Back, again, books 61-64

So, I've been slacking. That is for sure. I'm quite a bit behind, but not so far that I can't make it up. There have been a number of things that have helped to put me behind schedule. First it was my several illnesses, then my trip to Florida, and then it was my boyfriend's spring break, and now here we are and I'm sick again. But I do want to be able to do this even though it is definitely harder than I thought it would be, and harder than it seemed to me in the beginning. Lately I just haven't felt like reading, sometimes you want that solitary time, and other times all you want is to spend some time with people you love and do things other than sitting down and reading a book. That is where I've been lately. I'm finally back and writing about the books that I did read while in Florida. I will be back on the reading grind starting tomorrow!

Book 61: The Sword in the Stone

Author: T.H. White
Pages: 352
Genre: Fantasy, Classics
Series: Yes, book 1 of 5
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library

3.5 stars
This is the classic story of the young King Arthur, known for most of the story as Wart. It tells of his adventures with Kay, Merlin, and Robin Hood, as well as dangerous encounters with Madam Mim and animals ready to eat him.

I was initially drawn to this story because of the beloved Disney classic. However, I am aware that many of Disney's movies are not told true to the originals so I was interested to see how this one would match up. I enjoyed Wart's adventures and thought surprisingly that the Disney version worked well, as the book was a bit long winded and near the end felt as if it was dragging on. Though I really did enjoy Wart and Kay's adventures with Robin Wood, known to many as Robin Hood. It was an interesting story crossover that I felt worked.


Book 62: Unravel Me

Author: Tahereh Mafi
Pages: 461
Genre: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Series: Yes, book 2 of 3. Book 3 is not yet released.
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library

3 stars
Juliette was born with the ability to kill using only her touch. Unfortunately this keeps her from creating bonds with others, so she feels very isolated and alone. There are only two people that can touch her, Adam, the man she loves who is suddenly acting very odd after finding out that this ability to touch her drains him, and Warner, the leader of the Reestablishments son who is not a good person but still deeply cares for Juliette. They have all come to Omega Point, a home for people with gifts as they prepare to fight back to try and regain the world from the Reestablishment.

This books is basically about Juliette's decision between two men, the one she loves but touching her hurts him, and the one she is drawn to despite all he has done. I think that an important quality in a book is relatable characters. Juliette did not feel relatable. In fact, she came off as sulky, whining and a bit irritating. I understand that she is in a very tough spot, but it still did not make me like her more.

Book 63: The Runaway King

Author: Jennifer A. Nielsen
Pages: 352
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Series: Yes, book 2 of 3. Book 3 is not yet released.
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library

4 stars
Only weeks after Jaron has taken the throne an assassination attempt by a former friend and rumblings of war force Jaron into hiding as the only way to save Carthya. Hiding is a bit different for Jaron as he masquerades as a thief in order to get in with the pirates who still have a price on his head after failing to kill him four years ago, and who plan to help his enemy with his tidings for war. Jaron hopes to persuade them to fight for him, but he is in a very dangerous position as many people want him dead, even those that may seem friendly.

This was a very good second installment in this trilogy. I loved the first book and in my opinion the middle book is always challenging as it is generally coming off a well received first installment and must set up for the ending in the third book. This book was good and I enjoyed the characters and change of scenery but at times it definitely felt like it was mainly there to lead into book three.


Book 64: Becoming Attached: First Relationships and How they Shape our Capacity to Love

Author: Dr. Robert Karen
Pages: 512
Genre: Psychology
Series: No
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library

4 stars
The parent-child bond is one of the most important relationships in life and one that goes on to shape our future. Dr. Karen examines important aspects of attachment, such as how the theory was developed as well as important characteristics and questions that relate to it.

This book was very important as attachment is a guiding and pervasive characteristic throughout life. I found this reading especially interesting as child psychology is my field of choice and their emotional development is key when seeing problems in a child. It read a little dry at times but I feel that he tried to make the information interesting and accessible to all.

