Arguing – DaneCobain.com

Title: The Complete Fables

Author: Aesop

Type: Fiction

Page Count: 262

Rating: 3.54/5

I’m finding it quite difficult to decide whether fables count as fiction or non-fiction, and I guess that’s kind of the point of them. The idea is that you can read them and learn from them, taking the ideas from the story and applying them to your life. Aesop’s pretty good at that, and there’s a reason for it, as I learned during the introduction.

It turns out that he was probably a slave, albeit one who was held in high esteem, and he was known for arguing in the courts and using his fables as ways to direct people’s thinking. Many of the fables have even been categorised in such a way that they can be divided based upon their use cases, such as whether they’re good for showing the virtues of patience or whether they show that those who accuse people are often themselves also at fault.

All in all, it was a pretty good little read that provided some food for thought, and I’m definitely glad that I picked it up. At the same time, I’m also glad that I used it as a bedtime read, because it’s one of those where it’s best if you read it a little bit at a time instead of binging on it. One fable probably isn’t enough, but a half dozen or so each night is a good way to do it. However you read it, it’s definitely worth picking it up sometime.

Learn more about The Complete Fables.

Stephen King – The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon | Review

Title: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

Author: Stephen King

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 342

Rating: 4*/5

Stephen King – The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

This book was interesting, because it’s very different to what you might expect if you’re a big Stephen King fan. It’s much more streamlined, almost basic, in a way that reminds me of a fairy tale. It makes for an interesting change, especially if you’ve just finished reading IT, The Stand or one of his longer works. That’s mostly down to the fact that there’s no need here to go into the characters‘ backstories. He can focus on the action, and the action is gripping and exciting along the way. Better still, you could read it to a kid without giving them nightmares.

Loosely speaking, the plot follows what happens to a young girl after she gets lost during a walk through the woods with her mother and brother. Her family is arguing and paying her little attention, so when she needs to go to the toilet she decides to wander off. But once she leaves the path, she can’t seem to find it again. That leaves her lost in the woods, struggling to survive with no company except for the radio on her walkman, which she uses to listen in to Red Sox games. In particular, she likes to imagine she has company in the form of Tom Gordon, the Red Sox player, who she has a huge crush on.

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is good enough, but it’s not amazing. For any other author, a book like this would be one hell of an achievement, but for Stephen King, it’s just okay. Still worth reading, but not revolutionary.

One last thing to mention is that the book actually ends on page 298, but the page count is higher because it also comes with a preview of Hearts in Atlantis. I haven’t read that yet, but I do own a copy, so I guess I’ll work my way round to that sometime soon.