M.L. Sparrow's Blog, page 10
April 30, 2018
The Sun and Her Flowers
The Sun and Her Flowers, by Rupi Kaur 
Blurb: From Rupi Kaur, the #1 New York Timesbestselling author of milk and honey, comes her long-awaited second collection of poetry. A vibrant and transcendent journey about growth and healing. Ancestry and honoring one’s roots. Expatriation and rising up to find a home within yourself. Divided into five chapters and illustrated by Kaur, the sun and her flowers is a journey of wilting, falling, rooting, rising, and blooming. A celebration of love in all its forms.My ReviewAfter reading Milk and Honey and absolutely loving it, I had to run out to the bookshop to grab this book. I'm not going to go into why I wasn't expecting to like this sort of peotry, since I covered that in my review of Milk and Honey a few days ago. Unfortunately though, I found myself underwhelmed by this book. There were poems I really enjoyed, for example the ones about her mother, and I liked how there was a wider range of themes in this book than in Milk and Honey, however, I just didn't get the same kind of emotion from the majority of these poems as I did from the first collection. Honestly, I don't have anything else to say about this book. It was good, I enjoyed it, but I didn't get the same kind of emotional kick that I did when reading Milk and Honey and I don't feel this intense desire to continually go back and re-read all my favourite ones... Still, I'd definitely read more from this author and I look forward to future collections, since she tackles some serious issues and I think her work is important for people, particularly young women, to read. 
Blurb: From Rupi Kaur, the #1 New York Timesbestselling author of milk and honey, comes her long-awaited second collection of poetry. A vibrant and transcendent journey about growth and healing. Ancestry and honoring one’s roots. Expatriation and rising up to find a home within yourself. Divided into five chapters and illustrated by Kaur, the sun and her flowers is a journey of wilting, falling, rooting, rising, and blooming. A celebration of love in all its forms.My ReviewAfter reading Milk and Honey and absolutely loving it, I had to run out to the bookshop to grab this book. I'm not going to go into why I wasn't expecting to like this sort of peotry, since I covered that in my review of Milk and Honey a few days ago. Unfortunately though, I found myself underwhelmed by this book. There were poems I really enjoyed, for example the ones about her mother, and I liked how there was a wider range of themes in this book than in Milk and Honey, however, I just didn't get the same kind of emotion from the majority of these poems as I did from the first collection. Honestly, I don't have anything else to say about this book. It was good, I enjoyed it, but I didn't get the same kind of emotional kick that I did when reading Milk and Honey and I don't feel this intense desire to continually go back and re-read all my favourite ones... Still, I'd definitely read more from this author and I look forward to future collections, since she tackles some serious issues and I think her work is important for people, particularly young women, to read.
April 26, 2018
A Dog's Way Home
A Dog's Way Home, by W. Bruce Cameron
Blurb:Lucas Ray is shocked when an adorable puppy jumps out of an abandoned building and into his arms. Though the apartment he shares with his mother, a disabled veteran, doesn t allow dogs, Lucas can t resist taking Bella home. Bella is inexplicably drawn to Lucas, even if she doesn t understand the necessity of games like No Barks. As it becomes more difficult to hide her from the neighbors, Lucas begins to sneak Bella into the VA where he works. There, Bella brings joy and comfort where it is needed most. After Bella is picked up by Animal Control because pit bulls are banned in Denver, Lucas has no choice but to send her to a foster home until he can figure out what to do. But Bella, distraught at the separation, doesn t plan to wait. With four hundred miles of dangerous Colorado wilderness between her and her person, Bella sets off on a seemingly impossible and completely unforgettable adventure home.My Review It's impossible not to love this book! The cover itself should tell you that much - just look at that face! This author is quickly become my favourite to read when I just want something light, fluffy and heart-warming. Once I started reading this book, I just couldn't put it down and I felt so good once I'd finished the story. Yes, it's simply written, but what else do you expect when it's written from the dog's prospective, which is part of its charm and why this books is such a feel-good story.Also, under this lighthearted story line, I liked that this book addresses the unfairness of the pit bull bans in America and other countries. After all, all dogs have the potential to be dangerous if they're not raised and treated right. Really, humans are the only dangerous breed. Dogs should be judged on their behaviour, not their breed; for every pit bull that attacks someone, there are a dozen just living their lives happily with their families and doing no harm...Finally, there is some confusion about the dog on the cover which I've seen in a few reviews I glanced at, which I'd just like to address. When I first looked, I didn't think the dog on the cover was a pit bull, though I wasn't sure because I'm from the UK where they are banned (thankfully, the RSPCA is on the case to lift this) so I've never seen one and couldn't be sure, however, once I started reading it all made sense. The whole thing with this story is that Bella is wrongly accused of being a pit bull by someone with a grudge against Lucas, her owner, even the vet who is supposed to put Bella down says she's not a pit bull. In fact, no one knows what kind of mixed breed she is and throughout the story there are many different suggestions thrown in the air: Rottweiler, Alsatian, Mastiff. Therefore, thought the dog on the cover doesn't look how I imagined Bella, the fact that it's not a pit bull isn't a mistake. Although I loved it, this book isn't perfect - during the part with Big Kitten I kept wondering if I'd read this part of the story before in a kids picture book - but I can't give it anything less than five stars because it made me so happy to read it. 
