Ender’s Game

Book Review: Ender’s Game

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Ender’s Game
by Orson Scott Card

My rating: 2 / 5
Genre: YA sci-fi

This book was a rough ride for me, and I’m not sure I can write an adequate review. It has long been a book my husband has really liked, but I’d never read it and not had much desire to read it. And for the first few chapters, I did not care for it at all. As my husband promised, it did pick up after that, though I still struggled with a lot of the content. I did somewhat anticipate the “big reveal,” though to be honest, I thought there’d be another twist coming after that. 

I had a really hard time following and caring about all of the politics, both on earth and at Battle School. The chapter and later sections about Peter & Valentine frankly went over my head and bored me, and I didn’t understand the point of them. I know that some of this is delved into a lot more in other books, but it’s really not something that interests me, so it detracted from the book for me. And while the end was mostly good, the last chapter felt like a tack-on, and I could have done without it.

What really turned me off in the beginning, while I was waiting for things to really get going, was Card’s writing style. I do not care for it. It bugged me so much that the narrative and characters would reference things off-hand as if they’d already been explained to us and then expand on those thoughts, and I was left mentally sputtering as I tried to keep up. I think that, in the end, this kind of writing just does not mesh with my way of thinking, my personality, my preference in reading…whatever the case may be, it frustrated me, where most seem to be fine with it.

I’m surprised to say that I was not actually put off by Ender’s tendency to be the best at everything. I mean, that was kind of the point. He was genetically bred to be that way (though to be honest, I barely picked that up from the book itself, but the synopsis does state that). I couldn’t imagine him as a 6-year-old, though, and had to just think pre-teen from the start. My daughter is 9, so I couldn’t get past how ridiculously unrealistic it was, but I’m not saying it didn’t make sense for the story…it just didn’t make sense in my head.

Overall, I don’t fully get why it’s such a classic. I get why people like it, but do not understand the fanatical draw. This was my second Orson Scott Card book (the first being Lost and Found). I didn’t particularly care for the other, either, and it’s interesting to note that they were published decades apart. I kinda think that maybe Card’s writing just isn’t for me.

Find out more about Ender’s Game

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If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!

TBR Book Tag

/ Kristi / 1 Comment

I saw this tag over on A Rambling Reviewer and quickly decided I wanted to play along. Since starting to post reviews on my blog back in July and soon after starting to build an official TBR list, I actually take a lot of joy in organizing it. So answering questions about it and the books on it, was right up my alley. Diving right in:

How do you keep track of your TBR pile?
For starters, I keep a list on Goodreads. I feel a little weird sharing this, but I actually go a step further and have a spreadsheet with my TBR as well. This is so that I can manipulate it a lot more than I can on Goodreads–make notes about how I can get ahold of the book (library, borrow from someone, I own it, etc.), who recommended the book to me, keep track of series I’m in the middle of, things like that.

Is your TBR mostly print or e-books?
I generally read print books when I can, and the majority of the books on my TBR will be borrowed from the library as print books.

A book that’s been on your TBR list the longest?
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card – I put this on 4 years ago when I first joined Goodreads, but back then, I wasn’t reading regularly. My husband has been recommending it for a long time, and I’m finally planning to read it within the next month.

A book you recently added to your TBR?
What You Wish For by Katherine Center – Releasing in July, I was recently invited to read the ARC for this book because I had read and enjoyed her previous book, Things You Save in a Fire.

A book in your TBR strictly because of its beautiful cover?
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón – The synopsis is interesting enough, but it was an impulse-add because of the cover.

A book on your TBR that you never plan on reading?
There are no books on my TBR that I don’t plan to ever read. Some I know will be there a while, but to avoid anxiety over feeling like I’ll never read all the books I want to, I don’t add a book if I’m not sure, at least at the time, that I want to read it. If I realize later that I don’t really care about it anymore, I’ll remove it.

An unpublished book on your TBR that you’re excited for?
Paris Never Leaves You by Ellen Feldman – This book releases in June, and I’m part of the blog tour for it at that time. It’ll be the first time I’ve done something like that, which is fun!

A book on your TBR that basically everyone’s read but you?
Harry Potter books – I’ve actually finished the first 4 books now, so I have 3 more to go now. Before last July, I hadn’t read or watched any Harry Potter, even though it’s…everywhere even now. (And by the way, now that I have some context, it is impossible to avoid spoilers. They’re everywhere!)

