Library Checkouts Review {1}

Pros: Brutal and makes no apologizes for it, dystopian world explains were other dystopian books do not, the ending and most of the book rocked it
Cons: Just like a Japanese drama most of the characters are worried about confessing to their crush which is weird looking at the situation. I just think that the characters would have bigger things on their minds.

Pros: anti-hero, more action than first book, supernatural world is interesting
Cons: some people in the love square need to be taken off, as an adaptation there are somethings I question why he added this or that to the story

Pros: world is different, main character has a different gift
Cons: some parts are really gross

 Pros: dark, faithful to Peter Pan while being its own story, artwork is gorgeous and compliments the story,all characters are  three-dimensional, action packed throughout the book

 Pros: able to sympathize with Frankenstein and his creation, simply liked it

Cons: has some boring/hard to get through parts

Could Not Finishers

I found it really dry and boring. The story had so much potential with the gods and everything but it was going nowhere. Honestly, it just felt like a bunch of events  happening  without purpose.
 Did not get my interest past 19%.

One of the most boring and uninteresting first chapters. I tried reading the second chapter but felt this feeling of this story is going to be a waste of my time. It was a struggle not to go to sleep on this book.

333: A Game of Thrones

I wanted to avoid saying what everyone else has said about this book and series. But oh well..

Synopsis

“Summers span decades. Winter can last a lifetime. And the struggle for the Iron Throne has begun.

As Warden of the north, Lord Eddard Stark counts it a curse when King Robert bestows on him the office of the Hand. His honour weighs him down at court where a true man does what he will, not what he must … and a dead enemy is a thing of beauty.

The old gods have no power in the south, Stark’s family is split and there is treachery at court. Worse, the vengeance-mad heir of the deposed Dragon King has grown to maturity in exile in the Free Cities. He claims the Iron Throne”

Review

To make my love coherent here are my top ten reasons that this book is awesome. ( In no particular order)

1. Multiple points of view.
2. Foreshadowing.  I saw the first two seasons before even reading the books. Then, I read the third book before reading any of the other books in the series to prepare myself for the third season of the show. So if you have seen and/or read the third installment in the series you know what happens. I found it fun to see what the foreshadowing meant to the future books. The foreshadowing made me really see that George r.r. Martin had a plan on where the series would go even in the first book.
3. Expansive world. Every detail has a point. There is a lot of back story.  I recently read a book that the more I learned about the world the less interesting it sounded. I crave more back story with this series.
4. Every character matters. Small characters matter.
5. It is 800+ and every page matters.
6. Characters are grey. I actually find myself siding with the really dark characters on a couple of things in this book. In result of this fact you will that there are so many different opinions on events and characters. People will love certain characters and hate others. You will not find that in most books because we are meant to love the good guys exclusively.
7. Characters do not get a free pass when they do stupid things.
8. Unpredictable.
9. It has a lot of funny moments.
10. When things happen they do not just disappear. If a character experiences trauma it is apart of their character and will be mentioned again.

335:Alyzon Whitestarr

I read this book a while back so a lot of the book alludes me.

Synopsis

“Are Alyzon’s new abilities a blessing . . . or a curse?

Alyzon Whitestarr doesn’t take after her musically talented father or her nocturnal, artistic mother. In fact, she’s the most normal member of a very eccentric family . . . until the day that an accident leaves her more unique than she ever could have dreamed.

Suddenly colors are more vibrant to Alyzon; her memory is flawless; but strangest of all is Alyzon’s sense of smell. Her best friend smells of a comforting sea breeze. She registers her father’s contentment as the sweet scent of caramelized sugar. But why does the cutest guy in school smell so rancid?

With Alyzon’s extrasensory perception comes intrigue and danger, as she becomes aware of the dark secrets and hidden ambitions that threaten her family. In the end, being different might be less of a blessing than a curse. . . . ”

The Good

• Brought up many philosophical ideas
• Family has many children. I liked books that have large families
• Her powers are pretty unique
• The romance was not so in my face that I wanted to scream

The Bad

The story felt long. I feel that book kept rehashing the same thing instead of dealing with problems. It could have been cut down.

The Meh

I was all excited about the main character until I realized she was the stereotypical average girl.

Conclusion: It was okay, mostly forgettable though. I’m already struggling to remember things in the book.

 

Reading Week 5/5-5/11

Finished
The Hunchback of Notre Dame- I honestly do not know what to say.

Library Books Update

Since I dumped/read more than half of them I can forget my library reading plan.