Blurb:Lucas Ray is shocked when an adorable puppy jumps out of an abandoned building and into his arms. Though the apartment he shares with his mother, a disabled veteran, doesn t allow dogs, Lucas can t resist taking Bella home. Bella is inexplicably drawn to Lucas, even if she doesn t understand the necessity of games like No Barks. As it becomes more difficult to hide her from the neighbors, Lucas begins to sneak Bella into the VA where he works. There, Bella brings joy and comfort where it is needed most. After Bella is picked up by Animal Control because pit bulls are banned in Denver, Lucas has no choice but to send her to a foster home until he can figure out what to do. But Bella, distraught at the separation, doesn t plan to wait. With four hundred miles of dangerous Colorado wilderness between her and her person, Bella sets off on a seemingly impossible and completely unforgettable adventure home.My Review It's impossible not to love this book! The cover itself should tell you that much - just look at that face! This author is quickly become my favourite to read when I just want something light, fluffy and heart-warming. Once I started reading this book, I just couldn't put it down and I felt so good once I'd finished the story. Yes, it's simply written, but what else do you expect when it's written from the dog's prospective, which is part of its charm and why this books is such a feel-good story.Also, under this lighthearted story line, I liked that this book addresses the unfairness of the pit bull bans in America and other countries. After all, all dogs have the potential to be dangerous if they're not raised and treated right. Really, humans are the only dangerous breed. Dogs should be judged on their behaviour, not their breed; for every pit bull that attacks someone, there are a dozen just living their lives happily with their families and doing no harm...Finally, there is some confusion about the dog on the cover which I've seen in a few reviews I glanced at, which I'd just like to address. When I first looked, I didn't think the dog on the cover was a pit bull, though I wasn't sure because I'm from the UK where they are banned (thankfully, the RSPCA is on the case to lift this) so I've never seen one and couldn't be sure, however, once I started reading it all made sense. The whole thing with this story is that Bella is wrongly accused of being a pit bull by someone with a grudge against Lucas, her owner, even the vet who is supposed to put Bella down says she's not a pit bull. In fact, no one knows what kind of mixed breed she is and throughout the story there are many different suggestions thrown in the air: Rottweiler, Alsatian, Mastiff. Therefore, thought the dog on the cover doesn't look how I imagined Bella, the fact that it's not a pit bull isn't a mistake. Although I loved it, this book isn't perfect - during the part with Big Kitten I kept wondering if I'd read this part of the story before in a kids picture book - but I can't give it anything less than five stars because it made me so happy to read it.
April 24, 2018
Look Who's Back
Look Who's Back, by Timur Vermes
Blurb:Berlin, Summer 2011. Adolf Hitler wakes up from a 66-year sleep in his subterranean Berlin bunker to find the Germany he knew entirely changed: Internet-driven media spreads ideas in minutes and fumes celebrity obsession; immigration has produced multicultural neighborhoods bringing together people of varying race, ethnicity, and religion; and the most powerful person in government is a woman. Hitler is immediately recognized . . . as an impersonator of uncommon skill. The public assumes the fulminating leader of the Nazi party is a performer who is always in character, and soon his inevitable viral appeal begets YouTube stardom, begets television celebrity on a Turkish-born comedian's show. His bigoted rants are mistaken for a theatrical satire--exposing prejudice and misrepresentation--and his media success emboldens Hitler to start his own political party and set the country he finds a shambles back to rights. With daring and dark humor, Look Who's Back skewers the absurdity and depravity of the cult of personality in modern media culture.My Review What to say about this book...? I picked it up because I loved the cover, I thought it was very creative and I was intrigue to know how a book about the return of Adolf Hitler could be deemed funny. Personally, I'm of the opinion that the cover is the best thing about the book.Although I didn't necessarily find the material that was written offensive, I can see why some people are up in arms about this book, since it makes Hitler into a fluffy, almost likeable character which is dangerous when you think of some of the politicians we have around today. There are sentences where the version of Hitler we all know shines through, the man who did evil things, but they are few and far between and, since this is supposed to be satirical and mocking, I felt like it was too easy to forget that the main character was Hitler.The reader is invited to laugh at his antics in the modern day world, but although some of it was vaguely amusing in the sense of trying to explain to an elderly person about the internet and mobile phones, I personally didn't find it laugh out loud funny, although I did appreciate the 'social commentary' of sorts about the modern world. So for me, I just didn't feel like I got anything out of this book. I didn't find it funny, at times I was even bored, and I also didn't get to laugh at the downfalls of one of histories villains, since in many ways he was portrayed as a normal character just like everyone else. 