A book on your TBR that everyone recommends to you?
I don’t get a lot of direct recommendations, though my mom and sister have been very excited about some they’ve recommended. However, I think one that fits this bill better would be The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. After I put it on my TBR, it won the Goodreads Choice Award in the mystery & thriller category, which presumably means that a lot of readers recommend it.

A book on your TBR that you’re dying to read?
It’s strange to look for a book for this question in my TBR, because logically I think that if I was dying to read it, I’ve already have read it. But realistically, I have all sorts of reasons to hold off on even books I’m really excited about. So I’ll go with North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. I’ve seen the mini-series several times and love it, so I have a feeling I will get swept up in the book.

How many books are on your Goodreads shelf?
It depends on which one you mean, so I’ll just say I have 66 books on my TBR, with 22 in my “maybe add later” list on my spreadsheet, which includes books that my library doesn’t have and I’m not ready to buy, or just books that I’m not 100% sold on (so I guess I sort of have books I don’t intend to read, but not on the official TBR, and I’m not certain I won’t read them).

How does your TBR look? Answer these questions on your own blog and feel free to link your post in the comments!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My TBR I’m Avoiding & Why

/ Kristi / 10 Comments

I’ve read several of these Top Ten Tuesday posts, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, in the past, and decided to join in this week. Some of the topics don’t work that well for me; for example, my TBR list is only 2 months old, so it’s really hard to say I’ve been avoiding anything on it. But I was able to come up with 10 books on my list that I’m avoiding for some reason or another. These are books that I expect to get pushed down my TBR several times before I read them, or I’m just really not looking forward to reading them, or there’s some reason I can’t read them right now.

1. Claiming T-Mo by Eugen Bacon
I won this in a Goodreads giveaway. After I won it and re-read the synopsis, it seemed a lot less interesting than when I’d entered the giveaway. I’ll still read it, and in the spirit of the giveaway, I’ll try to get it to soon. But I’m not looking forward to it, and I feel pretty bad about that.

2. Landry Park by Bethany Hagen
When I first started to get back into reading seriously, before I built my TBR list up to even what it is now, I found this book at a bargain store and decided to buy it, with no knowledge of it whatsoever. After reading reviews, I’ve soured on it a bit. I know I’ll still read it, but my TBR list is so long (and that’s considering it’s shorter than that of everyone else I know), I just know it’s going to keep sliding down it.

3. The Dandelion Killer by Wanda Luttrell
This one is probably a little silly, but it still deserves a spot on the list. I have read this book before, at least twice, back in my younger reading days, and I remember enjoying it (enough to read it again at least once). My TBR currently includes some books I haven’t read for years and want to re-read now that I’m older, and this is one…but I made the mistake of checking its rating on Goodreads. It’s not great, so of course I keep passing it over. But since most of the ratings don’t come with reviews (and I do remember liking it), I think it’s a good idea to give it another chance myself…eventually.

4. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
5. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
6. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
I lumped all 3 of these together for the explanation because it’s basically the same explanation. Well-known, mostly much-loved books intimidate me. Especially when they’ve been around for a long time and I haven’t read word one of them (yes, I know Ender’s Game is new compared to the other two though). I’ve broken into this a bit with Harry Potter, but I quickly discovered how difficult it was to write a review for something when I realize most people who read the review will already know the subject material much better than I do.

Also, I’m one of those people with the ridiculous complex in which the more someone tells me I should read/watch/do something, the less I want to do it. So the more popular a book or series is, the more I tend to shy away from it. So I’ll get there…eventually…just stop pressuring me!

7. An Illusion of Thieves by Cate Glass
8. The Escape Room by Megan Goldin
Both of these have been pushed down my TBR because they’re in the New Fiction section at my library, which means I can only check them out for 1 week. I need to wait until I’m sure I’m ready to read one right away before I check it out, so I can make sure I finish it in the time I have. And the timing hasn’t worked out so far.

9. Unoffendable by Brant Hansen
10. I Want to Punch You in the Face But I Love Jesus by Sherri Lynn
Both of these are already low on my TBR because they are not available at my local library. I will have to wait until I have the funds to purchase them, so they’ll have to stay low. But I am looking forward to reading both of them when I can.

Have you read any of these? Should I move any up to the top of my TBR list?