Wednesday, November 27, 2013

W... W... W... Wednesday 27/11/13



WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading
where you answer the following questions:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently read?
What will you be reading next?

What are you currently reading? I'm reading "The Shadowhunter's Codex" by Cassandra Clare and Joshua Lewis, and I just started reading "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan.


What did you recently read? "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan. I really, really liked it. 

What will you be reading next? Next on my list are "The Naturals" by Jennifer Lynn Barnes and I want to check out "Hild" by Nicola Griffith. 

So what's you WWW for this week? Post the link in the comments or, if you don't have a blog, answer directly in the comments!

Monday, November 25, 2013

Quote-Tastic 25/11/2013



"Quote-Tastic" is a meme hosted every Monday on Herding Cats & Burning Soup . To participate you have to post a favorite quote from a current or past read.
This week there are two quotes, both from "Neverwhere", by Neil Gaiman. A truly wonderful book, I definitely recommend it.
Richard wrote a mental diary in his head.
Dear Diary, he began. On Friday I had a job, a fiancée, a home, and a life that made sense. (Well, as much as an life makes sense). Then I found an injured girl bleeding on the pavement and I tried to be Good Samaritan. Now I've got no fiance, no home, no job, and I'm walking around a couple of hundred feet under the streets of London with the projected life expectancy of a suicidal fruit fly.

“We have to get the... the thing I got... to the Angel. And then he'll tell Door about her family, and he'll tell me how to get home."
Lamia looked at Hunter with delight. "And he can give you brains," she said, cheerfully, "and me a heart.”
So, what are your favorite quotes this week? Let me know in the comments!

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

W... W... W... Wednesday 20/11/13



WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading
where you answer the following questions:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently read?
What will you be reading next?

What are you currently reading? I'm reading "The Shadowhunter's Codex" by Cassandra Clare and Joshua Lewis, and I'm about halfway through "Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan.


What did you recently read? "The Twilight Swimmer" by A.C. Kavich, which was pretty good, I'll post a review in the next couple of days. 

What will you be reading next? Next on my list is "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan. I also want to read  "The Naturals" by Jennifer Lynn Barnes and "Attachments".  

So what's you WWW for this week? Post the link in the comments or, if you don't have a blog, answer directly in the comments!

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Top Ten Books I'd Recommend to Someone Who Wants to Get Into Fantasy




Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by the Brooke and the Bookish. This week's top ten was of books I'd recommend to a person of my choosing. Since I am often asked which novels I'd recommend to someone who wants to get into fantasy, I chose that kind of person for my list. These are not necessarily the best fantasy books around, but I think that they would be able to interest the reader enough to urge them to look further into the genre whilst also give them a clear idea what sort of books they will find and easing them gently into the genre.


Mad Love by Suzanne Selfors


The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss


Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

The Lighting Thief by Rick Riordan


The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien



Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett


Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling


The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman


So, which are the ten books you'd recomend to a person of your choosing? Let me know in the comments!


Monday, November 18, 2013

Quote-Tastic 18/11/13



"Quote-Tastic" is a meme hosted every Monday on Herding Cats & Burning Soup . To participate you have to post a favorite quote from a current or past read.
This week's quote is from "The Iron King" by Julie Kagawa. I really liked this book, especially the banter between Puck and Ash, so this quote reflects that aspect. 
Ash blinked. "Are you raiding the cellars now, Goodfellow?" 
"Me? Stealing?" Puck flashed a devious grin and popped another fruit into his mouth. "In the house of my ancient enemy? What gave you that idea?" He plucked another fruit and tossed it to me with a wink.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Review: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

