I was really excited to start reading The Princess Bride by William Goldman because I love the movie, and it seems a truth universally acknowledged that the books are always better than the movie.
In the case of The Princess Bride...I like the movie better in certain regards, and the book in certain regards, but all in all I prefer the movie to the book. Now, I'm not saying the book was a complete flop. There were many things I enjoyed about, but there were also some things that just didn't make it very enjoyable for me.
First off, I loved Inigo and Fezzik's relationship in the book. It's one of those things you see in the movie, but you really feel it in the book. And their background stories were wonderful to learn (yet also a bit depressing).
Secondly, Westly was more realistic, I suppose is the way to support it. The movie he was portrayed as perfect, and nothing really bothered him, but in the book you get a lot more depth from his personality. As to which version I prefer, if you could mix them it would be perfect, but as they are I prefer the movie Westly better. The same goes for Buttercup.
Thirdly, Westly and Buttercups relationship was fight after fight, going back to true love. Maybe it was the bitter undertones, or the 'satire' through out, but it wasn't good. And 'William Goldman' pops up throughout the book to narrate/explain certain parts, and the pokes and prods he makes at his wife and son were depressing and annoying after the first couple of times.
And let's not talk about the ending.
Now, I'm not saying it was a terrible read. It was enjoyable, I did like it. I just didn't like, like it. So I gave it a three out of five stars.
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In my reviews I will give a rating and a reason for that rating.
I give The Prince Bride a rating of PG (suitable for ages 12+)
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give The Princess Bride a 3
Showing posts with label Book Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book Review. Show all posts
Monday, February 3, 2014
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Whirligig
I first came across Whirligig by Paul Heischman while browsing the internet for some reads to add to my list. I thought the plot summary looked interesting enough to be put on my list. It wasn't until a week or two ago that I spotted it at my local library, and seeing that it was a short read, took it home with me. Under 150 pages long (my copy is 133), Whirligig follows the story of Brent Bishop as he travels to the four corners of the U.S. building and erecting whirligigs in the memory of Lea, who he had killed in a car crash while intoxicated.
The entire read is very simple, but the writing is unique in that it combines first person and third person. The chapters following Brent are written in third person, while four chapters are written in first person (Present tense, I believe, but far from the crappy present tense the popular YA books are written in today). These four chapters are about four different people who have some story to tell about Brent (And Lea's) whirligigs, how they affected their life in someway. These four chapters are what makes the book. I would read it again just for those four chapters.
Since the book is so short there's very little chance for any major character development to go on, or any development really. There is some, but if Paul felt the need to make the story longer, it would be even better.
Some of my favorite passages: (SPOILERS)
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In my reviews I will give a rating and a reason for that rating.
I give Whirligig a rating of PG (suitable for ages 13+)
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give Whirligig a 3
The entire read is very simple, but the writing is unique in that it combines first person and third person. The chapters following Brent are written in third person, while four chapters are written in first person (Present tense, I believe, but far from the crappy present tense the popular YA books are written in today). These four chapters are about four different people who have some story to tell about Brent (And Lea's) whirligigs, how they affected their life in someway. These four chapters are what makes the book. I would read it again just for those four chapters.
Since the book is so short there's very little chance for any major character development to go on, or any development really. There is some, but if Paul felt the need to make the story longer, it would be even better.
Some of my favorite passages: (SPOILERS)
"The sun had long set. To the west, over the Pacific, the sky was still faintly blue, clinging to the memory of day. Brent moved to a seat across the aisle so as to scan the darker eastern sky, waited through a king stretch if trees, then thought he spotted it: Deneb, in the constellation Cygnus, the swan. He squinted at his book, then out the bus window. Now that they were out of Los Angeles, the... air was much clearer. He looked again and was amazed to make out the shape of a cross with Deneb at its head, just as in the book. He grinned in the darkness, unknown to those around him. He spoke the word Deneb in his mind and felt himself to be Adam, naming the new world around him."
"'Somebody,' she [a Holocaust survivor] said, 'I don't know who, said there shouldn't be laughing after Auschwitz. That nobody could ever want to laugh again after the things that happened there." She rotated her head toward me. "But I was there, kindelah. Yes, very terrible. What I saw you should never dream. But I can also tell you that all those that died want that we should have a life with laughing. Not sad all the time,...They want us to laugh all the laughs that were taken away from them."
"Amazing, and rare. The darkness swallows up most of us."
"Maine summers, like dawn colors, were brief. Darkness and winter predominated. Lea's life had been similarly short. But his clacking, flashing, jingling memorial would give off sound and color all year, holding back the tide of death. It was a kinetic gravestone, painted in ever-blooming greens and yellows and reads. Lea would not be swallowed up."
"He took off his pack. A few nights before, he'd come to the end of Two Years Before the Mast, the author's ship finally returning safely to Boston Harbor. He pulled out the book, felt linked with the writer and Emil and the others he'd met on the trip, and walked back inside the office. He placed it on the book exchange shelf, aware he was nudging and invisible gear forward. He wondered who would read it next. He scanned the titles and decided on The Strange Lives of Familiar Insects. Outside, a warm breeze ran ins fingers through the trees. He started reading while he walked down the road."(That last one...what a great way to end the book. Brent ended his journey with a new fire in life. One being a passion to learn.)
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In my reviews I will give a rating and a reason for that rating.
I give Whirligig a rating of PG (suitable for ages 13+)
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give Whirligig a 3
Thursday, January 2, 2014
The Art of Tangled & The Art of Frozen
My first two books I read in 2014! The Art of Tangled and The Art of Frozen are essentially illustrated documentaries of the development of the movies. It contains sketches, drawings, some photos, all used for the concept and design of each of these two movies. While containing these beautiful drawings and photos, the books are separated into chapters that focus on different parts of designing the movie. The are worth your time if you enjoy the movies, or are interested in developing movies, or art.
The Art of Frozen is 160 pages long, with full colored drawings and concept art. It takes you through the process of designing the world of Frozen and the different characters. Did you know when they were originally starting Frozen, Elsa was going to be an evil snow queen with black hair? And she had a very different hairstyle when they switched it to blonde.
One thing I enjoyed about it was learning about developing Elsa and Anna's relationship. When they decided to have them be sisters, they had all the women in the studio with sisters come in and tell them what it was like, and that is how they developed the relationship!
And Elsa doesn't 'shoot snow from her hands', the magic comes from her body and affects the molecules and atoms in the air, changing them to become snow/ice/frost. And there is so much more in the book! But because I don't want to spoil the movie, that's all I will say. So be sure to read this after you see the movie if you don't want spoilers.
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In my reviews I will give a rating and a reason for that rating.
The Art of Frozen is a CLEAN READ
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give The Art of Frozen a 3.5
Now, The Art of Tangled has a similar format as The Art of Frozen, however with Tangled the writing is done from a different author. The majority of the writing is still composed of interviews as it is in the Frozen book, but you can tell a difference with this different author. like The Art of Frozen, The Art of Tangled is 160 pages long with full color illustrations. Such an enjoyable read, and because I love love love Tangled, I had the songs going through my head anytime concept art for that song appeared and I just loved it. I enjoyed reading The Art of Tangled more than Frozen, but only by half a point. Tangled's art book had more art in it, and more detail in the development process.
I loved learning where they got inspiration for designing the world of Tangled. In Frozen it was Norway, with Tangled...well, it was interesting. Originally Tangled was going to be a comedic satire on fairytales, but then they went for a more serious direction and was heavily inspired by Rembrandt and his use of light. When that started to get to dark, they needed a new source of inspiration, and so they go to classic Disney. The inspiration for the world of Tangled ended up being Disney! They referenced many of the Disney Renaissance movies (Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella), and they sent a group to Disneyland to take pictures of anything that inspired them artistically. even before reading the book I could see hints of previous Disney movies in it, but now that I know how they took used those movies for Tangled, I can see it even more! Absolutely spectacular!
Not only that, I got to know Rapunzel's character even more, and that just made me so happy :D
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In my reviews I will give a rating and a reason for that rating.
The Art of Tangled is a clean read (one mention of 'damn', though that is it)
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give The Art of Tangled a 4
The Art of Frozen is 160 pages long, with full colored drawings and concept art. It takes you through the process of designing the world of Frozen and the different characters. Did you know when they were originally starting Frozen, Elsa was going to be an evil snow queen with black hair? And she had a very different hairstyle when they switched it to blonde.
One thing I enjoyed about it was learning about developing Elsa and Anna's relationship. When they decided to have them be sisters, they had all the women in the studio with sisters come in and tell them what it was like, and that is how they developed the relationship!
And Elsa doesn't 'shoot snow from her hands', the magic comes from her body and affects the molecules and atoms in the air, changing them to become snow/ice/frost. And there is so much more in the book! But because I don't want to spoil the movie, that's all I will say. So be sure to read this after you see the movie if you don't want spoilers.
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In my reviews I will give a rating and a reason for that rating.
The Art of Frozen is a CLEAN READ
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give The Art of Frozen a 3.5
Now, The Art of Tangled has a similar format as The Art of Frozen, however with Tangled the writing is done from a different author. The majority of the writing is still composed of interviews as it is in the Frozen book, but you can tell a difference with this different author. like The Art of Frozen, The Art of Tangled is 160 pages long with full color illustrations. Such an enjoyable read, and because I love love love Tangled, I had the songs going through my head anytime concept art for that song appeared and I just loved it. I enjoyed reading The Art of Tangled more than Frozen, but only by half a point. Tangled's art book had more art in it, and more detail in the development process.
