Thoroughly modern millennial

Tag: Books & Writing

  • February | In Books

    2 Feb in books
    Hey ho! Another quick update on what I’ve read this month, let’s go…
    Crazy Rich Asians | Kevin Kwan
    I could wax poetic about how much I enjoyed this, luckily I reviewed this on Blogger’s Bookshelf already so you don’t have to put up with me and my ramblings ;). 
    If you’re after a novel with a Gossip Girl-esque twist, but with a bit of character development weight behind it, this one’s definitely for you. Not to mention the focus on the lives of the rich and 
    fabulous South East Asian elite is so refreshing.
    On The Road | Jack Kerouac 
    This one was on my books I vow to read list and I was keen to get onto it after hearing about it’s reputation as one of the best pieces of American literature. The novel chronicles the sights and sounds of 1950’s America in the full swing of the jazz age through the eyes of it’s protagonist Sal Paradise. 
    I’m reserving a full review for Blogger’s Bookshelf tomorrow, but in short I just couldn’t get behind it. I’m pretty sure it’s the pacing of the book but for such a classic it was disappointingly underwhelming.
    The Elites | Natasha Ngan
    This was another one I’d heard so much about, especially as I’ve been reading Natasha’s fashion blog for a while. Unlike On The Road this one definitely lived up to expectations. 
    Set in the far distant future civilisation as we know it has risen from the ashes of the destruction of the Earth’s natural resources, leaving one city standing: Neo-Babel. Rich in diversity but fraught in racial divide, this is where we meet our protagonist, Silver. 
    Silver is an Elite, chosen as a guardian of the city thanks to her superior DNA. She’s just been given her first big assignment, overseeing a city wide celebration and protecting Neo-Babel’s president as he delivers a speech to the masses. But the president is assassinated on her watch, setting of a chain of events that with push Silver to her most extreme limits and have her leave behind the walled city she loves. 
    The Elites was a fantastic take on the dystopian genre, the characters are as diverse as Neo-Babel itself and the story is action packed and page-turning twists. My only complaint is that this currently a standalone! I’d love to know more about the rich world Natasha’s built!  

    Also, side note! Blogger’s Bookshelf are running our own Literary Awards ceremony for our March group post. Make sure you vote for your favourites by the 12th March and check back at the end of the month to find out who wins :)

  • December/January | In Books

    1 Dec Jan in books
    And we’re back! I didn’t do a book round up in December because well…reading fell off the bandwagon a bit. Oops! I did hit my 2013 reading goal though and am now starting afresh in 2014 with a goal of hitting 50 books by 30th December…so here we go…

    *NB: Spoilers ahoy!

    There’s More To Life Than Cupcakes | Poppy Dolan
    e-book c/o Novelicious books
    Ellie Redford is living a pretty cosy life. She has a wonderfully patient husband, Pete; a decent job with good pay; amazing friends and an almost perfect home. The only thing she doesn’t have, is a little one on the way and all the rest of the world seems to be care about asking is when is going to start a family.
    Juggling all the stress and confused feelings around the topic of babies, she ends up getting herself signed up to a baking class and strikes up a friendship with a handsome fellow baker called Joe. Whilst her baking alter-ego may be rising to the top of her game, Ellie’s personal life is falling flat.
    I did a joint review on this with Laura at Blogger’s Bookshelf, but to summarise I thought the book was a really good and fast paced ‘pick me up’ kind of read. It was nice to read a novel about a woman who pretty much has it all figured out but with the nice spin of should/shouldn’t I have a baby drama. It’s not gonna rock the literary world, but if you’re after something quick and fun to read then this is the book for you!

    Requiem | Lauren Oliver
    Requiem picks up where Pandemonium left off. Our protagonist Lena now a part of a full blown revolution with the Invalids on one side and the Regulators on the other. Still hiding out in the Wilds, Lena and her friends are no longer protected by the country wasteland they used to call home. Regulators are now out the fields and set to stamp out anyone willing to rebel against the status quo.
    Meanwhile, Lena’s former best friend Hana has been cured and is now living, safely under the facade of protection of being the fiancee of Portland’s new mayor
    Told from both girl’s point of view, Requiem, follows their separate chosen paths before heading into the final conclusion of the series.
    After all the hype I forced upon people to read this series I almost forgot to read the third book when it came out myself…my bad! I finally got down to it over December and I have to say I’m kicking myself why I didn’t start it sooner.
    After a bit of a slow build getting back into this series and its characters, I found myself really enjoying the switch in perspectives more than I did with the time jumps of Pandemonium. Hana’s parts of the story were especially captivating as she demonstrates her inner struggle of conforming with the cure and her new life. Once again Oliver’s writing is brilliant but the ending left me feeling a little empty – and not in the Mockingjay, not every ending is happy kind of way.
    It’s such a shame because, once again, I really enjoyed Oliver’s writing and thought her character development was much more on point this time!

