The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton

OH MY GAWD!!! I HAVE FINALLY FINISHED THIS!!!!

Excuse the caplocks. I have been struggling through this book since January. It and I were not destined to be together. And like far to many people out there in the world, I was not prepared to give up (it also had something to do with the fact that I need to read a book based on a true story for the reading challenge I am doing and I was not going to give up and have to start another. Besides, I bought this one - I don't have another book based on a true story that I haven't read.).

Although I don't mind reading historical accounts, this one had the feel of a wikipedia entry on most occasions. There were parts that I did enjoy reading, and there were some things I did find interesting, but on the whole, I put off picking up this book at every opportunity. Even setting exam papers seemed more appealing. Having said that though, once I got reading, it was less painful.  Especially when I began speed reading it just to get done.

I would only recommend this to someone who has a special interest in The Great Train Robbery. Crichton did go to a lot of trouble to research the robbery and used court transcripts etc. to put it together. It seemed to be a very thorough account of a very cocky robbery. Other than that, perhaps a reader interested in England in the mid 1800s would find it interesting.

This is the 28th book I have read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.
I gave this 2 very generous stars on Goodreads. While I don't think this book was for me, I think there are some people out there who would really enjoy it - those who like reading encyclopedias for fun (I am related to one. If you disagree with this rating, blame him.)

I am the Messenger by Markus Zusac

What a lovely story with a lovely message. Unfortunately, it is about to sound incredibly flat with a horribly written review. Because to say much at all is to spoil something. I can't comment on characters, plot or the message because that will be giving something away - and this is a book you should read, and your friends should read, and your kids should read. Everyone should read this book, because I like the message and I think we should all hear it.

Ed Kennedy is nineteen years old and going no where. Until one day he is at a bank when it is robbed. And then everything changes - well, somethings change.

This story is filled with some really touching characters. They are not extraordinary - in fact, they are very much like people we know. There are those going nowhere slowly, those who have money, those who are lonely, those who are... well, read the book. It would be a good way to get the list. And that way, I won't spoil anything.

Zusac really has some gorgeous descriptions. It just adds to the pleasure of reading. He manages to subdue the harshness of some scenes by personifying inanimate objects and reflecting the pain or emotion onto them. He also captures harshness with some beautiful metaphors. (Can you tell I teach English? I am sorry.)

“I think she ate a salad and some soup.
And loneliness.
She ate that, too.”

― Markus Zusak, I Am the Messenger

I think that this book is going to be one of those that I will keep thinking about in the future. It isn't that it is earth shattering in wisdom - but yet it is, coming from yet another completely ordinary human being. That message is important and so true.

 I would really recommend this one for anyone who enjoys reading.

This is the 27th book I have read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.
I gave this 5 stars on Goodreads because, for a book marketed at YA, it is exceptional.

From the Dust Returned by Ray Bradbury

This is not the easiest book to talk about. Mostly, because it appears to be a book when in actuality, it isn't. It is a collection of 'short stories' about a supernatural family (with a normal human boy) Bradbury wrote for a magazine, that have been collected and put into this book. As a result, it is nearly impossible to give a synopsis of the book.

First things first, if you happen to decide to read this, I would recommend knowing that this isn't a book. That threw me as I was expecting a continuous plot. There are characters that appear throughout 'chapters' that one has not encountered before. It seemed very disjointed and unstructured to me - because it was only after I finished the book and read Bradbury's notes on it and realised what I had been reading. Even the short stories themselves are not conclusive. Some have an 'ending' of sorts, others don't - they are snippets of the lives of these people.

There is no question that Bradbury can write. His style is poetic with his use of metaphor and alliteration. I also appreciated how the actual construction of the sentences captured the feeling of the scene (a noteworthy page and a half sentence describing the storm that brought the 'guests'). It does not make for light easy reading though. It requires brain power and a bit of time.

I am glad I have read this. It is not the Bradbury book I have been hunting bookshops for for years, but at least I have one notched under my belt.

I would only recommend this for fans of Bradbury, or those who really appreciate more cerebral reading experiences.

This is the 26th book I have read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.
I gave this 3 stars on Goodreads.

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

I need to make a shelf called 'twisted' - just for Gillian Flynn.

Libby Day was seven years old when her brother massacred her family. Her testimony helped put him away. Now at the age of 31, she has doubts. Did he really do it? And if not, who did? What happened that day?

“The Days were a clan that mighta lived long
But Ben Day’s head got screwed on wrong
That boy craved dark Satan’s power
So he killed his family in one nasty hour
Little Michelle he strangled in the night
Then chopped up Debby: a bloody sight
Mother Patty he saved for last
Blew off her head with a shotgun blast
Baby Libby somehow survived
But to live through that ain’t much a life
—SCHOOLYARD RHYME, CIRCA 1985”

I inhaled this book. I would recommend beginning this book early in the day so that you can sleep at a semi-reasonable hour, or over a weekend where it does not matter if you don't get much sleep. It is not a book that is put down easily.