I loved learning where they got inspiration for designing the world of Tangled. In Frozen it was Norway, with Tangled...well, it was interesting. Originally Tangled was going to be a comedic satire on fairytales, but then they went for a more serious direction and was heavily inspired by Rembrandt and his use of light. When that started to get to dark, they needed a new source of inspiration, and so they go to classic Disney. The inspiration for the world of Tangled ended up being Disney! They referenced many of the Disney Renaissance movies (Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella), and they sent a group to Disneyland to take pictures of anything that inspired them artistically. even before reading the book I could see hints of previous Disney movies in it, but now that I know how they took used those movies for Tangled, I can see it even more! Absolutely spectacular!
Not only that, I got to know Rapunzel's character even more, and that just made me so happy :D
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In my reviews I will give a rating and a reason for that rating.
The Art of Tangled is a clean read (one mention of 'damn', though that is it)
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give The Art of Tangled a 4
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
A Kiss in Time
A Kiss in Time is a modern day fairytale retelling of Sleeping Beauty. I'm a sucker for fairytales and any kind of retelling. I was originally searching the Library for Beastly, but their copy was out at the time. Instead I grabbed A Kiss in Time to hold me off as I wait for Beastly to come back in.
The writing in the book was OK. It was in the first person present tense narrative, and you should already know I have a thing against that type of narrative. Alex put a twist on it though, and switched between Talia's (Sleeping Beauty) and Jack's (true love) point of view. That was different, and sometimes confusing if you didn't pay attention to the name at the top of the chapter in order to know who was speaking. I had to go back and look a couple of times to remember, but mostly I just figured it out for myself if I forgot to look at the name.
The pacing was nice. Not to fast, not to slow. Plot development was nice too. I liked how Alex Flinn used the concept of true love in this book. The true love prompted Jack to kiss Talia while she was asleep, but he refused to acknowledge it, saying it was because she was really beautiful. The story covered a week's time, and then the epilogue was a two years later deal, and I like how Alex concluded it. It was a nice retelling, and made me even more curious to read Beastly.
The characters were great. Not even Talia with her gifts from the fairies was perfect. And how Alex portrayed Malvolia (Maleficent for the Disney peeps out there) was also unique. Malvolia wasn't evil for the sake of evilness, she was a woman scorned, just not in a romantic way.
A Kiss in Time was a very easy and enjoyable read. It is a nice retelling of Sleeping Beauty and was enjoyable.
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In my reviews I will give a rating and a reason for that rating.
I would give A Kiss in Time a rating of light PG. I would recommend it for teens. Drinking, partying, and some immodest dress.
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give A Kiss in Time a 3
The writing in the book was OK. It was in the first person present tense narrative, and you should already know I have a thing against that type of narrative. Alex put a twist on it though, and switched between Talia's (Sleeping Beauty) and Jack's (true love) point of view. That was different, and sometimes confusing if you didn't pay attention to the name at the top of the chapter in order to know who was speaking. I had to go back and look a couple of times to remember, but mostly I just figured it out for myself if I forgot to look at the name.
The pacing was nice. Not to fast, not to slow. Plot development was nice too. I liked how Alex Flinn used the concept of true love in this book. The true love prompted Jack to kiss Talia while she was asleep, but he refused to acknowledge it, saying it was because she was really beautiful. The story covered a week's time, and then the epilogue was a two years later deal, and I like how Alex concluded it. It was a nice retelling, and made me even more curious to read Beastly.
The characters were great. Not even Talia with her gifts from the fairies was perfect. And how Alex portrayed Malvolia (Maleficent for the Disney peeps out there) was also unique. Malvolia wasn't evil for the sake of evilness, she was a woman scorned, just not in a romantic way.
A Kiss in Time was a very easy and enjoyable read. It is a nice retelling of Sleeping Beauty and was enjoyable.
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In my reviews I will give a rating and a reason for that rating.
I would give A Kiss in Time a rating of light PG. I would recommend it for teens. Drinking, partying, and some immodest dress.
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give A Kiss in Time a 3
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
The Fellowship of the Ring
I am going to begin by saying after attempting to physically read the book multiple times and stopping because it was just so much to read, I got the audio book and started listening to it. I would listen to it as I drove, plugging it into the radio, to make the thirty minute drive into town more enjoyable. And if I was cleaning the house I'd put my headphones on and listen to it with my ipod. Next I am going to get The Two Towers so I can start listening to that :)
I also need to say that I am biased. I love the Lord of the Rings movies. I never did read the books before seeing the movie (probably because I was a little girl when the movies came out). But I always intended to. I read the Hobbit twice before the movie came out (and not because I jumped on the bandwagon. A few years before for fun and the year before for school). I actually found the Hobbit a much easier read than the Fellowship of the Ring.
Back on topic, though. I'm biased mostly in how I picture the characters (Viggo Mortensen is the PERFECT Aragorn. Really, all the actors have become the characters to me I cannot imagine them a different way.) But I think the one thing that really struck me as different from the book and the movies is Legolas.
I disliked Legolas in the book! I was not expecting that. They way they portray Legolas in the movies is so different from the book, at least to me. In the movie Legolas is amazing. In the book, he is just 'eh'.
I loved how much more Legolas and Gimli's friendship is developed in the book though. The movie failed in that regard, and I always loved Legolas and Gimli's friendship in the movie. The book was great in that respect :)
And Boromir. Woooooow. You really really get his character more in the book than the movie.
I definitely found the book an enjoyable read and hope to read it again in the future. People seem to say you either love or hate the book, and although I won't go around saying I loved the book, I did really like it.
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.
Themes:
fantasy, adventure, magic
Language:
None.
Sexual/Romantic Interaction
None
Violence
Nothing real objectionable. It is fantasy, so there are some darker themes throughout, but nothing I believe a teenager would have trouble dealing with.
I would give The Fellowship of the Ring a rating of mild PG
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give The Fellowship of the Ring a 4
I also need to say that I am biased. I love the Lord of the Rings movies. I never did read the books before seeing the movie (probably because I was a little girl when the movies came out). But I always intended to. I read the Hobbit twice before the movie came out (and not because I jumped on the bandwagon. A few years before for fun and the year before for school). I actually found the Hobbit a much easier read than the Fellowship of the Ring.
Back on topic, though. I'm biased mostly in how I picture the characters (Viggo Mortensen is the PERFECT Aragorn. Really, all the actors have become the characters to me I cannot imagine them a different way.) But I think the one thing that really struck me as different from the book and the movies is Legolas.
I disliked Legolas in the book! I was not expecting that. They way they portray Legolas in the movies is so different from the book, at least to me. In the movie Legolas is amazing. In the book, he is just 'eh'.
I loved how much more Legolas and Gimli's friendship is developed in the book though. The movie failed in that regard, and I always loved Legolas and Gimli's friendship in the movie. The book was great in that respect :)
And Boromir. Woooooow. You really really get his character more in the book than the movie.
I definitely found the book an enjoyable read and hope to read it again in the future. People seem to say you either love or hate the book, and although I won't go around saying I loved the book, I did really like it.
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.
Themes:
fantasy, adventure, magic
Language:
None.
Sexual/Romantic Interaction
None
Violence
Nothing real objectionable. It is fantasy, so there are some darker themes throughout, but nothing I believe a teenager would have trouble dealing with.
I would give The Fellowship of the Ring a rating of mild PG
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give The Fellowship of the Ring a 4
Friday, November 29, 2013
Fangirl
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (Seriously, how awesome of a name is that? Is it her pen name or her actual name? If it is her actual name her parents were brilliant.). I actually don't know how to talk about this book. In a way it is similar to The Fault in our Stars by John Green. In all seriousness, Cath (the main character) is practically me. I say that is all seriousness. I was browsing the book store when I spotted the book and read the first page. How Cath reacted was exactly how I would react, if I had had the guts to even live on campus.
Rainbow is a brilliant story teller and writer. She got the whole fangirl down to the molecule. And the fanfiction? Brilliant. This is a unique and one of a kind book. If you understand at all what it feels like to become so immersed in a series (Harry Potter anyone?), to plaster you walls with it, make constant references to it, wear clothing about it. Any of the above, you will get this book.
And seeing the ways in which Cath grew in the book, it made me wonder in what ways I will grow, and in what ways I have grown, since I am so much like Cath.
This book is going right up there with The Fault in Our Stars. It is going to stay with me, it touched me in a unique way. And I love books that do that.
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.
Themes:
coming of age, college, fangirling, relationships
Language:
Cursing throughout. Multiple F-Bombs (Probably around fifty tops)
Sexual/Romantic Interaction
College, and no religious values. Multiple references to sex, virginity, homosexuality, bodies, etc.
Violence
Not so much violence as crazy life violence. Drunkenness, mental issues, parental failings, etc.
I would give Fangirl a rating of mild PG-13, but if you really dislike language then I would rate this as a heavy PG-13 to Light R
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give Fangirl a 4.5
Rainbow is a brilliant story teller and writer. She got the whole fangirl down to the molecule. And the fanfiction? Brilliant. This is a unique and one of a kind book. If you understand at all what it feels like to become so immersed in a series (Harry Potter anyone?), to plaster you walls with it, make constant references to it, wear clothing about it. Any of the above, you will get this book.
And seeing the ways in which Cath grew in the book, it made me wonder in what ways I will grow, and in what ways I have grown, since I am so much like Cath.
This book is going right up there with The Fault in Our Stars. It is going to stay with me, it touched me in a unique way. And I love books that do that.
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.
Themes:
coming of age, college, fangirling, relationships
Language:
Cursing throughout. Multiple F-Bombs (Probably around fifty tops)
Sexual/Romantic Interaction
College, and no religious values. Multiple references to sex, virginity, homosexuality, bodies, etc.
Violence
Not so much violence as crazy life violence. Drunkenness, mental issues, parental failings, etc.
