Follow Friday!

This week I'm using two different books for Book Beginnings (Rose City Reader) and Friday 56 (Freda's Voice). The first is Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones.

BB:

'In the land of Ingary, where such things as seven-league boots and cloaks of invisibility really exist, it is quite a misfortune to be born the eldest of three. Everyone knows you are the one who will fail first, and worst, if the three of you set out to seek your fortunes.'

Well, this doesn't bode too well for me, considering I'm the oldest! But I love how easily Jones establishes that magic exist, because it simply does. 

For F56 I'm using Reading Joss Whedon edited by Rhonda V. Wilcox and others.

In an age when geek chic has come to define mainstream pop culture, few writers and producers inspire more admiration and response than Joss Whedon. From Buffy the Vampire Slayer toMuch Ado about Nothing, from Dr. Horrible’s Sing–Along Blog toThe Avengers, the works of Whedon have been the focus of increasing academic attention. This collection of articles represents some of the best work covering a wide array of topics that clarify Whedon’s importance, including considerations of narrative and visual techniques, myth construction, symbolism, gender, heroism, and the business side of television. The editors argue that Whedon’s work is of both social and aesthetic significance; that he creates "canonical television." He is a master of his artistic medium and has managed this success on broadcast networks rather than on cable.

I really liked how this sounded and so far it is really good. Here is the F56:

'It is a good example of American Gothic work in that it presents the horrors of both physically misshapen monsters and monsters of evil intent but often located the latter among human, highly attractive (Glory), or seemingly mild (Mayor Wilkins) characters.' p.56

This is about the series Buffy, which I still haven't seen, boo me, but I agree with this on a theoretical basis. Everything I've learned about the literary Gothic genre matches the above statement, so I definitely think I will enjoy the rest of this book.

Follow Friday is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee. This week's question is:
Tell us about a book that you didn't like and why we shouldn't read it (as nicely and respectfully as possible).

Ok, this is probably not quite the answer that I should be writing but that's because I have to ask a question of my own. I started reading The Fault in Our Stars by John Green because it made my sister cry and everyone is talking about it, especially now that the movie is coming out. But I started it and somehow I just couldn't get into it. Somehow the tone at the beginning was too conversational and maybe I wasn't in the right mood, but it simply didn't grab me at all.


There is just such a hype around the book that I feel it almost can't really live up to. I am also getting slightly tired of the beautiful romances we see in some novels. Is a man really going to stick with me if I tell him I don't love him, is he going to quote poetry to me and remember everything I said on our first date? Probably not, because I probably won't either. Sometimes I just wish that there'd be more realistic relationships in literature because although there is love and it's passionate, it is not always so dramatic. I remember that the relationship I saw in The Fountainhead or The Master and Margarita almost made me cry, but that was because they were restrained and possible, rather than over-the-top and perfect. And this is why I'm hesitant about starting TFIOS because I'm afraid it will annoy me.

So I guess my question is actually the other way round, why should I read The Fault in Our Stars?

So, how about you? Which book do you definitely not recommend?