Pick-a-Shelf discussion
Pick-a-Shelf: Monthly -Archive
>
2014-08 - From the Library Reviews
Mod
BTW - I can't believe it is August already either...this summer has really flown by.
Not sure whether you want us to use the from the library shelf or review actual books we got from the libraryMiss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (fits both)
The Help (on the shelf)
I have read both of the books above - both shelved on from the lIbrary.
The Help was a tale of trying to affect change whilst trying to keep oneself "safe" A story of 2 races both i felt trapped in one way or another. The help by their servitude and the whites by their need to act in a proscribed way. even though the help wanted to tell their stories i don't think they had any idea of what that might so (if anything). I found it very difficult to remember that all this happened such a short time ago. I loved the characters from both races, they were very well drawn.
Miss Peregrine's i enjoyed this one more - i think because it took me offf into my imagination more. Part Harry Potter, Part Peter Pan with a bit of time travel added in. It is a search both for Jacob and the children in the loop. There are some things which don't make sense for me but they did not truly detract from the plot. I got this as electronic book from the library and all the photos were chopped between 2 pages - which did detract somewhat.
Favourite quotes are all from near the end, although i loved Jacobs description of a gas mask.(page 156)
" on a brand new precipice of before and after" - how many times can we apply this to our own lives
" This memory was something tangible, I would carry it with me" again how many memories do we all carry around
Mod
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (fits both)
[book:The Help..."
The normal way that this group works is that we pick books from the stated shelf, so the books you review here should be from the shelf. Whether you actually get them from the library or not is just a bonus.
Today I read Maus, I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History and Maus, II: And Here My Troubles Began. Amazing reads - they were honest and moving.
Just completed The Light Between Oceans. This book was absolutely gut-wrenching! You feel bad for all the characters at once. A good read, but very sad.
Finished The Lovely Bones on audiobook. This was a great book. I enjoyed the POV of the dead girl. I gave it 4 stars.
Mod
It's a good book, Charity. Have you seen the movie?
I still remember being totally creeped out by it; I don't think I should've watched it by myself in the middle of the night during babymoon (ie. my firstborn was only a few months' old at that time and I think I had to pause movie to feed too and I remember feeling a little haunted walking through the dark house to get to him lol)
I don't mean the ghostly factor though, rather the awful thing that happened to her :(
I read the book last month, maybe June, and really enjoyed it. Haven't seen the movie though. Heard mixed things about it. Was it any good ?
Mod
It's been a while, Amanda, though I remember it being pretty good. However, I did this one the other way around as I watched the movie before reading the book. I read the book a year or so later, I believe... I didn't do any reading during that pregnancy then few months after birth :p
I haven't seen the movie, but I listened to the book and I had to make sure I did it during the day...I have 4 kids and I was starting to freak out at certain points and I'm not typically a worrier. lol :-)
Just completed
on ebook. I found it minorly freaky (mostly because of the photographs). I agree with Marie in that this book is full of great quotes. The book was rather enjoyable and while my 10 yr old might like it, I would never read it to my other young kids...they'd freak out and have nightmares over the pictures :-) Cool story though that truly transcends time. Just saw there is a sequel so that has been added to my TBR list.
I am still waiting for Miss Peregrines from the library :( Looong queue. Was going to book up the sequel last night, but thought I might end up getting that first so thought I should probably wait. ALL the books I planned to read for this month are still in the waiting list on my holds. Very sad.
Amanda wrote: "I am still waiting for Miss Peregrines from the library :( Looong queue. Was going to book up the sequel last night, but thought I might end up getting that first so thought I should probably wait...."Does your library happen to have Overdrive? It's a way to do ebooks and audiobooks online. I've used ours pretty regularly when the queues at the library were too long to wait ;-)
The ebooks from my library are not Kindle compatible. I will have an android tablet shortly, so will be looking for a good e-reader format for that so I can start using it for ebooks.
Finished Jonathan Tropper's This is Where I Leave You. I've wanted to read this for sometime and it didn't disappoint. Lots of laugh out loud moments interspersed with grief. I think I'd like to be friends with this family.
I'd give it ****
Finished
while at the beach. I found it better than
but we will see how the rest of the series go.
I read The Princess Bride, which I also borrowed from the library for double theme points ;)I found it really enjoyable. I remember that we had to study the movie way back when I was in high school but apparently my 13 year old brain didn't store very much of it, as I found I didn't remember any of the story!
It is a book you must read cover to cover because the "introduction" is really part of the story.
Think I might be adding a copy to my own bookshelves sometime in the future.
(Now to go track down a copy of the movie...)