I enjoyed the alternating timelines. It really added to the suspense as the reader learnt what happened in little pieces as Libby was learning other stuff in little pieces. I also really appreciate Flynn's descriptions of dark things. My favourite quote from this book (although I will admit that I was so engrossed in the story that I was not really paying attention to quotes by page 2) is right there on page one: “Draw a picture of my soul, and it’d be a scribble with fangs.” I also enjoyed watching Libby's character develop and become more responsible and adult. I did feel that her progress was too fast - too fast perhaps to honestly believe that she was so incapable and unreliable initially.

If you enjoy dark and twisted, then this is a book you could enjoy.

This is the 25th book I have read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.
I gave this 4 stars on Goodreads. I think any fan of crime thrillers will enjoy this one. I would suggest that having a strong stomach is a requirement for some scenes.

Ten Books I Plan To Have In My Beach Bag This Summer

This post is inspired by Top Ten Tuesday!

OK, southern hemisphere gal here. I am not torturing myself thinking about summer when I still have winter staring me in the face. So, I am changing this topic - slightly. It is now, 'Ten Books I Plan to have in my Bag this Winter!' (I don't know if this is against the rules, but the alternative topic, 'Ten Books I Think Make Great Beach Reads' just seemed unappealing as beaches just aren't exactly conducive to relaxing reading really as their is wind, sand, no shade and lots of noisy people, particularly under the age of 21. Trust me, I live on the coast.)

This winter, I have a few books planned. I can't say that I plan reading according to the seasons (as there is about a 10 degree Celsius difference between summer and winter here), but I do save my longer reads or fantasy series for my longer holidays. Thank Merlin a longer holiday is coming up - in just a hair over a month.

The list:
The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson.
I have been wanting to read this series since my mom read it last year. We both agree I will love it!

The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss.
Another one my mom got to first. From what she has had to say about it, and from what I have heard from Booktube, I am really looking forward to this. Plus, they have gorgeous covers!

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Neil Gaiman blurbed this. I then also heard him mention it in the interview he had the day after Terry Pratchett passed away. I have read the first page, and enjoyed how it was written. Now I want to enjoy the seven hundred plus pages that follow.

The Stand by Stephen King
I find really long books are a drag when the reading is constantly being interrupted by real life. I want to save this one also for my holiday as I want to read it this year for the one reading challenge I am doing. (I need to read a book published the year I was born.)

...at this point, common sense is pointing out that my holiday is 3 weeks long and those books already surpass 5000 pages in reading. So as something short-ish, I will add:

The Abhorsen series by Garth Nix
A colleague and friend from work lent me these books. I suppose I should really get to them so that I can return them. Otherwise they might just end up merging with my own collection.

Oh! And just because I really do not have any grasp on reality and am completely in denial as to how much I can read in 3 weeks, I am going to add an 11th book.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
I have been wanting to read this one for years and the other day I found it at my favourite book shop at a wonderfully reduced price. It would have been mine even if it wasn't at the reduced price!

I do not know what I am going to do if my favourite bookshop ends up getting the other books I want in time for my holiday... Maybe I should try and put a dent in this before then... It is so close to being winter after all.

Unpopular Opinions Book Tag

I saw this on Booktube during my crazy term of setting exam papers and thought I would like to do it. I then completely forgot about it until I saw Bookish Sarah do it on her blog. I have more opinions than I have books (that says a lot). I am going to try and mention different books and/or authors for each question although I am sure that each book, series or author mentioned could probably qualify for most of the questions.

1. A popular book or series that you didn't like.

I can't say that I enjoyed The Maze Runner by James Dashner. I think it was over-hyped to begin with, and that started me off expecting something brilliant. Instead, I felt the outcome was simple. It is also getting to the point where I feel it is a 'been there, done that' story line. You can find my thoughts on this book here.

2. A popular book or series that every one else seems to hate but you love. 

Love is a bit of a strong word here. Let's go with 'appreciate' instead. Allegiant by Veronica Roth. A lot of people hated the ending. I am not going to spoil anything here, but I will just say that any alternative ending in that situation, would not have been in character for that character, and the result, no matter how unpleasant, was in character. I should probably also add that, while I enjoyed book 1, I found the rest of the series a disappointment.

Oh, and The Diviners by Libba Bray. I have heard many reviews on Booktube where people have even DNFed it, but I absolutely loved it. I love the way Libba Bray writes - she has a maturer style than regular YA authors, and her plot was not conventional or necessarily predictable in the slightest. I also loved that the first book of the series finished with even more questions than it opened with!

3. A love triangle where the main character ended up with the person you did NOT want them to end up with (warn ppl for spoilers) OR an OTP that you don't like. 

Bella and Edward. I thought their relationship was completely toxic and as individuals, I couldn't stand them either. It was agony reading these books - which I only did because I needed to put together a reading list of YA books for uni while doing my teaching post-grad. I was shipping Edward and a good ray of sunshine and Bella and a bus. I actually have a blog post about this from my OOOOOLD blog. (I wonder if it is still up and running?)

