Wednesday, November 7, 2012

RTW: Best Book of October

Roadtrip Wednesday is a blog hop hosted by YA Highway.

This week we're talking about the Best Book of October

Unfortunately I don't have one. I haven't been reading as many books lately because I'm STILL going on the Pretty Little Liars series. I'm up to the last book that's been published... so that's been taking up all my  reading time.

I did however read two other books during the month of October - unfortunately I didn't like either of them.

The first was The Clan of the Cave Bear. I know, I should have liked it because it's a classic and whatnot but I just couldn't get into it. Maybe it was the writing style or the way the story was told.... I can't put my finger on what I didn't like exactly...

I wanted to like it, and I wish I'd liked it. In fact I was determined to finish it so I actually skim read most of the chapters and read the last five with full concentration. To be fair, the concept of the book I really liked, and the story was really intriguing but it just wasn't my kind of book.

The other book I read was Titanic 2012. I don't even know what to say about this book other than that I thought it was terrible. For one, I found it really disrespected the lives of those lost in the sinking but suggesting it was an ancient curse that possessed people on the ship to cause the sinking in the first place. Then, there were many historical facts that the author got wrong. Half the book is set in 1912 and the other half in 2012. Both time periods see's people on both the Titanic, and a Titanic exploration ship that are trying to stop the curse from wrecking havoc. This book is the only book this year that I've put down and walked away from.

Clearly I'm in need of some recs. Anyone got anything good?

24 comments:

  1. Wow, after attending the phenomenal traveling Titanic exhibit last year I also find the premise of Titanic 2012 rather distasteful. I hadn't even heard about it until your post, but I have to agree with your opinion. Sorry to hear October wasn't a good reading month for you. Reading is slow going for me these days seeing as writing is taking precedence. Have to say out of what little I read in October The Raven Boys was the best and likely would have been top of the pile even if I had read more.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I have done a lot of research on the Titanic and everything so to read that book was pretty bad. Especially as it was released for the 100 year anniversary!
      Oh, I've heard of The Raven Boys. I think i'll have to get that before I leave for my trip!

      Delete
  2. That "love the premise, don't love the execution" experience you had with THE CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR sounds like my experience with THE FUTURE OF US. I know a lot of people really enjoyed that book, but I thought it missed the mark on the execution. There was so much potential, but I was disappointed.

    As for book recommendations... have you read Scott Westerfeld's LEVIATHAN series? Or Tahereh Mafi's SHATTER ME? If you want something a bit unusual (and not YA), you could give BREATH, EYES, MEMORY by Edwidge Danticat a try. I have reviews of all these on my blog if you're interested. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, that's it exactly. Great way of putting it. I really like the idea I just couldn't relate, couldn't get into it. Such a shame.

      I haven't read any of them, but I have the Leviathan series on my Kindle and will definitely look into those others! Thanks so much! Started reading Looking For Alaska this morning - looking forward to this one :)

      Delete
  3. Haha! Colin's been trying to get me to read LEVIATHAN for months now. We should both read it so we can all have a book chat about it. :) As for my recommendations, October had some really good reads: THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE by Jandy Nelson (YA Contemporary), SHADOW AND BONE by Leigh Bardugo (YA fantasy), and, of course, THE RAVEN BOYS by Maggie Stiefvater (YA paranormal/supernatural thriller??). All really great reads.

    As for THE CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR, my mom has read them a time or two, but the premise never interested me. I think it lost me at Neanderthals. When the TITANIC movie came out in 1997, I did a lot of research about the actual events because I got so into it. It bothers me to hear that they took these kinds of liberties with history. Sad, really.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha yes - Let's do that! Ooh yes, I read The Sky is Everywhere earlier this year, I quite enjoyed that - have a review coming in a couple of weeks for it! Shadow and Bone and The Raven Boys are on my kindle ready to read on my roadtrip! Looking forward to them!

      Yeah, I think it was the way it was narrated, it just lost me. So did I - I became obsessed with all things Titanic when the film came out and I bought that book thinking it was a novel about a journey on the ship (I purchased a whole lot of Titanic books in April for the anniversary), so this one really disappointed me. I read The Girl Who Came Home though, that was very good.

