Harry Potter ~ 759 Pages
"So does it say how to destroy Horcruxes in that book?"
"Yes," said Hermione, now turning the fragile pages as if examining rotting entrails, "because it warns Dark wizards how strong they have to make the enchantments on them. From all that I've read, what Harry did to Riddle's diary was one of the few really fool proof ways of destroying a Horcrux."
"What, stabbing it with a basilisk fang?" asked Harry.
"Oh well, lucky we've got such a large supply of basilisk fangs, then," said Ron. "I was wondering what we were going to do with them."
How do you blog your very life and soul? Okay I won't be that dramatic, but the harry Potter books were, in fact, my childhood. I can remember reading Harry Potter books as early as third grade. (Harry's birthday also happens to be the same week as mine, and however old he was in the book that had just come out, that's how old I was.) Can you blame me for forming such a strong attachment?
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is book number seven, the last book in the series. I decided to read the whole book before the last movie came out. It's been very interesting (event though I did this before the last movie as well) to see how true the movie stayed, and yet how far it strayed. Little scenes that help you know the characters more had to be cut for time, small things that turn out to be huge the last half of the book were kind of left out, I'm wondering how they are going to make up for these things.
I definitely pity whoever had not read this book series. If you've only seen the movies, and love them, or even like them, or even endure them, you will love the books.
I always thought that the third book would be my favorite, that is, until the seventh one came out. It wraps up the series so perfectly, and I must admit that I cry every time I read the scene SPOILER ALERT where Harry is going to die, and he's talking to his parents, Lupin and Sirius.
This book is a freaking masterpiece. I've read it three times now, and I'm still not sick of it. It's also 759 pages, which brings my countdown past the halfway mark (finally) to 4,701.
Now I'm ready for the midnight premiere! Well, almost... I still need to get my costume together.
Read on,
Jamie
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Seeing Redd
Seeing Redd ~ 371 Pages
She let the book fall open in her hand. She Riffled through its pages from first to last with her imagination. To think that Alyss had been immortilized by some earth scribbler! She slammed the book shut. She tapped a long finger against its cover, under the author's name. "Find me this Lewis Carroll and bring him here!"
Why do I do things I say I'll never do?
Seeing Redd is the second book in the Looking Glass Wars Trilogy, and I said I wasn't going to read it. But I led myself to believe that I'd enjoy it a whole lot more now that I know the characters and there seems to be more conflict outside of just battles. Well, I was wrong. I thought I could finish this book at Lake Powell, but I found myself not even wanting to pick it up at all.
Since I was little, I've been going to Lake Powell, and usually, the Harry Potter Book would come out right before we left. Lake Powell had always been a place I find it easy to read. But this year, I didn't take a Harry Potter book like I always do. I took this book. And I'm upset I did.
This book is A LOT like the previous book. Lots of battles, not a lot of character development. It took me two weeks to even bring myself to finish it. Once again, I'm not sure why. It's not slow, it's not a bad plot, it's not even poorly written. I just have next to no patience reading it.
When I was at Lake Powell, one of the girls we were boating with saw I was reading Seeing Redd, and she pretty much said the exact same thing. No patience. Even she couldn't say why exactly. I still stick to my proposal that it might be that the characters are great but they are always fighting, so I never get to know anything about them other than what side they are fighting for and how well they fight in battle. I just didn't get to love the characters like I wanted to.
It took so long for me to get into this book that it's the only one I have to blog for now, and find myself slightly behind schedule. Luckily I'm starting the 7th Harry Potter today.
So with these 371 pages behind me, I have 5,460 pages to go. Time to get crackin.
Read on,
Jamie
She let the book fall open in her hand. She Riffled through its pages from first to last with her imagination. To think that Alyss had been immortilized by some earth scribbler! She slammed the book shut. She tapped a long finger against its cover, under the author's name. "Find me this Lewis Carroll and bring him here!"
Why do I do things I say I'll never do?
