Libba Bray, Stella Gibbons and Richelle Mead…what a mix!

Rebel Angels was a great finish to an interesting trilogy.

After having read A Great and Terrible Beauty, I was unsure as to what could be expected from the following two books. In fact, I was surprised to hear that they were to publish more. There was so much promise and so much potential (regarding A Great and Terrible Beauty), however the second half of the novel was one of the biggest disappointments in YA. Having said that, it is still quite a good read as it is very well written. When the next two books were published, I got quite the surprise, but still, bought them and read away.

The Sweet Far Thing was everything the first book promised to be, and the ONLY disappointment was that you had to wait until Rebel Angels to complete the story! Rebel Angels was well written, wonderful suspense, with a rather lovely story. One of the elements I really liked was that there was no ending of convenience, even though things tied up nicely, that’s not to say that there were only happy endings. The character development was great, and I think Libba Bray depicted young ladies of the era down to a tee.

It’s worth reading if you like mystery, magic and Victorian era novels, especially for YA fans.

Cold Comfort Farm was a wonderful, fantastic and hilarious novel. I haven’t enjoyed reading this much in a long time.The characters were fantastically depicted, the introductions were hysterical and overall the story was terrific. I’d also recommend reading the intro before reading the novel (in the re-released Popular Penguin Edition).

I think it’s definitely a novel you wish to revisit over and over again, if only to re-read “I saw something nasty in the woodshed…”. I’m kicking myself that I had not read this novel before now!

Do yourself a literary favour, buy this book and read it…NOW!

Blood Promise was everything it should have been. Out of all the YA Vampire genre books, the Vampire Academy series is by far one of the best. Richelle Mead knows what she is doing as an author, and her work is wonderfully organised, makes sense and there never are any plot holes. Her characters are fantastic and believable. Rose and Dimitri, or Rose and Adrian? Who can say? Who knows? What will happen in book 5?

This book was action packed, emotional, and funny. It really was a great read, and I’d recommend this book as a must read for anyone loving the vampire genre! Plus, there are still two books to come!

Egad! How the time doth fly.

Luckily, as initally proposed, I have been diligently reading daily…my failure is in not reporting it!

Thus, I hang my head in shame.

I suppose a good thing I’ve come to realise is that this will probably become a book review site rather than me nattering on and on!

There will be many reviews to follow, I promise, and hopefully they will be helpful!

Keep the reading up!

Little Lady, Big Apple + Wildthorn + The Great Fire

 

 

Little Lady, Big Apple by Hester Browne was a surprisingly entertaining sequel. Little Lady Agency was a wonderful, sweet book; a great debut novel, so I was expecting the sequel to live up to my memories of the first. The characters in Little Lady, Big Apple were funny, and made me laugh even more than the first novel, especially Melissa’s father and sisters, yet I wanted to really whack Jonathan around a bit. The hero should never be annoying and whiny, especially since he was soooo lovely in the first! Sadly, he becomes an annoying prat whom you hope Mel will dump, quickly. The one thing that was surprising about this book was the writing style, as it is very simplistic, and due to this, I found it a little disappointing. Still, I am curious to read the third (and hopefully final).

 

Wildthorn by Jane Eagland may even make it to the books I definitely recommend never to read. The book is historically inaccurate, and the language used is annoying to say the least. The protagonist is weak and evokes no empathy from the reader, nor does she provoke a need to finish the book. I was disappointed (putting it mildly) and really hoped that Jane Eagland would have pushed the boundaries more accurately.

Above all, I found the language that was used, rather condescending to young adults. The people whom pick this novel will be by no means unintelligent, and dumbing down English does not endear this novel to their hearts, nor enrich their minds. I guess if you are looking for something quick and easy, this novel is worth reading, however, if you are expecting something substantial, you may be disappointed.

 

The Great Fire…what can I say? Hmm. I feel so many different things regarding this novel. One thing I really wish was that I had read this novel in another forty years. This novel is perfect for someone wishing to reminisce, yet I feel that life experience is important to be able to appreciate this novel.

It was so beautifully written, it made me ache at times, but there were other moments that I could not relate to in any way as I had not yet experienced such emotions. Empathy has limitations dependent on your personal life, what you have learnt and what knowledge you have gained.

I understand now why many refer to Shirley Hazzard as the one of greatest authors of our time. She has such a subtle prowess at writing that encourages you to read and develop your own emotions regarding characters and situations.

There are many characters in this novel, and it’s almost written as though the first half (before the discovery of love) is dreary and mundane (yet rich language is used) and the second half feels as though an awakening has occurred (which in this instant, it has) and we discover what it is like to feel and to love and to live our life with tribulations and with forbearance, as there will be great reward at the end.

The characters in this novel are interesting and even intriguing at times. You end up wanting to know more about them, how they end up, how they live their lives, but at the same time, you’re not disappointed if you don’t. It’s a novel that is hard to describe and communicate what you felt reading it. The best thing to do is to read it, but after you have lived many years!