Blurb:Berlin, Summer 2011. Adolf Hitler wakes up from a 66-year sleep in his subterranean Berlin bunker to find the Germany he knew entirely changed: Internet-driven media spreads ideas in minutes and fumes celebrity obsession; immigration has produced multicultural neighborhoods bringing together people of varying race, ethnicity, and religion; and the most powerful person in government is a woman. Hitler is immediately recognized . . . as an impersonator of uncommon skill. The public assumes the fulminating leader of the Nazi party is a performer who is always in character, and soon his inevitable viral appeal begets YouTube stardom, begets television celebrity on a Turkish-born comedian's show. His bigoted rants are mistaken for a theatrical satire--exposing prejudice and misrepresentation--and his media success emboldens Hitler to start his own political party and set the country he finds a shambles back to rights. With daring and dark humor, Look Who's Back skewers the absurdity and depravity of the cult of personality in modern media culture.My Review What to say about this book...? I picked it up because I loved the cover, I thought it was very creative and I was intrigue to know how a book about the return of Adolf Hitler could be deemed funny. Personally, I'm of the opinion that the cover is the best thing about the book.Although I didn't necessarily find the material that was written offensive, I can see why some people are up in arms about this book, since it makes Hitler into a fluffy, almost likeable character which is dangerous when you think of some of the politicians we have around today. There are sentences where the version of Hitler we all know shines through, the man who did evil things, but they are few and far between and, since this is supposed to be satirical and mocking, I felt like it was too easy to forget that the main character was Hitler.The reader is invited to laugh at his antics in the modern day world, but although some of it was vaguely amusing in the sense of trying to explain to an elderly person about the internet and mobile phones, I personally didn't find it laugh out loud funny, although I did appreciate the 'social commentary' of sorts about the modern world. So for me, I just didn't feel like I got anything out of this book. I didn't find it funny, at times I was even bored, and I also didn't get to laugh at the downfalls of one of histories villains, since in many ways he was portrayed as a normal character just like everyone else.
April 22, 2018
milk and honey
milk and honey, by Rupi Kaur
Blurb:milk and honey is a collection of poetry and prose about survival. It is about the experience of violence, abuse, love, loss, and femininity. It is split into four chapters, and each chapter serves a different purpose, deals with a different pain, heals a different heartache. milk and honey takes readers through a journey of the most bitter moments in life and finds sweetness in them because there is sweetness everywhere if you are just willing to look.My ReviewThere seems to be some debate about this book; people either seem to love it or hate it and, since I'm not a big fan of poetry, especially the kind which lacks punctuation and seems to be just lines taken from a larger piece of work and stuck on a page, I thought I'd hate it, which is why I didn't read it for such a long time. But then I began flicking through it in the bookshop and read a few poems and I was hooked. I had to buy it. Within hours I had read it and fallen in love with this authors work. Despite all the things I didn't like about it in the formatting sense, the words won me over completely and made me ignore the rest.I only read it on Saturday, (now it is Monday) but I've already re-read my favourite poems countless times and the powerful words never cease to amaze me. This is a very important book and it's filled with so many different issues, everyone has something to relate to. A really beautifully written book which I urge anyone to read, even if you think you don't like this sort of poetry! ** I won't be doing my favourite quotes for this one, since many of them would be entire poems! **
Blurb:milk and honey is a collection of poetry and prose about survival. It is about the experience of violence, abuse, love, loss, and femininity. It is split into four chapters, and each chapter serves a different purpose, deals with a different pain, heals a different heartache. milk and honey takes readers through a journey of the most bitter moments in life and finds sweetness in them because there is sweetness everywhere if you are just willing to look.My ReviewThere seems to be some debate about this book; people either seem to love it or hate it and, since I'm not a big fan of poetry, especially the kind which lacks punctuation and seems to be just lines taken from a larger piece of work and stuck on a page, I thought I'd hate it, which is why I didn't read it for such a long time. But then I began flicking through it in the bookshop and read a few poems and I was hooked. I had to buy it. Within hours I had read it and fallen in love with this authors work. Despite all the things I didn't like about it in the formatting sense, the words won me over completely and made me ignore the rest.I only read it on Saturday, (now it is Monday) but I've already re-read my favourite poems countless times and the powerful words never cease to amaze me. This is a very important book and it's filled with so many different issues, everyone has something to relate to. A really beautifully written book which I urge anyone to read, even if you think you don't like this sort of poetry! ** I won't be doing my favourite quotes for this one, since many of them would be entire poems! **
April 15, 2018
A Gathering of Shadows
A Gathering of Shadows, (Shades of Magic Trilogy, Book 2), by V.E. Schwab
Blurb: Kell is plagued by his guilt. Restless, and having given up smuggling, he is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila. As Red London prepares for the Element Games – an extravagant international competition of magic – a certain pirate ship draws closer. But another London is coming back to life, a shadow that was gone in the night reappears in the morning. Black London has risen again – and so to keep magic's balance, another London must fall.My Review Firstly, I'm going to talk about what I loved in this book... V.E. Schwab's writing is amazing, as is her world building and, just like the first book, I was drawn straight in and didn't want to leave. Then there are the characters; they are all so well written and developed. I like Kell and his emotionally struggle is very well written and my heart was breaking for him at the end because he basically looses the only family he'd ever know. However, this book felt like Lila was more of the main character, which was fine with me because although I really liked Kell, I love Lila! She's the heroine I've been waiting for. I mean, she has questionable morals but she's also totally badass and she knows it! She listens to no one! I can't wait to see what she gets up to in the next book. Also, anyone who read my review of the first book will know I was hoping Rhy would get more air-time in this book and be more developed, which he was and I'm really interested to see where his relationship with Alucard ends up. (I also loved Alucard, by the way, his sense of humour and charm was brilliant!) Finally, Holland... I don't know what to say... He's not dead, which I had guessed/hoped anyway, but he's also looking less and less redeemable, but I guess I'll read the next book and find out! So, basically for me this was a very character driven book; there wasn't as much action as in the first book and to be honest very little actually happens. Obviously, there are parts in this book that are absolutely necessary to the development and movement of the story - Lila's powers, Hollands return and Kell's kidnap being the most important - however, I feel like this book was written for the simple purpose of getting you from point A (book 1) to point B (book 3). All in all, it was a good book, simple because I love the characters, but if you're expecting the same thing we got from the first book, it's a bit of a let down. However, now with such an amazing set up (the last few chapters had me on the edge of my seat!) I'm expecting great things from the last book! 
