2013 Reading Challenge and More Reviews

October 24, 2013

Last year my goal was 100 and around this time last  year I completed that goal and by the end of 2012 had read around 170 books. This year I raised my goal to 150 books and I completed that goal and have read more than 190 books so far. I love reading and being able to share my love of reading with others.

I am sorry I have not posted in a long time but I have been busy with school and moving. Here are more review to books I have read.

Tales from the West Coast: Smugglers, Sea Monsters, and Other Stories by Adrienne Mason
Non-Fiction

I am a huge history buff and I love history, especially the history of British Columbia. This book is a book of tales from the West Coast of BC. My favorite stories were the story of the Wreck of the Janet Cowan ship and the story of the first woman librarian. There stories were stories of things I would not learn about in school and were really interesting. I will read it again and again. I recommend it for people who love history and for people who do not because even if you do not like history you will love these stories.

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
Historical Fiction

The only word to describe this book is incredible. It was different from all WWII books in that there was not much violence and it focused on a different part of the war, books. The main character is a young girl who loves reading and books. I do not have much to say about this book other than that it is a must read for anyone. Whether you know nothing about WWII or you know all there is to know, this book is a must read.

Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness
Dystopia

Set in a world where everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts, no secret is safe. Unlike most dystopias this does not take place in a run down big city but in country towns and the main character is a boy who is almost a man. Patrick's writing kept me wanting to keep on reading and the cliff hangers at the end of each book made me hungry for the next book.

Harry Potter by JK Rowling
Fantasy

Okay you have probably read this already and I have too but that was many years ago. My brother was begging me for months to reread the series and I gave in and reread them on my mom's kindle while my other books were being packed up and taken to our new house. I forgot how much I love the series. All my favorite characters and scenes came to life again in my mind and once again I was lost in the world of Hogwarts. My favorite book of the series will forever be The Goblet of Fire because of the Tri-Wizart Tournament. But 19 Years Later at the end of the series is one of my favorite scenes as well. Relating to Harry Potter, my new school had a Quiddich tournament this year. So far My grade's team: Slytherin will be playing the seniors, Gryfindor in the final next week and since I am one of the players I will be there for sure.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Dystopia

I will be keeping this review short because I have done a lot of work on this for school already. This was one of four books my Science Fiction class is reading this semester and I enjoyed it. It is definitely not my favorite dystopia as there were multiple flat characters and the storyline was not my most favorite but I definitely enjoyed reading it and would have read it wether it was a class book or not.

Under the Dome by Stephen King
Dystopia

I am a huge fan of the TV show and thought it wouldn't be right if I didn't read the book. The book was amazing and puts the TV show to shame. There were other characters and scenes that were left out of the show. My favorite characters were still in it and were way more important in the book than in the TV show. It was a long read but the 1000 or so pages was definitely worth it.

Looking for Alaska by John Green
Fantasy

Another amazing book by John Green. If you love John Green or have never heard of him, go pick up this book now. It had me glued to the book the whole way through. Coincidentally this book has been banned from being read in some places and was on the banned book shelf at my school. I read it in honour of banned book week. I could see why it was banned but I think everyone should read the book.

1984 by George Orwell
Dystopia

Again I am not going to write much as I have done a lot of class work on this book already. It was better than Fahrenheit 451 because the characters were not as flat and the storyline was way more interesting. I still would have read this book had it not been a class book but it was not my favorite book.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Dystopia

This book was really good! It was not your average dystopia with most of the book taking place in a virtual reality but it was really good! I recommend it for people new to the genre because it is not all grim and nasty. There are a lot of 1980s references so I would be familiar with video games, music and movies of that decade before reading it. Definitely a favorite but not an all time favorite.

Allegiant by Veronica Roth
Dystopia

No spoilers in this review. This was the hight anticipated (a year and five months) book and it was worth the wait. It was the perfect ending to the series even though there are characters I wish Veronica did not kill off I realize if she didn't the ending would not have been as good. I was in tears and had to pause reading the last few chapters I was crying so hard. I give the book a 10/10 and the series a 1000/10. It is AMAZING and my all time favorite book. For a first series by the author it is like she had already written many books. I am eagerly awaiting what Veronica has in store next.

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
Dystopia

I was looking forward to reading this but it was not as good as I thought it would be. The main character was not a character I was rooting for and the storyline was not the best. The one thing the author achieved was that the world is pretty bad with most of the world dead of disease and an alien take over.

Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne
Dystopia

This book starts off like a normal day then turns into disaster when a bunch of kids on their way to school crash into the side of a mall. They end up stuck in a mall during a chemical weapons disaster outside. I really felt like I was in the mall with the kids and was rooting for their survival. This book was really believable because not all the kids got along and there were some kids who wanted to keep things in order and others who just wanted to have fun and goof off.

172 Hours on the moon by Johan Haarstad
Fantasy

Three kids win a lottery and the opportunity to spend 172 hours on the moon. The opportunity it turns out is not all adventure and fun like they thought. This book really shows the limits government will go to get what they want and is not very far off from the truth. I won't give away any spoilers to the book but it is a definite must read.

Fire and Ash by Jonathan Maberry
Dystopia

This book is the final book in the Benny Imura series and was another perfect ending to a series. It continues where the last book left off, in the world set during a zombie apocalypse. I loved it and recommend it to any fan of the Walking Dead or of anything really gory or just anyone who likes a good dystopia.

Okay that it enough for now. As you can see I really like dystopia books. I seem to be in a dystopia fix right now and can't seem to get out of it, which in my mind is not such a bad thing.

Reading Log

July 29, 2013

Operation Orca: Springer, Luna and the Struggle to Save West Coast Killer Whales by Daniel Francis and Gill Hewlett

Non-fiction

I stumbled upon this book while browsing the field guide section at my local library. Since I live in Vancouver and the book looked up my alley I borrowed it. It is about two orca whales that were discovered in Puget and Nootka Sound at a time when people didn’t really know much about orcas. One story is of Springer and her ultimate rescue and the other is of Luna and what lead to his death. Coincidentally while I read this book I was volunteering at the Vancouver Aquarium. The book shone some light on the history of orcas and how clueless people really were back in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

A Company of Swans by Eva Ibbotson

Romance/Fantasy

This story is about a girl named Harriet living in Cambridge with her father and her aunt. Her only freedom is in ballet. When a Russian ballet master comes looking for girls for his ballet company Harriet defies her father sneaks off with him and his ballet to the Amazon. Like another of Eva’s books, Journey to the River Sea, this book takes place primarily in the Amazon and in the same village too. Having read Journey to the River Sea and then A Company of Swans I got a good picture of what the village and the theatre looked like. Reading this book made me want to visit the Amazon even more.

Hoping for Home: Stories of Arrival by various authors

Historical Fiction

One of my favorite series when I was younger that sparked my love of Canadian history is the Dear Canada series. Each one takes place in a different part of Canada’s history and each story is told through the journal of a Canadian girl. These stories were stories of children coming to Canada but they felt more personal and relatable because the speakers are children. The story, In the Silence of my Heart by Lillian Boraks-Nemetz was one of my favorites because I really like another book by the same author called The Old Brown Suitcase and the story really put me into the mind of the girl. Lillian also came and spoke at my school last year so the story felt even more real. Reading these stories gives me the child’s perspective on life in Canada when most historical fiction is told in an adult’s perspective.

Changeling by Phillipa Gregoy

Fantasy

This book is set in the 1400s and is about Isolde, a princess forced by her older brother to become an abbess and Luca, a boy who is sent by his master to investigate strange things that are happening in the nunnery. Some fantasy books have flat characters and are too confusing but this book had strong characters and the plot wasn’t too confusing. Romance wasn’t the main focus of the book unlike some fantasy books where romance is the main point.

Reading Log

June 26, 2013

The Iron Fey by Julie Kagawa

Fantasy

I wasn’t a huge fan of the first book in the series but as I am with most series I wanted to know what happens in the end. I am glad we had to read A Midsummer Nights Dream at school because I understood who some of the characters were I also understood some of the references. The story got better as the series went on and I was happy with how the series ended.

Night Spirits: The Story of the Relocation of the Sayisi Dene by Ila Bussidor

Non-Fiction

 I had to read this story for the Manitoba trip I will be going on this summer. I like reading about history and the story that was told in this book is a part of history that is never taught at schools in Vancouver. It is a powerful story and one that everyone should read. This part of history is definitely dark and a part of history that people don’t want to remember but it is an important part when the Canadian government made a huge mistake and the “Dene Village” that the Sayisi Dene were moved to is considered the worst slums in Manitoba History. I’m glad I read this and I think it is important to learn about the hard times in Canadian history no matter how minor they might seem.

