January 2023 Wrap up

                                   

Read books: 

read: 6 listen: 3 pages: 2767 hours listened: 16h44m
1. Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley 3H29m ****
2. The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton p.504 ****
3. Above All Things by Deborah Raney 8H29m ***
4. A Memento for Istanbul by Ahmet Ümit p.583 ****
5. All of Me by Heatherly Bell 4H46m ***
6. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides p.352 **
7. Still Life by Louise Penny p.400 ****
8. In Harmony by Emma Scott p. 544 ***
9. Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio p.384 **

Challenges overview:

1. Read 100 books 100/9

2. Read 5 classics 5/1

3. Read you bookshelf challenge 12/1

4. Read 5 Russian books 5/0

5. Finish 5 series 5/0

6. Read 5 translated books 5/1

7. A to Z challenge 26/6

8. Listen to 25 audiobooks 25/3

9. World of Literature TR

10. Booker Prize Project 7

11. Buzzword Challenge 12/1

Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio

Author: Sarah Jio
Original title: Blackberry Winter
Edition Language: Russian
Series: no
Format: e-book
Genres: Romance
Goodreads

Pages: 384

Blurb:    
   Seattle, 1933. Single mother Vera Ray kisses her three-year-old son, Daniel, goodnight and departs to work the night-shift at a local hotel. She emerges to discover that a May-Day snow has blanketed the city, and that her son has vanished. Outside, she finds his beloved teddy bear lying face-down on an icy street, the snow covering up any trace of his tracks, or the perpetrator's.

Seattle, 2010. Seattle Herald reporter Claire Aldridge, assigned to cover the May 1 "blackberry winter" storm and its twin, learns of the unsolved abduction and vows to unearth the truth. In the process, she finds that she and Vera may be linked in unexpected ways...

My thoughts: 
    It was quite interesting to read about snowstorms in May when you are in the middle of January. But  the book is not about the weather, it is about what people do when the weather gets bad.

    We have two storylines about Vera and her little son during the storm in 1933 and Claire in 2010 time with her one-year trauma. I did not like this book at all. The plot might be of slight interest, but the writing style was very boring and I didn’t enjoy reading the book. During all the time I struggled through the book I constantly asked myself what the point of the story was? Why did the author choose to write it this way? And in the end, the answer was nowhere. I had a feeling that I was stuck in a pink fluffy cloud, and  even the topics discussed were farfetched and not realistic enough to be even remotely connected to reality.

    Somewhere in the middle, I predicted the ending and I was 90 percent correct. That was the only reason I finished the book because I wanted to see where it all ends and how the author is going to tie everything up in the end. Maybe I expected too much from the book after all it was just supposed to be a piece of fiction. Nonetheless, it left me with a bitter taste in my mouth which I cannot wash away for a long time. There are so many questions left unanswered that it makes me wish I never read the book in the first place!

   This was my second book by Sarah Jio and I will definitely not be reading another one by her ever again.

 Rating:  

    2/5  

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

Author: Rin Chupeco

Original title: The Bone Witch
Edition Language: English
Series: The Bone Witch #1
Genres:  Fantasy
Format: Audio book
Read by: Emily Woo Zeller, Will Damron
Duration: 12h8m
Goodreads

Blurb:
    When Tea accidentally resurrects her brother, Fox, from the dead, she learns she is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy means that she’s a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community. But Tea finds solace and guidance with an older, wiser bone witch, who takes Tea and her brother to another land for training.

My thoughts:
       I really enjoyed this book. It is a YA fantasy from Philippines. I was a bit sceptical about this book at the beginning, but really fast was drawn into this beautiful world of witches. This book is slow and very character driven, so if you expect epic battles you might be disappointed. I was not, however.

The book is full of vibrant colours, vivid characters, youth and adventure. A big bulk of the book is dedicated to world building, politics and social hierarchy. It is also full of life issues: nationalism, injustice, feminism, the tyranny of elders, fear of changes, prejudice, youth rebellion.

I like the structure of the book: we got the glimpses of the future at the end of each chapter, which is full of spoilers, but it makes it more interesting to get there with our protagonist through her adventures. Though the bone witch uses the "chosen" theme, it is not taken lightly. Tea does not get everything in one day, she works hard and a lot, and goes through a great deal of ordeal and humiliation to get there she wants.

   I could not get myself away from this book for a long time and picking up the sequel right away.

