52 Books in 52 Weeks (2011) discussion

Book reviews for week 23.

مشكلة الأفكار في العالم الإسلامي
by مالك بن نبي

3/5

My Review
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Fallen Idols by Neil White

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The whole time I was reading this book there was this nagging feeling itching at the back of my mind that I knew the two main characters but I was certain I had not read the book before. The feeling was so strong it distracted me from concentrated on this story. At the very end of this edition there is the first chapter of the next story and that's when I realised I had read book 2 several years ago and Jack and Laura had made a big enough impression on me for me to recognise them again even after several years and in a different story.

Jack Garrett is a reporter and Laura McGanity a police detective both trying to solve the case of apparently random shootings of football superheros. The trail leads them back to Jack's hometown and an apparently solved murder that took place over ten years previously.

I was extremely irritated by the blurb on the front of this book which made it sound as though the killer was after their own moment in the spotlight, which would have been a completely different story. I would also have liked more background explaining how the killer acquired their skills and their weaponry.

One of the scenes towards the end of the book involving the shooter, another bad guy and the two main characters was worthy of any horror novel I've read and the images it provoked will stay with me for a long time afterwards. I'm always concerned about the potential lethalness of power tools and now I'm never going to be able to see a circular saw without images from this story popping into my head.

I enjoyed reading this book put it didn't grab me and make me want to find out what happened next. I won't actively search out the rest of the books in this series but if I spot them in the library I will be picking them up and adding them to the reading pile.



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The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession
by Susan Orlean
2/5
Journalist writes story for magazine about trial of Orchid theif that takes place in Florida. She becomes interested in the charachter and finds that orchids are an obsession for many people, and that orchid growing and collecting is an all consuming passtime. The lead character is not likeable, antisocial, impulsive. The author's research leads to all sorts of interesting facts, mainly about life in South Florida, the Everglades, the Seminole Indians and, of course, orchids. A magazine article stretched into a book. I found it slightly interesting because, coincidentally, I was visiting Florida when I read this book. I may try to visit an orchid attraction mentioned in the book. Best thing I can say abou the book is it was a quick read.

The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century
2/5
This book -which was published in 2009- starts as an interesting one, but doesn't end in the same manner. It focuses on north America -and USA- as the center of the world..
This book is not for you unless you are really interested in geopolitics!
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Teresa wrote: "Fallen Idols by Neil White
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The whole time I was reading this book there was this nagging feeling itching at the back of my mind that I knew the two main characters but I wa..."

I always admired your choice of books .. They're interesting most of the time..

As for me, I just finished
Soft Target
Ratings: 4/5
my review

I picked this book randomly and because I needed more thriller books in my book collections. Fortunately, This wasn't a disappointment. I instantly liked the story and its tone, which was clear and not confusing.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


so awsom i can barely put the book down and i have to cos i have exsams but this one was totally awsooooom.



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في ديسمبر تنتهي كل الأحلام

2\5


في بداية الكتاب عدت إلى صفحة الغلاف لأتأكد إن كانت رواية فعلا، فـلبضع صفحات احسست بأنني أقرأ شيئا من النثر قبل أن يبدأ سرد الأحداث. هذه الرواية تحتوي بعض المفاجآت، في البداية تظنها رواية حب فقط، لكنها تحمل لمحة من واقع المجتمع، وتشير الى بعض المواضيع الساخنة فيه، لكنها مجرد إشارة. أجمل مافي هذه الرواية الغموض الذي يحيط بقصة حب البطلين فهما لايعرفان بعضهما تقريبًا، لدرجة انهما لايعرفان اسمي بعضهما، ولحظة
انكشاف هذا الغموض انتهت الرواية بالنسبة لي، وماتبقى لم يكن الا سردا لوجع البطل المكلوم.
ليست نوع الكتب التي أقرؤها عادة، ولأني لم أتوقع شيئا منها في البداية كانت لها النجمتان

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

The Time Machine
H.G. Wells

4/5

I did not think I'd enjoy this story as much as I actually did. After all, how relevant could a scifi story be when it was written 115 years ago?

Pretty damn relevant, The Time Machine proved to me!

H. G. Wells's ideas about the future of humanity, and some of his reflections on some aspects of modernity are sobering and thought provoking.

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

The Lost Symbol
by Dan Brown
3/5

I like the way Dan Brown writes .. Gripping thrillers ... Nice new info after careful research on his part .. Hell, a friend even told me he visits the places by himself .. Hence, the vivid details ...

But this book was kinda different for me ..

First off, although gripping, it wasn't as gripping as The Da Vinci Code or the masterpiece : Angels and Demons ...

