Book Nook: The Fault In Our Stars

The Fault In Our Stars
John Green

I've been on a reading splurge lately. I've read five books in the last month or two and it's been really nice getting my read on. Of the five, two were awesome, one was great, one was ok, and one was...no.  (Don't bother reading The Girl On The Train, it's just awful.)

The Fault In Our Stars fell into the awesome category.

The plot centres around the protagonist, Hazel (a 16yo female with metastatic thyroid cancer which has spread to her lungs) and the relationship she develops with Augustus Waters (a 17yo male with osteosarcoma and, as a result, one prosthetic leg). The book explores themes of life and dying, living with an illness, and love in the midst of all that in a way that makes everything seem lighter than it actually is. You can't help but connect with the characters throughout the whole book (love Augustus) and once I was finished I couldn't stop thinking about them either. If that isn't a sign of a good book, I'm not sure what is.

It's an easy read (young adult fiction ftw) but a worthwhile one. Definitely recommend. 5/5.

Book Nook: The Magicians

The Magicians
Lev Grossman

I had high hopes for this book; According to this random book recommendation list I stumbled across on the internet, this book was recommended for those who liked the Harry Potter series. Well I loved the Harry Potter universe, but this magical world just wasn't...magical.

The story centres around the protagonist, Quentin Coldwater, who is searching for meaning in his life (to put things very loosely). He generally reads like an immature, depressed, entitled brat who isn't able to find satisfaction in anything or anyone. Sure, sometimes characters will start off like this, but generally they become a better version of themselves by the end of the book. Nope, not this guy; he still very much sucks just as much (if not more) than he did at the beginning. It was hard not to let the stupidness of Quentin get in the way of the storyline, but the storyline (which at the beginning seemed so full of potential) turned out to be weird and disappointing too. This isn't to say that there were no good parts at all (because there were a few), but the bad ones just outweighed the good.

Apparently this book is a book one of a trilogy, but I won't be reading the rest of them. 2/5 and this is me being generous.

Book Nook: Tell The Wolves I'm Home

Tell The Wolves I'm Home
Carol Rifka Brunt

Prior to this book, I had started two other books but didn't finish either of them because I couldn't get into their stories and then I got too bored to continue. Luckily, third time's a charm because this one got my attention from the first chapter until the very end and beyond. (Yup, I kept thinking about this one after I had finished it. It was like when I read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and all I could think about for the next three weeks was Sirius Black. True story.)

This novel is coming of age story that deals with grief, loneliness, insecurity, jealousy, relationships, family, and love. It centres around June, the protagonist, who loses her favourite uncle who was her best friend. This loss is central to the story but is not the whole story thanks to the introduction of other relationships that continually develop and evolve throughout the book. I was taken in by the characters and thought the storyline was well-crafted and thought out. The content itself is pretty heavy at times and covers a lot of ground, but it's done in a way where the reader isn't completely depressed and deflated after reading it. Instead, it's really touching and almost hopeful at times.

Overall, I'd give it a 4.5/5. Great read! I definitely recommend it, just maybe have some kleenex on hand...it'll likely make you teary.

Book Nook: The Martian

The Martian
Andy Weir

I watched the movie based on this book earlier this year and really liked it so I thought I'd give the book a try. Glad I did - turns out the book was even better (they usually are, no?)!

The Martian centres around the protagonist, Mark Watney, an astronaut who gets left behind on Mars after what can only be a described as the most unfortunate freak accident with the most unfortunate repercussions.  Watney proves to be clever and resourceful (and did I mention he was smart?) and the book basically describes how he (spoiler alert!) survives on his own until he is rescued.

This book was well-paced, action-packed, and so funny (Watney is such a smart ass, I loved it). Aside from the parts where it got a bit too technical and science-y for me (I initially tried to follow along, but eventually started just skimming over those sections trusting that whatever they were saying made sense to somebody), it was an overall entertaining and enjoyable read. 5/5.

Book Nook: When Breath Becomes Air

When Breath Becomes Air
Paul Kalanithi

I'm generally more of a fiction reader, but every so often a non-fiction book comes along and takes my breath away. Like this one.

