May Books List

(1) City Of Bones: The Mortal Instruments #1 by Cassandra Clare
I'm surprised that I managed to finish this as there were several points where I just wanted to put it down for good, but there were tiny bits of goodness every now and then which spurred me on until the end.  For a typical, paranormal based YA fantasy, I guess it was OK escapism, but I just found a lot of the characters annoying (particularly Clary, one of the protaganists), and the overall story could have been so much better.  [2/5]

(2) Everything Is Illuminated by Johnathan Safran Foer
I watched the film adaptation of this book years ago, and have been meaning to read this for a long time since.  In novel form, the story is much more multi-layered, and goes into more depth with all the subjects it encompasses.  You've got history, war, the Holocaust, loneliness, love, friendship, lost in translation language barriers, and a whole lot of humour here all rolled into one.  It's cleverly written and constructed, but one that you need to be in the mood for to properly enjoy reading.  I imagine most people will either love it or hate it.  [3/5]  

(3) The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Picked this up from the library because I'd read so many reviews of it being touted as similar to Harry Potter, which immediately sparked my interest.  Sadly, I found it very disappointing with a mostly bland storyline and mediocre characters.  Not for me!  [1/5]  

(4) The Bonfire Of The Vanities by Tom Wolfe 
This contemporary classic wasn't as amazing as I thought it would be, but I still enjoyed it.  I loved the dirty, corrupt politics, the sleeze, the sheer greed of Wall Street, the elitism, and the portrayal of the media.  The main downside I experienced when I read this book was how 'noisy' it was; there's huge chunks of description all the time, which I know adds to the storyline, but I felt it was massively overused throughout and started to annoy me quite quickly.  Other than that, if you like the topics I mentioned above, it's one to definitely check out.  [3/5]

(5) The Passage by Justin Cronin
The Passage is a gripping horror novel that starts off so well (I must have read the first 200 pages in one go).  You're instantly plunged into this thriller of a chaotic scenario with dodgy Government and military experiments going on, vampires and people trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Unfortunately, towards the middle section, this excitement significantly tapers off, but then eventually it starts to pick up speed again in the last part for a dramatic ending.  Give it a go if you like those long Stephen King books because the writing style is fairly similar, but be prepared for the ups and downs.  [3/5] 

What have you been reading this month?  

 

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