My favourite quotes from 'A Gathering of Shadows': 'Walking away had been easy. Not looking back was harder.''Well would say it was impossible. What a useless word, in a world with magic.''... Grey-worlders sealed away their dead, trapping the discarded shells in gold and wood and stone as if some remnant of who they'd been in life remained. And if they did? What a cruel punishment.' 'Nature is made of cycles, and we are made of nature. What is unnatural is believing in an infallible man and a nice place waiting in the sky.' '... a memory with edges still to sharp to touch.''Everyone's immortal until they're not.''... he understood that approving of something and allowing it were not always the same thing.'
Blurb: Kell is plagued by his guilt. Restless, and having given up smuggling, he is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila. As Red London prepares for the Element Games – an extravagant international competition of magic – a certain pirate ship draws closer. But another London is coming back to life, a shadow that was gone in the night reappears in the morning. Black London has risen again – and so to keep magic's balance, another London must fall.My Review Firstly, I'm going to talk about what I loved in this book... V.E. Schwab's writing is amazing, as is her world building and, just like the first book, I was drawn straight in and didn't want to leave. Then there are the characters; they are all so well written and developed. I like Kell and his emotionally struggle is very well written and my heart was breaking for him at the end because he basically looses the only family he'd ever know. However, this book felt like Lila was more of the main character, which was fine with me because although I really liked Kell, I love Lila! She's the heroine I've been waiting for. I mean, she has questionable morals but she's also totally badass and she knows it! She listens to no one! I can't wait to see what she gets up to in the next book. Also, anyone who read my review of the first book will know I was hoping Rhy would get more air-time in this book and be more developed, which he was and I'm really interested to see where his relationship with Alucard ends up. (I also loved Alucard, by the way, his sense of humour and charm was brilliant!) Finally, Holland... I don't know what to say... He's not dead, which I had guessed/hoped anyway, but he's also looking less and less redeemable, but I guess I'll read the next book and find out! So, basically for me this was a very character driven book; there wasn't as much action as in the first book and to be honest very little actually happens. Obviously, there are parts in this book that are absolutely necessary to the development and movement of the story - Lila's powers, Hollands return and Kell's kidnap being the most important - however, I feel like this book was written for the simple purpose of getting you from point A (book 1) to point B (book 3). All in all, it was a good book, simple because I love the characters, but if you're expecting the same thing we got from the first book, it's a bit of a let down. However, now with such an amazing set up (the last few chapters had me on the edge of my seat!) I'm expecting great things from the last book! My favourite quotes from 'A Gathering of Shadows': 'Walking away had been easy. Not looking back was harder.''Well would say it was impossible. What a useless word, in a world with magic.''... Grey-worlders sealed away their dead, trapping the discarded shells in gold and wood and stone as if some remnant of who they'd been in life remained. And if they did? What a cruel punishment.' 'Nature is made of cycles, and we are made of nature. What is unnatural is believing in an infallible man and a nice place waiting in the sky.' '... a memory with edges still to sharp to touch.''Everyone's immortal until they're not.''... he understood that approving of something and allowing it were not always the same thing.'
April 8, 2018
A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess 
Blurb: "What we were after was lashings of ultraviolence." In this nightmare vision of youth in revolt, fifteen-year-old Alex and his friends set out on a diabolical orgy of robbery, rape, torture and murder. Alex is jailed for his teenage delinquency and the State tries to reform him - but at what cost? Social prophecy? Black comedy? A study of free will? A Clockwork Orange is all of these. It is also a dazzling experiment in language, as Burgess creates "nadsat", the teenage slang of a not-too-distant future.My ReviewThe thing I liked most about this book was the cover. The story itself, I had mixed views on, but ultimately didn't like. Personally, I've never read anything from the point of view of the villain before, which was interesting in a way and unique, but it also made the violence even more horrendous because Alex doesn't have a reason for doing the things he does, he just likes violence. I think it was a bold story to be written like it is and tell the story it does and the plot line was something I found interesting.However, my main gripe about this book is that it seems to make all youths into villains. I understand that without parental guidance and such, teenagers can go off the rails, - hell, it can happen even with proper care - but this isn't true in all cases, which this book seems to suggest. It generalise this amount of violence from teenagers and at the end it's suggested that it's a phase almost, which I just found ridiculous.Finally, the language... I had real problems with it at the start, but I quickly came to realise what the words meant, though it didn't make reading the book any more enjoyable. I think it was clever and brave of the author to make up teenage slang, but as a reader I just found it irritating.All in all, I know a lot of people love this book and it's a classic, but I just didn't like it.