I first heard about this book through a blog I follow and after reading her post (she was Kalanithi's sister-in-law) I immediately put a hold on a copy at the library. (Thankfully I got in before 'the masses' and was third in line - there's now a 70+ person wait!) It was worth the wait.

This memoir was written by an MD in his thirties who, during the final stages of his neurosurgery residency, was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer; he eventually died in March 2015 at the age of 37. It deals with really tough topics and he takes you through his thoughts about living and dying among other things, but everything is done so gracefully it's almost poetic at times. It's a well-written book which I thoroughly enjoyed reading from start to finish (the last paragraph and parts of the epilogue - written by his wife - literally made me weep). I whole heartedly recommend this book and I'm grateful that Kalanithi was able to write as much as he did. 5/5 for sure.

book nook: wedding night

Wedding Night
Sophie Kinsella

I usually enjoy reading Kinsella's chick-lit, but this one was just so bad. Now chick-lit isn't supposed to be all deep and full of meaning, but the level of idiocy in this book was just over-the-top. Sure it was pretty hilarious and made me laugh on more than one occasion, but even the book's humour couldn't save its dumb characters or the stupidity of its plot line.


Funny? Yes.
Everything else? Bad.
Recommend? No.

book nook: and the mountains echoed

And The Mountains Echoed
Khaled Housseini

Since I really enjoyed reading Housseini's other two books (The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns), I was excited when I found this one sitting on a library shelf all ready for me to borrow and read. Unfortunately, unlike his other two books, this one was a disappointment. A "Whoomp, whoomp" if you will.

The book is about multi-generational family bonds and begins centred around a brother, sister, and father. The first couple of chapters are actually quite charming and Housseini's descriptions create rich scenes while his knack for story-telling draws you into the pages.

Unfortunately, in my opinion, after the first few chapters it all went downhill from there with the introduction of too many plot lines and characters. Sure everything converged towards the end (kind of like Love Actually), but by then the story was so convoluted that I couldn't keep track of what was going on nor did I really care that I didn't know what was going on at that point (kind of like Love Actually, heh). The fact that I literally skipped some pages here and there because I found portions of the book too slow/drawn out probably didn't help but hey, I was bored. Never a good sign. While the ending did make me teary, even the ending couldn't redeem the book as a whole for me.

Would I recommend his other books? Yes. Would I recommend this one? No.

book nook: flavia de luce mysteries

 












   


the buckshaw chronicles, vol. 1
alan bradley

i stumbled upon the first flavia de luce mystery, the sweetness at the bottom of the pie, almost by chance one day at the library. i know they say not to judge a book by it's cover, but this is literally what happened: the cover looked good so i picked up the book, read the summary, and decided to give it a try. i'm glad i did - i liked it so much that i went back to the library after finishing the first book and borrowed the next two (the weed that string's the hangman's bag and a red herring without mustard)! (there will be six books in the series, but so far only four have been written to date).

the books are set in the 1950s in bishop's lacey (an english village) and the heroine in all of them is flavia de luce, a self-taught chemist and sleuth who is so intelligent, curious, persevering, adventurous, and witty that sometimes i forget that she is only eleven years old - especially since her vocabulary and reasoning is super advanced for her age. i love her, she is the best! anyway, each book is based around a different crime afterwhich flavia goes around town on her trusty bicycle, gladys, doing unofficial detective work to solve the cases. (where are the police in all of this, you ask? they're present and at work too, but flavia seems to be all the more resourceful on her own). also mentioned in the books are flavia's family and a few other notable characters in and around bishop's lacey, depending on who flavia needs to use as sources of information.

i found each of these books to be enjoyable, fun, and endearing to read. i think bradley is a great writer and i'm so glad he's Canadian, yay! anyway, i definitely recommend these novels to anyone looking for a murder mystery or just an overall good read. i can't wait to read the fourth installment!

book nook: midnight at the dragon cafe

midnight at the dragon cafe
judy fong bates

the thing that drew me most to this book was the fact that it's centered around a chinese girl who grew up in canada, in a small town in ontario, after immigrating from china at a young age. as a canadian-born chinese female, i thought it would be a good fit.

this book tells the story of an immigrant family from china who makes the move to canada in search for a "better life". they end up owning a chinese restaurant out in the sticks and while there is no doubt that their immigration provides more opportunities for their daughter, their life is hard. plus there is the inherent tension that exists between the mash-up of chinese culture with canadian culture. oh, and there is definitely no shortage of drama in this family.

fong bates did a pretty good job of telling her story. while it isn't an autobiography per se, i think she probably drew from her own experience growing up in canada. i thought her writing style was good - clear and easily followable - but i found the strength of the story line to be inconsistent.

overall it was an ok read. i'm glad i read it, but it will be a book i only read once.

book nook: the millenium trilogy

The Millennium Series
Stieg Larsson

It's been a while since I've done a book review, but this doesn't mean I haven't been reading. Au contraire mon frere. Instead, I've read quite a number of books in the last couple of months so I actually have quite a bit of catching up to do. In anycase I thought it would be nice to kick start this book review thing again by reviewing the latest series read: the Millennium Trilogy. (This move is also strategic since this would kill 3 birds with one stone, heh.)

I wanted to read these books before watching the movie(s), so when I saw the first and second novels on a shelf at the library, I borrowed them right away. Basically the story line of the series centers around its protagonists, Lisbeth Salander (a socially awkward, kick-ass, hacker genius girl with a photographic memory) and Mikael Blomkvist (an investigative journalist and editor of a magazine named Millenium) with multiple antagonists thrown into the mix at various times. Basically in each novel there are "cases" that need to be uncovered, but while each book in the series is connected to the next, they aren't directly related to each other.

Overall, I thought Larsson did a great job of telling his story (I thought all books were written well) and even though there were some scenes that were a bit too graphic for me and others that were dark and way twisted, he kept my attention throughout the whole series. It was my first time reading novels written by a Swedish author and at times I found it hard keeping track of all the different Swedish names, but I did appreciate the various references to Ikea, haha.

If you're looking for an action-packed thriller series (and don't mind some disturbing, dark, and twisted plot lines) then this trilogy could work for you! Just don't be expecting to read light-hearted chick-lit novels when you pick these books up, because they are anything but that. :)

book nook: the glass castle

the glass castle
jeannette walls

i finished the academic portion of my program back in june and one of the first things i did (after celebrating, of course) was to visit my local library now that i actually had time to read.

anyway, this one had been on my list of books to read for quite some time now, so i was pretty excited to see that a copy was available and it definitely did not disappoint (unlike the other book i borrowed which i started over 2 weeks ago and still haven't finished...and can't remember the name of).

the glass castle is an autobiography documenting walls' childhood and her experience of growing up in her family. i liked her style of writing: descriptive, but not overly descriptive to the point where you get lost. overall it's a good and interesting read. at times i forgot that this book wasn't fictional - the fact that it's a non-fiction is just crazy.

i ended up finishing this book in about 2 days, which is a good indication of how much i liked it. yah, i definitely recommend this one.

book nook: the bell jar

the bell jar
sylvia plath

after living a mere 5 minute walk away from our local library in "the sogs" (for more than half a year), i finally went and signed up for a library card. after searching the catalogue, i found that all my 'books on tap' were unavailable. boo. luckily not all was lost as, after poking through bookshelves, i found a few that seemed interesting enough. "the bell jar" was the first i tackled of the three.

this book is a semi-autobiography written by sylvia plath which follows esther greenwood. it basically chronicles her depression, breakdown, suicide attempts, and subsequent institutionalization. the book is well-written and really liked how it highlighted the experience of living with a mental illness rather than the mental illness itself (if that makes any sense). i also really liked how things were described - everything was so poetic. i found it a little confusing to follow at times as esther's thought process seemed to jump here, there, and everywhere, but this was probably intentional to give the reader a sense of esther's experience, so i guess this was actually a good thing.

generally, i thought this book was good and finished it pretty quickly. it's explores some pretty dark (but real) topics so in this sense it may not be for everyone, but overall it's a good read.

book nook: the lovely bones

the lovely bones
alice sebold

this was the second of the two books i read on our honeymoon. the first book i finished was masquerade, the second book in the blue bloods series, and it was...a typical young adult fiction book about vampires, haha.

anyway, this book had been on my list of books to read for quite some time so i made sure to pack it to read while lounging on the beach during our vacation. (side note: reading beachside is one of the most relaxing things to do.)

