I only finished two books in November, my lowest total in recent memory.
1984 by George Orwell - finally got around to reading this one, and it well deserves it's status as a classic dystopian novel. Originally published in 1949 and set 35 years in the future, 1984 offers a very bleak depiction of a government controlled state were personal freedoms for the masses are nearly non-existent. In many ways, the storyline is more relevant today than in the 1940's. There are a lot of social & governmental theories presented in 1984, and at times the storyline does get bogged down in the explanation of these theories. There is a reason in high school you read Orwell's Animal Farm and not 1984. 1984 goes much more in depth into the social theories Orwell first presented in AF, and is overall a much darker story. I'm glad that I finally read 1984, and would highly recommend it those who have not. Just be prepared. Light reading it is not. 4.5 / 5
White of the Moon ed. by Stephen Jones was a anthology of mainly psychological horror stories. I piecemeal read this one over the course of about two months, and when I went back over the table of contents, I have to admit, that for better or worse, most the stories no longer rang a bell. The standouts were 'Whatever Happened to Baby June?' by Jay Russell, a noirish murder mystery set in the Hollywood fringe, 'Another Frame' by Joel Lane, probably also best described as a noirish murder mystery with an ending I definitely did not see coming, and the humorous and entertaining "You Don't Have to be Mad' by Kim Newman, set in The Avengers era world (the 1960's British TV show, not the Marvel comics) of Newman's occult detective, Richard Jeperson. 3 / 5
B
1984 by George Orwell - finally got around to reading this one, and it well deserves it's status as a classic dystopian novel. Originally published in 1949 and set 35 years in the future, 1984 offers a very bleak depiction of a government controlled state were personal freedoms for the masses are nearly non-existent. In many ways, the storyline is more relevant today than in the 1940's. There are a lot of social & governmental theories presented in 1984, and at times the storyline does get bogged down in the explanation of these theories. There is a reason in high school you read Orwell's Animal Farm and not 1984. 1984 goes much more in depth into the social theories Orwell first presented in AF, and is overall a much darker story. I'm glad that I finally read 1984, and would highly recommend it those who have not. Just be prepared. Light reading it is not. 4.5 / 5
White of the Moon ed. by Stephen Jones was a anthology of mainly psychological horror stories. I piecemeal read this one over the course of about two months, and when I went back over the table of contents, I have to admit, that for better or worse, most the stories no longer rang a bell. The standouts were 'Whatever Happened to Baby June?' by Jay Russell, a noirish murder mystery set in the Hollywood fringe, 'Another Frame' by Joel Lane, probably also best described as a noirish murder mystery with an ending I definitely did not see coming, and the humorous and entertaining "You Don't Have to be Mad' by Kim Newman, set in The Avengers era world (the 1960's British TV show, not the Marvel comics) of Newman's occult detective, Richard Jeperson. 3 / 5
B
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