Seeing Redd is the second book in the Looking Glass Wars Trilogy, and I said I wasn't going to read it. But I led myself to believe that I'd enjoy it a whole lot more now that I know the characters and there seems to be more conflict outside of just battles. Well, I was wrong. I thought I could finish this book at Lake Powell, but I found myself not even wanting to pick it up at all.
Since I was little, I've been going to Lake Powell, and usually, the Harry Potter Book would come out right before we left. Lake Powell had always been a place I find it easy to read. But this year, I didn't take a Harry Potter book like I always do. I took this book. And I'm upset I did.
This book is A LOT like the previous book. Lots of battles, not a lot of character development. It took me two weeks to even bring myself to finish it. Once again, I'm not sure why. It's not slow, it's not a bad plot, it's not even poorly written. I just have next to no patience reading it.
When I was at Lake Powell, one of the girls we were boating with saw I was reading Seeing Redd, and she pretty much said the exact same thing. No patience. Even she couldn't say why exactly. I still stick to my proposal that it might be that the characters are great but they are always fighting, so I never get to know anything about them other than what side they are fighting for and how well they fight in battle. I just didn't get to love the characters like I wanted to.
It took so long for me to get into this book that it's the only one I have to blog for now, and find myself slightly behind schedule. Luckily I'm starting the 7th Harry Potter today.
So with these 371 pages behind me, I have 5,460 pages to go. Time to get crackin.
Read on,
Jamie
Friday, June 24, 2011
Deadline, City of Fallen Angels
Deadline ~ 316 pages
"You're wrong," Coach says. "I would say that to you. There are a lot of books that I think are trash. There are a lot of books I wouldn't recommend to anyone. I mean, there's a book in the Old Testament that says we're supposed to kill homosexuals. But I don't want the Old Testament banned. I'm pretty sure you can read that book and not go out and kill homosexuals, because you have other information that tells you that's not okay and because you have a brain."
This blog is going to be a bit of a spoiler, so if you've ever wanted to read this book without knowing the end, look away now.
Deadline is about a boy named Ben who finds out right before his Senior year of high school that he only has one year to live. He decides to not tell anyone about it and live that year to it's full extent.
It's the common, "What would you do if you only had one year to live?"question. Ben decides to go out for the football team, talk to the girl of his dreams, and try to change a city built on prejudice. It really does make you think what you would do.
It's not really a happy book. Here comes your spoilers. Ben does die at the end. But I'm glad he does. Not because I think he's a bad person, or I couldn't stand him, but there are a lot of books that promise death at the end and magically heal the protagonist. (Remember the movie Stranger Than Fiction?) Someone else dies too. But they didn't get a heads up. It makes you wonder if you would want to know when you are going to die, if you would tell other people if you did know, if you would try to change your past, or live out the future you don't really have. I may or may not have cried at the end. (I did. But like, one tear.)
While the book specifically mentions this song (click here) , all I could think about when reading it, was this song (click here). The second song is perfect for this book, especially the last verse.
The first half of the book is a lot of football, so if you hate sports you'll have a hard time with the rest of the book, but I encourage you to press forward. Also, if you have a hard time with swearing, this is a gentle warning. It's about high school boys, would you expect any different? I would recommend it to anyone in high school or above. It just makes you think about a lot of things in your own life, but then again, don't most books?
With 316 pages down, I had 6,255 pages left.
Now the moment you've all be waiting for... (But not really)
City of Fallen Angels ~ 424 pages
"Jace's room was as neat as ever --- bed made perfectly, the books that lined the shelves arranged in alphabetical order, notes and textbooks stacked carefully on the desk. The neatness was all very well. It was, Clary had always thought, Jace's way of exerting control over the elements of a life that otherwise might seem overwhelmed with chaos. He had lived so long without knowing who he really was, she could hardly begrudge him the careful alphabetization of his poetry collection."