1. Battle Royale-Finished  This book really feels like a japanese drama that would be airing right now in japan. I mean that in a negative and positive way. I am thinking about if I am going to review my library books. I feel like I have some things to say but my blog is supposed to be about reading books I own. If I do this I have to figure out how to format the reviews.
2. Frankenstein-Finished the ending felt very different from what I was expecting. The book overall was different from what I expected. I am really happy that I gave this book a second chance.
3. The Child Thief
4. Such Wicked Intent- The first page is really done well.
5. Foundation- I just felt that I was wasting my time trying to get to 19% to dump this book. I am in neutral with this story which means I basically did not care about this book.   Dumped

Books left from library: 2

Previews

•  (The First North Americans series)

Should I continue this series? Yes

Why? The fantasy element is well done and strong right away and  has something that makes me want to know more. I have not read a book where the supernatural connection of Native Americans is utilized.

• Oscar Wilde and a Death of No Importance ( The Oscar Wilde Murder Mysteries series)

Should I continue this series? Yes

Why? Even though, it was only six or seven pages the idea of finding out Oscar Wilde secrets sounds like fun.

• Lonely Werewolf Girl (Kalix MacRinnalch series)

Should I continue this series? Yes

Why? I like the different elements that goes into this book such as being a werewolf and having anorexia. I can see places that the book can go wrong but see enough potential to want to continue.

“Inside”  Reads

*The Mirror of Her Dreams- My feelings that came from Lord Foul’s Bane,his other series, is creeping back in. I feel that anxiousness that comes with wanting to not continue a book. The weird thing is the book has not really done anything to warrant that feeling.

Rant/Thoughts

• I read dark graphically questionable books.- I was trying to recommend books to someone who asked people for it online. They asked for books that are not graphic. When I was trying to recommend books and just looking at my general reaction when someone says a book is too gory or has too many naughty bits. I have a really high tolerance for a lot of stuff.
• Reading is about pushing.Sometimes I am so everywhere with my reading, starting new books and continuing books.  I forget to push myself to actually finish books. The library is really helping me get back into that mode of pushing myself to finish/dump books.

Next Week Plans or more like This Week Plans ( since this post was finished on Wednesday): I will finish my two books left over from the library [already finished one of them so far]. I have already planned my next library checkout. I will definitely try to read/dump more books I own.

Reading Week 5/12-18

Library Books {2}( Due June 6th) with Commentary

I basically dumped all the books from the library except for two of them.

 this book did not catch me at the first chapter.

 this book was written really weird. No, not a interesting weird but a terribly written jumpy weird.

*Chick lit ( May is Chick lit month)  embodies all the issues I have with chick lit: girl who wants to get famous anyway possible, trying to be funny but fails miserably, main character who makes me not want to get invested.  Chick lit needs to do better.

 I just could not get into it. Something makes me feel like I would not like this book.

I thought this was the first book in the series but it is the second. So I cannot read it.

 I felt like the story was aimlessly going around for one thing. What really made me decide to let this one go is the typical paranormal romance main character. Of course the main character is so beautiful everybody wants to sleep with her. Of course she is more powerful than any other character in the book. She can beat her father who has been a wolf for way longer even though she is a teenager drug addict anorexic/bulimic werewolf. Having anorexia or a drug addiction should not hamper her abilities at all. I really just realized that I did not care.

* What is Left

Last Books From Library Checkout {1}&{2}

1. Such Wicked Intent Finished While generally  liking the story a few things bother me. I kind of have a problem with were certain things came from in this adaptation. I finished the original Frankenstein a couple of days ago actually so it is fresh in my memory. So where did the twin brother come from?
2. The Child Thief Finished extremely dark and fun read.
3. The Red Chamber- I like the expansiveness that I feel so far. The original classic book it is based on is about 2,000 pages. Hopefully, the story continues being good. I would totally read a 2,000 page book as long as it is good.
4. Blood Ninja- right away the story plays with people expectations. I like how it is going even though I read only the prologue.

Currently Reading

• Little Women- got way better after I took my time and listened.

Rants/Thoughts/Realizations

• I feel that abridged books are annoying. I am trying get the physical copy of The Count of Monte Cristo. I have only been able to find abridged copies which is very annoying. Abridging a book is taking away something from that book. As boring a couple of chapters of The Hunchback of Notre Dame was they were there for a reason.
• Most of the books I got from the library were duds. This week feels like one of those weeks were I dump a lot of books. I felt like I was trying to convince myself that the library books are good and I should give them a chance. I believe this reaction is from me not really taking a break from reading. I have too many books on my own shelf to sit and force myself to read books that are not good.
• I probably am going to start doing two-week or monthly reading updates. I want to spend less time on the computer and give myself time to finish/dump more books.
• I need to read some Asian classics. After reading about  how The Red Chamber is one of the four great Chinese classics.  I realized that I have not read that many if any Asian classics. I need to get on that. The only problem is going to be finding translation for the books. I am the point now if I cannot find translations for some of the classics I will just watch the shows to them.

My Plan for Next Week: Read without boundaries. I want to read for fun first of all then to bring down my own shelf second. So I will probably not be finishing a book before the end of this month. My reading will be all over the place again.

