WWW Wednesdays #1

WWW Wednesdays a meme created by Should be Reading. All you need to is answer the questions bellow to participate.

• What are you currently reading? 
• What did you recently finish reading? 
• What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?  Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I started it last night.

What did you recently finish reading? The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. I really loved that book. There should be a review coming soon.

What do you think you'll read next? I will probably read Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L James on my Kindle.

Share your answers in the comments!

Teaser Tuesday #1

Teaser Tuesdays is a meme hosted by Should Be Reading. Grab a book you're currently reading and post a teaser (no spoilers) to persuade others to read the book.

Once, on a hot summer night, I had spent an hour kissing a hairy, ape-shaped law student from Yale because I felt sorry for him, he was so ugly. When I had finished, he said, "I have you taped, baby. You'll be a prude at forty." - p. 141 The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. 

What's your Teaser Tuesday? Leave a comment, I'd love to read yours.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Genre: Dystopia
Age Group: Adults
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Year: 2006
Format: Kindle
Pages: 304
Source: Amazon
Buy It: $10 with free delivery
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Imagines the lives of a group of students growing up in a darkly skewered version of contemporary England. This novel dramatises the author's attempts to come to terms with her childhood at the seemingly idyllic Hailsham School, and with the fate that has always awaited her and her closest friends in the wider world. - Book Depository

I had this book sitting on my Kindle since the day I got it, my birthday in February. I bought it and thought no more about it. I got it simply because I thought the movie advertisements were decent looking and it was on sale. I looked it up on Goodreads a couple of days before I started reading it (finally!) and I found out what it was actually about. So, I began reading and I wasn't dissapointed.

It starts out with the main character, Kathy H introducing herself. I liked the description of Tommy. From the first mention of that boy, I loved him. He was a great and well developed character, throughout. I didn't like Ruth much, nor did I like Miss Emily. But one character, I had no opinion on, was Kathy. You were very detached from Kathy throughout the book which is one of the reasons why I gave it just a 4/5. But don't get me wrong, I loved the book!

Another thing I wasn't too pleased about was the writing. It was very conversational and choppy in time. It began to take on a bit more of a linear sequence after about halfway, but broke off again at the end. Though, I did manage to get used to this and it wasn't too distracting.

I really loved the relationship between Kathy and Tommy from the very start. But that side of things was a bit predictable.

Some people didn't like how the book was so emotionless but I did. I realised it was a reflection on Kathy and how she was brought up in Hailsham. No one was allowed speak their mind or show their feelings. Kathy, especially felt quite intimidated by her friend, Ruth, which, I think, was another reason she wasn't very emotional.

It was a small bit confusing as to what happened at the end but I eventually realised (thanks to the movie adaptation). If you're a fan of books that you have to think about a lot, read this. If you're not, watch the movie because everything is practically spelled out for you.*

I really enjoyed this book!

*I might do a book and movie review (comparing them) also.

Musing Mondays #1

Musing Mondays is a meme hosted by Should be Reading.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?

If there is someone near me, I ask them. If I'm near a laptop that is on, I'll look it up. Otherwise, no. I won't go looking for a dictionary. I usually just guess what the word means by the context it's in.

Sunday Post #1

Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba @ Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It's purpose is to recap over what you did this week and your plans for next week.

This week was pretty busy for me. I had school Monday-Wednesday and had a test on Friday and will proceed to do the rest of my summer tests Monday-Thursday of next week. As of Friday 1st June, I'm finished school for the summer. I have no school until late August so I'll be much more active June-August. 







Books I reviewed:
On Writing  by Stephen King
A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton



Books I bought:

Needful Things

Books I read:   

Thinner

A is for Alibi

Never Let Me Go

I plan to read next:
 The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
 Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Upcoming reviews:
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Do you have any plans for the week? What did you read last week? Let me know in the comments.

