Hi! Sorry for lack of action but I'm afraid to say I'm being swept up in Olympic fever and haven't picked
up a book in two weeks! Starting to get the withdrawal symptoms though so I'll be back soon! :)
Monday, 6 August 2012
Thursday, 19 July 2012
The Perks of Being a Wallflower- Stephen Chbosky
I must admit, I'd never heard of 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' until I was at the pictures waiting for a certain amazing film (Snow White and the Huntsman!) to start when a trailer for the film version came on and it happened to mention that it was 'based on the bestselling novel'. "oooooo, I neeeeeed it" was the only thing that popped in my head so as soon as I got home, I downloaded it onto my trusty e-reader and off I went! The lovely people from goodreads.com give it a mighty four and a bit stars and say this......
Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.This haunting novel about the dilemma of passivity vs. passion marks the stunning debut of a provocative voice in contemporary fiction: The Perks of Being a Wallflower. This is the story of what it’s like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. Through Charlie, Stephen Chbosky has created a deeply affecting coming-of-age story, a powerful novel that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller coaster days known as growing up.
Now, wow.....four and a bit stars....that's pretty impressive, but unfortunatly I just didn't get it! It's not really my type of book. Don't get me wrong, it's a 'nice' book but through the whole thing I just couldn't stop getting frustrated at the fact that I had no idea who he was writing to!! Is it just a diary? are they actually letters to people? It may even have told me half way through but due to the fact I kept getting distracted and finding myself daydreaming whilst reading, I could have infact missed it! I know it shouldn't be a big deal but it just bugged me so much and I couldn't really enjoy the story because everytime a new letter (or chapter) was started I found myself getting mad about not knowing who he was writing to!
On the plus side, despite having no idea who Charlie, the main character, was writing to, I at least found out about him and his life and loves whilst reading his story. As the story progressed I really began to feel a bit sorry for Charlie. He seemed so niave and through the way the book was written I kind of assumed he had some kind of learning disabiltiy but when I went to get the synopsis from the goodreads website I began reading the comments and reviews from other people and one person, (I don't know her details other than she's called Tatiana so apologies) has the exact same opinion and points out that other people, rather than describe him as I have, (she also described him similarly), say that instead he is actually just 'gifted, observant and socially awkward' and she highlights EXACTLY what I have thought when I found this out......what does this say about Stephen Chbosky's writing?
From reading other reviews, it appears that a lot of people can relate to how Charlie feels and the experiences he went through and these people seemed to love it and maybe that's why I couldn't really get into it....don't get me wrong, of course I went through the whole awkward teenage stage but it's difficult to imagine someone being quite so innocent and niave at Charlie's age- (I like to think that I wasn't but who knows!). While looking into this book, I found that actually, it has been massively hyped....it was apparantly promoted by MTV (although I seemed to have missed that) and of course made into a film but I can't help but wonder why.
In saying all this, despite the complaining, I am glad I read it. Despite the frustrations it's a pretty easy book to read, and helped me pass the time whilst I was suffering from Tonsillitis and I have the feeling that if I hadn't have read it now I would have ended up seeing the film and then reading the book afterwards....at least now I can save some money and not have to go see it at the pictures!
Regardless of my opinion, it's obviously a well loved, successful book and if you ever get a particularly nasty dose of tonsillitis....this will help pass the time.....I'll let you decide for yourself if that's a complement or not! :)
Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.This haunting novel about the dilemma of passivity vs. passion marks the stunning debut of a provocative voice in contemporary fiction: The Perks of Being a Wallflower. This is the story of what it’s like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. Through Charlie, Stephen Chbosky has created a deeply affecting coming-of-age story, a powerful novel that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller coaster days known as growing up.
Now, wow.....four and a bit stars....that's pretty impressive, but unfortunatly I just didn't get it! It's not really my type of book. Don't get me wrong, it's a 'nice' book but through the whole thing I just couldn't stop getting frustrated at the fact that I had no idea who he was writing to!! Is it just a diary? are they actually letters to people? It may even have told me half way through but due to the fact I kept getting distracted and finding myself daydreaming whilst reading, I could have infact missed it! I know it shouldn't be a big deal but it just bugged me so much and I couldn't really enjoy the story because everytime a new letter (or chapter) was started I found myself getting mad about not knowing who he was writing to!
On the plus side, despite having no idea who Charlie, the main character, was writing to, I at least found out about him and his life and loves whilst reading his story. As the story progressed I really began to feel a bit sorry for Charlie. He seemed so niave and through the way the book was written I kind of assumed he had some kind of learning disabiltiy but when I went to get the synopsis from the goodreads website I began reading the comments and reviews from other people and one person, (I don't know her details other than she's called Tatiana so apologies) has the exact same opinion and points out that other people, rather than describe him as I have, (she also described him similarly), say that instead he is actually just 'gifted, observant and socially awkward' and she highlights EXACTLY what I have thought when I found this out......what does this say about Stephen Chbosky's writing?
