Title: Fight Club
Author: Chuck Palahniuk
Year of Publication: 1996
Genre: Um...Psychological, maybe?
Pages: 208
First Line: "Tyler gets me a job as a waiter, after that Tyler's pushing a gun in my mouth and saying, the first step to eternal life is you have to die."
Summary: An underground classic since its first publictation in 1996, Fight Club is now recognized as one of the most original and provocative novels published in this decade. Chuck Palahniuk's darkly funny first novel tells the story of a godforsaken young man who discovers that his rage at living in a world filled with failure and lies cannot be pacified by an empty consumer culture. Relief for him and his disenfranchised peers comes in the form of secret after-hours boxing matches held in teh basements of bars. Fight Club is the brainchild of Tyler Durden, who thinks he has found a way for himself an dhis friends to live beyond their confining and stultifying lives. But in Tyler's world there are no rules, no limits, no breaks.
(Source: Back of book)
Review: I had been meaning to read this book for a long time and then someone recommended it to me, so I finally picked it up at the library. Though the writing style was interesting, I'm not entirely sure I liked it. It was certainly original, though. Personally, I'm a fan of dialogue, and there wasn't a whole lot of real dialogue in this book. The plot was also interesting, but somehow not very "plotty." It sounded more like real life, without a central problem, if that makes any sense. The book inspired quite a bit of thinking and wondering. Though the summary proclaims the book as darkly humorous, I didn't see the humor (and usually I do), so that was a bit annoying. However, this was an interesting, and I feel, necessary read. One of those books you have to read before you die just for the experience.
Worst part: I wasn't entirely clear on the ending--I know it was intended like that, but I ended up looking it up after to confirm my guess.
Best part: Everything about the book was original. And I was, having not seen the movie ever, surprised by the twist (although also sort of disappointed).
Grade: C+
Other Books by This Author: Survivor, others.
Title: Geek Magnet
Author: Kieran Scott
Year of Publication: 2008
Genre: YA
Pages: 308
First Line: "Okay, so I was dizzy with power."
Summary: Everybody loves KJ. Especially the geeks. See, KJ is supernice, smart, pretty, the stage manager of her high school's spring musical Grease...and a total geek magnet. She's like the geek Pied Piper of Washington High, drawing every socially clueless guy within a five-mile radius. If only Cameron Richardson, star of the basketball team and the hottest guy in school, would follow her around and worship her the way the entourage of dorks do. Enter Tama Gold, queen of the popular crowd, star of Grease, and solution to all of KJ's problems. She insists that KJ is too nice and that the nice girl never gets the guy. Tama is ready to help KJ get cruel, dtich the dorks, and win Cameron's heart. But is KJ?
(Source: Back of book)
Review: This has been on my To Be Read list for awhile so I picked it up the other day. It was a pretty quick read, but much more intense than I expected. There's a lot of familial drama that I hadn't been expecting. Though the cover and the summary suggests a light, chick-lit tone to it, it's a little bit darker with KJ's drunk/alcoholic father. And when the summary says "cruel," it's not exaggerating--she's really mean to these kids. Throughout the book, she continuously whined about "why me" and "my life is so awful" and stuff and she really just wasn't likable. Also, letting Tama help her out wasn't so smart, seeing as how Tama's relationship with her boyfriend is obviously a horrendous one. Despite my bashing of this book, I wouldn't not recommend it. If someone were to pick it up and asked me if they should read it, I'd say, 'sure,' but only if they're a fast reader, because it's not worth that much time.
Worst part: KJ was a really unlikable character.
Best part: I liked the geeks, despite how some of them were, in all fairness, waaaaaay too pushy and invasive with KJ.
Grade: C
Other Books by This Author: I was a Non-Blonde Cheerleader, Brunettes Strike Back, others.
Estimate of Books Read This Year: 20