June Review

June 30, 2012

It's the last day of the month again. This month I think I did pretty good. All and all, I've read 5 books and I'm in the midst of reading two others. I was trying to finish at least one more to try to bump me closer to my goal, I just didn't make it. That's ok though.

The first book of the month was Eon by Alison Goodman. The book seemed like it was a constant build up. It would keep getting to certain points and nothing would happen. The last 1/4 of the book is when something would happen, but even then it wasn't that spectacular. It followed the cookie cutter pattern of other books that are YA. Through out the book, the mentions of the area made it seem like China, but there was no connection for me in reading it, even after seeing it just had an Asian background, it didn't fit to me. Not to Read.






Next on the list is Cowboy Christmas by Mary Connealy. This book started off ok, but then it dwindled into the typical cookie cutter writing. I did like the starting off of the story, but the retailing of a scene over and over and over again, really made me tired of the story. The characters also were a little bit to much of polar opposites as well and the clash between the male and female was a bit much for my taste. Not to read.







The third book of the month, I went to an old tried and true when I'm in a book funk, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling. I love the Harry Potter Series. It's fun, fresh, and so vivid. It's a to read!










Forth for the month was Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling. I do love the series as I said before, but this one is my least favorite of the seven books. The character Gilderoy Lockhart is introduced in this book and his self obsessives personality drives me batty. It also to me is just a book to reiterate what the first book told us about. It brought the characters out a little more. Even though it is my least favorite, it is still a to read!






Ok, fifth and last for the month was Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling. This is the book that hooked me into Harry Potter. The story just blossoms from here and you get to watch the characters grow from this book onwards in my opinion. We're introduced to new characters who you love and new twists are brought in that just made me go whoa!. I love this book. It's a to read!







All and all for the year now I've read 24 books, leaving me with 51 to read the rest of the year to reach my goal. If I want to reach that goal, I will need to read 8.5 books a month. I don't know if I will be able to do that, so I might alter my goal, but I will wait and see.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

June 26, 2012


Onwards to book three, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling.

I have to say, that this book that got me hooked on the series. This is when the story just exploded into awesomeness. The characters are already set into who they are and you don't need the build up like the first two books.

In this book, we find out more details on Severs Snape and his intense loathing of Harry. We're introduced to two new characters Lupin and Sirius Black. Both of these characters have ended up as two of my favorites. We see what connection they have to Harry and his parents. We also have this build up in the story which leads us to a very interesting change of events and we are lead into one of the first big twists of these books. When I first read this book, I didn't see it coming, but it had been set up since the very first book. It flowed. I wasn't left asking, how is that possible? That can't be. I was amazed and thought, WOW! Awesome!

This is where the complexity of the story starts to show and it grows with each story from here. The first two books were for kids, I could see, but from here the books grow, the story grows as Harry does. This one turned into my favorite of the series and it is a to read!

Harry Potter and the Chamber or Secrets

June 19, 2012

I finished Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling a couple of days ago. I'm a little late in posting on it. The kiddo and I have been sick, so typing legibly was out of the question for a little while (well, it was worse then usual).

Anyway, I will say, I love this series, the creativity of it all has me hooked. The vividness of the world that J.K. Rowling wrote about is beautiful. However, I will say that this book is my least favorite of the series. I see it as the book that is the bridge for the rest of the series. I know it's only the second book, but the rest of the story in the remaining books keeps growing from here. The first book was the intro into this whole new world. New money, new way to live, new way to dress, new way to learn. The second book, in a way is to reiterate and give the story a little more umph, before diving head on in to in the third book (which I'm reading now).

Also, the character Gilderoy Lockhart makes me want to throw the book a bit. The self-serving, narcissistic credit takers usually make me irritable and this well written one does it too.

Like the first book, the second book in this series is a to read!

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

June 11, 2012

It's slowed down in new books for me for a little while, so I decided to dive into a series that I love. I had only read this series for the first time 4 years ago. I hadn't known much about them. I had heard about them for a few years and craze that surrounded them, but I wasn't tempted to read them, till not long ago.

I was sick and there was nothing else on, so I watched a Harry Potter Weekend on TV, then I watched...it was the Order of the Phoenix on HBO. I was very intrigued by this point and borrowed the books form a friend and I haven't stopped reading them since. I think that this is my 5th re-read.

I just finished Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone last night by J.K. Rowling. Each time that I have read these books, it amazes me how much detail Ms. Rowling put into her books. Her imagination is wonderful! I just noticed this time around a little fact in the beginning of this book becomes important in the third book. It's always fun to discover something new on a re-read.

