually read a book by choice. This was that one book.

>11 dchaikin: This is certainly a book to get you hooked on reading.

>10 OscarWilde87: another belter to start the year with. I have not read any Hemingway yet - need to sort that out sometime soon.

>10 OscarWilde87: I enjoyed your review and recognize it. I felt the same after reading it. For me that was because I felt so much sympathy for the old man.

>13 AlisonY: I have read Hemingway before and have to say that I was not too impressed. But this one definitely changed that!

>14 Simone2: Thanks! There is obviously something to the novel. I felt sympathy for the old man, too. I just wanted him to succeed.

Always fancied reading the Old Man and the Sea, think I will pick it up.

As for Hearts in Atlantis, I read that years ago and enjoyed it. Watch out for Low Men.... have you read his Dark Tower series? A number of the characters appear there as well.

>16 Bridgey: Now that is great news about Hearts in Atlantis. I just picked it up in a used book store because I like Stephen King. I loved the Dark Tower series.

You might find this webpage interesting :)

http://stephenking.com/darktower/connections/

>18 Bridgey: Cool stuff! Thanks for the link!

I've never read Hemingway and wasn't sure I wanted to, but you make me think it might be worth trying The Old Man and the Sea. I'd heard the title before but knew nothing about it.

#2: Far From True by Linwood Barclay
(492 pages)

The town of Promise Falls is the site of mysterious killings that are all connected by the number 23. Lucy Brighton hires private investigator Cal Weaver after the death of her father. Strange as the death might have been - Lucy's father Adam Chalmers is crushed by a falling screen in a drive-in movie theater - it seems even stranger that someone has broken into Adam Chalmers' house right after his death and stolen several DVDs with personal recordings. Starting his investigation, Cal Weaver discovers a secret room in the basement. This room was used by Adam Chalmers and his new wife Miriam to have orgies with other couples from Promise Falls. Weaver soon finds out that the DVDs contained recordings of these orgies. However, one recording is missing. The investigator starts to wonder why this recording is so important and what other incriminating evidence might be on it.

Far From True is an entertaining read that follows several people in the town of Promise Falls. The author Linwood Barclay uses Cal Weaver as a first-person narrator and combines this with a third-person narrator for the other parts of the story. This interplay between two types of narration makes the reader question what is true and what is not, especially with the title in the back of their heads. All in all, a suspenseful 3.5-star read.

#3: Nenne drei Nadelbäume: Die witzigsten Schülerantworten by Lena Greiner
(219 pages)

Nenne drei Nadelbäume: Die witzigsten Schülerantworten, or roughly translated to English The funniest student answers is a collection of exactly that, (supposedly) funny student answers. However, I was quite disappointed and throughout the 219 pages of the book I found maybe three to four anecdotes I could laugh about. The rest was not too bad, but nothing special either. You can plow through this book quite quickly, but I would actually not recommend it to anyone, not even teachers. 2 stars for the effort of compiling the answers.

#4: Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King
(822 pages)

Officially considered a collection of two novellas and three short stories, Hearts in Atlantis can also be read as a novel since the stories are linked by recurring characters. I read the book as a criticism of the Vietnam War and the generation affected by it. All the stories are in chronological order and hence the first story sets the stage for what comes later. Its name "Low Men in Yellow Coats" perfectly describes what it revolves around and regular Stephen King readers will certainly recognize the connection to his Dark Tower series. Bobby Garfield becomes friends with Ted Brautigan who is running away from the low men in yellow coats mentioned in the title. They want to bring him back to a parallel universe where Ted Brautigan works as a Breaker of the Beam and reluctantly serves the Crimson King.

The second story is called "Hearts in Atlantis" and gives the book its title. It is about college students at the University of Maine in 1966. Protagonist Peter and his fellow students are addicted to playing Hearts in their dorm. These students neglect their studies and only think about their beloved card game. Stokely Jones, who does not belong to the players, meanwhile becomes active in anti-war protests and wears the Peace sign on his jacket. Soon, a movement against the war develops.

On the whole, the first two stories are the ones I liked best about the book. The other stories are also very good, but the first two are simply superb to my mind. I would recommend this book to everyone who already loves Stephen King novels, but also to readers who want to try Stephen King. A great book, 4 stars.