I would give Fangirl a rating of mild PG-13, but if you really dislike language then I would rate this as a heavy PG-13 to Light R
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give Fangirl a 4.5
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Messenger: The Legacy of Mattie J.T. Stepanek and Heartsongs
I worked on reading this book all of November, and finished it last night. I cried at the end. Mattie's story is such a heart warming story, not because he had a terrible disease, but because he let his 'heartsong' shine through it all aspects of his life. This memoir was narrated by his mother, with Larry Lindner writing it out. She said she was always a story teller, not a story writer :)
I think the favorite thing I had about this book, was the humanity in it. I was recently on a trip that had workshops and tables where you could do different things. At one of the tables were different quotes that you could read to find a word that inspired your to write on a card decorated with your fingerprints. The word I chose was 'HUMANITY'. I have noticed that many times that we have a tendency to portray humans and our humanity as a curse. 'I'm only human.'
That's right, you are only human, but you are a human created by GOD. God said you were good. He called humans 'very good'. Being human is not a curse, we might fail sometimes in being human, but that is not the curse. The curse is our fallen, sinful, souls.
And we seem to portray celebrities as selfish, cold hearted people. But in this book, you see a side of them you have never seen, because you never allowed yourself to see it before. Many times I had to pause and just look up at God and say "Thank you for humanity". Humanity is a beautiful thing to treasure and protect, and I believe that is what Mattie knew with his heartsong of peace. The best way to treasure and protect humanity is with peace.
I have added all of Mattie's books of poetry to my 'to-read' list. He was such a beautiful, and talented boy. I highly recommend this book.
I decided not to give a 'clean or not' review for this book. But I would rate Messenger a five out of five just for the joyful message is brings.
I think the favorite thing I had about this book, was the humanity in it. I was recently on a trip that had workshops and tables where you could do different things. At one of the tables were different quotes that you could read to find a word that inspired your to write on a card decorated with your fingerprints. The word I chose was 'HUMANITY'. I have noticed that many times that we have a tendency to portray humans and our humanity as a curse. 'I'm only human.'
That's right, you are only human, but you are a human created by GOD. God said you were good. He called humans 'very good'. Being human is not a curse, we might fail sometimes in being human, but that is not the curse. The curse is our fallen, sinful, souls.
And we seem to portray celebrities as selfish, cold hearted people. But in this book, you see a side of them you have never seen, because you never allowed yourself to see it before. Many times I had to pause and just look up at God and say "Thank you for humanity". Humanity is a beautiful thing to treasure and protect, and I believe that is what Mattie knew with his heartsong of peace. The best way to treasure and protect humanity is with peace.
I have added all of Mattie's books of poetry to my 'to-read' list. He was such a beautiful, and talented boy. I highly recommend this book.
I decided not to give a 'clean or not' review for this book. But I would rate Messenger a five out of five just for the joyful message is brings.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Recent Reads
I have a couple of books that I have read, but have decided not to do an individual post for because I procrastinated so long on them. The books are City of Ashes, the second book in the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, and The Royal Ranger, the 12th (I think) book in a series that was suppose to have ended about a year ago! Leaving the library I was so excited after finding it.
First, City of Ashes. I started reading this book a couple of days after reading Mockingjay, to give myself a chance to get over the emotional trauma from that book. When I sat down and started it, page one I was relieved. Finally! A book written in third person! After reading so many books written in the first person recently, it was such a relief to finally have one in third person to read!
Plot wise, the whole thing is moving at a fairly fast pace, for the fact that each book so far has covered the span of a couple of weeks to a month of time, with some time change inbetween. I feel like it is all being well done, and I am looking forward to starting the next book.
I was especially in love with the character development of Jace in this book. I felt like this was his book to develop. Book one really gave you a chance to get introduced to the characters, and in book two those characters were expanded on, but I feel like Jace was the most. I really hope in the third book Cassandra Clare does more developing on Clary. Although the book is mostly from her point of view, you got to see it from many different angles (main reason I prefer third person writing to first person writing in books), and I thought she executed that well.
I would also give this book the same rating and warning as the first.
Now for The Royal Ranger, by John Flanagan. I love John Flanagan's writing, and his characters. I have gotten so attached to them all over this series and was so sad when it ended (hence my enjoyment when I found this new book!). It took me about a third of the book to get use to the time lapse and to picture the characters with their aged appearances, but it didn't bother me. I love the story for this book and thought he did a great job, as always, with the entire thing.
It is so easy for me to fall in love with the characters John Flanagan writes. And Will and Halt's witty and sarcastic personality is perfect. Sheer perfection. I laugh out loud while reading these books. And he does action/battle scenes amazingly. Add Will and Halt with those scenes and you have highly memorable books. They are serious, but light and funny. I adore them all, and just love love love love love them. I haven't read his 'spin-off' series with the Skandians, but I can't wait to start, because I love his writing so much. My only fear is that I won't love it as much as Ranger's Apprentice.
The ending of this book did leave it open for more in the series, but I hope John Flanagan leaves it as it is. I don't want to much of a bad thing, and I'm afraid that any more Ranger's Apprentice won't be good.
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.
Themes:
Fantasy, medieval-esque, knights and kings
Language:
None
Sexual/Romantic Interaction
Married couples, and some romantic relationships, but none objectionable.
Violence
Murder, death, and some violence, but nothing too disturbing.
I would give The Royal Ranger a rating of heavy PG
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give The Royal Ranger a 5
First, City of Ashes. I started reading this book a couple of days after reading Mockingjay, to give myself a chance to get over the emotional trauma from that book. When I sat down and started it, page one I was relieved. Finally! A book written in third person! After reading so many books written in the first person recently, it was such a relief to finally have one in third person to read!
Plot wise, the whole thing is moving at a fairly fast pace, for the fact that each book so far has covered the span of a couple of weeks to a month of time, with some time change inbetween. I feel like it is all being well done, and I am looking forward to starting the next book.
I was especially in love with the character development of Jace in this book. I felt like this was his book to develop. Book one really gave you a chance to get introduced to the characters, and in book two those characters were expanded on, but I feel like Jace was the most. I really hope in the third book Cassandra Clare does more developing on Clary. Although the book is mostly from her point of view, you got to see it from many different angles (main reason I prefer third person writing to first person writing in books), and I thought she executed that well.
I would also give this book the same rating and warning as the first.
Now for The Royal Ranger, by John Flanagan. I love John Flanagan's writing, and his characters. I have gotten so attached to them all over this series and was so sad when it ended (hence my enjoyment when I found this new book!). It took me about a third of the book to get use to the time lapse and to picture the characters with their aged appearances, but it didn't bother me. I love the story for this book and thought he did a great job, as always, with the entire thing.
It is so easy for me to fall in love with the characters John Flanagan writes. And Will and Halt's witty and sarcastic personality is perfect. Sheer perfection. I laugh out loud while reading these books. And he does action/battle scenes amazingly. Add Will and Halt with those scenes and you have highly memorable books. They are serious, but light and funny. I adore them all, and just love love love love love them. I haven't read his 'spin-off' series with the Skandians, but I can't wait to start, because I love his writing so much. My only fear is that I won't love it as much as Ranger's Apprentice.
The ending of this book did leave it open for more in the series, but I hope John Flanagan leaves it as it is. I don't want to much of a bad thing, and I'm afraid that any more Ranger's Apprentice won't be good.
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.
Themes:
Fantasy, medieval-esque, knights and kings
Language:
None
Sexual/Romantic Interaction
Married couples, and some romantic relationships, but none objectionable.
Violence
Murder, death, and some violence, but nothing too disturbing.
I would give The Royal Ranger a rating of heavy PG
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give The Royal Ranger a 5
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Four Perfect Pebbles: A Holocaust Story
My local library had an event tonight. Marion Blumenthal Lazan, a Holocaust survivor, came to speak about her story as told in her memoir Four Perfect Pebbles: A Holocaust Story. Although Lila Perl wrote the book with background information, Marion and her mother, Ruth (who died last December, and lived to be almost 105 years old) gave many first hand accounts for the book (a majority of the book is made of quotes from Marion and her mother). The story is beautiful and inspiring. I really felt like I had just sat down and listened to my grandmother tell me a story of her childhood when I read it. It is worthy of a spot on your bookshelf.
And because I went to listen to Marion, I stayed to have her sign my copy of the book (which I had just got in the mail yesterday, and a good thing because they were sold out by the end of the event!).
"To Sara - With my Best Wishes. Marion B Lazan, November 2013"
I (*cough*mydad*cough*) had the courage to go over to her husband while we were listening and have him sign my book also :)
"Best Wishes, Nathaniel Lazan"
I don't say much when I meet authors/famous people, because that's just how I am (And I'm just excited to have the opportunity to see them in person and listen to them speak). But I made sure to thank her for sharing her story with me. She is a beautiful lady. I'm glad I got to meet her.
And it was nice because my daddy was with me, and my little brother got to hear most of her speech before he went to his class. I love being able to do things with my daddy. I will be sharing Marion's story with my children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, and nieces and nephews.
I love how she proceeded to share end her speech:
"We are the last generation [my generation] that will have 'direct contact' with the veterns of WWII and Holocaust survivors. It is our job to share their stories with our children and grand children and great grandchildren."
And that is why I buy books. Because when I die, my descendants won't just have my legacy, but the legacy of many others, too.
And because I went to listen to Marion, I stayed to have her sign my copy of the book (which I had just got in the mail yesterday, and a good thing because they were sold out by the end of the event!).
