Library Checkout 5/29/14

I had to get this book and The Unfairest of Them all by Shannon Hale on interlibrary loan because my library does not have it in their library system. I don’t know how long it will take for them to get The Unfairest of Them All at the library but I did get this one so that is good. They are probably going to get it tomorrow right after I went to the library. I actually had to go back to the library after getting the rest of my books because they notified me a couple of hours later that they received this book. I’m excited about this book because it is going to put light on characters who are beyond the main cast. I sampled a bit last month and liked what I read so far so yeah.

Supporting Authors I Like

I want to make sure that I support authors I have liked in the past. My reading right now is more about enjoyment versus trying to get through x amount of books to finish reading all the books I have left to read.  Right now I am reading two books I own and  I like both. This is one of my reading resolutions actually, to read more authors who I have liked in the past. I think one of the things that has stopped me from doing this other than trying to get through the books I own is experiencing so many authors disappointing me. Stephen King and Charles Dickens are a two authors who have disappointed me recently. I hope that every last one of these books can remind me of why I read them.

I also want to make sure that I don’t forget what series I am following.

Graphic Novels

So this is for my brother. I read the Uglies novel in middle school then oddly didn’t continue the series ( the importance of the above support books/series/authors is strong here). So I never continued the series. I tried to read it again in high school but it was around the time that my foot was basically out the door on ya. This is not the first book in the series so he cannot read it anyway.

This is mostly for my brother too. I sampled this recently and thought it seemed creative but was lacking something. I do plan to read just know that this will not be a five star.

Definitely for my brother.

 [random read]

I randomly found this in the new section, it looks interesting.

 

A Senseless Quest -Unbookhauling

So I got around to reading the new books I got yesterday and some books that I own.

I will admit that I picked most of these books up because I thought I would not like them.

My General Reaction to most of these books:

– Umm…nah/eh

-the more the descritption the less the cares

-gosh, my patience is not here for this

-yawn

Disclaimer: I did not read an entire chapter for most of these books because most of these books are eh level and I could sense it. I started fidgeting wanting for something to happen that would make me care.

This books was not awful but not good enough to keep my attention. My caring or excitement was absent so I’m done. I actually read the Pride and Prejudice Zombies graphic novel last year, I think, did not like it. I liked  the movie for this book and decided to try it out. I will never learn.

I read  two or three pages then decided to read what the book was about to see if that may interest me, nope. It was very basic. I want fantasy/sci-fi to wow me and I am shown repeatedly the many ways it can bore me.

Starting off your story like it is a basic contemporary novel is not interesting. Then the town is diverse but of course the main character is not. The main characters were so eh.

I was not interested so I just left. I want mystery to be interesting too but it is too busy not ever really doing anything. I literally went to sleep on this one.

[Wood Magic]

This is the first book to Bevis. I feel too old for this book for one thing. Another is the story went straight into stuff happening without explaining what is going  and started off with so much description. It is a classic so a lot of description is usually a thing. Then it was jumping around from point to point without describing what is going on in the first place.  I just did not feel it was for me at the end of the day.  I just let this one go.

The more the description the less the cares I give.

eh, eye rolled once because of course the main character gets the tiniest bit embarrassed then it is his character motivation.

The main character rubbed me the wrong way and did not get my attention to keep going.

One page feels like a million.

I realized that I dnf Heart of Darkness  by him already so I dnf this one by association.

Authors

• please start your novels off better
• please create more creative stories with diverse characters
• please create distinct characters

Thank you

315: From Dead to Worse (Sookie Stackhouse #8) Spoilers

Synopsis

After the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina and the manmade explosion at the vampire summit, everyone human and otherwise is stressed, including Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse, who is trying to cope with the fact that her boyfriend Quinn has gone missing.

It’s clear that things are changing whether the weres and vamps of her corner of Louisiana like it or not. And Sookie, Friend to the Pack and blood-bonded to Eric Northman, leader of the local vampire community is caught up in the changes.

In the ensuing battles, Sookie faces danger, death, and once more, betrayal by someone she loves. And when the fur has finished flying and the cold blood finished flowing, her world will be forever altered.