The film with Anthony Hopkins is quite good as well. :) I have gone off King lately and struggled with his most recent books. One I really enjoyed though was Joyland, like HIA it isn't his usual horror tale. You may enjoy it

>24 Bridgey: Hey, thanks for the recommendation. I will look into it. Although I have to admit that I also like what King is doing at the moment and I am looking forward to reading End of Watch.

I struggled with the Mr Mercedes trilogy. End of Watch is still sat in my pile waiting to be read.

I also have it in my TBR pile right now. The other King in my pile is Everything's eventual.

I enjoyed the first two books in the trilogy, but the end of the second one got a bit too tense for me, so I haven't picked up End of Watch. I will eventually, but not quite yet.

#5: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
(239 pages)

Thirteen Reasons Why is Jay Asher's debut novel. Before protagonist Hannah Baker takes her own life she sends out seven tapes in which she relates the events leading up to her suicide. Each side of every tape is dedicated to one person that plays a role in her story. The novel is structured along the lines of those stories, having one chapter for each side of every tape. The first person to get the tapes is also the one that is featured on tape 1, side A. Everyone is supposed to listen to the tapes and send them to the next person in line. If that chain is broken there is a second set of tapes that will be made public. However, none of the persons on the tapes would want their story to be revealed.

What makes this novel interesting is of course its setting but also the narrative technique that Asher employs. While the stories on the tapes are of course narrated by Hannah Baker from a first-person perspective there is the added commentary of Clay Jensen, one of the recipients of those tapes who questions why he got the tapes from the beginning. The story gains momentum as the plot approaches Clay's role in the story and has its climax in the final stories before Hannah Baker's suicide.

Thirteen Reasons Why is a YA novel, but I would recommend it to an even larger readership because the topic is not just relevant for teenagers. On the whole, 4 stars.

#6: The Last Mile by David Baldacci
(514 pages)

The second novel in Baldacci's Amos Decker series, The Last Mile is about Melvin Mars, who has been framed for killing his parents and has already served twenty years in prison. The story starts right before Mars is supposed to be put to death by lethal injection. However, there is a last-minute turn of events and someone else confesses to have murdered Mars' parents. Amos Decker, Baldacci's protagonist and former detective who has a perfect memory due to a head injury suffered playing in the NFL and who is now invited to work on an FBI task force handling cold cases, listens to Mars' story on the radio and wants to take over the case. It does not take him long to convince the other members on the FBI team to take over the case. The plot then unfolds in many twists and turns.

I especially liked this novel because it is fast-paced and makes for delightful reading. I liked the character of Amos Decker from the very start, which is what made me pick up this novel. For any fan of crime fiction The Last Mile is surely worth a shot. It is not necessary to have read the first novel in the series, but I would recommend it. A very enjoyable reading experience, 4 stars.

>30 OscarWilde87: That sounds interesting.

#7: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
(98 pages)

Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things.
Some shall be pardoned, and some punishèd.
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.

So ends the play Romeo and Juliet which is probably the most popular play by William Shakespeare. You will have a hard time finding someone who has never heard of its plot. It is a timeless tragedy of two star-crossed lovers finding eternal love in death. While it is one thing to read the script on paper, it is a truly amazing experience to see it performed on stage. The play explores themes that will never be out of date: friendship, love, family rivalry, desperation, and mourning, to name but a few. It is well worth having a closer look at Romeo's relation to love and whether he is really in love with Rosaline or Juliet or just in love with the feeling of being in love. Then there is Romeo's unlikely friendship to Mercutio, two very different characters. Generally, there are many aspects to explore and with every new reading I discover yet another one. You might want to watch the 2014 Broadway performance with Orlando Bloom as Romeo. At least I enjoyed it very much. 5 stars. A true masterpiece.

#8: A Short History of England by Simon Jenkins
(319 pages)

The title of this book basically gives away everything that it is, namely A Short History of England. On a little more than 300 pages author Simon Jenkins provides a rough overview over England's history from the nation's birth until 2011. That in itself deserves some credit as I find this an astonishing feat.

