Category: Bookshelf

Whoops

Meg1 Comment

I’ve been sort of neglecting writing about books in the last 3 or 4 months. I haven’t been reading as much as I normally do and I also haven’t found a book that I really love and want to talk about. However I did buy 3 new books on the last week of last term, when I was down in Perth on a school sporting camp.

The first book I bought was Shadow Girl by John Larkin. I started reading this book a few weeks ago but I haven’t gotten into it and have yet to finish. It is about a girl who is/was homeless and how she became homeless and things that happened to her while she was. It is written in a strange format, with half the chapters written as an interview type way, with the author talking to the shadow girl. The other half is written in the shadow girl’s point of view about things that happened to her. It is weird way to write, I have never seen it before, and it is confusing me and I am unable to concentate while reading it.

The second book I got was Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. She also wrote the book I talked about in my first post, Carry On. I enjoyed reading her work and so I bought another of her books. The story follows Cath and is written in third person. She has a twin sister, called Wren, who has been her best friend since she could remember. When they both move out to go to college Wren suggests not sharing a room. So Cath ends up with a girl called Reagan. Cath is the kind of girl who would rather sit at home reading while Wren is a party girl, going out and getting drunk with her new roommate and BFF. Cath struggles at college, not used to being on her own so far from home and without her sister. Family problems arise and Cath finds herself stuck in the middle. Carry On and Fangirl have a weird relationship. They are kind of a series but at the same time not really. In Fangirl, Cath is writing a fanfiction, what she thinks the yet to be released final book of a fictional series should be like.  Carry On is Rainbow Rowells fanfiction on what she thinks the last book of the fictional series should be. I imagined Cath’s fanfiction to be very similar to the way Rainbow Rowells wrote it and I was confused for a long time about the books relationship. (It took my sister a solid half an hour to explain all this to me)

The final book I bought was called If I Was Your Girl and it was written by Meredith Russo. It is about a transgender girl (so she was born a boy but now identifies as a girl), Amanda, and about her life after she moves to a new school. She moves because of what happened at her old school. No one knows what Amanda’s life used to be like and she has no intention of anyone knowing. She makes friends with a girl named Bee who she grows close to in their ‘Art’ lessons. (The teacher wasn’t at school, they were away on holidays, but the girls would have to go to PE so they pretend they have a teacher for a solid two terms) Amanda and Bee play the Honesty game and it ends with Bee coming out as bisexual and Amanda admitting she used to be a boy. Amanda is amazed to have found such a great friend but can she really trust Bee? I loved this book so much as it was not something I would normally read but it was interesting to learn and find out about subjects that people don’t really talk about like LGBTQ. It was kind of cliche with the whole new girl meets friends, gets accepted, meets a boy but then it also has the drama of her being transgender and no one knowing. She doesn’t know how to open up to anyone and is shutting everyone out, leading them to believe she doesn’t like them. But the truth always finds a way of getting out and jealously comes into play, Amanda is in for a whole lot more than she bargained. I don’t really fully support how the story ends I think their could have been some more on what happened, it was a little bit of a cliffhanger but there is no next book. Other than that minor detail I would fully recommend this book to anyone that wants to read a good book.

 

More Good Books

Meg1 Comment

I have started the ‘I am‘ number four series. I found the first book in the library and read it in about a day. I really liked it. I think there are 6 books in the series so far and I’m reading the fifth at the moment. The first book is I am Number Four, then The Power of Six, The Fall of Five, The Revenge of Seven and The Fate of Ten. The seventh book has yet to be released but it is going on sale on the 28/06/2016. It is called United as One.

The series is based on an alien species, the Lorien, that have left their home planet after it was invaded by the Mogadorians, another alien race. There were 18 all together, 9 Garde and 9 Cêpans, the Gardes guardians. The Garde were all young, under the age of six, when they left.  They are named in numbers, from One through to Nine. It took a year to travel to the planet they are now on, Earth.  They were sent away from one another to different countries, told to always move around and wait until the time was right to come out of hiding and begin the fight back. It has been 11 years since the ship landed but they are being hunted by the Mogadorians, who followed them to Earth. The aliens look just like normal teenagers but they are not. Around 15 is when they begin to develop their Legacies, special powers that they wield. They are connected by a charm, cast on them when they left their planet. They can only be killed in the order of their numbers. Number One was killed in Malaysia, Number Two in England and Number Three in Kenya. Number Four knows he is next.

The first book is about Number Four, next on the hunted list. When Four moves to a small town, Paradise, Ohio, he makes friends and becomes attached. Ready to leave at a moment’s notice was his one and only rule, set by his Cêpan. Four also meets a girl there who seems to like him. The book is all about the beginning of his journey.

I really enjoyed the first 4 books that I’ve read and am liking the 5th. It has an interesting storyline and if you like sci-fi/ fantasy books I would recommend reading them.

P.S Thanks to Kayden who happened to have all of the books (except one) that I could steal and read. Sorry about that. I promise I will give them back soon. Maybe.

The book I read!

Meg3 Comments

I have read the best book in the world! It is definitely my new favourite. The Host by Stephenie Myer is the most amazing, thought provoking, thrilling book.

It follows Melanie, a person who has had a soul inserted into her. The soul‘s name is Wanderer because of how many planets she has been to. A soul would go to 2 or 3 planets before finding a favourite and living there forever, swapping hosts when one reaches the end of its life span. But Wanderer has been to nine planets, having nine different lives. The souls are a race of aliens that invade planets that are in trouble and help to fix them.  They control a person through their brain and body. Souls are very calm, non-violent race and they believe that they make a planet better.  Most planets they invade are very passive and accepting. But humans are different. They are not going down without a fight.

Normally when a soul takes over a host, the host‘s conscious  disappears. However Melanie has survived the insertion and talks to Wanderer. When this happens, though rarely, souls and hosts can communicated through their brains. Wanderer is watched 24/7 because of the strange ability she possesses.

Melanie starts to show Wanderer her life before insertion. Melanie was looking after her younger brother (Jamie) and had met another human called Jared. They lived together in a house that Jared‘s father built. Melanie had gone looking for one of her cousins in hope she was still human. That was when she was caught.

I highly recommend reading this book it is amazing.

Look what I found!

Meg1 Comment

I found a really interesting article somewhere that was titled: 15 book series to read if you enjoyed “The Hunger Games.” I have read four of the series in the list but found a few I wanted to read in future. It looks good because they are all under the futuristic genre which I love. I have just put the name of the first book or the name of the series, the author and what I think about them to keep it short. The list is:

1. Unwind, Neal Shusterman

This looks like a super creepy book series but I still want to read it.

 

2. Divergent, Veronica Roth

I have read this series and feel like it is against the laws of books. It is also being made into a movie series, they are making the last one.

 

3. Matched, Ally Condie

These books sound a little bit similar to ACID. I want to see if this in in the library.

 

4. The Maze Runner, James Dashner

Also being made into a movie series, these books are really good. I borrowed these from a family friend and read all three in a week.

 

5. Gracling, Kristen Cashore

I am not sure if I want to read these but they look pretty cool so if I find them I will.

 

6. The Mortal Instruments, Cassandra Clare

My sister has been trying to get me to read these for 3 years, without success. They sound cool but come from a supernatural direction so I’m also not sure about them yet.

 

7. The Lunar Chronicles, Marissa Meyer 

I have read these and they stand as my favourite series of all time. See my last post for more information about them.

 

8. Gone, Michael Grant

I have seen these books in the library but also are supernatural based so maybe not.

 

9. Delirium, Lauren Oliver

This series is a romance so if I can find it, I will read it and post a review.

 

10. Legend, Marie Lu

The blurb mentions fearless boy and bad boys so it has made me interested.

 

11. Uglies, Scott Westerfeld

This is the last series I have read in the list. I read it when I was about 11 I think. It is a futuristic series and a little bit like Divergent. I can’t remember what happens at the end so I might re-read it.

 

12. Partials, Dan Wells

What I picked up from the blurb was that it is like Divergent and Cinder and The Maze Runner  rolled into one. This series looks good so I will begin my hunt.

 

13. Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card

This is supposedly a classic and looking like it was written a while ago. However it is a New York Time Bestseller so it might be worth a quick read.

 

14. The Last Survivors, Susan Beth Pfeffer

I think I have just started this series. I have. I’m sorry I didn’t really read the whole list properly before I started this and I have just discovered that one of the books I got from the library is the first book of the series. I have only read the first two chapters and love it! Already a meteoroid has hit the moon and knocked it off its orbit causing all the tides to go crazy. Anywhere within 100kms of the coast has been submerged. It is causing widespread panic and THIS IS ALL IN THE FIRST TWO CHAPTERS!!! This is a definite recommendation.

 

15. The Dwellers, David Estes 

This sounds like a really good book. The main character shares the same name as my sister too. I want to read this one soon.

 

I hope this was helpful to anyone looking for some books because it definitely was for me. Some of my favourite books are also in the list so I think I will enjoy most of the books here. Happy Reading!

My Favourite Type of Book

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I have a few types of books that I love. I think my favourite is fairy tales. However I don’t read just normal fairy tales. I read books that are based on fairy tales but with modern twists.

I read a series called the Lunar Chronicles with four books in the series. They are called Cinder, Scarlet, Cress and Winter. As you can guess Cinder is about Cinderella, Scarlet is about Red Riding Hood, Cress about Rapunzel and Winter about Snow White. I really love these books and would recommend them for anyone who wants to read fairy tales but not the normal ones.

I also like future books. The last book I read was ACID and it was a futuristic book. It was set in 2113 and Britain had been taken over by ACID, the most brutal police force in history, after the government fell. I really liked it because it had so much story but there was only one book. It starts with the main character, Jenna Strong, and her life, and why she is, in jail. I won’t say anything else but if you want to, read the book.

The other genre that I read a lot is fantasy. I am in the middle of reading the Waterfire Saga. Jennifer Donnelly,the author, has not finished the saga yet. It really is slowly killing me. Three of the books are finished and I have read and own all of them. The Saga is about six mermaids who have been called by the river witches to save the ocean. Sera must find all of the mermaids destined to save the oceans from falling into a war of the seas.

These books are my favourite from each genre to date. I hope you enjoyed this post.

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My First Post!!

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Hi my name is Meg and this is my new blog. This is a class assignment that a few people in my class, and I, and have been set to do. I was a bit stuck on what my blog would be about but I have kind of decided to have it about my life and things I like to do. My first page is called my bookshelf which will be about books that I have read and books I want to read. I will put up photos and reviews if I can be bothered.

I would like to mention a book that I read recently. It is called Carry On and it is one of those books. You know, those books that make you give up on your life for a few days while you read it. I was on holidays down in Perth and my sister bought it. She read the entire book in four hours. She immediately found me and made me read it.

Carry On is a little bit like Harry Potter. I read the first few chapters and was so amazed at how a book could be so similar but also so different at the same time. However, as it progressed I realized it was not at all like Harry Potter. If it was Harry Potter then it would be about Harry and Draco.

Here is the blurb.

Carry On Rainbow Rowell

Simon Snow is the worst chosen one who’s ever been chosen.

That’s what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he’s probably right.

Half the time, Simon can’t even make his wand work, and the other half, he sets something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here—it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up.

Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story—but far, far more monsters.

 

I have not read any other books by Rainbow Rowell but I am looking for them at my local library. I hope that this is an interesting first blog post.