American Gods: Revisited

American Gods:Revisited

American Gods by Neil Gaiman is a book that before this class I would have never picked up. This however seems to be the case with many of the books I am reading this year.
While reading this book there are soo many questions that I would think of, which even confused me at times. However I pushed through it because of the beautiful language that Gaiman uses through out each page. From the first page that I read I knew I was hooked and felt that even if I became bored part of the way through, I would continue to read in order to find out what the outcome of the story was. Another thing that caught my attention was the whole encounter with the guy on the plane proposing a job to Shadow without Shadow even knowing anything about him but he knew everything about Shadow. To me it was just creepy and I needed to know what was the deal.
I did feel like there were a lot of characters introduced through out this story but at no time did I become overwhelmed by it. I felt that I knew who each and every character was and it didn't even phase me that there were so many until thinking back upon it now.

As I have stated before I am truly glad for having read this book and look forward in reading it again. That way I can see if there are things I may have missed the first time around. Hopefully I will get a greater connection to the book than I already have.

Bloodchild

Bloodchild

This short story was a bit hard for me to understand at first and I found myself re-reading most of it just to make sure I was understanding it. Finally when it was all over with I thought it was pretty good. When reading through the painful birthing process I immediately thought of praying mantis as the Tilcs and knew that the humans that would be chosen to carry offspring would not be in for a good time.
The author states that the story is based on her fear of bugs and in all honesty I can see that because the way bugs mate and reproduce is horrifying by itself and then to introduce it with humans is a nightmare than I don't even want to have.

The Regulators

The Regulators

This is a Stephan King/Richard Bachman book. I first read this book when it first came out and really enjoyed it. Now I read it and enjoy it still but in a humorous way. The reason I say that is because I often wondered why a demon would choose to inhabit a kids mind and then make him transform a suburban neighborhood into a environment based on tv shows he watches. It never really made any sense to me. However, I do like the book and the ending was pretty good. I could have dealt with out so many characters though because at times I left myself getting confused and going back in the book to figure out who was who. Would I read this again? Sure but not for maybe another ten to fifteen years. This film is on the same level as a popcorn flick to me. I wouldn't tell people its a must read but if someone asked I would tell them its good to read in your spare time.

The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book

I understand that this is Gaiman's attempt at doing a Jungle Book type story but I felt it was a big disappointment. Maybe I was let down due to having such high hopes but I felt that the beginning was really good, then the end was filler, and the end was mediocre. I was actually pretty ticked that I read through the book only to be let down. I am glad that I did not decide to run out and buy this just because I liked American Gods. This book was a short read but it put me to sleep occasionally and I in no way recommend it. I wasn't even happy with the illustrations. The story came off more a rushed prequel than a stand alone book. Very irritating.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Like other people, growing up I have seen The Wizard of Oz film countless times. However, I never read the book even though I have had a copy since I could walk. I figured it was about time to start reading it.
I thought there would be minor differences, besides the musicals not being there, but I was completely wrong. The book was great. The movie is kind of annoying. I loved learning the back story about the tin woodsman. I also enjoyed how Baum chose to show the lion, scarecrow, and tin woodsman had the traits they wanted from the wizard all along.

I felt myself wondering so many times why they chose to leave things out of the film. I guess it was because of many different reason which all make sense but I still wish I could see them on film. I would like to see a true to the book film version made but then again I don't because it may ruin the version that is in my head. I guess it is this way with many if not all books made into film.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Trader

The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Trader

After reading the first Narnia book I have been anxious to continue reading the rest of the story. I decided to pick up the Voyage of the Dawn Trader and see how it was. Honestly it is my favorite up to this point. I felt it was very good that it did a quick intro for new characters but almost instantly jumped from Earth to Narnia. I was also happy to know that Peter and Susan would not be making this trip, especially since they were so extremely whiny in Prince Caspian. On the other hand Eustace was quite annoying early on but after his encounter with Aslan, his attitude changes for the better.

This book however felt a lot more preachy than previous books. In the previous books, the religious tone in there but not really mentioned. Aslan almost directly states that he is God and the children must learn to know him in their world because they could not come back to Narnia. I wasn't really bothered by this but just a little surprised by how direct Lewis chose to be in this story.

After finishing this book I felt pretty happy and was glad I chose to read it. I really look forward to reading the rest of the story through out the summer.

Starship Troopers

Starship Troopers would have to be my first reading of Science Fiction and after hearing many great things about the movie I figured the book would be even better. Honestly, after reading through a good portion of the book, I became bored and wasn't sure if it was maybe because I was just not giving the book my full attention. Upon this realization I decided to put the book down and try another day because I really wanted to enjoy this book. During my second attempt I realized that this was a book that just wasn't for me. The writing was good and the main characters story of his different events in his military career was not bad either, but I felt as if any other featured in the book were very flat. I also thought it was a little unbelievable the way the father was pretty anti-military but then later he changes his views pretty easily. I would have to say that even though it was a well written book, at no point did it really draw me in. I just wished I would have enjoyed it more.