Book four of the mortal instruments series, City of Fallen Angels, seems like a bit of the black sheep of the series family. All the characters are back, there are even some new protagonists. But as for the bad guys, well, there's like... two demons in this whole book. There is more fighting from the inside the group of friends than from the demonic creatures of the world.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, because I did a bad job blogging the third book, here's your summary/explanation. There are lots of races on "this" earth. There are humans, or as they're called in this series, mudanes. There are Shadowhunters, half human, half angel. There are Vampires and Werewolves and Faries, all half human, half demon called the downworlders. And then there are your demons. The shadowhunter's job is to protect the humans from the demons. The downworlders just kinda chill. And surprise surprise, the humans know nothing about it.
My favorite character is Simon, so I'm glad most of this book in the series is about him. Other than that, it was just kinda... okay. Passable, but not my favorite book of the series by a long stretch. The end of the book is supposed to be a HUGE cliffhanger, but I'm okay with it. Why? Because I saw it coming. In fact, I saw the whole ending coming. And while I'll admit that I didn't see how it would all tie together, it continues to be a book I can... well, I was going to say read like a book but... I can call what's going to happen next, which isn't a bad thing, it's just not the most surprising book ever. But at least it follows it's rules, unlike twilight.
If you like fantasy action at all, you'll like this book series. I would recommend it because it's such an enjoyable read. A good summer fiction series.
424 pages down, 5,831 to go.
Read on,
Jamie
"You're wrong," Coach says. "I would say that to you. There are a lot of books that I think are trash. There are a lot of books I wouldn't recommend to anyone. I mean, there's a book in the Old Testament that says we're supposed to kill homosexuals. But I don't want the Old Testament banned. I'm pretty sure you can read that book and not go out and kill homosexuals, because you have other information that tells you that's not okay and because you have a brain."
This blog is going to be a bit of a spoiler, so if you've ever wanted to read this book without knowing the end, look away now.
Deadline is about a boy named Ben who finds out right before his Senior year of high school that he only has one year to live. He decides to not tell anyone about it and live that year to it's full extent.
It's the common, "What would you do if you only had one year to live?"question. Ben decides to go out for the football team, talk to the girl of his dreams, and try to change a city built on prejudice. It really does make you think what you would do.
It's not really a happy book. Here comes your spoilers. Ben does die at the end. But I'm glad he does. Not because I think he's a bad person, or I couldn't stand him, but there are a lot of books that promise death at the end and magically heal the protagonist. (Remember the movie Stranger Than Fiction?) Someone else dies too. But they didn't get a heads up. It makes you wonder if you would want to know when you are going to die, if you would tell other people if you did know, if you would try to change your past, or live out the future you don't really have. I may or may not have cried at the end. (I did. But like, one tear.)
While the book specifically mentions this song (click here) , all I could think about when reading it, was this song (click here). The second song is perfect for this book, especially the last verse.
The first half of the book is a lot of football, so if you hate sports you'll have a hard time with the rest of the book, but I encourage you to press forward. Also, if you have a hard time with swearing, this is a gentle warning. It's about high school boys, would you expect any different? I would recommend it to anyone in high school or above. It just makes you think about a lot of things in your own life, but then again, don't most books?
With 316 pages down, I had 6,255 pages left.
Now the moment you've all be waiting for... (But not really)
City of Fallen Angels ~ 424 pages
"Jace's room was as neat as ever --- bed made perfectly, the books that lined the shelves arranged in alphabetical order, notes and textbooks stacked carefully on the desk. The neatness was all very well. It was, Clary had always thought, Jace's way of exerting control over the elements of a life that otherwise might seem overwhelmed with chaos. He had lived so long without knowing who he really was, she could hardly begrudge him the careful alphabetization of his poetry collection."
Book four of the mortal instruments series, City of Fallen Angels, seems like a bit of the black sheep of the series family. All the characters are back, there are even some new protagonists. But as for the bad guys, well, there's like... two demons in this whole book. There is more fighting from the inside the group of friends than from the demonic creatures of the world.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, because I did a bad job blogging the third book, here's your summary/explanation. There are lots of races on "this" earth. There are humans, or as they're called in this series, mudanes. There are Shadowhunters, half human, half angel. There are Vampires and Werewolves and Faries, all half human, half demon called the downworlders. And then there are your demons. The shadowhunter's job is to protect the humans from the demons. The downworlders just kinda chill. And surprise surprise, the humans know nothing about it.