And now it is time for bed and to get rid of this sickness!

xo,
Erin

Book 60

Day 66

Like I said yesterday, I quite enjoy reading books that have been or will be made into movies. Through Goodreads I have discovered some new books, many from movies I have already seen and did not realize were based upon books. I enjoy the comparison, and this one did not disappoint.

Book 60: War Horse

Author: Michael Morpurgo
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 165
Series: Yes, book 1 of 2 but it is not necessary to read both
Purchased or borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: March 6, 2013

3.5 stars
This is the story of the horse Joey, told from his perspective. He is bought at an auction by Albert's father and becomes a farm horse until he is sold to the war effort and becomes a strong and valiant war horse with many adventures. Albert meanwhile joins the army in an effort to find his way back to Joey.

I thought that this was an enjoyable short story. I love horses and this movie so I liked reading it. The movie stayed relatively true to the book which I always prefer. However, I think in the case of this story because the narrator was a horse, it was a bit easier to feel the emotions of the story in the movie. I think it was an interesting choice to use the horse as the narrator, although he is obviously the primary focus of the novel.

I think I'm going to head to bed now relatively early because tomorrow is a busy day. I have lunch plans, will be hitting the gym and have to do all manner of errands before we leave for Florida on Friday! Hopefully I'll be able to get a lot of reading done then, I've already packed my books ;)

xo,
Erin

Books 57 and 58 reviews and book 59

Day 65

Busy and tiring day today, but I know I need to get these written. I finished two books yesterday and one today. Today I also went to the doctors, the library, to pick up food, and to the gym and now my head is aching and all I wish to do is sleep, so now to the reviews.

Book 57: The Island of Dr. Moreau

Author: H.G. Wells
Genre: Classics, Science Fiction
Pages: 209
Series: No
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: March 4, 2013

3 stars

Edward Prendick is shipwrecked when he is picked up by a boat full of strange animals and saved by a man named Montgomery. Montgomery is returning to a remote island with the animals and a peculiarly disfigured gentleman. Once on the island he meets Dr. Moreau, a man who left England to continue the strange experiments that had left him an outcast in the first place. Prendick is soon fighting for his life against the island's strange inhabitants.

I decided to read this book after I read The Madman's Daughter which was based upon this novel. The book was interesting and there were some plot ties to the other book which made it interesting to read. It was a quick and easy read, though definitely a bit out there with its subject matter but intriguing nonetheless.


Book 58: Princess of the Silver Woods

Author: Jessica Day George
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 336
Series: Yes, book 3 of 3
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library through Marina
Date Read: March 4, 2013

4 stars

This is the final installment in the trilogy about the dancing princess. Princess Petunia is the youngest of twelve sisters and until she was seven she was forced to dance every night in the Kingdom Under Stone. Now Petunia is on her way to visit a kindly grandmotherly figure when her carriage is accosted by bandits and soon Petunia finds that both the grandmother, and the bandit and Earl, Oliver are not who they appear to be. The girls are dragged back into the Kingdom Under Stone in the evil effort to enact a decades old curse and with the help of Oliver as well as others they just might be able to win.

So I've read the other two books in this series and was definitely looking forward to reading this book and I enjoyed it. It takes on the tales of Red Riding Hood and Robin Hood with a new twist. The book is full of magic, danger, secrets, and love so it is an enjoyable mixture and an easy read. I liked reading the tale of the dancing princesses, and have read something similar previously with the book Entwined which I loved.


Book 59: Stardust

Author: Neil Gaiman
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 333
Series: No
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: March 5, 2013

3.5 stars

Tristran, a young man of half-fairy parentage and hopelessly in love decides to cross the Wall to fairy-land and bring back a fallen star for his love. It turns out that the star is an injured and hot tempered woman who is less than pleased that Tristran has decided to keep her captive. They begin to make their way back to Wall but encounter many adventures and dangers on their way, many from others who are determined to get the star for themselves.

