I started reading this book during summer and the weather outside was just over 30 degrees. Probably not a good book choice as it was based in Africa. So reading this book I felt everything that was going on in the book so much more. I felt the heat that they were feeling and thus it magnified their emotions and loneliness.
I always wanted to go to Africa, but sadly this book as somewhat changed my mind about how great it was going to be. The two main characters were married and going through a rough patch in their relationship and considering the location they were in the author protrayed perfectly how lonely these two characters were and how differently they both were handling it.
I enjoyed reading about Eric and his mother as they always brought a bit of drama with them and left complete questions and chaos behind them. The character of Turner was also good, and totaly relatable.
In the end it got a bit out of control, not so much with Port dying, as that is believable, but in Kit's becoming a sex slave and being locked up for months. Not sure if I would have ended the book that way, but the author gets points for suprising me...
I quite enjoyed reading this book. It was refreshing to read about something different as the African Sahara and about characters that were very far from perfect. The author didn't describe either of the characters which was good as it doesn't really matter.
The book showed that there are very different places in the world and don't just go somewhere without a little research...
7/10
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
I wanted to read this book before I found out too much about it during it's movie release. Also I heard it's an excellent book and is listed as the people's choice for one of the best books of all time. So I had some elevated expectations and I have to say that it did deliver.
It took me a while to get my head around the whole time travelling thing. The skipping from time to time and getting to know what age is Henry currently speaking and where everyone is. But once I got into the groove of the book I very much enjoyed it. Yes it is a book about love but it's done in such a great way that brings a romance book to a whole new level.
I really enjoyed the lead female character of Clare who was not overshadowed by the strong presence of Henry and his time traveling. I liked the aspect that Henry showed vunerability at his dealing with his genetic disease. Even though this book is considered a romance, the characters do not fall into the typical romance novel stereotypes and because of this are a pleasure to read.
Yes it is a bit unrelistic and througout the book you do realise this at some points however it is written well which enables you to forgive this and overlook it.
I really enjoy reading books that are totaly different than anything out there and this book was one of them. I really enjoyed it.
8/10
It took me a while to get my head around the whole time travelling thing. The skipping from time to time and getting to know what age is Henry currently speaking and where everyone is. But once I got into the groove of the book I very much enjoyed it. Yes it is a book about love but it's done in such a great way that brings a romance book to a whole new level.
I really enjoyed the lead female character of Clare who was not overshadowed by the strong presence of Henry and his time traveling. I liked the aspect that Henry showed vunerability at his dealing with his genetic disease. Even though this book is considered a romance, the characters do not fall into the typical romance novel stereotypes and because of this are a pleasure to read.
Yes it is a bit unrelistic and througout the book you do realise this at some points however it is written well which enables you to forgive this and overlook it.
I really enjoy reading books that are totaly different than anything out there and this book was one of them. I really enjoyed it.
8/10
Sunday, December 13, 2009
The Bronze Horseman - Paullina Simons
I was recommended this book by a good friend of mine, who has a soft spot for romance novels. I don't mind a romance book every now and then so I thought I'd give it a go.
I've re-written this review a few times because I can't word my thoughts properly. I'm a bit confused as to how to put them on paper as they are a bit shuffled.
Yes, I enjoyed the book
but
Yes I found it very annoying to read
and
Yes it did everything that I feared and detest in Romance novels
So writing a review is very hard because I don't know how to explain all these contradictions but still say that it was enjoyable to read.
The main character Tatiana is the typical female character that annoys me in Romance books. Naive, weak, clumsy and a push-over, who falls in love with her sisters boyfriend. The male character, Alexander, is strong, smart, dependable and totaly protective, who of course falls head over heals with his girlfriends sister. There are also complications to do with Alexander being an American and his best friend Dimitri.
The other characters were good to read, and I found that the Cinderella storyline where everyone treated her badly and used her excessively was a bit over the top. Reading how others took advantage of her was one of the hardest bits to read and it made you so frustrated that she could be so weak. But of course Alexander came to the rescue.
Another annoying part of the book was the constant reassuring that Alexander had to do to convince Tatiana that he loved her. He would just finish telling her that she's the one, and something would happen where she would storm off and it would start all over again.
The book felt as if it was a bit slow in some areas where it would repeat some things over and over where it just wasn't necessary.
The Tatiana character did start to get stronger as the book went on so it started to get easier to read. However the author then went from one extreme to the other as she then became so strong that it was almost impossible to believe, almost sub-human. But it's less frustrating.
