Guess what! I made my very first video to post on You Tube! It's not the greatest quality and I'm not very good with a camera, but I had a lot of fun making it. I hope you enjoy and hopefully the next videos will be filmed by a better camera 'cause this one is the worst. I have another video that I made today that I'll probably post at some point later in the week. Thanks for watching!
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Personal Rating: 2.5 Stars Goodreads Rating: 3.98 Stars Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now. When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own. (goodreads.com) Well this book annoyed me. The characters, the writing, the complete lack of morals, the alarming love triangle - pretty much everything but the plot bothered me. Somehow, the story line turned out really well and I really wanted to find out what happened. If it weren’t for the captivating plot then I probably would have dropped this book after the first couple of chapters. There were a lot of clichés in this book such as: a love triangle, a mysterious supposedly attractive dude, a girl who is considered an outsider because she dresses differently, a mean girl who gets whatever she likes, and special magic powers. On top of that this book also had many inaccuracies in it. Alyssa’s mom is in a mental institution that kind of reminds me of Arkham Asylum from the Batman comics. It doesn’t seem like anyone in this place is actually getting better and the nurse even subjects Alyssa’s mom to a straight jacket and then stuffs her away in a padded cell. Um… they don’t really use straight jackets in hospitals anymore. I also didn’t think this book did a very good job of portraying mental illnesses in general. The MC of this story, Alyssa Gardner, is kind of a mess. I’m not sure if she’s emo or goth or punk or a skater girl or what. The book describes her original outfits in detail, which made me think of some of the stories I used to write when I was younger. I mean, the clothes your character is wearing are important, but you don’t need to describe every single outfit change. Alyssa also didn’t have that much going for her personality-wise. She’s kind of moody and overly-trusting in some situations. A lot of the time she’s cranky, but the things that would make a normal person peeved make her almost happy. Ultimately, I have to say that she’s a bit of a Mary Sue. The only way I could put up with her is by imagining her with a voice like Gollum from Lord of the Rings. Then we have the two boys *insert enormous eyeroll here*. Jeb, Alyssa’s bestie and secret crush, started out kind of decent but I just started hating him somewhere in the book. I don’t like him or his stupid lip ring thing. He’s kind of the “I’m too cool” type and he’s good with cars, skateboards, art, emotions, inter-world travel, walrus-squid things, pretty much any situation you throw at him and he’s ready to go - unless that situation involves another dude and Alyssa because even though he won’t dump his girlfriend who he dislikes, he still doesn’t want Alyssa to date anyone else. Speaking of anyone else, there is also Morpheus, who I like to refer to as Cheeto-Emo-Man, or Cheeto-Emu-Moth-Man. Not sure why the word “cheeto” is in there… no wait! I remember. Cause he’s supposed to be the - minor spoiler - Caterpillar from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and in the movie Despicable Me Agnes laments that her caterpillar never turned into a butterfly, to which Edith replies “that’s a cheeto”. Therefore, Morpheus is a cheeto and an emu since “emo” sounds like “emu”. But I digress. This guy, who supposedly smells like licorice (I don’t even know), is a creepy, creepy person. He’s just disturbing and that’s really all I can say without too many spoilers. Bleck. The quality that almost redeems this book is the plot, as I said, and I was really interested in how things turned out. There were some parts where I just had to put it down and then give it a break, but for the most part it held my attention. I liked how thought out it seemed and the twists in it. I also really liked that in the copy that I read the words were in purple ink. I kind of love colored ink. All together, not the worst book I’ve read this summer, but not really a great book either. I started to read the sequel (which has a terrifying cover - yikes), but I was busy reading other books and I had my driver’s ed class going on and it wasn’t really holding my interest so I returned it to the library but maybe I’ll pick up again at some point to see how things turn out. I was pretty satisfied with the way Splintered ended though, so I don’t really feel the need to start reading this series again. What are your thoughts on this book? Have you read it? Do you plan to? Do you like Wonderland books or retelling books in general? I’d love to hear what you think! Leave me a comment or a suggestion or a question or anything! I’m late, I’m late, for a very important… snack time, I guess. Image Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12558285-splintered?ac=1&from_search=true Personal Rating: 1.5 Stars Goodreads Rating: 3.87 Stars As