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review: rooftops of tehran

book info: on sale: now copy from: public library pages: 348 review written: 21.12.17 originally published: 2009 edition read: Penguin NAL 2009 title: Rooftops of Tehran author: Mahbod Seraji In a middle-class neighborhood of Iran's sprawling capital city, 17-year-old Pasha Shahed spends the summer of 1973 on his rooftop with his best friend Ahmed, joking around one minute and asking burning questions about life the next. He also hides a secret love for his beautiful neighbor Zari, who has been betrothed since birth to another man. But the bliss of Pasha and Zari's stolen time together is shattered when Pasha unwittingly acts as a beacon for the Shah's secret police. The violent consequences awaken him to the reality of living under a powerful despot, and lead Zari to make a shocking choice... my thoughts: This book was first published in 2009 and I remember adding it to my list around that time but never actually reading it since I preferred checking out library books to ...

The Secret

Do You Read Books You Know You're Going to Hate?

This question is brought on by the publication of E.L James's Grey.

When Grey came out a short while ago (or at least, it was a short while ago when I drafted this), the internet raged. How dare E.L James try to milk this cow any farther? How dare she attempt to make readers sympathize with Christian? Etc etc.. 

(Not disagreeing/agreeing, I'm steering clear of this argument as I've never read any of the books)

And... Grey became a best-seller almost overnight. Not necessarily surprising, that.

The surprising part is that people who absolutely detested the first three books or people who knew without a doubt that they were going to hate this book.... bought Grey. Just so they could... hate on it? assure themselves it was really as bad as they thought it was and they were not missing anything? not entirely sure about the logistics...
But that got me thinking... do you ever read books you know you're going to hate? Do you waste money or time on something you are certain is going to be bad? 

This doesn't make any sense to me, and I am a total ranter! I mean, this might sound bad to people but I love writing rant reviews. Somehow, it makes hating a book a fun experience, and I'm for that (but I am never offensive to the author). I'm all for making a bad experience fun, and funny, and to just kind of... squeeze all the bad out of it. 

But I never set out to hate a book

In fact, I go so far as to avoid popular books, even the BIGGEST THINGS EVER, if I see indication in other reviews/the summary that it's not going to be my cup of tea (insta love, love triangle, douche love interest, etc) just because I really don't want to hate the book - and I don't want to waste my time/money on something I'm not likely to really enjoy.

Do some books slip through the crack? OF COURSE! Do you sometimes buy a book before you realize you might not like it and end up reading it out of guilt? It happens. And when it does, viola - ranting!

But... do you do that on purpose? 

Nitzan

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review: the elementary particles

book info: on sale: now copy from: public library pages: 263 review written: 23.5.16 originally published: 1998 ("Les particules élémentaires") edition read: Knopf, 2000, translation by Frank Wynne title: The Elementary Particles author: Michel Houellebecq The Elementary Particles part-story part-metaphysical-rants in an interesting narration from two characters, half-brothers borne of a hippie and absentee mother in the 60s: Michel and Bruno. Michel is an asexual scientist who "expresses his disgust with society by engineering one that frees mankind at last from its uncontrollable, destructive urges" and Bruno is a crass brute driven by sexual desires that lusts after his lost youth. This book follows their stories from childhood to their middle age, spinning around the past and present and major and minor characters in an intriguing narrative that had me reading every single word for fear of missing anything crucial. (quote from book summary) When I first began to...

The Woman Who Ride Like a Man by Tamora Pierce

The Woman Who Ride Like a Man by Tamora Pierce Series:   Song of the Lioness #3 Source:  Bought paperback Publisher:  Atheneum Books For Young Readers Age Genre: Young Adult Challenges: Flights of Fantasy Challenges:  Prequel-Sequel Challenges:  TBR-Cleaning my Shelves Alanna fights on... Newly knighted, Alanna of Trebond seeks adventure in the vast desert of Tortall. Captured by fierce desert dwellers, she is forced to prove herself in a dual to the death. Although she triumphs, dire challenges lie ahead. As her mysterious fate would have it, Alanna soon becomes the tribe's first female shaman, despite the desert dwellers' wariness of the foreign woman warrior. Alanna must battle to change the ancient tribal customs of the desert tribes--for their sake and for the sake of all Tortall. That's me. With everyone else clapping in the background. Once again, I find myself unimpressed with the Song of the Lioness. It's not that I dislike the books. It's just that th...

The Sweet Gum Tree by Katherine Allred

The Sweet Gum Tree by Katherine Allred Source:  bought Kindle copy Publisher: Ellora's Cave Publication Date:  May 12, 2005 Age Genre: adult (not graphic) Sweet tea, corn bread, and soup beans—everyday fare for eight-year-old Alix French, the precocious darling of a respected southern family. But nothing was ordinary about the day she met ten-year-old Nick Anderson, a boy from the wrong side of town. Armed with only a tin of bee balm and steely determination, Alix treats the raw evidence of a recent beating that mars his back, an act that changes both of their lives forever. Through childhood disasters and teenage woes they cling together as friendship turns to love. The future looks rosy until the fateful night when Frank Anderson, Nick's abusive father, is shot to death in his filthy trailer. Suddenly, Nick is gone—leaving Alix alone, confused and pregnant. For the next fifteen years she wrestles with the pain of Nick's abandonment, a bad marriage, her family and friend...

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