Lisey's Story

Author: Stephen King

I haven't read much Stephen King, and I'm not sure why. His works that I have read have been really, really good: Different Season, Dolores Claiborne. Lisey's Story continues this streak of very good-ness.

One of the reasons I like it so much is that it persuades me to suspend my disbelief so easily. Although it begins, seemingly, in this universe and only later progresses into fantasyland, at no point did I hesitate to follow said progression.

If I had any complaint about the book, it would be about the characters. They're all right, but I find them a bit colorless. And this despite the fact that King said he was "a fool for Lisey; I kind of fell in love with her," in this interview. Odd.

Haunted

Author: Chuck Palahniuk

After Rant, this was rather disappointing. And disgusting. Palahniuk has a penchant for the really gross and disturbing, which works pretty well as part of a story. When it forms the basis of an entire book, it's kind of wearing.

I'd try to explain the plot, but it's really just easier to point you to the Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haunted_(novel).

The Known World

Author: Edward P. Jones

I decided not to give this book a star rating because I just could not get through it. It follows a bunch of characters who are connected to each other in various ways through the pre-civil war era, with an emphasis on exploring the relationships that arise in the institution of slavery.

It's also narrated in a very nonlinear fashion, with the author throwing random spoilers out there, like, "She would indeed see her sister again, twenty years later, in New York." (Not an actual quote from the book, as I got rid of it.) At first, you think Jones is going to explore these little asides, but he doesn't.

So, I read about a third of it. Nothing really happens, nothing seems to be in the works for happening, and I was just really, really bored.