My favorite character is Simon, so I'm glad most of this book in the series is about him. Other than that, it was just kinda... okay. Passable, but not my favorite book of the series by a long stretch. The end of the book is supposed to be a HUGE cliffhanger, but I'm okay with it. Why? Because I saw it coming. In fact, I saw the whole ending coming. And while I'll admit that I didn't see how it would all tie together, it continues to be a book I can... well, I was going to say read like a book but... I can call what's going to happen next, which isn't a bad thing, it's just not the most surprising book ever. But at least it follows it's rules, unlike twilight.
If you like fantasy action at all, you'll like this book series. I would recommend it because it's such an enjoyable read. A good summer fiction series.
424 pages down, 5,831 to go.
Read on,
Jamie
Friday, June 10, 2011
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Paper Towns
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister ~ 368 Pages
"In the lives of children, pumpkins can turn into coaches, mice and rats into human beings. When we grow up, we learn that it's far more common for human beings to turn into rats...so now children play our family's shame as a story in the streets."
I don't think the word "book" makes one appearance in this book. But I sure as heck would like to know how many times the words "beauty" or "beautiful" are used.
I swear on my life this is like, the last retelling I'm reading this summer. I really didn't pick out all these books on purpose, and I don't think I've ever read this many in my whole life. (I usually read murder mysteries and historical fiction)
BUT, this is, in fact, another retelling. It comes from the perspective of one of the Ugly Stepsisters from the classic tale of Cinderella. I tried as hard as I could to read this book during the school year, but I only got half way through. I then placed it on my shelf and forgot about it until recently, when I was looking for more books to reread. So I started over.
If you don't like slow stories, this might not be a book for you, but if you like contemplating what true beauty is, you would very much enjoy this book. It just follows the life of Iris, the younger stepsister. This book was written by Gregory Maguire, the author of Wicked (which I assume most people know about because of the musical). I think the writing was beautiful, and I loved the last half of the book, but the first half is pretty slow. It felt like I was just waiting for what I knew was going to happen.
After rereading the first half, and finally finishing it, that put 368 pages down, leaving me with 6,876 pages left.
Paper Towns ~ 305 Pages
"It became a weekend of reading, of trying to see her in the fragments of the poem book she'd left for me. I could never get anywhere with the lines, but I kept thinking about them anyway, because I didn't want to disappoint her She wanted me to play out the string...to follow the bread crumb trail until it dead-ended into her."
My summary of this book in a few words: Bad things happen to people, grass.
It's a typical teen angst book. I didn't really realize this till about half way through. The author (John Green) is very talented, but the story is just... typical.
It's from the point of view of Quentin Jacobsen, a senior in high school, who has had a crush on the girl across the street since they were little, Margo. Margo is a free spirit to say the least. She has run away from home a number of times, and she enjoys planning out elaborate clues when she leaves. So one night, she shows up at Quentin's window and tells him they are going on an adventure. They drive around Orlando doing crazy payback things and then they break into Sea World. At the end of the night, Margo says "I'm going to miss hanging out with you." and walks away to her house.
Well, low and behold, she isn't at school the next day, or the next. It turns out, she has run away again. Her parents are furious and decide to change their locks instead of look for their daughter. So Q decides it's his job to decipher the clues and bring her home.
I think this book could have been awesome. I definitely thought it was going in a complete different direction. But at the end, it's so metaphorical and about life and all that teen angst stuff, that I couldn't finish the last three pages till the next day. So it's a cute book. I really liked their night out on the town. The rest of the book is like, "Where did Margo go? I don't know! Maybe this poem will tell me!" And to tell the truth, I figured out how to find her on page 169. Thats 136 pages of me going, "You're so stupid! would you just look right in front of your face???"
I guess I'm just a little disappointed because I thought it was like a murder mystery about 150 pages in, because it gets really creepy. But then it's all angst and tears and beers and driving cross country.
So with 305 more pages down, I'm left with 6,571 pages to go.