From reading other reviews, it appears that a lot of people can relate to how Charlie feels and the experiences he went through and these people seemed to love it and maybe that's why I couldn't really get into it....don't get me wrong, of course I went through the whole awkward teenage stage but it's difficult to imagine someone being quite so innocent and niave at Charlie's age- (I like to think that I wasn't but who knows!). While looking into this book, I found that actually, it has been massively hyped....it was apparantly promoted by MTV (although I seemed to have missed that) and of course made into a film but I can't help but wonder why.
In saying all this, despite the complaining, I am glad I read it. Despite the frustrations it's a pretty easy book to read, and helped me pass the time whilst I was suffering from Tonsillitis and I have the feeling that if I hadn't have read it now I would have ended up seeing the film and then reading the book afterwards....at least now I can save some money and not have to go see it at the pictures!
Regardless of my opinion, it's obviously a well loved, successful book and if you ever get a particularly nasty dose of tonsillitis....this will help pass the time.....I'll let you decide for yourself if that's a complement or not! :)
The Hypnotist- Lars Kepler
Hi! As promised here's what I think of Lars Kepler's 'The Hypnotist'. First off, as always, a synopsis from goodreads.com.....
In the frigid clime of Tumba, Sweden, a gruesome triple homicide attracts the interest of Detective Inspector Joona Linna, who demands to investigate the murders. The killer is still at large, and there’s only one surviving witness—the boy whose family was killed before his eyes. Whoever committed the crimes wanted this boy to die: he’s suffered more than one hundred knife wounds and lapsed into a state of shock. Desperate for information, Linna sees only one option: hypnotism. He enlists Dr. Erik Maria Bark to mesmerize the boy, hoping to discover the killer through his eyes.
It’s the sort of work that Bark has sworn he would never do again—ethically dubious and psychically scarring. When he breaks his promise and hypnotizes the victim, a long and terrifying chain of events begins to unfurl.
An international sensation, The Hypnotist is set to appear in thirty-seven countries, and it has landed at the top of bestseller lists wherever it’s been published—in France, Holland, Germany, Spain, Italy, Denmark. Now it’s America’s turn. Combining the addictive power of the Stieg Larsson trilogy with the storytelling drive of The Silence of the Lambs, this adrenaline-drenched thriller is spellbinding from its very first page
So.....
I LOVE thriller/crimey type books, I don't know what it is....maybe it's the fact that I reckon I'd be a pretty good crime fighting psychologist/ detective myself, and so when it was recommended that I read this I jumped straight in! First of all...the cover! Now, I know I shouldn't say this and I will probably be scorned for saying it but I judge books by their covers. There. I said it! I'm sorry, I KNOWWWWW but I do! I can't help it and judging by this cover I immediately thought oooooo, it's gonna b goooooood! and I was (mostly!!) right!!
Straight away I was hooked......I felt like I was drawn into the story straight away and at times was really freaked by the little boy, Josef Elk, who turns out to have killed his family in a pretty horrific way. I must admit, as a lover of this type of book, I'd never been made to feel so scared at the thought of turning over the page! Don't worry I was very brave and continued and really enjoyed it until about half to three quarters of the way through when I became a bit confused! The plot of the story just changed! It was like the authors (a husband a wife pair who write under a pen-name) had randomly decided to write another story and incoorperate it into the book. It just didn't really fit and for the rest of the book I was waiting for the freaky little boy to make an appearance again. Sure enough, he did but it felt as if they had just remembered that he had been the main character of the earlier story and thought that they best write a bit more about him. I wouldn't say it ruined the book but it certainly didn't do anything to enhance it and to be honest, if you decided to skip this part and then rejoin it at maybe the last chapter, you mightn't really feel that you'd missed out!
If I'm going to be realllyyyy picky, which ok...I suppose I will be....the title 'The Hypnotist' doesn't really seem appropriate to me. I mean, yes there is a hypnotist, and yes he does hypnotise once or twice and yes he does make up a lot of the story, but I don't know, after reading it I felt a bit......short changed! I don't know what I was expecting....maybe more hypnosis- type drama, but after reading it I just looked at the title and thought 'hmmmm'. Like I said though, I'm being picky and although it made me think, it didn't affect how much I enjoyed this book.
I've recently become a big fan of Scandinavian authors, such as Jo Nesbo, and can definitely add Lars Kepler to that list now too! One problem I had whilst reading the Jo Nesbo books was that I sometimes found it hard to follow the story due to the difficulty my internal voice has in pronouncing the place or character names! Luckily in this book I didn't find this a big problem and personally, I found the translation pretty good, although I have read other reviews that have complained about this.
Overall despite the random middle section and my pickyness about the title, I DID really enjoy this book and I'm really looking forward to reading the next book written by the pair. If you like Scandinavian crime books like Jo Nesbo's, I think you'd enjoy this and I would definitely give this a try.....it is worth a read!
Hi! Sorry or lack of reviews n stuff.....its been a busy week at work and I'm still tryin to get the hang of all this blogging malarky....not really sure what I'm doing or should be talking about! Have no fear though...my review of Lars Kepler's The Hypnotist will be coming soon closely followed by the one of The Perks of Being a Wallflower! Update you soon! :)
Sunday, 15 July 2012
Love......From Both Sides (A Laugh out Loud Romantic Comedy)- Nick Spalding
So, my first review.....here goes!
