sullyisreading's reviews
56 reviews

Japanese Ghost Stories by Lafcadio Hearn

informative mysterious reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

The book was a fast and enjoyable read. The range of stories was diverse and I feel illuminated many sides of Japanese culture that have developed since the book was first written - in terms of Junji Ito's stories for instance, you can draw parallels from these classic Japanese tales to the modern day. Great stuff.

Our Lady of Darkness by Fritz Leiber

funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

This was my second time reading this story, and I still love it to pieces. My only criticism is it's ending, very abrupt and out of nowhere, wrapped up in a way that left me questioning why it was done in such a fashion. Otherwise, the rest of the book is worthy of 5 stars.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Philip K. Dick is an absolutely impressive writer. This is the second book of his I read, and honestly, after loving the movie for so long and reading the book, I'm all the more glad to say I found both versions of the story incredible. The differences are a little startling but at the same time, refreshing on either end.

I liked the focus on Android-life that the story had. In the movie, it felt rather vague, never quite shown off like it was in the book. That makes sense. Loved it.

Tales of Pirx the Pilot by Stanisław Lem

adventurous challenging emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

It's not my favourite of Stanislaw Lem's books. That's mainly due to how it's written - whether it's the translator's interpretation or Lem's writing, his prose often turned out too long for my personal liking. That's not to say it's bad, but I felt it dragged in ways that more modern literature avoids nowadays.

The quality of the stories as always are gold. I do like Lem's storytelling, he lays things out very plainly and let's the reader gather the pieces to figure out what's going on. My number one favourite story from the collection was 'Terminus', which from other reviews I've read, seems to be the consensus. 

What is it with sad robot stories? As a writer, I think I need to get on that too. 

Butter by Asako Yuzuki

adventurous emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The whole novel was deeply fascinating for me. There were a couple of simple errors that must have slipped through the translation and editing phase, but nothing distracting.

At the end of the day, who truly dislikes Butter?

Spook's Dark Assassin by Joseph Delaney

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I can agree that the ending could have been longer, but to say it was rushed doesn't feel right with me. I think the nature of how things were told and paced felt fully appropriate. The fact it is the end and the last of the Spooks books is horribly sad to me. It is an end of something that played a major part in my teenage years. 

I'm happy to say I've read all the main-line Spooks books now. It's wild to say that in a way. I wish I had read them sooner. And a wholly sincere Rest In Peace to Joseph Delaney, who once visited my middle school and gave me inspiration in many parts to be an author myself, and fall in love with a great series of books.

I think the Spooks books are a classic, and anyone interested should give them a read.

The Dark Army by Joseph Delaney

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

This particular story in the series had a difficult job I reckon; firstly it had to continue off from a major event in the first story, and continue onto another major event occurring in the follow-up, and I believe, last book of the series.

The only thing that ever bothered me as I read was some repetition of information. I think Delaney is writing adult fiction but repeats information to make it more YA. Personally, although this series is YA, I've always felt it approaches topics with a great maturity and strong ideas. Delaney is clearly a talented writer.

This book has an amazing story. I go straight onto to the third and last book now.

The Moorcock Library: Elric Stormbringer by P. Craig Russell

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was incredibly enjoyable and definitely an amazing entrance to the world of Moorcock's fantasy world and Elric as a series (even if this book covers the ending of that series). I loved it, especially for the art, but the story that is told and Elric's struggle throughout. There were definitely some emotional moments that I believe the graphic novel could have focused a little longer on - perhaps they do in the book by Moorcock? - but regardless it was an enjoyable read that expanded my idea of what fantasy can be. 

Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

My only regret with this story was beginning it at a time when I was either too stressed or too consumed with other tasks to finish reading it when I began the story, back in 2019 when I acquired the hardback, which comes with a short story which I will be continuing on to read now that I have finished Machines Like Me.

Regardless of my confused thoughts concerning Ian McEwan, it's clear he's a talented writer. This book was a gift to read and gave me so many thoughts to consider, emotions to stew on and process - in fact, I wish he had dwelled on some moments more. But perhaps he didn't have to. Reality allows us to dwell on these moments in our own time. 

I highly recommend the book. Since I got to page 70 before stopping and then returning 5 years later... I suppose my advice is read the first 71 pages and decide from there.

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Did not finish book. Stopped at 11%.

I had been looking forward to this book for quite a while. Unfortunately, the style of prose didn't gel with me. It was entertaining and interesting initially, but I got quite tired of it. As well, I may have mistakenly read the Introductions first, which ended up giving away the whole story, and essentially made the experience hard to care for. 

I recommend giving the book a try. I'll go on to watch the film version - I think it will be more to my taste.