310: Sleepy Hollow: Children of the Revolution

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Synopsis

When Ichabod Crane, a soldier from the Colonial Army, is resurrected from his grave, more than two centuries after he was killed in battle, he partners with Lieutenant Abbie Mills of the Sleepy Hollow Police Department to fight the evil forces that have taken hold of the town.
 
It’s a cold day in January, and Ichabod visits Patriots Park for a moment of peace. Instead, he receives a disturbing vision from his wife, Katrina, in which she delivers a cryptic but urgent message: he must retrieve the Congressional Cross that he was awarded by the Second Continental Congress for bravery in action. There’s just one problem: Ichabod was killed before he ever received the medal, and he is unsure where it might be. Together Ichabod and Abbie set out to uncover the mystery of the cross and its connection to George Washington and his secret war against the demon hordes. They soon learn that a coven of witches is also seeking the cross in order to resurrect their leader, Serilda, who was burned at the stake during the Revolutionary War. Now they must locate the cross before the coven can bring back Serilda to exact her fatal revenge on Sleepy Hollow.

The Good

This book is set in a time period in the later part of the first season.

• Different point of views beyond Abbie, Ichabod, and even the main cast
• Deals with disability a bit
• Makes American history interesting
• Travels in time and back
• If you like the show you will more than likely like this book. I feel that Keith R.A. DeCandido did a good job capturing the characters.
• Little moments that you don’t get on the show

The Meh

It moves fast so that I felt like at a point something was missing. I feel the show is the same so yeah.

Conclusion

Definitely a very good adaptation of the show.

Little Tidbits

One thing that  was interesting to me is that on the recommendations part for this book on goodreads there are interracial romance recommendations. I would like to read more books that are like this. I think this would be considered urban fantasy. I wish urban fantasy was better or that I find the right urban fantasy novel so I could read it.

{I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.}

Stop Starting New Books (part 2)

Be prepared to read about every microscopic detail of these books because I’m possibly going to be reading them for the rest of the year (yeah, I’m not a read a set list of books reader).

 

Hardcover ≠ Indestructible

I thought that if it is hardcover it would not be a problem. My Feast For Crows is chuffed up. Hardcovers are way more durable than softcovers but still not indestructible.  It does give me the opportunity to make book covers for each book. I started thinking of what would make a good no spoiler free book cover for A Feast For Crows. Now that we are on it they need to come up with new A Song of Ice and Fire book covers. I (and my mom) thought up a book cover for the book but I didn’t get a chance to make it before I finished the book.  A Feast For Crows is easy to think up book cover ideas, East of Eden isn’t going to be.

Spineography

This is their sizes relative to each other.

Books	Pgs Left To Read	Put This Book Down Because…		Genre
Lolita	228	Lack of progression		literary fiction
Canterbury Tales	288	Long chapter		classic
Scandalmonger	448	Long chapters		historical fiction
Ivanhoe	374	Needed to actively read it and not just audiobook it		classic
East of Eden	440/266*	Needed a break I guess		classic
Sherlock Holmes	281	Reading too many books at one time		classic, mystery
A Feast For Crows	Finished	Finished	Finished it!!!	fantasy

 

*East of Eden: 440 is left if I was counting the page count of the entire book including The Westward Bus. 266 is if I just count pages left in just East of Eden.

Library Checkout 10/8/14 (+First Chapter Test)

I  know that I’m supposed to be doing the Stop Starting New Books thing but I just got these books out of the blue. Well, not completely out of the blue.  Upon reaching the last 200 pages of A Feast For Crows I got this sense that nothing happened.  I hate to put this in peoples heads who have not read the book but in my opinion (and most people who read the book) it is true. I went back to book 1,2, and 3 where I saw that at that point in the book things happened. People are not sititng and twiddling their thumbs but nothing epic has happened. I really started to want a fantasy novel. So I got some library books because I was feeling good and was in the library. I am assuming that by the time I post this I will feel sucky again (blah college). Yep, blah college.  I got these when I was  on the last 81 pages of A Feast For Crows. I probably should have waited until I finished it but I don’t roll that way.

It helps that most of these books  have under 2000 ratings on goodreads. I want to branch out and read more of the lesser popular books in the world. I think that this is sort of a good time because I’m in a new book setting so I can have a sense of starting fresh.

I read the first couple of chapters of this and it seems to be solid so far. It is the best of the books I got from the library so far. I like that I get strong sense of who she is right away. This story feels so unique in so many ways. I hope I like this at the end.

Trying too hard to be dark. I just was not into the questionable things that happened and how we are supposed to root for the main character doing questionable things.  DNF

yep, I got this again just to promptly DNF it.