"To Sara - With my Best Wishes. Marion B Lazan, November 2013"
I (*cough*mydad*cough*) had the courage to go over to her husband while we were listening and have him sign my book also :)
"Best Wishes, Nathaniel Lazan"
I don't say much when I meet authors/famous people, because that's just how I am (And I'm just excited to have the opportunity to see them in person and listen to them speak). But I made sure to thank her for sharing her story with me. She is a beautiful lady. I'm glad I got to meet her.
And it was nice because my daddy was with me, and my little brother got to hear most of her speech before he went to his class. I love being able to do things with my daddy. I will be sharing Marion's story with my children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, and nieces and nephews.
I love how she proceeded to share end her speech:
"We are the last generation [my generation] that will have 'direct contact' with the veterns of WWII and Holocaust survivors. It is our job to share their stories with our children and grand children and great grandchildren."
And that is why I buy books. Because when I die, my descendants won't just have my legacy, but the legacy of many others, too.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Catching Fire & Mockingjay
{We can pretty much assume that I will not be able to get three posts up each day until October 31, so we will assume that I won't be finishing Blogtober. This is why I fail at things like NaNoWriMon.}
In the past week I completed the Hunger Games trilogy. I had read the first book before the movie had been released, but had not picked up the second book until this past week. Then I borrowed the third book from a friend after reading Catching Fire and finished it last night. It. Was. Terrible.
Be prepared for a spoiler-ly rant ahead. I don't promise that the first half will be about Catching Fire and the second half about Mockingjay either. When I rant, I am all over the place. Don't say I didn't warn you.
First off, the writing is horrendous. The first person present-tense narrative is my least favorite narrative, but just about every single book published today will be written in it. I dislike it because you can't help becoming attached, or 'one', with the protagonist, even if you really hate them *cough*Katniss*cough*. I think the only characters I really cared for in the end (mostly because Suzanne Collins rarely used them/killed them off before she could screw them up with the rest of them) were Finnick, Annie, and their baby.
And when Finnick was killed.... My heart stopped and I had to close the book for about five minutes. (I knew it would happen, since it had been spoiled for me before, but still.... It was terrible.)
Catching Fire wasn't as horrible as Mockingjay, but Hunger Games is the best of the three. I almost think Suzanne Collins shouldn't have even written the last two books, because it seemed like over the course of the two books she was quickly deteriorating over her desire to write the books well. Katniss had no character development until the last chapter of Mockingjay. She was insane throughout the two books. It was just...just...terrible. Terrible. Terrible. Terrible.
And the way she concluded the series was sloppy at best. And it wasn't at best, so it was a complete disaster. Especially the epilogue. You really get a sense of just how cold hearted Katniss is, how 'damaged' she is, how mentally unstable. (I can't exactly blame her for being that way, but it's almost pitiful.) She didn't mention her children's names, just that the boy and girl will learn, or have learned, what had happened. She never wanted children, and she said she only had those two after fifteen years of Peeta begging because he wanted them so bad. I feel so sorry for those kids. The ending was cold, and did nothing to redeem the series.
All in all, I hate the books. The only characters I still liked by the end were Finnick, Annie, their son, and Paylor, probably because Suzanne didn't screw them up like she did everyone else. And Peeta. Still like Peeta. But other than those five, I am either on the line or hating the rest of them.
Snow was brilliant. And I will standby my earlier belief that I hate Coin more than Snow, because I do. The relationship between Snow and Katniss was one of the better parts of the story, and even by the time he died Snow was still had that 'bad guy' about him that was all 'I am the bad guy, and I'm not afraid to mess with you up until the very second I die'. And I don't like Coin because she was a career politician and her only goal with the entire rebellion was to get Snow's seat. I was a little surprised when Katniss killed her, because I thought that Katniss was siding with Coin at that time, but I think that could have been done a lot better still.
So, yes, I hate these books. At best they were okay. Really if you just have someone tell you want happens, you will be fine, because they aren't worth the read unless you really want to go through that mental trauma of hatred at the end.
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.
Themes:
dystopian, rebellion, war, survival
Language:
Very little to none if I am remembering correctly.
Sexual/Romantic Interaction
A love triangle between Peeta, Gale, and Katniss. Kissing, some references to sex. 'Survival of the population' via repopulation is talked about a lot in book three.
Violence
Very heavy, especially in book three.
I would give Catching Fire & Mockingjay both a rating of mild-heavey PG-13
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give Catching Fire &Mockingjay both a 2
In the past week I completed the Hunger Games trilogy. I had read the first book before the movie had been released, but had not picked up the second book until this past week. Then I borrowed the third book from a friend after reading Catching Fire and finished it last night. It. Was. Terrible.
Be prepared for a spoiler-ly rant ahead. I don't promise that the first half will be about Catching Fire and the second half about Mockingjay either. When I rant, I am all over the place. Don't say I didn't warn you.
First off, the writing is horrendous. The first person present-tense narrative is my least favorite narrative, but just about every single book published today will be written in it. I dislike it because you can't help becoming attached, or 'one', with the protagonist, even if you really hate them *cough*Katniss*cough*. I think the only characters I really cared for in the end (mostly because Suzanne Collins rarely used them/killed them off before she could screw them up with the rest of them) were Finnick, Annie, and their baby.
And when Finnick was killed.... My heart stopped and I had to close the book for about five minutes. (I knew it would happen, since it had been spoiled for me before, but still.... It was terrible.)
Catching Fire wasn't as horrible as Mockingjay, but Hunger Games is the best of the three. I almost think Suzanne Collins shouldn't have even written the last two books, because it seemed like over the course of the two books she was quickly deteriorating over her desire to write the books well. Katniss had no character development until the last chapter of Mockingjay. She was insane throughout the two books. It was just...just...terrible. Terrible. Terrible. Terrible.
And the way she concluded the series was sloppy at best. And it wasn't at best, so it was a complete disaster. Especially the epilogue. You really get a sense of just how cold hearted Katniss is, how 'damaged' she is, how mentally unstable. (I can't exactly blame her for being that way, but it's almost pitiful.) She didn't mention her children's names, just that the boy and girl will learn, or have learned, what had happened. She never wanted children, and she said she only had those two after fifteen years of Peeta begging because he wanted them so bad. I feel so sorry for those kids. The ending was cold, and did nothing to redeem the series.
All in all, I hate the books. The only characters I still liked by the end were Finnick, Annie, their son, and Paylor, probably because Suzanne didn't screw them up like she did everyone else. And Peeta. Still like Peeta. But other than those five, I am either on the line or hating the rest of them.
Snow was brilliant. And I will standby my earlier belief that I hate Coin more than Snow, because I do. The relationship between Snow and Katniss was one of the better parts of the story, and even by the time he died Snow was still had that 'bad guy' about him that was all 'I am the bad guy, and I'm not afraid to mess with you up until the very second I die'. And I don't like Coin because she was a career politician and her only goal with the entire rebellion was to get Snow's seat. I was a little surprised when Katniss killed her, because I thought that Katniss was siding with Coin at that time, but I think that could have been done a lot better still.
So, yes, I hate these books. At best they were okay. Really if you just have someone tell you want happens, you will be fine, because they aren't worth the read unless you really want to go through that mental trauma of hatred at the end.
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.
Themes:
dystopian, rebellion, war, survival
Language:
Very little to none if I am remembering correctly.
Sexual/Romantic Interaction
A love triangle between Peeta, Gale, and Katniss. Kissing, some references to sex. 'Survival of the population' via repopulation is talked about a lot in book three.
Violence
Very heavy, especially in book three.
I would give Catching Fire & Mockingjay both a rating of mild-heavey PG-13
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give Catching Fire &Mockingjay both a 2
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Blogtober #14 - Fairytales, Tristram & Iseult
Many of my friends know that I am a die hard for fairytales. From Disney, to Brother's Grimm, to fantasy stories, those are my favorites. I love reading Shakespeare (when I have time because it takes some effort to read his work), and (of course) love stories are my favorites. A friend recently shared the following song with me and the story it is based on. It reminded me that I had heard of the story and knew of the basic plot line, but had never finished it or fully learned the story. And it is the story of Tristram and Iseult (also called Tristan and Isolt, sometimes Tristan and Isolde, depends on translation)
The song and story are beautiful. My friend said this is her new favorite love story, whereas it was Romeo and Juliet (honestly I was never found of Romeo and Juliet, but Tristram and Iseult I am). Granted the following quote is from Wikipedia, it gives a good background to the story:
There are also some beautiful paintings of Tristram and Iseult.
like this one painting by Hugues Merle
Tristram and Iseult has been written into songs, poems, movies, and plays. Although I am not familiar with any other versions besides Mabel Couch's, I really prefer this love story to Romeo and Juliet. First, Tristram is a noble knight (at first he was stuck up, but despite the short length of Mabel's version, you can see his character growth fantastically in it), and he tries to do well to all. If he and Iseult hadn't been under the effects of a powerful love potion, I think they could have moved on to other people (since Iseult married Tristram's uncle, because his Uncle knew they had a thing for each other and wanted to hurt Tristram out of envy). I think that is way I find this story more appealing than Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, because this is tragic because no matter how hard they tried to move on from each other, they couldn't through no fault of their own.
This is a beautiful story, and well worth reading more of.
(And as for a rating, I would give it a light PG, it is considered by many as an adulterous relationship, and there is blood, fights, killing, and poison, so I would be comfortable (in regards to Mabel Couch's version) to let 12 + read it)
Tristan and Iseult is a legend made popular during the 12th century through French medieval poetry, and inspired from archetypal Celtic legends. It has become an influential romance and tragedy, retold in numerous sources with as many variations. The tragic story is of the adulterous love between the Cornish knight Tristan (Tristram) and the Irish princess Iseult (Isolde, Yseult, etc.). The narrative predates and most likely influenced the Arthurian romance of Lancelot and Guinevere, and has had a substantial impact on Western art, the idea of romantic love and literature since it first appeared in the 12th century. While the details of the story differ from one author to another, the overall plot structure remains much the same.There are many different renditions of the story (one of the popular ones is by Matthew Arnold). But the one my friend referred me to is from Cornwall's Wonderland by Mabel Quiller Couch. You can find her version of Tristram and Iseult here along with some other stories from her book.
