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alobearI realised my book total for the year so far wasn't quite as terrible as it appeared - there are three more books I've read this year that I didn't review! They were for family book club, as follows:
Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov:
I was pleasantly surprised by this, as I had tried to read it many years ago and remembered it being tedious and very much lacking in characterisation. However, I actually found the characters well-rounded and interesting (even the female ones!) and I enjoyed the story. Some aspects felt very dated, but that's to be expected.
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi:
This provided a lot of very interesting information about what it has been like to be a woman in Iran over the last few decades, and I'm glad I read it, as it made me appreciate the freedoms I enjoy. Structurally, it was very confusing, as it jumped around in the timeline a lot and wasn't always clear which stage of the author's life it was talking about. I also found it difficult to keep track of all the characters.
The Rotters' Club by Jonathan Coe:
This was billed as a comic novel, but I didn't really find it funny at all. I managed to become reasonably invested in some of the characters, and isolated scenes were amusing, but overall I didn't get on very well with this. It seemed to be aimed at a very narrow audience, of which I was not one, so I found it hard to relate to the story or understand the comments the author was trying to make.
In more recent news...
The Boy In The Smoke by Maureen Johnson:
This is a novella set in her Shades of London series, which I have been enjoying in audiobook format. It took me far too long to realise that this was the back story of one of the main characters in the series. Once I did, though, it was interesting to find out the details of his youth, and I enjoyed the story, even though it's quite sad.
Friday Night Lights:
This is an American drama series that originally ran from 2006-2011. I wasn't aware of it when it was on, though it won Emmys. At some point, some years ago, somebody recommended it to me as worth watching, but it didn't appeal to me and I didn't get around to it until now. I've since watched all 76 episodes in about three weeks, and I loved every minute of it. It's ostensibly about the high school football team in a small Texas town, and it's basically a glorified soap opera - but I got really involved in all the characters' lives, liked nearly all of them, and found the show wholly absorbing. It has depth and looks at some interesting issues - though it is both highly predictable and wildly unrealistic in places. I think what I liked most about it is that (largely) it's about very ordinary things, but explored in a mature and involving way.
Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov:
I was pleasantly surprised by this, as I had tried to read it many years ago and remembered it being tedious and very much lacking in characterisation. However, I actually found the characters well-rounded and interesting (even the female ones!) and I enjoyed the story. Some aspects felt very dated, but that's to be expected.
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi:
This provided a lot of very interesting information about what it has been like to be a woman in Iran over the last few decades, and I'm glad I read it, as it made me appreciate the freedoms I enjoy. Structurally, it was very confusing, as it jumped around in the timeline a lot and wasn't always clear which stage of the author's life it was talking about. I also found it difficult to keep track of all the characters.
The Rotters' Club by Jonathan Coe:
This was billed as a comic novel, but I didn't really find it funny at all. I managed to become reasonably invested in some of the characters, and isolated scenes were amusing, but overall I didn't get on very well with this. It seemed to be aimed at a very narrow audience, of which I was not one, so I found it hard to relate to the story or understand the comments the author was trying to make.
In more recent news...
The Boy In The Smoke by Maureen Johnson:
This is a novella set in her Shades of London series, which I have been enjoying in audiobook format. It took me far too long to realise that this was the back story of one of the main characters in the series. Once I did, though, it was interesting to find out the details of his youth, and I enjoyed the story, even though it's quite sad.
Friday Night Lights:
This is an American drama series that originally ran from 2006-2011. I wasn't aware of it when it was on, though it won Emmys. At some point, some years ago, somebody recommended it to me as worth watching, but it didn't appeal to me and I didn't get around to it until now. I've since watched all 76 episodes in about three weeks, and I loved every minute of it. It's ostensibly about the high school football team in a small Texas town, and it's basically a glorified soap opera - but I got really involved in all the characters' lives, liked nearly all of them, and found the show wholly absorbing. It has depth and looks at some interesting issues - though it is both highly predictable and wildly unrealistic in places. I think what I liked most about it is that (largely) it's about very ordinary things, but explored in a mature and involving way.
