Publish This Book by Stephen Markley - PPP

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Publish This Book by Stephen Markley - PPP

I purchased this book hoping for a funny and irreverent story lambasting the gatekeepers of the publishing world and providing insight into triumphing over them. Any aspiring writer can tell you about the mountains of rejection letters they’ve received, so I was hoping this book would shed light on the later stages of the process and what leads to success.

It did not.

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Flashman (The Flashman Papers, Book 1) by George MacDonald Fraser - PPPPP

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Flashman (The Flashman Papers, Book 1) by George MacDonald Fraser - PPPPP

The Flashman Papers, Book 1 is the first book in a series of twelve comprising the memoirs of a fictional Brit making his way through actual historical events beginning in the early-mid 19th century.

Harry Flashman is a coward and womanizing misogynist of epic proportion who also has outrageously good luck that not only saves his skin from numerous seemingly inescapable pinches, but also allows him to reap tidal waves of unwarranted praise and adoration.

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Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy - P

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Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy - P

Disclaimer: I did not read the entire book because it sucks. I made it about 40% of the way through and I am kicking myself for not flushing this steaming pile of poop at the 5% mark. I want my time back!

Blood Meridian is a story about … ummmmm … urrrrrrrr … I don’t know what this story is about. Some kid with a few guys and a spattering of mans rambling through some part of the US or Mexico or a post-apocalyptic Australian desert seeing scores of gruesome, pointless scenes of violence, inhumanity, and death.

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The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion - PPPPP

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The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion - PPPPP

Don Tillman, the narrator and main character of The Rosie Project, is a 39-year-old professor of genetics at the University of Melbourne (Australia). He’s extremely rational, organized, and focused. He also lacks empathy and social skills, and eschews human contact. In other words, he likely has Asperger’s syndrome but doesn’t know it.

We follow Don as he tries to find a suitable mate for marriage while helping Rosie, who he believes to be an inadequate applicant for his affection, find her father via surreptitious DNA testing.

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As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner - P

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As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner - P

According to the back of the book, As I Lay Dying tells the story of a family carting the coffin of Addie Bundren to Jefferson, Mississippi to bury her among her people.

For the most part, the garbled chapters are told by her family members who apparently suffer from severe retardation and are unable to put together coherent thoughts. I had to read the Cliffs Notes to try to get a sense of what was going on, which is like having to learn an artist’s life story in order to appreciate one of his works. This is not a good thing.

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