Title: The Forgotten Soldier

Author: Guy Sajer

Quick Synopsis: This is not what some might confuse with the unknown soldier at first glance, this is a very real and identifiable man's account as a German soldier on the savage Eastern front of World War 2. This book follows him as  a 17 year old in the transport corps and then as a Corporal in an elite German infantry unit. It has every emotion imaginable - love, hate, passion, fear, anger, etc. It is by no means an easy read, it is a sad book filled with tragedies and even more tragic when you remind yourself that it is a true story.

What was right with it? The language used. Engages the reader. Emotional.

What was wrong with it? Some people might be disgusted by the real and graphic detail

Marks: 10/10

Recommended Age: 16+

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Punctured bicycle on a hillside, desolate,
Could nature make a man of me yet?

Book Title: My Horizontal Life
Book Author: Chelsea Handler
Genre: Comedy, Sex, Biography
Quick Synopsis: Basically it is a series of short ( 4-5 page) essays about Comedian Chelsea Handler's "series of one night stands". A lot of times drunk, and never ordinary.
What was right with it?: It was laugh out loud funny. Her sense of humor is hilarious and she is someone I wish I could be best friends with.
What was wrong with it?: Nothing. If you are in the mood for something intellectual, or are easily offended by sex, drugs, etc. it is probably not for you.
Marks:  10 out of 10
Recommended Age Of Reader: 16 +
Reviewed By: BackPorch

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=)Stephanie

Book Title: More Than It Hurts You

Book Author: Darin Strauss

Genre: fiction

Quick Synopsis: When Mr Goldin learns that his baby is sick at the hospital, he flashes back to when his son was born and remembers thinking about if he would be able to live without his son.  

When his wife starts telling the hospital of all their wrong doings, the doctor on her son's case starts to get suspicious of the mother and her baby that seems to have random bouts of anemia.  

This book follows the Mr and Mrs Goldin, the doctor that files the complaint of abuse, and the doctors father. The main subject is supposed to be Munchhausen by proxy but it is talked about for only a couple of pages.  

What was right with it?: It keeps you on the edge of wanting to know if the mother gets caught hurting her baby, or if she confesses her wrong doings.

What was wrong with it?: I thought it was going to be a really complex book abuout Munchhausen by proxy and about trying to find the mother guilty. It was not about that as much as it was about the dad and how he felt about his baby being sick, and about the father of the doctor being a felon.  
Marks: 4 out of 10
Recommended Age Of Reader: Anyone really. It is a really easy book, just kind of long. I really dont think I would recommend it at all.

Reviewed By: greeneyedone

Post edited at 11:00 am on Dec. 27, 2008 by greeneyedone

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Choke
Chuck Palahnuik
Fiction, erotic

I had high expectations about reading this book. To be honest it didnt live up to them. I enjoyed Palahnuik's unique style of writing which hooks the reader and kept me reading. But the entire time through the book right up until the third last page you were still trying to 'get into it', it felt like it was building up for the start of the story the whole time, you were getting ready for a climax and feeling the story hadnt started properly. It did climax superbly at the end of the books. But finishing the book it felt very raw, not polished an smooth. I think it wasnt finished, I think the plot should have been made to run smoother, it just jumped around a lot. That said it was a good book, and his writing style kept you reading.

What was right with it? Writing style, completely different kind of story.

What was wrong with it? Jumped around a lot.

8/10

Recommended Age: 17+
Reviewed by: Joe

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Punctured bicycle on a hillside, desolate,
Could nature make a man of me yet?

Robinson Crusoe
Daniel Defoe
Adventure

This was a fabulous book. It isnt nearly so much about a man being marooned on an island, but more of a man's personal and growing relationship with the Lord. It is incredibly well written. The characters, plot and setting is sharp. You learn as much about the historical time and you do immersing yourself in the story of this man. Defoe based his novel on a true story.

What was right with it? Everything.
What was wrong with it? Slow to get into.

10/10

17+

Joe

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Punctured bicycle on a hillside, desolate,
Could nature make a man of me yet?

Sunstroke
Jesse Kellerman
Adventure

This is about a young woman who is bored with her life. She loves her boos who she thought she knew until he disappears and the story of his past unravels as she tries to find him deep in rural Mexico...