There are also some beautiful paintings of Tristram and Iseult.
Tristram and Iseult has been written into songs, poems, movies, and plays. Although I am not familiar with any other versions besides Mabel Couch's, I really prefer this love story to Romeo and Juliet. First, Tristram is a noble knight (at first he was stuck up, but despite the short length of Mabel's version, you can see his character growth fantastically in it), and he tries to do well to all. If he and Iseult hadn't been under the effects of a powerful love potion, I think they could have moved on to other people (since Iseult married Tristram's uncle, because his Uncle knew they had a thing for each other and wanted to hurt Tristram out of envy). I think that is way I find this story more appealing than Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, because this is tragic because no matter how hard they tried to move on from each other, they couldn't through no fault of their own.
This is a beautiful story, and well worth reading more of.
(And as for a rating, I would give it a light PG, it is considered by many as an adulterous relationship, and there is blood, fights, killing, and poison, so I would be comfortable (in regards to Mabel Couch's version) to let 12 + read it)
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Blogtober #13 - House of Night, book one - Marked
Browsing my Facebook a couple of weeks ago, I spotted a post from one of the many book pages I like. The post contained a quote from Marked, book one of the House of Night series. This is the quote:
So my friend loaned me the book and I just finished reading it. It was an okay read. Some parts were confusing, sometimes contradictory. The writing wasn't anything to rave over. It's not terrible to where I would be against reading the other books in the series, it just...I think it would rate a point higher than Twilight.
First off, at the beginning I was thoroughly confused (It actually took me the entire first chapter to realize vampyres = vampires. major brain fail there.). 'Vampyres' are not some mythological, unknown, thought to not be real idea, but actual 'creatures'. There is a school/coven and many of the famous actors, actresses, singers, writers, and so on are vampyres. There are certain types of vampyres called Trackers, and they track down humans to turn into vampyres. Those humans are then 'marked' (hence the title of the book, since this covers what happens immediately after Zoey, the protagonist, is marked) and go to the House of Night, a boarding school/coven for vampyres. The Cast ladies did not go right out and say that this is the case, it took some figuring out from the information given.
There were also some parts that seemed to contradict earlier statements/actualities in the story. But in order to double check on those I would need my own copy and a pencil to mark them out with, so don't hold me to this statement.
There was also much cursing (quite a few f-bombs were dropped), scenes that were hinting at sex/sexual activities, and to put bluntly, and explicit scene of attempted oral sex (ewwwwwww).
Soooo....yeah.....Maybe I should retracted my earlier statements about being willing to read the other books. Not only did many of these 'romance' scenes make me a little uncomfortable, I wish I could read a teen book like this (which has a fantastic plot concept, a bit poorly executed) were the romance wasn't physically based, or where the two involved had a 'spiritual' attraction after two interactions. Give me some relationships like those from Harry Potter, or The Rangers Apprentice, and that would be fantastic.
On a slightly lighter note, what's with all the blondes in the book? It's like the population in House of Night is 95% blonde, 5% other. Wow. That and there were some clichés/Mary sue descriptions. And I couldn't connect with any of the characters from the story, and I think that says a lot. If you can't connect with a character, then what kind of story is it?
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.
Themes:
Vampyres (Vampires), Greek mythology, coming of age, survival, monsters, death, magic
Language:
Language throughout, F-bomb dropped by the second chapter, around ten (maybe more) f-bombs total, along with other cursing.
Sexual/Romantic Interaction
Heavy on sexual talk/images. Blood is used as a sexual play toy, oral sex, touching inappropriate areas.
Violence
Heavy on blood. One scene were a boy dies coughing up blood is descriptive. Knives, rituals, murderous ghosts.
I would give Marked a rating of heavy PG-13
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give Marked a 2
"Darkness does not always equate to evil, just as light does not always bring good."I found the idea interesting and worth pondering (I still don't know what I make of it), and posted it on my page. From there my lovely bibliophile friends said I should read this series (granted I did not know about it until then).
So my friend loaned me the book and I just finished reading it. It was an okay read. Some parts were confusing, sometimes contradictory. The writing wasn't anything to rave over. It's not terrible to where I would be against reading the other books in the series, it just...I think it would rate a point higher than Twilight.
First off, at the beginning I was thoroughly confused (It actually took me the entire first chapter to realize vampyres = vampires. major brain fail there.). 'Vampyres' are not some mythological, unknown, thought to not be real idea, but actual 'creatures'. There is a school/coven and many of the famous actors, actresses, singers, writers, and so on are vampyres. There are certain types of vampyres called Trackers, and they track down humans to turn into vampyres. Those humans are then 'marked' (hence the title of the book, since this covers what happens immediately after Zoey, the protagonist, is marked) and go to the House of Night, a boarding school/coven for vampyres. The Cast ladies did not go right out and say that this is the case, it took some figuring out from the information given.
There were also some parts that seemed to contradict earlier statements/actualities in the story. But in order to double check on those I would need my own copy and a pencil to mark them out with, so don't hold me to this statement.
There was also much cursing (quite a few f-bombs were dropped), scenes that were hinting at sex/sexual activities, and to put bluntly, and explicit scene of attempted oral sex (ewwwwwww).
Soooo....yeah.....Maybe I should retracted my earlier statements about being willing to read the other books. Not only did many of these 'romance' scenes make me a little uncomfortable, I wish I could read a teen book like this (which has a fantastic plot concept, a bit poorly executed) were the romance wasn't physically based, or where the two involved had a 'spiritual' attraction after two interactions. Give me some relationships like those from Harry Potter, or The Rangers Apprentice, and that would be fantastic.
On a slightly lighter note, what's with all the blondes in the book? It's like the population in House of Night is 95% blonde, 5% other. Wow. That and there were some clichés/Mary sue descriptions. And I couldn't connect with any of the characters from the story, and I think that says a lot. If you can't connect with a character, then what kind of story is it?
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.
Themes:
Vampyres (Vampires), Greek mythology, coming of age, survival, monsters, death, magic
Language:
Language throughout, F-bomb dropped by the second chapter, around ten (maybe more) f-bombs total, along with other cursing.
Sexual/Romantic Interaction
Heavy on sexual talk/images. Blood is used as a sexual play toy, oral sex, touching inappropriate areas.
Violence
Heavy on blood. One scene were a boy dies coughing up blood is descriptive. Knives, rituals, murderous ghosts.
I would give Marked a rating of heavy PG-13
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give Marked a 2
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Blogtober #11 - The Little Prince
Remember #9 from Blogtober? I mentioned the deluxe package of The Little Prince, but how I passed on purchasing it. Well, today I bought it :) I had a five dollar coupon, and saved two dollars with my Books-A-Million members card, so what was originally twenty-five dollars, I got for nineteen! (A dollar and eight cents tax? Why are books so expensive ): ) That and I had my paycheck and I budgeted buying the deluxe package with it :D
I am so happy I got it! Having Viggo Mortensen read to me is so amazing. I read the book last year and loved it, and have been wanting to purchase it ever since (but for some reason BAM only had this freak-ish graphic novel adaptation...). But when I saw this, I knew I had to get it as soon as possible. When I read it I only had tears when I finished the book. But driving home and listening to it, I had tears. It's such a beautiful, depressing but magical story, and if you haven't read it, you really really really really really really need to.
And with my excitement comes photo taking! Without further ado, here is my deluxe edition of The Little Prince!
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I am so happy I got it! Having Viggo Mortensen read to me is so amazing. I read the book last year and loved it, and have been wanting to purchase it ever since (but for some reason BAM only had this freak-ish graphic novel adaptation...). But when I saw this, I knew I had to get it as soon as possible. When I read it I only had tears when I finished the book. But driving home and listening to it, I had tears. It's such a beautiful, depressing but magical story, and if you haven't read it, you really really really really really really need to.
And with my excitement comes photo taking! Without further ado, here is my deluxe edition of The Little Prince!
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Not only do I have a beautiful hard bound copy of The Little Prince, I also have an audio tape of the story read my Viggo Mortensen, and both will be treasured for a very long time <3
This is why I purchase books, because they will be treasured by me for my entire life, and hopefully will be treasured by my children and their children. Books are a legacy, and I wish more young people would realize that. Books are an investment, not a hobby.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History
You might have heard about a new movie coming out, or maybe you have seen the trailer already. This movie is called 'The Monuments Men', and is based off the true story of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Artifacts division of the military back in World War II. In this book Robert M. Edsel chronicles the struggles and accomplishments of the Monuments Men. It is an inspiring story, with great insight and brilliantly told. Edsel did his research and it shows. He compacted a lot of information into the book, so it was on the slower side to read, but worth it. You really get a sense of the struggles the Monuments had as the small group of men (Small, as in originally less than twelve, but more were added over the years, and many more were added when the war was won), traveled across the whole of Europe on what is indeed 'The Greatest Treasure Hunt in History.'
I would give The Monuments Men a rating of light PG-13
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give The Monuments Men a 4
We do not want to destroy unnecessarily what men spent so much time and care and skill in making...[for] these examples of craftsmanship tell us so much about our ancestors...If these things are lost or broken or destroyed, we lose a valuable part of our knowledge about our forefathers. No age lives entirely alone; every civilization is formed not merely by its own achievements but by what it was inherited from the past. If these things are destroyed, we have lost a part of our past, and we shall be the poorer for it.
