Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Starts with a death and ends with a funeral. (The Casual Vacancy book review)


Fortysomething  Pagford parish councilor, Barry Fairbrother passes away suddenly from an aneurysm.   Almost immediately, Pagford citizen's  begin to consider what the dead man’s empty seat means.  Some see it as opportunity for Pagford to finally rid itself of the Fields (a downscale neighbourhood), and a chance to shut down the local methadone clinic, used by numerous Fields residents.
The Casual Vacancy is riddled with racism, personal vendettas, corruption, whistle blowing and personal grudges that soon pushes the election into the backdrop and brings forth the hatred the villages of Pagford house for one another.  Teenagers are at war with their parents, neighbors are at war with each other, the haves are at war with the have nots.
The first hundred pages were hard for me, there are a lot of seemingly unrelated characters, and it felt like a lot of jumping around.  But by page two hundred, I was hooked! 
The Casual Vacancy is everything Harry Potter is not - drugs, swearing, self-harming, having casual sex, and singing along to Rihanna.  I still think its magical in its own way.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Hitting the books

Things are moving along with my summer reading, and I'm only getting slightly sidetracked. From my list, here are the 5 I have finished in order of preference...

Fault in Our Stars by John Green - A story about two teens one terminally ill, Hazel Grace, and another, Augustus Waters who is in remission. They immediately hit it off and change each others lives drastically.

favorite quote from the book: "I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, than all at once."

I liked this book so much, I immediately downloaded two other John Green books to read!




Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater - When Grace was a little girl, she was attacked by wolves in her backyard, not just any wolves… werewolves. What she remembers most from her attack, though, is the wolf with the yellow eyes - Sam, who lives two lives.

I have to admit, I've been on a little bit of a wolf kick lately, and I didn't just read Siver, I also read Linger and Forever (the other 2 books in the trilogy)

favorite quote from the book: “Books are more real when you read them outside.”


The Giver by Lois Lowry - Jonas, is a 12 year old boy who lives in a world without war, pain, hunger, death, misery or, even, bad weather, where everyone is happy and has their place in society, until he is chosen to become the Receiver of Memory. agonies of war and disease and loss, the heights of human achievement, freedom, music, colour, and the overwhelming power of love. Jonas must keep the memories and not share them with anyone.

favorite quote from the book "Memories are forever."

Thought this book as OK - didn't love it, didn't hate it.



The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks - Logan Thilbault served in Iraq. During his service on one of three trips there, he finds a picture of a girl. Carrying the picture makes Logan the luckiest man in the Marines, causing him to break the record of the most car bombs survived. His friend Victor tells him the mystery and “destiny” that he has and he goes out to find the women. When he does, he somehow falls in love with the girl, Elizabeth.

favorite quote from the book "The most ordinary things could be made extraordinary."

Like the other Nicholas Spark's novels, this was a quick and easy read.


The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown - When their mother is diagnosed with cancer, Bianca and Cordelia find themselves returning home to join their third sister, Rose, who still lives in their hometown. Bean and Cordy aren't returning to support their mother as much as they are impelled by their own messy life situations: Bianca because she has been fired for stealing from her job, and Cordelia because after years of living irresponsibly on the road, she has discovered that she is pregnant.

I couldn't really get into this book, I basically finished reading it because I started it.

favorite quote from the book: "Sisters keep secrets. Because sisters' secrets are swords.”

I'm part way through Game of Thrones A Feast for Crows (book 4), and The Witch's Daughter and I just started The Book Thief... will let you know what I think of them soon. :)

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Blast from the past



I was out beating the path today instead of studying, when something familiar caught my eye. TAFFY! As a kid this was one of my favorite things to buy, for twenty five cents you got chewy tri-flavour goodness wrapped in wax paper.

In the store jumping up and down with excitement, I noticed that the wax paper is now crimped at both ends instead of cut to size with the sugary treat, which could account for some of the $1.04 price increase.

Back in the car I gnawed away the wax paper and chomped into the brown, it gave way under my teeth with a brittle crack, my impatience had won and I didnt' wait to get my treasure to a more temperate climate. Curse you winter weather!

I still ate the brown first, then the white and finally the pink. Its gonna a lot longer for me to save up my pennies for my next piece, but now that I know where to go look out!