I found a list on Goodreads about books that were turned into movies. I love the movie Stardust and surprisingly had not heard that it was based off a popular book. The author, Neil Gaiman is a popular one, and I read one of his books early on in this challenge and did not particularly enjoy it. The opposite was true here. I think it is hard when I read a book and then end up comparing the movie to it, which is generally why I try to read the book first and keep that as the forefront in my mind. But that was not the case here and I ended up generally comparing the book and the movie. In some ways the book was better, there were more adventures and things were well described. Surprisingly though, there were a lot of ways in which the movie was actually better. The love story was told more in depth as well as the adventures, and I enjoyed the ending a lot more in the movie than I did in the book.

Now, time for sleep. Hopefully if there is snow tomorrow I'll be snuggled up inside reading to catch up! :)

xo,
Erin

I'm back! Books 57 and 58

Well, I'm back and am working on catching up! Two books down today but it is now nearly four am and I have some things to do tomorrow and need to rest! So reviews to come tomorrow afternoon :)

xo,
Erin

Book 56

Day 57

Well, so I'm a little behind. I'm okay with not being super far ahead as long as I just keep up with things. According to my goodreads page it says I'm on track though. I had an eventful day Sunday where I went out to dinner, to the movies and furniture shopping with my dad. I have been reading this book that I finally finished today for a few days now and finally finished it. The trip to Florida should help me catch back up!

Book 56: The Boy Who was Raised as a Dog: And other stories from a child psychiatrist's notebook

Author: Dr. Bruce D. Perry and Maia Szalavitz
Genre: Non Fiction, Psychology
Pages: 288
Series: No
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: February 27, 2013

4 stars
What happens when a young brain is traumatized and how does it recover? This is the question that Dr. Perry tries to answer throughout his career as a child psychiatrist. This book tells the story of children that are genocide survivors, murder witnesses, kidnapped teenagers, neglect, and physical and sexual abuse. Dr. Perry and his team help them with some seemingly unconventional methods in order to allow the children to improve physically, emotionally, and of course mentally through proper brain development.

As I would like to be a child psychologist, I thought the topic of childhood trauma was very interesting. Children are thought to be very resilient and that they can easily get through challenging times such as these but that simply is not the case if proper attachment bonds and brain growth is not developed. That is why many of these children had problems and their cases were brought up to Dr. Perry. I wish he had had a bit more about the children themselves in each chapter, I felt a lot of it was told merely to relate back to the science, which was described in a way that felt slightly condescending. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the success stories of many the children and applauded the inclusion of cases of trauma where the child was not helped. Rarely do authors show cases where things don't work, and it is important to note that even with the best intentions, some things can be very difficult to overcome. One thing that did really bother me was the last chapter. The last chapter felt like it was merely a place for the author to rant about the injustices of the world and that pretty much everything needed to be changed and it was kind of annoying. Other than that, it was interesting material with some useful ideas for my future work.

Now off to sleep, and more reading tomorrow for sure because I just started a really interesting book!

xo,
Erin

Book 55

Day 54

So obviously my lead is almost gone at this point. Being sick did not help AT ALL. I finally went to the doctors yesterday after I just wasn't getting better and they told me that I had the wonderful combination of an upper respiratory infection, a sinus infection, a bacterial infection, and pink eye, super exciting! I've been resting for a while now just because I was still continuously sick and now that I'm finally beginning to feel better, in large part due to the antibiotics I am sure, I am finally starting to feel a bit better. This next week I need to knock out a bunch of books because I'll be heading to Disney World and to see my family in Florida on the 8th and I can't wait. I'm sure that the long drive there and back will help as well. Now I'm finally ready to write the review for the book that I read two days ago, sickness has a good way of sucking everything out of you so that even little things become a huge chore.

