Giveaway

I've been reading some interesting books recently, but haven't had time to post about them. I'd also like to tell you guys about this giveaway: http://wp.me/p4e15h-2LM

That's all for now. 

April Update: Two short book reviews

Hey, it's been ages since I last wrote, but I have some time now to type some quick thoughts down. School's been hectic, but I really do like keeping this blog updated.

Watchmen  by Alan Moore

• Absolutely wonderful read
• Can start off a bit slow
• Superb ending (Adrian Veidt's my baby)
• Beautiful art that fits the story line and transcends the graphic novel format
• 5 stars

Marcelo in the Real World  by Francsico X. Stork

• Certainly an adequate read
• The main character is interesting and pithy, some poignant moments 
• Writer tries too hard to be witty and generally falls flat
• 3 stars

Currently, I'm in the process of reading Victor Hugo's Les Miserable (the giant brick that it is), so I won't be updating much until I finish! It's very insightful, but definitely long-winded. The parts with Valjean and Cosette (where I'm at right now) are great.

Multi-genre book reviews: What I've been reading recently

Hi everyone! I thought I 'd drop in, see how everyone's doing, and update you on my reading! 

Since my last post in September (yikes, I can't believe it's December already!), I've finished a few books, many of which I posted about over the summer, including:

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock 

• I generally liked it
• The motivations of a teenage killer are pretty enjoyable and relevant to today
• Funny moments throughout
• Extremely popular among my friends
• 4 stars 

Belle Epoque 

• Really enjoyable since it combines two of my passions, France and historical fiction
• Maude's love of photography is extremely genuine
• Interesting situations and plot, very creative
• 4 stars 

The Geography Club 

• Too undemanding in my opinion, though an interesting film adaptation is coming out soon
• Juvenile writing
• Good representation of GSRM, but otherwise flat plot
• 2 stars

I Am the Messenger 

• Extremely realistic portrayal of characters
• Fascinating plot that falls flat in some parts, but picks itself up accordingly
• Mystery is under-developed for sake of relationship drama (friends, family, romantic) but fits the story well, nonetheless
• Great message, feel-good story
• 4 stars

So Yesterday 

• Lacking coherent plot, unnaturally-written
• Defeatist ending
• Extremely disappointing 
• 1 star

Jellicoe Road 

• Enjoyable read, especially since a film adaptation is currently shooting
• Ending really wraps up loose ends
• Beginning is a little confusing, but the story is understandable enough
• 5 stars

Still Star-Crossed

• Believable plot, liked the characters from start to end
• Not extremely memorable, though I am now sold on Rosaline/Benvolio 
• 3.5 stars

And now, I've started reading Alan Moore's Watchmen, so look out for a post on that soon! Unitl next time! Feel free to reach out to me on my tumblr on semi-hiatus, http://reasonstoread.tumblr.com/

-S

Book Review: The School For Good And Evil by Soman Chainani

Author: Soman Chainani

Publisher:  HarperCollins

Publication Date: May 14th 2013

Pages: 488

Who will read it: (young adults and up) People interested in fantasy with deep emotional undercurrent not buried by action

Rating: 4/5

Buy: Amazon / Barnes&Noble

Official Synopsis: “The first kidnappings happened two hundred years before. Some years it was two boys taken, some years two girls, sometimes one of each. But if at first the choices seemed random, soon the pattern became clear. One was always beautiful and good, the child every parent wanted as their own. The other was homely and odd, an outcast from birth. An opposing pair, plucked from youth and spirited away.”

This year, best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to discover where all the lost children go: the fabled School for Good & Evil, where ordinary boys and girls are trained to be fairy tale heroes and villains. As the most beautiful girl in Gavaldon, Sophie has dreamed of being kidnapped into an enchanted world her whole life. With her pink dresses, glass slippers, and devotion to good deeds, she knows she’ll earn top marks at the School for Good and graduate a storybook princess. Meanwhile Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks, wicked pet cat, and dislike of nearly everyone, seems a natural fit for the School for Evil.

But when the two girls are swept into the Endless Woods, they find their fortunes reversed—Sophie’s dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses, and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School For Good, thrust amongst handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication.. But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are…?

The School for Good & Evil is an epic journey into a dazzling new world, where the only way out of a fairy tale is to live through one.

My Review

Plot: While a little lengthy for younger readers, I felt the story was jumped into as quickly as possible with little hesitation. The characters are immediately revealed to be Sophie and Agatha, a truly unlikely pair of friends. Immediately, I was enthralled with their struggles which reminded me vaguely of my own worries about school. They each struggle with the expectations placed on them by society, but are still filled with the incredible capability to hope. In fact, I think their very age and naivety drove the plot forward. Only with their brilliant schemes were they going to achieve their dreams. The schools were both so vividly described and completely engaging even for the casual reader. While nothing is allowed to be original anymore, I eagerly compare the plot to that of Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and also the musical, Wicked. Even the mystery at the end was very well-played.

Characters: 

Sophie: I despised her from the beginning. Even as “good” and as beautiful as she was, obviously, her thoughts revealed a deep streak of menace. Cunningly, she manipulates everyone around her in a way I find most impressive, but despicable. As such an under-estimated femme fatale and villain, she inspired me, and I actually found myself rooting for her at times.

Agatha: A loving, gracious girl who demonstrates wit and kindness. She adapts fairly well and is definitely the “level-headed” one out of the pair. Very admirable and courageous as well as relatable in her efforts to preserve order and peaces as well as astute in her observations of others.

