Msmiz - I read almost anything!
What a Blog you say? Really you shouldn't have, no I am serious, you shouldn't.
I love that I have a place for a blog description. I am not creative enough to blog, hence never blogging before. I absolutely stink at well thought out reviews, but I read. I read A LOT. It used to be more, I could average 800+ books a year. But then the EDJ started asking me to put forth more effort for pay. Bastards.
Written in the Stars
Most important here though is my rating scale. I put forth a lot of 3 stars. I would prefer a scale of 7 points measurement, hence my 3s are more like 3, 4, and 5 respectively. In fact, most books that fall within the 3, I would like to take out to the 3rd, if not 4th decimal. With that said, here is the basic summary of scale.
5- Beyond brilliant, would read again without question
4- Better than your average bear. Would not hesitate to recommend
3- Do not be fooled. These are books I liked but the fall into the category of:
Cotton Candy for the brain
Great story, needs editing
Great characters, needs editing
Hit the right spot, needs editing
Could not quite get me there. The story was just short of a home run.
Short stories. While I do love a good Novella/short story, etc, it has to be AMAZING
to the Nth degree to knock it up to a 4.
2- Story, characters, and/or editing were not enough to pull it out. My head popped up
and out of the story too often
1- Are you kidding me with this shit?
What I read
As the title professes, just about anything. I prefer stories that take me out of real life. I get enough of that at home. Thus, I tend to stay away from self help or theory based books. I am a very character driven reader. I like a good plot just like any reader, but for me, a story really wins if I can fall into the stories and feel the characters.
Enough out of me for now!
LA reminded me how much I love the word epistolary, yet do not recall ever getting to use it in a sentence. So here it goes;) The first time I thought to read this book, I was able to find it at the library. I was so excited! I mean how many books with gay themes do you find at your library? So I hunkered down and got to page two. What the hell is this? News articles? Less than 500 word stories? What? I do not get it? Yes those are all the things that went through my head and I put it down and went to go find a sweaty sex story. Go figure, I can be shallow. What this really means is that I have be in the mood for a story written in epistolary format (see English teacher I did learn something in all those years of school. Maybe next I will conquer the comma or ending sentences in preposition, but I digress.)
So this book has become all the rage again at GR and I thought I would give it another go for a challenge. I ate it like a hungry bear. It is smart, fast paced and had just the right bite that works for me. I cannot emphasize how smart the writing is. It is quick, so quick and packs a punch. You cannot help fall in love with Travis and his crazy quest. You cannot help fall in love with Craig and his anarchist ways. Then on top of it, both of them are surrounded by some of the best secondary characters I have read.
I am glad I own this as I will read it again.
With all of the above, this book is not for everyone. There is a ton of baseball references and comparisons (Travis and his students had me rolling on the floor) that will not make everyone laugh like they did for me. This story is also like a speeding train. That does not always work. And to finish up, it is in epistolary form (look at me go!) and not everyone feels home with this format. HOWEVER, I highly recommend this story and everyone should give it a go. Give Travis and Craig a chance to share their story with you.
Currently reading