I loved reading about the war and what people went through, because in today's environment it was a huge eye opener. You really started to appreciate how good we have it now, thanks to the people that fought during the war. The storyline was good, if you forgive the stereotypical characters. By the end I wanted to know more and will move onto the next installment in the trilogy a bit later.
This book is like a friend who is annoying and frustrating when they are around, but you miss them when they are gone.
It wasn't a book that affected me deeply, but it kept me interested and I enjoyed it. Not sure if I would agree that it's one of the best books of all time but then again I'm not really into romance novels.
6/10
I've re-written this review a few times because I can't word my thoughts properly. I'm a bit confused as to how to put them on paper as they are a bit shuffled.
Yes, I enjoyed the book
but
Yes I found it very annoying to read
and
Yes it did everything that I feared and detest in Romance novels
So writing a review is very hard because I don't know how to explain all these contradictions but still say that it was enjoyable to read.
The main character Tatiana is the typical female character that annoys me in Romance books. Naive, weak, clumsy and a push-over, who falls in love with her sisters boyfriend. The male character, Alexander, is strong, smart, dependable and totaly protective, who of course falls head over heals with his girlfriends sister. There are also complications to do with Alexander being an American and his best friend Dimitri.
The other characters were good to read, and I found that the Cinderella storyline where everyone treated her badly and used her excessively was a bit over the top. Reading how others took advantage of her was one of the hardest bits to read and it made you so frustrated that she could be so weak. But of course Alexander came to the rescue.
Another annoying part of the book was the constant reassuring that Alexander had to do to convince Tatiana that he loved her. He would just finish telling her that she's the one, and something would happen where she would storm off and it would start all over again.
The book felt as if it was a bit slow in some areas where it would repeat some things over and over where it just wasn't necessary.
The Tatiana character did start to get stronger as the book went on so it started to get easier to read. However the author then went from one extreme to the other as she then became so strong that it was almost impossible to believe, almost sub-human. But it's less frustrating.
I loved reading about the war and what people went through, because in today's environment it was a huge eye opener. You really started to appreciate how good we have it now, thanks to the people that fought during the war. The storyline was good, if you forgive the stereotypical characters. By the end I wanted to know more and will move onto the next installment in the trilogy a bit later.
This book is like a friend who is annoying and frustrating when they are around, but you miss them when they are gone.
It wasn't a book that affected me deeply, but it kept me interested and I enjoyed it. Not sure if I would agree that it's one of the best books of all time but then again I'm not really into romance novels.
6/10
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austin
I know. Where was I living if I never read or watched the movie before now?? Well I haven’t, and even coming into it with some scepticism, I was pleasantly surprised. For a book that was written in the early 1800's, it was easy to read and very relatable today. I just loved the characters and as every woman who has read this book, fell in love with Mr. Darcy. I loved him from the beginning. And this is where the author’s skill at writing came out. Even though the author wrote the character having bad characteristics and bad manners and actions, you couldn’t help but still love him and want to know more about him. You just knew that there was something underneath the surface and just couldn’t wait to find out. On the opposite, the author talked up and romanticised the character of Mr. Wickham, but the whole time you knew you couldn’t trust him. Brilliant.
There were times where my boyfriend would walk past and laugh at me because I was reading it with this HUGE grin on my face and kept stopping to sigh... It really awakened my emotions and I felt everything that was going on with all the characters. I was thinking about them and their lives even at work.
The character of Elizabeth was great. As I mentioned before, being written in the early 1800’s you still could put yourself in her shoes and totally relate. Of course there were times in the book where you lost patience with them and just wanted them to get it on, but that’s the beauty of a great book.
Lesson Learnt:
Well obviously the lesson here is don’t succumb to first impressions and judge people. Until you really get to know someone you shouldn’t cast judgement, because you never really know what is going on in their lives. I was always taught this from a young age from my mother so it just highlighted this knowledge. One example of this is, one day I was racing to the Vet’s because my dog’s face was swelling up from being bitten by something. I remember all the drivers on the way yelling abuse at me for overtaking them and speeding. Some drivers were actually quite aggressive and scary. They just assumed I was a reckless driver and a hoon, not realising that I actually had a reason for it. So next time I see someone in a rush behind the wheel, I don’t judge because they might actually have an emergency.
Take care on the road and don’t be prejudice...
There were times where my boyfriend would walk past and laugh at me because I was reading it with this HUGE grin on my face and kept stopping to sigh... It really awakened my emotions and I felt everything that was going on with all the characters. I was thinking about them and their lives even at work.