Blurb: "What we were after was lashings of ultraviolence." In this nightmare vision of youth in revolt, fifteen-year-old Alex and his friends set out on a diabolical orgy of robbery, rape, torture and murder. Alex is jailed for his teenage delinquency and the State tries to reform him - but at what cost? Social prophecy? Black comedy? A study of free will? A Clockwork Orange is all of these. It is also a dazzling experiment in language, as Burgess creates "nadsat", the teenage slang of a not-too-distant future.My ReviewThe thing I liked most about this book was the cover. The story itself, I had mixed views on, but ultimately didn't like. Personally, I've never read anything from the point of view of the villain before, which was interesting in a way and unique, but it also made the violence even more horrendous because Alex doesn't have a reason for doing the things he does, he just likes violence. I think it was a bold story to be written like it is and tell the story it does and the plot line was something I found interesting.However, my main gripe about this book is that it seems to make all youths into villains. I understand that without parental guidance and such, teenagers can go off the rails, - hell, it can happen even with proper care - but this isn't true in all cases, which this book seems to suggest. It generalise this amount of violence from teenagers and at the end it's suggested that it's a phase almost, which I just found ridiculous.Finally, the language... I had real problems with it at the start, but I quickly came to realise what the words meant, though it didn't make reading the book any more enjoyable. I think it was clever and brave of the author to make up teenage slang, but as a reader I just found it irritating.All in all, I know a lot of people love this book and it's a classic, but I just didn't like it.
April 5, 2018
The Housekeeper + The Professor
The Housekeeper + The Professor 
Blurb:He is a brilliant maths professor with a peculiar problem - ever since a traumatic head injury some seventeen years ago, he has lived with only eighty minutes of short-term memory. She is a sensitive but astute young housekeeper with a ten-year-old son, who is entrusted to take care of him. Each morning, as the Professor and the Housekeeper are reintroduced to one another, a strange, beautiful relationship blossoms between them. The Professor may not remember what he had for breakfast, but his mind is still alive with elegant equations from the past. He devises clever maths riddles - based on her shoe size or her birthday - and the numbers, in all of their articulate order, reveal a sheltering and poetic world to both the Housekeeper and her little boy. With each new equation, the three lost souls forge an affection more mysterious than imaginary numbers, and a bond that runs deeper than memory.My ReviewUmm... I'm not sure how to rate this book; from what I've heard and read about the author, I was expecting a master piece, but honestly, I just found this books boring for the most part; although it was charming and heart-felt at times, it never seemed to be going anywhere. Yet, there were so many interesting aspects of the book that I kept reading - I found the issue of the professors memory loss interesting, I wanted to know the real relationship between the professor and his sister-in-law (but it wasn't revealed in concrete terms) and I found the professor himself very endearing; in fact he was the only character I felt was properly developed; although the tale is told from the housekeepers point of view, she talks more about him that herself or even her son. I also liked the way the characters created their own little family. However, probably the reason I didn't get along with this book i because it focuses quite heavily on two things I have little or no interest/understanding of - math and baseball. Obviously, I knew from the blurb that the professor was a math genius, but I hadn't realised quite how much would be featured in the book, which is my own fault. I think someone with more interest in these two subjects would probably find this a very enjoyable little novella.
Blurb:He is a brilliant maths professor with a peculiar problem - ever since a traumatic head injury some seventeen years ago, he has lived with only eighty minutes of short-term memory. She is a sensitive but astute young housekeeper with a ten-year-old son, who is entrusted to take care of him. Each morning, as the Professor and the Housekeeper are reintroduced to one another, a strange, beautiful relationship blossoms between them. The Professor may not remember what he had for breakfast, but his mind is still alive with elegant equations from the past. He devises clever maths riddles - based on her shoe size or her birthday - and the numbers, in all of their articulate order, reveal a sheltering and poetic world to both the Housekeeper and her little boy. With each new equation, the three lost souls forge an affection more mysterious than imaginary numbers, and a bond that runs deeper than memory.My ReviewUmm... I'm not sure how to rate this book; from what I've heard and read about the author, I was expecting a master piece, but honestly, I just found this books boring for the most part; although it was charming and heart-felt at times, it never seemed to be going anywhere. Yet, there were so many interesting aspects of the book that I kept reading - I found the issue of the professors memory loss interesting, I wanted to know the real relationship between the professor and his sister-in-law (but it wasn't revealed in concrete terms) and I found the professor himself very endearing; in fact he was the only character I felt was properly developed; although the tale is told from the housekeepers point of view, she talks more about him that herself or even her son. I also liked the way the characters created their own little family. However, probably the reason I didn't get along with this book i because it focuses quite heavily on two things I have little or no interest/understanding of - math and baseball. Obviously, I knew from the blurb that the professor was a math genius, but I hadn't realised quite how much would be featured in the book, which is my own fault. I think someone with more interest in these two subjects would probably find this a very enjoyable little novella.