While I learned a lot about England that I did not know, I also found that I wanted and sometimes even needed more information at certain points. Seeing that the book only claims to be a 'short history' it is quite understandable that the chapters are not completely fleshed out with all the details. However, I found that sometimes this made understanding certain connections harder. Especially, there are a lot of kings and queens and their respective relations, motivations and backgrounds to process. On the whole, this book is certainly able to tell the story of England, but I will have to turn to more detailed volumes for a better understanding of certain chapters in English history.
3 stars.

#9: The Testament by John Grisham
(533 pages)

The Testament is different from your usual John Grisham novel in that it does not focus so much on courtroom action and legal debates but rather on the personal life of the protagonist, Nate O'Riley. When Troy Phelan, a billionaire, jumps off a balcony into death, his children immediately start spending the money they have not yet inherited. What they do not know, however, is that Troy Phelan has changed his will in the last minute before his death and his children will not get anything. Phelan has an illegitimate daugher, who does missionary work in the Pantanal region in Brazil and she is to be the sole heir of his fortune. In order to find her, Nate O'Riley is sent on a trip to Brazil. Before he can take the trip, he has to leave his rehab facility, though. Nate is in rehab for the fourth time, fighting his alcohol and drug issues of the past. Having lost two families and almost his license to practice law, he takes the trip in order to make a fresh start and get out of the country that will only make him fall back to his old habits. Nate's trip into the Pantanal is a life-changer for him.

I liked the character of Nate O'Riley a lot. Especially when he goes back to a courtroom to question witnesses, you see how good he must have been at his job. At the same time you can perfectly understand why he wants to quit his job in order to start a new life. The ending of the novel was a little unsatisfying to me and I think the story was a little drawn-out in certain parts. Still, not a bad read. 3.5 stars.

>33 OscarWilde87: I've been tempted by A Short History of England. Glad to come across your review and get a sense of what it's like.

>35 dchaikin: Be advised, though, that the focus here is really on 'short'.

#10: The Racketeer by John Grisham
(382 pages)

Malcolm Bannister is an ex-lawyer from Virginia who was sentenced to ten years of prison on a racketeering charge. Having served five of his ten years, he has established some credit among his inmates as a jailhouse lawyer. When a federal judge and his secretary are murdered in a cabin in the woods, Malcolm Bannister sees his chance to be released from prison due to invoking rule 35, the commutation of a sentence when the prisoner has information that leads to an indictment in an ongoing case. Bannister professes to have exactly that: he claims to know the name of the murderer of the federal judge and his secretary. He manages to make a deal with the FBI and go into witness protection to start a new life. While this story is interesting in itself, it is at this point when the novel really starts to become suspenseful as Malcolm Bannister starts acting in a way no one would have foreseen. There are many turns in the story that keep the action alive and the reader guessing at what might happen next.

The novel is written from a first-person perpsective and starts with the sentence "I am a lawyer, and I am in prison. It's a long story." And when that long story is told I as a reader started to feel that there is something fishy about this character. As I am always a little suspicious what a first-person narrator tells me I started suspecting foul play with Malcolm Bannister right from the start. I can safely say that I was not wrong, without giving away the surprise element of the story. John Grisham uses narrative perspective nicely to strengthen the impact of the story he is telling. All in all, a very gripping read. 4 stars.

Good morning, OscarWilde87! I hope all is well with you.

I've been lurking on your thread over the last few months, but have really enjoyed your reviews.

>34 OscarWilde87: I did enjoy this one. Since I listen on audio, the narrator plays a big part.

>37 OscarWilde87: I was not as big a fan of this one. It's pace was too slow for me.

Have you read Grisham's Rogue Lawyer? It is one of my favorites of recent years.

Hi brodiew2!
I have read Rogue Lawyer and I really enjoyed it!

#11: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through The Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll
(288 pages)

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is one of the most well-known books ever written. Even people who have never read the novel have heard of characters such as Humpty Dumpty and Tweedledum and Tweedledee. When Alice falls into a rabbit hole her adventures begin and one is stranger than the other. In Through The Looking-Glass Alice walks through a mirror and finds herself in a live-action chess game. These fantasy stories are not just popular with children, they are also quite well-liked by adults. And there is a reason. The novel and its sequel Through The Looking-Glass play with language in a very intelligent way.