In other news, I'm 33rd in line for City of Fallen Angels. That book better be pretty freakin awesome. Also, I don't want you guys to think that I hated any of these books. I really didn't I just tend to say what I didn't like and you can assume that everything else was good and I enjoyed. I think I just make up endings in my head, and if they aren't as good or better, I get disappointed. But once I read a book I hate, you'll know. Trust me. Well that's all for today friends. Hopefully my next blog will include the much anticipated book I've waited over a month for...
Read on,
Jamie
"In the lives of children, pumpkins can turn into coaches, mice and rats into human beings. When we grow up, we learn that it's far more common for human beings to turn into rats...so now children play our family's shame as a story in the streets."
I don't think the word "book" makes one appearance in this book. But I sure as heck would like to know how many times the words "beauty" or "beautiful" are used.
I swear on my life this is like, the last retelling I'm reading this summer. I really didn't pick out all these books on purpose, and I don't think I've ever read this many in my whole life. (I usually read murder mysteries and historical fiction)
BUT, this is, in fact, another retelling. It comes from the perspective of one of the Ugly Stepsisters from the classic tale of Cinderella. I tried as hard as I could to read this book during the school year, but I only got half way through. I then placed it on my shelf and forgot about it until recently, when I was looking for more books to reread. So I started over.
If you don't like slow stories, this might not be a book for you, but if you like contemplating what true beauty is, you would very much enjoy this book. It just follows the life of Iris, the younger stepsister. This book was written by Gregory Maguire, the author of Wicked (which I assume most people know about because of the musical). I think the writing was beautiful, and I loved the last half of the book, but the first half is pretty slow. It felt like I was just waiting for what I knew was going to happen.
After rereading the first half, and finally finishing it, that put 368 pages down, leaving me with 6,876 pages left.
Paper Towns ~ 305 Pages
"It became a weekend of reading, of trying to see her in the fragments of the poem book she'd left for me. I could never get anywhere with the lines, but I kept thinking about them anyway, because I didn't want to disappoint her She wanted me to play out the string...to follow the bread crumb trail until it dead-ended into her."
My summary of this book in a few words: Bad things happen to people, grass.
It's a typical teen angst book. I didn't really realize this till about half way through. The author (John Green) is very talented, but the story is just... typical.
It's from the point of view of Quentin Jacobsen, a senior in high school, who has had a crush on the girl across the street since they were little, Margo. Margo is a free spirit to say the least. She has run away from home a number of times, and she enjoys planning out elaborate clues when she leaves. So one night, she shows up at Quentin's window and tells him they are going on an adventure. They drive around Orlando doing crazy payback things and then they break into Sea World. At the end of the night, Margo says "I'm going to miss hanging out with you." and walks away to her house.
Well, low and behold, she isn't at school the next day, or the next. It turns out, she has run away again. Her parents are furious and decide to change their locks instead of look for their daughter. So Q decides it's his job to decipher the clues and bring her home.
I think this book could have been awesome. I definitely thought it was going in a complete different direction. But at the end, it's so metaphorical and about life and all that teen angst stuff, that I couldn't finish the last three pages till the next day. So it's a cute book. I really liked their night out on the town. The rest of the book is like, "Where did Margo go? I don't know! Maybe this poem will tell me!" And to tell the truth, I figured out how to find her on page 169. Thats 136 pages of me going, "You're so stupid! would you just look right in front of your face???"
I guess I'm just a little disappointed because I thought it was like a murder mystery about 150 pages in, because it gets really creepy. But then it's all angst and tears and beers and driving cross country.
So with 305 more pages down, I'm left with 6,571 pages to go.
In other news, I'm 33rd in line for City of Fallen Angels. That book better be pretty freakin awesome. Also, I don't want you guys to think that I hated any of these books. I really didn't I just tend to say what I didn't like and you can assume that everything else was good and I enjoyed. I think I just make up endings in my head, and if they aren't as good or better, I get disappointed. But once I read a book I hate, you'll know. Trust me. Well that's all for today friends. Hopefully my next blog will include the much anticipated book I've waited over a month for...