the daughter of King Saul, Michal lives a life of privilege but one that is haunted by her father's unpredictable moods and by competition from her beautiful older sister. When Michal falls for young David, the harpist who plays to calm her father, she has no idea what romance, adventures, and heartache await her. (goodreads.com) Happy Monday, y'all! I hope you had a wonderful weekend filled to the very brim with awesomeness! Lately I’ve been reading through 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel for my devotions and it came to mind that my grandma had given us these books about the wives of King David and that they might be interesting to read. So I went down to the basement where there is a little library-school-room type of thing (I’m in charge of organizing the books and that isn’t going well at the moment) and dug out this book and it’s sequel. Then I started to read. Now I wish I hadn’t. For those of you who may not have been raised up on Bible stories and Sunday School songs, let me give you a little background. David, the guy who killed Goliath, was married many times (though, not as many times as his son Solomon, who was married to about 700 women) at the same time. No, Christians do not support bigamy or polygamy and I’m about as weirded out as you are. Having multiple wives is not good and yet here we have David, the man after God’s own heart, getting married again and again. It’s weird, man, and at the moment I can’t really figure out what was going on. I’ll probably look into it, but it’s weird. Out of David’s many wives, his first was Michal, daughter of King Saul (a guy who really wanted to kill David). This book described the relationship between David and Michal. It’s going to be kind of hard to review this book because it is based on actual events as described in the Bible, but I shall try my best. Fasten your seatbelts folks and here we go. The best comparison for this book is running the mile in the Presidential Fitness Test. Back when I actually participated in this testing there was nothing I dreaded more than running a mile. I’d take a hundred flu vaccination (something else I loathe) and eating a bucket full of carrots (least favorite vegetable) over running that mile. However, I always did it and even though my time wasn’t great, it wasn’t awful either. Anyway, reading this book reminded me of running the mile. The first chunk or lap is okay, you’ve got a good pace going and you can’t be sure of how things will turn out. Then comes the second lap or section and you are growing weary, wondering if you’re nearly there. On the third lap/book part you are panting, aching, and wishing this thing would just finish up and get over with because you really cannot stand it a moment longer. Finally you’re on the last lap and though you are dying and stumbling over yourself to get to the finish line, that last hundred meters isn’t so bad after all. Then you flop over on the ground and possibly throw up. The throwing up thing only happened with the running, not the reading, but I think my point still stands. As you can probably tell by that last paragraph and my rating (wonder of wonders, it’s actually lower than my rating for Me Before You!) I did not like or enjoy this book. I don’t even know why I kept reading it. Can I tell you something about Christian fiction (aka Inspirational fiction, as listed in libraries)? It’s mostly written by really great and neat Christian people who want to share the Gospel through stories or put some good old fashioned morals into storytelling. The problem is, these lovely Christian people are so excited about getting the Word of God out there that they forget a tiny detail… they can’t write. Now, this is a very stereotypical statement, and I have read some excellent Christian books before, but the fact is that these stories, moral filled though they are, aren’t as interesting as many other novels. Christian authors tend to be so focused on stuffing a story full with good morals that the plot and characters suffer. Knowing that David gets married to several women made it kind of hard for me to get into the romance of this book. At first it seemed like a regular old love story, but then they get separated and he gets married again and again and she gets married again and then they get thrown back together and the romance is trying desperately to hold on, but it just vanishes. I’d say that this book started out as a romance and ended up as a… well I don’t know exactly. This is definitely not a book for feminists. You probably guessed as much when I mentioned the polygamy. Aside from that fact, it was also very hard to read from Michal’s POV as she pretty much idolizes David and is helpless without him. We do get a turn around by the end of the book, and I almost liked the last chapter, but for the most part Michal is pathetic. Then there was David. As a child I’d hear stories about David and think he was the coolest guy in the Bible (apart from Jesus of course, because when you are in Sunday school no one is cooler than Jesus - actually, when you are anywhere, no one is cooler than Jesus). David slew Goliath, David was an awesome