British Monuments Man Ronald Balfour,
draft lecture of soldiers, 1944
It is somewhat surprising on how much you can learn by studying art. You see the greediness of the Nazis, the desperateness of them as they lost more and more lead-way. The struggles of the Monuments Men as they traveled all of Europe mostly by hitchhiking, putting themselves at risk for the sake of art. They were driven by their passion, and that is clear in this biography.
I especially enjoyed the last chapter as it went on to tell what happened to many of the people mentioned in the book after the war had ended. It is somewhat sad that practically all of them went without recognition until now. That just now we are starting to learn the truth because someone (Robert M. Edsel!) took the time to research what he was writing about. I am interested in reading more of Robert M. Edsel's work on art and the quest of protecting our heritage through it. I would recommend this book for any history buff, art buff, or war buff. Fantastic read, and you won't regret it.
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.
Themes:
War, history, art, Nazi's, WWII
Language:
Light to light mild. Nothing dramatic
Sexual/Romantic Interaction
Nothing objectionable
Violence
mid-heavy on the violence. Since this is a book centered on a war effort it is unavoidable Some death, descriptions of concentration camps and the after effects of war on human beings. Depressing at many points, but in an eye opening, learn from it, let it change you for the better way.
Themes:
War, history, art, Nazi's, WWII
Language:
Light to light mild. Nothing dramatic
Sexual/Romantic Interaction
Nothing objectionable
Violence
mid-heavy on the violence. Since this is a book centered on a war effort it is unavoidable Some death, descriptions of concentration camps and the after effects of war on human beings. Depressing at many points, but in an eye opening, learn from it, let it change you for the better way.
I would give The Monuments Men a rating of light PG-13
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give The Monuments Men a 4
Monday, August 12, 2013
The Mortal Instruments, book one - City of Bones
I finished reading City of Bones by Cassandra Clare last night. It was a slower read for me, taking three days to complete. I believe the main reason for the slow pace was because I couldn't get into it as easily as I did Divergent, by Veronica Roth, which I had just read right before starting City of Bones. The pace of the book was also slow, it covered a span of two to three weeks, almost day by day. But it was an enjoyable read, and I know that I will be reading the rest of the series, because the way she ended it. Oh. My. Gosh. My heart was broken.
I really enjoyed the relationships the characters had with each other. They were all well developed except for Alec, I believe. All of the sudden out of the blue Clary (the main character) could tell Alec was gay? I didn't notice a thing, but then again I might just be a lot like Jace in this area and be blind to the hints of gay-ness or what have ye. It wasn't until after Clary discovered this that I began to notice that Alec, was indeed, gay. Maybe the glamour had been lift from my eyes in this case? Excepting the homosexuality, I still feel as if Alec's character isn't fully developed and clean as the other characters.
Another thing about City of Bones that I really enjoyed was the fact that Clare kept the mythical creatures in the story true to their origins. Demons and vampires are destroyed in sunlight. She had a hierarchy of the mythical creatures, she knew what she was talking about when it came to magic/myths. She kept the creatures true to the story while still making them fresh and new and different. And the fact that werewolves can change at will doesn't bother me, because as is explained in the book at the beginning they have no control and change against their will at every full moon, but over time they learn to control it and only a strong full moon can force the more mature werewolves to change.
Spectacular and refreshing compared to the mumbo jumbo that Twilight has brought upon the world of mythical and magical creatures.
As for being the first book in the series, it was a good introduction. It got the ball rolling for the plot, introduced drama, and developed characters and relationships. Despite being a slow read, it got me interested and attached enough to the characters and plot to read the rest of the series.
And let me rant before I end this review by saying.
What. The. Heck.
The actors they have for Jace and Clary in the up and coming Mortal Instruments movie... just, no. No. No. No.
The End.
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.
Themes:
Magic, mythical creatures, demons
Language:
Light to light mild. Nothing dramatic
Sexual/Romantic Interaction
Kissing. One of the characters is homosexual. Couple of mentions of sex and 'hot bods' and similar.
Violence
Light heavy on the violence. Fights, death, kidnapping, killing. Magical fights. Describes blood and wounds in some detail.
I would give City of Bones a rating of light to mild PG-13
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give City of Bones a 3.5
I really enjoyed the relationships the characters had with each other. They were all well developed except for Alec, I believe. All of the sudden out of the blue Clary (the main character) could tell Alec was gay? I didn't notice a thing, but then again I might just be a lot like Jace in this area and be blind to the hints of gay-ness or what have ye. It wasn't until after Clary discovered this that I began to notice that Alec, was indeed, gay. Maybe the glamour had been lift from my eyes in this case? Excepting the homosexuality, I still feel as if Alec's character isn't fully developed and clean as the other characters.
Another thing about City of Bones that I really enjoyed was the fact that Clare kept the mythical creatures in the story true to their origins. Demons and vampires are destroyed in sunlight. She had a hierarchy of the mythical creatures, she knew what she was talking about when it came to magic/myths. She kept the creatures true to the story while still making them fresh and new and different. And the fact that werewolves can change at will doesn't bother me, because as is explained in the book at the beginning they have no control and change against their will at every full moon, but over time they learn to control it and only a strong full moon can force the more mature werewolves to change.
Spectacular and refreshing compared to the mumbo jumbo that Twilight has brought upon the world of mythical and magical creatures.
As for being the first book in the series, it was a good introduction. It got the ball rolling for the plot, introduced drama, and developed characters and relationships. Despite being a slow read, it got me interested and attached enough to the characters and plot to read the rest of the series.
And let me rant before I end this review by saying.
What. The. Heck.
The actors they have for Jace and Clary in the up and coming Mortal Instruments movie... just, no. No. No. No.
The End.
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.
Themes:
Magic, mythical creatures, demons
Language:
Light to light mild. Nothing dramatic
Sexual/Romantic Interaction
Kissing. One of the characters is homosexual. Couple of mentions of sex and 'hot bods' and similar.
Violence
Light heavy on the violence. Fights, death, kidnapping, killing. Magical fights. Describes blood and wounds in some detail.
I would give City of Bones a rating of light to mild PG-13
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give City of Bones a 3.5
Friday, August 9, 2013
Divergent - Book One
I read Divergent by Veronica Roth in around eight hours. It was very good! At less than a hundred pages in I was hooked, and when I got to chapter twelve I didn't want to put it down even though I had to. This is my favorite Dystopian book I have read (although I can count the number of Dystopian books I have read on one hand). The factions Roth made in Divergent are fascinating and I can see the individual mindsets of each faction in society today, although we act in a more 'divergent' matter, not restricting ourselves to one mindset. If I ever did end up in Divergent and was put in a faction, I would be in Abnegation, the selfless. I thought that as I read it and took the quiz at the end and ended up in that faction too. :)
As for characters I instantly fell in love with Tris (Beatrice) and Four. Tris' evolution through the book was executed will, although there were times when I was floored by her thought process/selfishness that became stronger during the climax of the story (it's the Abnegation in me, I suppose). But I liked how in the resolution of the book she over came that overwhelming selfishness. She went from attempting to be selfless 24/7 in Abnegation, something extremely difficult and many times impossible to do even in the real 'world', to become a selfish Dauntless who wasn't afraid of revenge. Over the span of the book her instructor, Four, taught her that she needed a balance of the two, and I found it artistic how Roth symbolized the symbiosis of the two factions with Tris' tattoos.
I think my largest complaint would be that the romantic relationship between Tris and Four was pivotal in Tris' development. I wish it could have been less focused on that. If Roth had waited until the end of the first book to flesh out their relationship's I wouldn't have argued. But I am very, very interested to pick up the next book in the series, Insurgent, to see how it all pans out relationship wise.
Oh, and just for fun here are my picks for Disney characters and the Faction that they best fit:
Candor: Pinocchio
Abnegation: Snow White
Dauntless: Mulan
Amity: Pocahontas
Erudite: Belle
Agree? Disagree? Share with me :)
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.
Themes:
Dystopian, revolution, power, control, government
Language:
One or two words, very very light.
Sexual/Romantic Interaction
Tris and Four's relationship is pivotal throughout the book. Many kissing scenes, some more passionate than others. A few times sex is mentioned/talked about.
Violence
Heavy on the violence. The Dauntless initiation is very violent. There are guns, stabbing, facing fears, killing, murder, mind control throughout the entire book.
I would give Divergent a rating of mild PG-13
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give Divergent a 4.5
As for characters I instantly fell in love with Tris (Beatrice) and Four. Tris' evolution through the book was executed will, although there were times when I was floored by her thought process/selfishness that became stronger during the climax of the story (it's the Abnegation in me, I suppose). But I liked how in the resolution of the book she over came that overwhelming selfishness. She went from attempting to be selfless 24/7 in Abnegation, something extremely difficult and many times impossible to do even in the real 'world', to become a selfish Dauntless who wasn't afraid of revenge. Over the span of the book her instructor, Four, taught her that she needed a balance of the two, and I found it artistic how Roth symbolized the symbiosis of the two factions with Tris' tattoos.
I think my largest complaint would be that the romantic relationship between Tris and Four was pivotal in Tris' development. I wish it could have been less focused on that. If Roth had waited until the end of the first book to flesh out their relationship's I wouldn't have argued. But I am very, very interested to pick up the next book in the series, Insurgent, to see how it all pans out relationship wise.
Oh, and just for fun here are my picks for Disney characters and the Faction that they best fit:
Candor: Pinocchio
Abnegation: Snow White
Dauntless: Mulan
Amity: Pocahontas
Erudite: Belle
Agree? Disagree? Share with me :)
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.