Read on,
Jamie
Sunday, June 5, 2011
The Looking Glass Wars
The Looking Glass Wars ~ 358 Pages
The grinning Cheshire cat. The mad tea party. He'd transformed her memories of a world alive with hope and possibility and danger into make-believe, the foolish stuff of children. He was just another in a long line of unbelievers and this--this stupid, nonsensical book--was how he made fun of her. She had never felt more betrayed in all her life.
Well, once upon a time, I went to California. I also was very busy. During that time, I didn't read anything. So I only have one book to offer for this post. It's okay though, I didn't expect to always blog two books at a time.
I promise, I don't only read rewritings, or different versions of classic stories; but this is, in fact, another one of those. The Looking Glass Wars is the "true" story of Alyss (yes, Alyss, not Alice) the Princess of Wonderland. It follows her from her seventh birthday to the age of twenty.
There is A LOT of action in this book. In fact, I don't think there are very many down moments at all. There are 56 Chapters, so they are all very short, and it's a quick read. Kind of. It took me a while to get into it. I did request the next book, (it's a trilogy) but quite honestly, I don't know if I'm going to read it. It wasn't bad. I just couldn't focus on it for very long. I think it was because I wanted to know and like the characters, but I never really got the chance to do either of those things.
If you like Alice in Wonderland retellings, I think you would like this book. The author did a TON of background work to make sure everything was historically and literarily correct. I will say, I love what the author (Frank Beddor) did with the "Cheshire cat". SPOILER ALERT. He's evil. And I love that he is. Even though I thought and hoped he would be a good guy, I liked it this way more.
So, it's a good book, just not exactly my cup of tea. With 358 pages down, I have 7,244 pages left.
I just replenished by book supply yesterday, and I may have gone a little overboard. I have five books coming form the library, and three at my house right now... hopefully I can get back into the swing of reading again. (I'm now 69th in line for City of Fallen Angels, just so you know)
Read on,
Jamie
The grinning Cheshire cat. The mad tea party. He'd transformed her memories of a world alive with hope and possibility and danger into make-believe, the foolish stuff of children. He was just another in a long line of unbelievers and this--this stupid, nonsensical book--was how he made fun of her. She had never felt more betrayed in all her life.
Well, once upon a time, I went to California. I also was very busy. During that time, I didn't read anything. So I only have one book to offer for this post. It's okay though, I didn't expect to always blog two books at a time.
I promise, I don't only read rewritings, or different versions of classic stories; but this is, in fact, another one of those. The Looking Glass Wars is the "true" story of Alyss (yes, Alyss, not Alice) the Princess of Wonderland. It follows her from her seventh birthday to the age of twenty.
There is A LOT of action in this book. In fact, I don't think there are very many down moments at all. There are 56 Chapters, so they are all very short, and it's a quick read. Kind of. It took me a while to get into it. I did request the next book, (it's a trilogy) but quite honestly, I don't know if I'm going to read it. It wasn't bad. I just couldn't focus on it for very long. I think it was because I wanted to know and like the characters, but I never really got the chance to do either of those things.
If you like Alice in Wonderland retellings, I think you would like this book. The author did a TON of background work to make sure everything was historically and literarily correct. I will say, I love what the author (Frank Beddor) did with the "Cheshire cat". SPOILER ALERT. He's evil. And I love that he is. Even though I thought and hoped he would be a good guy, I liked it this way more.
So, it's a good book, just not exactly my cup of tea. With 358 pages down, I have 7,244 pages left.
I just replenished by book supply yesterday, and I may have gone a little overboard. I have five books coming form the library, and three at my house right now... hopefully I can get back into the swing of reading again. (I'm now 69th in line for City of Fallen Angels, just so you know)
Read on,
Jamie
Monday, May 16, 2011
The Goose Girl, A Northern Light
The Goose Girl ~ 383 Pages
"When she mentioned how much time she sat alone; the next day Geric brought her books on Bayern History, and some tales of courtly love, evil, and justice. He was afraid at first that he had erred again and that she had never learned to read, and then he was relieved that she had."
