Bite Me: A Love Story

Alright, Bite Me: A Love Story by Christopher Moore is, for me, right now, unreadable. It's not released yet and you'd think my panties would be all wet for a new author who is adored by many's brand new book but they're not.
Maybe I'm being a stuck-up asshole. Maybe I just can't go from Kundera to Moore. I got 20ish pages in and just... couldn't go on. After I realized that "kayso" wasn't a person and simply stood for "okay, so..." I slapped myself in the forehead and decided to give it a hundr- no, fifty page shot. Then I got to page 20.
Here is a taster (I hope this is legal):
I know! Oh-my-fucking-god-ponies-in-the-barbeque! I know! It just goes to show you, like Lord Byron says in the poem: 'Given enough weed and explosives, even a creature of most sophisticated and ancient dark power can be undone by a few stoners.' I'm paraphrasing. It may have been Shelley.

So, that's page 13. And it is very. very. funny but in a very. mindless kind of way. I will attempt Lamb eventually.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being Milan Kundera

Balancing sentimentality with philosophy, Kundera creates a vivid insight to a world more real than the one beyond the pages. The thoughtful, rarely laborious prose reads as a quickening heart in hardening ribs until the pages themselves have become each valuable objects and I was left turning them one-by-one with care and wonder. How can we sell this masterpiece through the same cash register as the quickly forgotten mysteries and hot pink love-after-college attempts at "books?"

Moral of the story: Don't ignore book suggestions.

5/5

The Impostor's Daughter Laurie Sandall

Sandall did a decent job of telling her story through the graphic novel medium. A lot of work went into the drawings and the consistency of the story but unfortunately, Sandall comes up short of her art. A tabloid-loving semi-junkie atheist turning to god and rehab could be a good story if it weren't glossed over so much. It's like she's trying to prove that she is an adult to her readers.

2.5/5

South of the Border West of the Sun Haruki Murakami

Well, well, well Mr. Murakami. Written by anyone else this book would have been utter trash but in his hands, Murakami creates the strangest characters who are simply normal. There are no talking sheep men, no magical coincidences, just real life and only a small existential break with death and voids and it's good that way. After reading Murakami I'm always stuck with thinking what it'd be like to be a man. What is it like to be a Japanese man? A man at that. As for plot, there wasn't really any. It was just a good book. It wasn't too long or too short. I can't put my finger exactly why I liked it so nor do I have any reason to speak against it. Maybe if the author hadn't been established in my mind prior to reading the book, I wouldn't have liked it as much. It's always hard to say.

4/5

The Road Cormac McCarthy

This is the first book I have read by him. It was loaded with religious intonations and undertones. I was impressed that he didn't break the format/ style of the book even though it would have been easy to. He kept the same distance from the characters the whole time and I admire the book a lot for that. It was a very easy read and I don't really see any reason why it shouldn't be compared to the difficulty and (sort of) subject matter of The Giver by Lowry. Of course, The Road is more graphic. It deals with dead bodies and cannibalism and.. okay so they shouldn't be compared. But it was an easy read and I'm excited for the movie to come out.
4/5

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.
O.M.G.
Etc.
Neil Gaiman is my hero. This book struck me so vividly and solidly. Ohhhh I have no words for my adoration.
5/5