The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand

one sentence summary:
there once were two architects, they both were misunderstood, in the most pretentious ways possible.

review:
This is really well written but I totally hated it. I liked the writing style, I loved the prose, but I HATED all of the characters and the plot too. It was just so pretentious, it is one of those books which all the yuppies read or pretend to have read because they think it gives them some sort of "greater-than-thou-ness". I understand why "misunderstood" teenagers  would love it, but never ever ever let them read it as they will use it as justification for being total shits for as long as they possibly can. That said the writing itself is beautiful.

4/10

Remember Me - Sophie Kinsella

one sentence summary:
a 25 year old average girl with bad teeth and no carer wakes up three years in the future and is living the "dream life"

review:
The writing on this one isn't as good as Kinsella normally puts out, but it isn't the worst I have read, could probably have just used some more editing and a few rewrites. But it is an entertaining airplane/beach read, a quick moving story that will have you laughing out loud. the characters are all endearing and the plot is cleaver. I would like this to continue as a series with the protagonist pulling her life together. If you like chick-lit and want a brainless read this is for you!


6/10

The Crystal Cave - Mary Stewart

one sentence summary:
the story of Merlin before he was the great Wizard we all know him as.

review:
A wonderful take on the Merlin myth. We are introduced to a young Merlin and follow him as he enters adulthood. Filled with family drama and suspense, mystery and intrigue this is a well written, entertaining read. Stewart did a fantastic job of flushing out not only fantastic characters and relationships but also a fascinating country complete with politics and details that are often overlooked in "Arthur" stories. A great mix of verifiable fact and familiar myth. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys long, detailed historical novels and/or the Arthur legend.

6/10

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business - Charles Duhigg

one sentence summary:
every been curious about your habits? Read this to learn where they came from and how to change them.

review:
A fascinating look at how to build new habits and destroy old ones. This book will help you get a deeper understanding of why you do what you do and how to change for the better. Science made simple in this well written look at how motivation works and how to make it work for you. It teaches you that everyone can be successful if they just have the self discipline and willpower to do what they already know needs to be done, and give tips on how to achieve this. This is not the best book I have read on this topic but it is fairly interesting and easy to get into. I recommend it to people who haven't read a tonne of self help already and want to change something in their life... or to business majors as it has a tonne of interesting tricks and anecdotes that will make you sound like you know your shit in class.

6/10

The Joy Luck Club - Amy Tan

one sentence summary:
the relationships between friends and mothers and daughters... basically all about female relationships.

review:
not a great work of literature, but a great story of our time. With a lot of drama and some not so happy endings this novel is well worth reading for all of the girls in our society. An interesting look at a segment of the immigrant culture in the USA, the Chinese immigrants of the 1940's in this novel were a lot of fun to read about and the information that the novel tells us about them is good to know. This is a very emotional (but well written) read, full of ups and downs.

6/10

Coraline - Neil Gaiman

one sentence summary:
a little girl finds an alternate world that is exactly like her own, but is completely different.

review:
A really well written story with a strong, independent female protagonist aimed at kids old enough to know the difference between reality and make believe. I can guarantee I will be reading this to my niece and grandniece given the opportunity. Gaiman does a fantastic job of describing the world through the eyes of a child. I highly recommend this to everyone, especially young girls who feel misunderstood by the world.

8/10

Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell

One sentence Summary:
The age old tale, spoiled plantation daughter falls in love, but oops there is a war :(

review:
This is a classic for a reason, it is well written with one of the most evolving protagonists I have ever read. At the beginning you hate Scarlet, she is a horrid girl but she evolves into a slightly less horrid girl who is head over heals in love, and from that into a strong (most of the time) woman. It is a long read, I recommend breaking it up with something trashy so that you don't get sick and tired of Scarlet's antics and shelve the book without finishing it.

8/10

The Ali Reynolds Series - J A Jance

one sentence summary:
Ali Reynolds was a reporter, now she investigates the murders/mysteries she keeps finding herself at the centre of.

review:
This series is well written, highly entertaining, easy reads. Ali is a really awesome protagonist and she is much more realistic than most female mystery solvers. The writing is fast and you will not be bored when you are reading it. I recommend this to anyone who likes mystery series with a dash of romance ( a very small dash ).