Here's another retelling of (what else) The Goose Girl, by the Brothers Grimm, by Shannon Hale. I have reread this book a bunch of times, and it never gets old. I love this book because it stays so true and close to the original story, and yet it is it's own story. I love Shannon Hale because she makes things like talking to animals and commanding the elements seem like normal, because it all makes sense. I think everyone would enjoy this book, even if you don't like fantasy. I know most people have read this book, because it was really popular about four years ago, but if you haven't, I recommend it.
Some people say it's too gruesome for people to read, to which I say, do you know nothing of the real story? It's a Brothers Grim story. It's not exactly without some gore. But it's not disgusting or over descriptive. I didn't even notice it, but some reviews make is sound awful. It's not.
I don't have much else to say. Shannon Hale actually made this book the first of four in a series, each book about a different character. (Enna Burning, River Secrets, and Forest Born.) I haven't read Forest Born, but I think I'm going to put it on hold today.
The Goose Girl is 383 pages, so when I finished it, I had 7,982 pages left.
A Northern Light ~ 380 Pages
I smiled, thinking that my teacher sure was dramatic.
"Cripes, Miss Wilcox, they're not guns," I said.
"No, they're not, Mattie, they're books. And a hundred times more dangerous."
I actually read this book first, but I wanted to blog it second because don't they say "last the best of all the game"? To say I enjoyed this book would be an gross understatement.
When I put this book on hold because of a recommendation, I thought it was a typical murder mystery. It has a death, but it's not about that. The murder in the book is a true story. The letters in the book are the real letters. But it's not about solving the murder, it's not about who-done-it. It's about a young woman, and trying to survive and become something in a small town in 1906.
It's about Mattie Gokey, and her dream of going to college. It's about what is acceptable to your society, as opposed to what you think is right. It's about keeping promises that may hurt you. It's about racism. It's about what love really is, and what it really isn't. It's about coming of age. It's about hope. It's about books.
I don't even know what to say. This book reminded me of my favorite book, (The Book Thief) even though the subjects have almost nothing in common. It's just written so well.
I would recommend this book to pretty much anyone. Especially girls at a turning point in their lives. I know I'll reread this book sometime in the future. Long story short; amazingly talented author, awesome book, good read. 7,602 pages to go.
p.s. I'm 205th now for City of Fallen Angels
Read on,
Jamie
"When she mentioned how much time she sat alone; the next day Geric brought her books on Bayern History, and some tales of courtly love, evil, and justice. He was afraid at first that he had erred again and that she had never learned to read, and then he was relieved that she had."
Here's another retelling of (what else) The Goose Girl, by the Brothers Grimm, by Shannon Hale. I have reread this book a bunch of times, and it never gets old. I love this book because it stays so true and close to the original story, and yet it is it's own story. I love Shannon Hale because she makes things like talking to animals and commanding the elements seem like normal, because it all makes sense. I think everyone would enjoy this book, even if you don't like fantasy. I know most people have read this book, because it was really popular about four years ago, but if you haven't, I recommend it.
Some people say it's too gruesome for people to read, to which I say, do you know nothing of the real story? It's a Brothers Grim story. It's not exactly without some gore. But it's not disgusting or over descriptive. I didn't even notice it, but some reviews make is sound awful. It's not.
I don't have much else to say. Shannon Hale actually made this book the first of four in a series, each book about a different character. (Enna Burning, River Secrets, and Forest Born.) I haven't read Forest Born, but I think I'm going to put it on hold today.
The Goose Girl is 383 pages, so when I finished it, I had 7,982 pages left.
A Northern Light ~ 380 Pages
I smiled, thinking that my teacher sure was dramatic.
"Cripes, Miss Wilcox, they're not guns," I said.
"No, they're not, Mattie, they're books. And a hundred times more dangerous."
I actually read this book first, but I wanted to blog it second because don't they say "last the best of all the game"? To say I enjoyed this book would be an gross understatement.