I did not like this book because it feels bland. It took me a week to read the first chapter of this book. I just was not impressed by it. It has a video game, manga series, and movie by the way. I didn’t realize all this until I decided to stop reading the book.

 

I know that I got too many books for my school workload.

 I feel that this book has some uniqueness to it too just like Akata Witch. I like it slightly less than Akata Witch though.

You’re probably wondering why I got these after all the noise I talk about ya ( I actually think most of these are middle grade. This is why I think middle grade is going more places than ya.). Well, my school library is categorized in the  library of congress style and has reference books mixed in. I feel like it takes more time to find adult books than in the past. Lack of time is something that I’m really dealing with right now. The ya section is nicely organized together in the old style I’m used to. It makes it easier to find random books.

Reading these books reminds me of why I came up with the Stop Starting New Books plan.

All The Reasons I Shouldn’t Have Gotten These Books

– Due date

It puts more stress on me to do something by a date.

-I carried around a 810 page book for about a week I ended up DNFing

It’s Brave Story by the way.

-Having to put work into focusing to see if I like a book.

 

Project Stop Starting New Books: Seven Picks (Aka My Fall TBR)

In my last post (it is in my September Wrap Up that I have not posted yet oopsies) I talked about not starting any new books outside the books I own. I don’t have the time and calmness (I guess) to start new books. It is hard to explain but I can’t get myself to settle enough to start a new book. I need a book that is already good so a book  or series I’m already familiar with.  I thought it would be handy to create a short handy list of the books that I liked but put down because of millions of reasons.  All these are going to be books that I have gotten at least 50 pages into.

Numbered by level of interest

1. A Feast For Crows (currently reading)
2. The Complete Adventures & Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
3. East of Eden/The Westward Bus
4. Ivanhoe
5. Canterbury Tales
6. Scandalmonger
7. Lolita (umm… I have to think about this one I put this one down because I got antsy about the lack of progression which is kind of creepy actually because it seems like I’m rooting for … yeah.. no.)

Factors To Take Into Account

There are factors to take into account for taking books with me to school.

• Durability

I want to take a book that can handle being carried around all day with other things in my backpack. I’m probably going to lean towards hardcover books or eBooks.

• Compactness

I don’t want something that is too heavy until I am hurting my back carrying it around with all the other junk in my backpack.

• Longevity

It needs to have enough pages for me to read that I will not finish it in one sitting at school. I don’t want to find myself stranded without a book to read. Also, something that the chapters are not so long that I spend 30 minutes reading a chapter.

East of Eden. I have the English bind up version with The Westward Bus but wanted to find a another cover that was not the same one that is shown all the time. Also, I think this cover fits what is going on in the book right now.

This cover is creepy knowing what the book is about.

 

A Feast For Crows fails on almost all counts.  It is a big book to carry around and the chapter are kind of long. I have it in hardcover so that is how it kind of passes on the durability front except it is chaffing at the ends of the book. I had to put a book cover on it. Overall, I can ignore all the things that I put to consider if the book is enjoyable.

The Adventure & Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes is short and since it is a classic can be read as an eBook. So it is compact and durable.  These  are two separate books so I may read one book then comeback later to read the second.

East of Eden/The Westward Bus  is another bindup so I will read East of Eden then comeback to The Westward Bus. It is hardcover but kind of older. Its probably 100 pages less than A Feast For Crows.

Ivanhoe (ebook/physical copy)  is a classic so I can get it in ebook in addition to having it in softcover. I will need it because my copy is old and in softcover.

Canterbury Tales (ebook/physical copy) while being a classic is also a translation from Middle English so reading the ebook is going to be questionable. I still have the option so that is good. My edition of this book is softcover and as most of my classics old. So I think carrying it around would not be a good idea. It definitely has longevity so much so that it made me put the book off to the side. The chapter that I was on felt so long (looking at it now it is not actually that long).

Scandalmonger  is in hardcover. The only thing that worries me about this book is the length of the chapters. It is like Canterbury Tales the size of the chapters for this made me put it to the side  except the chapters for this book are actually really long. The prologue was almost 50 pages long.

Lolita has short chapters which is a major thing working for it versus all the other books.

Books	Durability	Compactness	Longevity
A Feast For Crows	hardcover but is chaffing at ends so had to put a book cover on it.	No, around 700+ pages	Yes
The Adventure & Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes	ebook and hardcover copy	ebook and have hardcover copy (326 pages)	Yes
East of Eden/The Westward Bus	hardcover	500+ pages, it is fat	Yes
Ivanhoe	ebook (good), physical copy is old and softcover (bad)	508 pages but is small	Yes
Canterbury Tales	ebook (questionable because of it being an translation), physical copy is old/ softcover (bad)	383	Yes
Scandalmonger	Hardcover	496
Lolita	No, Old cover/softcover	288	Yes

June: Samples & Freebies, Updating the Queue

Updating the Queue

A Feast For Crows

Thanks a lot Ever After High!