    Eleanor & Park | Rainbow Rowell

    Park is the only half-Korean in an entirely white school. He loves comic books. His home life is pretty dull, apart from his nagging father. Despite all this he’s getting by ok, even the popular kids don’t really care about him. 
    Eleanor is as far from perfect as you can get. She comes from a broken home, dresses rather bizarrely and can’t even afford her own personal tape player. And to top this all off, she’s the strange new girl in a new school. Eleanor and Park’s lives collide on Eleanor’s first day of school in 1986. From strangers to odd friends to misfit love, this is their story.

    After Fangirl I was so pumped to start another Rainbow Rowell novel and Eleanor and Park DID NOT let me down. Told from a dual point of view, we get to see the flaws and failures in both of the characters lives at home and at school. Rowell’s writing is much more poetic in this than Fangirl, the feelings and emotions pretty much bleed of the pages – or in my case, off the screen of my Kindle! It’s the tale of first love and how everything feels so much more dramatic when you’re in highschool. Much like Perks of being a Wallflower, the nostalgic setting lends itself to the story – there’s no iPhones here! But that’s definitely part of the magic.
    Love, love, love! A strong recommend from me!

    The Beautiful Land | Alan Averill

    Takahiro O’Leary (or just plain Tak) is an explorer…a time-travelling one at that!
    An employee of Axon Corporation, he’s tasked with the job of exploring alternative timelines and dimensions. It’s a great job until he finds out that the consequences of his job could mean the death of Samira Moheb, the women he loves.
    Samira is an Iraq war veteran suffering from severe post-traumatic stress and depression, the last thing Sam expects to storms back into her life again is Tak, especially when he starts babbling about mad scientists, time travel and a plot to destroy reality.
    It’s now up to Tak and Sam to do much more than save each other…they need to save the world too.
    I’ve reviewed this one for Blogger’s Bookshelf too and found it incredibly refreshing to read. The story flew by pretty quickly and the characters are fantastic!
    Thoughts on any of the books I read this month?

  • November | In Books

    Nov in books
    Fangirl | Rainbow Rowell
    I could go on and on about how much I enjoyed this book. So well written and so well done, Rainbow Rowell captured the exact feelings about being a part of a fandom and why it means so much to be part of a fandom. I found myself relating to Cath on so many levels – to the point of freaky sometimes – not just the fandom stuff but the terror of facing the unknown during your first year University. The dialogue was really sharp and definitely found myself snorting with laughter at parts. I got through this pretty quickly too (which was a nice change!), the plot was pretty engaging and so were the characters.
    My only gripe is the snippets of Simon Snow fanfic within the book itself, I felt like the plot could’ve been driven just the same without it but I suppose it does add some depth to the novel’s world! 
    Would definitely recommend!
    Allegiant | Veronica Roth
    The third and final installment of Veronica Roth’s Divergent series was one of the sequels I was really looking forward to going into 2013. The plot obviously picks up from where Insurgent left off – so I’ll try not to spoil it too much for those who haven’t read the series yet! Tris Prior’s just revealed a huge secret to the faction based society. She now has a chance to venture beyond the fences and discover a world full of even more secrets and life-altering truths. 
    I went into this a little apprehensive, I don’t think I’d seen a more divided set of reviews since Mockingjay came out! This book is told from both Tris and Four’s perspectives, so we get a few more viewpoints and see a bit more action. That being said, their voices felt too similar, so I found myself confused at who’s part of the story I was actually reading at times. Nevertheless the longer I’ve to sit with what happened in the book the more I think it was definitely the only ending I can imagine happening now. This probably warrants a re-read to actually garner the smaller intricacies about what happens too!
    Quiet | Susan Cain
    Susan Cain endeavours to explore this often forgotten personality type. Her starting point is the softspoken values of early civilisations to society’s evolution and preference for the ‘extrovert’ ideal, and more importantly why we suddenly live in a world where ‘he who shouts the loudest’ has reached a saturation point. She also provides real world context for the studies, by speaking to and presenting case studies of individuals on all points of the introvert/extrovert spectrum.
    If you read one non-fiction book in your lifetime read this one. You can see my full review at Blogger’s Bookshelf, but in short if fell for this book, its message and Cain’s writing style from the get-go! 
    Let It Snow | John Green, Maureen Johnson & Lauren Myracle
    In the middle of a snowstorm on Christmas Eve, the three stories of Let It Snow centre around the happenings in and around the town Gracetown. Authors John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle work their collective charm and wit around these stories that are full of festive cheer :) 
    I’ve got a post planned for this so check that out on Blogger’s Bookshelf soon!