My Archives: January 2005
Saturday, January 15, 2005
Wow... I haven't updated this in such a LONG time!
Now that it's a new year... I would like to make the same goal as I made last year. To read 50 books within a years time. I love to read and hopefully I can make it this time around. Last year I only got to 45.
Here's a list of the book I've read in 2004!
With a 1-4 star raiting. 1 being best (of course) and 4 being AWESOME!1. The House of Sand and Fog *
-I really felt for both Kathy and the Iranian family. It's such a heavy book. After reading it, lasting images of various scenes in the book wouldn't leave my mind.2. Speaker for the Dead *
- Out of the whole Ender series, this one is my favorite. I especially liked the story of Ouanda and Miro.3. Cold Mountain *
-I hated this book. I still regret reading it. But once I read something, I have to finish it. I still regret finishing it. @_@4. Big Fish *
-It was short, funny and bittersweet. It had imagination and it makes you smile. I think the movie was slightly better though.5. Belinda *
-I hated this book #2. One of the worst books Anne Rice has ever written. I think she wanted to do another "lolita" but nothing can beat that classic.6. The Corrections
-This whole thing was a great read. A family full of disfunctions. It was even featured in the Simpsons7. Mystic River *
-Great book. Even the movie was great.8. Coin Locker Babies
-My first exposure to author, director, talk show host, ect... Extrodinaire: Ryu Murakami. This has become one of my FAVORITE books! I love it. Such a page turner. Read it for yourself.9. The Woman in the Dunes
-Depressing but I loved the atmosphere of this book. It's about love and loneliness and much more.10. Snow Country *
-Another depressing book but it's just very beautiful. Most Yasunari Kawabata books are usually almost always about loneliness and sadness and depression but I like reading stuff like that. Something that pulls the heart strings.11. Exquisite Corpse
-The book that totally made me a fan of Poppy Z. Brite. Full of Boy Love, Canabilism, Sex, Blood, and everything else. Not for the someone with a weak stomach but wow. It was disturbing and intriguing.12. Hogfather *
-I hated this book #3. Well I didn't hate it as much a Belinda and Cold Mountain. Hogfather is by Terry Pratchett after all. I like the creativity and the slightly synical story but for some reason it just bored me.13. Ordinary People
-Not bad. It made me think a lot about my own family. A death of a well liked brother that left the other brother to attempt suicide and the parents to think about their own relationship.14. Almost Transparent Blue *
-Another great Ryu Murakami book. This one is basically plotless. Just sex, drugs, and rock n roll and about the 60's with Japanese younguns living near an American Military base. I'm in love with Murakami's writing style.15. Jude the Obscure
-One of the best books I've ever read. Written way before its time. Depressing and some of the scenes are still so vivid in my mind.16. Lost Souls *
-Poppy Z. can surely write cool boy love stories. ^_^ I love Ghost and Steven and Zillah the little evil, slutty vamp. Hah!17. The Wind Up Bird Chronicle *
-Written by that "Other" Murakami. The more well known one. It's weird, it's expansive, it's long but man, is it a page turner.18. A Clockwork Orange
-Wow! What more can I say but that. Makes me want to talk like Alex.19. A Town Like Alice *
-I hated this book #4. This book SUCKS. So full of cardboard cutouts. Characters that didn't come to life. I didn't like the racist undertones either. Although I guess that was expected back then.20. Strangers *
-An awesome little "ghost story" that really didn't feel like a ghost story21. Drawing Blood
-Poopy Z's thrid book. Steve and Ghost makes a "slight" mention. It's not as great as Lost Souls and Exquisite Corpse but it still awesome.22. A Widow for One Year *
-Funny + Expansive + Weird = Cool23. The Color of Water
-A true story. It made me cry. It made me laugh. It made me think.24. In the Miso Soup *
-Ryu Murakami again! Like most of his stories, this story is weird, full of sadistic little numbers, sex, blood. The usual Murakami madness.25. Survivor
-I truly enjoyed this story. Creative, funny, truthfull, amusing.26. All Families are Psychotic
