Sunday, May 20, 2018

Sunday Post #35, Hockey is over

The Sunday Post is hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer.  It’s a chance to share news, a post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things received, and share news about what is coming up on the blog for the week ahead. To get in on the Sunday fun, see the rules here: Sunday Post Meme. 

Outside the Blog
      This week was all about hockey. It seems I watched all the important matches and there were quite a lot of surprises. But the level of the competitions still very high and Switzerland, who not many believed in, are playing in the final with last year champion Sweden and let me say what game it is!
   Bookwise it was not so great, I did not finish a single book and DNFed A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James. I did not like the book from the beginning, but was trying to get into the plot, but the book has most of my triggers altogether, and thought with enough devotion I might have finished the book, but I did not enjoy it. Why to do it to yourself, even if the book is a Booker winner. 

 Last on the Blog
Next on the Blog
  • I will publish WWW Wednesday and Library Loot
  • Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
  • Vicious by V.E. Schwab
  • Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo
  • The Birds and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier
  Newcomers on my Shelf
 I got Looking for Alaska by John Green. This is my first book by this author. I will see if I will get his other books.

Friday, May 18, 2018

Dr. March's Four Sons by Brigitte Aubert

Author: Brigitte Aubert
Original title: Les Quatre Fils du Dr. March
Pages: 240
Edition Language: Russian
Series: no
Format: e-book
Genres: Crime
Goodreads

Blurb:    
   "Les 4 Fils du Dr. March" involves an assassin who kills women for the sport of it. The murderer is one of 4 sons, and he writes his diary in the 3rd person so that anyone who might read it won't know which one of the sons is the murderer. Jeanie, the maid happens to find the diary one day and begins to read it. She also starts to write diary entries of her own, and trying to find out which of the four sons is the murderer.
My thoughts: 
     The entire mystery consists of alternating journal entries from the assassin, who learns Jeanie is reading his journal, and Jeanie. I am not certain about my feelings about this book. I was recommended this book as a great mystery/thriller, but I was not mystified or thrilled. Though, to be honest, I did not guess the killer and the mystery was there, I could not feel the atmosphere of the book. 
     Jeanie is the unsympathetic unreliable narrator who drinks a lot and has a previous conviction. All four brothers seem quite nice and respectable. So it is difficult to sympathize Jeanie and root for her in her investigation. The murder descriptions are gruesome, but seems a bit forced, so altogether I was not impressed by the book, though the ending was ok.
Rating:  
         2/5 

Thursday, May 17, 2018

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by John Tiffany and Jack Thorne

Author: Jack Thorne
Original title: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two
Pages: 337
Edition Language: English
Series: Harry Potter #8
Format: Paperback
Genres: Fantasy, YA
Goodreads

Blurb:    
   Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, a new play by Jack Thorne, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage.   
         While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.
  

My thoughts: 
   I have heard only bad stuff about the book. Maybe it was because I had no expectations about this going in but I really loved this. The first thing is that this is a play, not a novel and therefore I don't believe it should be judged as a book. And if you are lacking experience in reading those, the book can be really dull and  pointless. I am not the biggest play lover, but I can imagine a lot of stuff in the absence of long descriptions and explanations. So the text was not dry and plain for me, I had a nice coming of age story in front of me with childhood favorites. Reading this script made me so badly want to see the play live.  
     I enjoyed the story, the new and old characters, the echoes of the past and just everything about this story.  I completely respect that people disliked this, the story is lacking a lot; it is not so much of the canonical Harry Potter and not overwhelming, so I can easily imagine how a Harry Potter fan be disappointed with the book.
Rating:
        4/5 

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

WWW Wednesday and Library Loot, May 16nd

WWW Wednesdays is hosted by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. A similar meme, This Week in Books is hosted by Lipsyy Lost and Found.
Description: WWW Wednesday is a weekly event where you share answers Below questions:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?
  
I am currently reading 3 books:

1. I have almost finished The Last Quarter of the Moon by Chi Zijian
2. I have just started A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
3. I am half way through Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling 

I have finished:
1. Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray
2. The Unbound by Victoria Schwab
3. The Hidden Light of Objects by Mai Al-Nakib 

I am planning to start with the following books:
1. Saturnin by Zdeněk Jirotka
2. Animal Farm by George Orwell
3. Beartown by Fredrik Backman

Hosted by: The Captive Reader and Silly Little Mischief
Description: Library Loot is a weekly event that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.