"Eleanor & Park" is a brilliant novel. It's cleverly put together and gorgeously written.  
The characters are very well developed. One of Rowell's greatest talents lies in creating understandable characters: the motive of pretty much everyone in the story is something the reader can relate to. Of course there are some characters whose actions are inexcusable, like Eleanor's stepfather. 
The main character's dynamic was also very well done. It did the thing I care the most about in a romance: it felt real. I can imagine these people being together in real life: they had things in common and they connected on a platonic level before they started being attracted to each other. 
By all accounts, this should have been 5-star read. And for a while, it was. What made me drop the rating were the last few chapters. In order to give the reader closure the novel kept going for several pages after the story itself had ended. I feel that in that it fell short. The things that happen in those last pages are mostly things I didn't care to know. I would have wanted more information on Tina's motives and how the situation with Eleanor's stepfather and the rest of her family is resolved. We do know (spoiler) that they are gone, but we don't really know what happened: did Sabrina rebel and leave her husband? Where did they go? (end of spoiler)
In spite of that, "Eleanor & Park" is an awesome book and I definitely recommend it. Though, be warned: it's a lot less lighthearted than Rowell's second YA book "Fangirl", so keep a box of tissues at hand if you choose to read it. 



Rating:
★★★★ 1/2


Source: Goodreads

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

W... W... W... Wednesday: 13 November 2013


WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading
where you answer the following questions:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently read?
What will you be reading next?

What are you currently reading? I'm reading "The Twilight Swimmer" by A.C. Kavich. I'm one third in and I really like it for now.


What did you recently read? "Eleanor and Park" by Rainbow Rowell. It's very good and I'll post a review in the next couple of days.

What will you be reading next? I really want to read "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan and "The Naturals" by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. I'll probably pick Rainbow Rowell's first novel, "Attachments", in the next couple of days.  

So what's you WWW for this week? Post the link in the comments or, if you don't have a blog, answer directly in the comments!

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Covers I Wish I Could Redesign




Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by the Brooke and the Bookish. This week's top ten is of covers I wish I could redesign.



10. Revelations. The cover of the first book is gorgeous, this is just generic and plain unimaginative.  


9. City of Lost Souls. This looks like a series B romance novel. I wish they had put Isabelle on the cover: this book did a lot to develop her character and she has never been on the cover before, unlike Jace and Clary.


8. Behemoth. I don't understand why they had to change the design of the Leviathan series - the original, clockwork motif was beautiful, I wish they'd kept it.  


7. Odd and the Frost Giants. I really don't like this cover. I think that something hand-drawn in cold, soft hues would have worked better.










6. All those covers with girls in ball gowns standing in completely random places. It's unimaginative and more often than not it has nothing to do with the story.



5. The original Harry Potter covers. They already have been redesigned and I've got to say I like the new design a lot better: it keeps the style of the old one, but looks better. 


4. Obsidian. A girl hugging a relatively hot boy. That's what I have to look forward to, book? Yawn.  I would have liked something more dynamic. 


3. The Summoning. This cover is unoriginal and quite flat. I would have liked something hand-drawn in rich reds and purples. 


2. Allegiant. I don't like the color, I don't like the symbol. I would have preferred something faction-related, maybe Abnegation or something which incorporates the signs of the five factions. 

1. Born at Midnight. I hate this cover. It puts me off reading the book. The model looks possessed, the hot pink writings are out of place. I think that something with a mono-colored symbol on a simple backdrop would have looked better.









So, what are the top ten covers you wish you could redesign? Let me know in the comments!

Source: Goodreads

Friday, November 8, 2013

Book Blogger Hop




The Book Blogger Hop is hosted on the site Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.
Its purpose it to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, 
befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to their own blog. 

Each week bloggers answer a different question. This week's question is: do you post your book reviews as soon as you have completed the book or do you wait a few days?
I usually wait at least a day, but it depends how long it takes me to process what I just read and to judge, as objectively as possible, what worked and what didn't.

What about you? Do you post immediately or do you wait? 

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

W... W... W... Wednesday



WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading
where you answer the following questions:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently read?
What will you be reading next?

What are you currently reading? I'm reading "The Twilight Swimmer" by A.C. Kavich and "Eleanor and Park" by Rainbow Rowell. I'm enjoying both for now, but I'm not that far into "The Twilight Swimmer" yet.


What did you recently read? "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth, which I hated, and the "Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan which was pretty good.

