The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish

Title: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish
Author: Douglas Adams
Publisher: Pan
Release Date: 1984
Genre: Sci-Fi, Classic, Humour

Summary:
Bleurgh.

Review:
Unfortunately, I brought the fourth instalment at the same time as the third (my dismal review of which can be found here). Like the previous instalments of the series, I did not like this book. I cannot put my finger on what exactly went wrong for this series for me personally. It might be down to the lack of intellectual stimulation this series possess, and everything is just too silly and far-fetched for me.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Life, The Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams

Title: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Life, The Universe and Everything
Author: Douglas Adams
Publisher: Pan
Release Date: 1982
Genre: Sci-Fi, Classic, Humour

Summary:
I am not quite sure what happens to be honest...

Review:
As you can probably tell from my very brief summary, I have absolutely no idea what happened in the book. It started with Arthur Dent alone in a prehistoric wasteland and then he is on a cricket pitch and then about one-hundred and fifty pages after he is reunited with all of his friends...

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Title: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Author: Douglas Adams
Publisher: Pan
Release Date: 27th September 1995
Genre: Sci-Fi, Young Adult, Classics

Summary:
On an average Thursday afternoon, Arthur Dent's world is turned upside down and destroyed. It starts with his house being demolished and ends up with him travelling through hyperspace with his alien pal, Ford.

Don't panic though - this is all for research for the latest edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Review:
I was looking for a new young adult fiction series to follow and thought it would give The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy a try as, after all, it is a classic piece of science fiction.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

Title: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Author: Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Publisher: Quirk
Release Date: 1st May 2009
Genre: Horror, Classics, Fiction, Romance

Summary:
England has fallen victim to a mysterious plague which turns people in to mindless, brain-hungry zombies. However, the Bennett sisters are highly-trained fighters who are determined to protect their small village in rural Hertfordshire. Elizabeth Bennett, the eldest sister, is their best and most fearful leader in the fight against Satan's spawn. That is until she is distracted by the arrogant and intriguing Mr Darcy.

The Shining by Stephen King

Title: The Shining
Author: Stephen King
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Release Date: 1st July 1980
Genre: Thriller, Sci-Fi, Mystery, Classic, Horror

Summary:
When his father becomes the Winter caretaker of the Overlook Hotel, young Danny Torrance does not know the danger that awaits him. Danny is blessed (or as some may say - cursed) with the shining and the mysterious forces inside the hotel want it badly...

Review:
I made a promise to myself to "try" and look after myself more with all my assignments and drama going on around me so, I thought I would take a stab at The Shining which I have tried to read about three times before.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Harper Perennial Modern Classics published 

23rd May 2006

Title: To Kill a Mockingbird
Author: Harper Lee
Publisher: First published by J.B. Lippincott and Company
Release Date: 11th July 1960
Genre: Classic, Fiction

Summary:
In a small American town in the Deep South, Atticus Finch, a prominent lawyer in the community, is about to defend a black man charged with the rape of a white girl.

To Kill a Mockingbird follows the case through the eyes of his children Scott and Jem, who struggle to make sense of the adult world and attitudes towards race and class.

Review:
I started this book in April 2014, got sixty pages in and gave up. It has been sitting on my bookshelf ever since. Annoyingly, I hate leaving books unfinished so with a great sigh, I picked up To Kill a Mockingbird again and trudged through.

Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Penguin Classics edition,
published 27th May 2003

Title: Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Author: Thomas Hardy
Release Date: 1891
Genre: Classics, Romance

Summary:
The life of Tess Durbeyfield, a simple, family girl, is changed forever by the greed and lust of a wealthy man. Can society and the man she loves forgive Tess, or will she be judged for a crime she did not commit?

Review:
I have not had much success with "classic" books in the past, but I was pleasantly surprised about how easy to read this book was and emotionally gripping it was. However, I am not going to lie, it was extremely hard work to get in to, but once you get past the first one hundred pages; you just want to carry on reading and reading and reading...

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Title: Sense and Sensibility
Author: Jane Austen
Publisher:
Publication Date: 1811
Genre: Romance, Classics

Summary:
Umm, see below...

Review: 
So, my New Years Resolution for 2014 was to read more classic novels. Seeing as 2014 is nearly over, I thought I had better make a start and try to at least read some classic books before it's too late! My best friend loves Jane Austen but when the bookshop didn't have Pride and Prejudice in stock, I thought I would settle for Sense and Sensibility and, at first, I was really excited to read it...