6/10

The Chrysalids - John Wyndham

one sentence summary:
many years post-nuclear-war an insular Christian community where any child born with a birth defect is killed at birth.

review:
well written and fast paced Wyndham offers a disturbing look at the future we could have had. In this work of science/speculative fiction a disturbing possibility is brought to light, a community where difference is stamped out and everyone is brought up to believe that it is fine to get rid of anyone who is a "mutant", any deviation is brought to light and then destroyed by everyone in the community. I found this a very disturbing novel, but really well written. I recommend everyone read this novel, it is a very good look at the future that could happen if we just blindly followed our leaders.

8/10

The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon - David Grann

one sentence summary:
1925: an obsessive man, Percy Fawcett, ventures into the Amazon and never comes out.
review:
A fascinating mix of fact and speculation this adventure takes us back in time to the unexplored jungles of the Amazon. One of the most intriguing and well written piece of accessible non-fiction I have ever read. The writing is very good, keeping the plot moving along. Part historical, part travelogue and all adventure. I recommend this to anyone who likes reading true stories that are really interesting, or adventure stories in general.


8/10

The Power of One - Bryce Courtenay

one sentence summary:
The story of a white boy growing up in South Africa in the 1930s-1950s

review:
A very beautifully written description of South Africa, the main character is less than relatable for me but the background plot and details are more than enough to make up for the unlikeableness of the protagonist. The novel is unnecessarily long but the writing makes good use of the extra pages with beautiful pores and a pounding plot. The characters do develop with the continuing plot so that makes it a more enjoyable read that many novels of the same girth. I recommend it to anyone interested in that era world history.

8/10

Go Ask Alice - "Anonymous"

one sentence summary:
A "true" story of one girls struggle with drugs

review:
this is fear mongering at its best, written as a diary of a teenage girl and published anonymously. It was so over the top and ridiculous. It wasn't even relevant when it was written, today it would be about the horrors of meth. If you read it as a satire it can be entertaining.

4/10

Stranger in a Strange Land

one sentence summary:
A human raised by martians returned to earth as a young adult.

review:
This novel embodies the ultimate culture shock. Written in the early 1960's this is a fascinating look at what was thought to be possible. A classic of the SciFi cannon for a good reason, it is brilliantly written and the characters embodies every big question science fiction authors strive to answer. What is the future of humanity like, what happens to human morals, where do we go from here, etc. I recommend this to anyone who has any interest in SciFi, Philosophy or Sociology.

8.5/10

The Princess Bride - William Goldman

one sentence summary
 The movie is a classic everyone has seen, the book is better.

review:
This story has everything, drama to action to love and adventure. It tells a compelling story using a fantastic vocabulary built around amazing characters and their adventures. I recommend everyone go steal a fourth grader (boy or girl, doesn't really matter) and read this novel out loud with them. If you haven't read it yourself do it now or forever consider yourself deprived of one of the best stories ever. It is a highly entertaining fast paced read with easy to follow intersecting character lines. I have heard criticism that the female protagonist isn't strong, and isn't a good role model, this is true, she isn't but you can use her as a lesson on what not to do in life, and as an adult look at her as one of those stupid annoying females that we all know far to many of. This is a parody after all, you do have to be able to laugh at the characters in their over the top trope ness. In conclusion if you haven't read it read it now...

10/10

Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand

one sentence summary
the book that all hipsters have read, or rather, claim to have read.

review
The only good part of this book is the feeling of accomplishment achieved by finishing the book so that I could look pretentious people in the eye and say "oh, really, that's what you thought?" in a really condescending tone. The writing is superfluous, the characters are all weakly developed and have no real base, and the plot is just poorly executed. But, in a 1950's America this became an instant classic, embracing capitalism and showing every other philosophy of life to be inferior. In conclusion, please do not read this book, use the time for better things... like learning to knit or planting a garden or reading harlequin romances (I kid you not, a better use of your time).