The character of Elizabeth was great. As I mentioned before, being written in the early 1800’s you still could put yourself in her shoes and totally relate. Of course there were times in the book where you lost patience with them and just wanted them to get it on, but that’s the beauty of a great book.
Lesson Learnt:
Well obviously the lesson here is don’t succumb to first impressions and judge people. Until you really get to know someone you shouldn’t cast judgement, because you never really know what is going on in their lives. I was always taught this from a young age from my mother so it just highlighted this knowledge. One example of this is, one day I was racing to the Vet’s because my dog’s face was swelling up from being bitten by something. I remember all the drivers on the way yelling abuse at me for overtaking them and speeding. Some drivers were actually quite aggressive and scary. They just assumed I was a reckless driver and a hoon, not realising that I actually had a reason for it. So next time I see someone in a rush behind the wheel, I don’t judge because they might actually have an emergency.
Take care on the road and don’t be prejudice...
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The mists of Avalon – Marion Zimmer Bradley
I wish I could have started this blog with a great review but unfortunately I can’t with this book.
At first I was very excited to read a book about religion, and all these mystical characters. On paper it sounded really interesting and throughout the beginning I was really getting into it. However, after a while the author kept repeating the same things over and over again. I was getting frustrated because it was way too repetitive. So by the middle of the book I lost interest because it just draaaaaaged along. The book could have done with 150 to 200 pages less without loosing anything important, which says a lot for a book that is a massive 876 pages long.
The characters were very conflicting and inconsistent. The most contradictory character was Gwenhwyfar. You wanted to hate her because she was totally against Avalon, almost to the point of exasperation, however everyone in the book still loved and admired her, which didn’t make sense. The author describes her as educated, but after being repeatedly told by other characters in the book, Gwenhwyfar still keeps repeating the same hatred without ever learning anything. While reading you couldn’t wait for Gwenhwyfar to finally understand how ignorant she was, but then the author made her into a hero?!? Don’t understand the concept there.
Near the end you started to wonder what the point of this book was all about. I got confused as to what the author wanted to accomplish and really what was happening. I still don’t know how the book was supposed to end. The storyline was very poor. Some characters were supposed to be bad but they then weren’t, and the hero’s of the story then ended up being bad, or at least I think so... So you get my drift.
To give credit to the author, the idea was good and the characters could have been great, however the story got sidetracked and confused without really delivering. I believe that this is the fault of the editor. As an author, I’m sure you can get too involved into the storyline and characters and loose a grip as to what is being said, but that’s where the editor should have stepped in to bring the story home. Which is a shame because with some direction and effective edditing, this book could have been great. I'm not sure why it was on the 100 most popular books chosen by readers.
Lesson learnt:
Not sure why, but even though I did not particularly enjoy this book I received a really strong lesson from it. I learnt that you cannot force things, if they are meant to happen, they will happen anyway. You have to have faith and accept the flow of nature. Now at this point of my life, and where I am at the moment it was really good advice.
So even a bad book can teach you something that you can carry into your everyday life and make it better.
If you have any thoughts on my review or would like to comment please do so. I would love to hear what others have to say, and maybe clarify what actually happened in the end :)
At first I was very excited to read a book about religion, and all these mystical characters. On paper it sounded really interesting and throughout the beginning I was really getting into it. However, after a while the author kept repeating the same things over and over again. I was getting frustrated because it was way too repetitive. So by the middle of the book I lost interest because it just draaaaaaged along. The book could have done with 150 to 200 pages less without loosing anything important, which says a lot for a book that is a massive 876 pages long.
The characters were very conflicting and inconsistent. The most contradictory character was Gwenhwyfar. You wanted to hate her because she was totally against Avalon, almost to the point of exasperation, however everyone in the book still loved and admired her, which didn’t make sense. The author describes her as educated, but after being repeatedly told by other characters in the book, Gwenhwyfar still keeps repeating the same hatred without ever learning anything. While reading you couldn’t wait for Gwenhwyfar to finally understand how ignorant she was, but then the author made her into a hero?!? Don’t understand the concept there.
Near the end you started to wonder what the point of this book was all about. I got confused as to what the author wanted to accomplish and really what was happening. I still don’t know how the book was supposed to end. The storyline was very poor. Some characters were supposed to be bad but they then weren’t, and the hero’s of the story then ended up being bad, or at least I think so... So you get my drift.
