December 26, 2017

The Reading Book Post, December 26th


Hello, everyone! Merry Christmas!! I hope you had a great time. As I've informed you yesterday, The Reading Book Post was delayed for today. So, let's see what happened in the literary world the previous week:


  • One of the films I can't wait to watch is definitely The Shape of Water. Until then, let's just take a peek at the film's world from the making-of book. I JUST CAN'T WAIT!!!!

  • Now this is a quite interesting recommendation list: Librarians pick the books everyone should read in each decade of his/her life. Maybe I should read The Argonauts, by Maggie Nelson.

  • Are you pumped up for 2018? Well, looking at those 60 book titles that we are expecting in the following year, I'm looking forward to it! Which book's publication are you expecting?

  • Which Famous Female Author Are You? Take the quiz to find out! I got Sophie Kinsella, and I find her books quite enjoyable so I'm happy with the result. Which author did you get?


December 25, 2017

Merry Christmas!

via Pinterest


Merry Christmas, everyone! All the best wishes for this special day :)
Now, the countdown for the New Year's Eve has begun!

The Reading Book Post is delayed for tomorrow, 
while an overview of 2017's reading is on its way!

December 24, 2017

Review: Almost Midnight, by Rainbow Rowell





Title: Almost Midnight

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books

Date of Publication: November 2nd, 2017

Number of Pages: 144






Summary:

Midnights is the story of Noel and Mags, who meet at the same New Year's Eve party every year and fall a little more in love each time . . .

Kindred Spirits is about Elena, who decides to queue to see the new Star Wars movie and meets Gabe, a fellow fan.

Midnights was previously published as part of the My True Love Gave to Me anthology, edited by Stephanie Perkins and Kindred Spirits was previously published as a World Book Day title.

Review:

So, I've been thinking whether Almost Midnight would be a Review or a Weeckie. I decided on the first, since it features two short stories. Even though I had already read one of them some years ago, as it was featured in My True Love Gave Me collection.

As you'd expect from two holiday season short stories, these are really cute and heart-warming. Midnight is a story of two friends that are really in love with each other, while Kindred Spirits is about sharing a common passion with somebody else. In reality, I could easily imagine both of those stories as a full-length novel.

Midnight is just as the title suggests. Two teenagers meet at a New Year's Eve party and start hanging out. The story follows three consecutive years of those parties and how the feelings of the girl, Mags, change towards Noel. It's so hard not to skip a bit! This is seriously one of those cute stories that really make you feel good and dream of being in love again! Plus, the name Noel is as Christmas-y as it could get - I love it!

I could never guess the plot of the next story though, Kindred Spirits. It's about Elena, who really likes Stars Wars and decides to join the line outside of the local theatre, in order to attend the premier of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Ok, I won't lie! This story appealed to my inner nerd, and as a few days ago I went to the premier of The Last Jedi, I felt this story extremely close to me. Apart from that, the line consisted of just three people (with Elena), and one of them turned out to be a guy from our protagonist's school. I won't spoil it for you, but I really really would love to see what would happen next between those two!

While both of the stories were enormously enjoyable, there is generally one drawback with short stories in general. Character development is lacking. I knew that, and I was actually prepared for this. You get a glimpse of these characters, and by the time that you feel that you might be reaching to a better understanding of their way of thinking the story is over. This fits perfectly Elena and Gabe, as those two seem to have a great chemistry and a past that would make a more lengthy story interesting.

All in all, Almost Midnight is a quick yet enjoyable read. It's feel-good and heart-warming for a Christmas night with a cup of hot cocoa and some gingerbread cookies!


Have a Merry Christmas, everyone!

  

December 18, 2017

The Reading Book Post, December 18th


Hello, everyone! Another week that brings us even closer to Christmas and, of course the New Year 2018.. I think that it's about time for the New Year's Resolutions! But, next week will be the one when we will back at 2017 as a whole, and decide on 2018's goals! Until then, let's see what happened in the literary world the previous week.

  • Of course you remember Devil Wears Prada. Well, get ready for another novel, but this time following the story of Miranda Pristley! The novel is called When Life Gives You Lululemons, and you can read an excerpt!

  • As the end of the year approaches, many dictionaries name the word of the year. So, Oxford Dictionaries have pronounced "Youthquake" the word of 2017! I think it fits, what do you think?

  • But, since 2018 is near, how about taking some book recommendations from Harvard professors? I've already noted a couple of the titles mentioned!

