February was a slow month for reading, and kind of forgettable save for two books. Three books were new, and one was a reread which actually surprised me, and not in a good way. However, there was one shattering disappointment, but all of that in a moment. Despite my better judgment to cool my jets and refrain from more book buying, I did purchase four extra books in February which are of course added to the massive TBR pile. And also I did buy a book in a trilogy and didn’t realise it wasn’t the first, so I need to get that too. Anyway, on with the wrap up.
The Wrap Up
I started off with Stephen King’s latest slapdash horror extravaganza, Revival. Yes, it was scary, and yes, the characters were brilliant as they so often are, but something just felt missing from the book, as if lacking that extra pinch of salt to explode the flavours in your mouth. I wouldn’t say I was disappointed with it, since the ending made up for its slow pace and slightly confusing narrative, but I don’t know, I can’t quite put my finger on what was missing. You may have heard of the movie, The Midnight Express. Well, it was a book first. Midnight Express is the true story of an American, Billy Hayes, who serves several years in a Turkish prison for smuggling hash. It’s a great read, interesting and despicable at the same time that back then in the 70s the Turks could be so unjust and lethal in their prison system. It’s not terribly violent, there’s only one real violent scene, but it’s what’s suggested that breaks your bones. Don’t wind up in a Turkish prison, OK? Or any prison.
I decided to reread The Great Gatsby next, and I’ve only recently discovered I’ve been forever misspelling Gatsby as GATESBY. My mistake. This was a weird one. When I read it two years ago, I didn’t read a masterpiece a lot of people said it was. I just read a book, and one that was so painfully riddled with problems, and it seems wrong to label it a masterpiece when it just isn’t. Throughout that book I had no idea what the characters were talking about, and there was little motivation for me to care. When every single one of them is so awful, why the hell should I care what they have to say, do or not do? I get they can’t all be likeable, that’s fine, but all of them? I still don’t really know who Gatsby is. Also, it’s a small book, but it took an age to get anywhere. Either I’m missing the point, or the book really isn’t that great. I don’t know, either way, it’s a 5/10, an average book. The best parts are the descriptions of nighttime New York, and little else. Then I read Foxglove Summer which is the worst book I’ve read this year so far. Gatsby was a reread, so I can’t count it. Foxglove Summer left so many questions unanswered and its story was so far beyond the magic I come to expect from the series. Bloody heartbroken.
I decided to reread The Great Gatsby next, and I’ve only recently discovered I’ve been forever misspelling Gatsby as GATESBY. My mistake. This was a weird one. When I read it two years ago, I didn’t read a masterpiece a lot of people said it was. I just read a book, and one that was so painfully riddled with problems, and it seems wrong to label it a masterpiece when it just isn’t. Throughout that book I had no idea what the characters were talking about, and there was little motivation for me to care. When every single one of them is so awful, why the hell should I care what they have to say, do or not do? I get they can’t all be likeable, that’s fine, but all of them? I still don’t really know who Gatsby is. Also, it’s a small book, but it took an age to get anywhere. Either I’m missing the point, or the book really isn’t that great. I don’t know, either way, it’s a 5/10, an average book. The best parts are the descriptions of nighttime New York, and little else. Then I read Foxglove Summer which is the worst book I’ve read this year so far. Gatsby was a reread, so I can’t count it. Foxglove Summer left so many questions unanswered and its story was so far beyond the magic I come to expect from the series. Bloody heartbroken.
The Haul
To further add to the large collection of Stevie King books, I purchased The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon and Desperation, the latter I’m eager to start. For me, it doesn’t matter what he writes, I’m going to read it. Why else then would I happily read a crime thriller? He’s currently writing a trilogy of the damn things, and Mr Mercedes was great, better than Revival even. So, when Finders Keepers lands later this year, I’m going to read it. Because Stephen King. Even though I read American Gods and thought it was a bit too mythic for my taste, and generally a billion genres at once, I loved the style of Neil Gaiman’s writing. That guy’s got a brain, a crazy imagination and an eye for the weird, which makes the idea of starting The Ocean at the End of the Lane so thrilling. And thank god it’s smaller than American Gods. Big books are great, but when packed with so much mythos, it often feels like a heavy meal one should have given up over halfway in. To top it off, I bought Alien: Sea of Sorrows, the second part to the trilogy which I thought was the first. Don’t ask, alright. The Alien universe has never really grabbed my attention before, but with the success and terror of Alien: Isolation last year, I want to see what I’m missing. Now I just need to get the first book…
Looking back on February, I see a forgettable reading month. OK, Revival and Midnight Express were great, but I’m just so annoyed with Foxglove Summer and surprised with the praise that Great Gatsby’s received since launch. Disagree all you want, but that book wasn’t worth reading again. Books that I believe are worth the hype are ones like The Humans, The Fault in our Stars, The Road and Brave New World. Not Gatsby. Everybody seems to coo over both Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye, but I didn’t like either. And yeah, I know that proves nothing, and just because I didn’t like it doesn’t mean everybody else is wrong, but I’m just wondering what the hell does everybody else see in both books? If I read Catcher when I was a teen, then maybe I would have loved it. But I read it when I was about 21 or 22. And I hated it. Whatever, that’s fine. The world would suck if we all liked the same things.
Songs of the Week:
Looking back on February, I see a forgettable reading month. OK, Revival and Midnight Express were great, but I’m just so annoyed with Foxglove Summer and surprised with the praise that Great Gatsby’s received since launch. Disagree all you want, but that book wasn’t worth reading again. Books that I believe are worth the hype are ones like The Humans, The Fault in our Stars, The Road and Brave New World. Not Gatsby. Everybody seems to coo over both Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye, but I didn’t like either. And yeah, I know that proves nothing, and just because I didn’t like it doesn’t mean everybody else is wrong, but I’m just wondering what the hell does everybody else see in both books? If I read Catcher when I was a teen, then maybe I would have loved it. But I read it when I was about 21 or 22. And I hated it. Whatever, that’s fine. The world would suck if we all liked the same things.
Songs of the Week:
- 'A Love Worth Keeping' by Frank Turner
- 'I Am Disappeared' by Frank Turner
- 'Wessex Boy' by Frank Turner
- 'Rage and Red' by Anaal Nathrakh
- 'The One Thing Needful' by Frank Turner
- 'Midnight City' by M83
- 'Planes' by T.C.C ft. Nick Reeves
- 'Mine' by Phoebe Ryan/Illenium Remix
- 'So Wrong' by Illenium
- 'Eternity' by Skrux