To give credit to the author, the idea was good and the characters could have been great, however the story got sidetracked and confused without really delivering. I believe that this is the fault of the editor. As an author, I’m sure you can get too involved into the storyline and characters and loose a grip as to what is being said, but that’s where the editor should have stepped in to bring the story home. Which is a shame because with some direction and effective edditing, this book could have been great. I'm not sure why it was on the 100 most popular books chosen by readers.
Lesson learnt:
Not sure why, but even though I did not particularly enjoy this book I received a really strong lesson from it. I learnt that you cannot force things, if they are meant to happen, they will happen anyway. You have to have faith and accept the flow of nature. Now at this point of my life, and where I am at the moment it was really good advice.
So even a bad book can teach you something that you can carry into your everyday life and make it better.
If you have any thoughts on my review or would like to comment please do so. I would love to hear what others have to say, and maybe clarify what actually happened in the end :)
The reason I love reading
I think that books fall into our hands for a reason. There is something that we take away from reading a book that changes the way we think or feel about something. I always learn something or it stimulates my interest in a certain topic. This is how I realise that a book is good and is effective. If I've learnt something from the book or it's stimulated an interest in a topic than I meant to read the book at that time for a reason.
So many times I have a read a book that has helped me deal with something that was happening in my life. Whether its good or bad, books help you grow and deal with issues in your own way. It's like getting inside the authors head and seeing his or her perspective on an issue. In my opinion it's similar to counselling but it is done in your own time at your own pace. The beauty is we only see what we want to see. Which means that great books can be re-read over and over because there is always something that we haven't picked up and never realised until we were ready for it.
Anyway, this is why I love reading and my book reviews will reflect this. I'm not going to tell you the storyline of the books, because I know you still want to read it, but I'll tell you how it made me feel and what I've learnt from them.
Talk soon :)
So many times I have a read a book that has helped me deal with something that was happening in my life. Whether its good or bad, books help you grow and deal with issues in your own way. It's like getting inside the authors head and seeing his or her perspective on an issue. In my opinion it's similar to counselling but it is done in your own time at your own pace. The beauty is we only see what we want to see. Which means that great books can be re-read over and over because there is always something that we haven't picked up and never realised until we were ready for it.
Anyway, this is why I love reading and my book reviews will reflect this. I'm not going to tell you the storyline of the books, because I know you still want to read it, but I'll tell you how it made me feel and what I've learnt from them.
Talk soon :)
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Hello and Welcome to my book review blog.
I will be reading and reviewing books that are on the top 100 list of all time. I will also be reading and reviewing books that have received praise and seeing if in my opinion they deserve it. I love to read and have a sickness of not being able to stop reading a book even if it is terrible as I have a loyalty issues. I always think that it might get better on the next page (even though it sometimes never does). I do however stop reading a book if it becomes physically and mentally impossible, but it does need to be pretty bad. I have had a few of those in the 100 list so I hope it’s not one of your favourites.
To please me, you have to have a good storyline with engaging characters. Otherwise why am I reading it? Also you need to evoke some sort of emotion in me, which also can include anger, of absolutely hating a character. Books that teach me something get extra points, and not being able to put it down is another winner. If you are a book reader, you know when you are reading a good book, because you think about it during work, dream about it during sleep and feel that you are a part of it somehow. It affects your current life and you feel a strong connection with all the characters. My rating system is 1 to 10 and I like all genres of books if they fulfil the above conditions.
I will be giving my honest opinion about any book and selecting them based on what I feel like reading. There is no structure to my selection.
Hope you enjoy this ride with me and please let me know your thoughts.
I will be reading and reviewing books that are on the top 100 list of all time. I will also be reading and reviewing books that have received praise and seeing if in my opinion they deserve it. I love to read and have a sickness of not being able to stop reading a book even if it is terrible as I have a loyalty issues. I always think that it might get better on the next page (even though it sometimes never does). I do however stop reading a book if it becomes physically and mentally impossible, but it does need to be pretty bad. I have had a few of those in the 100 list so I hope it’s not one of your favourites.
To please me, you have to have a good storyline with engaging characters. Otherwise why am I reading it? Also you need to evoke some sort of emotion in me, which also can include anger, of absolutely hating a character. Books that teach me something get extra points, and not being able to put it down is another winner. If you are a book reader, you know when you are reading a good book, because you think about it during work, dream about it during sleep and feel that you are a part of it somehow. It affects your current life and you feel a strong connection with all the characters. My rating system is 1 to 10 and I like all genres of books if they fulfil the above conditions.
I will be giving my honest opinion about any book and selecting them based on what I feel like reading. There is no structure to my selection.
Hope you enjoy this ride with me and please let me know your thoughts.
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