Cannonball Read IV: Book #52/52Published: 1946Pages: 222Genre: Nonfiction
Dr. Nyiszli was a Jewish doctor who was picked to assist Dr. Mengele in the Auschwitz death camp during WWII. This wasn't an easy book to read, as with any Holocaust book. It still astounds me that something so awful happened a mere 70 years ago.
I actually liked the fact that Dr. Nyiszli focused more on the day-to-day activities in the camp rather than the grisly experiments that Dr. Mengele has become known for. The experiments are mentioned a few times, but Dr. Nyiszli mostly performed autopsies for Dr. Mengele and didn't actually assist with any experimentation.
Again, not an easy read, but a good look at Auschwitz from a slightly different perspective.
Cannonball Read IV: Book #51/52Published: 2012Pages: 568Genre: Post-apocalyptic/Horror
*First of all, I'm going to apologize for the brevity of my last two book reviews. It's a really busy time of year and I just need to get these written before Jan 1. for Cannonball read.*
The Passage was actually one of my favorite books that I read last year. It had a few downfalls, but overall I really enjoyed it. The Twelve is the second book in a soon-to-be trilogy and it didn't disappoint.
I was a little worried because The Passage was so intricate and had a large group of characters that I had a hard time following at times. I like to read a book series all at once otherwise I tend to forget plot lines and characters. The most genius thing in this book was the prologue that summed up everything that happened in the first book. I probably would have been a lot more lost without it.
The Twelve has some characters from the first book but also quite a few new characters. I kind of liked that because it almost felt like just another book in the same post-apocalyptic setting instead of a straight sequel.
My only complaint is the same as with The Passage: I had a hard time getting a grasp on some of the characters because there were just TOO many to try and differentiate them all. However, this book was a little shorter than The Passage, which was a good thing. The Passage had a little too much fluff in the middle and it dragged. This book didn't drag at all and I couldn't put it down. Even when I forgot who certain characters were or what they had done, the plot kept my attention and kept me reading.
Cannonball Read IV: Book #50/52Published: 2012Pages: 328Genre: Nonfiction
This book is supposedly a "fictionalized account of a true story", but is listed on Goodreads as nonfiction so I'm not sure EXACTLY what that means, but nonetheless, it's a compelling novel about child abuse. Tuesday (named after actress Tuesday Weld) endures horrific physical and psychological abuse at the hands of her mother after the death of her older sister. Her sister had polio and died after complications from the Hong Kong flu.
Soon after her sister's death, Tuesday's mother receives a brain injury after a fall down the stairs. She's never the same after that and blames Tuesday for killing her other daughter. Tuesday has a few younger brothers who are treated normally, so she just assumes that her mother hates her. She is always being "punished", but never knows what she did to be in trouble. The physical abuse is horrific, but the mental abuse is awful as well. She is forced to stand facing the wall in the hallway whenever she is home. She is usually not fed dinner and if she is, her mother makes these disgusting concoctions to make her eat. She is not allowed to bathe and has to wear old, too small clothes to school so she gets made fun of.
The most disgusting thing? Tuesday tells her friend in Jr. High and ends up running away. Social services makes a house call and completely believes her parents when they say everything is okay. No follow-up calls, just a few months with a counselor who apparently doesn't do any good. Her father is a spineless coward to tries to sneak Tuesday food and sends her to his mother's house every summer to get away, but ultimately he defends his wife.
I did like the closure at the end with Tuesday's mom and dad, but I would have liked to see what her adult brothers thought of the abuse she endured as a child. They were treated normally while their sister was abused. Did they never try and intervene? Were they scared? Did they think it was normal because they were younger and grew up like that?
This book was horrible and hard to read at times, but very interesting. I just wish I knew how much was actually based on the true story. I'd be pretty disappointed to find out that a bunch of things were sensationalized for the sake of a good story.
Cannonball Read IV: Book #49/52Published: 1962Pages: 256Genre: Japanese Literature
I picked this book up because it sounded really weird. A man named Niki is out collecting insects for his bug collection when he is kidnapped in this weird village near the sea. The sand dunes will destroy the city unless the inhabitants spend hours a day digging sand out from around their houses. This causes all of the houses to be inside of large holes in the sand that are impossible to escape from. Niki is left inside of one with a woman to help her dig the sand. People from above drop off supplies and water, so Niki and the woman are completely dependent on them to live. If they don't dig, they don't get supplies or water.
Supposedly this book has some deep existentialism meaning to it, but I read it purely for entertainment value. It's a very short book, so it moved quickly. There's only so much you can write about being trapped in a sand pit, so the length was probably just about right.
Mostly this book just made me want to take a shower. Abe is great at describing how disgusting it must be to live eternally covered in a film of sand. Worth it for a quick read if you're into kind of weird books.
Cannonball Read IV: Book #48/52Published: 1960Pages: 323Genre: Classic
This book is on ALL the must-read classics lists, so I figured I should finally read it. Well...this is why I don't like to read classics. It wasn't a bad book -- in fact, it was beautifully written -- but I was just BORED for most of it.
