February's book club pick

[milleniumgypsy]

If you're interested in joining the book club community, just click on Loki!

I hope that your reasons for having books picked for you to read are better than mine midgardian.

Who was your buddy for the month? witchery
What books did they select for you to read? 1. Dracula and 2. In the Woods
What did you read? I only had time to read Dracula (I got caught up reading Storm of Swords! n_n'')
Tell us about it:
Dracula by Bram Stoker

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I do enjoy this sort of book, though I think that it went on a bit longer than necessary. I was much more caught up in the beginning of the book, but the second half seemed to stall, and nothing terribly exciting happened. Even the very end, which should have been a page-turner as it is the climax of the work, I found less intriguing than the middle part with Lucy.

Sometimes the characters really had me shake my head as to what they were thinking I mean really you leave Mina alone while you hunt for Dracula, and completely miss that she's showing the SAME SIGNS as Lucy did when Dracula was visiting her and instead chalk it up to what, female fragility? -sighs- I realize the time period, but really.

I thought that the male characters were interesting. I'm so used to males being all ~manly men~, it was nice to see vulnerability. That was actually one of the more appealing parts of the book to me. And even though Mina did spend a fair amount of time sighing and such, she had strength too, which I thought was also good. I thought it was really good for the time.

I felt that it was a comforting read, and I think that it would be a good bedtime story. I'm not sure that says wonderful things for the "horror" appeal of the book, but modern horror is different and I wouldn't expect the same sorts of things from a classic book.
View all my reviews

Recommendation: yes or no? Yes

I thought it would be neat for me to post this here too, and pimp the comm as well! :3

Comments

[rhoda-rants.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love the idea of that book club! That would help me knock out my looming TBR pile at least somewhat. (It's well over 200 by now--and that's just counting the books actually taking up physical space in my room.)

I was much more caught up in the beginning of the book, but the second half seemed to stall, and nothing terribly exciting happened.
Much agreed, although the vampire purist in me feels I should like this book more than I honestly do, and it is still one of the best examples of the epistolary form. The Jonathan Harker part in the beginning is the peak of the action and suspense.

If you still have In the Woods on your list, it is well worth the effort--but it is DENSE! Not easy to figure out what's going on there. I reviewed it here along with a few other things in my last Book Report post.

[invsagoth.livejournal.com]

You could join up? :D We're doing sign ups for next month now. :3
I really like the idea of the book club, and it does help me get around to reading things that I've been meaning to (like Dracula) or the more offbeat things I put on my reading list (like Stiff, one of my choices from last month).
I am trying to fit my book club books around reading the Game of Thrones books (well Song of Ice and Fire series, but with the show I'm used to the series being called that), so I don't always get around to my second choice book. n_n Well that and I am also reading a ton of comics. xD

I agree, I was hoping to like the book ultimately more than I did, but I did enjoy it! If only I liked the second half as much as the first, ah well. It is a very good example of that form of writing!

I do still have In the Woods on my list! I'll see about reading it still, I'm glad that you liked it though! I'll have to check out your review. :3

[rhoda-rants.livejournal.com]

You could join up? :D We're doing sign ups for next month now. :3
Yeah? The link says "closed"--am I looking at the wrong thing?

Oh, and I tend to call those the "Game of Thrones" books too, heh. Probably a consequence of watching the show first and reading later. I'm up through the second book/third season now.

[invsagoth.livejournal.com]

Oh shoot, I was looking at a couple of things on the comm, I must have picked the wrong 'pimp me' link (more likely since lj itself wasn't working when I was trying to get this entry up lol). If you just head over to the community itself (pick_for_me, after the early picks she saw there was enough interest to have an actual community for it.) you should see the entry up for March sign-ups. :3

I haven't watched the show yet, but before reading I of course knew about the show and heard a lot about it. It seems more accurate to say Song of Ice and Fire, but it also seems more common to have it referred to as Game of Thrones. lol
I'm about 70% in the 3rd book (oh, my feels), and looking to watch the show hopefully soon! :3

[tigtogiba34.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting! I read that the year before last so details are vauge for me but I remember liking it.

[invsagoth.livejournal.com]

:D I always mean to post more of my book reviews, I thought that since I was posting to the community it would be a good time to post a book review here too. n_n
I'm glad that you liked the book too!