'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less.' 'The question is', said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean different things.' (p. 223)

This quotation describes quite nicely what I enjoyed most about the novel. Sometimes, words have to be taken quite literally, and then there is always a second layer added to them. This interplay of literal and figurative meaning makes Alice's story work on more than just one level. However, I did not care for the fantasy part as much. While Alice's adventures are sure strange and sometimes funny I rather enjoyed the book for the how than for the what. The way the story is told was much more important for me than the story that is actually told. In the end of the second story, Alice asks herself whether it had all just been her dream or the dream of the Red King, one of the other characters in the novels. In the last line then, the reader seems to be included in the discussion: 'Which do you think it was?' (p. 278). I guess you have to see for yourself. I can recommend this book especially to adult readers interested in linguistics and logic as well as to kids, of course. is very enjoyable, rather short and easily read. On the whole, 3.5 stars.

#12: Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
(148 pages)

'Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream.' So begins John Steinbeck's novel Cannery Row and this magnificent first sentence captures the mood of the book perfectly. In what follows, the author sets out to capture the atmosphere of the book's main character - Cannery Row. The novel is not so much about plot, but rather about a feeling. It is a vivid slice of life.

The inhabitants of Cannery Row want to do something good for Doc, a marine biologist, who helps out everyone in the area. That is why Mack and the boys living in the Palace Flophouse with him plan a party for Doc to show him how well he is liked and to pay him back for everything he has done for them. In the end, however, Doc ends up paying for the party anyway as the party is finished before he is home and his house is trashed in the process. Plotwise there is not much more to expect, but you want to read this novel for the atmosphere Steinbeck creates and the characters he portrays. Living with Mack are Hazel and Eddie, the former a rather uneducated young man who helps out Doc by doing odd jobs for him time and again. Eddie is a bartender who brings home alcohol by pouring leftovers in glasses into a jug under the bar. This mixture of beer, wine, whiskey and everything else his customers do not finish serves as the main drink of the boys at the Palace Flophouse. When one of them offers the idea to have several jugs under the bar so as not to be forced to mix all sorts of alcohol in one jug, the idea is readily dismissed as the punch would lose its distinct character. The actual owner of the Palace Flophouse is Lee Chong, who is also the proprietor of the local grocery store providing everything the town needs. However, he lets Mack and the boys live there as he fears they would burn the house down otherwise. And then there is Dora Flood, the owner of the Bear Flag Restaurant which also serves as a brothel frequented by the fishermen of Cannery Row.

Cannery Row provides a range of themes. Living a happy life despite circumstances is one of those. The novel is set during the Great Depression and while there is a lot to be sad about living in Cannery Row, the inhabitants seem to be rather content with their lives. For instance, Steinbeck describes the time between day and night as 'the hour of the pearl', a the time when everything is calm and time seems to stop. This 'hour of the pearl' seems to be a feeling that is deeply ingrained in the inhabitants of Cannery Row. Take a look at Doc, who lives in a very simple house where he also does his work as a marine biologist. He lives alone and his days consist of work and helping others. In the evening he drinks a beer or two, listens to records and reads before he crawls under a blanket that is almost falling apart as it so very old and worn. And the next day is just the same. While this loneliness and monotony would make many people very sad, Doc seems content and to enjoy what he has. His reflections on life show that he is well aware of his situation but does not want to change it. Doc's understanding of the human condition is thoughtful and very true, especially today:

"It has always seemed strange to me," said Doc. "The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second." (p. 107)

To my mind, Cannery Row is one of the great American novels. 5 stars.

Great review. You've piqued my interest in reading this.

What Alison said, great review OW.

>42 AlisonY: >43 dchaikin: Thank you! I have just been to Monterey and Salinas and visited Cannery Row and the Steinbeck House. Quite interesting to visit the place you've read about.