I read
- I'm really enjoying reading about the misadventures of Lady Julia Grey. Raybourn is very skilled at describing the creepy atmosphere of the Yorkshire moors.
Sarah wrote: "I read The Princess Bride, which I also borrowed from the library for double theme points ;)I found it really enjoyable. I remember that we had to study the movie way back when I was..."
I have been wanting to read that for so long, and have never seen the film. Am going to book it up with the library, as soon as I can get both my borrow and hold list under 10 :/
Amanda wrote: "Sarah wrote: "I read The Princess Bride, which I also borrowed from the library for double theme points ;)I found it really enjoyable. I remember that we had to study the movie way b..."
Took our girls to see Princess Bride way back in 1987, drove an hour to an old fashioned theater with twinkle lights on the ceiling and heavy drapes that opened to reveal the screen. Our girls were 4 & 6 at that time. It was very magical and these reviews have brought back a wonderful memory. I do believe I will get that book to read, perhaps to my granddaughters!
Debi wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Sarah wrote: "I read The Princess Bride, which I also borrowed from the library for double theme points ;)I found it really enjoyable. I remember that we had to study ..."
Sounds wonderful!
I now have both the book and the film on order from our library ;)
I have 3 books on the list that have just turned up from the library and onto my bedside table ( and I think they all also fit September Pick-a-Shelf, so how lucky is that ?! ), so it looks like I will have a busy weekend, especially the night my girl is away at camp! I need to go through the whole list a bit more thoroughly though and catch up with my reviews for the books I have managed to squeeze in this month. Mostly Junior or YA fiction, as things have been busy.
I can start with Coraline, which i enjoyed, and expected to be scarier from the trailer I'd seen of the movie. Was hoping my daughter would read it, but she didn't have the time either. It was my first Gaiman, and I now have another one waiting to be read.
And, I really need to update my shelves, but last night I finished The Bad Beginning, which I saw as I walked through the library on the weekend with my daughter, had been meaning to get to for ages, and I think turns up on a September shelf or two. Anyway, again, the movie trailer made it seem scarier, but I did like the way this one was written, particularly the regular explanation of word meanings, which could have been annoying but I found quite good, especially as a parent who has to explain meanings all the time!
Wish my girl had time for this one too, and I think I will try to pick up the series at library and secondhand sales, if possible.
And another one off the Junior shelves Howl's Moving Castle jumped off the shelves at me. I've long wanted to see the film, and i wonder how I will find it ( when I get hold of it! ) after reading the book.Enjoyed this one also, and it made my Man Flu pass a little bit easier!
Mod
while at the beach. I found it better than but we will see how the rest of the series go."Matched sounds similar to Disruption -have you read Disruption yet, Charity? Just wondering if I should read Matched as I really enjoyed Disruption :)
Mod
Amanda, I also loved Coraline (both book & movie). Loved Howl's Moving Castle too though I think the anime (being a Japanese production) is somewhat different to the book. I prefer the book :)
Tien wrote: "I adore The Princess Bride, Sarah & Amanda. I have a copy of the movie on VHS!!!!! Thing is, I don't have a VHS player anymore, lolAmanda, I also loved Coraline (both book & movie). Loved Howl'..."
Tien wrote: "I adore The Princess Bride, Sarah & Amanda. I have a copy of the movie on VHS!!!!! Thing is, I don't have a VHS player anymore, lol
Amanda, I also loved Coraline (both book & movie). Loved Howl'..."
Apart from tv shows ( Astroboy, Sailor Moon ), I have never seen any anime, and heard Howl's was a good starting point, which is one of the reasons I got the book. Although, that said, I usually dislike a film if I've read the book first, so possibly a bad move!
Tien wrote: "Charity wrote: "Finished while at the beach. I found it better than but we will see how the rest of the series go."Matched sounds similar..."
I have not read Disruption but I will have to add it to my always growing list :-)
Thanks!
Mod
Between the Lines
I only gave it 2 stars. It felt to me like Picoult was trading on her name to help her teenage daughter get a start that she wasn't ready for yet. My review here .
First Light, 3 stars. My review here .
Impact, 4 stars. My review here .
I am Forbidden, 4 stars. My review here .
A Game of Thrones 5 stars, this was a reread for Scattershelves. Enjoyed it just as much the second time round, in fact it was an easier read this time as I knew who the characters were and didn't have to keep checking the House details at the back of the book.Looking for Alaska 3.5 stars. While I liked Green's writing in this I found the characters annoying.
The Little Prince 4 stars. An enjoyable, uplifting read.
Fahrenheit 451 5 stars. An excellent book, my reaction to all the book burning was to go on a book buying spree - 22 books in two days.
