Wedding Bells Are Ringing: Book A

June is one of the most popular months for weddings and weddings as we all know are full of traditions. One of the most commonly followed of those traditions is for the bride to have "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, and Something Blue" on her wedding day. To honor that tradition...

A. OLD - Read an old book (to qualify as an old book it must have been published before you were born).
AND
B. NEW - Read a book written by a new author i.e. a book by an author you haven't read previously.

BORROWED - One of the books above must be borrowed (from the library, from a friend or family member etc.)
BLUE - And the other book must either have a blue cover or the word blue in the title.

(I.E. You need to read an old book that is borrowed and a new book that is blue OR an old book that is blue and a new book that is borrowed.)

Book Title/Author: Somewhere In Time (aka Bid Time Return) by Richard Matheson
Publisher/Year Published: Tor Books 1974
Where I got it: Library
Rating: 3/5 stars

So this book was something old and something borrowed. I wish I could remember why I decided to read this. I feel like it had something to do with Wikipedia and Christopher Reeve. You know one of those moments where you just get lost for hours clicking links and then all of a sudden an hour has past and you've ended up on a page about Ebola.

So I found this book that way. Apparently its also a movie, which I do want to see at one point. When I mentioned to most of the women of my acquaintance who are closer to 40 than 20 they all were like "Oh that movie was great!" so we'll see.

Now the book. Basically its about this guy, Richard, who is leaving his life behind to get away from his family who are treating him as if he will die at any moment. Which apparently he might.

Richard ends up at this hotel and sees a picture of this woman, Elise, whom he is drawn to. He spends most of the beginning of the book finding out as much as he can about her and traveling in time to her.

He does go back in time, and that is the part of the book that I really became interested. It was a good 100 pages before he meets her, and while the beginning was somewhat interesting it just wasn't as interesting as the end. And even that dragged a bit. I enjoyed the time travel aspect quite a bit actually and I like how he thought about things like changing his speech pattern.

Overall, I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it. It was a decent read. I am curious to see how they adapted it to the screen, to see if it engages me more.

Retro Challenge: The Mod Squad: Book A

Note: Retro challenge posts go back to a challenge completed in the past and share with you my review then with my thoughts today

In honor of our Mod Squad, read 2 books - one from Lori's (the TNBBC Mod's) shelf and one from Cynthia (the Seasonal Challenge Mod's) shelf - by an author you've never read before. The book can be on their TBR or Read shelves.

This is a two part challenge, so we will feature one of those today.

Book Title/Author:Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Publisher/Year Published: 1991 by Dell
Where I got it: The library because everyone and the mother's half-cousin's maiden aunt twice removed had read it and loved it
Rating: 2/5 stars

From June 2009:

You know I started off liking this book. I really did. Even at 200 pages in I was still enjoying it. But then something happened and it started to lose its "magic." It's been a while since I actually read it but I remember the feelings of "What?" and "I am pretty sure I could have conveyed the exact same feeling/thing in about 20 less pages" pretty well.

I think it started near the climax. It was done acceptably well. Now lets get to the wrapping up part. What there are still 200 pages? What the hell happens there?

One of the things I really hate when reading is a book that goes on and on after what is clearly the climax (my biggest problem with Kite Runner as well). I mean there were some interesting parts that happened after, but since this was already going to be a series, why not just move it over a book and end it with the reader feeling invigorated and not end already!

I feel like I am in the minority in the dislike. And going back to some notes I took while reading it, I was enjoying it. But I have this feeling that if I pick up the next books in the series, I will hate myself.

So in conclusion. It was OK. Just OK. Maybe a good. An OK and a half. Will I be picking up the next books in the series? Unlikely. I feel like there are better books in the world that I can spend my time reading.

Overall, I still feel the same way. I just don't get it. Well, I get it more than I get Twilight but that's a whole different can of worms. It has time travel, love, action, interesting characters (when they are not being ridiculous). It has a lot of things.

I realize I have a inherent vendetta against long books. If I feel it can be cut, I don't want it in there. I like plot driven by well rounded characters. At 800+ pages, this has fallen into my "too long!" box of no. I probably would have given the second a go if it wasn't for that pet peeve. I have liked long books before (eg The Brothers Karamazof, Gone With the Wind, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) but I think I judge them harsher.

How about you? What is your feeling on long books? Skip/Skim/Savor?

S.U.M.M.E.R

For this task read a book written by an author whose initials are found in the word Summer. (Initials must be sequential i.e. SU, UM, MM, ME, ER, and RS not SM).

Book Title/Author: When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Publisher/Year Published: 2009 by Wendy Lamb Books
Where I got it: library eBook on my nook
Rating: 3/5 stars

This is an interesting book about a young girl living in the seventies. It's really about her relationship with people in her life. There is also a time-travel side path that is interesting. I think reading this book as a third grader (right after I read A Wrinkle In Time) I would have loved this. Reading it now, I thought it was a good book, but definitely not geared for a genera adult audience. My favorite parts were the preparation for the 20,000 Pyramid; it made me want to watch the classic game shows on The Game Show Network.