After Dark by Haruki Murakami

Alright, Murakami!
Here is a work that I have heard nothing about. This is not always a bad thing (thinking back to Hard-Boiled Wonderland at the End of the World)
After Dark lacks the one thing that Murakami always puts in- Himself! Perhaps Takahashi is a younger version of himself but I do not think so. There is a bit of unexplained magic, like always, an interesting point of view (this is where he inserts himself?) and great characters.
Perhaps it is not his strongest work but then again I would argue that it simply isn't translated as well as some of his other works. It's a pretty quick read though and I did thoroughly enjoy it!

4/5

Esio Trot by Roald Dahl

Speaking of books I've found on people's floors, Esio Trot by Roald Dahl was a book I found in the back of a car during a slightly long trip. I remember I brought it inside after reading most of it in the car and finished it up. I recently re-read it and it was just as good as I remember. It is delightful and funny and cute and nice and clever.
Go Roald Dahl!

4/5

Child of God by Cormac McarthyC

This book was on my girlfriend's bedside for a few weeks before I even looked at it. I started reading it, not very interested but immediately was sucked up in McCarthy's descriptions. Child of God tells of a man named Lester Ballard- a truly perfect name for him. He is in his late twenties and simply roams the Tennessee mountains. Why it never occurs to him to get a job is beyond me but he does get by living in caves and killing squirrels. It is strange and haunting. I have absolutely no complaints about it.

5/5

The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall

I am continually failing my readers!
I read The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall about a week ago and completely forgot to update! Unbelievable.



The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall captured me from the beginning. A man wakes up in a room and cannot remember anything. As it turns out, he is being hunted by a conceptual fish. Seem confusing? It sort of is... but in a very fast moving sort of way. The logic may not pan out, or it may- I didn't take too much time really analyzing it (for fear that it wouldn't) but the STORY. Wow! I love good stories! Instead of the classic amnesia story where the victim is obsessed with the past, the main character becomes obsessed with the future, with survival, which was so god damn refreshing.

I give this book some thumbs up
5/5

Things I read on my phone and forgot to update

The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
I picked this book up in a bar while watching a show in a fit of anxiety. It calmed me down and sucked me into the story. Luckily I haven't been exposed to the story in any other way before, at least not that I can remember. It ended a lot sooner than I thought it would and kind of strangely. I liked how he described fast forward and rewind before those things existed. Wells and Jules Verne are classified in my mind in the same category. Good slightly scientific story tellers. Great job.
4.75/5


"The Variable Man" by Philip K. Dick
I really loved some of the concepts in this short story. I continued to get caught up on the race of the variable man. I thought maybe he was black but they never said either way. It wasn't supposed to matter but for some reason it did to me. Logan said a lot of the things that happen were impossible based on closed circuit technology but I liked it anyways.
4/5

"The Call of Cthulu" by H. P. Lovecraft
It was so good it got me on this late 19th century kick, which is why I picked up Middlemarch which was actually written mid 19th century which is probably why I hate it so much.
4.75/5

Dear Readers,
I know there are none of you other than myself so let me start over.

Dear Nicole,
I am sorry I haven't updated my book blog in so long. It's not that I haven't been reading, it's that I haven't finished a single book I've picked up and I don't want to claim having read it without actually having read it all. Here is a list of books that I have read some of in the last month or so...



Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safron Foer
"collage" of writing. Simply amazing. Hard to read. Very hard to understand, 4.75/5









Middlemarch by George Eliot
I only made it 100 pages in and decided I simply couldn't go on anymore. Too much marriage drama.

Roald Dahl Short Stories
5/5!

Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
I got 75% of the way through and knew what was going to happen so stopped. It's by far not his best but it's still a super great story 4/5


The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
Pretty great ghost story! I will finish this one since it is short. I'll let you know how I like it.