book reviews | The Reader's Room

Oct 16

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
Published in: 2014
Reviewed by: Jen
Rating: 4 stars
Find it/buy it here: The Bone Clocks

I should start off by disclosing that David Mitchell is my author crush and I spent a good 10 minutes just staring at the cover photo before even opening the book. Cloud Atlas is perhaps one of my all time favorite novels and I love how he views his individual books as being parts of a larger work. As a reviewer from the New Yorker so aptly stated, “each of his novels are porcelain babushkas hiding inside Mitchell’s meta-Russian-nesting-doll oeuvre.” Read more

Oct 11

7 Comments

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

I’m not too brave when it comes to reading scary books. I do like non-gory horror movies but there’s something about reading vs. watching that makes me more sensitive to scary content. This year, with our Halloween challenge, I decided to join in and participate with our readers (although I’m obviously not entering for the prize). Each week for the month of October we will be reading books that fit a specific theme. Tomorrow we announce our winner of the weekly raffle and our next weekly theme. Join in if you haven’t already.

Last week our theme was “dead things.” I picked The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. See what I thought about it. Was I able to sleep through the night? Read more

Oct 9

3 Comments

The Buried Giant by Ishiguro

A while back I made a prediction that The Buried Giant would make the Man Booker Longlist. This was based primarily on the buzz surrounding the book because I hadn’t yet read it. Did my opinion change after I read the book? Read the review to find out. Read more

Oct 1

11 Comments

Love it or Hate it? The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt

Have you ever noticed how some books seem to drive a wedge between people? You check the reviews and find almost no middle-of-the-road ratings. Instead people either seem to love it or hate it. Welcome to the Love it or Hate it post! Each month, we’ll pick one book to review and two contributors will battle it out to convince you to pick it up or throw it out. Last month we discussed Freedom by Jonathan Franzen. The “Love its” killed it taking over 70% of the vote. Many thanks to our reviewers for their awesome reviews. Michelle was our Love it Reviewer and Lynsey was our Hate it Reviewer.

This month’s selection is also on Boxall’s 1001 List of Books to Read Before you Die and its author is often cited as someone that people either love or hate: The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt. Read the reviews and let us know whether you love it or hate it. Read more

Sep 8

10 Comments

2015 Man Booker Longlist: The Fishermen

We have officially moved into the second half of the long list with this next review. Thus far, we’ve only had two real standouts: A Little Life (reviewed by Jen) and The Illuminations (reviewed by Book Worm). Find out if this next one makes the cut. Read more

Sep 2

12 Comments

Two Years Eight Months and Twenty Eight Nights by Salman Rusdie

Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights by Salman Rusdie
Release Date: September 8 U.S and September 10 in U.K
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by: Jen
Pre-order your copy here: Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights: A Novel

Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this book from netgalley (and Random House) in exchange for an honest review.

There is no question that Rushdie is a great story teller and his latest endeavor is no exception. One of the things that I love about his books is that they can be read on multiple levels. On the surface, they are entertaining stories that can be read for the sole enjoyment of the weird, wacky, and intelligently humorous ride. Yet, on a deeper level, his books are filled with symbolism, allusions, and often complicated philosophical questions that lead to a richer and more interesting reading experience. Read more

Sep 1

8 Comments

Love it or Hate it? Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

Have you ever noticed how some books seem to drive a wedge between people? You check the reviews and find almost no middle-of-the-road ratings. Instead people either seem to love it or hate it. Welcome to the Love it or Hate it post! Each month, we’ll pick one book to review and two contributors will battle it out to convince you to pick it up or throw it out. Last month we discussed American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. The results were close with the “Love its” taking 61%. Many thanks to our reviewers. Nicole D. was our Love it Reviewer and Sashinka was our Hate it Reviewer.

This month’s selection is also on Boxall’s 1001 List of Books to Read Before you Die and Jonathan Franzen, the often controversial author, is out with a new book today! So the question is… do you Love it or Hate it? Continue reading to find see our two reviews. Make sure to vote in our poll at the bottom of the post even if you haven’t read it. Read more

Aug 26

14 Comments

2015 Man Booker Longlist: A Little Life by Yanagihara

Book Worm is breezing through the Longlist books and will have more reviews to come soon. Next up is a book I recently finished: A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. Keep reading to find out what I thought and where it ranks among the 2015 longlist books we have read thus far. Read more

Aug 5

4 Comments

Book vs Movie: Blade Runner vs Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Welcome to our new recurring post: Book vs. movie! Unlike our other recurring themes, this won’t be scheduled for a set date but rather will be posted when the inspiration strikes. We’re book lovers so chances are we’ll be biased toward the books, but there are several cases we can think off when we’ve preferred the movie to the book. I’ll start us off with our first battle pairing. We hope you chime in with your thoughts!

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Published: 2007
Awards:Pulitzer Prize for fiction (2008)
Reviewed by Jen and Book Worm
Find it here: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

We recently featured this book on our Love it or Hate it post and since neither of us had read it. We both felt that we should review it and weigh in on the debate with our opinions. Check out whether we loved or hated this book. Read more