What I do with my books when no one is watching.
This is from a short animated film called The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Lessmore. It won an Academy Award last year and happened to be directed/animated from my home state.
(via noseinabook)
Source: nightowlauthor
Her beauty is an abnormality, a deformity, for none of her features exhibit any of those touching imperfections that reconcile us to the imperfection of the human condition.
By Josephine Angelini
When, shy, awkward Helen Hamilton meets Lucas Delos for the first time, she thinks two things: the first, that he is the most ridiculously beautiful boy she has ever seen in her life; the second, that she wants to kill him with her bare hands. An ancient curse means Lucas and Helen are destined to loathe one another. But sometimes love is stronger than hate, and not even the Gods themselves can prevent what will happen next…
Annie looks dreamy, but she always does because she can’t see further than a metre away. Elizabeth looks vaguely angry, but she always does because she can see further than a metre away.
By Hans Koppel
Translated by Kari Dickson
When Ylva, a loving mother and wife, fails to come home from work, her husband is not initially suspicious. But as time passes he becomes frantic with worry. And by the time he finally contacts the police, he is almost hysterical. Given the mysterious circumstances of her disappearance, he becomes the number one suspect. But what no-one knows is that she’s being held hostage in the cellar of the house opposite her own. A camera is rigged against her house and Ylva can only watch her family on the screen. They cannot see her- and they most certainly cannot hear her scream…
Thriller is typically a genre I have enjoyed through television and films. It’s all in the suspense and when executed properly is brilliant. This novel claims to have been successful in Scandinavia, with critics praise covering the outer design. The selective praise, combining with the striking cover art, did its job in encouraging me to buy the book. However, I found the book did not live up to expectations.
The writing structure was very simple; it went from one action to the next with very little detail and description, in fact there was no physical description of any of the characters in the entire novel except for Ylva at the end. Owing to not knowing how she appeared initially I found that her transformation held little impact on me. All the characters had little impact on me; I cared little for any of them. The character the novel focused on most was Ylva’s husband Mike, who I found more self-absorbed than worried for his wife. He was more concerned with playing the victim than the fact that his wife was missing. It was an interesting take that removed the novel from the romance genre, it just was not an approach that appealed to me.
I was also unsure about aspects of the plot, mainly the revenge of the old couple. Their revenge was well-overdue; it should have taken place twenty years ago if at all. I was confused as to how it was in the last three years of the book universe that the desire for revenge had taken hold. The end of the novel also felt a bit rushed. The last chapter, though it helps explain the motives of the couple, seemed a bit unnecessary to me, at least in its current form. It did not do the story any justice and either required further development or should not have been included at all.
However, I was still compelled to read the story to the end, and with some interesting plot twists, it is still a book worth considering.
So, you’ve just read a book and you want to find one just like it. I highly suggest using Bookish’s search bar. Not only does it bring up the books in the same genre, but the links to buy them through the site and other places online. The site is also filled with recommendations and is set so you can add books to your virtual shelves, kind of like GoodReads. All around, it’s a great place to find new books!
(via noseinabook)
Source: thegirlandherbooks
By Sylvia Plath
Working in New York one hot summer, Esther Greenwood is on the brink of her future. Yet she is also on the edge of a darkness that makes her world increasingly unreal. In this vivid and unforgettable novel about the struggles of growing up, Esther’s world shines through: the wide-eyed country girls, her crazed men-friends, hot dinner dances and nights in New York, and a slow slide into breakdown.
By Agatha Christie
There’s a serial killer on the loose, working his way through the alphabet and the whole country is in a state of panic. A is for Mrs Ascher in Andover, B is for Betty Barnard in Bexhill, C is for Sir Carmichael Clark in Churchston. With each murder, the killer is getting more confident-but leaving a trail of deliberate clues to taunt the proud Hercule Poirot might just prove to be the first, and fatal mistake…
If ever you are interested in reading a murder mystery, Agatha Christie is one of the best authors to turn to in this genre. She brings an incredible amount of depth to her stories, not a single one of them was written half-heartedly. She has complete control over your perception in the story, keeping you second-guessing to the last second. Or at least she does with me.
One aspect of the novel I enjoyed was the dynamic between Poirot and Hastings. As individual characters I still remain unsure, however, their relationship provided humour and was a much needed release from the tension and downright confusion of the story. All the characters in the story had intrinsic detail to them, from the gentle intelligence of Mary Downer to the honest and blunt truth of Megan Barnard, none of the characters are written to be perfect, they have been provided with flaws that attract the reader further. In murder mysteries it is the flaws that build the case. Christie ensured the reader has plenty of ammunition to make their own observations.
I have not read a Christie story for a while, so the ABC Murders was a refreshing dive back into the mechanics of Christie’s narrative. I appreciated the occasional third person chapter narrative as it provided a breather from Captain Hastings, who has a similar superior self-regard to characters such as Mr Lockwood (Wuthering Heights), and allowed the reader an insight that Poirot did not possess. This made me feel more involved and equal to Poirot’s intelligence, but at the same time ensured I was wary of the story’s progression. Christie makes it clear who the audience is expected to perceive as the killer. The numerous plot twists throughout the novel, however, prevent the answer from being clear.
