BOOKS: Rate the Last Book You Read

I have absolutely no idea what this thread revolves around. But, NEVER FEAR, that's why I'm here!

So this thread is for book reviews. What was the last book you read? Was it for fun or what is required reading for school? What was the genre? Who wrote it? Was it any good? Is it a part of a series? Simply review the book, too. Tell us if you cried or laughed. Would you ever read it again? Maybe go out and buy it, officially adding it to your collection? After you've told us all you can without giving the book away, rate it. How many stars does this book deserve?

To make reviews easy to spot, I made this spiffy little code (okay so I made it in the movie thread and carried it over here)~

Anyway, review to your heart's desire! <3

[SIZE=4][FONT=zapfino][COLOR="#FF0000"]I have a review for...[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
[COLOR="#000000"][B]Name:[/B] [url=Link to Book so others can read reviews]Book Name Goes Here[/url]
[B]Author:[/B] xxx
[B]Genre:[/B] xxx
[B]Length:[/B] How many pages are there?
[B]Series:[/B] Put N/A if it's not in a series
[B]Reason for Reading:[/B] Required? For fun? Suggestion from someone?
[B]My Review:[/B] xxx
[B]Favorite Line:[/B] [QUOTE]xxx[/QUOTE]
[B]Your Rating:[/B] x/10[/COLOR]

I have a review for...
Name:The Secret Adversary (Linked to Project Gutenberg since the Wiki spoilers everything and meh!)
Author:Agatha Christie
Genre:Mystery/Spies
Length:idk, I read it on my Kobo - it was short, anyway.
Series:eeeh - I think she writes a few more with the characters, but I don't think there's a "proper" series title.
Reason for Reading: I filled my Kobo ereader up with stuff from Project Gutenberg so that I could catch up on classics and books I'd never been exposed to before. When scrolling through my unread titles, I thought it looked interesting.
My Review: Set between the first and second World War in England. An American girl is on the Lusitania as it's sinking. An English spy asks her if she's patriotic and when she says she is, he hands her secret documents and asks her to take care of them until he can find her again. If he doesn't contact her in a few days, he must have sunk with the ship and she should take the documents to the ambassador.
Fast forward to after the war. Tommy and Tuppence had been involved in the war (a soldier and a nurse, respectively) and find themselves terribly hard-up now that their jobs and funds from those jobs have dried up. Tuppence suggests they form the Young Adventurers club and take on "odd" jobs, so to speak. This comes to the attention of a man who offers her a singular job - and leads to the pair eventually becoming embroiled in a desperate spy game versus the sinister Mr. Brown.

Ultimately, it is a product of its time, and is Agatha Christie's second novel, so it's got a bit of slang and references to things of the period that might make the average person confused as well as being somewhat less polished than the work of an older author. However, it's wonderful.

I am trying to be very careful about what I say about Mr. Brown. I don't want to spoil it since the big reveal at the end (though not entirely unexpected to anyone who's read mystery) was still something of a "shocker". I found Mr. Brown genuinely menacing and clever and tremendously enjoyed every evidence of his machinations.

As for Tommy and Tuppence, I grew to adore Tommy (who is not exactly someone who either stands out or is meant to stand out) and be amused by Tuppence. There were other interesting side characters, some of whom I actually liked and hope show up in future Tommy and Tuppence stories whenever I hunt them down.
Favorite Line:

Quote:

---

"And now," said the young lady on the morning after their installation, "to work!"

Mr. Beresford put down the Daily Mail, which he was reading, and applauded with somewhat unnecessary vigour. He was politely requested by his colleague not to be an ass.

---

This whole scene was really what 'sold' me on the book. It wasn't that it was uninteresting before, but certainly after this scene, I loved Tommy (Mr. Beresford) and thought Tuppence was amusing.
Your Rating: 9/10



EDIT: The form above was borky, so I just edited my copy into some semblance of right and then edited the original post to use [noparse][/noparse] around the code to hopefully prevent it from borking for the next person.

I have a review for...

Name: "The Naked Sun"
Author: Isaac Asimov
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 208 pages
Series: N/A
Reason for Reading: Fun! And I bought it cheap!

My Review:
As a murder mystery, I’m afraid that this novel didn’t terribly impress me. The Grand Reveal did not surprise me and only confirmed my many suspicions all along. The incredibly small cast of characters meant that there really wasn’t much room for big plot twists and turns. Therefore, it wasn’t the anticipation of a pay-off at the end that kept me engaged and reading.

Asimov is a master of world-building and, more importantly, the journey. Within just a few pages (even if you have not yet the prior book in this series, like I didn’t), the audience is pulled into Baley’s life. From the love he has for his family to the passion and curiosity he has for his job to the small financial worries and dreams he carries with him, it is easy to become attached to him personally.

The relationship that Asimov builds between the Earth and the Outer Worlds is full of detail and nuance, consistently harkening back to the social differences between each culture. His plot displays them gently and naturally, creating opportunities for each character to display or fight their neuroses without coming across as disingenuous. Yet Asimov’s social commentary at the end, particularly in his discussion with his military superior, was hitting the reader over the head a bit too hard. I can understand his desire to surprise his audience with these conclusions, yet he only succeeded in writing a sermon. The ending could have been handled much better if he had continued inserting the social and philosophical implications of robotics into the plot naturally instead of attempting to focus solely on them: Info-dropping is unbecoming no matter how legendary of an author you are.

My only other criticism is the role that Daneel Olivaw played in this story. As a robot, he was a character of convenience rather than one of substance. I fully believe that he could have been taken away and the plot would only have to be altered slightly in order to account for his absence. Overall, he was useful only as a foil. He gave Asimov a method of expounding upon Solarian history and culture, explaining these details to Baley and the audience at the same time. The same effect could have been accomplished if Baley had just conducted research of his own or been fully briefed on his mission. (If Daneel’s loyalty to Aurora is an important plot point in the later novel “The Robots of Dawn,” then I will gladly eat these words. But in this stand alone novel, Daneel is only a tool.)

Your Rating: 6/10