-True to the title. So many coincidences so little time. It was amusing. The title is enough to make you read it.27. The Cider House Rules
-I LOVED this book. Homer, Melony, Angel, Dr. Larch. So many memorable characters that I just didn't want it to end.28. So You Wanna Be A Rock n Roll Star *
-True Story. Gives you the real behind the scenes of what it's really like to be a musician. It really opens your eyes to how the music industry really works.29. Rules of Attraction
-l really enjoyed this book. It was funny and stupid at the same time only because the characters are so dispicable yet so true. I loved Paul the best. He seemed to be only one that's slighlty normal and stable.30. The Power Of One *
-I've been really in love with books about South Africa for some time now. This book was good. Do NOT watch the movie for it can't even compare. If you thought the movie was good however, read the book and you'll know how much better it is.31. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter *
-I hated this book #5. I just didn't like it. It seemed cold. I don't know. To be a good book, it has to make me feel affected and this did nothing to me except to make me wish that I didn't waste my money on it.32. Tandia *
-The sequel to The Power of One! Basically the story of Tandia. A colored who is half Indian and half Zulu. Peekay's story also continues. I like their little love story. That's why I was slightly mad about the movie. Peekay should only fall in love with Tandia and only Tandia. Hah!33. Disgrace *
-J.M. Coetzee's book about a man and his daughter after the end of apartheid in South Africa.34. Girlfriend in a Coma *
-Hehe... I just had to read it because I liked that Smiths song of the same name. Great read though. And she really was in a Coma but he didn't try to murder her or anything.35. Xenocide *
-The 3rd book of the Ender series. Mostly this is about Miro and the rest of his family. I liked Olhado in this story. Even the pyscho Peter. The Path/Chinese story line was also great.36. Garden State *
-I hated this book #6. No, this isn't the movie. This is the worst and most boring book I've ever read about a bunch of slackers in my entire life. I want my money back damn it.37. My Traitor's Heart
-Another true story. An Afrikaner whose Malan family basically started the whole system of Apartheid. Published a little before the downfall of the apartheid system.38. Sixty Nine *
-Ryu Murakami's sort of autobiography. A little like Almost Transparent Blue but actually more innocent because it's without most the Murakami weirdness.39. A Density of Souls
-Ohh... written by Anne Rice's son. It's not that great but it's not that bad either. During the end I was totally into it. Another "boy love" story with a twist. Can I say with a V.C. Andrews' twist?40. Great Apes
-A totally original story I think. Makes me think of Kafka's Metamorphosis. An Ape that thinks he's human. A planet of Apes and humans are thought of as dirty creatures in a zoo. So weird. The story was funny but for some reason I just wanted to finish it ASAP because the writing was just too... trite? I don't know how to describe it.41. Out *
-A story of 4 ladies, a murdered abusive husband, debt collectors, a Brazilian, cut up bodies, and strange happenings that fall on Tokyo's working/lower middle class.42. Six Feet of the Country *
-I need to get used to Nadine Gordimer's writing. Basically short stories that take place in South Africa during Apartheid. I liked "Country Lovers".43. Angels and Demons
-Oh my God! This book totally caught me off gaurd in the end. I totally did not see the whole twist in the end. You know about you the culprit is. The story really kept me reading.44. Catfish and Mandala
-A true story. A Vietnamese-American who travels to Vietnam in a bike and explore his home country. To see the people to look at his past and his family. A great eye opening read into another culture.45. Lolita *
-Well, sort of disturbing but at the same time funny. It's written in such a cynical way that the disturbing aspects of disppears from your thoughts. Love and obsession, depressing and amusing. Nothing can beat that.-That's it. I only had five more to go. But oh well. I'm glad I only hated 6 books out of that 45. That's a pretty good turn out right there.
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