Reading Week 4/28-5/4

Library Books( Due May 17th)

*Reserved    retelling Frankenstein

*Others  retelling of Peter Pan

*Have & Need Among Sequels  

My Reading Plan vs What Really Happened

Across Three Mediums(e-book/audiobook/physical book): Frankenstein- way better coming back to it. I skipped the letters at the beginning and went straight to the chapters for some reason. Hopefully, I can finish it this week. I am totally yelling at Frankenstein right now.

David Copperfield (decided to start on May 15)

Week One

1. A Tree Grows In Brooklyn (2 chapters all 31 days of May )- Same issue as White Heat. I plainly do not like or care for  the book. But to go more in-depth, the characters are racist and mean. I can forgive somethings but there has to be character investment and just something there for me to care about.  Nothing happens at all. Then the family is poor but does wasteful things.I let myself clock out before I waste my time doing work without pay. Dumped
2. Call for the Dead (22 pages for the first 7 days)- It was boring and confusing.  I read the synopsis to see if that would make me want to continue. The synopsis gave away the entire book and made me even less interested. Dumped
3. Battle Royale (30 pages or 4 chs all 20 days)- past  50%. I created a character list to keep up with all the characters personalities and deaths. I like how the story is going so far. One major thing the book does well explaining a lot of thing other dystopias ( mostly young adult ones) ignore.
4. American Gods (1 chapter all 20 days)- pushed forward after Call of the Dead.  I can see why this can only be a show on a premium channel. I am already wondering how are they going to do this. I started  feeling that anxiousness that comes when a book is about to get dumped. My main problem is that this book seems like it is not really going anywhere or doing anything. I think it is supposed to be doing satire or trying to be funny. I have seen the same style in the bit of Good Omens in the 30 pages I keep rereading. The only difference is Good Omens is way better so far. I am pretty much unimpressed and bored with American Gods. Dumped
5. Chew (1 ch for 5 days) pushed forward after American Gods.– I like the world that the author  and illustrator created. The art style fits the story completely. Finished
6. The Child Thief ( 2 chapters for … days) pushed forward– The story gets to the action right away which is really nice. Peter Pan the original story is dark so it is a good story to adapt. Another thing that is cool is there are illustrations at the beginning of every chapter.
7. Foundation (2 chapters for 9 days) pushed forward– I feel underwhelmed by the sci-fi elements. I do not know if this is in response to picking up so many books in one day. I simply feel underwhelmed and am trying to give it a chance.

Should Finish: Call for the Dead it got dumped along with American Gods and A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.

Books left from library: 5

“Inside” Reads

I actually felt bad thinking about how many books I am finishing/dumping this week that are library books. This list speaks for that feeling.

*The Mirror of Her Dreams– I like the perspective of the main character.  I hope that this book stays good. I read the first few chapters of Lord Foul’s Bane another book series by Stephen R. Donaldson which started off really good. Then when the character went to the other world everything got confusing and I just let the book go.

*An Instance of the Fingerpost– quite boring honestly. I thought it would be better being about a mystery in the historical time period. I do not know why authors have these boring character introductions.

*The Dream– I am kind of neutral nothing really happened. Average ya fare but nothing to make me mad or annoyed.  In honesty I want to just write it off for  that fact alone. But of course I have to give it a chance because it is definitely not on the level of any of the dump books of this week.

*The Stand– I like that the beginning goes straight into the action. I picked this up because of the show coming out for Under the Dome. I do not own Under the Dome so I thought why not read one of the many Stephen King books I have.

*The Serpent In the Garden– I was not really into it at the moment. I will read it in June when my group on goodreads does the 19th century theme.

Rants/Thoughts

• I miss Lonesome Dove and A Game of Thrones so much. The reason Lonesome Dove has been coming back to my mind is because I miss historical fiction that is not written poorly. I miss picking up Game of Thrones because the show is making me relive the awesomeness of the third book, A Storm of Swords. I truly do like the books I am reading now but miss these two books.
•  I might start planning and reading books I own like I do with the library. I just starting thinking up ways to pick my next reads. For this summer I might really go out and read/dump a bunch of books.
• My library experience so far has been really positive. I usually get four or five books then dump all of them.Dumping all the books made me unhappy and feel that going to the library was pointless. Then I felt that I should just read my own books exclusively ( I probably do need to do that). I simply like the library going to the library and I should not take that away from myself.
• It is hard looking for books that are different. I want a book that has diversity and unpredictable plot. I want a character who has a unique job. I want so much that it hurts me to see most of these books. So many people want to be writers. I just feel that these writers are not going to bring anything new to the plate. I probably will do a full rant post. I have so much to say.
• I went to a picnic that was outside and it  gave me different literary thoughts. First, the picnic was in a big open space that had spots for specific areas like Battle Royale, it was really weird. Then, I saw a bunch of goats that reminded me of Djali in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

My Plans for Next Week: First of all, I will try to finish most if not all of my library books.  I will try to read more and get online less to accomplish this goal.