This was well written, no doubt. But it was a very boring story. Two thirds of the way through I got bored and irritated by the main character. She completely ruined the end of the story for me with her own stupidity, which I only finished for the sake of finishing it.

What was right with it? Well developed characters. Well written.
What was wrong with it? Shit plot.

4/10

14+

Joe

Post edited at 4:02 pm on Jan. 14, 2009 by ElephantStone

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Punctured bicycle on a hillside, desolate,
Could nature make a man of me yet?

Book Author: George Orwell

Quick Synopsis: Hidden away in the Record Department of the sprawling Ministry of Truth, Winston Smith, a middle aged and unhealthy man, skilfully rewrites the past to suit the needs of the party. Yet inwardly he rebels against the totalitarian world he lives in, which demands absolute obedience and controls him through the all seeing telescreens and the watchful eye of Big Brother, symbolic head of the party, who is brainwashing people into loving Big Brother and accepting the parties regime. In his longing for truth and libery, Smith begins a secret love affair with a fellow worker Julia, but soon discovers the true price of freedom is betrayal.

What was right with it?: Everything, it is a fantastic book. This book is very cleverly written as it was written just two years after world war 2. It has even been misinterpreted as an attack on socialism but Orwell himself had occasion to refute such claims, both privately and in public book has also been labelled as book of the twentieth century.  
1984 also gave channel 4 the idea to create the show Big Brother.

What is wrong with it?: There is not much wrong with the book that i could find. However some parts of the book may be difficult for younger readers

Marks: 10 of 10

Recommended Age: 14+, as i said some parts of the book may be too difficult for younger readers to understand.

Post edited at 10:29 am on Feb. 23, 2009 by Ziggy Stardust

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2+2=5

Book Title:The Iliad

Author: Homer (Translated by Martin Hammond)

Genre:Tragedy

Quick Synopsis: This is the last few days of the 10 year siege of Troy. It is a tale that encompasses passion, trust, love, hate, betrayal, fury, angst, horroy and beauty all in one. The characters are highly believable and detailed. The romantic fatalism of Achilleus and dashing bravery of Hektor captivate the reader as they know Hektor will fall to Achelleus' blade due to Achilleus' broken heart and uncontrollable anger, who himself is doomed to fate - and he knows it.

What was right with it: Absolutely everything.

What was wrong with it:The long way of explaining things and constant paragraphs about someone's lineage. But then the Greek's liked that.

Marks: 10/10

Recommended Age: 18+, but really it depends on what translation you buy and whether you read the notes at the beginning of the books to explain the story and who's who.

Post edited at 2:36 pm on Feb. 23, 2009 by ElephantStone

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Punctured bicycle on a hillside, desolate,
Could nature make a man of me yet?

Book Author: Bram Stoker

Genre: Horror & Adventure

Quick Synopsis:
Jonathan Harker heads for Transylvania to Count Dracula's castle, whom he's to assist in business matters concerning moving to London. It turns out the Count is a diabolical monster that has grown bored with his secluded life and means to hit the town, where he will weave his evil schemes.

What was right with it?
It's suspenseful and attention-gripping (especially the first half, roughly speaking). I liked the way the narration is constructed - it's made entirely out of diaries and letters (epistolary novel). It allows the reader to share, for some time, the characters' ignorance on the identity of the villain of the story - even though it's easy to guess from our point of view. The fact that the characters are unaware of the real danger greatly contributes to the suspense. The book also has decent imagery and an enjoyable complexity of the plot.

What was wrong with it?
Said complexity, however, same as the suspense, mainly shows in the first half of the novel. Once the characters learn who their enemy is, the events become more predictable and the narration narrows. Another thing is that the characters would use more psychology and differentiation; generally speaking, the good guys are crystal clear and the bad ones are downright evil (it's less exaggerated in the latter case, in fact). What's more, this sometimes leads to pompousness.

Comments
The book is still a very good entertainment. It even managed to scare me a bit once or twice, which is a lot if you take how books usually affect me. They make me think, but they rarely evoke emotions. This one did.

Marks: 8 out of 10. A very good read.

Recommended Age Of Reader: 14, maybe 15. It's a tad scary at times. (I really don't know what kids can and can't take these days, though.)