The Program by Suzanne Young

Dystopia

This book takes place in a world where suicide is an international epidemic. The story was basically the main character’s sob story. The plot was predictable but it did keep me interested and make me wanting to read the next book. The characters were pretty flat compared to most other dystopia novel characters. The world the author chose wasn’t my favorite world with suicide seen as an epidemic and teens going to The Program to get “cured”. I don’t recommend this book when there are so many more good dystopian books to choose from. 

Reading Logs This Week

June 6, 2013

Here are my reading logs for this week.

Tomorrow series by John Marsden

Dystopian

The rest of the Tomorrow series continues with the kids from Australia fighting to stay alive during a war in Australia. Unlike other stories that take place during a war these kids are alone for most of the wartime and had to rely on each other to survive. I liked how the book was not all fighting and it included some of the other struggles like finding food and shelter.

On Thin Ice by Jamie Bastedo

Fiction

This book takes place in Nanurtalik Greenland from the point of view of a young girl. The town has not seen a polar bear in decades but when the body of a teenaged boy is found along the side of a road people begin to fear that polar bears have returned. Throughout the book I got a view of what it is like living in the arctic and some of the struggles the people face due to climate change. I started reading this book a year ago but did not go past page one and gave up. I have wanted to go back to it for a while and decided now was a good time. This time I started reading and only put it down once to read two other books. The thing that got me to come back to the book was a discussion the other day in social studies. We were talking about the effect of climate change on the arctic and when we started talking about what is happening to polar bears the discussion turned into a debate of sorts. Some people said that polar bears have to learn to adapt to climate change and who cares if they go extinct. I was the only student in the class to stand up for the polar bears. After that class I went back to the book and couldn’t put it down.

This is Not a Drill by Beck McDowell

Fiction

Two students, Emery and Jake, are helping out in the elementary school French class when a man walks in demanding to have his son. When the teacher says no he pulls out a gun and won’t let anyone leave the classroom. This was really suspenseful and I did not know what was going to happen. With all the school shootings in the states this book made me not want to go to an American school anytime soon.

Failing kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

Fantasy

This book is about a fantasyland where three kingdoms are fighting for power. The main characters are four kids from the kingdoms and their storylines eventually come together. I am not a huge fantasy fan but this book caught my eye when I noticed one of the characters was named Magnus. Magnus is not a common character name but one of my favorite characters from The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices is named Magnus. I wanted to see if this Magnus was anything like the Magnus from the other series. The plot was really good and kept me reading into the night. By the end I did not like Magnus and look forward to see what happens to him next.

Test by William Sleator

Dystopian

All students have to take this test at the end of the school year and if you fail there are consequences. The school that Ann goes to prepares the students for the test the whole school year. When Ann is threatened on her way home from school she and a new friend are caught up in a conspiracy act involving the creator of the test. This future probably won’t happen where we will suffer terrible consequences if we fail a test that we only take because if we don’t we could get killed. But we take in high schools we take provincials and in elementary some elementary school they take the FSA test. I would not want a psycho teacher like Ann has. I have never had a teacher that sits the students in order from best student to worst student before but I did have a teacher that posted our math test scores up on a chart for the whole class to see.

Character Names

June 6, 2013

I have thought a lot about names of characters in books and I have noticed that some characters with the same names from different books share some of the same personalities. There is one name in particular that I have seen that.

The big name I have noticed the trend is the name Vaughn. All the book characters  I have met that are named Vaughn have turned out to be evil. In the chemical garden Vaughn is the main antagonist and in Variant Vaughn turns out to be an antagonist and also pure evil. Another name that has come up a lot is the name Sam. All the Sams I have come across have turned out to be one of the main characters and are on the same side as the protagonist. In Gone Sam is the main hero of the story and in The Wolves of Mercy Falls Sam is the also one of the protagonists and a hero of the story.

I don't know what it is with all characters named Sam being good or all characters named Vaughn being evil. There might be something in the author handbook about which names have to be evil and which good. I would like to see the author that goes against this trend and makes a protagonist named Vaughn or an antagonist named Sam.

Book to Movie Adaptations

May 30, 2013

With all the YA novels coming out to movies I thought it would be a good idea to give my opinion on the topic.