king, David did what God told him to, David was the best. Then I read this book and we have David start out as kind of cool, but then he turned into this guy who treats his wives as nothing more than objects to further his political campaign and who pretty much blames Michal for all the problems they have (granted, many of the problems were her fault). One thing that was good about this book was it’s historical accuracy. Of course, the author seemed so focused on the accuracy that she was afraid to add any more detail than necessary. Basically, if you want to know the plot of this book I’d suggested reading 1st and 2nd Samuel, it will save you a lot of time and provide all the same information without the romantic bits, which were hard to read anyway. An awkward topic portrayed awkwardly with awkward situations and awkward wording. The whole thing was tough to read and had me cringing through most of it. Safe to say, I won’t be reading the next two books in this series (Abigal and Bathsheba - golly, I don’t even want to think about how disastrous the one on Bathsheba would be). What are your thoughts? Should I have given this book a little more leniency? Have you ever read this book or do you plan to? Do you think I should do a Friday opinion post about Christian fiction? I’d love to hear what you think! Comment below! For more information about Michal and her role in David’s life I suggest Bible Gateway’s Article about her. Well, that’s it for me today. See y’all later! Image Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6140017-michal?ac=1&from_search=true As some of you may know, Artemis Fowl (review coming soon) is one of my favorite book series of all time. When I was younger I didn’t read the Harry Potter stuff, I didn’t even really want to. I didn’t care about a school of wizardry and the bespeckled boy who attended it. I was more interested in a secret underground fairy civilization and a teenage mastermind who tried to exploit it. Since Eoin Colfer wrote his series about four years after J.K. Rowling wrote hers and at the time there were many Harry Potter knock offs, many people assume that Artemis Fowl is one of those knock-offs. It very well might be, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about today. Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about Sherlock Holmes. There was a lecture about him at my local library a while ago and I’ve recently become a fan of BBC’s Sherlock. At the lecture I attended the speaker noted that many famous duos (crime solving or otherwise) are based off of Sherlock and Watson (the example she gave was Batman and Robin). My mind instantly jumped to Artemis and Holly and then my brain went nuts making other connections between Holmes and Fowl. Now, as a disclaimer, I don’t really know much about Sherlock Holmes beyond what I’ve been told and what I’ve seen in Sherlock. I’m planning on reading some of the short stories soon, but until then I’m going to base all of my connections on the TV show (which seems kind of awful, but I’m going to do it anyway). Okay, with that out of the way, let’s get started, shall we? An obvious parallel can be drawn between the main characters, Artemis and Sherlock: they are both egg heads. In book three (The Eternity Code), Artemis states: “I never tell anybody exactly how clever I am. They would be too scared.” And in Sherlock Holmes (I don’t know which book, I just Googled it, man!) Sherlock says: “It’s my business to know what other people don’t.” So both are genii and both know this. They’re both rather arrogant as well, though out of the two I’d have to say Artemis is more braggish. The final similarity that I’ll list is that they are both a tad socially awkward. Sherlock has proven himself capable of behaving normally in society when he is undercover, but even when Artemis chooses a disguise he is always someone who is distant from human interaction (for instance, “Alfonse” in The Opal Deception). In the television show, Sherlock says that he has no friends and Artemis is of a similar disposition, though both develop close bonds with others over time. Speaking of close bonds, let’s talk about our smarty-pants’ closest pals. There is no dispute over Sherlock’s BFF, but when trying to find a match for Watson in the Artemis Fowl stories we have two options: Butler and Holly Short. Butler has known Artemis since birth and at the beginning of the series he is the only person Artemis trusts. Like Watson, Butler carries the gun rather than the brain, but has enough experience to know what he’s doing. These comparisons make Butler out to be the Watson to Artemis’ Sherlock, but more convincing argument can be made for Holly. She has the same qualifications as Butler, in that she carries a weapon and Artemis trusts her very highly. On top of that, Holly also has the ability to magically heal people (and with the many injuries the crew receives she’s getting very good at it) much like a doctor… kind of like Doctor John Watson. And finally, on top of that Holly’s rank is Captain, the same as Watson. Out of Holly and Butler, I really think Holly is a closer match to Watson, but that’s just my opinion.
