Kiwiria's November Novels
Dec. 1st, 2022 02:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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christianreaderAfter an October where I read a surprisingly large number of books, this November I really, really didn't! And they were all rereads! But thanks to some very, very short rereads, I still managed a fair bit.
The Power of One - Bryce Courtenay, 3.5/5, Audiobook ~22hrs
I read and loved this as a teen, but hadn't read it in years, so was eager to try it again as I remembered almost nothing of it other than the bare bones. Unfortunately, it couldn't quite live up to my expectations... or rather, it lost its charm along the way. I loved the first half - PeeKay's way of surviving his first boarding school, returning home, meeting Doc, convincing the prison guard to teach him boxing - all of that had exactly the atmosphere I remembered from the book, and I was very happy with the revisit.
Once he started his second boarding school, some of the charm started to disappear though, and by the time he reached the mines, it had gone completely. I can't explain exactly what went wrong, but it was as if Bryce Courtenay had a brilliant idea for the beginning of a book - but no idea how to end it, meaning it just meandered along until he realized, "This is plenty long now - I'd better finish up" and did just that.
I'm still glad to have read it, and would definitely recommend it to people as an interesting view on South Africa during and after World War II, but it did leave me thinking that it lacked... something.
Feedback - Mira Grant*, 4/5, Audiobook ~17hrs
A companion novel to "Feed". Takes place at the same time, but focusing on another blogging team, following one of the democratic nominees.
Every bit as good as I've come to expect from Mira Grant's novels. Granted, it couldn't quite live up to "Feed", but then none of her subsequent novels could. The plot is pretty much the same as "Feed", just focusing on another team and another set of 'incidents', but it was interesting getting background on some of the characters who only briefly appear in "Feed". Besides, I love the universe and was happy to see more of it :)
Famous Five 1-9 - Enid Blyton*, 3.5/5, ~125pages each
Listening to "Malory Towers" made me want to reread these. Some I still really enjoy, some REALLY make me shake my head. Some of them are a LOT less realistic than I remembered (which wasn't much in the first place!), but they're still fun to revisit.
Bear - Audrey Faye*, 4/5, 328 pages
I really liked the focus on Ronan in this one, even if he did come across quite differently from what I had expected from the other books. Not that he changed character - it just focused on a different aspect, and one that we hadn't seen before.
Reilly and the pups made me cry :-P
The Power of One - Bryce Courtenay, 3.5/5, Audiobook ~22hrs
I read and loved this as a teen, but hadn't read it in years, so was eager to try it again as I remembered almost nothing of it other than the bare bones. Unfortunately, it couldn't quite live up to my expectations... or rather, it lost its charm along the way. I loved the first half - PeeKay's way of surviving his first boarding school, returning home, meeting Doc, convincing the prison guard to teach him boxing - all of that had exactly the atmosphere I remembered from the book, and I was very happy with the revisit.
Once he started his second boarding school, some of the charm started to disappear though, and by the time he reached the mines, it had gone completely. I can't explain exactly what went wrong, but it was as if Bryce Courtenay had a brilliant idea for the beginning of a book - but no idea how to end it, meaning it just meandered along until he realized, "This is plenty long now - I'd better finish up" and did just that.
I'm still glad to have read it, and would definitely recommend it to people as an interesting view on South Africa during and after World War II, but it did leave me thinking that it lacked... something.
Feedback - Mira Grant*, 4/5, Audiobook ~17hrs
A companion novel to "Feed". Takes place at the same time, but focusing on another blogging team, following one of the democratic nominees.
Every bit as good as I've come to expect from Mira Grant's novels. Granted, it couldn't quite live up to "Feed", but then none of her subsequent novels could. The plot is pretty much the same as "Feed", just focusing on another team and another set of 'incidents', but it was interesting getting background on some of the characters who only briefly appear in "Feed". Besides, I love the universe and was happy to see more of it :)
Famous Five 1-9 - Enid Blyton*, 3.5/5, ~125pages each
Listening to "Malory Towers" made me want to reread these. Some I still really enjoy, some REALLY make me shake my head. Some of them are a LOT less realistic than I remembered (which wasn't much in the first place!), but they're still fun to revisit.
Bear - Audrey Faye*, 4/5, 328 pages
I really liked the focus on Ronan in this one, even if he did come across quite differently from what I had expected from the other books. Not that he changed character - it just focused on a different aspect, and one that we hadn't seen before.
Reilly and the pups made me cry :-P
