Thursday 31 May 2012

Follow Friday! (1)


This meme is hosted by the lovely ladies at Alison can read and Parajunkie.

Question:
You're a matchmaker—your goal, hook up two characters from two of your favorite books. Who would it be? How do you think it would go?

Answer:
I would probably choose Peeta from The Hunger Games, and London from Forgotten. They're both just the sweetest people ever, and I think they would be really great together. I know this might seem like a weird couple to most people but I think they would be such a cute couple.


Monday 28 May 2012

Top Ten Tuesday! (1)

The Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted at The Broke and Bookish

This weeks list is: Top Ten Books Written In The Past 10 Years That I Hope People Are Still Reading In 30 Years.


My list:


1.  The Hunger Games Trilogy
      
   
 Could you survive on your own, in the wild, with everyone out to make sure you don't live to see the morning?

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

I hope everyone is reading this book in the future. It's such an amazing read that I think anyone can read it. 


2.  The Harry Potter Series    

Harry hates living with his Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and their 
spoiled-rotten son, Dudley. Harry's room is a tiny closet beneath the stairs, and the entire family treats him with disdain. What's more, Harry keeps getting into trouble for making strange things happen - things he seems to have no control over. But then Harry discovers the truth about himself when a determined messenger delivers an enlightening message. It turns out that Harry's mother was a witch, his father a wizard. And not only is Harry also a wizard, he's a famous one! His survival of the attack by the evil wizard who killed his parents has marked him as a legendary hero - as has the lightning-bolt-shaped scar on his forehead.

Soon Harry finds himself attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he receives training in some magic basics, masters riding a broomstick, and discovers his incredible talent for a game called Quidditch, which is played in the air on flying brooms. And for the first time in his life, Harry has friends who care about him: his fellow students Hermione and Ron and a giant named Hagrid. But all is not rosy when Harry discovers his true destiny and finds he must once again face the evil one who killed his parents. His survival will depend upon the help of his newfound friends, as well as his own wit and powers.

This  series brings back so many memories for me. These books are probably one of my favourite reading experiences, and for that alone I hope people will be reading it in the future just to have that 
same experience. 


3.  Divergent 

In a future Chicago, 16-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.

This book was absolutely breath taking. It completely sucked me in. People of the future, read this book!










4.  Anna and the French Kiss


Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home. As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?

So let me just tell you. This is one of the best contemporary books I have ever read. It is just simply amazing.  




5. Shift


Olive Corbett is definitely NOT crazy.

Not anymore. These days she takes her meds like a good girl, hangs out with her best friend Ami, and stays the hell away from the toxic girls she used to be friends with.

She doesn’t need a boyfriend. Especially not a lifesaver-type with a nice smile. And she doesn’t need the drama of that creepy new girl Miranda, who has somehow latched on to Olive's ex-best friend.

Yet from a distance, Olive can see there's something sinister about the new friendship. Something almost... parasitic. Maybe the wild rumours ARE true. Maybe Miranda is a killer. 

But who would believe Olive? She does have a habit of letting her imagination run away with her…

No one I know has read this book, and that kind of disappoints me. You guys are missing out on an amazing book! I hope that it does pick up some popularity and people start to read it in the next 30 years.


6.  A Straight Line to my Heart


A funny, poignant, realistic story of Tiffany's first love and first job, and the inevitability of change in the first summer out of school School is over, not just for the year, but forever. Tiff and Kayla are free, which is what they've always wanted, but now summer is nearly at an end and that means life decisions. Tiff is hoping her job at the local paper will lead to something more, but "The Shark" soon puts her straight on what it takes to become a hard-nosed reporter like him. At home, Reggie—the only grandad she's ever known—has quit smoking and diagnosed himself as a cactus, and then Kayla hits her with some big news. And into all this stumbles Davey, who plays rugby but quotes Truman Capote, and is the first boy who has ever really wanted to know her. Tiff is smart with words and rarely does tears, but in one short week she discovers that words don't always get you there; they don't let you say all the stuff from deep in your heart.

Now This book. Gosh, this book. Basically I loved this book and I  will definitely read this in 30 years time so I hope other people will too.


7.  The Invention of Hugo Cabret


ORPHAN, CLOCK KEEPER, AND THIEF, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.

The reason I want people to be reading this book in the future is because it is so damn different from everything else out. The drawings are so beautiful and its just...yeah. 