Let’s talk about villains, shall we? James Moriarty from Sherlock Holmes and Opal Koboi from Artemis Fowl. To be sure, there are plenty of villains in each series, but these two are the most poignant. They share many, many traits - probably more that Artemis and Sherlock do. Here are some of the main ones: Both are said to be an equal match for their “good” counterpart in the brains department, though you wouldn’t know it by looking at them. Both have many eccentricities and both are well funded. Both are willing to make great sacrifices for the good of their plan (I can’t tell you the details because that would be spoiling, but they go to drastic measures to get what they want). Both really, really like killing people - Opal once saying: “Why can’t I solve this problem by killing someone?” and Moriarty regarding life as near worthless because dying is “what people do” (not sure if that’s in the books, but it’s in the show). I think the main difference between them is how they view their “arch-nemeses”. Opal is aware that Artemis is intelligent and knows that a certain amount of skill and thought are needed to best him, but she tends to underestimate him, viewing him more as a child to be put in his place. Moriarty, on the other hand wants someone to be as smart as he is so that he can find a way to outsmart them, he’s bored and wants a challenge, which is what he thinks Sherlock is. They’re goals also differ. For Opal it’s all about world domination. Moriarty is of the mind that if he really wanted to, he could take over the world, but in the end he’s really just bored. That covers the main villains, but we know there are others. How about Irene Adler? For one thing, I don’t know much about Ms. Adler beyond what is in the TV show (and I had to fast forward a lot of the parts she was in), and for another, I don’t like her character. Similarly, I don’t recall much about Minerva Paradizo, and I’m not very fond of her character. Neither of these women are lacking in the brain department. They are both beautiful and manipulative. Both of them have garnered the attention of the title character. While we’re not entirely sure that Sherlock feels romantically about Irene, when Artemis first sees Minerva we get the idea that he has a slight crush.
In conclusion (I know, finally, right?), Artemis is really less of a Harry Potter knock-off and more of a Sherlock Holmes wannabe. It’s funny, I hadn’t even considered Doyle’s character to be an inspiration for Colfer’s until I had that one passing thought. And now I have a giant blog post about it. Hopefully I didn’t bore you too much with my rambling. I had a lot of fun thinking about this and if you are a fan of either of these series I hope you had fun too.
What are some similarities you noticed? Do you think Arty is basically just a younger Sherlock? Should I do a post like this again or do you not really care about this sort of thing? Tell me what you thought in the comment section below! I’d love to hear from you. Considering the game is afoot, I’d probably best be off! Thanks for reading! Personal Rating: 4 Stars Goodreads Rating: 3.88 Stars Valkyrie: Norse Goddess. Reaper of Souls. Defender of the Weak. Not someone you want to mess with… Freya is dreading her upcoming birthday when she’ll officially have to take up her duties as a Valkyrie. She doesn’t want to follow in the footsteps of the legends before her—legends including her mother and sisters. And she certainly doesn’t want anything to do with humans! Freya thinks humans are cruel, hate-filled creatures, but as she observes their world, she begins to wonder what it would be like to make friends with the girls or laugh with the boys she sees. And what would it be like to live without the fear that she could cause someone’s death with a single touch? Then when she’s sent on her first mission, she reaps the soul of a fallen soldier with unfinished business…business that sends her on an epic quest to the mortal world. Will Freya find the true meaning of being a human, or will she finally accept the legend she is destined to become? (goodreads.com) If you’ve met me you can probably guess that I love Marvel superheroes. There is rarely a day that passes when I’m not wearing an Avengers T-shirt. I’m wearing one as I write this. If you know anything about Marvel then you know that the Norse god of thunder, Thor, happens to be one of the characters in the comics, cartoons, and movies. Since I like Marvel and since I like mythology, I checked out a book about Norse mythology from my local library and read it to my siblings using my best impersonations of Marvel Thor, Loki, and Odin. It was great. Those myths are hilarious. I loved it and wished I could read some more. So when I popped into the bookstore and found a book about Valkyries I snatched it up. I do not regret this decision at all. This is a middle grade book so you’d think it’d be too young for me, a girl of blank years. Well, one thing you should know about me if you’re going to keep reading this blog is that I adore children’s books. Regardless, I think this is a good book for teenagers as well. The main characters are either in high school or a year before. It’s hinting at romance in several places, but never really initiates anything more than platonic relationships (truth be told, that’s kind of a nice change from the YA books I have been reading with tons of unnecessary love triangles). I think the next book will probably explore the friendship between our main girl Freya and her best bud Archie, but I don’t know that for sure. Speaking of Freya and Archie, let’s talk about our main characters. Freya is pretty cool in my opinion. She’s