Rating: 

         5/5  

Awkward by Svetlana Chmakova

Author: Svetlana Chmakova
Original title: Awkward

Pages: 224
Edition Language: English
Series: Berrybrook Middle School #1
Format: Paperback
Genres: Middle Grade, Comics
Goodreads

Blurb:    
   On her first day at her new school, Penelope Torres trips into a quiet boy in the hall, Jaime Thompson, she's already broken the first rule, and the mean kids start calling her the "nerder girlfriend." How does she handle this crisis? By shoving poor Jaime and running away.  Falling back on rule two and surrounding herself with new friends in the art club, Peppi still can't help feeling ashamed about the way she treated Jaime.

My thoughts: 
    My final book for Middle Grade March 

    It was a cute and fast read with manga-like drawings. I could not give it more that 3 stars as I was not touched or driven by the story. Apart from cuteness, it does not bring much on the table. Though, Peppi's awkwardness and character growth are vivid and appealing.

    I liked the picture of Mr R and miss Tobin, they are great. The two ideal driven types of teachers, who can influence your life choices and help you to carry interest and love for the subject for years.

   
Altogether, I highly recommend the comics, I just was not for me, and I will not read the rest of the series.

 Rating:  

    3/5  

The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket by John Boyne

Author: John Boyne
Original title: The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket

Pages: 197
Edition Language: Russian
Series: no
Format: e-book
Genres: Middle Grade
Goodreads

Blurb:    
   Barnaby Brocket is an ordinary 8-year-old boy in most ways, but he was born different in one important way: he floats. Unlike everyone else, Barnaby does not obey the law of gravity. His parents, who have a horror of being noticed, want desperately for Barnaby to be normal, but he can't help who he is.

My thoughts: 
    My second book for the Irish Readathon and 4th for Middle Grade March 

Not the best read, I confess. This is my second John Boyne's children's book, and I do not find both of them either captivating or educating.

The main topic is the gap between parents' expectations and children's desires. How it breaks up the families, pulling relatives apart. And it seems that there is no family in the world that would not have a disappointed parent and a child driven to a point of negation.

I would not try any John Boyne's books for children. I would probably try an adult novel and see if I enjoy it.

 Rating:  

    3/5  

The Old Jest by Jennifer Johnston

Author: Jennifer Johnston

Original title: The Old Jest
Edition Language: English
Series: no
Genres: Historical Fiction
Format: Audio book

Read by: Heather O'Neill

Duration: 5h15m

Goodreads

Blurb:
      This is a compelling story of young woman from a crumbling Protestant Ascendancy family caught up in the turmoil of the Irish troubles around 1920.  

My thoughts:
      I really had no idea I would ever pick up this book. I was made by the Irish readathon. It was difficult to find a book set in the 20s, as I do not have many Irish writers on my shelf. I was even complaining (mostly to myself) about the difficulty of this year's challenge prompts. And I am so glad I ended up with this book. It made me think, it made me feel, it made me want to read more Irish literature.

      The book has the simple narrations line, but complex emotional background. The characters are well developed through small details and short dialogues. I liked the language of the novel, as it was descriptive and precise at the same time.

       It is impressive, how much emotion, tension and colours are put in a such short book. It all started as a light story of a 18 year old girl, who is on the edge of beginning her exciting journey in life. And one by one, the threads of the bigger world, of more cruel and unfair world are starting to entwine into the narration, building up the depressive and hopeless picture. 

      I guess that I enjoyed the book more as I used audio format with Heather O'Neill as a narrator.

Rating: 

        4/5  

March 2022 Wrap up

 

Read books:  read: 6/ listen: 4/ pages: 1622/ hours listened: 32h39m

1. Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake by Frank W. Abagnale p.219 ****

2. Collide by Juliana Stone 8h10m **

3. UnHappenings by Edward Aubry 12h06m ****

4. Five Children and It by E. Nesbit p. 224 ***

5. The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley p.316 *****

6. Conceal by Juliana Stone 8h08m **

7. Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes by Jonathan Auxier p.448 ***

8. The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket by John Boyne p.197 ***

9. The Old Jest by Jennifer Johnston 5h15m ****

10. Olive's Ocean Kevin Henkes p. 218 ****

Movie watched:

none

Challenges overview:

1. Read 100 books 100/33

2. Read 5 classics 5/0

3. Read you bookshelf challenge 12/2

4. Read 5 Russian books 5/0

5. Finish 5 series 5/5

6. Read 5 translated books 5/2

7. A to Z challenge 26/17

8. Listen to 12 audiobooks 12/9

9. World of Literature 25

10. Booker Prize Project 7

11. Owned books read 7