TWELFTH WEEK: 'Looking for Alibrandi'

ELEVENTH WEEK: 'Of Mice and Men'

TENTH WEEK: 'Breath'

NINTH WEEK: 'Perfume: The Story of a Murderer'

EIGHTH WEEK: 'The Time Machine'

SEVENTH WEEK: 'The Outsider'

SIXTH WEEK: 'The Great Gatsby'

SIXTH WEEK: 'The GReat Gatsby'

slaaaaaaaaaaaaack

okay, ive been slack and i forgot so i havent updated this in ages but i will soon ;)

FIFTH WEEK: 'The Great Train Robbery'

'The Great Train Robbery' by Michael Crichton
281 pages



"The key is everything in the lay, the problem and the solution."

It felt good to finally read another Michael Crichton. This one was different to some of his more recent ones, but it was still just as exciting. I think it was the 19th Century setting that was really different (even though i think this was one of his first novels) because Crichton has a way of describing all the technology that is involved in the story. I think Timeline was one of the best examples of this where he 'explains' the time-travel using interference patterns and multiverse theory, rather than just telling readers 'hey, look, we can time travel somehow. Let's do it.' So it feels as though i actually learned something from reading this book.

He used criminal jargon alot, but i got used to it and it helped me become immersed in the story. Books are always more enjoyable that way. I think this story is a fictionalised account of a specific train robbery in the past, so i guess there is a little history in there too.

It's sad to know that Crichton won't be writing any more books as he passed away recently, but he has two posthumous novels: Pirate Latitudes which is apparently a spiritual successor to this novel, and another unnamed novel which he finished a third of before his death. I've got Jurassic Park and Lost World upstairs, so they will probably both appear on here at some point. :P

FOURTH WEEK: 'Relentless'

'Relentless' by Dean Koontz
356 pages

"You can’t overestimate his capabilities. He doesn’t give you breathing room. He keeps coming back and back, and back. He’s relentless."

Wow! Just WOW! This...'book' (if you could even call it that) really made me reconsider how much I like Dean Koontz. It pains me to say it, because some of his earlier books were terrific, perhaps not the 'master of our darkest dreams' which is printed on all his books (i've reserved that right for King at the moment) but he could do (supernatural) thrillers well. Lately, he has gone so far downhill, I probably wont read another one of his books for some time.

Surprisingly it started off quite well, got into the drama quite quickly and suspense was build but the story didn't go anywhere. The plot 'twist' was horrific. Utter rubbish. Like he got bored with the book and didnt know how to finish it so he made up something that didn't fit the rest of the book. The characters were boooorrrriiingg, and stupid. Nothing frustrates me more than a stupid character. I wanted to scream at them.

Koontz also has the tendency to describe every detail and uses wayyyyyyyyy too many metaphors. They drove me bonkers. :S He can slip messages about society into his books quite well and i enjoyed those in Relentless...and that was pretty mush all i enjoyed.

Do yourself a favour. Don't touch this thing with a ten foot pole.

THIRD WEEK: 'The Talisman'

'The Talisman' by Stephen King and Peter Straub
January 9 - January 21, 981 pages

"Talisman be give unto your hand, Travellin Jack. Not too big, not too small, she looks just like a crystal ball. Travellin Jack, ole Travellin Jack, you be goin to California to bring her back. But here's your burden, here's your cross: drop her, Jack, and all be lost."

I.loved.this.book! I.love.Stephen.King! :)

Yep, this is going to be the first of many Stephen King books to come as i only really discovered him last year, and I have managed to get my hands on a fair few of his books.

This ones about a kid called Jack who travels into a parallel universe called the Territories to find a Talisman which can help him save his dying mother. It's probably not as good as It but it's up there, and it's a couple of hundred pages shorter.

I gave myself a little extra time with this one because of its length, as I had finished the previous book a quite early in the week. I only just made it anyway, I finished it last night. The book never really got boring, there was always something happening that sucked me in and kept me reading. Wolf is now one of my favourite characters from a book. :D

King co-wrote this with Peter Straub, so I'll probably end up checking out some of his book during the year. I have read that The Talisman ties into The Dark Tower series by Stephen King, which is another series that I will probably read. Great book overall.