The Bad

• The longer this series goes on the less I can bring myself to care about any of the characters.
• I am annoyed with how dumb/clueless Charlaine Harris makes Sookie. Why can’t Sookie put a simple 2 plus 2 of the implications of all supernatural creatures being outed?
• “Wars” keep happening. I can’t get myself to actually care first of all because I generally am apathetic to every character and I feel that these wars are becoming more frequent and less interesting.
• I just feel like these recent books are filler.  It is a weird thing to say when wars and stuff like that are happening. It is especially weird since I am usually complaining about the lack of action in books. The issue here is that the action has to be actually interesting.
• The humor is gone.What happened to everyone’s witty lines?

Sookie is getting on my nerves

 I. She is  Selfish  and Self absorbed

and not in a interesting way like Scarlet at the beginning of Gone with the Wind.

• Alcide can’t even have a moment to mourn a girlfriend who died without it being a affront to Sookie.
•  Sookie broke up with Quinn because he didn’t call her when he was being watched by vampires in the process of protecting his family from being killed. Sookie said she wanted to come first but Sookie you are not in moral danger so why would I put someone who is okay before my family who is in danger?
• She got mad at Alecide for not protecting her during the wereshifters war. So Alecide cannot protect himself he is a top level werewolf so he needs to protect himself. Sookie could have totally sat herself down off to the side somewhere. Instead of Sookie going off somewhere to sit down while the wereshifters fought she felt the need to sit around and at a certain point join in the attack.
• Sookie actually had someone put a spell on someone because she doesn’t like them. Not because she was in actual mortal danger or anything, mind you.

II. Everything is about her

and not in a way that this is her series so of course everything is about her. It is done in a way that I’m getting bothered by how Charlaine Harris is framing things in the story.

• Why does every man seem to be in love with Sookie?
• Now that we are on the subject, why does every man feel the need to bind over backwards for Sookie?
• Why does every man/woman either in love with her or have something against her?
• Why is Tara her friend but barely ever appears in the: either she is doing a service to Sookie or being victimized.

Things I wish would  happen but I know will not

I can see little gems of great ideas that could really make this series awesome such as

• all the supernatural creatures being outed and the world dealing with it.
• Sookie being more than a waitress, not trying to put down waitresses or anything. In the last book Sookie was helping to save people lives and that made me think she could be doing that. Sookie could be doing more as  a character towards her life.
• Sookie to mature. I want everything to not be about Sookie.
• New underrepresent supernatural creatures. I was so in love with the second book because it was interesting first of all and it had a supernatural creature I never heard of. My reaction: What is this, I have to actually look up a supernatural creature because I don’t know what it is.
• I want all the characters to have more depth. Every one is a prop or something for the story/Sookie.

The Good

It’s easy to read so I could get through it without DNFing it.

Comment:I think about way  back when what the series used to be. I heard people talking about how the series goes down in the later books, I did not believe it. I see it now. I am sort of worried that I am going to pick one of these books one day and say no more then stop reading the series all together. It has gotten to that point of me thinking if this was any other series/author it would be a dnf. I think I am hitting the hate reading mode were you just read a book to rant about it.

I am going to have to pick wisely the next book I read because the next book I finish needs to wow me.

Bookhaul 5/23/14

Sci-fi/Fantasy

In my excitement over finishing A Clash of Kings I got more books in two genres that I was supposed to have stopped reading. Honestly, I have such a very low chance of finishing most of these books. I blame most of this purchase on the extremely low price for these books and my not having time to think through some of these books.  I had to get a certain amount of books to get the sale on these books. I will be doing a chapter test for most of these books before adding them to my books left to read.

Then a lot of these are not the first book in their series.

I might actually like this one. I have a woodland rabbit that visits my backyard everyday that looks exactly like this rabbit. If I finish this book I will probably take a picture of him/her.

I have low hopes for these books because I read a bit of one of these and it was boring me.

I got La Isla Bajo El Mar even though it is in Spanish, my Spanish is basic level. So I do not know if I will actually read it at a point or not.

This is one of the books I would not have bought. I read one word in the synopsis that made me think, foreign country. Then I realized later that not only is this a Holocaust book but also about family and forgiveness (no thanks).  I already have given up on even giving this book a chapter test. I do not think there is any chance of me liking this book.