As I said, her imagination is wonderful. The creativity that flows is so mesmerizing. It's written in such a way that the creativity flows together with normal that is is a fluid transition and it doesn't leave you going, that can't happen. That doesn't make since, instead you could think, well, why can't that happen to me?!

This is the quickest read for me out of the series. It is pretty short compared to the rest of the series, but it is a good read! To read! I'm not going into to much detail since it's been out for so long and so much has already been said about it.

Cowboy Christmas

June 4, 2012

I got through Cowboy Christmas by Mary Connealy in about a day. I was given this book as a present this past Christmas. I was told that the cover looked like something I would like. I went through a massive western phase years ago and I still love reading Westerns.

It was an ok read. It started off I thought really well. It dove right into the story, a little action, then it just kind of started to wain a bit in keeping my attention. I thought with the way it started off it wouldn't end up like a few previous stories I had read. I was wrong.

Unlike Heinz Doofenshmirtz*, back-story isn't all that great to the story when it's told so many times over, especially when the reader sees it starting off the book. I just felt like I didn't need to hear about the same story over and over and over again. It was a bit much.

The book keeps mainly to two different views, but does throw in an additional view here and there to keep the story going. It took me a little bit to figure out who was talking in view because this character was not around much. It followed the same formula that many books in this genre followed. An independent girl, who is also meek, tries to do what she can, but really can't unless a guy, who she argues with constantly helps her. Happiness/fighting between the two continue, all while the girl tries to figure out how to get out of trouble without the guy finding out. When the guy finds out, betrayal then forgiveness and a rescue ensues.

Over all, it is a good quick lite read. If you need to give your mind a break from the heavier books out there, then it would be good, but for me it's a not to read for the reasons above.

*From Phineas and Ferb

Eon

June 3, 2012

Eon by Alison Goodman left me scratching my head. Let me start off by saying, I bought this book based on the cover. It looked cool. I thought it was a book about Chinese mythology. I was wrong. It's actually a book based in what could be ancient China, but it is not.

I'm glad I read the author's note at the end. She explained it's a book based on Asian backgrounds but not set in a certain area, but a made up one. Throughout the whole book, I felt no connection to the area in reading. I kept thinking it was supposed to be China, but there was just to much of a western feel to it. I can't describe it any other way.

I had a hard time getting into this book. I spent half the book thinking, "Ok, so we got here, but what does that mean? Where is this going?" It felt like over half the book is just a a filler to me. Finally 3/4 of the way through, I felt like the story was talking off and it was getting some where.

There was a lot of predictability in this book. Girls aren't looked on as smart. A girl dresses in disguise. Girl is able to do what only thought a guy can do. Worry over being discovered. Betrayal. Fight. Run. Cliffhanger.

This book could have been more then what it was. Not to read.

May Review

June 1, 2012

It's been a busy week and I'm just now able to sit down and write.

May has been better for me reading wise then April was. I'm glad about that. I can start working again to finish my goal.

This was an over all good month for books. Let's get started.

First up for the month was Insurgent by Veronica Roth. This is the second book by Veronica Roth in this series. I don't know if there is a title for this series...if anyone knows, let me know. I just call it the Divergent series. Anyway, this has been a much anticipated read for me. I was not disappointed. It kept on track, taking off right where Divergent ended and left me wanting to know more. This is a to read!







Second for the month was The Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan. I enjoyed this book as well. I should have reread the first two, however. I was a little lost at first trying to wrack my brain to remember. Once I remembered, it was good. It was a good closing for this series, however, it left a bit of a hint at a bridge to another popular series by Rick Riordan. If that happens, I would love it! Ancient Egyptian mythology reworked to present day, how can I not say to read! I love history and mythology, so it was fun.







My third book of the month was Empress of the Seven Hills by Kate Quinn. This story was set back in Ancient Roman times during Trajan and Hadrian. The writing of this book was very well done. You can tell that Kate Quinn loves history and that loves shows in her writing, but it was hard for me to get into this story. It has been a while since I had read her first two books, so it was hard to follow for a while. It isn't a stand alone novel. It's a maybe for me.







My fourth and final book for the month was Homer's Odyssey by Gwen Cooper. I've wanted to read this story for a while and finally was able to. This is a story of a kitten, who against all odds, not only beat them, but pulverized them. It's a sweet story that follows Homer through eleven years of his life with his sister cats and his "Mom" Gwen. I couldn't help but smile as I read this book. It's hard not to love Homer as he learns the world around him with reckless abandon with bravery that is hard to muster up as a person. This is a to read!






For the month of May, it stands at 4 books. It's been five months now and I've read 19 books so far, leaving me with 56 more to read for the rest of the year, that's about 8 books a month. I'm going to try and see how it goes. Thankfully my TBR pile keeps growing.

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