Saturday, May 28, 2011

Review : THE CARRIE DIARIES by Candace Bushnell



This is Carrie Bradshaw pre Sex and the City. Living in Castlebury, Carrie has ambition - she always knew she wanted more. Yet, before reaching her goal of become a famous author, she has to navigate her way through senior year. With people haters like Donna LaDonna and Cynthia Viande around, surviving high school seems tough, until Sebastian Kydd came into the picture. Life becomes bearable, yet a best friend seemed to be jealous, and a betrayal is about to surface.

Overall, the novel is fast and light, with a storyline which eventually leads to Carrie arriving in New York. Interesting plot line with betrayals and romance and strong friendships keeps reeling you in. In Carrie's perspective, the novel is in a witty, humorous insight of the main character, sometimes dropping a few lines of wisdom. It doesn't hurt that Carries is so lovable, along with her loyal friends and nutty family. Looking past the sex talks, The Carrie Diaries is a piece to love. You'll get hooked watching Carrie developing into a woman while dealing with her family and her own emotions.

The cover is simple and pretty. I loved it at first sight!

Ratings : 4 stars

Book Blogger Hop - 27 May

Book Blogger Hop


In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love of the written word!  This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to 
connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other,
and generally just share our love of books! 
 
 
 "What book-to-movie adaption have you most liked?  Which have you disliked?"
For the movie I like, I have to say the Twilight Saga(I like True Blood better, but it's not a movie) and Harry Potters. They're awesome! Movies I dislike... None. But I remember watching movies such as The Last Song and Cirque Du Freak and saying how I like the books much better.   

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Review : CLICK by Multiple Authors


Click is written by ten authors : Linda Sue Park, David Almond, Eoin Colfer, Ruth Ozeki, Nick Hornby, Tim Wynne-Jones, Gregory Maguire, Deborah Ellis, Margo Lanagan and Roddy Doyle. Ten award-winning authors collaborate to write a novel about Maggie Henschler and her dead grandpa. Maggie's grandpa, George "Gee" Keane was a world known photojournalist. He took picture of war, diseases and nature. when he died, he left a wooden box with seven compartments, each compartment filled with seashells from the seven continents. Maggie's job is to throw the seashells back to where they belong. meanwhile, Jason, Maggie's older brother found out that he was adopted by the family. He's going to find his genetic father by selling the signed photographs Gee left him. Read on and expect to be moved by the tale of a man who changed people' s lives with a camera.

I love the story. It is the kind that hooked you from the first page, the kind that will make you cry. I simply adored the idea of a man going through all the continents, the places he went and the stories he'd listened to. But all the while he was thinking of his little grand children back home. The authors transported me to many places, hearing tales of a child born from the sea, a man in the war, a boy who met Muhammad Ali, a jailmate in Russia and many more. The stories reminded you to look, to see the world around you. To be amazed.

My cover is different, white base with colorful stripes with the names of authors printed on it. This cover is a little boring. Simple. Both covers doesn't tell much of the story though.

Ratings : 4 stars

For more info about the book or author, please click here

Guest Post - Holly Schindler

Hi! Holly Schindler is a award winning author (she'd just won a Gold Medal in the IPPY Awards for her debut novel, A BLUE SO DARK) having two novels under her belt. The two novels have gorgeous covers :

A BLUE SO DARK           PLAYING HURT


I'm thrilled to host a guest post for Miss Holly. Now, here are the her views on  The Classics

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The Classics 
Guest Post by Holly Schindler 

I’m an old literature major.  I could still recite the first half of THE LOVE SONG OF J. ALFRED PRUFROCK from memory (used to know the whole thing), and can also recite a good deal of Dickinson, Anne Bradstreet…Passages from JANE EYRE, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE…

I know that a lot of readers who far prefer contemporary fiction think this is a bit of a throwaway ability…kind of like knowing a bunch of useless trivia…

Actually, though, it’s not…

I don’t really think that an author’s voice is something that a writer’s born with…It’s something that develops over time.  And part of that development is being exposed to as many other voices as possible…

Sure, you need to be familiar with the current works in the genre you want to write for…But your voice, the thing that makes you, well, you, is something that can be deepened, enriched by writers from other genres and other time periods…

Writers of classic literature have different voices, in part, because their worlds were different.  Their realm of experiences were different (Jane Austen certainly never relied on a phone or rode in a car…)  And if you can find a way to identify with those voices, if you can feel for characters from another time-frame, whose lives are so incredibly different from your own, the easier time you’ll have empathizing with the characters you create—and by expressing your empathy in your work, you will bring about an emotional response from your reader, as well…
   

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Facts On Miss Schindler :
1. Holly has a blog at hollyschindler.blogspot.com
2. She welcomes you to follow her on Twitter : @holly_schindler
4. Remember to check out her books :
A BLUE SO DARK  
Fifteen-year-old Aura Ambrose has been hiding a secret. Her mother, a talented artist and art teacher, is slowly being consumed by schizophrenia, and Aura has been her sole caretaker ever since Aura’s dad left them. Convinced that “creative” equals crazy, Aura shuns her own artistic talent. But as her mother sinks deeper into the darkness of mental illness, the hunger for a creative outlet draws Aura toward the depths of her imagination. Just as desperation threatens to swallow her whole, Aura discovers that art, love, and family are profoundly linked—and together may offer an escape from her fears.

PLAYING HURT  
Star basketball player Chelsea “Nitro” Keyes had the promise of a full ride to college—and everyone’s admiration in her hometown. But everything changed senior year, when she took a horrible fall during a game. Now a metal plate holds her together and she feels like a stranger in her own family.
As a graduation present, Chelsea’s dad springs for a three-week summer “boot camp” program at a northern Minnesota lake resort. There, she’s immediately drawn to her trainer, Clint, a nineteen-year-old ex-hockey player who’s haunted by his own traumatic past. As they grow close, Chelsea is torn between her feelings for Clint and her loyalty to her devoted boyfriend back home. Will an unexpected romance just end up causing Chelsea and Clint more pain—or finally heal their heartbreak?



Miss Holly posing for the camera 

Book Blogger Hop - 13 May

Book Blogger Hop


In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love of the written word!  This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to 
connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other,
and generally just share our love of books!

"Are you going to Book Expo America (BEA) and/or the Book Blogger Convention (BBC) this year?"
     No!! I'm not living in the States and my mother sure as hell ain't gonna pay for the trip. So I can only watch you guys buying books while the saliva is dripping from the corner of my mouth.
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