I already have a copy of Lord of the Flies. I wanted to buy this copy to give to my cousin who is a reader but I might not. I like the cover and book so I might keep it for myself. I’m conflicted if I should give it to her.

I’m kind of leery about reading more Agatha Christie because of  the other books by her were not interesting. I liked And Then There Were None which was really good, made me think of the greatness in mystery. From that book I can understand why she is considered a part of the golden age of mystery. So I wanted to get this and see if I would like it.

For My Cousin

I’m the worst person to do a bookhaul because I basically talked down most of the books I recently bought.

 

Classics My Want & Needs Among Oldness

My lack of interest in classics has been getting to me lately. I really feel a need to listen to a audiobook. That need cannot get filled because I am battling against my wants.

• Diversity that is well written
• Women main characters who have personalities and are not lame
• Action, Adventure, or just the feeling that interesting things are happening

Underlining all of this  I want

• Variety or to not pick up another classic with rich England people

I have gotten so sick of seeing England classic novels that it is not funny. It is starting to feel like #richpeopleproblems. A Portrait of a Lady and many other books have made me come to this point. I want variety so hard that it is hurting me to try to scroll my shelves for something and get the same old classics. I had to resign myself to going  off my shelf for something different. I figured out that I could search my goodreads to read books to find books (goodreads is awesome). Here are some of my top choices.

First Chapter Impressions

I highlighted out the summaries so that if you wanted to read the summaries you could. The summaries give away the plot of the novels so if you don’t want to get spoiled don’t read them.

1.

“First published in 1892, this stirring novel by the great writer and activist Frances Harper tells the story of the young daughter of a wealthy Mississippi planter who travels to the North to attend school, only to be sold into slavery in the South when it is discovered that she has Negro blood. After she is freed by the Union army, she works to reunify her family and embrace her heritage, committing herself to improving the conditions for blacks in America.”

Through her fascinating characters-including Iola’s brother, who fights at the front in a colored regiment-Harper weaves a vibrant and provocative chronicle of the Civil War and its consequences through African American eyes in this critical contribution to the nation’s literature.”

A story that is in first person and has slaves who are not romanticized, yes. A story that actually had me chuckle a bit while reading, yes.

Verdict: Yes.I just feel that this story engaged me.

2.

““Our Nig” is the tale of a mixed-race girl, Frado, abandoned by her white mother after the death of the child’s black father. Frado becomes the servant of the Bellmonts, a lower-middle-class white family in the free North, while slavery is still legal in the South, and suffers numerous abuses in their household. Frado’s story is a tragic one; having left the Bellmonts, she eventually marries a black fugitive slave, who later abandons her.”

My main issue is with the point of view that this story is being told in which I think is third person. Third person loans itself to telling versus showing what is going on. I like to feel that an adventure is going on instead of feeling like it is a biography. The story jumps around without developing or leading to an action which is boring. It skips intricate parts that I believe would have been really exciting. I worry that this story will be like Clotel, just the author basically paraphrasing the entire story.

Verdict: Maybe. Probably no because if I have to think about it is not engaging me enough to care. So later when I am thinking of books to read I pick up something that has me and forget something that is a maybe.

3.

“This comedy challenges the conventions of courtship, examines questions of female independence and exposes the limits of domesticity. The text used in this edition (from 1802) also confronts the difficult issues of racism and mixed marriage, which Edgeworth toned down in later editions. “

This story is so far in the one chapter I listened to is that I am sick of in classic books. England High society (yep) Main character girl who does not have a distinct personality (yep) no diverse characters so far (yep). I get the  impression that the race issues and mixed marriage are going to get an tidbits off to the side addressing.

Verdict: No, I just will not wade through pages upon pages of the blah main character to get to interesting stuff. I am already about to go into a rant just by reading the first chapter, nope.

4.

“Published in 1861, this was one of the first personal narratives by a slave and one of the few written by a woman. Jacobs (1813-97) was a slave in North Carolina and suffered terribly, along with her family, at the hands of a ruthless owner. She made several failed attempts to escape before successfully making her way North, though it took years of hiding and slow progress. Eventually, she was reunited with her children.”