A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton

A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton
Genre: Crime Mystery
Age Group: Adults
Publisher: Pan
Year: 1993
Format: Paperback
Pages: 253
Source: Used bookshop
Buy It: $5 with free delivery
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 

A tough-talking former cop, private investigator Kinsey Millhone has set up a modest detective agency in a quiet corner of Santa Teresa, California. A twice-divorced loner with few personal possessions and fewer personal attachments, she's got a soft spot for underdogs and lost causes. A IS FOR ACCUSED That's why she draws desperate clients like Nikki Fife. Eight years ago, she was convicted of killing her philandering husband. Now she's out on parole and needs Kinsey's help to find the real killer. But after all this time, clearing Nikki's bad name won't be easy. "A IS FOR ALIBI" If there's one thing that makes Kinsey Millhone feel alive, it's playing on the edge. When her investigation turns up a second corpse, more suspects, and a new reason to kill, Kinsey discovers that the edge is closer--and sharper--than she imagined. - Book Depository

This is my second time reading a murder mystery (first time being a couple of Agatha Christie books) and I loved it! It was first published in 1985 so I wasn't sure how enjoyable Grafton's writing style would be but it was amazing. If it wasn't for the great writing I probably wouldn't have liked it as much as I did. There was quite a few curse words but nothing major, which I thought was good as it helped create an image for Kinsey Millhone and helped me, as a reader depict what kind of character she was.

The "mystery" for this book is who murdered Laurence Fife? Eight years previous, Nikki Fife (Laurence's wife) was put in jail for his murder. She is out on parole now and needs Kinsey's help to find the real killer and get rid of her label as a murderer. I thought there was great suspense throughout and I never suspected one person out of all the people being interviewed in this book. Kinsey ends up being led to other connected murders whilst trying to solve this one. This added even for suspense. There was quite a big plot twist at the end which I loved! I did not see it coming--I didn't see anything coming in this book. It was not predictable in the slightest. I also loved how the it opened and ended with Kinsey confessing to a murder (the same murder).

The character development was great. I really loved Kinsey as a character. She was strong and witty which I loved. There was a great cast of other characters throughout this book too and they were not forgotten about--everyone in this book had very well developed characters and each had their own distinct personality. Trust me on this one, you will not forget the majority of characters in this book--especially not Kinsey.

If you're a fan of mystery/suspense/crime/thriller books, then read this. You won't be disappointed. I'm looking forward to getting the rest of the Alphabet Series.

*Just to let you know, the copy I have of this book is not pictured here as I bought it in a used book shop and I can't find my copy online anywhere to get a picture. I think it's out of print.

TBR Pile

So, I went through my books I haven't read yet and I was surprised to find as many as I did. Usually I'm good at keeping on top of reading the books I buy but... I'm not as good as I thought!

In total I have 27 books. 7 are my Jane Austen collection which I bought recently. 6 books are books that I bought very recently and the remaining 14 are ones that I have had for 3 months to 2 years.

Here is a list of the books I've had for 3-24 months:

1.  The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue (I bought this when it first came out in October 2011).
2. An Autobiography by Agatha Christie (I bought this in a Book Depository 24 hour sale in February).
3. The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King (I bought this in 2010 which was... FOREVER AGO!! I fail as King fan).
4. The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien (I bought this last Christmas Eve...still have not read it).
5. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (I bought this in December shortly after Christmas with a book voucher along with the first one. I still have not read it... Don't kill me!)
6. Mercy by Jodi Picoult (I bought this around last September in a used book shop).
7. Under the Dome by Stephen King (I bought this sometime in early 2011 I think... Again, I fail as a King fan).
8. Game of Thrones by George R.R Martin (I bought this along with the first two in The Hunger Games trilogy after Christmas, read around 100 pages and stopped. I don't know why. I'll have to try it again).
9. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (I bought this in February... I should read it soon).
10. The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Steig Larsson (I bought this last August/September. I kind of lost interest in this trilogy...)
11. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (I began collecting the Agatha Christie magazines with a free first edition book in every issue and stopped after issue 2 because I realised I wasn't going to be able to afford €10 every fortnight. This was in issue 1).
12. Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie (I bought this last summer without thinking it was a Christmas book so I planned on reading it last Christmas and I forgot. I'll have to wait until next Christmas again!!)
13. Broken Flower by Virginia Andrews (I got this in a used book shop last year sometime)
14. 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King (This was the first King book I bought in summer 2010 and still haven't read it...)

