November 2014 – JenniElyse

Title: The Catcher in the Rye
Author: J.D. Salinger
Genre: Classic, Literary Fiction
Format: Paperback
Pages: 277
Reason Read: Book Club
Rating:

My Thoughts

I’ve wanted to read THE CATCHER IN THE RYE for a very long time. So when we decided to read it for book club, I was really excited! I don’t know what I had in mind, but what I read was definitely not it. I thought it had no plot and was completely pointless. I’m not sure why it’s even considered a classic. And, I detested the writing style. I hated how Holden thought / spoke (other than the colloquialisms). His thoughts were rambling and unfiltered, which isn’t my cup of tea when I read a book. I actually really liked the colloquialisms. They’re probably the only thing I did like.

I understand why teenage boys would like this story because they probably relate to Holden really well. Since I’m neither a teenager nor a boy, I couldn’t relate to him. I could see why Holden felt the way he did in some circumstances. He really seemed to like kids because they were genuine and weren’t jaded yet. On the flip side, he hated adults (or anyone nearing adulthood) because they all seemed like they were phonies.

I hated Holden at first, but I felt sorry for him in the end. I felt like he was crying out for help and no one could see that he was. He was so depressed, suicidal even, and he didn’t know how to deal with his little brother’s death. None of the adults in his life really showed him how to grieve, cope, or even live. I wished he had found someone to help him. I think that would’ve made the book better and at least given a point to the story.

I tried to like this story and I even tried to see why my book club cohorts liked it. While I agree with a lot of what they said about it, it just wasn’t for me. Even though I didn’t like it, I’m still glad I read it so I can say that I have.

Title: Shutter
Author: Courtney Alameda
Genre: Horror, Young Adult
Format: Kindle
Pages: 384
Reason Read: Received for Review
Rating:

My Thoughts

I’m really glad I had a chance to read SHUTTER around Halloween to help me get into the Halloween spirit. But, I would’ve enjoyed reading it at any time of the year because I loved every minute. It was intense from beginning to end. The characters hardly had any time to rest. The way Courtney writes made the characters and setting show up vividly in my mind. I could imagine everything she described in awesome detail.

One of my favorite things about this book played on the fact that Dracula was real and that Bram Stoker was the historian that wrote everything down instead of an author writing fiction. Many of the characters are descendants from the central characters in Stoker’s novel, which made it fun. I kinda wish I had read DRACULA before I read this. At the very least, I’ll try reading DRACULA at some point.

I really liked Micheline. She was strong yet vulnerable. I loved Ryder and his Aussie-isms. I wish all leading males could be as cool as him. I really liked Jude too. He was funny, witty, and added an interesting dynamic to the group. Oliver seemed a little more aloof to me, but maybe that’s because he was the observer. He’s smart, but he just didn’t seem very observant for being as smart as he is. He probably just paid attention to only the stuff he wanted to. The rest of the characters carried the story enough for me that he didn’t bother me at all.