3/10

Catherine Ling Series - Iris Johansen

one sentence summary:
In a spin off from the Eve Duncan Series we are introduced to Catherine Ling, she is a trained assassin, raised on the streets and recruited by the CIA.

review:
Johansen has created another strong female protagonist that you can't help but enjoy reading about. The first novel is a true cross over, counting as both book one in this new series and a book in the Eve Duncan series as well. easy to get into action adventure stories with just a dash of mystery and family drama. I recommend these for beach/plane reading.

6/10

The Bite Before Christmas - Heidi Betts

one sentence summary:
even vampires need a little love around the holidays.

Review:
Three vampire stories that all feed one to another and are written by Betts. She has done a phenomenal job of all three vampire tropes, human girl loves vampire male, vampire female loves human male, and vampire female loves vampire male. All in all  three stories about overcoming the odds, coming to terms with your emotions and falling in love, all with happily forever after endings. The writing is pretty alright, easy reading for sure. The stories are cute and entertaining. Great reading for a snowy afternoon by the fireplace (or the sweltering heat of July if you, like me, are in need of a taste of Christmas to lift your spirits.)

7/10

The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gilman

one sentence summary:
A woman suffering from depression is treated with isolation and fresh country air by her doctor husband, it does not end well.

Review:
Ok, I know this is a short story, you can read it here http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1952 it is only 6000 words long. Originally published in 1892 it tells the story of a woman who is suffering from depression and they way that women's illnesses were treated at that time. Wonderfully written in the first person it follows the decent into madness that isolation and boredom can bring on. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. It is well written, uses great vocabulary and nicely illustrates a low point in women's history.

10/10

Intertwined - Gena Showalter

one sentence summary:
an angsty teenage boys has four angsty personalities all inside his head (...and, really, what angsty teen doesn't)

review:
normally I *love* Gena Showalter's writing, she is awesome at steamy love scenes and keeping a story moving to the next one. I figured, why not read her YA novel, it should be pretty good,, she has talent after all... OH BOY, I was wrong, so very wrong. The writing was solid, good vocabulary and grammar, but it was as if with out the sex to anchor her writing there was no direction for her story. The premise sounded like it would be a great story, but no, it was so cluttered and confused that the characters got lost and the point was missing. There was a beginning but no middle or end, it was like you got into a raft to go over some rapids but... oh snap...no paddles. but then your river keeps switching continents, and then is a on a pond, and then it morphs into a submarine (not that that makes any sense), then suddenly you are back on the river in your raft, but the water is jello. Yeah that is how the story flows (not at all). It is an entertaining read if you are looking to read something to learn how never to write. People who enjoyed Twilight may enjoy this series.

3/10

The Twilight Series - Stephanie Meyer

one sentence summary
an overly emotional teenage girl falls in love with a much older man...(a vampire is still a man right...?)

review:
This series is not the worst writing I have ever read (here's looking at you Fifty Shades) but it is far from what I would call good. Longer does not mean better. The books keep getting longer as you read through the series. The writing is reminiscent of Harlequins but with infinity more teen angst.  Some of the characters were really well developed while others were lacking, and one in particular (here's looking at you Bella) did not grow at all over the thousands of pages, she ended pretty much identical in ideology to where she started, you would think that learning about the paranormal world first hand would alter one's perspective on the world...you would be wrong. That said the story is fairly entertaining and does move along at a pretty good clip (other than the hundreds of pages interspersed here and there so full of superfluous details that any sane editor would have left in the rubbish and never ever have published...maybe they are paid by the page?). I recommend this to anyone who has an angsty teenage girl that they are trying to get to read.... or anyone who is curious what all the fuss was about (in which case I recommend skipping to the last book "Breaking Dawn" as it was the most interestingly extreme of them all, just read the Wikipedia summaries of the first 3 and you will be k).

4/10
4/10

Krewe of Hunters Series - Heather Graham

one sentence summary:
The government has allowed the leading expert in paranormal investigations to pull together his own rag tag crew of agents, all of whom see the world a little differently.

review:
Heather Graham will never win a Pulitzer but she will make a ton of money if she keeps writing like this. All easy reads full of adventure, intrigue and romance. Great beach reading. You could read one as a stand alone or the series in order, the back story from each previous book isn't necessary but it is neat to see characters reappear occasionally. I enjoyed this series.