Themes:
Dystopian, revolution, power, control, government
Language:
One or two words, very very light.
Sexual/Romantic Interaction
Tris and Four's relationship is pivotal throughout the book. Many kissing scenes, some more passionate than others. A few times sex is mentioned/talked about.
Violence
Heavy on the violence. The Dauntless initiation is very violent. There are guns, stabbing, facing fears, killing, murder, mind control throughout the entire book.
I would give Divergent a rating of mild PG-13
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give Divergent a 4.5
A Northern Light
I found A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly an enjoyable read with an interesting plot and storyline. I enjoyed that she was inspired by true events and how this story was her interpretation of a 'What If...' Jennifer Donnelly has a very compelling writing style, however I have to object too some of the philosophical/ideological ideas she presents in the book. From her feministic overtones, to her feelings on relationships, to what books are 'Truths' and 'Untruths'. I find the darkness that comes from these ideas depressing. (Get ready for spoilers now, skip to the end where I give the rating if you don't want spoilers)
Donnelly calls books like Pride and Prejudice untruths, while books like Huckleberry Finn are truths because in Huckleberry Finn Hucks father is a drunk who beats his son. It is true that not all love stories are 'glamourous' like Lizzie Bennett's and Fitzwilliam Darcy's, but in A Northern Light, Donnally condemns those relationships to be hard and ultimately heart breaking (in the book the main character's, Mattie, parents had a relationship similar to Lizzie and Darcy's which only lead to heart break for the entire family. Mattie's friend, Minnie, also had a relationship similar to Lizzie and Darcy's, and although Mattie could see the good in it, she could only focus on the bad, which all relationships will have no matter what.) Any relationship is going to have hardships. A true relationship can face those hardships with courage, compassion, understanding, and stay united. I think Mattie misses the point that in Austen's books the hero and heroine change willingly, without being forced or forcing themselves, as they come face to face with their hardships, both separate and together.
When relationships are based on physical attractions, feelings, and personal gain, as Mattie's and Royal's was, it is doomed and will fail, as it did. And when you have a flawed view of romantic love and a false idea on what love is, you will never marry, as happens with Mattie and Royal. Mattie goes off to college and rejects Royal's marriage proposal because she feels like a tool he is using to get her father's property. I think Royal was intending to use her for his own gain, but I also believe that he did have some feelings for Mattie, especially when he gave her a book as a gift. It might have been a cookbook, and it might have offended her (because she felt Royal was trying to change her to be a proper housewife who cooks and rears children), but he was becoming more open to her love of reading, he was starting to change. But that wasn't quick enough for Mattie. Impatient she leaves. After being oppressed to a promise she made to her dying mother, Mattie leaves, breaking her father's heart, returning the ring Royal had given her, leaving her younger sister to take care of the two youngest... Mattie was full of a selfish heart, and she had grown tired of attempting to be selfless. Her problem as she was trying to be selfless was that she was still selfish.
Then comes the feministic overtones. They frustrate me more than anything else in the book, because to me the problems I've already discussed stem from the feminism in the book. I find the feministic view to be depressing most of the time, and this book reinforces that belief.
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.
Themes:
Coming of Age, murder mystery, historical fiction
Language:
Very little
Sexual/Romantic Interaction
Multiple 'groping' at body parts and passionate romantic gestures that made me feel uncomfortable, but not violated.
Violence
Almost an entire chapter is dedicated to a birth scene with much detail. Donnelly describes drowning, racial violence, sickness, and a dead body, in mild detail.
I would give A Northern Light a rating of light PG-13
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give A Northern Light a 2.5
Donnelly calls books like Pride and Prejudice untruths, while books like Huckleberry Finn are truths because in Huckleberry Finn Hucks father is a drunk who beats his son. It is true that not all love stories are 'glamourous' like Lizzie Bennett's and Fitzwilliam Darcy's, but in A Northern Light, Donnally condemns those relationships to be hard and ultimately heart breaking (in the book the main character's, Mattie, parents had a relationship similar to Lizzie and Darcy's which only lead to heart break for the entire family. Mattie's friend, Minnie, also had a relationship similar to Lizzie and Darcy's, and although Mattie could see the good in it, she could only focus on the bad, which all relationships will have no matter what.) Any relationship is going to have hardships. A true relationship can face those hardships with courage, compassion, understanding, and stay united. I think Mattie misses the point that in Austen's books the hero and heroine change willingly, without being forced or forcing themselves, as they come face to face with their hardships, both separate and together.
When relationships are based on physical attractions, feelings, and personal gain, as Mattie's and Royal's was, it is doomed and will fail, as it did. And when you have a flawed view of romantic love and a false idea on what love is, you will never marry, as happens with Mattie and Royal. Mattie goes off to college and rejects Royal's marriage proposal because she feels like a tool he is using to get her father's property. I think Royal was intending to use her for his own gain, but I also believe that he did have some feelings for Mattie, especially when he gave her a book as a gift. It might have been a cookbook, and it might have offended her (because she felt Royal was trying to change her to be a proper housewife who cooks and rears children), but he was becoming more open to her love of reading, he was starting to change. But that wasn't quick enough for Mattie. Impatient she leaves. After being oppressed to a promise she made to her dying mother, Mattie leaves, breaking her father's heart, returning the ring Royal had given her, leaving her younger sister to take care of the two youngest... Mattie was full of a selfish heart, and she had grown tired of attempting to be selfless. Her problem as she was trying to be selfless was that she was still selfish.
Then comes the feministic overtones. They frustrate me more than anything else in the book, because to me the problems I've already discussed stem from the feminism in the book. I find the feministic view to be depressing most of the time, and this book reinforces that belief.
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.
Themes:
Coming of Age, murder mystery, historical fiction
Language:
Very little
Sexual/Romantic Interaction
Multiple 'groping' at body parts and passionate romantic gestures that made me feel uncomfortable, but not violated.
Violence
Almost an entire chapter is dedicated to a birth scene with much detail. Donnelly describes drowning, racial violence, sickness, and a dead body, in mild detail.
I would give A Northern Light a rating of light PG-13
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give A Northern Light a 2.5
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Where to begin...well, let me begin by saying I did not cry while reading this book. I did not even tear up. I did, however, end with a feeling of numbness. Let me try to put that feeling into words...
I find the whole concept and plot of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne intriguing. It isn't often you get to read a book from a nine year olds point of view set during the Holocaust, whose father is a Nazi. I do like what john Boyne had to say about writing about the Holocaust:
Again, I find the whole plot concept of the book very intriguing. However, I think John Boyne failed in some regards to properly tell the story. Bruno, the German nine-year old whose point of view we read from, pronounced German words wrong. Auschwitz was pronounced 'Out-With' by Bruno all throughout the book, and even when other characters in the book pronounced it correctly, it was written as 'Out-With'. Führer was pronounced 'Fury' the entire time, despite correction from multiple people. I don't know if John was trying to convey the naivety of Bruno by writing the words as Bruno pronounced them, or John just didn't know how to spell them and didn't want to take the time to learn. German was the spoken language, translated into English for the readers sake, but John's failure in using correct German spelling for Auschwitz and Führer made it seem like Bruno was a native English speaker trying to pronounce German words, instead of a German pronouncing German Words. It might seem a petty and insignificant thing, but even small things like this can really effect a persons take of the book.
And the naïve Bruno seems to be taken to the insane level. Surely even a nine year old would have enough sense to know that the things on the other side of the fence aren't as fun as he pictures. He watched for a year and a half as his friend grew thinner and thinner and starved. He watched as a soldier beat a Jew mercilessly. And yet he is still envious of all the people on the other side of the fence, all the Jewish boys have hundreds of friends to play with. He never really did listen to what Schmuel told him about life on the other side of the fence. I found Bruno a selfish brat, honestly. Seems cold hearted, but for a boy portrayed as smart and yet extremely naïve...it just wasn't believable. And surely after over a year of sneaking out of the house everyday at the same time, someone, even one of the servants would have grown suspicious? And at the end of the book, surely everyone at the house would have been busy packing, and he wouldn't have had the opportunity to sneak out?
The more I think on it, the more I find I not so much dislike the story or plot, but I dislike how John wrote Bruno. Not to mention little to none character development. And the ending...I knew something bad was going to happen, although I didn't expect that. It was twisted, and I'm ranting to much on this. I've probably spoiled a bunch. I know John was trying to make a point that those who did not experience the horrors of the Holocaust can never really comprehend it, but surely we aren't as naïve and stupid about it as Bruno was! He didn't know what Jews were, he didn't know about the war going on, or what concentration camps were doing, and his tutor was drilling them on geography and historical events!
And thus concludes my rant on The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Brilliant idea, poorly executed in my opinion. But not a wasted read. Maybe someone with a less hardened heart than I would find it more moving then I did?
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.
Themes:
The Holocaust, Jewish concentration camps, Nazis, WWII
Language:
None explicitly written, but multiple times a 'bad word' was said but omitted in the text because naïve Bruno wasn't entirely sure what it meant, he just knew it was bad.
Sexual/Romantic Interaction
Bruno's sister flirts with a Nazi soldier multiple times.
Violence
It's the Holocaust, although it isn't extremely descriptive be warned of the ending two chapters
I would give The Boy in the Striped Pajamas a rating of heavy PG
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give The Boy in the Striped Pajamas a 2
I find the whole concept and plot of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne intriguing. It isn't often you get to read a book from a nine year olds point of view set during the Holocaust, whose father is a Nazi. I do like what john Boyne had to say about writing about the Holocaust:
"The issue of writing about the Holocaust is, of course, a contentious matter, and any novelist who explores it had better be sure about his or her intentions before setting out. It's presumptuous to assume that from today's perspective one can truly understand the horrors of the concentration camps, although it's the responsibility of the writer to uncover as much emotional truth within that desperate landscape as he possibly can.