#13: Everything's Eventual by Stephen King
(538 pages)

Everything's Eventual is a collection of 14 short stories by Stephen King. It contains his story "1408", which has become quite popular when a movie starring John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson was made of it, and "Everything's Eventual", which gives the book its title. To my mind, the collection, however, is much more than just those two stories. There is not one story in this book that I disliked. In fact, I loved almost every single one. Taken together, they are an outstanding example of Stephen King's story-telling skills.

Before I started reading the book I had thought that Stephen King writing a short story was basically impossible. Seeing how long his novels are, I had not thought him capable of using fewer words than usual to tell his stories. This book, however, has proven me wrong - big time. I read the first story "Autopsy Room Four" on the plane and I was captivated instantly. It is about a man who is still alive but paralyzed and who reports the preparations for the autopsy that is soon to be done on him only to be rescued in the last minute. This story was great to get me hooked and I was impressed that King could do short stories as well as he does novels. My personal highlight of the collection was "The Little Sisters of Eluria". Its main character is Roland Deschain, known to King's constant readers as the gunslinger from The Dark Tower novels, and it is set right before the beginning of the first Dark Tower novel. On his way to the tower, Roland encounters strange creatures in a seemingly forgotten town who beat him down. He is rescued by the sisters mentioned in the title of the story. Soon he finds out, though, that he is not completely better off in their care as they have their own motives for keeping him in their company.

"1408" is a really frightening story. I am not easily scared by what I read, but this story did the trick for me. I had a really strange feeling as soon as the protagonist entered the haunted hotel room 1408. I was alone in my apartment and I read the story right before going to bed. This was probably why it scared me and I could not switch my mind off and go to sleep directly after reading it. Of course, this might be totally different for other readers, and I strongly assume it will be, but King has a way of grabbing your full attention and having you get lost in the story.

I will not go on to relate the contents of all the 14 stories in the book, but will just leave you with a strong recommendation to give it a try, even if you usually do not like Stephen King too much. This collection of short stories might change you opinion. 5 stars.

Hello OscarWilde87! I hope all is well with you.

>45 OscarWilde87: Excellent review of Everything's Eventual. I did not get very far into the film 1408 as it scared me early on. Horror and some supernatural thrillers are generally not my thing. That said, I am a casual King fan and will read books of his that come highly recommended or that I find interesting. I will be checking into this one on audio. Thanks for the heads up!

>46 brodiew2: Thanks! It might be interesting to see how scary "1408" turns out to be on audio. I'll check your thread for your thoughts.

Alice in Wonderlad is one of those books I always think I have read but actually never have.... if that makes sense. Going to have to give it a try.

I'll pick up any new book of short stories Stephen King puts out. His novels, less so, but the short story format really forces him to cut all the extraneous stuff and focus.

>45 OscarWilde87: I found Everything's Eventual to be excellent too. I like King generally but find his novels can be a bit long winded, yet short stories seem to suit him really well.

>50 valkyrdeath: I have to say that I generally like King a lot, both novels and short stories. But I can understand that many find the novels long winded as they are generally quite big tomes. Have you read Mr Mercedes? I found this novel somehow 'felt' shorter than his previous ones.

#14: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
(519 pages)

The title already gives away that this book revolves around one of the more popular tropes of fiction, time traveling. However, if you expect yet another novel to deal with the intricacies of time traveling from a more or less scientific what-would-happen-if angle, you will certainly be disappointed. Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife takes the actual possibility of time traveling as a given from the beginning and does not care so much about whether one could change events in the past in order to influence the future. Rather the novel simply postulates that the future cannot be altered. Niffenegger's time traveler, the protagonist Henry DeTamble, is merely allowed to see certain events in his future and revisit others in his past. The focus of the novel is on the relationship between Henry and his past/present/future wife Clare. Niffenegger explores how time traveling will affect the day-to-day of a relationship and how the lovers can cope. Normal-couples' decisions such as whether to have a baby are regarded from a different point of view: Will it work? Will the baby be a time traveler too? Is there any way to spare the child from this ordeal?

It is exactly the angle that The Time Traveler's Wife takes that makes this book stand out. As a reader you find yourself confronted with everyday situations, only that there is the added twist of one of the partners being a time traveler. I quite enjoyed following along Niffenegger's narrative. The story is told from the perspectives of the two main characters Clare and Henry, who each relate events in their lives from a first-person perspective. One of the characters being a time traveler enables Niffenegger to create tension and have the readers suspensefully waiting for events that are only briefly revealed in flashbacks and flash forwards.

