Ever since I joined GoodReads.com, my IM conversations have been dominated with discussions of my friends’ book ratings and reviews:
Me: Holy crap.
Me: Your boyfriend gave two stars to The Phantom Tollbooth.
meredith: oh yes
meredith: he hates that book
Me: That is no way to treat a beloved children’s classic.
Me: I presume he’ll be sleeping on the couch tonight.
meredith: we have actually fought about it before
I’ve been enjoying GoodReads because it provides an inexhaustible supply of book recommendations, but I had no idea it would also provide insight into my friends’ relationship issues. Bonus!
I am also interested in the books you love--as well as the ones that have driven a wedge between you and your significant other--so why not come be my friend on GoodReads.com.
I could (and probably will) spend hours at this.
I echo Melissa.
And hello, how do you not love The Phantom Tollbooth? That is one of the best books ever!
And I did not rate To Kill a Mockingbird as a two deliberately. That should have been a five but did I know that the stars were sensitive to touch? No, I did not. I stand by my 1 star rating for that dog book. Hated it. But then I am not fond of anything math related.
Very sensitive stars (e.g. Christina Ricci) but you can re-rate, and stuff.
I liked the Phantom Tollbooth as a kid, but found upon rereading it with my own child that it’s a bit too symbol-heavy for my taste. Ten- and eleven-year-olds tend to enjoy the feeling of cleverness that decoding those sorts of analogies can bring, though, thus the “it’s a classic!”
I loved Phantom Tollbooth. AND the dog book. The DaVinci Code was tedious.
Addiction.
I was torn between really liking some of your choices and wanting to call you pretentious. Then I remembered somebody has to read Burroughs.
You think Augusten Burroughs is pretentious? Okay. Personally, I find him accessible and very funny.
Nah, I just think anyone with the name “Augusten Burroughs” has to be pretentious.
Oh, okay - I’ll try to read Burroughs again.
The only book I read more than twice was “You’ll Never Make Love in this Town Again”....It’s a good book, but I can’t watch Wheel of Fortune without thinking of Vanna with another woman.
i read your page from google reader. but i guess that’s not the same, eh?
1 star for Cryptonomicon? 5 stars for Snow Crash? That’s heresy.
Well, all I can say is, I’ve never heard of anyone who had that opinion before. I’d rather rake a three mile lawn than read Cryptomicon again.