I read a couple of chapters of this earlier in the year before these other books but I remember exactly what happened in the novel so far. I like that the story feels distinct. It does jump around a bit but I was not as bothered as I was with Our Nig or Clotel.

Verdicts: Yes. It has potential.

Conclusions

One of the things that you need to know about me is that I read stories by  Charles Dickens and Leo Tolstoy so I am big on characterization and little adventures. I like seeing why characters are the way they are. That is something that I worry that going into more diverse classics novels (specifically slave narratives) these things will not be present. So far in a couple of these classics I have been reading this has been a problem.  I am going to be honest and say that all classics about being about the characters as  slaves bothers me too. It may sound irrational and unrealistic but I want Belle as a classic novel ( I recently saw a post on there being a classic novel just like Belle, it is called Ourika. I could not find a English version online so I will review it at a later time when I can get a copy). I really want to pick up a classic novel that has the characterization expansive characterization of someone like Charles Dickens with diverse characters that are not slaves. I  may have to remind myself that slave narratives are autobiographies not fiction like Charles Dickens and most classic novels. Basically, there are many things in terms of these classics that I will probably have to accept. I just want ultimately to enjoy and not leave the novel feeling distanced from the story.

Leaving on a positive note I will say that with all my worries one of the things that I liked in these stories is the honesty. This is not Gone with the Wind or any other novel saying what authors think (or wanted to believe) that slaves felt. These are actual stories from the point of view people who are sharing their experiences and reactions.

[all descriptions and book covers are from goodreads]

Library Checkout Reviews {16}

DNF

Not My Cup of Tea…

I did not feel any emotional investment after reading the first chapter in the book. It felt like there is some background information that I was missing.

I just lost interest with this one. I think that the story started off interesting but went into average territory.

Finished

Pros: from the perspective of superheroes, most  of the stories were good

Cons: it is an anthology , the laws of fiction dictates that a woman cannot be threatened only with death, I just left this book not feeling wowed, maybe two of the stories were eh

Comments: Overall coming from reading Astro City: Dark Age this was a disappointment.

Pros: going more in depth in the characters everyday lives, backstory that is not in the webseries (I caught up on the webisodes), the characters have dimensions, there is a darkness to the story, there is depth to the story, the characters go on adventures, mystery, action

Cons: shallow average teen moments

Positives: I feel that there is a darkness to the story that may not get explored by the show.  A lot of the fairy tales are really dark by on their own but asking teens to relive so many of these tales is questionable. These are tales that have people doing such things as poisoning other people and eating children.  This book has adventures , actual adventures in it which is so insanely beautiful.  There is action, adventure, and mystery. There is a depth that I have not experienced in middle grade or teen books in a long, long time. The last teen novel I read The Hate List started off with so strong but fell into average ya fare. I feel that this book did not go the route that the Hate List did. It started off strong and ended strong.

Negatives:First, of all I want to say that these are not strong negatives. I do think that there is a depth to the story but there are shallow points where the characters have basic aspirations or don’t have a level of depth that they could have. For me being the teen that I was I have a different teenage hood than many in novels, I want to see me or different teenagers other than ones who party or do the basic things that people assume that teens do.

Pros: more into the characters from the movie, background info on the things that happened before and between a certain point in the movie (not trying to spoil stuff for people)

Pros: Harley getting on Ivy nerves, changing artwork

I really liked this book even though I do not have a lot to say about it.

Pros: if you like the movie you will probably like this because the movie is a good adaptation of the book

Comments: As I was reading I knew that this book was not going to be a series that I would continue. It did not wow me. I feel that this is going to sound wrong but this feels like hipster stuff.

Cons: characters going on moral tirades, I wanted to yell at a couple of people

Pros: goes beyond the stop of the anime season 1, so many questions make me want to read the next books, the tirades were less than they were on the show, the story moves so fast

There is nothing here for me…(DNF)

These are books that are not necessarily bad but just are okay/eh. If I there were not more creative and/ or engaging series around I would be into these books.

I will say that this was not a bad book, or at least as bad/stale as some of the books I read. I did not finish this book because I felt that after reading it I would not want to continue the series. There feels like there is nothing here in this book for me.