Reviewed By: me (duh)

Title: Human Traces

Author: Sebastian Faulks

Genre: Fiction, Bildungsroman

Quick Synopsis:
Set in the mid 1800's to early 1900's, two boys who are interested in the working of the mind have a chance meeting in France and agree to set up a clinic together to cure madness and try to understand it once they are both qualified doctors. Their journey takes them across the world with complications added by their own families, children and rivalry, not to mention with the First World War looming, and the question always hanging over their heads: is madness the price we pay for being human?

What was right with it?
Well developed characters with a knowledge of medicine posing philosophical questions and thoughts throughout the novel. It encompasses a lot of the time period and really brings to life what a marvellous time it was and the reader feels like they are there. It evokes emotions and is sad, happy, joyous and tragic throughout. Several minor twists happen throughout, and it does not have a predictable ending at all, in fact it was very hard to see how the book could end.

What was wrong with it?
Some of the concepts were difficult to follow. There were some parts I just found myself skimming through that were uninteresting and boring and lagged on far too long. The characters of the two wives were too similar and I found them to be annoying in their constant supportiveness.

Comments:
It does not require a knowledge of medicine. If anything it educates about the time period, medicine and the First World War. Well worth reading.

Marks: 9/10

Recommended Age of Reader: 16+

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Punctured bicycle on a hillside, desolate,
Could nature make a man of me yet?

Book Author: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Genre: Romance

Quick Synopsis:
The story of young Werther and his all-devouring affection for an engaged woman, Charlotte. The events are described by Werther in letters to his friend Wilhelm.

What was right with it?
The reader gets quite a rich picture of the character's psyche; the story is told in such a way that it lets you sink into it easily. And that in a number of ways: if you've been deeply in love or heartbroken, you'll feel familiar with the emotions described; if you're a nature lover, you'll quickly relate to Werther's admiration of what he sees around; finally, if you're into psychology, the story will provide you with an elaborate insight into the man's mind. I also liked the little bits dropped here and there by Goethe: observations on human nature, beautiful imagery and pretty scenes that are pleasurable to imagine, like that of Werther drawing two small boys waiting for their mother.

What was wrong with it?
From today's perspective, Werther may be viewed as an oversensitive, pretentious guy, if not simply the stereotypical emo. This opinion isn't mine, but I'm throwing it in for the sake of some objectivity, since it's a widespread view among the haters of the novel, who are numerous. What it comes down to is that Werther is the kind of character that most people find downright annoying. As for a con coming from me, I point at lack of logic in Werther's behaviour (aside being in love). At one point he's away from Charlotte, but he doesn't make the final step to break free and returns to her instead. He has deep personality and yet he allows an unrequited love to destroy his life, as if he had nothing to turn to in lieu of the object of his feelings.

Comments
I read the book some seven years ago. It moved me a lot at the time, mainly because I was such an open, quick-to-love and innocent soul at the time. Owing to the fact that I've hardened a bit and that this was the second reading, the experience this time wasn't as powerful as before, but, while writing this review, I took into account my first impression.

Marks: 8 out of 10. A very good read.

Recommended Age Of Reader: the age when you're most romantic is when you'll be able to relate to Werther the most

Reviewed By: me

Title: The Host

Author: Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy

Quick Synopsis:Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, knew about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of the man Melanie loves--Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer yearns for a man she's never met. As outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off to search for the man they both love.

What was right with it? When the exciting parts arrive, you are kept on the edge of your seat and cannot put the book down.

What was wrong with it? There are several "Dead" spots in the book, where you just have to force yourself to continue reading.

Marks: 9/10

Recommended Age: 16+

Reviewed by : Zomgimrae

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Book Title: The Sorrows of Young Werther

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I must keep an eye out for that

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Punctured bicycle on a hillside, desolate,
Could nature make a man of me yet?

Book Title: The Art of Poetry

Book Author: Aristotle

Genre: Study

Quick Synopsis: Aristotle explains what is expected of the Greek poet, making references to great poets such as Homer, and using examples.

What was right with it?: Gave a good insight into what th Ancient Greeks expected of literature. Aristotle explained everything well ad made some interesting points worth remembering about literature in general.

What was wrong with it?: Dull at times. Over complicated sometimes too.

Marks:  6/10

Recommended Age Of Reader: 17+

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Punctured bicycle on a hillside, desolate,
Could nature make a man of me yet?