JOHN DIES AT THE END (David Wong) - August 31/12

I don't know, I'm a little conflicted about this one. I enjoyed parts of the book, but it's just way, way, WAY too long. It's broken up into two books and the second half just seems to go on forever. Wong is also not that great with the descriptive stuff, and I found myself kind of glazing over the more action-packed sections of the story. The wacky banter between the two protagonists is okay at times, but it's also a little too wacky and silly. (There's no way they'd ALWAYS be that lighthearted, considering some of the stuff they're up against.) So yeah, if it had been a third the length - ie if it had ended after the end of the first book - I probably would've liked this a lot more. **1/2 out of ****

TOP OF THE ROCK (Warren Littlefield with T.R. Pearson) - August 30/12

Breezed through this one in two days. It's an oral history of NBCs "Must See TV" period and it generally gets the job done. It's a little too superficial at times and I was hoping certain things would've been fleshed out (eg the decision to spinoff Joey and the show's subsequent failure), but on the whole it's an entertaining, intriguing read. (Littlefield sporadically comes off a little robotic, however.) *** out of ****

WHERE WE BELONG (Emily Giffin) - August 24/12

Alright, I probably enjoyed this way more than I should have. This is the kind of book I hate myself for enjoying, but Giffin does such a good job of establishing the characters and the inherently compelling situation that I couldn't help but be engrossed by much of the book. There's a bit of padding in the middle that's somewhat disappointing - eg Kirby's exploits with her dress-stealing friend, Marian's work stuff, etc - but this is otherwise an incredibly breezy and entertaining read. (And I even got a little choked up a few times!) *** out of ****

THE CONFESSION (John Grisham) - August 21/12

This entertaining yet absurdly overlong novel certainly held my interest, but the book just contains too many stretches that feel needless/extraneous. The stuff involving the real killer and the minister he confesses to is great, as is everything involving the convicted guy's tenacious lawyer. But then there's stuff involving the town's reaction, the dead girl's mother's reaction, the reaction of a periphery judge, etc, etc. It also doesn't help that Grisham is CLEARLY anti death penalty and he drowns the book in facts and statistics designed to further his agenda. Still, it's basically a compelling read; I just wish it had been half the length. **1/2 out of ****

THE NECKLACE AND OTHER TALES (Guy de Maupassant) - August 20/12

I picked this up because I wanted to read three of the short stories, as they were used in an Ophuls movie, but enjoyed them enough that I read the rest. There's a real hit-and-miss vibe here, as some stories (The Necklace, for one) are quite entertaining while others (The Tellier House) are overlong and kind of pointless. Still, the stories are, generally speaking, pretty interesting and surprisingly modern. **1/2 out of ****

TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES (Thomas Hardy) - August 14/12

Hooray! I finally finished it! I started reading this months ago and have started and finished a bunch of other books in the meantime, just because I could only stand to read this thing for about 50 pages at a time. The story is fine, it's very melodramatic and modern, but Hardy bogs the narrative down with flowery language and a relentless series of descriptions of things I couldn't possibly care less about. Pages and pages devoted to different farm techniques and threshers and whatever else. Chop 200 or 300 pages out of this thing and you might have something. (It's worth noting, too, that he writes Tess' rape so subtly that I didn't even realize it had happened, and had to check Wikipedia to see what was going on.) ** out of ****

THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER (Stephen Chbosky) - August 12/12

This was actually my second time reading this book, though I don't remember enjoying the book quite this much. (I started it two days ago and finished it this morning, in preparation for the movie tomorrow morning.) Charlie is just a fabulous, vivid protagonist and it's impossible not to relate to him in some small way. His friendships with Sam and Patrick are endearing and the revelation that he was molested by his beloved aunt is devastating. By the time the uplifting final few pages came around, I was in tears. It's just a really good, really honest little book. **** out of ****

LET'S PRETEND THIS NEVER HAPPENED (Jenny Lawson) - August 7/12

I was really enjoying this at first, since Lawson employs a very brisk pace and peppers her stories with laugh-out-loud funny tidbits. But as the book progresses, it does become harder and harder to ignore the feeling that Lawson is rambling for the sake of rambling (and padding). Her quirkiness inevitably progresses from endearing to obnoxious and it's impossible not to wish that she'd just tone it down a bit (ie nobody is this off-kilter all the time!) So yeah, this might've been okay in short, blog-sized bursts, but as a book it's just too much. ** out of ****