I was first told about this book from my friend who had recently finished it. She raved about it, said it was hilarious and made her laugh throughout! I wasn't convinced....until I read it and it lived up to the hype! The synopsis from GoodReads.com says......
Sometimes, the hardest part of finding love is keeping a straight face…
For Jamie Newman, being a single guy isn’t proving to be much fun, especially when confronted with a sexually belligerent divorcee and a goddess so far out of his league she might as well be a different species.
Mind you, being a girl in search of love isn’t a bowl of cherries either. Just ask Laura McIntyre, who’s recently contended with a horny estate agent on a quest for light relief, and a rabid mountain bike enthusiast with a penchant for genital display.
When Jamie and Laura bump into one another (quite literally) it looks like their luck may have changed – but sometimes finding the right person is only the start of your problems…
Based on real-life tales of dating disaster and relationship blunders, Love... From Both Sides is a warts-and-all romantic comedy for everyone who knows how tricky (and occasionally ridiculous) the quest for love can be.
The book is set out like a 'his and hers' story.....he writes his version of events on an online blog, while her version is documented in letters that she writes to her mam. I love how you get both sides of views of the same events and it's really clever how believable the author's managed to convey and combine both versions. There are some HILARIOUS parts to this book.....like I actually mean spit-your-tea-out-your-nose funny and it's scary how many of these stories made me think 'actually, that could totally have happened to me!'. To be honest, I can't really think of anything that I didn't love about this book. Sometimes it was frustrating in a 'I can't believe you two' kind of way but that helped make me just want to keep reading about it. As soon as I'd finished it I was overjoyed to see that there's another book following on from this and I can.not.waitttttt to get it for my holiday reading! I just hope it's as funny!
I was first told about this book from my friend who had recently finished it. She raved about it, said it was hilarious and made her laugh throughout! I wasn't convinced....until I read it and it lived up to the hype! The synopsis from GoodReads.com says......
Sometimes, the hardest part of finding love is keeping a straight face…
For Jamie Newman, being a single guy isn’t proving to be much fun, especially when confronted with a sexually belligerent divorcee and a goddess so far out of his league she might as well be a different species.
Mind you, being a girl in search of love isn’t a bowl of cherries either. Just ask Laura McIntyre, who’s recently contended with a horny estate agent on a quest for light relief, and a rabid mountain bike enthusiast with a penchant for genital display.
When Jamie and Laura bump into one another (quite literally) it looks like their luck may have changed – but sometimes finding the right person is only the start of your problems…
Based on real-life tales of dating disaster and relationship blunders, Love... From Both Sides is a warts-and-all romantic comedy for everyone who knows how tricky (and occasionally ridiculous) the quest for love can be.
The book is set out like a 'his and hers' story.....he writes his version of events on an online blog, while her version is documented in letters that she writes to her mam. I love how you get both sides of views of the same events and it's really clever how believable the author's managed to convey and combine both versions. There are some HILARIOUS parts to this book.....like I actually mean spit-your-tea-out-your-nose funny and it's scary how many of these stories made me think 'actually, that could totally have happened to me!'. To be honest, I can't really think of anything that I didn't love about this book. Sometimes it was frustrating in a 'I can't believe you two' kind of way but that helped make me just want to keep reading about it. As soon as I'd finished it I was overjoyed to see that there's another book following on from this and I can.not.waitttttt to get it for my holiday reading! I just hope it's as funny!
A quick hello.....!
Hi! So I'm Katie and I've decided to try this whole blogging thing! I'm very new to it and not very technological so please bear with me!
I'm going to be blogging about one of my true loves.....books! I'm a TOTAL book geek and love *most* genres with the exception of sci-fi and non fiction! Favourite authors include Marian Keyes, Sophie Hannah, Jenny Colgan, Tess Gerritsen and Mo Hayder (amongst some others too) and from this I'm sure you can tell my favourite types of books are chick-lit as well as crime/thrillers although at the moment my favourites at the moment are the Hunger Games books.
Anyways, I typically manage to get through a good couple of books a month and if this whole blogging thing goes successfully my aim will be to review the ones I'm reading. I'm always on the look out for new books and authors so please feel free to recommend anything and I'll also (try) and highlight these too!
Again, please bear with me! Thanks! Katie x
I'm going to be blogging about one of my true loves.....books! I'm a TOTAL book geek and love *most* genres with the exception of sci-fi and non fiction! Favourite authors include Marian Keyes, Sophie Hannah, Jenny Colgan, Tess Gerritsen and Mo Hayder (amongst some others too) and from this I'm sure you can tell my favourite types of books are chick-lit as well as crime/thrillers although at the moment my favourites at the moment are the Hunger Games books.
Anyways, I typically manage to get through a good couple of books a month and if this whole blogging thing goes successfully my aim will be to review the ones I'm reading. I'm always on the look out for new books and authors so please feel free to recommend anything and I'll also (try) and highlight these too!
Again, please bear with me! Thanks! Katie x
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