On the whole, I found The Time Traveler's Wife a pleasure to read. It did, however, lack the 'something special' that I would expect from a five star read. 4 stars.

>52 OscarWilde87: I loved The Time Traveler's Wife. Every time I come across it I wonder if I would still even like it, or if it just got me in a silly phase or whatnot. Nice to see it still has some impact.

>53 dchaikin: I agree. There is definitely something to it.

#15: The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
(249 pages)

What if Germany and Japan had won World War II? That is the question explored in Philip K. Dick's alternative history dystopia The Man in the High Castle, which was published in 1962 and only recently turned into a TV series. The United States as we know it is divided between Japan, which governs the west coast or the Pacific States of America as they are called in the novel, and Germany, which governs the east coast. In between is a neutral zone, the Rocky Mountain States, which still remain good old American. Germany has set up a totalitarian regime and has already started to expand their Reich to space, exploring the Moon and Mars. Adolf Hitler is not their leader anymore but still not dead yet. So much for the setting.

The novel follows a range of characters, mainly in the Pacific States of America and San Francisco in particular. There is Robert Childan, store owner of American Artistic Handcrafts Inc., who deals in pre-war American artifacts. There is Nobusuke Tagomi, a Trade Mission official who answers directly to Japan's foreign office. And then there is Frank Frink, an American Jew who works in a factory forging American artifacts as there is a big market for them and the Japanese are highly interested in objects with some historicity. All the while there is talk of a book, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, written by Hawthorne Abendsen who is said to live in a fortress in the Rocky Mountains. He is the man in the high castle that gives novel its title and his novel describes a world where the Allies have won World War II, which is why it is naturally forbidden in the German-governed US. It is allowed in the Pacific States, however, and some people are intrigued by the idea. Among other factors, this book sets into motion a movement of change and certain characters in the novel start questioning the system, their existence and the meaning of life.

Truth, she thought. As terrible as death. But harder to find. (p. 248)

You probably do not read this book so much for its plot but rather for the questions it explores. To my mind, Dick's narrative technique and characterization are superb and contribute to the overall bleak atmosphere, especially towards the end of the novel. Dick masters to depict tensions in a subtle yet tangible way. It is interesting to see how nationality and ethnicity affect relations between characters and how they gradually change over the course of the novel until they reach their turning point. The novel also makes you re-evaluate your expectations from life and how you perceive the country (system?) you live in. In the totalitarian system that Dick depicts, more often than not the characters consult an oracle in order to see what lies in their future or simply to make important decisions in their lives. Also, whenever they start questioning the meaning of their life they seem to eventually turn to their function in society or their job for comfort and safety. As a reader you can really grasp how some characters struggle with individual thought.

There is just one aspect that I did not like about the novel and that was the second part of the final chapter. I would have much preferred if Dick had let the novel end some ten pages before and be done with it. While the final pages do fit the course of the novel I just think it would have been more suspenseful to leave certain things unsaid. I can highly recommend, however, to see for yourself and pick up a copy of The Man in the High Castle. A brilliant 4 stars, perhaps unjustifiably and only very subjectively subtracting one star for the ending.

Hi, I've just been skimming your thread because I joined the club so late in the year, but I saw lots of interesting reviews, thanks for these!

The King short-stories seem really interesting. The way you talk about The time traveller's wife makes it somewhat connected in my mind with Slaughterhouse 5, for some reason.

And I will get to read The man in the high castle some day! Maybe next year as I plan to try and focus more than usual on Hugo and Nebula awards winners. :)

>56 chlorine: Hi, welcome to the club! It's never too late to join, I think.

I'm wondering how you made the connection between The Time Traveler's Wife and Slaughterhouse 5. I'd really like to hear your thoughts!

I think The Man in the High Castle is really worth the read!