So I got a craving for a teen romance from reading Ever After High, Monster High, and visual medias. It just got into my head to read a ya novel even after all my talk recently. It is best in these situations to just let myself sample a couple until I realize the state of my relationship with ya. So I sampled a bunch of ya novels.

I Need To Be Engaged…

 It had me a bit with the thing on being a quiet girl. It just did not go further to catch me. I want ya so bad to go that extra mile to catch me as a teen. Even if it did not catch me as a teen I want it to engage me. This story started going the average teen territory which is where it lost me.  Discontinue

 I think I sampled a bit of this when I was in high school and found it boring. I need to trust past me more.  I read one chapter from a sample and was done. It was boring as far as I read. discontinue

 I find the family dynamic to be basic. I like the idea of the frog prince fairy tale. I want to like the relationship between the main character and the guy but I feel that I am trying to like it more than I actually like it.  I am not engaged.  discontinue

I picked this book up because it has a romance in it and I have always kept looking at this book then putting it down. I decided to finally read it. This book is so average. Coming from a person who is trying to look for something different (or can be good that it having all these things I don’t usually like not be a problem). I think I was barking up the wrong tree with this one. Popular mean girl- check. cliques that kind of make no sense- check. It was just so average. Discontinue

Please be good…

 I like that it shows the relationship between a brother and sister is important. In trying to pump up romantic relationship other relationships get put to the side. I like also that the story is about a different race teen. continue

 This had some funny moments towards the end of the preview. It seemed to have promise in terms of the character versus a lot of other ya books I have read recently.

I need to step away from ya completely and not come back because I am starting to get into that stage where I am going to say mean things about the category. What gets me about ya is that it has the makings to be great but falls into tropes and stereotypes. I continued still for some reason.

 My biggest complaint that is going to run a theme throughout this review is the lack of nuances in this book. My one of many complaints about ya (and just most other categories/genres) is the lack of distinction going on.

-Of course the main character main guy is stereotypically hot and has a dark secret

-Of course the lead girl is a part of the nerd crowd who is hot  but no one ever approaches her because she is so unattainable and  only a nerd by association to her friend -who turns out to be a jerk who feels entitled to her +yeah, for standing up against friend zoning -minus for how the friend zoning was handled

-the  perpetuation that you are not living your life unless you are partying and doing what all the cool kids is doing, is something I sincerely don’t like

-To sum this up there is not anything really creative or distinct.

I did have a weird interest in this story but I have to ask myself what will I gain from this.

Like: I think that this book is unique in that it has a main character who does not speak for most of the book. Reading this made me  think about how I have not read that many books that deal with disabled or characters who go outside the norm. The main character is not disabled but  it made me think about reading a book with a deaf person.

Didn’t Like: I did not like that this book even though it has a different premise than most books reads like an average ya book. Yeah, it is different in that she does not speak and how that affects her interactions with people. But it still is about focusing mainly on her relationship with the said guy character.

I wanted to see more of how being silent manifested in her as a person. I want to state first that not everyone has the same experience as me and this is just my feeling on the text.  My feelings come from me being a person who does not talk a lot. When I was young I did not start really talking until I was six years old. I am more of an introvert so I spend large amounts of time not talking. My not talking manifested in me daydreaming and thinking a lot. I thought how cool that would be as a reader to see that. I thought it would be interesting to see a person who does not talk and how active their imagination and mind is.   I don’t own the experience of someone who does not talk but I want to see more of her as a person beyond cliché ya stuff. I don’t have to see her be me. I just don’t want to see her in relation to Clay. I want to see her personality. I want to see her as a person.

I talked to my brother and he gave a valid point on my the author may have made the character this way. The point is that the character is made this way to be able for everyone to relate to her. I think that is the problem with a lot of books in genres that even go beyond ya. Authors want to hit every reader instead of forcing readers to go beyond their comfort zone in the type of characters and their experiences that they read. When I say I want distinction or nuance this is what I am talking about. Why does it still feel like I am reading an average ya novel even though the main character has different experiences than the average teen? I really want something that challenges the status quo of how we address high school. I thought about recently after watching Twisted why do they make it seem like if you are not drinking, smoking, or rebelling you are not living your high school life to the fullest. Why is the nerdy teen seen as this person who has no life? These are the things that keep me from being able to get back into ya. These are the things that I think about when people say that ya is talking about important things.