March 31, 2018
The Lake House
The Lake House, by Kate Morton 
Blurb: A missing child. June 1933, and the Edevane family's country house, Loeanneth, is polished and gleaming, ready for the much-anticipated Midsummer Eve party. Alice Edevane, sixteen years old and a budding writer, is especially excited. Not only has she worked out the perfect twist for her novel, she's also fallen helplessly in love with someone she shouldn't have. But by the time midnight strikes and fireworks light up the night skies, the Edevane family will have suffered a loss so great that they leave Loeanneth forever. An abandoned house. Seventy years later, after a particularly troubling case, Sadie Sparrow is sent on an enforced break from her job with the Metropolitan Police. She retreats to her beloved grandfather's cottage in Cornwall but soon finds herself at a loose end. Until one day, Sadie stumbles upon an abandoned house surrounded by overgrown gardens and dense woods, and learns the story of a baby boy who disappeared without a trace.My Review I don't usually read books like this, for no other reason than that they don't usually call to me as much as other genres, however, a work acquaintance lent this book to me and all but demanded I read it. I didn't want to say no and disappoint them, so, thinking it would be a book I'd have to force myself to read, I started reading... And I couldn't have been more wrong! Yes, this book is very long and very wordy and the first few chapters didn't hook me straight away, but once I got past those first few chapters I was totally invested in this story!As you probably already know if you follow my reviews, I love multiple points of view if they are done right and this was done perfectly. I loved seeing characters through other characters eyes - especially Eleanor - and how everyone interpreted things differently and had different ideas which steered the story. I also loved that, because all the characters had different ideas, there were so many options as to what could have happened to baby Theo - every time I thought the case was solved something else would come up that steered it in a totally different direction! Not only does the author juggle multiple points of view, she also changes time and location frequently and it worked perfectly, all woven together with beautiful writing.The only thing that disappointed me was that the ending was too neat, it made the story feel unrealistic, The ending with what happened to Theo - for those who haven't read it I won't give the game away - I could have accepted, though it did feel too convenient and unlikely, but then that final chapter just had me rolling my eyes as everyone played happy families. Don't get me wrong, I love happy endings, but this just felt like too much... Anyway, this is the first book I've read by Kate Morton and I've seen on Goodreads that some people seem to think it's not one of her best books, but as a newbe to her work, I loved it and will definitely be reading more of her books!
Blurb: A missing child. June 1933, and the Edevane family's country house, Loeanneth, is polished and gleaming, ready for the much-anticipated Midsummer Eve party. Alice Edevane, sixteen years old and a budding writer, is especially excited. Not only has she worked out the perfect twist for her novel, she's also fallen helplessly in love with someone she shouldn't have. But by the time midnight strikes and fireworks light up the night skies, the Edevane family will have suffered a loss so great that they leave Loeanneth forever. An abandoned house. Seventy years later, after a particularly troubling case, Sadie Sparrow is sent on an enforced break from her job with the Metropolitan Police. She retreats to her beloved grandfather's cottage in Cornwall but soon finds herself at a loose end. Until one day, Sadie stumbles upon an abandoned house surrounded by overgrown gardens and dense woods, and learns the story of a baby boy who disappeared without a trace.My Review I don't usually read books like this, for no other reason than that they don't usually call to me as much as other genres, however, a work acquaintance lent this book to me and all but demanded I read it. I didn't want to say no and disappoint them, so, thinking it would be a book I'd have to force myself to read, I started reading... And I couldn't have been more wrong! Yes, this book is very long and very wordy and the first few chapters didn't hook me straight away, but once I got past those first few chapters I was totally invested in this story!As you probably already know if you follow my reviews, I love multiple points of view if they are done right and this was done perfectly. I loved seeing characters through other characters eyes - especially Eleanor - and how everyone interpreted things differently and had different ideas which steered the story. I also loved that, because all the characters had different ideas, there were so many options as to what could have happened to baby Theo - every time I thought the case was solved something else would come up that steered it in a totally different direction! Not only does the author juggle multiple points of view, she also changes time and location frequently and it worked perfectly, all woven together with beautiful writing.The only thing that disappointed me was that the ending was too neat, it made the story feel unrealistic, The ending with what happened to Theo - for those who haven't read it I won't give the game away - I could have accepted, though it did feel too convenient and unlikely, but then that final chapter just had me rolling my eyes as everyone played happy families. Don't get me wrong, I love happy endings, but this just felt like too much... Anyway, this is the first book I've read by Kate Morton and I've seen on Goodreads that some people seem to think it's not one of her best books, but as a newbe to her work, I loved it and will definitely be reading more of her books!