a little annoying at some parts, but I think she behaves a lot like a real fourteen (six hundred in human years) year old and sometimes fourteen year olds are irritating creatures (no offense fourteen year olds, but when you get older you will see that you do some of the silliest things - when I was fourteen I thought it was cool to have three cloth headbands wrapped around my wrist and wear a black hoody everywhere, silly me). So, while Freya sometimes gets on my nerves, for the most part she isn’t so bad. Mostly, she’s curious about the human world or has misconceptions about the human world that cause her to behave stupidly at times. Her best friend Archie is interesting. He has great potential to be an awesome character, but in this book he’s really not that exciting. His brother (who we never meet because he’s in prison) sounds like an interesting character based off of what Archie tells Freya, but Archie doesn’t have that much going for him. I’m about 80% certain that Loki is the main antagonist in this story (surprise, surprise), but there is also this odd and violent child named JP who is kinda awful. Who am I kidding? That boy is dangerously nasty. I wonder what his initials stand for (probably Jerk Person). Anywho, Loki is very mischievous in this story and in the acknowledgements in the back Kate O’Hearn says she mostly based him off Tom Hiddleston’s portrayal from the movies. Based off of the descriptions of Thor, I’d say he’s based off of Chris Hemsworth’s Thor as well. Plot wise, this book held up very nicely. It was sort of like a superhero story but also a “I want to go to the school dance” story. Personally, I liked it. The one critique I would have on the plot is that it moves really quickly. I think this is possibly because it is for younger readers than the books I’m used to and some younger folks have shorter attention spans so you have to give them the facts. As a whole, I really liked this book and I think middle grade readers and some teenagers would enjoy it as well. Can I also just say that the cover is gorgeous? Oh man, it’s so cool and I can’t get over it. The wings and the red hair and her armor and the font and - ugh! So cool. I know, as a book lover, this is an awful thing to say, but the book is worth reading just so you can stare at that awesome cover. Dude. It’s awesome. It’s even better in person. But I digress, the book has a good story and fun characters and I hope if you read it you’ll like it too. I may have to do another post all about Norse myths sometime because they are the funniest things you’ve ever read. If you’ve ever read any, which one is your favorite? Or if you haven’t read any, who is your favorite superhero (or supervillain)? What are your opinions on this book or this book review? What can I do to make my reviews more interesting for you? Let me know in the comments below (that rhymes)! Thanks for reading! Mwahahaha! Image source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25785662-valkyrie Personal Rating: 2.5 Stars Goodreads Rating: 4.03 Stars Princess Taoshira of the Blue Crescent Islands is appalled when she is ordered to marry Prince Ramil of Gerfal. And he's not too pleased, either. She is used to a life of discipline, ritual, and splendor. He is used to hunting and carousing. They hate each other on sight. But both of their countries are under threat from a fearsome warlord, and the only chance of peace is to form an alliance. When Tashi and Ram are kidnapped, they fear there's no escape--from their kidnappers or from each other. Can they put aside their differences long enough to survive ambush, unarmed combat, brainwashing, and imprisonment? And will the people they meet on their adventure--including a circus strongman, a daring rebel leader, a sinister master of spies, and the best female fighter they have ever seen--help them or betray them to the enemy? (goodreads.com) I hate to say it, but, apart from the strange religions and romantic scenes in this book, it seems like something I could have written in eighth grade (no offense to eighth graders, I was just an awful writer at that age). The plot was exciting, but the characters and writing style were really boring. It seemed like it dragged on and on with weird descriptions and awkward POV changes. While I was held in suspense by the actual story line, I found myself not caring about what happened to the characters. Tashi is… okay. She is strong and courageous for the most part. She’s kind and gentle on a regular basis. There’s really nothing wrong with this character, but for some reason she annoyed the heck out of me (pardon my language). You know those people who you know, and there’s nothing wrong with them, they’re nice and they’ve never done anything to you, but for some reason you just cannot bring yourself to like them? I know, it’s awful to admit to, but I know we all do it (or maybe it's just me and I'm not a very nice person). Anyway, Tashi is one of those characters to me. I just did not like her at all. I knew nothing about her past except that she came from a farm and even though she stuck up for herself in some situations, in others people just plowed over her and she was fine with it. Don’t get me wrong, if I did like her then she’d probably be an awesome character. However, there is that inexplicable dislike. Ramil is an idiot. He was pretty much just a toddler with a crown and excellent horse riding abilities. Undiplomatic, rude, bratty, and drunk, this prince just bothered me. Luckily, he ended up changing some of his ways and by the end of the book he was tolerable. Going through just enough development that I didn’t hate him anymore, but he