Book 55: Dirty

Author: Megan Hart
Genre: Romance, Adult Fiction
Pages: 425
Series: Yes, book 1 of 1.5. There is a short 33 page ebook.
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: February 21, 2013

3.5 stars
Elle and Dan meet in an adult candy store. They bump into each other a few times and begin hanging out, although Elle refuses to call it dating as she does not date. But as she slowly becomes more attached to Dan she begins to let him as well as others in. He learns more about her family life and her past relationships that have shaped who she is today and why she avoids committing to someone.

Okay, so first off this book was totally misleading. From the title, the cover, and the beginning of the novel, you think that this is going to be very romantic and sexual, but that is not necessarily the case. In the beginning, the way Elle is described is basically as a cold and unfeeling slut. Dan begins to slowly crack open this facade and the reasoning behind Elle's action and so the book becomes much more than it seems. I think I would have liked this more if I knew what I was getting into. I was looking for a light and fluffy romance, but the content got heavy and hit a little too close to home for comfort. In fact about halfway through where I could see where things were going regarding Elle's past, I wanted to stop but it felt like watching a train wreck. You know you should stop looking at it but you just can't tear your eyes away. At that point I was already so far in that I really just had to finish the book and so I did.

I'm part of the way through another book that I started yesterday but I think I'm just going to try and get a good night's rest because I'm finally feeling a bit better and I have a daddy-daughter date planned for tomorrow that I'm looking forward to.

xo,
Erin

Book 53 review and Book 54

Day 53

Still sick, still miserable. All I have been doing the last few days is watching the Walking Dead, resting, and reading a little bit while coughing a lottt. I hate it and really just want to be better but medicine doesn't seem to be doing all that much.

Book 53: Prodigy

Author: Marie Lu
Genre: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 384
Series: Yes, book 2 of 3. Book 3 is not yet released
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: February 19, 2013

3 stars
The world is changed. After the floods, the people of the Eastern U.S. swarmed the West looking for shelter and the country divided into the West becoming the Republic and the East becoming the Colonies constantly fighting for land. Day and June are from the Republic, Day its most wanted criminal and June a young but brilliant military officer, but this all changes when they meet in the first book, titled Legend. In this novel, Day and June are on the run from the Republic and join the Patriots, a rebel organization that wants them to sacrifice and assassinate the new Elector, the head of the government. June is sent in to act as a decoy by earning his trust while Day's popularity is used to the Patriots' advantage, but some things just don't seem to add up and it their job to figure things out before it is too late.

Okay, so I mostly liked the characters in this book, but the entrance of two other possible romantic interests, making it a four square relationship problem just annoyed me. I also docked a bunch from my rating for the ending alone. It was one of the worst endings I've ever read, it was just bad. I'm curious as to where it will go from here there, so we shall see with the final book in the trilogy.

Book 54: Crash

Author: Lisa McMann
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 256
Series: Yes, book 1 of 2. Book 2 comes out October 8th.
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library (good thing too because it is so little for a hardback!)
Date Read: February 20, 2013

3.5 stars
Jules lives with her family over the pizza restaurant. Her life is filled with a vision of a crash that has yet to occur, where she sees nine body bags. In one of the bags she sees the face of Sawyer, the boy she loves but is forbidden to see because he is the son of their rival pizzeria and their families hate each other. But Jules can't let the boy she loves die and tries to figure out what she can do to save him.

So this book was a VERY fast read, like an hourish for me. I sped through it. I mean, it is kind of hard to make things about a vision very interesting because most of the plot is building up for something that everyone knows is going to happen. The family rivalry was kind of a weird and seemingly unrealistic side plot until you get more into the story. But the ending was definitely interesting and I'm curious to see where the author will take Jules and Sawyer next time. One thing that did bother me about the author's writing was Jules' lists, where she would list top 5 things. They just seemed kind of unnecessary for the writing.

Now, really time for more sleep and recovery I hope.
xo,
Erin