      Delete
    2. I'm telling you Jaime--when you finally get around to reading LEVIATHAN, you'll kick yourself for waiting so long! :D A Scottish heroine, an Austrian hero, secrets, intrigue, a steampunk version of World War I... how can you resist?!! ;)

      Delete
    3. I do like the sound of that....!

      Delete
    4. Oh, I hear Colin recommend LEVIATHAN all the time. Maybe I should read it soon ;)

      Delete
    5. Haha that's been on my TBR list for a while now. We must be driving poor Colin crazy for not reading it by now!

      Sorry October wasn't a great reading month. Titantic 2012 does sound quite disrespectful. Have you read The Looking Glass Wars by Frann Beddor? I definitely recommend the first book in the series. It's a spin on Alice in Wonderland where Beddor insists that the world is actually real and Alice has been lost in our time. :) Fantastic book!

      Delete
    6. WOW! That sounds awesome! I'm going to get that tonight as well. It's going to be an expensive evening haha!

      Maybe we're going to have to have a book club read of LEVIATHAN! haha!

      Delete
    7. Obviously, I just need to read Leviathan already so Colin can shut up about it :P

      So far this year, I'ved loved Shadow and Bone, Throne of Glass, Before I Fall, If I Lie, and The Book Thief. I've also been working my way through all of Rick Riordan's books because all my students last spring when I was student teaching told me I HAD TO READ THEM. (And they were right! Smart kids.)

      Delete
    8. Me too! Funny, all the books you recommended I already have on my kindle in my 'priority' folder, so I'm glad to hear you really enjoyed them!

      Delete
  4. I agree with Colin- the Leviathan trilogy is AWESOME. I also read The Raven Boys in October and loved it. If you like historical, Something Strange and Deadly, and Grave Mercy were two other awesome reads for me this past month, and my fave- Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha okay, I'll get the Levianthan trilogy tonight. I have The Raven Boys and Something Strange and Deadly on my kindle ready to be read but haven't got Grace Mercy or Obsidian, will look into them! Thanks!

      Delete
  5. You had a busy reading month!
    As for books to read, I recommend Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (like Jaime did), Throne of Glass by Sara J. Maas ... have you read Divergent and Insurgent by Veronica Roth? You should!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes! Divergent and Insurgent are some of my favourites!
      I haven't read Shadow and Bone or Throne of Glass yet but I hear a lot about them so I'm definitely going to read them soon!

      Delete
  6. I have months like these! Sorry your books didn't pan out for you. I recommend anything by Jennifer L. Armentrout, Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas, Angelfire series by Courtney Allison Moulton, and Undead by Krista McKay. I can keep going and going! lol Enjoy!

    http://wordsareinnermusic.blogspot.com/2012/11/road-trip-wednesday-best-book-of-october.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Throne of Glass is coming up a LOT! I'll have to track down some of those others too though! Thanks heaps!

      Delete
  7. Throne of Glass was my other October read, and I was kind of 'meh' on it. Wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. The book didn't start to get interesting until about halfway through, and the MC was kind of annoying.

    If you're open to self-pubbed stories, I just read one this past week that was pretty good (I'll have a review on my blog next week). It's a YA contemporary, and absolutely hysterical. The MC's narration had me in stitches. Link is here: The Homeschoolers

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Interesting, everyone seems to have such different takes on Throne of Glass.

      I'm certainly open to self-pubbed stories, and just checked out the link, it looks great! I look forward to reading your review!

      Delete
  8. Sorry I missed this one last Wed...esp since I'm one who did enjoy the whole Clan of the Cavebear series...It may be the subject matter (which I found facsinating, but you might not), but it could just be the writing style...things have changed a lot in the last five to ten years, and we get spoiled in YA with the best flowing prose around (IMO).

    If you feel determined to get through some older classics in the future, I suggest Audiobooks. I've enjoyed Clan of the Cave Bear and Anne Rice and some other things (like Stephen King and Tolkein) that I may never have made it though if I'd been reading instead of listening.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think it was the subject matter...while at times it did get dull, I enjoyed the general premise. The writing style I did have trouble with I believe, but it's interesting you mention audio books, normally I don't like audio books as I tune out but I think that would be a great way to get through the Clan of the Cavebear.

      I agree, we're spoiled by the best flowing prose in YA.

      Delete