Book Review Times Two

This month   last week, I read two books.

 

 

I'm also currently reading Middlemarch (but it's very long and very detailed and very tedious and very slow).  So I needed a quick read and a break from the other.

 

First, I grabbed Labor Day.  Labor Day is one of the books I wanted to read because I like to read books before I see the movie made from a book.  I also chose this one from my stack because it looked short.  And, it was.  I finished it in just a few hours.  Yes, I'm a fast reader, but really, the book wasn't very long.

 

It wasn't a heavy book, it took place all in the space of one weekend, and then a little follow-up tossed on to the end.  Based on the picture on the cover, I knew from the very beginning what would happen by the end of the book.  It wasn't hard to figure out - there wasn't a lot of puzzlement between the lines.  The characters were both strange and interesting.  You can't REALLY get to know a character from reading about their lives in ONE weekend... or at least in this book I couldn't, but the characters only went so deep anyway.  Things were both not believeable and also somewhat predictable.  It was a bit depressing even though it had a happy ending, everything tied up very neatly in a bow at the end.  Anyway - give it a read, the time won't cost you much.  It's an entertaining story for the most part.  See the movie too - I'm sure it will match the book, sounds easy to produce in movie form - haven't seen it yet.  All in all, I'd give it a 3 out of 5.

 

Then, I moved onto Divergent.  I used to read everything in the young adult section so I'd keep up with things that kids liked, but as my kids have gotten older, I've backed off from the young adult world.  This book for me falls into the post-apocalyptic genre.  It's the first of a trilogy.  It's science fiction-ish but the characters are just regular people, no aliens or anything.  From the first page I knew I would be fully entertained.  Again, it's not terribly deep and complex, but I don't always require that of a book.  Sometimes I just want it to take me on an adventure and this book did.  I more than half of it in one night when my lower back was hurting and I couldn't sit up to watch the olympics, so I reclined and read.  The next morning I read the rest of the book.  This book will be a movie in March.  In fact, I saw the trailer and it made me want to read it before I saw the movie.  I'm always interested to see how an author pictures our world when it has been decimated by war and people are trying to survive in a new sort of world.  The entire world of this book takes place in what was the city of Chicago...but there are two more books in the trilogy (already out - yes, I'll be reading book #2 as soon as I get it).  I enjoyed this book and I cannot wait to see how they depict all that is described in the movie.  It could be quite visually stunning and definitely one to see on the big screen.

 

As for Labor Day - the movie, wait til you can get it free on cable or netflix, no need to see that one on the big screen.

 

Did you read either of these books?  If so, let me know what you thought of them. 

 

This book review is part of "The Year of Books."  I am participating in these reviews over at Circle of Pine Trees blog.  Feel free to join in (button on right of my blog, take you there in one click).

 

BY THE WAY - Kate Winslet happens to have a role in both films, and no, I didn't know that when I picked up the books!