This was a story I could not put down, it was easy to read but at the same time challenged me. By the end of the novel I was full of anticipation and had to hold myself back from reading ahead (a bad habit of mine). I look forward to reading one of Poirot’s next cases.
I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig-tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and off-beat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn’t quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig-tree, starving to death, just because I couldn’t make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.
By Stephen King
Carrie White has a gift – the gift of telekinesis.
To be invited to Prom Night by Tommy Ross is a dream come true for Carrie – the first step towards social acceptance by her high school colleagues. But events will take a decidedly macabre turn on that horrifying and endless night as she is forced to exercise her terrible gift on the town that mocks and loathes her…
Stephen King is one of those authors that are well-renowned for his work, horror, terror with a dash of sleepless nights. This book was both easy and difficult to read. Initially the structure confused me, the break between character narrative and ‘non-fictional’ reports was not always clear, though his use of brackets was a fresh take of the subconscious. However, once you climatise to the structure, the plot is evenly-paced and clear to the reader.
For the most part, I did enjoy this book. I read it within a day with minimum breaks. But I found the story to be less horrific and more tragic. Rather than be scared of the action and fearful for the characters I was concerned for Carrie. There was certainly suspense and anxiety in the atmosphere; with obvious indicators to ‘Prom Night’, but I cared little for the foreboding deaths and more for Carrie’s unstable mentality. Having read the introduction first, it could be due to the backstory behind the creation of the character. But there was also a personal connection there, I understood Carrie’s desire to fit in and belong. It’s a feeling most people can identify with and King seems to have created extreme consequences for Carrie’s failing ambition. Therefore the most emotional part of the story for me was the death of Carrie herself.
The horror of the story also failed to reach me on the grounds that I cared little for the people that suffered. The character development did not seem to extend beyond Carrie, with slight flavouring to Sue and Chris. It felt extremely stereotypical to me; I have never met anyone cruel enough to do what those girls did to Carrie. Again, this could be due to the luck on my behalf, bullying was never an issue for me. But a lot of emphasis is placed on a night that inevitably turns out to be awful either way, I have yet to hear of a decent prom.
Nonetheless, although I did not find it horrific or grotesque enough for my taste, the tragic nature of the story is what gave the story it’s gripping edge for me. Will I read another novel by Stephen King? Most likely. I will also stick to reading it during the daytime – just in case.
(via thegirlandherbooks)
By George R. R. Martin
Summer spans decades. Winter can last a lifetime. And the struggle for the Iron Throne has begun.
As Warden of the north, Lord Eddard Stark counts it a curse when King Robert bestows on him the office of the Hand. His honour weighs him down at court where a true man does what he will, not what he must… and a dead enemy is a thing of beauty. The old gods have no power in the south, Stark’s family is split and there is treachery at court. Worse, the vengeance-mad heir of the deposed Dragon King has grown to maturity in exile in the Free Cities. He claims the Iron Throne.
Last year I watched the first season of HBO’s Game of Thrones, and I loved it. I finished the season within days and rather than go searching for the second season, I wanted to read the book. A Game of Thrones was a book I had seen quoted and recommended constantly, and although no-one I know in the real world has heard of the series, I am more than happy to introduce them to it.
With action happening from the first few pages, I quickly found it was a hard book to put down. For once this was a disadvantage for me owing to exams and schoolwork, but do I regret it? Not at all. For the most part the plot was evenly-paced and helped me maintain a secure level of interest. I did encounter sections where the pace did slow down and I found my school work re-taking my attention away from Westeros, but that was more a good thing for me in the long run. Reverting to reading a few pages a day also meant I had something to look forward to, because the pace of the book aside, something was always happening.
This is a world the reader can take a lot out of and respect. The characters do not fit a template, the strength of the book stems strongly from the humanity of the people. You can connect to them through strengths and flaws alike; they are not elevated beyond your reach. The Stark family family are shown to be compassionate and loyal, a scarce occurrence in the corrupted world of court. And yet this is also their flaw, their downfall. There is nothing more boring than the perfect character. And these people are far from perfect. Another trait of this series that really helps with building relationships between audience and character is the structure; the chapters are told from the perspective of a selection of characters. For me it added dimension as I was able to look at the conquest for the Iron Throne from a variety of narratives. It kept the story fresh and allowed the characters to present themselves, I did not need to rely on the biased view of Cat Stark of Tyrion Lannister; I was able to see his intelligence and differing views from the rest of his family. The structure influenced me more than the actions.
I was lucky enough to receive the entire book series for Christmas, but I think this is a world I will dip in and out of throughout the year. Although I am not going to start reading the second in the series, A Clash of Kings, I look forward to continuing my journey with these characters, as it is far from over.
Has everyone in the UK have been wearing their red noses with pride? Hope you are all watching and enjoying comic relief right now and have been doing all you can to raise money!
If you should ever need an excuse to simply sit down and immerse yourself in a book, then today is your lucky day!
The mildness of my nature had fled, and all within me was turned to gall and bitterness