When I put this book on hold because of a recommendation, I thought it was a typical murder mystery. It has a death, but it's not about that. The murder in the book is a true story. The letters in the book are the real letters. But it's not about solving the murder, it's not about who-done-it. It's about a young woman, and trying to survive and become something in a small town in 1906.
It's about Mattie Gokey, and her dream of going to college. It's about what is acceptable to your society, as opposed to what you think is right. It's about keeping promises that may hurt you. It's about racism. It's about what love really is, and what it really isn't. It's about coming of age. It's about hope. It's about books.
I don't even know what to say. This book reminded me of my favorite book, (The Book Thief) even though the subjects have almost nothing in common. It's just written so well.
I would recommend this book to pretty much anyone. Especially girls at a turning point in their lives. I know I'll reread this book sometime in the future. Long story short; amazingly talented author, awesome book, good read. 7,602 pages to go.
p.s. I'm 205th now for City of Fallen Angels
Read on,
Jamie
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Beauty, A Kiss in Time
Beauty ~ 247 Pages
“Most of these books haven’t been written yet.” I looked at him stupidly, Kim still in my hand. “But don’t worry, they will be.” He said.
Both of the books I read this weekend were retellings of fairytales. Beauty is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I’ve read quite a bit of these kinds of books, and while I do enjoy them and the creativity, it’s always kind of uninteresting to me in a way another book wouldn’t be because I know how the story goes. So I don’t only know the ending, I know the whole story.
I read another retelling of Beauty and the Beast about a year and a half ago titled Beastly. I know it was recently released as a movie (which I haven’t seen yet, but heard it’s not very good) but I think anyone who likes the Beauty and the Beast story should read that one too. I’ll tell you why I liked that one more. First, I really liked that Beastly was from the Beast’s point of view instead of the overused Beauty’s. Second, it takes place in our time, so it’s not exactly the same as the fairy tale, and lastly, because there’s more dialogue and interaction between the characters in Beastly.
I love descriptions as much as the next person, but at the end of the book I felt as if I knew more about the castle than the Beast. Not to mention that you don’t even meet the Beast until page 114, and in a book that’s only 247 pages long, that’s a large portion of the book. Now, I don’t think I would have minded this much at all if the ending hadn’t been kinda, well… crappy. Beauty saves Beast from “dying “and the story ends all in 12 pages. It took 15 pages to describe the room she was staying in. (I’m not exaggerating, I counted.) Not to mention, she “saved” him by saying, “Wake up my love.” And that was that.
I’m not saying it was bad. I enjoyed it, I really did. I just wanted something… more climactic. I guess it is supposed to be a children’s book. When I finished Beauty, I had 8,736 pages left.
A Kiss in Time ~ 371 pages
"They’re talking about books. My mother loves to talk about books, but Talia’s so old that she wouldn’t have read most of the books Mom knows. The King James Bible was a new book in Talia’s time!"
A Kiss in Time is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, and it’s actually by the same author that wrote Beastly. It tells what would happen if Sleeping Beauty was woken up in our times.
Anyone who knows me knows that I love Sleeping Beauty, and since reading Beastly and seeing that the author rewrote SL, I’ve wanted to read this book. I wasn’t let down. I really enjoyed this book, and it kind of reminded me of the movie Enchanted. When the princess (Talia) is woken and (spoiler alert) runs of with the boy who saved her (Jack), she enters our world after being asleep for three hundred years. Naturally, everything is foreign to her. The scenes where she has no idea what’s going on are some of my favorites.
It’s a quick easy read and I read it in one day. It’s a fun book if you like retellings. It switches back and forth between Talia’s and Jack’s points of view, making it more interesting to read. It’s also 371 pages, which leaves me with 8,365 pages to go.
I actually read Beauty while I was a Lake Powell for three days. But since I knew I would finish it, (and the books I put on hold at the library weren’t there yet) I took Inkspell. Inkspell is 635 pages, and I read a little over fifty pages while I was there, but I don’t know if I’m going to finish it. I hope to, but if I don’t get to it, I’ll add those pages on later. For now, I have another book while waiting for two at the library. (I’m now in 259th place for City of Fallen Angels)
Read On,
Jamie
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)