Over the last few months, I’ve been on a mediocre-reading kick. As in, I’m reading one book after another, but none of them are blowing me away. Pretty much all of them have ended up being not great, not horrible, just…meh. There were a few times when it would come very close, but in the end it would somehow fall short. That’s not to say that I regret reading any of them…it’s just that I was left with this unsatisfied craving for greatness!
First up…Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane.
“I liked myths. They weren’t adult stories and they weren’t children’s stories. They were better than that. They just were.”
This almost sums up my feelings on this book. It wasn’t quite an adult novel, nor would it be appropriate for children. It was somewhere in between and for me that’s what prevented it from being anything more than ‘okay’. It didn’t commit and I very much felt as though I was stuck between the two genres.
However, it was interesting, original and you have to give an author credit when they know they only have 181 pages of content and they do NOT try to stretch it out for an additional 200 pages or (as in quite a few cases lately) somehow scrape together a trilogy?!
“When you cut pieces out of the truth to avoid looking like a fool, you end up sounding like a moron instead.”
Solid advice given within Robin Hobb’s Assassin’s Apprentice. This was one of the books that came so very close!! Such great potential…I enjoyed the plot and characters, my only real issue was that midway through it got a bit drawn out. A little repetitive here and there…things could have moved a bit faster at times. This is the first in a trilogy, filler-pages tend to happen in a series. I know this, but at 480 pages it was completely unnecessary! As a result it lost the 4th star, but I do plan to eventually read the rest of the series.
“You only have to forgive once. To resent, you have to do it all day, every day.”
Then there was M. L. Stedman’s The Light Between Oceans. This was not exactly a feel-good kind of book. The second half definitely moved faster than the first. To be honest, I found Isabel unlikable and I had trouble finding a whole lot of sympathy for the Sherbourne’s. Their decision being so clearly in the wrong, it was hard to muster up a lot of emotion for them later on when they finally suffered the consequences. My heart did break a bit for Lucy…impossible for it not to! So, the emotion I felt there made this a worthwhile read. The author wrapped everything up neatly at the end of the book. It’s always nice to have closure. Not fabulous, but pretty good.
These were just a sampling of what I’ve been reading. I had several other’s tossed in the mix, but these were the most noteworthy ones. Now…I left the best for last.
After months of searching for something great. Something I could really get into. Something that would keep me up reading late at night and leave me struggling to put it down long enough to live my life each day. I finally found Fingersmith by Sarah Waters.
“PIGEON MY ARSE!”
I stumbled on this one. It just kind of popped-up out of nowhere when I was starting to get frustrated with my 3-star streak. I tend to research a book to death before I actually decide if I’m going to read it. I check ratings and reviews on pretty much every available site…I take each one with a grain of salt, but it’s definitely part of my decision process. This one was getting rave reviews pretty much across the board! With very good reason. This was truly a great book. FOUR STARS…FINALLY!! I enjoyed the plot, the characters, the Victorian-vibe. And the twists!! Some of which brought forth: “WAIT!! WHAT THE!?!?!” moments…out loud…which are so rare and so great while reading!!
I’ve since discovered that this was actually made into a BBC Series and I would be curious to watch it as a follow-up. I definitely plan to check out some of her other books as well!!
Don’t’cha just love a happy ending : )
the daily oz 