Almost a New Favorite

Title: The Shadow of the Wind

Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Did I like it: I was seriously considering making this my new favorite book, so yes.

Should you read it: Yes. If you only read one book this month (or semester or whatever), read this one.

Synopsis: A complicated weave about books, reading, writing, love, relationships, and the landscape of life. Also beautiful writing.

You may have noticed that its been a while, almost three weeks in fact! There are a few reasons for that. In part I was busy relishing this book, in the same way I take a lot longer to eat a good pickle. In other part I've been deep in the trenches of the job application process and a draft of my thesis is due on Wednesday, so I've been incredibly busy.

I absolutely adored this book. The writing was vivid, direct, and connecting. I didn't just fall into this book, I also admired the skill of the author. The story was also enrapturing, sentimental and sometimes surprising. The characters feel like real people and I miss them. I have a favorite character even though I don't usual feel so strongly about one character. I also spent a great deal of time being very mad at one character, another thing that doesn't usually happen to me.

You should read this book. No matter who you are, whether you like fiction or non-fiction, scifi or cookbooks. Whether you read regularly or have (somehow) never read before. This book was an experience for me, and I hope that you can have that experience too.

(As an end-note, it is not my new favorite but I don't want to say why because I don't want to influence your opinion of the book before you read it. If you read it and still want to talk about why its not my favorite, get in touch with me.)

Meh

Title: Watchmen
Author: Alan Moore
Did I like it:  It was good but I'm not sure it lived up to the hype
Should you read it:  Probably.  Its always interesting reading in graphic novel form, but the book isn't riveting 100% of the time.
Synopsis:  The stories of a group of people brought together by their desire to anonymously help humanity.

While this book is very different from the one I read before it (The Attack), for some reason the tone almost felt the same to me.  Maybe I was still subconsciously caught up in The Attack, but that sort of foreboding tone made the book a bit less enjoyable for me.  That said, I did like this book, I thought the plot was creative and I really enjoyed the way the many different plotlines wove around each other.  I also thought that the graphic novel medium was used really well, and allowed the story to be told in a way that wouldn't have been possible without the pictures.  

Ok, now I want to say something else about this book but I hate it when people say stuff like this to me, so I'll give you an opportunity to not read this next part.  Its not a spoiler, but please skip the next paragraph if you plan on reading this book.

I didn't like the ending of this book.  I think I always initially don't like endings that are drastic with unpleasant implications like this one (maybe I'm squeamish or blindly optimistic about the way the world really is, and these sorts of endings shatter my blinkers...).  The ending left an unpleasant aroma in my mind and since I was about to go to sleep, that sort of overshadowed my day today.  (I hate it when people tell me stuff like this because then I spend the whole book looking for the thing the person told me about.  It changes my reading experience.)

Ok you can start reading again now.  Overall, I'd suggest this book to people who read at least semi-often and don't mind a tiny bit of scifi.  Its good and entertaining and parts of it are really fun too!  In the vein of graphic novels, I'd highly recommend Maus (by Art Spiegelman) and Persepolis (by Marjane Satrapi).  Both are wonderful and meaningful books and I'd say both are easily better than Watchmen.  Now I want to read Maus... I guess thats another book for the list!

Also, for anyone keeping track, we are in the 9th week of the year and I've read 13 books so far, for an average rate of 1.44 books a week.