>57 OscarWilde87:
The connection that I glimpse is that, apparently, the main protagonists of both book travel in time along their own time line, without being able to change anything to their lives. The main character of Slaughterhouse five experiences this as living the events of his life out of their natural order, if I remember correctly, and I wonder from your review if this is the same for the husband in The time traveller's wife.

Of course the books seem to be widely unsimilar in their content, it's just the way time travel "works" that rang a bell. Anyway as I'm a fan of all stories about time travel, what I should do is go and read the book!

>58 chlorine: You are so right. My mind just couldn't seem to make the connection as Slaughterhouse Five is thematically just so so different. But now that you say it, I do indeed get your point. I might want to re-read Slaughterhouse Five now.

#16: Mathilda & Other Stories by Mary Shelley
(422 pages)

This collection of short stories by Mary Shelley comprises one novella, Mathilda, and 19 short stories, which makes it rather hard to review as a whole and without saying something about each story. The latter, however, would be quite tiresome, which is why I am just going to briefly relate my impressions of the collection.

Most of the stories can easily be read in a single sitting, which I find is a bonus. Reading only one story a night gave me the opportunity to think about that story in more detail and reflect on what I had read. While the stories have generally been quite interesting there were some I did not like at all, which is quite natural for a collection of twenty different stories, I guess. What unites the stories is that they have a Romantic theme at heart. Many stories deal with love, loss and intrigue. The narration focuses on detailed description of surroundings and feelings and might not be everyone's cup of tea. On the whole, this could be a very good collection of stories for readers who like Romantic literature and are not afraid to deal with 19th century language. 3 stars.

>51 OscarWilde87: I did read Mr Mercedes earlier this year. I had a few issues with it early on but ultimately got caught up in the plot and found it hard to put down. It did feel quite focused and well paced. I also really liked the early Dark Tower books he did, but for some reason ground to a halt when he digressed onto the lengthy flashback in Wizard and Glass. I really need to get back to those books sometime.

>52 OscarWilde87: I've never got round to The Time Traveler's Wife but you've made me think I need to get to it.

>55 OscarWilde87: I loved The Man in the High Castle when I read it recently. It really wasn't what I was expecting from the book, though I'm not sure precisely what I actually was expecting given the author.

>61 valkyrdeath: I have just finished the third in that series, End of Watch and I have to say that I liked it a lot. It's just as you describe. I found the books in the series hard to put down.

I had the same feeling about The Man in the High Castle. It might not have been what I had expected but then it was still really good.

#17: End of Watch by Stephen King
(482 pages)

The final instalment in the series centered around retired Detective Bill Hodges, End of Watch concludes a highly readable trilogy. This novel features the two main characters from the previous two, Brady Hartsfield and Bill Hodges. Hartsfield, known as Mr Mercedes, has suffered serious head injuries and is hospitalized. He is not able to speak or to walk or eat on his own. Lately, though, strange things have happened in his hospital room. Things move about the room without anyone touching them and a nurse who cared for Hartsfield committed suicide. It is soon revealed that Hartsfield has telekinetic abilities and can control other people's minds as soon as they are in a hypnotic state. The Mercedes killer is not done killing yet, only now he has changed his modus operandi.

There are two things that I particularly like about this novel. First, I love the way King has crafted the characters and has them develop throughout the series. Second, the fast-paced action makes the novel a real page-turner. Many readers regard Stephen King as too wordy and this novel proves that he can do fast-paced as well as he does tomes like The Stand or The Dark Tower series.

I am not so sure whether one would like it if read standalone, but I would recommend to read the whole series anyway. Great read. 4 stars.

#18: Let Me Be Frank With You by Richard Ford
(240 pages)

Let Me Be Frank With You is a collection of four connected stories narrated by Frank Bascombe, the protagonist of a series of four novels by Richard Ford. Unfortunately, this is the first novel of the series that I've read and it is the last one that has been published so far. I had read Ford's really great novel Canada, which is not part of the series, so I thought I could just pick this one up when I saw it. As it turns out, I did not really enjoy it as much as I enjoyed Canada. Now I cannot say whether this is due to not having read the previous three novels or whether I would not have found it all too interesting anyway. Since I do like the character of Frank Bascombe I assume that the book will unfold its potential if read after the prequels. As it is, three stars.