Category: Gen Lit

Book Challenges, Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Gen Lit, Literary Criticism, Reading, Reading Challenges

2011 Gothic Reading Challenge

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on 2011 Gothic Reading Challenge

I have decided to add one more challenge this year, and only because I am an absolute Gothic Fiction fan…..I couldn’t resist. The challenge is being hosted by gothicreadingchallenge.blogspot.com.

Here is the info about their challenge which I listed below. Here is a list of classic Gothic elements and the list of books which are being used for the challenge.

I have read lots of these books already but since many are classics which I love and therefore I don’t mind reading them again and again…..that’s the beauty of classics…..I can read them over and over again but get something new out of them every time!

Check out the challenge and be sure to follow my progress as I will be posting my responses in my blog!

Here is the challenge info again or just check out the site here:

January 1 – December 31 2011

There is nothing better than a great Gothic read – crumbling old castles, mysterious legends, shadowy characters, supernatural beings and unexplainable events, make for some of the most haunting and captivating reading imaginable.

There are four levels of participation to choose from:

  • A Little Madness – Read just 1 novel with Gothic elements.
  • The Darkness Within – Read 5 novels with Gothic elements.
  • A Maniacal Frenzy – Read 10 novels with Gothic elements.
  • Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know – Read 20 novels with Gothic elements

For this challenge, I’m going for five books- The Darkness Within

I’ll be reading:

  • Wuthering Heights by Charlotte Bronte or Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
  • Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
  • Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
  • The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
  • The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
  • And if I get really ambitious……I might even read The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

Click here to join me if you’re interested!

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Gen Lit, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Wetlands by Charlotte Roche

by The Lit Bitch1 Comment on Review: Wetlands by Charlotte Roche

I don’t even really know where to start with the review of the last novel I read, sometimes there are just no words to describe things and this is one of those times.

The novel Wetlands by Charlotte Roche was mentioned in Literature Monthly Magazine as a ‘top ten novels out of the mainstream’ and since I recently read Rooftop Soliloquy based on their recommendation I thought I would read Wetlands.

The novel was hugely popular in Germany and seems to have gained more attention in the literary world since it’s recent translation from German to English–though don’t ask me why.

I have to say, I have a pretty bad mouth and like to think of myself as fairly tolerant and as  ‘life experienced’…an open minded person and this book—-trumps any like of foul mouthed expression I could EVER think of. I mean, this book should have come with a disclaimer!

I mean it was raunchy–and when I say something is raunchy—its RAUNCHY! This book was SO bad as far as crude humor and smut I can possibly think of. Not many books should be considered XXX rated but this was defiantly one of them—this is like WELL above rated R and even NC-17. Not just based on sexual content, but the unsanitary nature of the character.

Continue reading “Review: Wetlands by Charlotte Roche” →

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Review: How it Ends by Laura Wiess

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: How it Ends by Laura Wiess

I was pleasantly surprised by this book, How it Ends by Laura Weiss. It is one of those that just captures you right away. It is a quick read and Weiss does a great job making interesting characters that readers can relate to.

I would classify the novel as having a split personality disorder meaning it could be classified as a Young Adult (YA) and adult book as one main character is a high school student and the other is an older woman.

Hanna (the high school character) is really engaging and captures the essence of a young teen struggling with the heart break of her first love. Every girl goes through that rude awaking moment when they realize their life isn’t going to turn out like a Walt Disney movie and Hanna does a great job of conveying those feelings of disappointment.

Her boyfriend, Seth, is such an asshole though that it’s hard to understand Hanna’s ‘love’ for him at some points, it made it more difficult to like him but at the same time, Hanna did a great job reminding the reader what attracts girls to guys like Seth in the first place at that age–at any rate Seth as a total loser and Hanna just can’t stay away from him.

One of the things Seth points out to Hanna is that she reads too much and lives her life in fiction. Everyone has a story (in most cases STRANGER than fiction) and some times it’s so easy to get lost in someone else’s reality. Being an avid reader I can sympathize with Hanna, it is sometimes hard to see the line between fiction and reality. Continue reading “Review: How it Ends by Laura Wiess” →

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Review: Pride Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame Smith

by The Lit Bitch3 Comments on Review: Pride Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame Smith

The satirical novel by Seth Grahame-Smith and of course Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, has been gaining a very large cult following of readers. I was very hesitant to read this novel as I worried the zombies element would somehow desecrate the timeless tale.

I have read many other PP spinoffs over the years and often found myself disappointed. I had to go into this book with an open mind and know that it would NEVER be the same as the original and was really meant to be something more light-hearted and funny rather than a serious novel.

There has lately been a huge resurgence in the interest of zombies (like so many other supernatural characters)—I have enjoyed many hours of the Plants vs. Zombies video game and confess hearing the zombies chant ‘brains’ and growl is nothing short of hysterical. So in essence I was intrigued and decided to pick up the book and being with an open mind and was pleasantly surprised by the entire tale. Continue reading “Review: Pride Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame Smith” →

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Review: Rooftop Soliloquy by Roman Payne

by The Lit Bitch4 Comments on Review: Rooftop Soliloquy by Roman Payne

I just finished reading Roman Payne’s novel Rooftop Soliloquy and I have to say I had great expectations for this book. Payne was selected by Literature Monthly Magazine as one of the top five up and coming- out of the mainstream- authors and his new book RS sounded really interesting.

As some of you might have guessed, I have a flair for the eccentric so this sounded right up my alley and I looked forward to reading it. The opening sentence of the book  made me really want to read it as it sounded intriguing and tantalizing.

As I began the book I was transported back to various locations in Paris that I had the pleasure of visiting this summer. The story reads in a very poetic and lyrical manner, it’s like reading an epic poem like Beowulf or something by Homer. The ‘chapters’ are actually called a soliloquy in stead which I thought was a great little detail which really made the novel authentic. It’s about a writer/composer who is working on a hero’s tale while living in Paris and searching for his muse.

Linguistically and mechanically, the novel is flawless and beautiful- very pleasurable to read. However the story itself, characters, and over-all point of the novel left much to be desired. Continue reading “Review: Rooftop Soliloquy by Roman Payne” →