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ANIMAL FARM

ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell 144 pp. Penguin Group. £8.99. (Ages 13 and up) ISBN 9780141182704 Rating: ? Stars     This book is set in a future when animals are much cleverer than now. And because of their cleverness, the pigs started a revolution against the humans. Pigs could speak fluently in English unlike the other animals, and that gave them the power to be leaders. But, the story that follows only happened a few years after that...     Their first leader, Old Major, was kind and fair who knew animals should be equal. But when Napoleon became the leader it was very unpleasant. He made a rule that allowed the pigs to have better food and that forced all of the other animals to work crazily hard every day and night. That wasn’t enough, Napoleon wanted more power.     He decided to kill his brother, Snowball, so that he would be the only leader. Snowball was admired because he came up with a clever idea to build windmill. Sn...
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The Secret

The Secret

Thursday's Thoughts: On Being Critical

So... Discussion posts. Something that I have always wanted to done but never felt confident enough to do. But I have now decided to take the plunge (thanks to Jamie over at The Perpetual Page-Turner for the inspiration)- we'll see how this goes. Perhaps it will become a weekly feature! 

Over the past six months or so I have noticed that I am being increasingly more and more critical when it comes to what I read/ how I review. Take for instance, "Stealing Parker" by Miranda Kenneally. I know that had I read this book a year or two ago I would have been ALL OVER it, giving it four, if not five, stars. But now? I gave it two stars (or "Black City" by Elizabeth Richards, where I have it 2 stars, or or "Easy" by Tammara Webber, where I only gave it 3 stars, or... Oh gawd, a million other books). Or, where the average star rating I used to give books was in the 4.5 range is now in the ~3 star range. Additionally, a couple of months ago I did the one thing that I never thought that I would- I DNFed some books ("Dearly, Beloved" by Lia Habel and "Anna Dressed in Blood" by Kendare Blake). Furthermore, I can't help but scratch my head when I see people going crazy for some books (for instance, "The Diviners" by Libba Bray), especially, in my opinion, when other books are so much more deserving ("The Lost Girl" by Sangu Mandanna).

And I'm not quite sure why this is. I don't know if it is because my friends/ bookish peeps are rubbing off on me, if, as I get older, I am am no longer able to connect to characters in their teens as much as I used to, especially those in high school (I don't know about y'all, but high school was all around good for me, despite being a HUGE victim of bullying in elementary school. Our high school didn't really have any cliques, almost everyone knew everyone else and everyone got along- it was nothing like high school as portrayed on television/ in books- or maybe I am just really lucky with this being the case), if, through my writing, I have somewhat of a better idea of the relationship between reader/ writer, because of library school (nowadays when I read a book I can't help but wonder where it would fit in a library setting, if at all, and who the appropriate audience would be), or if I am really coming into my own- truly understanding where my likes and dislikes lie. 

And it's not that I want to be critical- I really, really, REALLY hate it. The main reason being because I used to enjoy so many more books that I read than I do now. I used to always finish a book with a large smile on my face and a bubbly feeling in my chest- whereas now that is a rarity (in fact, the first time, in probably close to six months, that I experienced that feeling was when I recently read "Scarlet" by Marissa Meyer). That being said, I wouldn't say that becoming more critical has made reading feel like a burden, that I am becoming disenchanted with it, or anything of that nature, it's more so along the lines that every time I pick up a book I squeeze it tightly, close my eyes, and repeat to myself, not unlike a manta, "Please be one of those books, please be one of those books, please..."

So what do you think? Would you consider yourself to be a critical reader and/ or reviewer? If so, why do you think that that is? And how do you deal with it? 

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CITY OF FALLEN ANGLES

CITY OF FALLEN ANGLES The Mortal Instruments Book 4 by Cassandra Clare 480 pp. Margaret K. McElderry Books. $13.99. (Ages 13 and up) ISBN 9781481455992 Rating: 4 Stars   This book is a start of an new adventure. The enemy has lost and a new one rises. I think it is a good idea the author made a new enemy. Now the book wont end!   I don't like how the author divides the book into many parts. It makes me think its a very large book and sometimes I get bored. It makes the book seems like a very very big book. And most pages are wasted for the page to say a new part and also the quote/poem the author has made.   In a new story there will be new characters. The villain in the book has lost now if the next villain will be bigger new characters will come. The are new characters now like Mia, Jorgan and other characters.   I don't like the part when a partner does not let the other one go in a fight because they don't want to lose them. Its like making a...
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GRACE

GRACE By Morris Gleitzman 192 pp. Puffin. £6.99. (Ages 12 and up) ISBN 9780141336039 Rating: ? Stars We borrowed this book twice from the library but the first time I didn’t read it because I was busy reading other books. You may think that I finally started reading this book because it had a really cool cover or because the name sounded exciting. If you did think one these things then you are completely wrong because the front cover was only a picture of a girl and the name of the book was the name of the girl, Grace. The reason I read this book was actually because I had been to the Red House Book Awards and he was one of the people that might have won the award, so I thought it must be a good book then and decided to read the book. You are probably wondering what the book is about. It is about a girl called Grace who starts doing what she calls ‘sins’. In her church the dad always gets the blame. Because of this her dad gets expelled, which means he has to go away and never gets...
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Book Review: Conning for Keeps (and giveaway)

About the Book EBook: 110 pages Release Date: February 3, 2014 ISBN: 978-1662664719 Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble Lovers undercover… Secret Agent Marissa Jones has a gift. A con artist to the core, after deep hypnosis she can turn into someone else entirely. Marisa’s gift has gotten her into hot water over the years, but now more so than ever. With her smoking hot partner by her side, she needs to convince him that not only is she her true self, but also that she can be trusted—even in spite of her past. …or traitors to the cause? Trevor Harris has his own issues with the mission, he’s got revenge to seek, a cursed painting to secure, and Marissa’s sugary-sweet alter-ego to ignore. But when he releases Marisa from her mental cage and things get a little too hot, he ends up finding out what falling for a con artist really means—bigger trouble than ever before. I've been a fan of Seleste deLaney's work for a while. I read Gaming for Keeps when it came out and was thril...
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Free $100

Free $100