However, my excitement soon ended (approximately) ten pages in. Needless to say, this turned out to be a very, very, very hard read and I really struggled to make much sense out of it, if you would pardon the pun (I've been waiting to use that joke for a while hahaha...). From what I could gather, it is about two sisters who deal with very similar situations in two completely different ways - one in a sensible, civilised way and the other, not so much.

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

Cover for the Penguin Classics edition
(4th March 2010)

Title: The Catcher In The Rye
Author: J. D. Salinger
Publisher: Hamish Hamilton
Release Date: 1951 (first published)
Genre: Classics

Summary:
Holden Caulifield is seemingly misunderstood by everyone around him. Having been kicked out of numerous prestigious schools, Holden decides to spend the weekend in New York being an adult and dreaming of freedom.

Review:
The story of Holden Caulifield is short and sweet, as it spans over one weekend. However, even though it is short; it is complex mixing numerous themes and feelings throughout (hence why I struggled to actually summarise the plot in this post). Come to think of it, in my opinion, the story is more of an extract of memoirs rather than a piece of traditional fiction with different events and stages of equilibrium; for there are no dramatic events, just the inner monologue of the protagonist taking the reader through their feelings over a short period of time. 

Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

Title: Bridget Jones's Diary
Author: Helen Fielding
Publisher: Picador
Release Date: 25th October 1996
Genre: ChickLit

Summary:
Bridget Jones is the ultimate singleton. She's forever single, stuck in a dead-end job and slightly overweight.

In her diary she documents her struggles with; men (Mark Darcy or Daniel Cleaver?!!), her weight and her over-possessive and barmy mother.

Review:
I was really looking forward to reading Bridget Jones's Diary, as I absolutely love the film! (Here I am basing a book on the film... again!)

Atonement by Ian McEwan

Title: Atonement
Author: Ian McEwan
Publisher: Vintage Books
Release Date: 2nd May 2002
Genre: Romance, Crime, Classics, Period Drama

Summary:
In the summer of 1935, Briony Tallis tells a lie. Little does she know that this little indulgence on her imagination will have a detrimental impact on the lives of the ones she loves.

I think that is all I can say without giving away too much...

Review:
When I started reading this book, I was expecting it to be extremely boring as I am not a fan of the "Downtown Abbey Manor House" genre. I was, however, pleasantly surprised and became extremely engrossed with the characters and the plot.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Cover for Scribner film tie-in edition 

(released 23rd April 2013)

Title: The Great Gatsby
Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons/ Scribner's
Release Date: 10th April 1925 (first published)
Genre: Romance, Crime, Classics

Summary:
Who is Jay Gatsby? Is he royalty, a spy or a successful businessman? No one knows. All they know is that he throws the best parties.

Despite surrounding himself the hundreds of the wealthiest socialites in New York; Gatsby is lonely and longs for something that money cannot buy. However, after befriending the newcomer in West Egg, Nick Carraway, he finally reveals his deepest secrets and breaks the façade he has so carefully constructed.

But can love can withstand the test of time, or be subject to cruel and tragic fate?

Review:
Last year, I decided to read The Great Gatsby after seeing the 2013 adaptation in my local cinema...

What a mistake.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Cover for Penguin Modern Classics edition
(3rd February 2000)

Title: In Cold Blood: A True Account of Multiple Murder and Its Consequences

Author: Truman Capote

Publisher: Signet/ New American Library

Release Date: 1st January 1980 (first published) 

Genre: Non-fiction, Crime

Summary:
Nothing happens in the quite town of Holcomb, Kansas, and why would it? It is the perfect place to live out the American Dream.

However, in 1959, Herbert Clutter, his wife Bonnie, and their children, Nancey and Kenyon, were murdered in their own home.

In Cold Blood documents the killings and the subsequent Police investigation into catching the culprits responsible; Perry Smith and Richard 'Dick' Hickock.

Review:

I read this book during the first year of my English Language and Literature A Level course in sixth form several years ago and, like most set texts, I was dreading it. When I think of set reading for my studies the first thought that comes into my head is; "Oh no. Not another awful, boring text that I have force myself to read and then pretend that I actually like it. Great."