First of all, the plot (I actually went into this book fairly blind as to the plot. I know this book is a huge classic, but I never really knew what it was about.): It mostly follows two kids, Scout and Jem. They're a brother/sister duo in 1930s Alabama who run into some obstacles when their lawyer father, Atticus, decides to defend a black man who is accused of raping a white woman.
My favorite thing about this book was the characters. The characters were great and well-written. I loved Scout and how she was a tomboy who wore pants instead of dresses. I loved Atticus and how he saw everyone as people instead of just a skin color. And Calpurnia, their cook, who was an important part of their family.
I also really enjoyed the actual trial portion of the book. Even though I could guess how it was going to end, I was rooting hard for Atticus. The town's backlash against him and his children was awful to read, but his refusal to stoop to their level was nothing short of admirable.
However, the trial portion was a fairly short part of the book that doesn't start until at least halfway in (maybe further). The first half of the book was very slow. I get they it was probably to set up characters, but nothing really happens. I was trying to figure out when some sort of plot was going to start besides the summer antics of some bored kids.
It also took me a little while to figure all of the characters out. At first, I thought Calpurnia was Jem and Scout's step-mother. I also had a hard time remembering that Scout was the girl and Jem was the boy. They also kept referring to their father as "Atticus" rather than "Dad", so that was a little confusing at first too. But there is plenty of time to figure characters out before anything really happens.
I did like the book, even if mostly for the characters and the trial portion. Definitely worth reading at least once in your lifetime, but probably won't be heading onto my re-read list anytime soon.
Cannonball Read IV: Book #47/52Published: 1992Pages: 292Genre: Horror
I picked up this horribly cheesy novel at the used bookstore for $1. It's not worth even that probably. I actually forgot I even read this until I was looking through my Goodreads account (add me!) and realized I never wrote my CBR review for it.
It was a pretty forgettable novel, so forgive me if this review is somewhat vague. The plot follows a school teacher who gets a really good paying job to teach a set of conjoined twins. The twins (named Alpha and Beta...seriously) are locked up in a lab and have never been outside their small apartment in there. They're pretty much treated like lab rats.
What mainly stuck out to me is how far we've come in 20 years. This book treats the conjoined twins like they are so freakish that they could never been seen out in public. They are kept a huge secret. Now, conjoined twins can get their own reality show in TLC (See Abby & Brittany). I was sort of appalled at how these twins were treated in the book.
Anyways, there is some weird stuff involving mind control with one of the twins and people die...blah blah. It was a pretty run-of-the-mill cheesy horror novel. Worth it for a super quick read if you're into that sort of thing (which I obviously am for some reason).
Cannonball Read IV: Book #46/52
Published: 2012
Pages: 448
Genre: Humor
Sigh. I don't even know where to start with this one. I read Tucker Max's first book when I was in college (roughly 5 years ago...eek!) and thought it was hilarious. The guy was an asshole, no doubt, but he owned it at least. The second book was okay. Funny, but it lost some the charm of the first book. This third book? Completely lost any charm that may have ever existed.
It was basically the same thing as the first two books, only instead of listening to your roommate tell their drunk stories from last weekend, you're listening to the 35-year-old tell drunk stories from his "glory days" ten years ago. At this point he's already told his best stories and he's grasping for anything he may have left untold.
The only redeeming parts of this book were Tucker's friends. They were always my favorite part of all of his books (especially Slingblade). I did enjoy the stories about them. I can't say I hated this book, just that it was a little disappointing. I'm not sure if that's due to Tucker growing up or due to me growing out of his stories and not really caring about anyone's drunk exploits anymore.
This is supposedly Max's last book of this sort. I'm kind of interested in what he writes next because it's obvious that he's very intelligent and a decent writer. I just hope it's a little less narcissistic.
Cannonball Read IV: Book #45/52
Published: 1910
Pages: 331
Genre: Classic
I decided that I need to read more classic novels. I read a ton, but have barely read any of the books most people consider classics. I went with The Secret Garden as my first choice because I remember reading it when I was little and really liking it. I also liked the movie that came out sometime in the early/mid 90's.
The premise is probably familiar to most people: Mary is a spoiled English child who lives in India with her wealthy family until she is orphaned after a plague strikes the area. She is shipped off to England to live in her uncle's gigantic mansion. I remember always wanted to have a mansion like that to explore. I kind of still do. Anyways, Mary is pretty much left on her own all day and she starts getting nosy. First, she discovers a locked garden that she is told is forbidden because it was her Aunt's, who had passed away years ago. Then she discovers that she has a cousin who is kept secret and bedridden due to a mysterious illness that he may or may not even have.
I was surprised at how much I actually remembered about this book. I was almost bored at times because I knew exactly what was going to happen next. However, the story still holds up well. Mary is unlikeable, but you can't help but feel a little sorry for her since she doesn't know any better. She grows throughout the story and I loved her stubborn interactions with her equally (or possibly more) spoiled cousin.
Overall, it's definitely a classic that should be read at least once.