SECOND WEEK: 'Six Easy Pieces'

'Six Easy Pieces' by Richard P. Feynman
January 5 - January 9, 144 pages

"The principle of science, the definition, almost, is the following: The test of all knowledge is experiment. Experiment is the sole judge of scientific 'truth'."

This was a book that I would not usually read for leisure. This was a book on Physics, supposedly in layman's terms. Not exactly true, but I didn't really have too much trouble with it because I did Physics in VCE. Alot of the content we had already covered although the chapter on Quantum Behaviour was very eye-opening. It was good to find a book like this that combined my love of reading and Physics although it was very dry (which I expected it to be).

The book was adapted from a series of lectures given by the famous physicist Richard Feynman. This is the first non-fiction book I have read in a very, very long time that wasn't for school. Although, I think this will be the first of many to come. I have a couple others lines up like 'A short history of nearly everything', 'the fabric of the cosmos', and 'crimes against humanity.' I may try reading 'six not so easy pieces', the follow up to this book, but not any time soon.

(I'm a bit ahead at the moment in my reading schedule which is lucky as the book I'm on at the moment is going to push me to my limits. When I'm reading a book that I'm enjoying, I don't like to rush it, I like to savour it. I have my fingers and toes crossed that by trying to read a book every week, it doesn't take any of the enjoyment out)

FIRST WEEK: 'Ham on Rye'

'Ham on Rye' by Charles Bukowski
January 1 - January 5, 283 pages, 1982

"It was joy. Words weren't dull, words were things that could make your mind hum. If you read them and let yourself feel the magic, you could live without pain, with hope, no matter what happened to you."

This book wasn't too shabby. It was a fairly easy read, and when I found that I could be bothered continuing with the story I breezed through alot of it.

Ham on Rye is semi-autobiographical and is written similar to Catcher in the Rye although takes place over a lifetime. I would say that Catcher is a better book. There is a bit of language and pretty explicit scenes relating to all that 'sex stuff' that teens talk about, but I think it was a bit over exaggerated. When I think about it, the main character isn;t really a likeable person, but seeing as it's written from his point of view, I felt sucked into to sympathising with him.

Nothing really stands out to me. It was just a good, interesting book. I think having the really short chapters was a sneaky way to keep me reading.

ZEROTH WEEK: 'Catch-22'

'Catch-22' by Joseph Heller
???- January 1, 519 pages, 1961

"It was love at first sight"

(I decided to sneak this book in here because I started sometime in late December but finished it on New Years Day, but don't worry, I will update with another book soon for Week 1)

This is the only book from memory that I didn't get all the way through on the first read. I'm pretty anal about that; once I start a book i have to finish it. I first attempted to read this at the start of year 12 and i don't think my head was in the right place to read it at that time. I got about 50 pages in, had no idea what was going on, and decided to dump it. Coming back to this book was one of the best book decisions I've made; it is now one of my favourites.

I found it to be a difficult read because of the style. The narrative jumps around in time, but I didn't have any idea to what point in time until i was about halfway throught the book where everything starts to fall into place. Some events are retold by different characters...there are alot of characters!But don't let that put you off.

Catch-22 is actually one of the funniest books I have read. The dialogue between characters is hilarious because, in the end, nothing they say makes sense. Many jokes are set up in the first few chapters and are built upon throughout the novel. By the end, I realised that basically every character was crazy.

It is a completely worthwhile read, but I think you have to be ready for it and not try and rush it. The way it is written almost assumes that the reader knows what is already going on. It can get frustrating at times but make sure you push through through it, it's worth your while. ;)

Here is an example of my pathetic artistic skills. The burnt match is Yossarian, because he thinks everyone is out to get him.

Out of My Mind

I'm not usually one to make a New Years Resolution, let alone stick to it. However, during one of my frequent facebook stalks I stumbled across a bibliophile's dream resolution: To read a single book every week for one year (thanks Tash!). I have kept a reading diary for the past 2 or so years and I worked out that I have averages about a book every 2 weeks, so I am going to have to pick up my game a bit.

As I'm a pathetic artist, I wont match you Tash by drawing each cover but I might try and be shifty and take a photo of the cover or something relevant (yes, yes, it's cheating).

Seeing as this is also my first blog, I might end up going off on a few tangents if I get bored so we shall see where this leads ;)

Once again, kudos to Natasha: http://gratedslices.blogspot.com/