The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oh my goodness. So freaky! First there's a George-Constanza-like pain at witnessing the protagonist muck up her life. She's like a very dark Bridget Jones. Then when things start to happen there's the suspense and the suspicion against every character. About mid-way I was so scared reading this book that it became a little bit of a challenge to keep going. Pretty fun in the end though.

Four stars because even though it's a fine example of its genre (if it has one, it might have created its own) there are some little plot holes that bother me now.


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The Watsons by Jane Austen

The Watsons by Jane Austen
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It's unfinished! I didn't realize that before I started reading it and it's really good, but then just stops in a super random early place in the story. I'd love to see this an an indie art project. Starts out like a normal awesome Jane Austen novel and then, apropos of nothing, all the characters just jump off a cliff.

Don't torture yourself by reading this.

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100 Things Virginia Fans Should Know by Brian J. Leung

100 Things Virginia Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die by Brian J. Leung
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am not always the biggest sports fan but I did enjoy going to football and basketball games at UVA. I didn't know most of the information in the book. I especially enjoyed the chapters on players and coaches. Now I'm craving a Whitespot burger though.

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Lady Susan by Jane Austen

Lady Susan by Jane Austen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This novel is a very different style than the other Jane Austen novels. It's a set of letters between various people in the novel. It's also just a light comedy. I didn't love it because it's difficult to develop the characters when the perspective is so limited even if the letters reveal the duplicity of Lady Susan. There's no depth to the characters because the letter writers wouldn't account for subtle actions or conversation. I saw the movie with Sarah T. and I think the movie was a little better.

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The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I reread this novel for maybe the 4th or 5th time because many people I respect in these matters love this book. Maybe because I read Kevin's copy that is both underlined and highlighted- not sure what the code there was- but I finally appreciate this book a lot more.

Appreciating how well-written the novel is, and liking it, are not exactly the same thing. In fact, now that I appreciate the deeper thoughts behind the action of the story, I find this novel deeply depressing. In this worldview, even if people were better behaved, I suspect they'd still be terribly unhappy. Well, maybe that's right.


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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you like action adventure and/or mystery novels, this is a really well-written one. I enjoyed it though it dragged on a while. After solving the initial mystery, the book goes on for four more chapters resolving three other plot points. Though it does belabor the denouement, it leaves nothing unresolved.

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The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene

The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality by Brian Greene
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is my new favorite physics book. It's hard gaging these books because I always bring what I read in a previous physics-for-the-common-man tome to the next, but this one reviewed some concepts I already had some familiarity with in a clear comprehensible way and also introduced me to new concepts. It was also fun. Yes, really. The craziness of time-space being a location or the specifics of how time travel might be possible are a lot of fun.

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Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Delirium by Lauren Oliver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another one that makes me think of a modern Anthem. The message is less political than some of these dystopian tomes. It's basic message is pro-love. Religion plays a strange role in the novel though. It's both used to oppress the population, and explored by the narrator, Lena, as intimately tied to love. Lena connects romantic love, platonic love, familial love to religious love. She connects the crucification of Jesus directly to the general importance love.

But it's pretty sad. This isn't exactly a feel-good/beach-read young adult book.

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The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum

The Marvelous Land of Oz in (Journeys Thorough Oz) by L. Frank Baum
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The second book, The Marvelous Land of Oz is much stranger than the first. It definitely endeavors to grapple with some feminist (and possibly gay or trans?) issues but I have no idea what the underlying message, if any, was supposed to be. Very surprising in any case.

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The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (in Journeys Through Oz) by L. Frank Baum
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is well known to everyone since the movie is so famous that even if you haven't seen the movie, you know almost exactly what happens. There's not much more to be said about the first book except that it's a story about confidence in your abilities and proceeds the way many kids books do: first this happened, then this, then this.

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