the lovely bones is told from the point of view of the main character, suzie (a girl who was murdered early on in the book). basically the novel follows suzie around 'her heaven' and as she follows her family on earth as they try to move on and live their lives after her death.

while the idea behind this book was unique (or at least i've never read a book quite like this one before), i thought the plot was a little strange at times. while some parts were pretty good, others were just plain weird. all in all, i'm glad i finished it so i could cross this book off my list, but other than that i found it pretty ehhh - it wasn't one of the worst books i've ever read, but definitely not one of my favourites either. i guess i didn't really get the hype surrounding this book, but that's just me - a lot of other people liked it so don't take my word for it. :)

book nook: still alice

still alice
lisa genova

until recently, i hadn't read any books other than the ones for school (which, for the record, just isn't the same) so i told myself, at the start of my placement, that things would change. i started rereading my harry potters (teehee, they still get me everytime), but i also wanted to read something i hadn't read before, so i read two other one as well. the first one was a teen fiction book i found on my shelf (my cousin gave me a few to read the last time she was in town) which was pretty terrible and didn't deserve a review, haha.

luckily the second one, this book, was so much better. it had been on my list of books to read for quite some time now, but i never got around to reading it before this week.

still alice is a fictional novel about a woman (alice howland), a linguistics professor and research scientist who is diagnosed with early-onset alzheimer's. the book basically takes you on alice's journey of living with dementia and her gradual cognitive decline. the story is told from her point of view, which i thought was a really interesting approach.

for a first novel genova did such a great job, but i guess that's what you get from someone who has Ph.D in neuroscience from harvard. :P this book was insightful, well-written, and full of so many moments that made my eyes water and tears pop out. (yah, it totally made me cry on more than one occasion.) i brought it to my placement to read over lunch and was really tempted to just close my office door and read it for the rest of the afternoon, but i didn't(although i kept thinking about it the rest of the day, haha). other than the heartwrenching moments that cropped up every now and then, i found it to be a pretty easy read and i finished it in about two days.

overall i thought still alice was fantastic - i totally recommend it! just remember to have a box of tissues handy, just in case. :)

book nook: the luxe series

the luxe series
anna godbersen

oh man, it's been a long time since i've written a book review...or read a book for that matter. so sad. :( anyway, i finished the last of these books back in december during my christmas vacation when i still had time to read, but i just never got around to writing about it until now.

this book series is basically gossip girl set in late nineteeth-century manhattan. (read: drama, backstabbing, betrayal, love triangles, and more drama...this is why it's teen fiction, haha.) the story follows a bunch of socialites on their path towards adulthood...or something rather, with each book being a new year. also weaved throughout the series are 'newspaper clippings' from this time period which start off each chapter and help to set the mood and reinforce the time period.

all in all i thought it was a pretty good series although some of the storylines were kind of ehh and others were just weird. overall, the start of the series was strong, but the fourth book made for a bad ending. i gotta admit though, it was pretty entertaining at times (so much drama!) and godbersen succeeded in making you really like some characters and really hate others.

bottom line: if you're really into gossip girl-type stuff and you're looking for an easy read, then these books could work for you. :)

john mayer | b a t t l e . s t u d i e s

for the past couple of days i've been listening to jm's latest, "battle studies". a lot of people have criticized this cd saying stuff like 'he sold out to pop with this album' or that 'this cd just doesn't compare at all to continuum'. meh, i guess people will always have their opinions.

for me, what impresses me the most is the fact that this album is so different from his last one (continuum), but it still sounds so...him. i think that's the mark of a great and super versatile musician who is just so damn good. bottom line: i think the battle studies cd is commendable and i like it.

favourite tracks off this one include 'heartbreak warfare', 'who says', and 'assassin'.

man, i could listen to him sing forever. it doesn't hurt that he's been looking less like a sick ghost these days either, haha. :)

click here to watch the official 'who says' video.

book nook: what i did for love

what i did for love
susan elizabeth phillips

yep, it's yet another book review.

i've been trying to burn through the pile of books i borrowed from the library since i figure in a week, when i go back to school, leisure reading will have to take a back seat to anatomy textbooks, ot journals, and other school related things. ughh. (where did summer go?)