Relationships/ Romance: Sometimes, the relationships in the story got a little tedious! But the kiss at the end, wow, a pretty big shocker! Not spoiling between which two characters the kiss is between, but it was pretty magical.

Writing Style: The style was also a bit tiresome and dull at parts since the sentences did not always flow as smoothly together as I would have liked. Several times, I had to re-read a paragraph or two back because I had lost the author’s train of thought. Overall, a little confusing.

Best lines/Favorite part: When Agatha is saving Sophie from the School Master. Honestly, the book was worth it for just this one scene.

Ending: Cliffhangers! A little exasperating that there are so few answers at the end, but still enjoyable. I have my own prediction that the two are transported back home, and I can’t wait to find out if I’m right in the sequel. The ending is not as satisfying as it could be, but I am definitely anxious to get my hands on any meta I can.

The Star-worthy Aspects: A magical and enchanting story with two great female leads and a possible queer romance! The detail in this world is to die for.

The Deficiencies: Very long novel, a little confusing to read at times. A lot of secondary characters on the good side were not as fleshed out as the ones on the evil side.

Rating and Closing Remarks: This book receives a respectable 4/5 from me because though I loved it thoroughly and even recommended it to many of my friends, it could still have used some improvement.

#Bonus Points: A sequel called A World Without Princes has already come out, and I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of it.

Also, the book is becoming a motion picture produced by Universal Studios planned for 2015! Honestly, I would love to see certain actresses play Agatha and Sophie… and if any producers want to contact me about my choices or about needing help on the script, I wouldn’t really mind. ;)

I’ve actually got some great book recommendations based off my enjoyment of this including, Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger and  The Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones.

If you would like to find out more about Soman Chainani and his other books and films, please contact him at his website here: http://somanchainani.net/contact/

-S

Books galore and no time to read them

I recently got some new books! I'm really excited about starting them, so I thought I'd share the goodness.

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

The Different Girl by Gordon Dahlquist

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

Belle Epoque by Elizabeth Ross

Still Star-Crossed by Melinda Taub

Can't wait to finish the first one. I'll update with a review when I do. 

-S

Book Review: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

Rating: 1/5

Official Synopsis: Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow.

This improbable story of Christopher's quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years.

My Review

Plot:  While the book’s mystery started off very engaging, I soon felt very weary of the unrelated tangents the story suddenly followed. The absolute blandness of the setting prevented me from fully empathizing with Christopher, and I felt exasperated by his decisions. The ending was disappointing.

Characters: 

Christopher is a young autistic boy living with his father, Ed. I liked his initiative in uncovering the murder of his neighbor’s dog, but his “groaning” and naïve personality grated on me.

Ed is Christopher’s single father who lies to his son about Judy, Christopher’s mother. He is portrayed as impulsive and plain. Pretty boring.

Judy whom Christopher believes has died of a heart attack before the book’s start had been having an affair with Mr. Shears and moved out, a truth Christopher attempts to uncover.

Relationships/ Romance: The family relationships between Christopher and his father were simple and very realistic. His more complicated relationship with his mother was explored in an uninteresting, trite way that ended with an unsatisfying resolution. Judy’s relationship with Mr. Shears seemed short-lived and devoid of true emotion, fitting for their break-up. I sympathized with Christopher’s feelings of terror and distrust towards his father by the end, still reeling from the fact that ED HAD VICIOUSLY MURDERED A DOG!

Writing Style: Rather lengthy and divergent from the plot.

Ending: This book ended rather happily with Christopher taking his A-levels and meeting his mother again.

The Star-worthy Aspects: I had heard a lot of good reviews regarding the book’s treatment of social disability. The mystery being solved by an autistic protagonist seemed interesting.

The Deficiencies: I felt completely detached from the novel and getting through the writing was a dreadful ordeal. The mystery was solved early on and with little suspense.

Rating and Closing Remarks: I would not recommend this book to anyone. It receives a 1/5 rating from me for being tedious and melodramatic.

Bonus Points: The Monty Hall problem (as I had previously learned from The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow – a good read though long!) was described!

Suppose you're on a game show, and you're given the choice of three doors. Behind one door is a car, behind the others, goats. You pick a door, say #1, and the host, who knows what's behind the doors, opens another door, say #3, which has a goat. He says to you, "Do you want to pick door #2?" Is it to your advantage to switch your choice of doors?

Check the answer here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_vos_Savant#The_Monty_Hall_problem

Learn about the play adaptation on its website: http://www.curiousonstage.com/ and its trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9lEsUYlTU0

-S

Music: Upbeat for the weekend

I've had a bit of a crazy week! In fact, I did little reading, though I shared a great conversation with my English teacher on Marcelo in the Real World and The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night-time, books that we enjoyed featuring autistic main characters. I started reading The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K Jemisin which, unfortunately, I abandoned about 1/5th through. I felt as if it was something I should enjoy, being a Hugo and Nebula award nominee, but I expected more from its rather bland heroine and her long drawn out conversations. Thankfully, this week I'm getting some new books! On to the music:

"Say You Like Me" by We The Kings

"Numb" by Usher

"Marry the Night" by Lady Gaga

"Want U Back" by Cher Lloyd

"Domino" by Jessie J

"As long as you love me" by Justin Bieber

"Human Nature" by Michael Jackson

"I'm still into you" by Paramore

"Gone gone gone" by Phillip Phillips

Please check out my tumblr at: http://reasonstoread.tumblr.com/ Thank you!

-S