8. Lola and the Boy Next Door


Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit -- more sparkly, more fun, more wild -- the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket -- a gifted inventor -- steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

Again this book. Amazing! 





9.  Forgotten 


I remember forwards. I remember forwards, and forget backwards. My memories, bad, boring, or good, haven't happened yet. So I will remember standing in the fresh-cut grass with the black-clad figures surrounded by stone until I do it for real. I will remember the funeral until it happens - until someone dies. And after that, it will be forgotten. Here's the thing about me: I can see my future, but my past is blank. I see the future in flashes, like memories. I remember what I'll wear tomorrow, and a car crash that won't happen till this afternoon. But yesterday has evaporated from my mind - just like the boy I love. I can't see him in my future. I can't remember him from my past. But today, I love him. And I never want to forget how much.

C'mon hoe can this book not be on the list?




10. Once

Felix, a Jewish boy in Poland in 1942, is hiding from the Nazis in a Catholic orphanage. The only problem is that he doesn't know anything about the war, and thinks he's only in the orphanage while his parents travel and try to salvage their bookselling business. And when he thinks his parents are in danger, Felix sets off to warn them—straight into the heart of Nazi-occupied Poland.
     To Felix, everything is a story: Why did he get a whole carrot in his soup? It must be sign that his parents are coming to get him. Why are the Nazis burning books? They must be foreign librarians sent to clean out the orphanage's outdated library. But as Felix's journey gets increasingly dangerous, he begins to see horrors that not even stories can explain.
     Despite his grim surroundings, Felix never loses hope. Morris Gleitzman takes a painful subject and expertly turns it into a story filled with love, friendship, and even humor.
No one knows about this book either! This book I read a few years ago, but I still think about it every now and again. I definitely recommend it to anyone.  
Okay so that is my list!
Now you tell me, what is in your top ten next week?


It's Monday! What are you Reading? (1)


This meme is posted originally at Book Journey to discuss the books you read this week and the books you plan to read this week.


I had some free time this week considering the past ones have been quite hectic. But I plan to read some more this week...hopefully. Although I do have a big assignment due next week, so I might have to take some time off for that.  Anyway.


I finished reading:






Catching Fire - Goodreads
Divergent - Goodreads
Wonderstruck - Goodreads



I'm currently reading:




And I'm not quite sure what I plan to read next. I haven't really planned that out yet. But next time I definitely think about it before I make this post hahaha.

So, what are you reading?



Sunday 27 May 2012

Wonderstruck Review


Title: Wonderstruck
Author: Brian Selznick
Published: September 13th 2011
640 Pages
From Brian Selznick, the creator of the Caldecott Medal winner THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET, comes another breathtaking tour de force.

Playing with the form he created in his trailblazing debut novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick once again sails into uncharted territory and takes readers on an awe-inspiring journey.

Ben and Rose secretly wish their lives were different. Ben longs for the father he has never known. Rose dreams of a mysterious actress whose life she chronicles in a scrapbook. When Ben discovers a puzzling clue in his mother's room and Rose reads an enticing headline in the newspaper, both children set out alone on desperate quests to find what they are missing.

Set fifty years apart, these two independent stories--Ben's told in words, Rose's in pictures--weave back and forth with mesmerizing symmetry. How they unfold and ultimately intertwine will surprise you, challenge you, and leave you breathless with wonder. Rich, complex, affecting, and beautiful--with over 460 pages of original artwork--Wonderstruck is a stunning achievement from a uniquely gifted artist and visionary.


Review
Let me just say that this book is thick, but please don’t be put off with that considering that half of this book is pictures.  I mean I finished it in two days.

Wonderstruck follows two children. Ben a boy living in Gunflint Lake, and Rose living in New York. Ben lives with his Uncle and Aunt after his mother was in a terrible accident. Feeling lonely and sad he sneaks back into his old house he lived in with his mum and finds strange notes in his mother’s room.  Rose dreams about a mysterious actress chronicling her life in a scrapbook, hoping one day to finally meet her.

I found the idea of this story very interesting. At the end of this book there are no loose ends and everything seems to tie perfectly together. I admit there was a stage where I did get a tad confused because there was so much going on. But it was okay at the end and I understood everything. There are also some parts in this book where I was utterly surprised and I didn’t see it coming, and that is always good. The illustrations in this book are beautiful. You could tell that these pictures where drawn carefully and that the author didn’t want to rush them.