What will you be reading next? "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan and "The Naturals" by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. 

So what's you WWW for this week? Post the link in the comments or, if you don't have a blog, answer directly in the comments!

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Sequels I Can't Wait to Get My Hands on



Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by the Brooke and the Bookish. This week's top ten was of the sequels I can't wait to get my hands on. The first five books are actually sequels I keep meaning to read but for some reason never do. 


10. School's Out - Forever (Maximum Ride) by James Patterson

9. The Iron Daughter (The Iron Fey) by Julie Kagawa

8. Underworld (Abandon Trilogy) by Meg Cabot

7. Behemoth (Leviathan) by Scott Westerfeld


6. The Song of the Quarkbeast (The Last Dragonslayer) by Jasper Fforde


5. The Hangman's Revolution (W.A.R.P.) by Eoin Colfer 


4. The Doors of Stone (Kingkiller Chronicles) by Patrick Rothfuss


3.  Revelations (Elysium Chronicles) by J.A. Souders


2. Mark of Athena (Heroes Of Olympus) by Rick Riordan


1. City of Heavenly Fire (Mortal Instruments) by Cassandra Clare 


Monday, November 4, 2013

Quote-Tastic



"Quote-Tastic" is a meme hosted every Monday on Herding Cats & Burning Soup . To participate you have to post a favorite quote from a current or past read.
I'm kind of astonished I haven't posted anything from Cassandra Clare's books before, since I love them and they are full of funny quotes. This one's from City of Ashes, the second book in the Mortal Instruments series. During the course of the whole book one of the characters, Alec, is trying to keep his relationship a secret. Poor guy, he just doesn't get how bad he is at being deceiving. It's actually sort of cute. 
"You have something on your neck," he observed. 
Alec's hand flew to his throat. "What?" 
"Looks like a bite mark," said Jace. "What were you doing out all night, anyway?" 
"Nothing." Beet red, his hand still clamped to his neck, Alec started down the corridor. Jace followed him. 
"I went walking in the park. Tried to clear my head."
"And ran into a vampire?"
"What? No! I fell."
"On your neck?"

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Review: Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Beware. There be spoilers. 
Alright. Let's review this train-wreck.
How is this possible? How can the woman who wrote such a good debut novel fail to deliver so spectacularly in this book? I thought that writers were supposed to get better through experience, not worse.
Apparently, Veronica Roth is the exception to that rule. If Divergent was awesome and Insurgent was pretty good, this book continued the downwards spiral and ended up being terrible.
The book is told from both Tris's and Four's point of views, a choice I don't really understand, since this has always been Tris's story, right from the start. I get why she had to do it, but I think she should have come up with a different way to patch up the holes that using only Tris as a narrator left in her story. 
Especially since she is clearly not able to give Tobias's voice the same charm that she gave Tris's. Mostly because he sounds exactly like her. 
The book was full of plot holes. The whole genetic experiment thing didn't make a whole lot of sense. Scientists should know better than pick a large number of people from different backgrounds, tamper with their genes and then just send them out into the world.  
Couldn't they have started with a bunch of volunteers and put them in a facility like Tris's Chicago and see what came out of it, instead? It would have made a tad bit more sense. 
And then to the ending. Which I hated, and not because I wanted an happy ending. I mean, I wanted an happy ending, but I can enjoy endings that don't go the way I want them to if they feel natural.
Tris's death didn't feel natural. It didn't feel like the story was supposed to have that result, like there just wasn't any other way. It felt like it had been constructed in order to give Tris the possibility to sacrifice herself. 
The ending was rushed, and the epilogue was just a way to tell us through exposition what a bunch of characters I don't really care about did after Tris's death. It didn't have any real purpose in the story, it didn't serve to establish the message. If anything, it made it more confusing - since we went from "we can't be defined by our genes" to "life sucks, but some moments don't".  
This novel was a huge disappointment. I was really excited for it and it was just a mess. You're better off not reading it. It felt convoluted and rushed and it didn't give me a sense of closure at all. 



Rating: