2016 Reading: Rosemary's Baby & Son of Rosemary

#26 A book and it's prequel

Rosemary's Baby: I saw the movie many years ago in my horror movie class while I was in film school, but I have always wanted to read the book. I've read other Ira Levin books and I found his writing style to be really unique and sort of flow-y so it's really easy to get lost in the story and not want to put the book down.

If I had never seen the movie, I think the ending would have been more dramatic for me. I would have thought Rosemary was just crazy until about the very last chapter. As it is, I'm kind of glad that I saw the movie because I could find the little subtle hints within the plot that foreshadowed the ending.

Son of Rosemary: Oh. My. God. This book! I have no idea what I was expecting (I didn't even really know there WAS a sequel until I saw this book at a used book store). It was such a unique thing to do to make this set so far in the future and have so many parallels between Andy and Jesus. I cold not put the book down because I just knew that something had to be wrong. But I STILL did not see that ending coming.

Part of me was a little disappointed at the ending, but another part, a bigger part, thinks it was the most brilliant thing to do for this story and it made me question so many things. I think I might have to go back and read this a second time at some point so that I can really pay attention to the details.

Ugh. So good.

2016 Reading: The Grownup

This book wasn't part of the reading challenge (it could have been, but I chose not to put it on there because I already have all the books lined up for the categories). A friend of mine recommended this book and it. was. fantastic.

Like, holy crap, was this book fantastic. From the very first sentence I knew that I was going to enjoy it like nothing else before. It was a very short story so it didn't take long to read and I simply devoured it. Like Gillian's other stories, there were twists that you didn't see coming but then she completely turned that on its head with more twists that just make your brain hurt but in the best way possible.

I can't wait to read more of her stuff. I hope it's all like that.

2016 Reading: The Great Gatsby

#4 A book you haven't read since high school

I know that people talk a lot about not liking this book in high school, but I had a very good experience with it (mainly because I had an awesome teacher). We compared characters to junk food (Tom was a Ho-Ho, Myrtle was Apple Jacks, Daisy was a Twinkie... It all made sense when you thought about it), we played 'Pin the Wheel on the Drunk's Car' (which I took home and kept until the storm flooded my house), we had a flapper party with sparkling grape juice and did the Charleston... It was the best class ever.

I look back on the characters and I just can't help hating every one in this book. Gatsby did stupid things to get back something that he never had and then didn't want to adjust his thinking when he got the best he could hope for. Daisy got used to the good life even with a cheating husband. Jordan was literally just a cynical pot stirrer who cared about nothing. Tom was... Tom. Nick was blind and prejudice-ly opinionated while simultaneously indecisive and easily swayed.

But despite all of this, I love this story. It's like it takes a love story, an underdog story, a story about hope and completely destroys everything and leaves you with a sense of disappointment and disdain, but also the need to carry on.

2016 Reading: The Cracked Spine

#23 A book that is published in 2016

The name got me, okay? I found this while I was looking for books about someone with my occupation (NOT MANY) and it sounded interesting so I put it on the list. The way it was written and the way it ended made this seem like it was going to be an ongoing series.

I guess this falls into the category of one of those cute chick mysteries with a strong female lead, quirky side characters, hunky love interest, and a mystery that has nothing to do with her but somehow it's her JOB to solve it anyway.

I will most likely not be continuing on with this particular series, but to each his own.

2016 Reading: Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship With a Remarkable Man

#15 A book written by a celebrity

I think one of the things that surprised me the most about this book was how little I actually knew about Leonard Nimoy. Now, I have read BOTH of his autobiographies (I Am Not Spock and I Am Spock respectively) but some of the stories featured in this book are completely new to me. Maybe that’s because it was some things that Leonard would have rather forgotten but the point is that it took someone ELSE writing about it for me to know these things.

I don’t really know what I expected about this book. Most of it was a compare and contrast between Shatner and Nimoy. Some of the comparisons were very interesting and others I think were merely so Bill could fill up some space. That sounds harsh. I don’t know. All I know is that some of the things in this book made me sad and some of them made me very happy. I always like to hear about anything that has to do with Star Trek and this was all of that and more. There was so much that I didn’t know about Leonard. I have never really gone and looked at his body of work before or after Star Trek, but from what I have since learned, it was vast and varied.

I love that there was so many things he did in his life besides acting and I hope that someday I can see his photography or even read some of his poetry. He was a very brilliant man and it was really sad when he just couldn’t hold on anymore.

2016 Reading: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

#29 A dystopian novel

I had no idea that this was the story that was the basis for Blade Runner. Not that I've ever seen Blade Runner, but still...

I usually don't like to read dystopian books, I don't really know why. They've never been my cup of tea. However, I am interested in reading books about the concept of androids and souls. I don't like watching the movies about them, but I like thinking about the possibility.

When I was in college, I took this philosophy class that was centered around  science fiction and the idea that robots could be considered "living" or that if a person was cloned, was that clone them or another person entirely. We watched a lot of Doctor Who and Star Trek and just generally thought about all the questions that one might ask if one happened to be in a situation that only seems to exist in the minds of sci-fi writers. It was a really fun class.

Well, this story certainly was interesting.

I don't think I quite grasped all of it. I know there's the question of what constitutes "human" and being alive, but there's also some religious themes in here as well with Mercer (whoever he is) and the devotion of his followers even when it is proven that he is fake.

Then there are the things about the animals and how they're sacred...

It was a good story, but I didn't get much out of it. Meh.

2016 Reading: Invisible Man

#2 A National Book Award winner

Okay, so, full disclosure: I thought this was the sci-fi story about the guy and science and he literally turned transparent.

WRONG.

So wrong. So very wrong. Just a book full of racism. But I found myself enjoying the story very much. There were times when I was reading and everything made sense to me. This feeling of manipulation about things that happened before my time (at least more prominently) and the way the races were treated not only by those of a different race, but also those of their own.

The idea of sliding through the world "invisible" while doing what you need to not only survive, but to prove that you can manipulate those around you and have none of the consequences. It reminds me of the Fermata book that I enjoyed so much.

And then you get to the middle of the book...

I am so confused. All of these speeches that seem to last chapters upon chapters at a time... they don't SAY anything. There is no substance whatsoever in ANYTHING they are saying. And people get all riled up and start mobs and stuff, but there's nothing there!

I think it's safe to say I have no idea what this book is supposed to be about. I think I am missing a giant factor here.

So, never believe in anything and become a crazy ranting hermit.

The End.