Me Talk Pretty One Day 3 stars
A Fool and His Honey 2.5 stars
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz 3 stars. While I enjoyed this book I have to confess that I much preferred the film version.
Mod
Thanks!"
I hope you like it, Charity. It's only a duology and book 2 (Corruption) is due out later this year (October / November) which is fantastic as it sort of ended with a bit of a cliffhanger ;p
Mod
*GASP* you started in middle of series!?!?! I know you not! How could you ever! lol - I don't think I can ever make myself do that except if it was by accident which is unlikely these days as I usually check GR about the book first.
Am not a fan of Jodi Picoult - I've only read a couple of her works (maybe not the best ones?) and found them too dark/depressing to read more of :(
Mod
WoW! A re-read of GoT!? Amazing! I don't think I'd have the patience but then again, it wasn't one I particularly enjoyed. As everyone said, as soon as you like a character, they get killed and it's really frustrating for me! Haven't seen the series either nor am I likely to, now :p
Brideshead Revisited 4 stars. Finally an Evelyn Waugh novel I actually enjoyed, although that could be more to the brilliant narration by Jeremy Irons than Waugh's writing.
The Time Traveler's Wife was an excellent book. It joins my other top three books and I gave it 5 stars (which I reserve for extremely moving books).
The Giver 4 stars. Loved this, well written and moving. I really need to get the rest of this series.
Mod
Yay!! I loved this book. I remembered getting home from work and just had to finish reading it and sobbing through ;p
Did you sob? Have you seen movie? Book is better than movie, undoubtedly, still the question begs to be asked...
Mod
I read this before the rest of the series were released and I still haven't got to them yet! However, I have got 3 of 4 slotted into ScatterShelves so am keen to get them all read ;) A dystopian novel before the 'genre' became popular
Mod
a re-read of Legend and still enjoyed it better than Divergent. I think I liked it better because even though both June & Tris were angry - June wasn't trying hard to be different (or to rebel); she instead was working hard to understand what / how the system fails her and from there on, worked on to amend her mistakes. Bit more logical & so made more sense to my mind of working things out ;p
I also listened to Frostbite and I must say that Rose (as annoying as she was -I hated her in the 1st book) was starting to grow on me. She has undergone some major changes in attitude and that's why I didn't mind this book as much though given my loyalty to the Bloodline series (a follow up on Vampire Academy featuring a much improved version of Adrian), I'm not sure if I wanted to see this other darker version of Adrian. One day... one day... I'll get to the rest of VA.
I have The Giver in my planned reads. # 32 in the hold queue, with the second book in the series #4 in the queue. Hope the first one turns up surprisingly quick so I can read them in order ( it does happen, sometimes! )
My reads from the library:The Boleyn Reckoning by Laura Andersen ★★★★
The Walking Dead, Vol. 01: Days Gone Bye ★★★★★ & The Walking Dead, Vol. 02: Miles Behind Us ★★★★★ by Robert Kirkman
I decided to read two books this month, A Game of Thrones and In Cold Blood. I started with Game of Thrones first but I couldn't even get through the first chapter I was bored out of my mind . So I moved on to In Cold Blood which was awesome. Way, way better than the movie. I had resisted reading the book for so long because of how bad the movie was. However, the book was great I couldn't put it down and ended up reading in just a couple day period. I highly recommend it!
Mod
Totally agree with you on In Cold Blood. Awesome book!
I found 3 books I read this month on the shelf!The Round House by Louise Erdrich - What a beautiful, haunting book. It stuck with me long after I finished it.
The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin - It was okay, but it lead me to some other great things.
West with the Night by Beryl Markham - What a bizarre book. After I read it I did a little research and found out a bunch of stuff she left out that would have made it extremely interesting.
I finished The Little Stranger just in time for the end of the month. It was quite an interesting read but I didn't find it quite as creepy as some other reviews have.
Mod
This is the last book in the Sookie Stackhouse series, which distressed me a bit. I like Sookie's character and found I did not want her to end. Charlaine Harris was able to creatively bring this series to an end, without killing off Sookie. I was satisfied. As always, this is a fast and easy read but just right for the beach or a lazy summer day.
I read (well, am almost done with) A Game of Thrones. There were just too many characters thrown at me in the beginning and I found it confusing. An interesting read, but I wasn't interested enough to continue the series.
Pick-a-Shelf
Books mentioned in this topic
Memoirs of a Geisha (other topics)West with the Night (other topics)
The Giver (other topics)
Me Talk Pretty One Day (other topics)
A Game of Thrones (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Evelyn Waugh (other topics)Robert Kirkman (other topics)
Laura Andersen (other topics)
Can't believe it's August! I feel like I've only just changed the avi for July yesterday!