I’m into the Justice League show so I thought that I would  be into the graphic novel. So my problem was that I just could not get into this story.

Bookhaul {Library and adding to the shelf}

I got this because I have the first issue in the series. I have not started the series yet but I am hoping it is good.

I read the second book, The Unfairest of them all and wanted that but they did not have it. So I decided to just get this one instead.  The only thing I am worried about this books is that I read the sample chapters that are on each character, those all (I assume) are in this book. The two chapters I read did not impress me. I hope that with all the stories being in one book it can work better. I hope I like this story.

I read the free sample of the first chapter and it was top notch. So I decided to check this one out. This series so far is really good, I read the subseries The Dark Age.

I have really gotten into the Justice League series on Netflix and comics in general, so when I heard about this comic I was already signed up.

I read the other books in the series recently, I hope that these go more into depths that the anime and past mangas did not.

A couple of years ago there was this awesomely funny and good Korean drama called Hong Gil Dong. Hong Gil Dong is basically the Korean version of Robin Hood. When I was looking up comics I found this comic that is about Hong Gil Dong I wanted it.

I saw the movie a couple of years ago, it was good. I got this comic to finally try the series out. I could not get my hands on the series back in the day because it was too hot.

I love the cover for this book.

Saw the movie recently, it actually reminded me of Attack on Titan a bit. It had little things that are similar to each other but both stand on their own. The movie was good so hopefully this will be too.

A fantasy book that I sampled that did not make me feel that genre is dead. So crossing my fingers that this book delivers, hard.

Bought

First of all I bought a bunch of graphic novels since I am into graphic novels right now. Also, I bought some Stephen King novels because they were cheap and I like him. I want him to get himself together though in the next book I read by him. I read The Stand recently and it was bad. I’m going to do a review on the part I read when I dnf more books to fill an entire post.

This book haul I majorly got comics which are taking care of business right now.  I’m steadily receding into a world filled with graphic novels and manga, it is beautiful.

 

Library Checkout 4/17/14 + Library Checkout Reviews {15}

Since I am doing this post late because of finals week, I decided to show the books I got and review them at the same time. I going to get new books later today so yeah. Fare warning I get more fantasy in this book haul so prepare for possible more ranting.

For School

Native Americans

 I liked these books because they really helped me. I think others should learn more about Native Americans and their history. I think I need to get more books on history to learn more about history beyond the classroom.

 I did not read this book because it was not useful for my class.

 I forgot about these books so I did not read them. I may get these books later, but most likely not. My reading for is going to mostly be fiction for a while.

 

For Fun

It might not be that fun because there is a not that rare possibility that I will not like any of these books. Well, at least I did not go into these blind. I did not finish any of these.

Pros: reading about mythology and history from the Dominican Republic, learning about things beyond the same old stories that are told

Cons: I did not feel that feeling of investment in the story

Comments: I wanted to continue and finish this story because it is different but I just did not care. Then again, I did not want to read the story at first because it is coming of age and seems to not be something I would be into. I decided to read this because someone talked about all the pros I mentioned.

It was difficult for me to get past the prologue. When I start a books I look for a hook to catch me. I felt like this story had a force field up stopping me from having any care/interest in the story.

I picked this up on a whim not knowing what it is about. I felt like the idea was good for the story and even think it would be a good book for people who are into Sliders. I had the same problem as above, lack of interest.

This turned out to be a sequel in a series so I could not read it.

April: Previews & Freebies

It was okay. I don’t know, I guess miss because I would not exactly seek out more books from this series. Miss?

 Escape From Wonderland

When I downloaded this book I was scared that there would be fan service because of how the artwork is. It is not just how the women are dressed but also how their skin glistens. It was not fan servicing  which is good. I think it did a good job of introducing the story even though it was short.