4. A popular book Genre that you hardly reach for. 

Romance. I have no objection to having a bit of romance in the books I am reading, but I get irked when it takes over the plot. I think this stems from my childhood, before YA was a thing. There were only Sweet Valley High books or else a teenage version of Mills and Boon where at the end she got to kiss the guy. I found them annoying and frustrating and just couldn't get why these girls would throw away their holidays pining for these guys. I read The Hardy Boys and had a lot more fun. Why was it that girls' books were only romance, while boys' books were about adventure and action and they would be out doing interesting things? I hated the underlying messages in these books - that the only way a girl would find happiness was to find a guy; while guys could go out and LIVE. I guess it was the kindling that got this little feminist questioning gender roles.

5. A popular or beloved character that you do not like.

Claire from Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. Wow! People say women are moody. She is a rollercoaster. One sentence she is happy, the next sentence she is fuming and the next she is aggressive, and the one after that, she is back to being happy and in love. I also thought that she could be pretty dumb at times. I also felt that she created so many situations for Jamie to come in as the knight in shining armour the Scotsman in a kilt to come and save her. I found her sporadic swearing bouts to be jarring and a contradiction to her character. If war had hardened her, then she should have been hardened completely, not just randomly for shock value. At least she was capable and was holding down a 'job' though. But still... what an idiot!

6. A popular author that you can't seem to get into. 

Cassandra Clare. I just don't get the attraction. I thought the first 3 books in the Mortal Instruments were OK, but from then on everything else was a drag. I just cannot understand the hype for it. I think the plots are predictable, the characters are trying too hard and are just carbon copies of each other, and that the whole plot is just an excuse for everyone to pair up with someone. And that goes for The Infernal Devices too. I have declared that I will not read another book by her. And I think having read 9, NINE!!!, I am entitled to my opinion. It also probably has a lot to do with the fact that I find teen romance really annoying.

7. A popular book trope that you're tired of seeing. (examples "lost princess", corrupt ruler, love triangles, etc.)

I am completely sick and tired of love triangles. And I am getting a bit tired of retellings too. I don't mind when books use mythology to advance a story, such as Percy Jackson. It is not a retelling of the Greek or Roman myths. It is its own story. But there are so many books that are retellings of fairytales or myths. Sometimes I can appreciate them - when they come with a new angle, but other times I feel it is just a writer who cannot think of their own plots.

8. A popular series that you have no interest in reading.

The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. I watched my mom suffer through all 15 of these books. I am not doing that to myself. Especially because I have heard about the pages and pages of long-winded descriptions; and that the female characters are all annoying.

9. The saying goes "The book is always better than the movie", but what movie or T.V. show adaptation do you prefer more than the book?

Empire of the Sun by J.G Ballard. This has always been one of my favourite movies. The cinematography is beautiful and the story is touching. Christian Bale was the perfect choice for Jim and did a superb job as a boy. The book was filled with a bit too much information on WW2 aeroplanes and other things. I thought that the book had less charm than the movie. The movie also came with a beautiful soundtrack from John Williams. The book was silent.

I would also like to add here that the stage production of Wicked is way better than the book (by Greg Maguire). It also had a lot more charm than the book, although the book did go into some interesting philosophical debates that I enjoyed. The play, though, was so touching. If you are ever anywhere where they are showing Wicked, go and watch it.

A link to the original tag video on Youtube by TheBookArcher.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

“The island is ours. Here, in some way, we are young forever.”

― E. Lockhart, We Were Liars

I am generally very apprehensive reading books that are very over-hyped. Usually I am disappointed. On this occasion, I can't say I was completely disappointed, but I was expecting - I don't know - what does one expect when they hear that something is insanely brilliant? Perhaps I can say that I was expecting more, but to be honest, I still enjoyed this one.

I am not going to say anything about the plot - at all. If you decide you want to read it, go in completely blind. It is the best way. All I will say is that it is about a rich extended family who holiday together on an island near Martha's Vineyard (a place I only ever heard about on The Gilmore Girls...)

What I will say is that I really enjoyed the writing style. Lockhart uses some great metaphors, especially when it comes to describing emotional pain. I also enjoyed the word play, “I suffer migraines. I do not suffer fools.”

“Then he pulled out a handgun and shot me in the chest. I was standing on the lawn and I fell. The bullet hole opened wide and my heart rolled out of my rib cage and down into a flower bed. Blood gushed rhythmically from my open wound,
then from my eyes,
my ears,
my mouth.
It tasted like salt and failure. The bright red shame of being unloved soaked the grass in front of our house, the bricks of the path, the steps of the porch. My heart spasmed among the peonies like a trout.”

― E. Lockhart, We Were Liars

I also appreciated the "act normal" idea, the one where you are supposed to pretend that you are fine and not upset, even when it is completely acceptable to be upset, such as when a grandparent passes away. It is weird to think that in a day and age where psychology is prevalent and where one knows that talking about things helps in healing, that there is still a huge belief out there that ignoring problems or by pretending that they aren't there, they will go away.

I can't say I was the biggest supporter of the narrator. But she kept me very curious as to what was happening, or trying to figure out what had happened. I think that by the end of the story she becomes completely understandable though.

We Were Liars is a quick read. I think most fans of YA contemporary would enjoy it.

This was the 24th book I have read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.
I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads.