A Little Library TBR

P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han - i know imma love this. TOP of the TBR.

 

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart - i have been meaning to read this for literally years. eep.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart - tried to read this earlier this year. seemed like spoiled rich kids blah blah blah. but apparently this is good! so i will try to persevere past the first few pages and see if i can get into this.

Bookish Fun: A Quick One

Just a fun lil bookish survey :)

1. The book I'm currently reading: The Martian by Andy Weir

Only coz I loved the film. The book is taking me a long time to get through... only because I kinda already know how the story goes and the in-depth scientific explanations of how Watney is surviving is a *little* laborious and slow-going for me.

 

2. The last book I finished: Piranhas Don't Eat Bananas by Aaron Blabey

Cute and fun. I read this in Woolworths while shopping for snacks with my sister. I love Aaron Blabey's picture books because they're a whole lot o fun for both kids AND adults. Definitely at least 4 stars.

The Taming of the Tights by Louise Rennison

 

The Taming of the Tights
(a.k.a. "Wild Girls, Wild Boys, Wild Tights" for those hamburger-a-gogo folk)

[The Misadventures of Tallulah Casey #3]

by Louise Rennison

 

 When I heard the news of Louise Rennison's death, I was shocked and saddened. She is one of my favourite authors, and I thought she'd be around for way, way longer, writing books that would keep me laughing for the rest of my life. But unfortunately, that was not the case.

All I have left, and all the world has left of her, are the books she was able to get published in her lifetime - which, I know I'm making out to be not much (which it is! It is much! I can only dream to leave behind 13 published novels before I die) - but I'm just still reeling over the fact that I have just read her last novel, and now the only thing I can do is reread all of her books. Of course I'll still enjoy rereading the Georgia Nicolson series from beginning to end, but there will never again be something new for me to read from Louise Rennison, that wonderful, hilarious, fun-tastic, crazy humourous writer that brought so many joyous, teary-eyed-and-stomach-pained-from-laughing-so-hard memories to my childhood (and who am I kidding, adulthood too).

Okokok. It's probably time I talk about this book already, huh? Ok.

Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult & Samantha Van Leer

Between the Lines 
by Jodi Picoult & Samantha van Leer

OK. Where do I start with this one? Hmmm.
I was really hoping for a lot with this book, but it ended up being a hit and miss for me.

New on my bookshelf [insta-edition]

Hi! Welcome to the Instagram edition of what's "new on my bookshelf"! 

I only started using Instagram this year, so I'm pretty late on the bandwagon. You can follow me if you like, @arielle.yeap 

Saw @xtinemay's booktalk for this and had to get it. #newonmybookshelf #chimneysandmagic #betweenthelines

Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult & Samantha Van Leer: I'm currently reading this one, and I only really got it because I heard Christine talking about it and the premise sounded really cool, and then I saw it in Big W and thought may as well just pick this up now. It's about Delilah, an unpopular girl in high school who is kinda obsessed with the prince in this fairy tale book from her school library. So much so, she keeps loaning the book out and constantly rereads it. Then one day, she notices some small changes in the book, and the prince starts talking to her! He wants her to get him OUT. He's stuck in the book, stuck on the pages and worst of all, stuck in a life he constantly has to relive. So far, I'm liking this - it's a pretty light read. The foreword at the beginning, written by Jodi Picoult, is sweet. 

new #YA from one of my fave authors @sophiekinsellawriter #chimneysandmagic #newonmybookshelf 😍📖😍

Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella: When I first heard Sophie Kinsella (one of my all time favourite authors) was releasing a YA, I was overjoyed. Then I forgot about it, and suddenly, it was well into 2015 and Finding Audrey was out! I got it, took a piccy of it, and now it's pretty much on the very top of my TBR. I really can't wait to read this. I don't even know what it's about and I don't need to because it's Sophie Kinsella and she never disappoints.

The Battle of the Labyrinth (#4 Percy Jackson & The Olympians) by Rick Riordan

The Battle of the Labyrinth (#4 Percy Jackson & the Olympians) by Rick Riordan

Woah. Okay, just let me pause for a minute to gather my thoughts.

I can't believe this series is only five books long! I feel like there are just so many more adventures to be had. But I guess that's what the Heroes of Olympus series is for. Percy when he's older, right? I'm so looking forward to getting my hands on those books.
Anyway back to this book - it was all the fun and danger and action and heroic adventurous epic-ness that you would expect from Rick Riordan. I just love this story so much. Or rather, this whole series.

The Titan's Curse (#3 Percy Jackson & the Olympians) by Rick Riordan

The Titan's Curse (Book #3, Percy Jackson and the Olympians) by Rick Riordan

Wheeeheeheeeeee!
I am seriously loving this series. So much so, I'm going to start reading Book 4 as soon as I'm done writing this post. And I never read sequels consecutively, even when I have them on my shelf ready to be read!

The characters are awesome, as usual. We get to know Thalia a lot better in this story, and we also get introduced to some other really great characters too, like Artemis, Apollo, Zoe the Huntress, and a couple of new half-bloods, Bianca and Nico. Clarisse isn't really present in much of this book but that's alright because no one really likes her that much. Hehe.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

| goodreads page | author's page | 

I don't know where to start, talking about this wonderful book. So I think I'll just let all my thoughts fall out messily in a heap on this floor I call a blog post. I bought The Graveyard Book in the Strand bookstore in New York City at the end of last year. I had been curious to read something by Neil Gaiman, and I saw this book of his on display and it looked good enough for me to buy, and I did. 

And I'm so glad I did. 

I mean, it only took me 8 or 9 months to actually pick it up and read, but still. BUT STILL! I haven't read a book this good (or that I enjoyed so much) in a long time. Granted, I don't do anywhere near as much reading as I should be doing. 

Being the first Neil Gaiman book I've read, going into it I didn't know what to expect except perhaps some decent writing and a cool story. Honestly, I don't go into any consumption of pop culture with many expectations because I like to sit back and soak in whatever the creator has made. I began reading the first few pages out loud for fun (this is something I do more often than seems normal) and I was sucked in immediately. The first few pages are creepy and intriguing and might even give you chills, but it only gets better from there. There are ghosts, ghouls, a witch, a Sleer, cold-blooded murderers, a midnight Danse Macabre, magic and mystery galore.

The story is of a little toddler whose family is brutally killed in the night by 'the man Jack'. The man Jack is meant to kill the entire family but the toddler takes a walk (the man Jack left the front door open) out of his house, down the street, up the hill and into a graveyard, thus managing to escape the murderous knife-wielding hands of the man Jack. There the graveyard folk (the dead who were buried there) meet him, decide to look after him, and give him protection from the man Jack by raising him up in the graveyard. They name him Nobody, or Bod for short. A lot of crazy adventures ensue, as each chapter of the book is presented as its own short story, and it all culminates toward Chapter 7 where we find out why the man Jack murdered Bod's whole family and all the rest. 

There are definitely some creepy undertones in The Graveyard Book but above it all is so much heart and so much warmth in this novel, especially within the characters. I love the characters so much. There are some hilarious ones, especially a few of the graveyard folk, but mostly I loved Bod, Silas and Liza Hempstock. UGH AND WHEN LIZA WAS SAYING HER GOODBYE TO BOD!!!! That got me. It got me good. 

I've seen a lot of people around the internet saying how scary it was and honestly, I'm the sort of person who would never, ever voluntarily watch a scary movie, a horror movie or anything even remotely like that, nor am I a fan of scary books. To me, at least, The Graveyard Book was not at all a scary book. Creepy, yes, at points. But at the core, the story is lovely, warm and full of heart. The theme of family (and love) underlies the whole plot, and though there are some rather unpleasant flesh-eating ghouls and an ancient organisation of murderers, Neil Gaiman wrote those characters in a light and delicate fashion that wouldn't give any fully-developed human being bad dreams. That being said, on the back of the book it reads "Ages 10 up", and personally I wouldn't dare read this to any child younger than that.

I think anyone who can read and who likes to read a good story cannot (CANNOT) be disappointed by this book. It's stunningly written, it has top notch characters, the story is superb, everything to do with the way everything is structured and delivered is perfect. 

I didn't see the twist coming, although I had my suspicions much earlier... I still didn't see it coming. It was fantastic.

I'm definitely going to be reading a lot more by Neil Gaiman in the future. And I seriously cannot wait for the movie. IT NEEDS TO BE MADE AND COME OUT ALREADY! (I'm listening to Camille Saint-Saens' Danse Macabre as I type this and I'm visualising the dead dancing with the humans; Bod dancing with the Lady on the Grey in that scene)
I rate The Graveyard Book FIVE sparkly well-deserved stars.

P.S. The Graveyard Book has won numerous awards, including the Newbery Medal in 2009! (Just to give you more incentive to get your hands on this little gem of a book)

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

The Tale of Despereaux being the story of a mouse, a princess, some soup, and a spool of thread by Kate DiCamillo

Thank you to my lovely book blogger pal Jess for giving me this copy. It's the hardcover edition with ripped page edges and it's beautiful. 

This was a super quick read, and definitely a thousand times better than the film adaptation. 

The narrator tells the story in second person - to you, the reader! Or to me, as it were. It was a change from most of the books I've read in the past and I welcomed it. 

The main difference between the film and the book is the character of Roscuro. In the movie he is portrayed as quite benevolent, friendly and innocent, whilst in the book he is much more hard-hearted and just... evil. 

Apart from the murderous, duplicitous rats, the characters were cute and lovely to read, and even quite touching in parts - especially in the chapter where Despereaux forgives his father for sending him to the dungeons to be eaten by the rats.

Although I enjoyed reading this out loud, I would not read this to young children because the rat-side of the plot (and even the Miggery Sow-side of the plot) was really quite dark and might be too scary for the younger kids. Perhaps in a primary school class-setting it would be a little better... but not in a bedtime story evening setting reading to 5 year olds because they will most likely have nightmares filled with rats and dungeons and darkness and murder. 

My Rating: 3.5 stars

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The Sea of Monsters (PJ&O#2) by Rick Riordan

The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #2) by Rick Riordan

WHEE!!! I'm only two books in but that's more than enough words read to make me a HUGE fan of this series.

I love this series. 

A lot.

Rick Riordan is an excellent writer and I literally want to get every single book from every single series of his. 

I would eat these books for breakfast if that was a thing people did. 

(You don't have to tell me, I know. I'm weird.)

Anyway, I loved Percy's little-but-not-so-little half-brother (and cyclops) Tyson! He was cute. Not physically, though. And he proved to be incredibly instrumental along the quest. I'd love to have Percy Jackson as my brother but I'd equally love to have Tyson as my brother too. They're both so loyal and pure-hearted, and just really good characters. 

Also, Poseidon really isn't a bad dad to have either. 

And also, I wanna ride on a Hippocampus! 

I really enjoyed the 'quest-within-a-bigger-story' thing that was going on. In other words, there was the immediate quest of rescuing Grover from Polyphemus and getting the Golden Fleece to save Camp Half Blood and cure Thalia's tree, but then there is also the bigger picture - Kronos' plan to destroy Olympus and all of Western civilisation. Luke is working for Kronos and building an army for the evil titan, assembling the pieces of his body... BLURGH, how gross. And then also in the bigger picture there's the prophecy. Well, Kronos and the prophecy are woven together, because Kronos is dependent on it.

And then the cliff-hanger... oh goodness. 

*spoiler alert*

I feel like havoc is bound to be wreaked in the next book with the whole "Thalia-is-back!" situation.

Is Percy supposed to feel threatened by Thalia now? Or safer, because there's less pressure on him to fulfill the prophecy. Or scared, because they're worried Thalia might side with Kronos? 

Anyway, Annabeth said Thalia and Percy were practically the same person.

I don't know when I'll be able to read the next book, because I'm currently under a book-buy-ban. And I have plenty of other books on my shelves waiting to be read first. 

Oooh and who's excited for the movie!!!!?? 

I AM!

My Rating: 5 stars!!!

Then by Morris Gleitzman

Reading Then brought back all the memories I have from Year 10 English class - reading Once for the first time, The Book Thief, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas... doing our group oral presentation on WW2 novels with my friends Liz and Chulodi... (we got amazing scores for it, woohoo! Thanks, Mrs Murphy). 

I hadn't read Then back then, but I knew it would be much like its predecessor and I went into it knowing very well that the story would be a sad one. 

I think reading these kind of stories - especially as they're children's stories - as an adult, puts things more into perspective and made me perceive the tragedy of WW2 so much clearer.
For some strange reason, I really enjoy reading out loud, even when no one is around. I do this whenever I feel like it or whenever possible, especially with children's books (well, Middle Grade.. I don't really read younger kids' literature). And I read a fair bit of Then aloud to myself too. At some points I actually had to stop because it was choking me up. Sometimes I feel like children's books should never be this sad or such a downer... but at the same time it's clear this series is a masterpiece and addresses the tragic topic beautifully and heartachingly accurately.

I could really go on and on talking about Felix and Zelda, and their family situation/Nazi situation, etc, but I don't think I need to. Felix is young - really young - and the things he goes through and has to deal with is incredible, tragic, heartbreaking, unfair... I've covered it and you'll have/will read it, let's move on.

I read Then when I should have been writing my research essays, but it didn't take a lot of time to read because the writing was so clear and simple (still poignant though) and the story was not a long one.
I would suggest everyone read Once, or Then, or both - unless you're scared of crying.