March 14, 2018
Lady Susan, The Watsons, Sanditon
Lady Susan, The Watsons, Sanditon, by Jane Austen
Blurb:Together, these three works - one novel unpublished in her lifetime and two unfinished fragments - reveal Jane Austen's development as a great artist.Lady Susan, with its wicked, beautiful, intelligent and energetic heroine, is a sparkling melodrama which takes its tone from the outspoken and robust eighteen century. Written later, and probably abandoned after her father's death, The Watsons is a tantalizing and highly delightful story whose vitality and optimism centre on the marital prospects of the Watson sisters in a small provincial town. Sanditon, Jane Austen's last fiction, is set in a seaside town and its themes concern the new speculative consumer society and foreshadow the great social upheavals of the Industrial Revolution.My ReviewI brought a copy of this book when I visited the Jane Austen Museum in Bath last year, but I've only just got around to reading it. I really, really wanted to like this; it's Jane Austen after all, but it fell flat...Lady Susan was actually my favourite out of the three. It was written when she was younger than I am now and I found the letter format interesting, though as it says in the foreword it was clearly a writing style she wasn't entirely comfortable using, which is emphasised by the ending, which I felt spoilt the story since it felt rushed. Her characters in Lady Susan aren't as well developed as in other works, Lady Susan herself is a despicable character with no redeeming qualities to make her seem real and human, which was a shame, but it's worth remembering that this was one of Austen's first pieces of work. The Watsons had potential but it is incomplete, which I knew to start with, yet still it stopped me from properly enjoying the story because I knew it would end before the story had reached a proper ending, despite the fact there is a note telling us how Austen intended to finish the story. This story was interesting, with Austen's signature writing style and read a little like Pride and Prejudice, which the foreword suggests may be one of the reasons she never completed it. Also, it contained my favourite scene from this book, that of when Emma asks the little boy to dance after he has been disappointed by someone else - this is actually the scene which I read at the museum in Bath and was the reason I brought this book! I just found this scene so touching and sweet!Then there was Sanditon which was witty and funny, but again, incomplete. I also thought this story had lots of potential and was really interested as to where it would lead us and I enjoyed Austen's quite cynical views of the Parker's hypochondria. It's very sad to think she was writing this novel, before her own death. Also, I found myself finding the character of Arthur Parker quite sweet, which I'm sure wasn't intended, but that scene where he is toasting bread on the fire I just found really cute and I actually wanted to hug him and take him under my wing!All in all, I'm glad I read this, but I wouldn't say it's a must read unless you're a Jane Austen fan and wish to be able to say you've read all of her work. The foreword is also a very interesting read, though I'd recommend reading it after the stories, since I found it coloured my opinions while I was reading.My favourite quotes from 'Lady Susan, The Watsons, Sanditon':'... I am not quite weak enough to suppose a woman who had behaved with inattention if not unkindness towards her own child, should be attached to any of mine.''The luck of one member of a family is luck to all.''Female economy will do a great deal my Lord, but it cannot turn a small income into a large one.''They stayed at home. that their children might get out.' 'He felt and he wrote and he forgot.'
Blurb:Together, these three works - one novel unpublished in her lifetime and two unfinished fragments - reveal Jane Austen's development as a great artist.Lady Susan, with its wicked, beautiful, intelligent and energetic heroine, is a sparkling melodrama which takes its tone from the outspoken and robust eighteen century. Written later, and probably abandoned after her father's death, The Watsons is a tantalizing and highly delightful story whose vitality and optimism centre on the marital prospects of the Watson sisters in a small provincial town. Sanditon, Jane Austen's last fiction, is set in a seaside town and its themes concern the new speculative consumer society and foreshadow the great social upheavals of the Industrial Revolution.My ReviewI brought a copy of this book when I visited the Jane Austen Museum in Bath last year, but I've only just got around to reading it. I really, really wanted to like this; it's Jane Austen after all, but it fell flat...Lady Susan was actually my favourite out of the three. It was written when she was younger than I am now and I found the letter format interesting, though as it says in the foreword it was clearly a writing style she wasn't entirely comfortable using, which is emphasised by the ending, which I felt spoilt the story since it felt rushed. Her characters in Lady Susan aren't as well developed as in other works, Lady Susan herself is a despicable character with no redeeming qualities to make her seem real and human, which was a shame, but it's worth remembering that this was one of Austen's first pieces of work. The Watsons had potential but it is incomplete, which I knew to start with, yet still it stopped me from properly enjoying the story because I knew it would end before the story had reached a proper ending, despite the fact there is a note telling us how Austen intended to finish the story. This story was interesting, with Austen's signature writing style and read a little like Pride and Prejudice, which the foreword suggests may be one of the reasons she never completed it. Also, it contained my favourite scene from this book, that of when Emma asks the little boy to dance after he has been disappointed by someone else - this is actually the scene which I read at the museum in Bath and was the reason I brought this book! I just found this scene so touching and sweet!Then there was Sanditon which was witty and funny, but again, incomplete. I also thought this story had lots of potential and was really interested as to where it would lead us and I enjoyed Austen's quite cynical views of the Parker's hypochondria. It's very sad to think she was writing this novel, before her own death. Also, I found myself finding the character of Arthur Parker quite sweet, which I'm sure wasn't intended, but that scene where he is toasting bread on the fire I just found really cute and I actually wanted to hug him and take him under my wing!All in all, I'm glad I read this, but I wouldn't say it's a must read unless you're a Jane Austen fan and wish to be able to say you've read all of her work. The foreword is also a very interesting read, though I'd recommend reading it after the stories, since I found it coloured my opinions while I was reading.My favourite quotes from 'Lady Susan, The Watsons, Sanditon':'... I am not quite weak enough to suppose a woman who had behaved with inattention if not unkindness towards her own child, should be attached to any of mine.''The luck of one member of a family is luck to all.''Female economy will do a great deal my Lord, but it cannot turn a small income into a large one.''They stayed at home. that their children might get out.' 'He felt and he wrote and he forgot.'
March 12, 2018
The Shape of Water
The Shape of Water, by Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus
Blurb:It is 1962, and Elisa Esposito—mute her whole life, orphaned as a child—is struggling with her humdrum existence as a janitor working the graveyard shift at Baltimore’s Occam Aerospace Research Center. Were it not for Zelda, a protective coworker, and Giles, her loving neighbor, she doesn’t know how she’d make it through the day. Then, one fateful night, she sees something she was never meant to see, the Center’s most sensitive asset ever: an amphibious man, captured in the Amazon, to be studied for Cold War advancements. The creature is terrifying but also magnificent, capable of language and of understanding emotions…and Elisa can’t keep away. Using sign language, the two learn to communicate. Soon, affection turns into love, and the creature becomes Elisa’s sole reason to live. But outside forces are pressing in. Richard Strickland, the obsessed soldier who tracked the asset through the Amazon, wants nothing more than to dissect it before the Russians get a chance to steal it. Elisa has no choice but to risk everything to save her beloved. With the help of Zelda and Giles, Elisa hatches a plan to break out the creature. But Strickland is on to them. And the Russians are, indeed, coming.My ReviewSo this is going to be a book slash film review. I wanted to read the book before I went to see the film, so I finished the book Friday and went to see the film Sunday and I'm finding it impossible to think about one without comparing it to the other and since the book is supposed to be a movie tie-in it seems relevant to talk about them both... I absolutely loved the book! I would have read it in one sitting if not for my pesky day job! The story was captivating and the multiple POV's really worked to weave this complex story together. All the characters were well developed, even Strickland, the villain; there were times I even felt sympathy for him - in the film his reasons weren't stated - and I liked that all their lives overlapped, even in little ways. Both Giles and Bob were so sweet that I just wanted to hug them and Bob's fate broke my heart. Elise was also a great character and I loved that she was so much more, so much braver than everyone thought she was. Finally, the creature... I loved him so much more in the book and I really enjoyed his chapters, though it would have been nice if there were more of them.It was beautifully written and there were some really touching scenes. The scene where Elisa first meets the 'creature' was amazing; it was written with real feeling and I re-read it several times - I did the same with the scene of the 'creature' and Giles after the incident with his arm.This is wonderful book about disability and being more than people expect of you. It also questions what it is to be human, whether it's about actions and acting humanly, or if it's simply the species. All in all, a great book, which is simply written but also beautifully poetic at times and written with amazing feeling. Even if you've seen the film, I recommend reading the book - which I preferred - because although the story is the same, the books goes into so much more depth and develops the characters so much more.My favourite quotes from 'The Shape of Water': 'What would feeling like somebody feel like? To suddenly exist not only in your world, but somebody else's as well?''Man should be better than monsters.' 'Acts more creative than Strickland has patience for flowering in the victim's mind.' 'What's next, Leo? What species do we wipe out next? It it us? I hope it is. We deserve it.'
Blurb:It is 1962, and Elisa Esposito—mute her whole life, orphaned as a child—is struggling with her humdrum existence as a janitor working the graveyard shift at Baltimore’s Occam Aerospace Research Center. Were it not for Zelda, a protective coworker, and Giles, her loving neighbor, she doesn’t know how she’d make it through the day. Then, one fateful night, she sees something she was never meant to see, the Center’s most sensitive asset ever: an amphibious man, captured in the Amazon, to be studied for Cold War advancements. The creature is terrifying but also magnificent, capable of language and of understanding emotions…and Elisa can’t keep away. Using sign language, the two learn to communicate. Soon, affection turns into love, and the creature becomes Elisa’s sole reason to live. But outside forces are pressing in. Richard Strickland, the obsessed soldier who tracked the asset through the Amazon, wants nothing more than to dissect it before the Russians get a chance to steal it. Elisa has no choice but to risk everything to save her beloved. With the help of Zelda and Giles, Elisa hatches a plan to break out the creature. But Strickland is on to them. And the Russians are, indeed, coming.My ReviewSo this is going to be a book slash film review. I wanted to read the book before I went to see the film, so I finished the book Friday and went to see the film Sunday and I'm finding it impossible to think about one without comparing it to the other and since the book is supposed to be a movie tie-in it seems relevant to talk about them both... I absolutely loved the book! I would have read it in one sitting if not for my pesky day job! The story was captivating and the multiple POV's really worked to weave this complex story together. All the characters were well developed, even Strickland, the villain; there were times I even felt sympathy for him - in the film his reasons weren't stated - and I liked that all their lives overlapped, even in little ways. Both Giles and Bob were so sweet that I just wanted to hug them and Bob's fate broke my heart. Elise was also a great character and I loved that she was so much more, so much braver than everyone thought she was. Finally, the creature... I loved him so much more in the book and I really enjoyed his chapters, though it would have been nice if there were more of them.It was beautifully written and there were some really touching scenes. The scene where Elisa first meets the 'creature' was amazing; it was written with real feeling and I re-read it several times - I did the same with the scene of the 'creature' and Giles after the incident with his arm.This is wonderful book about disability and being more than people expect of you. It also questions what it is to be human, whether it's about actions and acting humanly, or if it's simply the species. All in all, a great book, which is simply written but also beautifully poetic at times and written with amazing feeling. Even if you've seen the film, I recommend reading the book - which I preferred - because although the story is the same, the books goes into so much more depth and develops the characters so much more.My favourite quotes from 'The Shape of Water': 'What would feeling like somebody feel like? To suddenly exist not only in your world, but somebody else's as well?''Man should be better than monsters.' 'Acts more creative than Strickland has patience for flowering in the victim's mind.' 'What's next, Leo? What species do we wipe out next? It it us? I hope it is. We deserve it.'