was still pretty high on the stupid-o-meter. On the other hand, I think his father was probably one of my favorite characters. You know who else I didn’t like? The villain. He was boring and sort of cliché. His sister was disturbing. What am I saying? They were both disturbing! They created a religion based on murder! They are the kind of villains who are so weird and gross that you don’t really even hate them, you just want to sit them in time-out and find a better antagonist for the book. One fun thing about him was that I imagined him to look just like Lord Dingwall from Pixar’s Brave and it was hilarious. In conclusion, it wasn’t the worst book in the world, but I don’t really recommend it. The cover is pretty fantastic though so I can see why anyone would be drawn in by it. That about wraps this up. Have you read this book? Do you plan to? Do you think I gave it an unfair review? Tell me what you think in the comment section below! I’d love to hear about this book, another book you want me to talk about, or ways I can improve my blogging! Thanks! Image Sources: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6449920-dragonfly?ac=1&from_search=true
Have you ever heard of “deduction”? If you watch Sherlock (or any other detective show) or have read Sherlock Holmes then you know what I mean. Figuring out details of a situation or person by looking at the clues around you. Pretty much it’s just being observant and decoding those observations. That’s what I like to do with used books. It’s the reason I’m so thrilled when I see that people wrote in the book or scribbled their name on the title page. It gives me more to go on. To be sure, I can still deduce some things when it’s not written out. My copy of Inkheart is a badly torn paperback (even more so after I read it five times) and was like that when I got it. This could mean that the person who owned it before hated books. Or maybe they loved the story and couldn’t stop gripping the thing in excitement (resulting in a great many pages falling out). Or maybe a baby got a hold of it… or a dog. Yeah, I’m not really the best Holmes, but I have fun trying. Sometimes it’s not the condition of the book itself that’s so exhilarating, but what people have used as bookmarks. Okay, so I used to intern at my local library and one of the things I got to do was go through the donated books and check how good of condition they were in (and if I liked them I got to keep them, which was probably the best perk ever). Eventually, I noticed that books had things stuck in them, things like cute bookmarks. I eagerly began to flip through all the pages of the donated books to see what I could find. Here is some of what turned up:
Of course, this has started me on a habit of going through every used book I bring home. Thus far I have found a pressed flower, a ribbon giving specific verses in the Bible for specific situations, a few more receipts, a used airplane ticket from Dallas, and a bunch of scraps of paper that were utterly insipid. Apart from playing detective, what else can I get out of buying somebody else’s used, potentially grimy, tattered book? I mean, why don’t I just get the same book from a bookstore or online? Um, because it’s way cheaper, duh. Did you know I once got 17 books from a library book sale for $7.50? Cause I did. One of those books was in pristine condition and would have cost me $16 at its original price. I got it for 25 cents. Okay, so what if I was a bajillionaire who didn’t need to worry about the prices of books? What’s in it for me now? Used books are useless to me now, right? *hits buzzer* Wrong! You can find the coolest antique books when you go looking for used books. Shall I giveth thee an example? Indeed I shall. When browsing at an antique shop once, I found this book titled: Polite Society at Home and Abroad. It was published in 1891 and depicts what you should do to be a regular snooty-snot in the olden days. Quite frankly, it is hilarious. Another time I found this amazing atlas (Rand McNally World Atlas International Edition) that was published in 1941. It is so neat and historically awesome. If I ever go time traveling to World War II I’m bringing it with me. I’ve gotten two other antique books that are super duper awesome. To sum it up: I love used books. What are your feelings on used books? Do you like or dislike them? Are you neutral? Are you wondering where you can get some? To answer that last question: go to your library and ask if and when they will have a book sale (on top of getting books you also get to support your library!), when you see a garage sale, locate the tub or box or table that will have the books and go through them until you’ve either found something you want or you are certain there is nothing in the pile you could ever want, check online to see if there are any used bookstores near you, check your local newspaper for advertisements about charity sales going on, or you can look at eBay and Craigslist or other online places. I wish you the best of luck in your hunting! Personal Rating: 2 Stars Goodreads Rating: 4.3 Stars Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick. What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane. Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that. What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time. (goodreads.com) The reason I read this book was because of the movie that came out recently. I hadn’t seen the movie, but I’d seen the trailers and it looked so adorable and sweet. I put the book on hold at my local library and waited. In the time that I was waiting for the book to come in, I had plans to go see the movie with my mom and sister. A few hours before we’d planned to go to the theater I decided to check out the Plugged In review to make sure it was something I actually wanted to see. Turns out, it really wasn’t. I’m not going to say here why that is, but I will post a spoiler section below just in case you are wondering why I had absolutely zero interest in this. After finding out about the movie, why would I want to read the book still? Well, it had just come into the library and I wanted to see for myself what the plot was like because I know movies don’t always portray their books very well. I read it. It was a very easy read and very entertaining for the most part. Definitely an adult book because of a few parts in it, but if those parts had been left out then this book probably would have been marketed at teens. It was a nice book; the writing was good, the characters were fun, and the plotting wasn’t overly cliche. However, since I’d read the Plugged In review, I knew what was coming and I couldn’t enjoy the story at all. When I got to the end I wanted to throw the book away from me or light it on fire. It disgusted me. It made me truly, truly sad - and not the kind of sad where you get a little teary eyed, close the book, sigh, and rave about it to your friends. This was the kind of sad that made me go hug my mom for comfort and wish I’d never seen that movie trailer. What could have possibly happened? I can’t really tell you without giving away spoilers (though I’d actually recommend looking at spoilers for this book before deciding to read it), but it was not good. It was a wretched thing to read and I can’t imagine why someone would want to write this story and have what happens happen. Of course, you know this is only my opinion and you can think whatever you like about this book. I know there are some people who love it, but I cannot say that I am one of them. The characters were pretty good. Lou was sweet and interesting (though I feel like a story about her family might have been more enjoyable), but sometimes a bit annoying. Will was kind of irritating. He was alright, I guess, but for the most part I just wanted to slap him. So, on the whole, I did not like this book nor do I recommend it. I’ve heard there is a sequel, but I won’t be reading it. I’m going to include a spoiler section now (click Read More to view), which I suggest you read before reading the book (which is kind of a weird thing to suggest), but you don’t have to. National Suicide Prevention Hotline (USA): 1-800-273-8255 Crisis Text Line (USA): 741741 Image source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15507958-me-before-you?ac=1&from_search=true Personal Rating: 5 Stars Goodreads Rating: 4.25 Stars As Florin and Guilder teeter on the verge of war, the reluctant Princess Buttercup is devastated by the loss of her true love, kidnapped by a mercenary and his henchmen, rescued by a pirate, forced to marry Prince Humperdinck, and rescued once again by the very crew who absconded with her in the first place. In the course of this dazzling adventure, she'll meet Vizzini - the criminal philosopher who'll do anything for a bag of gold; Fezzik - the gentle giant; Inigo - the Spaniard whose steel thirsts for revenge; and Count Rugen - the evil mastermind behind it all. Foiling all their plans and jumping into their stories is Westley, Princess Buttercup's one true love and a very good friend of a very dangerous pirate. (goodreads.com) Okay, this book probably doesn’t need any introduction. Pretty much every person I’ve ever spoken to has seen the movie The Princess Bride. However, significantly less people have read the book. A lot of people didn’t even know there was a book. Well there is, and I just finished reading it a few days ago. Let me tell you, it was as wonderful as the movie. The plot is basically the same as the movie’s plot, but there is another story in this book that they don’t talk about very much in the movie. What story? Why the tale of that little boy the grandpa is reading this novel to! You remember him, right? Columbo was his grandfather. Anyway, it turns out that the kid is supposed to be the author, William Goldman, as a child. The edition of the book that I read had two or three introductions that were supposedly about Goldman’s real life and how his father read him The Princess Bride when he was a boy and only read “the good parts”, leaving out long chunks of narrative written by the “original author”, S. Morgenstern. I looked into it and it turns out he made all of this stuff up. Goldman was simply writing a story and decided to write an abridged book of a book that never existed. It’s kind of confusing, but not really necessary information. Moving on. I think the reason the movie was such a big hit is because it stuck so closely to the book. I mean, sure there were a few things different, but the changes made the movie flow more smoothly. A lot of the dialogue is word for word from the book and most of the locations are described exactly as the movie portrays them. Good job movie making people! Good job! Somethings I liked about the book were that we got to delve deeper into Inigo’s backstory and we actually got to know about Fezzik’s life before Vizzini. For instance, Domingo Montoya (Inigo's father), actually has a bit of dialogue and we understand the reason why... certain things happen to him. (I know I shouldn't really have to worry about spoilers since everyone knows, but what if someone doesn't know? I'd feel awful!) I love the part about Fezzik's childhood because I think it shows a lot of why Fezzik is so kind. I also adore the fact that when he was in kindergarten he was as tall as an