I got 1 books from the library this week, which I have already finished:

1. The Unbound by Victoria Schwab

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel

Author: Sylvain Neuvel  
Original title: Waking Gods
Edition Language: English  
Series: Themis Files #2  
Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction  
Format: Audio book  
Read by: Andy Secombe, Adna Sablyich, Laurel Lefkow, William Hope, Charlie Anson, Christopher Ragland
Duration: 9h08m
Goodreads 

 Blurb:     
    Why was a titanic robot of unknown origin buried in pieces around the world? Years of investigation have produced intriguing answers—and even more perplexing questions. But the truth is closer than ever before when a second robot, more massive than the first, materializes and lashes out with deadly force.
        Now humankind faces a nightmare invasion scenario made real, as more colossal machines touch down across the globe. But Rose and her team at the Earth Defense Corps refuse to surrender. They can turn the tide if they can unlock the last secrets of an advanced alien technology. The greatest weapon humanity wields is knowledge in a do-or-die battle to inherit the Earth . . . and maybe even the stars.


    My thoughts:
    I am greatly confused and enchanted by this book. I still did not get how the book ended and how the crisis was resolved, but I loved the story development and characters.
It was a great turn in the plot when aliens invaded and from this point the story developed so rapidly, that I could not stop listening. It was a lot of difficult scenes that I was fighting my tears, but altogether the story was a great read. I was a bit puzzled by the ending, how the invasion was stopped. And though it was explained, I still did not get it. Maybe it will be discussed in the final book.
    My only complaint was the voice of the young girl, it was so irritating and piercing that I clenched my teeth every time she spoke. I heard some reviews where readers complain about the accents, which is ok with me, since many of them were not correct, thus none should be offended, but the girl was just utterly irritating and was really close to ruining the listening experience.
Rating:  
       4,5/5    

Monday, May 14, 2018

April 2018 Wrap up

Read books: 
read: 5/ listen: 3/ pages: 1445/ hours listened: 27h33m
1. Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel 8h28m - my review
2. The 13-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths, Terry Denton (Illustrator) p.255
3. Vicious by V.E. Schwab 9h57m - my review
4. Dr. March'es Four Sons by Brigitte Aubert p.240 - my review
5. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell p. 544 - my review
6. The Birds and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier p.327 - my review
7. Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel 9h8m - my review
8. The Grownup by Gillian Flynn p. 79

Movie watched:
1. Shetland (2017-)


Challenges overview:
Goodreads Reading Challenge: 43/52
2017 PopSugar Reading Challenge 18/40
Pages Read Challenge: 11140/12000
Audiobook Challenge: 9/15
Russian Literature: 2/30
World of Literature: 16/50
Booker Prize Project: 7
Classics Club: 2/50

Sunday, May 13, 2018

Sunday Post #34, Summer at the Door

The Sunday Post is hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer.  It’s a chance to share news, a post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things received, and share news about what is coming up on the blog for the week ahead. To get in on the Sunday fun, see the rules here: Sunday Post Meme. 

Outside the Blog
      It is 3 weeks without rain. They promise it almost every day and  change the forecast. I would not complain if it was July or August but in May it is so strange. Everything blossomed at once. Usually it goes in stages one type of the tree in time. But this spring all blossomed at once, and though I must say it is a beautiful sight, the spring was quite a short one. 
 Last on the Blog
Next on the Blog
  • I will publish April 2018 Wrap up
  • I will publish WWW Wednesday and Library Loot
  • I will review Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by John Tiffany and Jack Thorne
  • I will review Dr. March's Four Sons by Brigitte Aubert
  • I will review Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel
Read and Watched
     I have finished 3 books this two weeks and watched two movies in the cinema about which I am quite happy.
 
Newcomers on my Shelf
I got 2 books from the library this week:
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine  by Gail Honeyman for Books and Jams Readalong book club and an audio book  The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro for my Booker Project, as I did not read Booker books since February.