Self-Publishing: My Expectations vs. The Reality

I think that I have this idealistic expectation of self-publishing because it is toted as this space that is away from the chains of mainstream publishing. Many people make self-publishing seem like this place for people who works are too creative to get into mainstream publishing. The reality that I find myself reading in is of books that are just as unique and creative as published works. It is a travesty that a place that could essentially do anything is just plain as vanilla.  I don’t want to say that all self-publishing is not creative but a vast majority that I am seeing is basic.

Respecting Authors: The Line Between My Wants And Authors Accountability, etc.

Do I respect authors? I saw this recently on this video:

The video is about the pressure that George r.r. Martin has to go through to finish his next book.

My opinion on George r.r. Martin with his books has always been for him to take as much time as he needs to write the next book. I came to the series late, when books 1-5 was already out. So I had the luxury of taking my time reading the books, and that I did. The problem now is that the series is currently airing and it is already having things from book 4 and 5 in season 4 ( which annoys me because I am on book 4 and why fast forward to stuff when you know the author is not done with the series/far enough to afford the luxury). He does not have the time ( this is not taking into account if the show will do the same thing it did with the third book) to take as he did with the other books. Now he has to write faster to the pace the show. I am scared personally that the books could possibly not be as good as because of him having to rush. It is so rare to find a book that is at the level that A Song of Ice and Fire is that I am cool with waiting.  I will say that, I do not think I have experienced the amount of people telling authors to hurry up and put out the next book as I have with this series.

I think that I respect authors. It is hard to make that distinction between what is being criticism  and what is being rude. For me it is extra hard when I know that genres and entire categories can do better. I should not be reading books that are operating at the same level as everyone else or fiction in the past. The lack of creativity and distinction to me is one of the hardest thing to have to read through with fiction. I want so many things and know that so many things could happen but won’t for the same old, same old. What stood out to me in this video the most is the idea that artist don’t owe readers anything. I want to endorse that sentiment because there are many things that happen in certain series such as A Song of Ice and Fire that people don’t agree with that made them stop watching/reading the series. I feel as a reader that authors do have power over their creations and there is a certain point that I want to say we should not question. But as a reader there are so MANY  things that are not present in fiction that it bugs me. I can’t let writers and others who put things out into the world off the hook. What bothers me at times is that put my time and energy into these things and people expect me to not comment. Writers and the people who put things out into the world owe me something, not just anything mind you. Writers and the other people who put things out into the world you can take as much time as you want but I still want something. I want you to bring me something that is not basic, generic, or average. I want uniqueness and greatness. I understand that  there are may readers that have a sense of entitlement. Now that the line between authors and other professionals are lessening you are more prone to seeing that. I don’t like this ever smaller growing line that separates authors and readers, honestly. I don’t like that so many readers want to be authors now. Now people are being less subjective in reviewing books they are worried more about hurting authors than actually being honest about books. I am not talking about being a jerk towards authors let me get that out-of-the-way. Then now that more authors are present on social media and there is a connection to authors. I don’t want to break the wall between me and my favorite authors. I just want to read their books and rant or rave about them. I don’t want to rush them to finish x book. If I like an author I trust them enough to sit back and enjoy. I don’t want hand wringing and this is my story so shut up. I put my time and effort into your writing. I want space where I can rant about how much I hated something without having to worry about authors feelings. It really bothers me a bit because it is coming to a certain point where it feels like shut up and accept what I give you. The idea that I am supposed to thumbs up everything writers put out without questions makes me think why am I here if my opinion does not matter. I want to the best possible for writers and readers.

This blog sums up my feelings basically if this is too rambly :

Reader entitlement

 I like the different point of views of the characters. I have been wanting an under the sea fantasy/sci-fi novel for a while. I think that this may be the thing that I need.

East of the Sun and West of the Moon (librivox) I listened to this on librivox. I initially thought that this story was just Beauty and the Beast. It is nice to say that it is only similar in one aspect the man/bear curse. As I was listening to it I thought this would make a great retelling. One of the things that I wanted as I was reading this was for the prince to end up with the ugly girl. I seem to want the exact opposite of the way that normal stories want to go. I want more stories now with the evil, ugly, or etc. character finding love.

July Reading Plans

I am not really into reading right now so I probably will not read anything in July.

