Phantom Tollbooth, Roseanna, Incarceron
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
I rarely re-read books, but this is a childhood favorite of mine that's faded from memory. I went back to it and it was just as wonderful as I remembered. It was interesting to find that I reacted to things differently now that I'm older.
Roseanna by Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo
The first book in the Martin Beck series of mysteries. On a technical level, I understand that Roseanna and Martin Beck started trends we now see elsewhere in crime fiction, but I wasn't that impressed. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't mind blowing either. I usually like my mysteries with puzzles in them-- instead, I was left confused about how Martin Beck figured out X person was the killer when there didn't seem to be evidence for it. I did like how it got a bit psychological at the end.
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
I heard so many good things about this book; I really wanted to like it. But I didn't get what I was expecting at all. In some ways that was good: I thought the girl would be a bit more naive and idealistic like they usually are in fantasy novels about escaping (sometimes metaphorical) prisons-- I thought it was interesting that she turned out to be a rather hardened politician instead. I wish the rationale for the prison was explained differently. Some of the plot twists were a bit transparent or (worse) landed with a clunk. The overall concept was interesting, but I feel like it could've been done better.
Not sure if I want to read the sequel Sapphique after all.
Next: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
( Rest of the Reading List)
I rarely re-read books, but this is a childhood favorite of mine that's faded from memory. I went back to it and it was just as wonderful as I remembered. It was interesting to find that I reacted to things differently now that I'm older.
Roseanna by Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo
The first book in the Martin Beck series of mysteries. On a technical level, I understand that Roseanna and Martin Beck started trends we now see elsewhere in crime fiction, but I wasn't that impressed. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't mind blowing either. I usually like my mysteries with puzzles in them-- instead, I was left confused about how Martin Beck figured out X person was the killer when there didn't seem to be evidence for it. I did like how it got a bit psychological at the end.
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
I heard so many good things about this book; I really wanted to like it. But I didn't get what I was expecting at all. In some ways that was good: I thought the girl would be a bit more naive and idealistic like they usually are in fantasy novels about escaping (sometimes metaphorical) prisons-- I thought it was interesting that she turned out to be a rather hardened politician instead. I wish the rationale for the prison was explained differently. Some of the plot twists were a bit transparent or (worse) landed with a clunk. The overall concept was interesting, but I feel like it could've been done better.
Not sure if I want to read the sequel Sapphique after all.
Next: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
( Rest of the Reading List)