The Elegance of the Hedgehog + The Lost Continent

I understand how this book became an instant bestseller. It is wonderful, poignant, witty and an absolute delight to read!

The characters are a breath of fresh air, funny and realistic and all the while you really wanted the Hedgehog to break her habitual facade and let the tennants know just how wonderful she really is! What a joy to read!

Be prepared for tears (something i did not expect and were brough on quite suddenly), but altogether a superbly written novel, and a brilliant read. This is one not to miss!

Since the last post, I also have finally finished The Lost Continent…. It’s a hard one to call, I must admit. There are moments where I was laughing out loud and really enjoying myself, but were too swiftly followed by being mortified and offended.

The books is fun to read, but at the same time, it is one man’s journey (albeit a meiser’s journey) across America, and although entertaining to discover America with him, there seems to be lacking quintessential facts about the places you may one day wish to travel or even about Bryson’s trip itself. Read it for yourself and make your own decision!

For now, I must get on with The Great Fire (this has so far been the bane of my reading existence and I REALLY hope to finish it by the end of the weekend). As you can probably tell, it has not been the most diverting read, but my fingers are crossed for the next half of the book!

Goodbye Eddings, Hello Barbery!

I can now rest easy, having finally finished The Elenium. Fare thee well David Eddings! Maybe I’ll go back to The Belgariad in a year or two, but you never know…

In the interim, I am happily reading a wonderful book, The Elegance of the Hedgehog. So far it has been such a lovely read, and more than anything I yearn to curl up this weekend to finish it, alas, it is not to be. Work calls, and Barbery will have to wait, but at least I’ll have a half hour a day’s worth.

Read it, you’ll probably love it!

The Sapphire Rose

Well, I finally got there! After zipping through he Ruby Knight, I made it to the final book in the trilogy (well sort of, considering the next trilogy follows on).

I must admit, that this is my favourite book in the trilogy, and thank goodness it’s more enjoyable, otherwise there may have been tears! Although, I’m positive I shan’t be moving onto the next trilogy, I would rather leave the memory of how good it was in my teen years unmarred.

So far so good, but no matter how I try to seperate this trilogy from the other Eddings series, I can’t. There are too many similarities and even character quirks that seem to have come directly from the Belgariad. Still, a worthwhile series to read, but after having re-read this trilogy, I would recommend that people read the Elenium before they venture onto the Belagraiad, that way they will probably appreciate it moreso than reading it the other way around.

I’m looking forward to my next book, so here’s hoping The Sapphire Rose will conclude tonight! (Fingers crossed).

Until tomorrow, happy reading!

Days 1 – 7

hmm, well, I do believe I may be off to a bad start! I was supposed to write daily, and it seems to have already lapsed somewhat! ha! Not to worry, we can bend the rules to suit, provided the number one thing has happened (if you’ve already forgotten, it’s to read something everyday).

Day 1
I happily devoured John Green’s An Abundance of Katherines. It was a delightful read with much hilarity leaving you with a wont to read more John Greene. In all honesty though, anyone who’s as obsessed with Marcus Zusak MUST be an excellent author!

Day 2
In homage to the late great David Eddings, I decided it was high time I re-read the Elenium Trilogy. The Diamond Throne is what it promises, although I like Sparhawk, I keep pining for Silk and Belgarath. We’ll see how it goes second time round!

Day 3
Half way through The Diamond Throne, and sadly, it isn’t as great as I remember it…although I’m probably subconsciously comparing it to The Belgariad!

Day 4
YAY! Finished The Diamond Throne, please please please hurry up! I want to finish this trilogy quickly! There are too many good books out there! I have too many books on loan, and have bought too many books to read in this lifetime. Sorry David Eddings, but The Elenium is starting to tire me. It’s terrible I know. Sometimes you just shouldn’t re-read a series. ooo, I’m now mildly distracted by the allure of American Gods (Neil Gaiman)…concentrate! I MUST finish this series.

Day 5 + 6
The Ruby Knight – Book 2! It’s still slow going, but I must admit the characters are great, I really enjoy them, but the story is somewhat lack-lustre. I loved this series so much about 10 years ago, but i can’t help shaking the feeling that “there’s a quest, there’s a stone shaped by a god, there are broad swords and there are the gods” I may have heard all this before.

Day 7
The Ruby Knight – part 3. Here’s hoping to get onto the next book soon! In the meantime, I will dabble a little with nent. I should also finish at some stage The Great Fire and . I’ll get there…Oh yes I shall… until the morrow, adieu.

Welcome book-friends!

Welcome to my page soon to be full of ramblings and diatribes.

This blog is more an encouragement to read a little something everyday (a lot of something though, is even better!).

The aim is to create a community of people who simply like to read! All we have to do is pick anything, read it, and report about it. Easy peasy…or is it?

Fingers crossed people. Good luck, let’s get reading.