 

May: Samples, Freebies & Updating the Queue

Updating the Queue

• A Clash of Kings- It has been so long since I finished a book that I own. What a novel to break my not finishing streak. I actually did not plan for this book to be book 50 but what a book to read that milestone. Not that the numbers matter, just me actually enjoying a book.  Finished
• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes- I was supposed to be reading this for a group but I’m too everywhere with my reading right now that it is not happening. Sherlock Holmes being as old as his fiction it is, its crazy that his novels do so much more for mystery than new authors.
• A Feast for Crows- George R.R. Martin  is making me break all my rules. I started the next book in the series after just finishing the last book. I think the blame can be put on my game of thrones fever from the show and my lack of not many other books on my shelf that are good.
• Watership Down- I like what little I did read. My reaction so far is just thinking how the rabbit on the cover and the characters makes me think of rabbit that comes and eats my grass everyday.

Bad News?

I actually made a plan to finish these two books then go into a 15-30 books challenge during maybe June and July to clear off more books from my shelf but that black cloud started feeling like it was coming back again. I want to finish this challenge to read the books that I own but I just don’t have the  fortitude for it. The bad news is that I may not finish the two year challenge I set out to do.  I honestly cannot see me not finishing the challenge as a bad thing. If there has to be a choice between unhappily reading the books I own and happily reading books I do not own, the choice where I am happy is the one I am going to choose.

I recently did a review on some books from my recent bookhaul and just random books from my shelf.

Samples Why I like to torture myself I do not know

This goes into also why I started feeling that black cloud approaching again, I started trying to read novels again. Since my success with Monster High and the weneeddiversebooks campaign I started to look for novels again. These are some of the books that sampled during this fruitless search.

Positives: I feel that the main character has many feelings that I have at this point in my life, that point in time of late teens/early twenties. I like the cover and the idea for the book. I wish that there were more novels with Asian characters that do not focus on race ( ditto for basically every other ethnicity that does not get that much play).

Negatives: It did not engage me. I feel that it was talking some good stuff but it did not go the extra mile to make me care.

 I feel that the premise is good but the story did not catch me. I think the main reason I cannot get behind a lot of middle grade and young adult books is because I have been around these two genres for too long. Many people who I have noticed who  are into these genres now are coming into them fresh. Young adult and middle grade were around when I was growing up as a reader. I think that is a basic theme for many genres that I  stopped reading, I have been reading for too long to get impressed easily. I only read a few chapters but I read enough to feel unimpressed. The bad part is that I felt that I would not like these books but decided to try them anyway because they were diverse or middle grade. The biggest lesson to learn from my search is to be open to new books but still remember my limits.  Also, some books are the exception not the rule.

I feel that I should add more on why I did not like it but what I wrote above is pretty much it. It did not engage me.

After reading Ever After High: Storybook of Legends I had that feeling after you read a really good book. I was hung up on how great it was (especially when I read another book after it that was eh) so I decided to read the rest of the short stories. I really really liked them. Part of my like is because these stories give a view into these characters that the novel and webseries  don’t. The Storybook of Legends  was focused mostly on Raven Queen and Apple White, mostly Raven Queen though.

My Likes

I like how the creators of Ever After High are modernizing the legends.

Shannon Hale is taking care of business with writing these stories.

I like the romance that is a part of the stories. It is a main reason that I read the books that include romance in them this month. The great thing about the romance is that the characters do not have to do all these graphic things to make me feel their relationship.

+Love for their families is a part of these stories. I think one of the main reasons that I am into these stories is that it is not I hate every person, especially my family narrative. In a lot of novels that I read it seems like the main character(s) do not have family and if they do they hate/seem to have no actual feelings towards them.

The more I think about the series the more I find about it that I like.

It was too short. It was one of those books that gives a bit of the story for free and the rest of the story is in installments that you have to pay for. The shortness was its flaw, it did not give the book time to develop the relationship. Then certain events happened too early to enjoy the moments. Forgettable-pretty much

Previews

First this was a sequel in a series which I did not realize. I do not know if it being a sequel in a series will be a big problem but there was a moment that it did play  a factor. Anyway, the book was not interesting. I cannot remember a lot from the story but I do remember the writing not being good.  Forgettable-already forgot parts of it

This book has potential. One of the trope I like in my romance novels is arranged marriages. I do not know if I will like this book when I finally get it but what I read so far was good.  I need to do a post on the romance tropes that I like. I feel that it would be really fun.

I do not seem to have luck with indigenous/ Native American fantasy. I do not feel that as far as I read this story that it caught me.  Forgettable

I want to read more chick-lit/romance that have characters who are different races. In fiction in general I want to read beyond the races that I usually read. I came to the realization that I usually read only Japanese and African American fiction. Saying all that I did not like this preview of this book. The reason I did not like it is because it felt average.  It did not catch me. I want to read a book and feel engaged and that interesting things are going to happen. Forgettable

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

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.

 

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.

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.