This one was nice. It is different from the Astro City I read this year. I sampled Astro City #1 too but I am going to get the full volume 1 from the library next week. I liked both of these because they both were interesting. Hit

Pretty average. I did not get a glimpse into who she is as a character. Seeing her personality could have made this book be more than an average assassin story. Miss

I think it is interesting seeing the little bit of interaction of the main characters culture with her being a super hero.  I cannot wait until I can find this at my local library.  Hit

I like the cover. I did not like the story that much. It felt too short and the story was not developed as it could have been because of the size. It felt like it was part of a longer story which made the reading experience not as fun. The story felt like it was repeating the same things at a certain point. Miss

There is a better cover that made me want to read this book on amazon.  This book seemed like it would be interesting because the story is set in Alaska and had a awesome looking redheaded female vampire on the cover. Unfortunately, it feel like  a lot of other paranormal romances (Sookie Stackhouse is the first that comes to mind). I recently decided to give up on that series so I do not want another series like it. Bottom line is that it does not feel like it has something that makes it rise above the Sookie Stackhouse series or urban fantasy/paranormal romance. So I decided to let this one go. Miss

I think it may have been the wrong time to read these stories.  I  do like Monster High and Ever After High, I just think that I’m too old for these. It does have elements that are interesting but I’m just too old or something. the crazy thing is that I sampled the second book in this series and it is good. I wanted to get that book from the library but it just came out in March so no such luck. I decided to reserve the book that includes these stories so maybe it will get better when I can read the entire book.  Miss?

I really liked this preview. The difference between The Unfairest of Them All and the other Ever After High previews is that this story is not about setting up characters. The characters are already set up from the first book so the story can commence. In this preview I got a chance to see the characters and their little quirks. I got to see little things about characters that are not talked about as much in the webisodes I’ve seen (I have not seen the recent ones, I’ve only seen the ones on Netflix).  Hit

Same exact feeling I had with Ever After High: Unfairest of Them All. The difference is that this series is about the characters that are beyond the first wave of characters. Rochelle Goyle is the  main character right now. I get to see these characters have adventures that are not included in the series.   Hit

So it was probably a mistake reading this right after Ever After High. I understood with a passion what people were talking about when they say they like ya/middle grade more than adult books.  Ever After High and Monster High were so fun to sample. Being adult seems like the most depressing stressful thing in the world. I feel that most of the time adult (and young adult) characters are all the same ones.  I know that is the strength of Monster High and Ever After High that the characters are distinct.  Also the book has some pretentious sounding stuff involved in it. I usually do not read books with married people because who in literature or media is portrayed as happily married. I can already assume that someone is cheating on someone or etc. The  reasons I read this book was because  I read Before I Go to Sleep and want more mystery novels even though I am supposed to taking a hiatus from the genre.  Miss

I did not like this. It just feels very basic.  Usually, Japanese novels are good at horror. This did not catch my attention, it feels very American in how it is dealing with the horror. Miss

Eh, not impressed or interested enough to continue. Miss

I feel like this is creative but it is missing something to catch me. I felt the same way with [Runaways]. I might continue it just for the creativity. I just feel that this will be another Chew, I like the creativity but the story does not catch me. Miss?

I think this story was good and seems like it could have made a full length novel. It is gory were it needs to be and goes right into the action. Hit

I have no idea what happened in this book so it was definitely a Miss

I will not say I exactly remember it (reading so many books at one time problems.). I gave it three stars and do remember liking it. Hit

This seems like it would be a okay book. It is a hard sell with this one because it seems like it could be decent but it is not a show stopper. Not every book needs to be a show stopper but this book is entirely out for free on xoxo books and I have not taken the time to finish it so that says something. I feel that this actually is like most of the new adult books I have read which are not bad but not amazing. I feel that one day I am going to be annoyed with the lack of creativity and distinction in the romance/chick/new adult genres, today is not that day. I do not see myself picking this book back up. Miss

Red Wings- I have no idea what this book is (again reading so many books in one month problems). I am going to assume that this book was not good because I do not remember it. Miss?

On the Books I Own Front

I’m having trouble wanting to read the books I own. I think I need to take a break and just read the graphic novels, comics, and manga. I just need fun in my reading life. I’m thinking of doing   30 books in 30 days for June or  30 books in June and July but that might too long for me. I really do not know were I am going with the books I own. I just know that right now it is really fun reading these comics and other books. That says something that I am actually having fun and not ranting that much now that I am not really reading the books I own.