6/10
8/10

 

The Bride Quartet - Nora Roberts

one sentence summary:
four childhood friends grow up and all find love.

review:
very typical Nora Roberts, light romance stories with steamy love scenes. I really enjoyed the interaction between the four business partners, and found it more interesting than the interactions between the women and the men who love them. The writing is pretty good, highly entertaining and easy to read. The details of the weddings are all really well executed, the lives of wedding planers are fraught with perils. I recommend it to people who want to read some lighthearted trash.

8/10

The Stand - Stephen King

one sentence summary:
99% of the world has died.

review:
One of the better post-apocalyptic novels I have read (and I have read a lot), more realistic than most of the more modern interpretations. The writing is really good, the descriptions of the chaos are heart wrenching and the characters are really well conceived and executed.   It is a long read but well worth it if you enjoy post-apocalyptic stories, watching humanity crumble and pick sides. One of King's better works in my opinion (mind you it seems a lot of his works are really really good).

8/10

Girl with a Pearl Earring - Tracy Chevalier

one sentence summary:
A sixteen year old servant is painted by her master.

review:
A very successful delve into the historical era of the Dutch Painters. Full of detail and personality I really enjoyed this novel, it is well written and highly entertaining. A really good glimpse into seventeenth century, the story doesn't really have an arch to it, but it is a good read none the less. It is a solid story. A lot of research went into the writing of it, and the prose flow beautifully. I recommend it to anyone who thinks they might enjoy a bit of historical reading.

8/10

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (and The Great Glass Elevator) - Roald Dahl

one sentence summary:
Charlie is a little boy who is heading towards a terrible adulthood when an eccentric man puts him on a new and exciting path.

review:
when I was a kid I loved both of these stories. The illustrations added a lot to the books (in these editions I can not speak for the other editions). There is something universally appealing about a poor boy winning the golden ticket to a better life and then actually getting that life by being a good person. Not to mention the satisfaction of seeing the bratty kids get their comeuppance. The writing is endearing, I recommend all kids read these the day they are old enough to make out the vocabulary.

10/10

The Iron Fey - Julie Kagawa

one sentence summary:
a "normal" girl finds out she is part fey.

review:
An interesting twist on A Midsummer's Night Dream, a teenage girl raised in the human world's younger brother is stolen away (and replaced with a changeling) to the other side of the "veil" where she is compelled to follow to save him. The writing is ok, not great but not quite terrible. The characters are all rather static, and very "Bella" (as in Twilight Bella, irrational girl with no self worth) which irritated me. The stories do move along at a rather fast clip, in fact I would guess that most real readers could breeze through the three I have read in a single day at the beach. I recommend this to people who liked Twilight and those who are looking for a light read full of teen angst with a twist of the paranormal.

6/10

East of Eden - John Steinbeck

one sentence summary:
We follow the saga of two families destined to be entwined for ever.

review:
This is a beautifully written story of family, love, belief and disillusionment. The characters are all brilliant, and the way in which they all parallel and conflict with each other is really well thought out and written. The prose are beautiful and the writing will stay with you long after you have finished reading it. This is a novel that the most pretentious person you know will have read / pretend to have read, because it is a classic and everyone should read it. That said it isn't an easy read, it is really good, and the language is easy to understand, it is just a brick of a book. The plot moves along at a can't put it down, what happens next gallop. I recommend everyone read it.

8/10

Study Series - Maria V. Snyder

one sentence summary:
Yelena has some magic in her, journey with her as she discovers it.

review:
This is a remarkably well written series that appeals to the Twilight readers. The female protagonist in this series is actually a strong person who changes as she learns more about herself (almost like a real person). I enjoy the way that the personality of Yelena changes based on her life experiences (unlike other teen characters in popular fictions). The language of the story is very direct and lacks the super descriptive pros of traditional fantasy but is much better written than most of the modern-aimed-at-teenage-girls stuff. The series starts out really strong and goes down from there so if you can't find the second and third books after reading the first I would say that's ok.

8/10 for the first one, 6/10 for the other two.