I am hoping to have read all these by the end of this year. Do you have a TBR pile this big or even bigger? Do you find yourself with many unread books you bought months and sometimes even years ago? Leave a comment!

Used Book Haul

On Saturday I went to my local used book shop and found some good books I had been wanting to read for a while. And I got these amazing books:

Bag of Bones by Stephen King, Cell by Stephen King, Thinner by Stephen King  1st To Die by James Patterson and A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton.

 I've read many other King books before but A is for Alibi will be my first Sue Grafton and the only other James Patterson I read is Bloody Valentine which is a short story, originally wrote for World Book Day 2011 so I'm excited to be reading two new authors.

If you have read any of these, let me know what you think. I'd especially like to know what you think of Sue Grafton and James Patterson if you have read any of their works.

I'll be back at the weekend with a review for Thinner which I'm currently reading and almost finished with.

On Writing by Stephen King

On Writing by Stephen King
Genre: Autobiography/memoir
Age Group: Adults
Publisher: New English Library
Year: 2001
Format: Paperback
Pages: 351
Source: Book Depository
Buy It:  $10 with free delivery
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Find out what books and films influenced the young writer, his first idea for a story and the true life tale that inspired Carrie. For the first time, here's an intimate autobiographical portrait of his home life, his family and his traumatic recent accident. Citing examples of his work and those of his contemporaries, King gives an excellent masterclass on writing - how to use the tools of the trade from building characters to pace and plotting as well as practical advice on presentation. And King tells readers how he got to be a No. 1 bestseller for a quarter of a century with fascinating descriptions of his own process, the origins and development of, e.g. Carrie and Misery. - from Book Depository

As a big fan of King and an aspiring writer, I loved this book! I had been wanting to get my hands on this book for a while but just never bought it. When I received it in the mail I immediately began reading and was immersed into little anecdotes about King's childhood.

To put it simply, the first 100 or so pages was about King as a child and how he discovered his love for writing. The next 100 or so was on the craft of writing. He began by talking about the writer's 'toolbox' and then proceeded onto the mechanics of writing such as grammar (though, he didn't stall too long on that one, it is generally something every writer should know) and other such things. He talked a bit about ideas and plotting. He went through how he came up with the idea for a few of his novels. He also spoke about how to get published and what you have to do if you are serious about writing. King used a lot of motivational techniques in this book because once I was finished reading the 'on writing' section, I was pumped and wrote about five thousand words in a couple of hours.

The last part was about the time he got hit by a van and almost gave up on writing. He described what happened and how he recovered and began writing again. It was around 50 or so pages which was the perfect length for such a thing. If it went on any longer I would imagine it would become very tedious and whiny.

Throughout this book, King spoke a lot about his wife, Tabitha and how she helped him. I found this particular aspect of the book very interesting and I began to really like this woman by the end. I also gained a lot more respect for King as a writer than I had previously. I always respected him but his very blunt way of putting things and down to earth style of writing he used allowed me to "get to know him", if you like.

Overall I really enjoyed this and would recommend it to any King fan or aspiring writer.

Introduction

Hi! This is a blog for books, as you can guess by the title. I will be posting my book hauls, reviews (once I finish a book) and also bookshelf lists in alphabetical order. 

I will be talking about new book release dates and occasionaly doing a giveaway. I have a Kindle Keyboard 3g so I will also be reading books from my Kindle and I will possibly review it sometime in the future.

I am accepting requests for blog posts also, so if you have any ideas, let me know in a comment and I will hopefully do it.

I am going to be talking a lot about books and my posts are not limited to what I named here, this is just what I will be doing on a regular basis. 

I will update my blog a couple of times a week and if I'm going away for a while I'll let you know.

I will be making my first ~proper~ post very soon so look out for that! Don't be shy, comment, talk to me!