Saturday, November 10, 2007

Non-recommendations or wary recommendations

I hate to say, "Don't read this book. It's bad." It's really not anyone's place to make a judgment call like that for another person. However, there are so many books out there that you hear such great things about and it would be nice to know before you pick it up if there's anything that could be considered offensive in it. I'm just going to put out a little information that I've gathered about a few of these books.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
I didn't get through this book. Not because I didn't want to finish it. I really did. I loved the premise of the book and it was so interesting. There were just so many F-words that I finally had to stop. I just can't handle too much of that. If I were rating this book it would probably be a 4.2.5.

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night by Mark Haddon
I started listening to this one on cd's. Within the first 15 minutes there was a scene with several F-words. It was a stressful, serious situation so I don't know if that kind of language continued through the book. So I really can't rate this book. I'd be interested in knowing a little more about it, if anyone's read it.

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
I liked this book. You have to think of it as pure fiction (which it is) or it might shake your faith in the Bible a little. It's very disrespectful towards the prophet Jacob, if not sacrilegious, but I liked the women so much that I didn't worry about it. There is also a lot of sex in this book, but not really illicit or graphic. I have friends who couldn't finish it because of this but it didn't bother me much. (Isn't it funny how different people are affected?) I don't necessarily recommend this book but if the sort of things I've talked about don't bother you, it might be worth trying. It makes me nervous that I've just said all of this. Oh well, think what you will. That's my take on it. The rating for this book is (according to my memory) 4 or 5.3.2

9 comments:

Julie J. said...

As the crude person who brought the Time Travelers Wife and The Red Tent to Kim's attention I will agree with her ratings and then say I LOVED both. :)

Kim said...

You're so funny Julie. I wasn't goint to "out" you. You're awesome and thanks for expanding my literary repetoire. Before I met you I didn't read nearly as many good books as I do now, mostly just "fluff".

Tristi Pinkston said...

Bless you for creating this site! I'm a media reviewer for a family-friendly website and I waste so much time looking for clean books. I shall now visit you regularly and use your recommendations as I head off to the library.

Kim said...

Tristi, welcome! I'm so glad you found me. Hopefully my reviews will help. I'd love to hear about good books you find.

Charlotte said...

Kim, we have very similar taste in books to be wary of. No offense to Julie, but I hated The Time Traveler's Wife. I skipped probably the middle hundred pages and read the end, because I had to know what happened. Wish I hadn't though. I found little redeeming about the novel. I agree with you 100% on The Red Tent.

Kim said...

Charlotte, you have read everything haven't you? You should be doing a blog like this. You're much more qualified than I am. Thanks so much for your input and I would LOVE to hear more suggestions and even reviews if you have some time.

Charlotte said...

I'm flattered you think so. Honestly, though, I could not do as good a job as you have done/are doing.

Melodi said...

I really enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime and highly recommend anyone to read it. Yes, there is some hard language in it, but I felt that it was so interesting coming from the perspective/view of an autistic child.

Kim said...

Thanks, Melodi. I have been thinking that I want to try Curious Incident again, reading it this time instead of listening.