Monday, May 7, 2018

May 2018 TBR

 It seems I urgently need TBR to sort my debts out. First of all, my aim is to finish all the books I have started. Secondly, read the books I obtained for book clubs and did not manage to read in time. So this is going to be a big list, so I announce May to be a month of covered debts. I hope at least this will motivate me enough to finish the books.

So my list for this month is

The books to be finished: 

1. The Last Quarter of the Moon by Chi Zijian
2. The Hidden Light of Objects by Mai Al-Nakib
3. Naïve. Super by Erlend Loe

The books for book clubs and my projects:
1. In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
2. Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye
3. Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat
4. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
5. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

Thursday, May 3, 2018

Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel

Author: Sylvain Neuvel  
Original title: Sleeping Giants  
Edition Language: English  
Series: Themis Files #1  
Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction  
Format: Audio book  
Read by: Andy Secombe, Christopher Ragland, Charlie Anson, Laurel Lefkow, Eric Meyers, Liza Ross  
Duration: 11h08m
Goodreads

 Blurb:     
     A girl named Rose is riding her new bike near her home in Deadwood, South Dakota, when she falls through the earth. She wakes up at the bottom of a square hole, its walls glowing with intricate carvings. But the firemen who come to save her peer down upon something even stranger: a little girl in the palm of a giant metal hand.    Seventeen years later, the mystery of the bizarre artifact remains unsolved—its origins, architects, and purpose unknown. Its carbon dating defies belief; military reports are redacted; theories are floated, then rejected.  

    My thoughts:
     I loved the book. And I loved the audio book! I believe this is the case when the audio format can be better than the printed version. There might be questions to the correct representations of the accents, but I am not so picky on this part. at the beginning I felt some difficulties to get into the story, but then I just fell for it. My favorite character is “our unnamed friend”. I just do not know, but there is something about this guy I like. He is cruel, pragmatic and intimidating, but at the same time he cares. He is the better version of fanatic, we can imagine in comparison with the psychopath fanatics as Papantonio.
     As for the story I liked the structure of the book and plot development. Since the book is in file format it might have become dry science fiction story, but it is a nice balance between science, psychology, action scenes and human interaction. The story develops so slowly that you can easily say this is not a story about aliens, but story about how people slowly come to the understanding that they are not alone in the universe and how the need to reevaluate their perception of the world.
Rating:  
       4,5/5 

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

WWW Wednesday and Library Loot, May 2nd

WWW Wednesdays is hosted by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. A similar meme, This Week in Books is hosted by Lipsyy Lost and Found.
Description: WWW Wednesday is a weekly event where you share answers Below questions:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?
  
I am currently reading 3 books:

1. I am half way through Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray
2. I have just started The Unbound by Victoria Schwab
3. I have started The Hidden Light of Objects by Mai Al-Nakib  

I have finished:
I have not finished a book this week.

I am planning to start with the following books:
1. Saturnin by Zdeněk Jirotka
2. Animal Farm by George Orwell
3. Beartown by Fredrik Backman

Hosted by: The Captive Reader and Silly Little Mischief
Description: Library Loot is a weekly event that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.

I got 1 books from the library this week, which I am already reading:

1. The Unbound by Victoria Schwab

Tuesday, May 1, 2018

More Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell

Author: Jen Campbell
Original title: More Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops
Pages: 121  
Edition Language: Czech
Series: Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops #2  
Format: Hardcover  
Genres: Humor  
Goodreads  

Blurb:    
More Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops has yet more tales from the antiquarian bookshop where Jen Campbell works, and includes a selection of ‘Weird Things...’ sent in from other booksellers across the world. The book is illustrated by the BAFTA winning Brothers McLeod.     

My thoughts:     
    Maybe this was a bad time to read it, maybe I was not in the mood, but I did not like the book. It is so short that you expect to work it right away, and at the time I finished it I was not even warmed up. The book itself is nicely done and the topic - funny stories from the bookstores - what a book lover can wish for, but it felt like anecdote brochure you read in metro just to not fall asleep. So unfortunately the book left me empty, but I can see those funny situations in my head, I was just not amused at that particular period of time I read the book.
Rating: 
    2,5/5