average man. One thing I did not like about the book was that Buttercup was kind of an idiot. In the movie she is portrayed as, not a genius, but certainly able to think. Book Buttercup is not smart, doesn’t understand much, and is rather naïve. She’s tolerable though, and the story is lovely. I’m so glad to have read the book now and I highly recommend it to fans of the movie, fans of fantasy, fans of sword fighting, fans of wrestling, fans of hunting, fans of Fire Swamps, and pretty much everyone else. At the end of the edition I read there is a first chapter to a supposed sequel that I doubt will ever become a real thing. The sequel was called Buttercup’s Baby and sort of ruins the ending of The Princess Bride. It was weird and considering it’s unfinished with a horrible cliffhanger, I don’t suggest reading it. That’s it for this one. Buh-bye, have fun storming the castle! (Also, I am aware that I said I'd only be posting on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and that it is Tuesday, but I've never been very good at sticking to schedules. Once I've gotten going on this blog thing I'll probably only be posting three times a week as I said, but for now it could be pretty willy-nilly.) Image Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/438353.The_Princess_Bride (Yes, I am posting two reviews in one day, it's my birthday so I'll do as I please. I might even post another one this evening.) Personal Rating: 4 Stars Goodreads Rating: 4.01 Stars For three years, the Cloaked Bandit has terrorized Wessex, robbing the nobility by knifepoint and a well-placed arrow. But little does anyone know, this bandit is in fact Juliana Wessex, the rightful ruler of the land and a girl her tyrannical uncle—the current Lord Wessex—believes was killed along with her father. Juliana has become skilled at hiding from Lord Wessex in the forest, using her stolen goods to provide food and shelter to the peasants her uncle has taxed into poverty. But when she robs Collin Goodrich, her red hair betrays her true identity. Lord Collin remembers Juliana from their childhood—and challenges her to stay on his estate for a week in hopes she will leave her thieving ways and become a proper lady once more. Juliana is intrigued by Collin and his charms, but only time will tell if he can overcome her distaste of the nobility—as well as win her heart. (goodreads.com) I won an ARC (Advance Reader Copy) of this book in a Goodreads giveaway and because of that I purchased and read the first book in the series, An Uncertain Choice. Personally, I enjoyed this book much more than the one before it. I liked the action scenes, the characters, and the settings better than I liked those features in the first book. While I liked Juliana better than I liked Rosemarie (from the first book), I still had a hard time getting attached to her. She brags quite frequently, which was tolerable for a while, but got on my nerves at certain points. I liked that she didn’t mind stealing at first, but came to realize it was not the path she should be taking in her life. I also liked that she was out in the battles with all of the guys, instead of being rescued most of the time like other female protagonists (cough, cough, Lady Rosemarie, cough, cough). She was a decent character, but she’s not a memorable one. Lord Collin was by far my favorite part of this book. While the guys in YA novels are hardly ever very interesting to me, Lord Collin pretty much made this book. Not his constant flirting, which was a bit hard to read, but his all around personality. He was funny, he was witty, and I was genuinely concerned for what would happen to him in this story. I’m glad that many of the chapters were told from his perspective, in contrast to An Uncertain Choice, where the male protagonist gets very few chapters in his voice and the ones that he does get are kind of dull. I never felt bored with Collin’s chapters. The plot for this story was good, but it felt a bit too much like the plot from the first book. Much of both stories were centered around helping the poor, which I have no objection to, but they never really helped the peasants in concrete ways. They gave out food and clothing, but eventually those things will run out or fall apart. What I would have liked to see was the MCs helping their people to help themselves. Setting aside farming land, altering laws, or creating jobs. I did like that in A Daring Sacrifice that they wound up building homes for the poor, but I still felt they could have done more. The peasants in this series actually seem kind of lazy because they aren’t farming or working at trades. Unfortunately, the peasants, apart from a few, were mostly just props in the story. Once again, A Daring Sacrifice did much better about including the poor as actual characters that An Uncertain Choice, but it still only gave about three peasants names. The fight scenes were exciting and interesting in this book, though the final battle seemed very similar to the fight scene at the end of the first one. I liked the physical fights as well as the verbal ones. Collin and Irene’s arguments were particularly interesting. Irene in herself was an amusing character and she reminded me a lot of Caroline Bingley from Pride and Prejudice. Some of this stuff I’m just being snooty about, but as a whole I enjoyed this book immensely and I’m very happy to have read it. The third book to this series, For Love and Honor, is set to come out March 7th, 2017 and I am quite excited for it. Until next time! Image: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25280316-a-daring-sacrifice |
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