Saturday 26 April 2014

A to Z ~ War of the Worlds, the (+ Cephalopod & Goals)




This year my A to Z theme harks back to 2012's theme, in which I listed an A-to-Z of books from my GoodReads "TBR" shelf. This year I want to revisit that list and report on which ones I've read, and what rating I gave them. Where the book hasn't been read, I'll mention other books starting with that letter I have read since 2012. ;)

"W" ... THE WAR OF THE WORLDS
Status: Read

Brief Review: It took me a long time to read this, but I loved the book. I saw the Tom Cruise movie when it came out, and remember enjoying it (though can't really remember much of it now), but I remember someone commenting that they'd like to see a new version that is set in the era the book was written in, rather than a modern-day take. This thought occurred to me as well while reading the book. In the book, there aren't many cars around, and most people ride bicycles. There aren't modern-era weapons of war that humans can bring to bear on the invading aliens, so there are a lot of slaughters. I think a movie set in the era of the book could have such great potential to be awesome. Anyway, this was the first and is still the only H.G. Wells work I've read, and I definitely want to read more. >> Full review


Some of my favourite "W" books read:

Witches of Santa Anna, the (#1-7) - Lauren Barnholdt. 4 stars.

Wicked Games (#1) - Jessica Clare. 4 stars.
What a Boy Wants (#1) - Nyrae Dawn. 4 stars.

Some "W" books still on my TBR:

World After - Susan Ee.
World According to Garp, the - John Irving.
White Oleander - Janet Fitch.
Watership Down - Richard Adams.




As it's the last Friday of the month, I'm here to post for the Do You Have Goals? hop (hosted by Misha and Beth), as well as the Cephalopod Coffeehouse Book Club (hosted by the Armchair Squid).

This month my favourite read was definitely The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

These days it seems to take a lot for me to give a book 5 stars, and it also takes a lot for a book to bring tears to my eyes. This book achieved both feats! I have not one complaint about this book, no little thing to criticise, so I guess that says a lot. I also found it pretty amazing that I could be reading about the finer details of a teenaged cancer patient dying one minute and then bursting into stunned laughter the next - this book is FUNNY.

I just loved both Hazel and Augustus - they are my kind of people! Their senses of humour were brilliant, and I loved their banter. Of course, their story is heartbreaking, but they sure did live life to the fullest when with each other. I also love their interactions with Isaac, like the Hazel-Isaac scene where they're playing the video game. That part had me laughing out loud.

Isaac's eulogy for Augustus, read out in the "literal heart of Jesus", was brilliant. And I love that Hazel spouted all that "bullshit" at the funeral, knowing the funeral was really for the living and not the dead.


Last month, I reported that I was making progress, but that it was very slow going. The same can be said this month, and I have to admit I've made very little progress. Last month I was up to chapter 8, or rather I was stuck on chapter 8. This month I'm up to chapter 13, which I guess is progress ... but there are more nights when I do nothing than nights when I do anything. It's a much harder slog than I ever anticipated. As usual, I blame this "edit the chapter until I'm happy with it" method. ;)

Next month is May, and my last month before BuNoWriMo starts. During BuNo this year, I want to work on finishing off some unfinished novels that are lingering. I really hope to make better progress with this novel revision by May's end. Even though I was meant to be moving on to editing SMALL TOWN by now. Oh well, I guess I'll see how I go during May!

I hope you're all doing well with your goals. :)

19 comments:

  1. I never read War of the Worlds but I did see the old movie (from the 50s I think). I also read The World According to Garp and Watership Down, both 5 star books imo.

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  2. It's a good story. Have you seen the 1950's version of the movie? Still holds up well.

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  3. I haven't read War of the Worlds, but I do like the movie with Tom Cruise. I enjoy reading books about witches so I'm going to have to check out The Witches of Santa Anna.

    I read The Fault in Our Stars last month and LOVED IT!!!!

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  4. I've heard good things about The Fault in Our Stars but we just had a close friend lose their teenage son to cancer so I can't bring myself to read it.

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  5. World According to Garp...great book, though I liked a Prayer for Owen Meanie better.

    This is my first month doing the goal thing...we shall see how I do!

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  6. Watership Down. What a great book. I've read it a couple times, but the first time was in sixth grade. I'd just moved to a new town and a very small private school and the kids in my class wanted to know what the book was about. So I told them the story, and they started calling me Hazel-Rah and each student took a rabbit name, and we would play Watership Down at recess. And at the end of the year the school suggested I enroll elsewhere because I was apparently a distraction and possibly a bad influence. Sigh.

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  7. I haven't read War of the Worlds or The Fault in Our Stars, but I do own both books - the curse of being a reader with a to-do list. And you totally gave a HUGE spoiler up there, LOL!! But that's okay because I already know... :)

    Are you kidding me? Chapter 8 to Chapter 13 is big progress! YAY!!!

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    1. Ooops, re: the spoiler. :P But I didn't name names. And if you just look at quotes on the book cover and back, you should know SOMEONE is gonna die.

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  8. I have a cassette tape of The War of the Worlds from 1982, along with a book on cassette of The Time Machine. I constantly played The Time Machine, but for some reason never played The War of the Worlds till I was in my early teens. The ending is so powerful, and now eerily pertinent, as we're seeing diseases that were almost vanquished just a short while ago making comebacks thanks to vaccine-denialists.

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  9. I love The Fault in our Stars. Brilliant book. I'll check out the other W books.

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  10. What A Boy Wants by Nyrae Dawn is one of my favourite books! :D

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  11. Okay, that's it. I'm reading The Fault in Our Stars next. It's on my TBR list, but I've been so backed up with other novels, I have put it off.

    What is BuNoWriMo? I'm going to look that up.

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    1. Haha, Stephanie, I'm doing the same thing.

      At the beginning of the month I learned there was this NaNoWriMo-like project called Speedbo, and now there's BuNoWriMo in June. Obviously I've been living under a rock.

      Chapter 8 --> Chapter 13. This sure looks like progress. Don't be so hard on yourself, Trisha!

      I'm currently writing, writing, and I know what you mean. I try to not stop for editing unless it completely grinds the plot to a stop.

      Now go kick May's butt! xD

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  12. Progress is progress :)

    I just listened to the musical of War of the Worlds. Think it was made in the 70s. Of all the productions, I love that version the best. I have not actually read the book though. I do have a copy on my kindle so that will be my next task.

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  13. I've made very little progress this month too. More than last month's none though. Good luck.

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  14. My progress today was to delete the sentence I wrote- ha ha!. Oh well, it happens. I know what I want to write about I just need to get started with it.

    Good luck with your edits! Cheers!

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    1. Well, that was some sort of progress! Well done. :)

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  15. I loved The Fault in Our Stars.

    I haven't read any of these W books yet.

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  16. Sounds like you enjoyed War of the Worlds more than I did. On your TBR list, Garp was a big book for me - brought me back to pleasure reading after college.

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Thanks for your words, me hearties! and don't forget to leave a link to your blog somewhere I can find it!