My rating: 5 stars

Click here to see my Goodreads review.



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Winter Holiday Reading!

It's video time again. Just because I can. 

Books mentioned in video:

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Trying War by S.D. Gentill

The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr

(Reviews coming up soon!):

Betrothed by Wanda Wiltshire

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

Then by Morris Gleitzman

Hope you enjoyed the video! 

Books I Want To Buy (But Can't Because I Have No Money)

While my bank account, general life spirit and joie de vivre whittles itself down from pathetic to practically non-existent, I'm finding myself left with merely empty wishes and dreams.

So to kick-off from that delightful introductory sentence, this post is going to be filled with books that I want on my bookshelf, but can't afford to go out and buy at the moment. (I tend not to borrow books from the library, not because I'm a snob for cleanliness but because I have too many books on my shelves left unread)
Let's get this thang going.

A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty

I've been waiting for this Kingdom of Cello thing to be released ever since Dreaming of Amelia came out! Jaclyn Moriarty is one of my favourite authors.. like, EVER. Her YA Contemporary novels (the Ashbury series) leave me in stitches so adding fantasy into the equation?.... will probably make me pee my pants. And then explode. That is how much I love Jaclyn Moriarty's books.

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
After reading What Alice Forgot, Liane Moriarty immediately joined her sister up there at the top of my list of faves. I went and bought all of Liane's other novels (I haven't read em yet but I need to, ASAP!) way back when, and now that this new one's out, I'm itching to get my little hands on it.

Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter

There's been quite a long wait between Heist Society #2 and Heist Society #3 (this book). I absolutely LOVED Ally Carter ever since the beginning of the Gallagher Girls series. I actually first found out about Ally Carter from MySpace! THAT WAS THE DINOSAUR AGE, PEOPLE!!!
Normally I'm quick about getting my hands on the new releases of her books, but for some reason I forgot about this or didn't realise it had been released, and now I'm late on the bandwagon!

The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
I read Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief early this year when I was vacationing overseas... in fact I bought the first and the second books of the series for pretty cheap when I was in the Strand bookstore in NYC. I know I'm going to love the entire series even though I haven't read the second one yet. The Titan's Curse is the third, and I want it! I will probably end up getting ALLLLLLLL of them. Eventually.


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new on my bookshelf

For this post I was simply too lazy to take photos and do the whole shebang with the writing up and everything, and I thought a video would let you see the books better than in pictures so here we go! 

Sorry for my talking and just terrible explaining skills, I think I might have made it seem like I don't know how to count. 

I suppose some writing will be necessary in this post anyway, so you don't get confused. 

The first three I showed you were given to me by the amazing Jess from The Tales Compendium.

1) Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

2) Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

3) The Tale of Despereaux by Kate diCamillo

And the last one I bought online. I failed to tell you that.

4) I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

I'm most excited about Uglies! I've heard countless people rave on and on about it.

the invention of hugo cabret by brian selznick!

The Invention of Hugo Cabret 

by Brian Selznick

published by Scholastic Press, 2007

The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a touching story filled to the brim with history, passion, magic, and most importantly - dreams.

There's also a lot of clockwork and thievery too. The story comes to life through the words and pictures, but let me tell you - there is so much more to it than that.

Nowadays, everywhere we look we see books turning into movies, but The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a film in the form of a book. You get the whole experience. Kind of.

I don't mean this in the sense that it was a film to begin with then someone turned it into a book (because that isn't the case), I'm saying that the story is sort of presented as a film but in the format of a book. It's really hard to explain but if you've read this book you probably know what I'm talking about.
e.g. the curtain opens and closes, and in between part 1 and part 2 it feels like an intermission.

Here's a video of me briefly flicking through the pages of Hugo. 

Normally I think of film as the ultimate medium of storytelling and communication, but after reading this book, it is obvious that words are just as powerful and capable - or even more so - than film.

