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 

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

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 

Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson

Author: Jenny Lawson  
Original title: Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things Edition Language: English  
Series: no  
Genres: Memoir  
Format: Audio book
Read by: Jenny Lawson  
Duration: 8h20m  
Goodreads  

Blurb:  
 FURIOUSLY HAPPY  is a book about mental illness, but under the surface it's about embracing joy in fantastic and outrageous ways-and who doesn't need a bit more of that?  

My thoughts:
      It is a good book to read and a great one to listen. Jenny tells about her life and how she is experiencing it.  She also tells about her illness and how she came to turns with it. The book is full of stories about her struggle with the illness: sometimes funny and sometimes depressing. I must say this is the first time I encounter such an honest view on yourself and your instability. At the same time, this is the first time the illnesses like depression were explained in an easy and understandable way, so a person,who is not familiar with it, did not mistake depression for mood swings.  
    I admire the author for courage, because it is not so easy to talk about such personal things. No one can imagine how difficult it can be to be to fight with yourself for “normal” life. And though Jenny describes some scenes, say when she fell and her body was numb, with a lot of humor, I can imagine how helpless she might have felt and how much frustration that added in everyday family life.  Anyway the book is very educating and positive about not so positive things and I believe I will re-read it quite soon.

Rating:  

    4,5/5 

Sunday Post #33, It Is Sad Without Rain

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 already the second week we have sunshine. And again I am complaining. It is so hot and dry that I have headaches almost every day. You need to drink a lot, but during the winter I got used to drink only hot beverages and the change to summer was so rapid that I cannot make myself to switch to water. Besides for two hot weeks we have only one rain and it it really sad without it. I like the smell of dust, when the first drops hit the ground, and the smell of fresh, you can actually feel how the leaves and grass drink the water and breath the clean air back.  Additionally, it is no fun to read in the sun, I need some coziness and in the sun I feel like melted cheese.

 Last on the Blog

• On Wednesday 25.04 I published WWW Wednesday and Library Loot, April 25th
• On Thursday 26.04 I published March 2018 Wrap up
• On Saturday  29.04 I reviewed The School for Good and Evil/ A World Without Princes by Soman Chainani

Next on the Blog

• I will review Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson
• I will publish WWW Wednesday and Library Loot
• I will review More Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell
• I will review Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel

Read and Watched

     I have finished Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel and novella The Grownup Gillian Flynn, which I did not particularly enjoyed. It was classic Gillian Flynn's writing and plot development, but I was never a big fan, so I am not going to review it.

    This week I watched such a great match between FC Liverpool and Roma, in which Liverpool almost secure its place in the Finals and then blew it away! But the match is still something to remember.

Newcomers on my Shelf

I got 2 books from the library this week:
Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King and Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo, which I have already DNFed and by which I am extremely disappointed. I actually am going to write a review on a DNFed book.

The School for Good and Evil/ A World Without Princes by Soman Chainani

Original title: The School for Good and Evil Pages: 544  
Edition Language: Russian
Series: The School for Good and Evil #1 Format: e-book 
Genres: Middle Grade, Fantasy
Goodreads

Original title: A World Without Princes  Pages: 576  
Edition Language: Russian  
Series: The School for Good and Evil #2 Format: e-book 
Genres: Middle Grade, Fantasy   

Goodreads

  Blurb:   
      Best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to discover where all the lost children go: the fabled School for Good & Evil, where ordinary boys and girls are trained to be fairy tale heroes and villains. As the most beautiful girl in Gavaldon, Sophie has dreamed of being kidnapped into an enchanted world her whole life. With her pink dresses, glass slippers, and devotion to good deeds, she knows she’ll earn top marks at the School for Good and graduate a storybook princess. Meanwhile Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks, wicked pet cat, and dislike of nearly everyone, seems a natural fit for the School for Evil.
   After saving themselves and their fellow students from a life pitched against one another, Sophie and Agatha are back home again, living happily ever after. But life isn't exactly a fairytale.

    My thoughts: 
    I was eyeing the first book for a long time: I liked the name, cover and concept. The only issue was the book was for children, so when Middle March happened, I had a valid excuse to read the book. I enjoyed it and thought it was quite a funny, entertaining twist in fairy land. I feel that not all ends meet in the story, but overall it was a good journey.
     My only complain is about body shaming concept. As all canon witches are ugly, Sophie started to become ugly when she was close to become a witch. I would rather read about the witch which is still beautiful and shiny but with the dark soul, to make the message - there can be evil under a nice cover and pure gold behind the ordinary outer - more powerful and noticeable.
     In the book the main topic is friendship that can withstand all temptation and difficulties. It is obvious that true friendship is not an easy thing, but a relationship which demands mutual concessions and even sacrifices.  
     The sequel book is about the world where girls do not wait for princes to save the, but take live in their own hands. Agata is some kind of symbol of female independence, and now girls can take care of themselves. Which is kind of cool, but in reality the idea is twisted so badly, that this lead to the war between both sexes as princes are now out of work and since they are not needed they going to fight girls.
      This book seems like a parody of the world, where extreme feminist ideas prevail and males are thrown over boat of society. It was a funny metaphor, but I did not liked the book itself. It is meant to be a nice story about female friendship and started to be strangely complicated without purpose and it lost its appeal to me. I actually struggled to the end of the book and decided not to continue with the series. It might have been better if the first book was a stand alone novel.

Rating: 

    2,5/5 

March 018 Wrap up

Read books: 
read: 22/ listen: 1/ pages: 7011/ hours listened: 8h20m
A Series of Unfortunate Events:
    1. The Bad Beginning p. 192
    2. The Reptile Room p.224
    3. The Wide Window p.256
    4. The Miserable Mill p.240
    5. The Austere Academy p.272
    6. The Ersatz Elevator p.320
    7. The Vile Village p.304
    8. The Hostile Hospital p.280
    9. The Carnivorous Carnival p.320
    10. The Slippery Slope p.419
    11. The Grim Grotto p.416
    12. The Penultimate Peril p.416
    13. The End p. 416
14. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett p.320
15. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling p.398
16. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two by John Tiffany (Adaptation), Jack Thorne, J.K. Rowling p. 337 - my review
17. We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie p.52
18. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle p. 288
19. Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson 8h20m - my review
20. The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani p.544 - my review
21. A World Without Princes by Soman Chainani p.576 - my review
22.  More Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell p.121 - my review
23. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett p.300 

Movie watched:
1. Dark (2017-)
2. Wonder Woman (2017)
3. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)
4. Happy! (2017-) 

Challenges overview:
Goodreads Reading Challenge: 35/52
2017 PopSugar Reading Challenge 18/40
Pages Read Challenge: 9695/12000
Audiobook Challenge: 6/15
Russian Literature: 2/30
World of Literature: 16/50
Booker Prize Project: 7
Classics Club: 2/50