I felt like I connected with Rose, you feel sorry for her at so many different stages in this book. Her story is told in beautiful black and white pencil drawings and rarely any words. As with Ben I didn’t really feel like I connected with him in the same depth as I did with Rose. To me he just seemed a little distant. And I felt like he didn’t even fully understand what he was doing himself.

So the things I liked:
·         I loved the pencil drawings which told the story of Rose.
·         How everything just ties up perfectly at the end.
·         All the things that are in this book. The museums, the wolves, New York!

Now the stuff I didn’t like:
  •   ·         Ben seemed a bit distant to me. I didn’t connect with him and I was a bit disappointed with that.
  •  

Overall yes I enjoyed this book, but I didn’t love it. I would definitely recommend this to the people who enjoyed The Invention of Hugo Cabret.
I give it:
3.5/5

Saturday 26 May 2012

Divergent Review


Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Published: May 3rd 2011
487 Pages

In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.
-Amazon


 Review

Divergent! I loved this book! I mean how can you not? It was action packed, with a female butt kicking heroine. It was fantastic!

Divergent is set in the future where there are four factions: Abnegation (selflessness), Dauntless (bravery), Candor (honesty) Amity (Peacefulness) and Erudite (Intelligence). When you turn 16 you must with go a test, to see what faction you should be in. Tris chooses to leave her faction, Abnegation, and chooses Dauntless instead. And that’s really where they story takes off.

Let’s start with the idea of the story. I absolutely loved it, having to decide which faction to live in your entire laugh, only at the age of sixteen.  I didn’t really like that we didn’t get to know much about why there are the factions, or what happened previously for this to happen in the first place.

Now the characters. First you have Tris, the main character. I liked her, but I didn’t particularly love her. I liked the fact she was brave and solid and stuck up for the people she loved and the things she loved. Then there’s Four. Four, I’ll admit, is definitely a literary crush of mine. He doesn’t act soft around Tris. He acts strong and brave. He doesn’t look down on Tris, he knows that she can look after herself and he respects that (honestly I don’t think I’m doing him any justice here, but take my word for it, he’s swoon worthy).

Okay so now to the things I like about the book overall:
  • ·         I loved the idea of these five factions. I think it’s really creative and I’ve never read anything like it.
  • ·         Veronica Roth’s writing style, it was absolutely amazing! She is such a talented writer and she’s so young.
  • ·         Definitely lived up to my expectation of the book. I thought it was going to be just a very advertised book that wasn’t actually any good, but I’ll happily admit that I was wrong.
  • ·         I love the villains in this book.  They were so awesomely evil ;).

Okay so the things I didn’t like too much.
  • ·         I didn’t like how I didn’t know much about the history of the factions. I would’ve liked to know how they started, and why the city is like this in the first place.
  • ·         I would’ve also liked to learn more about The Marsh. Why is it empty? Why?

Overall I loved this book. It was amazing and it sucked me in. I mean I finished it in three days! Which I don’t know if that’s long for you guys, but that is amazingly quick to me, considering it took me like a week to read Catching Fire. Really when I think about it the things that bothered me didn’t really matter, I loved this book and I’m hoping that the sequel will answer my unanswered questions.
Overall I give it:
5/5

Thursday 24 May 2012

Catching Fire - Review



Title: Catching Fire
Author: Susanne Collins
Published:  1/9/09
472 Pages


Sparks are igniting, flames are spreading and the Capitol wants revenge. 

Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol-- a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fuelled an unrest she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

In Catching Fire, the second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before... and surprising readers at every turn.

-Goodreads

Review

Catching Fire is the second book in The Hunger Games Trilogy. I absolutely loved the first book in this trilogy, and was so glad I enjoyed this book just as much.
I love dystopian books, and I think this one is definitely one of my favourites from the genre. I do love the idea of the Hunger Games, even though it seems so brutal.
I definitely think that Susanne Collins couldn’t have written a better sequel. This book is chock full of action with some romance also. It keeps you at the edge of your seat, and I love that. This book was so thrilling and I devoured it, I just wanted to know what was going to happen next. The author definitely knows how to suck a reader in from the first page.
Overall this is an excellent book, and I definitely recommend it to everyone who has read the first. I give it:
5/5

P.S. I really want to say more about this book but I’m afraid I’m going to ruin it for you guys. So I’m just going to leave it at that. I know it’s short but it is my first review.




Tuesday 22 May 2012

Hello!

Hey guys! So this is going to be my book blog :) I really do love reading and I just thoughy, why not? :)