this one centres around the protagonist, georgie york - a washed up actress, recently dumped by her first husband, with a string of bad movies behind her name. basically her life isn't the greatest at the moment, and with the paparazzi coming at her from every direction now that her first husband is remarried and is having a baby with his new wife, it's at an all-time level of suck. anyway, the story is about how her and one of her past co-stars whom she hates, bramwell shepard, basically try to use each other after a stint in vegas until things eventually...um...change.

all in all this book was quite an quick and easy read although it was a little predictable which, i guess, was kind of to be expected. this book definitely doesn't make it to my list of favourites, but it's still pretty enjoyable all the same. :)

book nook: the other bolelyn girl

the other bolelyn girl
phillipa gregory

the other bolelyn girl was on my list of books i wanted to read for a while, so i was pretty thrilled when i was finally able to track down a copy.

this novel is considered to be part of the sub-genre of fiction, historical fiction, and is based on the lives of anne and mary bolelyn, the second wife and the mistress of king henry VIII. gregory creates a world rich in descriptions and good story-telling - i could visualize scenes playing out in my head while i was reading, so that was a plus. the story is set in historic england, centred around the two bolelyn girls, and written from the viewpoint of mary bolelyn (anne's younger sister in the book, but according to historians she's actually older than anne.)

it became pretty clear why hollywood chose to do a movie based on this novel; it's full of everything hollywood loves - drama, betrayal, sex, more drama, royalty, scandals, and even more drama. who would have thought people could be so incredibly sneaky, conniving, and power hungry? at times i couldn't help but put the book down briefly because there was just so much drama it became a little overwhelming sometimes, haha. at times i had to remind myself that this book (while based on historic facts) was, at it's very core, fiction.

i began reading it during a weekend away at a friend's cottage, and finished this book sometime within the next week. despite some unnecessarily graphic scenes, it was actually pretty addictive once you got into its pages. for my first venture out into historical fiction, it was quite a good read. :)

wizards vs. vampires

ahh, the infamous harry potter vs. twilight debate. with the release of the sixth harry potter movie, harry potter and the half blood prince (i am so excited for this!), there has been a lot of talk going on comparing the two franchises. it's actually a little funny how dramatic things have gotten and how, umm, passionate fans have become. for example, look at the picture someone (clearly a fan) made above: "only one can survive"? that's edward cullen in the picture not lord voldemort, silly!

anyway, since movies for both series are still being made, i feel i can only really have an objective opinion on the book series which are both finished. with that being said, i gotta say harry potter > twilight. hands down.

now don't get me wrong, i don't have anything against the twilight series and i actually thought it was alright - it just wasn't anywhere near as good as harry potter in my opinion (j.k. rowling > stephenie meyer big time.) think about it this way: in ten years i'll probably still be reading and re-reading my harry potter books and talking about how great they are meanwhile, the only thing i'll be saying about twilight is how hot robert pattinson was as a vampire in the movie, haha.

book nook: bloodsucking fiends

bloodsucking fiends: a love story
christopher moore

first was harry potter with the wizards and witches, then twilight with the vampires, then the mortal instruments with the shadowhunters/fairies/warlocks/demons/vampires/werewolves, and now bloodsucking fiends with some more vampires - hmm, i seem to be on some kind of fantasy reading kick. love this genre.

anyway, i came across this book at the library and read good things about christopher moore so i decided to give it a try. this story follows jody, a young woman in her twenties who is turned into a vampire one night. it basically takes you on her journey of discovering her new life and trying to adapt to being nocturnal while meeting interesting characters along the way. there are some funny parts and i found myself giggling at times which is always a plus. i did, however, think the ending was a little weak, but that's just my own opinion.

this book is kind of a meld of different genres: there are supernatural elements making it a little fantasy, some plot twists that make it a little mystery (to some degree), and it's a love story (see title) making it a little romance too. i guess if you're looking for an light read which is a melting pot of different genres, then this book could work for you.

generally speaking i thought it was an ok read. i didn't think it was outstanding, but i thought it was alright. overall, i'm glad i gave moore a chance...maybe i'll try reading another one of his books whenever i get around to it.