Throughout the writing and rewriting of the novel, I believed that the only respectful way for me to deal with this subject was through the eyes of a child, and particularly through the eyes of a rather naïve child who couldn't possible understand the terrible things that were taking place around him. After all, only the victims and survivors can truly comprehend the awfulness of that time and place; the rest of us live on the other side of the fence, staring through from our own comfortable place, trying in our own clumsy ways to make sense of it all."
Again, I find the whole plot concept of the book very intriguing. However, I think John Boyne failed in some regards to properly tell the story. Bruno, the German nine-year old whose point of view we read from, pronounced German words wrong. Auschwitz was pronounced 'Out-With' by Bruno all throughout the book, and even when other characters in the book pronounced it correctly, it was written as 'Out-With'. Führer was pronounced 'Fury' the entire time, despite correction from multiple people. I don't know if John was trying to convey the naivety of Bruno by writing the words as Bruno pronounced them, or John just didn't know how to spell them and didn't want to take the time to learn. German was the spoken language, translated into English for the readers sake, but John's failure in using correct German spelling for Auschwitz and Führer made it seem like Bruno was a native English speaker trying to pronounce German words, instead of a German pronouncing German Words. It might seem a petty and insignificant thing, but even small things like this can really effect a persons take of the book.
And the naïve Bruno seems to be taken to the insane level. Surely even a nine year old would have enough sense to know that the things on the other side of the fence aren't as fun as he pictures. He watched for a year and a half as his friend grew thinner and thinner and starved. He watched as a soldier beat a Jew mercilessly. And yet he is still envious of all the people on the other side of the fence, all the Jewish boys have hundreds of friends to play with. He never really did listen to what Schmuel told him about life on the other side of the fence. I found Bruno a selfish brat, honestly. Seems cold hearted, but for a boy portrayed as smart and yet extremely naïve...it just wasn't believable. And surely after over a year of sneaking out of the house everyday at the same time, someone, even one of the servants would have grown suspicious? And at the end of the book, surely everyone at the house would have been busy packing, and he wouldn't have had the opportunity to sneak out?
The more I think on it, the more I find I not so much dislike the story or plot, but I dislike how John wrote Bruno. Not to mention little to none character development. And the ending...I knew something bad was going to happen, although I didn't expect that. It was twisted, and I'm ranting to much on this. I've probably spoiled a bunch. I know John was trying to make a point that those who did not experience the horrors of the Holocaust can never really comprehend it, but surely we aren't as naïve and stupid about it as Bruno was! He didn't know what Jews were, he didn't know about the war going on, or what concentration camps were doing, and his tutor was drilling them on geography and historical events!
And thus concludes my rant on The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Brilliant idea, poorly executed in my opinion. But not a wasted read. Maybe someone with a less hardened heart than I would find it more moving then I did?
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.
Themes:
The Holocaust, Jewish concentration camps, Nazis, WWII
Language:
None explicitly written, but multiple times a 'bad word' was said but omitted in the text because naïve Bruno wasn't entirely sure what it meant, he just knew it was bad.
Sexual/Romantic Interaction
Bruno's sister flirts with a Nazi soldier multiple times.
Violence
It's the Holocaust, although it isn't extremely descriptive be warned of the ending two chapters
I would give The Boy in the Striped Pajamas a rating of heavy PG
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give The Boy in the Striped Pajamas a 2
Monday, July 29, 2013
God Grew Tired of Us, A Memior
I ran into a friend the other day at the library. We talked for a bit before she dragged me across the building to check out a book, God Grew Tired of Us by John Bul Dau. She told be she had watched the documentary on it (same titled as the book) but didn't want to read the book until I had done so she would know if it was worth it. Haha, I guess that is what happens when you are a bibliophile and you have some not-so-bibliophile friends.
When I read the introduction, which gave a detailed account of what happened the night his village was attacked by Arab soldiers called 'Djellabas', I felt like crying. Perhaps it is because I normally fiction that ends 'happy', but to know that events like that take place and are real is sometimes very difficult to understand. John's journey from Sudan to America is inspiring. And his comparisons of the Sudanese lifestyle and American lifestyle is very thought provoking. I liked what he said about America and it's 'tribes'.
John is very proud of America, he continually blesses it and will do anything to help America, just as he would do anything to help his homeland. I love what he had to say about America's great strength too.
After reading this book, I feel good. I feel inspired. I feel like my opportunities here in America as an American citizen are endless, and I am so proud of this country God has blessed us with. I also have a great respect for the Dinka culture, and want to learn more about them. I think it would be a good thing to incorporate some key Dinka teachings into my everyday life. This is a book that makes you think, and is well worth it.
I love the story that John Bul Dau shared with us, and I hope you will take the opportunity to read his story too.
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.
Themes:
Survival, Hope, perseverance, war and its aftereffects.
Language:
None.
Sexual/Romantic Interaction
The Dinka practice polygamy, John marries a woman, but it's all done in a modest and 'courtship' like manner.
Violence
War time violence. Shooting, starvation, burying dead friends who get eaten during the night, and so on.
I would give God Grew Tired of Us a rating of light to mild PG-13
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give God Grew Tired of Us a 4.5
When I read the introduction, which gave a detailed account of what happened the night his village was attacked by Arab soldiers called 'Djellabas', I felt like crying. Perhaps it is because I normally fiction that ends 'happy', but to know that events like that take place and are real is sometimes very difficult to understand. John's journey from Sudan to America is inspiring. And his comparisons of the Sudanese lifestyle and American lifestyle is very thought provoking. I liked what he said about America and it's 'tribes'.
"America as many tribes. Irish, German, Mexican, Greek, Chinese, Italian, and on and on through scores of other ethnicities, religions, and languages. Jews and Christians and Muslims. Great-grandchildren of slaves and great-grandchildren of slaveholders. Those who crossed the ocean in first-class cabins on luxury liners and those who traveled in steerage. Red-state citizens and blue-state citizens. Unlike the Dinka [John's tribe from Sudan], whom God placed along the Nile long, long ago, Americans live in a young and restless country. Everyone is an immigrant in this nation of immigrants; even the so-called 'Native' Americans once traveled to this continent from Asia. As an outside to the U.S., who knew next to nothing about America before arriving on these shores in 2001, I have observed many things that others have stared at but failed to see. Too many Americans have put on blinders. They see only what they choose to, not taking the time or effort to try and understand the big picture. I believe a macroscopic view of America must take account of all things that make this country great, as well as the things that stand in the way of its achieving even more greatness." (God Grew Tired of Us, chapter 6)
John is very proud of America, he continually blesses it and will do anything to help America, just as he would do anything to help his homeland. I love what he had to say about America's great strength too.
Without even pausing to think, I can tell you America's greatest strength is its enormous spirit, manifest in its generosity. Americans deserve huge credit for giving to those in need. They open their checkbooks and make donations to people in Africa, in Asia, in Latin America, and in devastated New Orleans, and they seldom know personally who benefits from their altruism. Nowhere else in the world do people give so much, so freely, with no expectations in return...You tell an American you need assistance, and chances are you will find in his or her response the spirit that made this country grow and prosper. (God Grew Tired of Us, chapter 6)
After reading this book, I feel good. I feel inspired. I feel like my opportunities here in America as an American citizen are endless, and I am so proud of this country God has blessed us with. I also have a great respect for the Dinka culture, and want to learn more about them. I think it would be a good thing to incorporate some key Dinka teachings into my everyday life. This is a book that makes you think, and is well worth it.
I love the story that John Bul Dau shared with us, and I hope you will take the opportunity to read his story too.
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.
Themes:
Survival, Hope, perseverance, war and its aftereffects.
Language:
None.
Sexual/Romantic Interaction
The Dinka practice polygamy, John marries a woman, but it's all done in a modest and 'courtship' like manner.
Violence
War time violence. Shooting, starvation, burying dead friends who get eaten during the night, and so on.
I would give God Grew Tired of Us a rating of light to mild PG-13
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give God Grew Tired of Us a 4.5
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Cold Case
Cold Case by Julia Platt Leonard is a mystery novel for middle-school kids. When Oz's brother is accused of murder, and Oz is told the terrible truth about his father, he and his best friend, Rusty, investigate to find out the truth that links the present to the past.
This was a nice, easy read. There wasn't anything special about the book, but it was nicely written and a good plot line. I figured out who the culprit was with a third of the book left to go, but there were some loose ends I couldn't figure out that were cleared up at the end. For her first novel, Julia Leonard has a good start. If I ever feel like it, and if she ever releases new novels, I wouldn't be against reading them.
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.
Themes:
Murder, mystery, detective
Language:
None, but if I am remembering correctly there were a few instances of taking the Lord's name in vain.
Sexual/Romantic Interaction
None.
Violence
Murder, some gun violence, dog attack, kidnapping
I would give Cold Case a rating of mild PG
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give Cold Case a 2.5
This was a nice, easy read. There wasn't anything special about the book, but it was nicely written and a good plot line. I figured out who the culprit was with a third of the book left to go, but there were some loose ends I couldn't figure out that were cleared up at the end. For her first novel, Julia Leonard has a good start. If I ever feel like it, and if she ever releases new novels, I wouldn't be against reading them.
One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.
Themes:
Murder, mystery, detective
Language:
None, but if I am remembering correctly there were a few instances of taking the Lord's name in vain.
Sexual/Romantic Interaction
None.
Violence
Murder, some gun violence, dog attack, kidnapping
I would give Cold Case a rating of mild PG
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give Cold Case a 2.5
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