Secondly, being familiar with Dan Browns writing style and all, I guessed the ending of the novel (where they'll find what they're supposed to find, to be exact) from the few 50-100 pages of this 670-paged book ... and guess what? .. I got it 100% right ! Hmmmmmm ... Is it me? Am I that good?

Another thing, I didn't quite enjoy the things conveyed through this novel, although I've learned quite a few things. But I find most of the stuff to be kinda weird and illogical among other things. Didn't like it much.

Still not so bad, so I'll give it a 3 out of 5.

Sixteenth Summer by Michelle Dalton
Rating 4/5

This book was super cute. I really really liked it. It was a good summer read, nothing depressing or dramatic which was nice in a YA book for a change haha. I really liked both main characters and I absolutely LOVED the setting. I've always wanted to stay on an east coast beach house for the summer and I loved the way the author portrayed Dune Island. It makes me want to go there! I also thought the fact that Anna's family owned an ice cream shop on the boardwalk because I liked reading all the different flavors haha.(I really want to try Greek Holiday!!!) I would definitely recommend this to anyone that likes YA love stories that aren't overly sappy or depressing. I hope she writes a sequel!

Newspaper Blackout by Austin Kleon

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Newspaper blackout is basically when a person takes a block of text (from a newspaper) and a black marker, and starts blacking out the words they don't need, only to end up with something completely different than what they started out with; instead of starting with a white blank page, you start with a page filled with words and you take your pick without having much flexibility… and ta-da! You have a poem.

I really like how the author went over the history of writing methods that are similar to his. Apparently, this has been around since the 1760s; however, he claims that he wasn't inspired by anyone and that he found out from others that it was used before, and extensively.

I personally didn't love some of the poems very much, the content was too random (and I honestly don't like that type of poems), maybe that's the point, but the rest of them was really amazing and vivid.

At the end of the book, the author shows you how to make your own newspaper blackout poems in detail.

Overall, it was a good, unique read. Recommended for fans of poetry and art.




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Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

My Rating: 4/5

I loved it! I've never seen the movie before I wanted to read the book first. What a skillful writer.


"Now, seven books later, men still ask where to find the fight club in their area" - Chuck Palahniuk

This is a YA novel. If you can call it a novel. I forgot to mention.

Love Story by Jennifer Echols

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Blech. This story had so much potential. I don't think I've been so let down by an author since I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Erin irritated me. She was a bland, stuck up, self-absorbed not-so-good writer. The stories that supposedly showed her 'gift' were cliched and involves various placements of the word nipple. I liked every other character in the book, aside from her and Gabe, and I think whatever Hunter wrote was a million times more interesting than Erin's stories. I even enjoyed Hunter's (not-so-many) lines in the book ions more than Erin's painful dragging self-monologue! We get it, you're poor, you don't have to bring it up every other sentence or so. Ugh. Like I said at the beginning of this rant/review, I am vastly disappointed. I needed a nice story to brighten up my week, and I was left angry.

(PS. The two stars are for Hunter. I like him a lot. He's such an awesome sport. Assuming he isn't after all this for the money, which, honestly, shows you how much I am not happy if I'm allowing doubt for our hero's intentions. Bah, humbug)



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Thousand of splendid suns
khaled Hossein
5/5
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12...

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Arthur Conan Doyle
Rating: 4/5

A collection of Sherlock Holmes short stories. Fast and easy to read. The best story so far in my opinion is 'A Scandal in Bohemia'. Looking forward to reading the rest of Conan Doyle books!

And BTW you can find the book free on iBook

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Charlie is certainly an odd character but one that you end up loving immensely. His honesty and bluntness is so refreshing and I found most of what he said quotable even if it was simple. You immediately relate the protagonist and what he's going through. This might be a peculiar way to look at the book but all I could think of was it was direct. It wasn't one of those books with a deep plot-line and you had to think about it more to understand what the author meant. To me, it was about a teenage boy struggling with a bad incident and trying to focus on the good things in his life.

One of the most delightful reads I have ever come across. It is truly a "feel-good" book.

My review.

By: Betty Mahmoody
Rating: 5/5


This story had gotten all of my attention and it still have, amid my reading i was living from day to day, chapter to chapter the progress of each adventure Betty and her daughter Mahtob had encountered. I cried for their suffer and also for their joy of fulfilling their dream of getting back to the U.S safe and sound!
I resented how Moody, her husband forced her to stay in Iran, and as she said she was a hostage who suffered grief, shock, plight, and her struggles to get herself and her daughter back to the U.S

so touchy, so unconceivable story, filled with agony, plight, and immensely joy of a final success!

This woman and her daughter suffered a lot to the extent that i can't imagine some of the details in this book, i felt sorry for her at first, but i knew that, for sure she and her daughter had learned a lot, for their good of course.