The four big YA adaptations I am currently following from books to movies are The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare, The Maze Runner by James Dashner, Divergent by Veronica, and The Fault in our Starts by John Green. I have been keeping track of who is playing each character and which characters and scenes are being left out of the film. I try to live by the following rule: don't judge a movie on its actors and directors.

It is hard sometimes to not judge a movie by the fact that the script writer is the same one who wrote the script for Twilight or an actor who looks nothing like what I pictures the character looking like. There are a lot of things that can be changed for a movie like makeup. I don't want to say a movie will be bad without even seeing the movie.

For the Mortal Instruments, which comes out August 23, 2013 I have been following that since it was only a rumour and I based on all I have seen now I think it will be a great movie. On the other hand for Divergent, comes out next spring some actors look nothing like I pictured the character and others are perfect. One of the characters I was hoping to see on the big screen is not going to come in until movie number two. There must be a good reason why the character is not in movie one and there is really no way to tell if the movie will be good or not until I see it in theatres.

Another thing is scenes. There are so many scenes that I am hoping to see on the big screen but I know that there is no way that every scene will end up in the films. I will still be disappointed if my favorite scene doesn't end up in the film. However if the scene is in the film it might not be how I picture it in my head.

Something else to know is that the movies are not replacing the books. The books will still be way better than the movie. Just don't read the book right before seeing the movie (I will do a separate post on that later).

Why Read?

Friday May 24, 2013

Why read? That is something I think about a lot. There are many reasons to read. For example there is reading for pleasure, reading to escape reality or just reading to pass the time away. I don't remember the first book that got me into reading but I have always grown up with my parents reading to my brother and I and as soon as I was old enough I began to read on my own. I usually read for pleasure but also to escape. I get sucked into fantasy worlds and fall in love with the characters even to the point of crying over the death of a favorite character.

I have so many books that have taken my breath away and I couldn't imagine a world without books!

Reading Logs

Friday May 24, 2013

Here is my reading log from the last two weeks.

Light by Michael Grant

Dystopian

Light is the conclusion to the Gone series. It takes place in the fictional town of Peridido Beach, California where everyone over the age of fifteen has disappeared in an event known to the kids as the FAYZ. The kids are trying to survive on their own. Some kids have developed superpowers and there is an evil force trying to take over. The books in the Gone series just get even more intense as they go along with many twist and turns however the author needs to work hard on his writing ability. There are plenty of mistakes and the point of view jumps from one character to the next without a good break just as you are getting into one character’s storyline. The Gone series as well as the Maze Runner series all are variations of if Lord of the Flies was dystopian. With a group of kids having to rely on one another to survive without any adults.

No Safety in Numbers by Dayna Lorentz

Dystopian

When a teenaged mall worker finds a bomb in the mall the mall is put on lock down. Everyone is given a $25 gift card and everything goes well until people start getting sick and supplies run low. The story alternates point of view from four teenagers. The characters were very real and the things that happened could happen in real life. If I were stuck in a mall I might be happy at first but all I would want would be to get out. There is also the possibility that whoever set up the bomb might be in the mall and keeping us in the mall might make things worse.

Rage Within by Jeyn Roberts

Dystopian

A while back I wrote about how I wanted to see Canada being in trouble… well I got what I wanted! Finally a book where Canada is also in trouble! Now that I know how bad Canada can get I am glad most books have Canada as the safe zone. This is book two after Dark Inside and it takes place in Vancouver. I had a really clear image in my head of what all the locations, which made it easy to visualize the setting of the book.

The Bar Code Tattoo by Suzanne Weyn

Dystopian

Set in a dystopian world where people are getting a bar code tattoo, which had all your information on it. Kayla does not want to get the tattoo but since it is the law Kayla is not on the run. We talked in class about consumerism and being cool. Well at the beginning of the book people count down the days until they turn seventeen and can get the tattoo. You will be an outcast if you don’t have one. 

Rampant by Diane Peterfreund

Urban fantasy

Rampant is set in a world were unicorns are thought to be evil. A unicorn attacks Astrid and her boyfriend and Astrid is sent to Italy to train as a unicorn hunter. This book was not one of my favorites and it took me a long time to get into the storyline. I wanted to read this book when I read a short story in “Zombies VS Unicorns” where the author had a character in the same world. Part of the reason I was not really into it was because I had a few other books I wanted to read more than Rampant. I also really liked the quote at the end of the book which puts a twist on the belief that only men are warriors.