I loved this book a lot - Selznick's simplistic writing style, the goregous, stunning images - I will never sell or give this book away because I'll be wanting to read this to my future children at bedtime one day.

a midsummer tights dream by louise rennison!

a midsummer tights dream

by louise rennison

published 2012 by HarperCollins

(sequel to withering tights)

wowzies this was such a fun read! i think a midsummer tights dream was even better than withering tights! 

llulah is back at dother hall with her knobbly knees, her crazy tree sisters and her spectacular spontaneous irish dancing. much larks for tallulah casey in this hilariously written sequel of her misadventures.

in this book llulah's having a bit of trouble in the love department of life - she's been snogged and rejected by a really good-looking, good-snogging guy; her dream boy Alex the Good is away at theatre college or something; and a dark brooding crow named Cain Hinchcliff has just beaten her in a staring competition by licking a hailstone off her face. 

anyway, i loved this book, i love Louise Rennison, i love tallulah and her pals, the woolfe boys and especially cain. Cain is the modern-day Byronic hero of a midsummer tights dream. he seems to always lurk in the shadows and pops out whenever llulah thinks she's alone and acts silly, e.g. happy irish dancing alone in a barn or hanging upside down on a tree branch.

if you fancy a light read that will make you laugh out loud, look no further.

it really left me nothing to be desired especially with the glorious references to the bronte sisters, jane eyre and wuthering heights. i am certainly looking forward to february next year when the third book comes out!

cain is dreamyyyyyyyyyyyy.

new on my bookshelf: madeleine l'engle!

I don't quite remember exactly what it was that made me want to buy the rest of the Time Quintet by Madeleine L'Engle. I think it was a blog post by another book blogger.
Anyway, I read the first book of this series - A Wrinkle in Time, last year I think it was, and loved it, but didn't really have any inclination to go out and get the rest.
But I have them now!

A Wind in the Door came in the mail a couple days before the rest, and I immediately jumped straight into it.  Poor Charles Wallace is ill!

After my current Wuthering Heights Journey series is over (which will be soon), the next post will probably be a "my thoughts on.." for A Wind in the Door.

You can find my (gushing) review of A Wrinkle in Time (The Time Quintet, #1) here. 

new on my bookshelf

A Midsummer Tights Dream by Louise Rennison

The sequel to Withering Tights, this is the second book Rennison's newest tween series about Tallulah Casey, Georgia Nicolson's younger cousin. Yay! I love the bright stripey cover with the shiny blue bits and the huge pop of colour! 

Shakespeare's Sonnets by William Shakespeare

I chose this Folger Shakespeare Library version to buy because I wanted to read the sonnets but I needed help understanding them. Shakespeare can really confuse me sometimes! OK, let's face it - all of the time. This version has detailed notes etcetera so hopefully they'll help break it down for me!

Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter

I love the Gallagher Girls series a lot. I can't believe it has taken me this long to get my hands on the fifth instalment! Excited to get into Cammie's spy life again. Ally Carter is AWESOME.

More photos:

new on my bookshelf: selznick + gentill

THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET by Brian Selznick

(published 2007; read synopsis)

I first heard of this book after watching the film Hugo, which I quickly became a huge fan of. I didn't realise it was a book to film adaptation until I saw the special features on the DVD. I loved the movie so much that I quickly ordered it online. The book looks huge, but it is jam-packed with beautiful illustrations and pictures galore, as well as words of course.

Below are photos of the hardcover's jacket and the book without the jacket. And I also took a short little video of me flipping through the book quickly, so you can get an idea of what it's really like (awesome is what it's really like!). 

my thoughts on: Beauty by Robin McKinley [review]

Beauty by Robin McKinley

published 1983

click here for synopsis

Perfect heroine.

Even more perfect hero. 

Amazing minor characters to surround and enhance the awesomeness of Beauty and the Beast.

A wonderful tale to read aloud to children.

A magical retelling that tugged at my heart strings. I already had a thing for Beauty and the Beast (favourite Disney film of all time), and I have always adored delving into the unreachable fantasy of magical places, enchantments, and fairytale characters to amplify and promote pure love. 

There were lines in this book where I had to re-read them over and over just for the pure joy of re-experiencing the awesome intensity of feelings that were evoked. (e.g. the end of the quote below)

I cried a fair bit. I'm lame like that, and I will be the first to admit it. 

Roses are my favourite flower. 

Beauty is a pure, true, classic and magically wonderful retelling of Beauty and the Beast. 

It is beauty in the living body of literature.

I'll read this to my children and children's children...

And what better compliment could an author receive than that?

Snippet:

At the edge of sleep it seemed that the breeze returned, and something cool was put on my hands so that the pain slipped away like a thief in shadow. The gentle whistling and sighing of the breeze resolved itself at last into words, but I was too near sleep to hear much of what was said, or to be certain that I was not listening to a dream. There were two voices. The first said: 'Poor child, poor child. I feel for her sadly. If only there were some way we could help her.'

The second voice said, 'But there isn't, dear. You know that. We do our best, but she must find her own way.'

'I know. But it seems so hard.'

'It does, and it is; but cheer up. She is a good girl, and he loves her already. It will be alright in time...'