  • This is fun: Take a new technology and a successful novel, throw them together, and get ready to be entertained! This actually happened, when an AI Program wrote an entire chapter of Harry Potter Fan Fiction. Yes, it's true..and it's hilarious!

  • We all have a favourite Jane Austen hero. But, a gentleman named Fitzwilliam Darcy just outshines the rest of them. How about we give the spotlight to a Henry Tilney? I rather liked him from the very beginning!


  • Which Infamous Star-Crossed Lovers Are You And Your Partner? Take the quiz and find out! I got Tristan and Isolde, how about you?


December 13, 2017

Play(list) by the Book: Revival - Stephen King


Hello, everyone! I'm so glad that many of the books that I've recently read have their own Play(list) by the Book. Of course, when I pick up a Stephen King novel I expect that there will be a lot of songs montioned. So, here is Revival with one of the biggest playlists that I have created for this segment. Enjoy!


In this playlist, as you already know, I include all the songs mentioned in the novel, as well as all the albums, artists, and lyrics mentioned. In such a lengthy playlist, it's only natural that I didn't know some songs, and artists that Stephen King included in his text. The first song that I couldn't find was called Sugarland. Another song that was a mystery to me was called Aloona Ana Kaya, by the Excellent-Board Brothers. An unknown artist to me was George Damon with his album Damon Does Gershwin, although I have a hint that he might be fictional. Lastly, two groups that I couldn't find any infomation were Vo-Lites and the Staples Sisters. If any of you know anything about any of these gaps in my playlist, please let me know!


Find more playlists at: Play(list) by the Book

December 11, 2017

The Reading Book Post, December 11th


Hello, everyone! The Reading Book Post is officially in the mood for Christmas! And I, myself, am dreaming of all of the gingerbread cookies I'm going to enjoy during the season. And, of course, all of the books that Santa will bring me. Which book would you like to receive as a present?

Until then, let's see the most interesting literary news of the previous week: 

  • Many things were heard about Johnny Depp's casting in the Fantastic Beasts franchise. Now, J.K. Rowling has broken her silence about this particular casting as Grindelwald. What did you think of this casting?

  • We all know Agatha Christie and, of course, her famous detectives - Hercules Poirot and Ms. Marple. But here are 15 mysterious facts about the author that I doubt you've heard before!

  • Christmas season is the best! And what makes it even better are all of those wonderful Christmas stories that we can read. Here is a list of all-time-favourite books about this season.

  • And if you just want to read something more modern and yound adult-ish, then you can get some recommendations from this list.

  • Which Classic Dr. Seuss Book Defines You? Take the quiz to find out! I got Green Eggs and Ham, whitch one did you get?


December 9, 2017

Play(list) by the Book: Watchmen - Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons


Hello, everyone! So, as I've promised you here is another Play(list) by the Book. This is one from -probably- THE BEST graphic novel ever, Watchment by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons! This is a great playlist, with songs that fit the mood of the story. Sit back, and enjoy!


As per usual, I included in this playlist all the songs that were mentioned in the graphic novel, as well as songs from the artists, albums and lyrics mentioned. From all of the names included in the graphic novel I couldn't find any composer named Andrew Lang, just the Scottish author. In the graphic novel, the albun Are We Not Men? by Devo was mentioned. Although I chose one song (as I always do), the title of the album was so suitable for the story, that I couldn't leave it out, without a special mention. Lastly, jamaican dub was mentioned by Doctor Manhattan, and since I didn't have any true knoweledge of this genre, I found a random song by Johnny Clarke. If you happen to know a better representing song of this genre, please let me know!


Find more playlists at: Play(list) by the Book

December 7, 2017

Review: Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman





Title: Norse Mythology

Author: Neil Gaiman

Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company

Date of Publication: February 7th, 2017

Number of Pages: 299





Summary

Neil Gaiman has long been inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction. Now he turns his attention back to the source, presenting a bravura rendition of the great northern tales.

In Norse Mythology, Gaiman stays true to the myths in envisioning the major Norse pantheon: Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning; Thor, Odin’s son, incredibly strong yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki—son of a giant—blood brother to Odin and a trickster and unsurpassable manipulator.

Review

There is no better way to begin this review than stating that I love mythology and fairy tales. Indeed, I grew up with all those Greek myths with the 12 gods. Also, Celtic fairy tales are among my favourites. Curiously enough, I had never read anything concerned with norse mythology, although I was aware of Odin, Thor, and Loki. So, you can imagine that I was excited that Neil Gaiman's latest book would be a collection of such myths. Plus, Gaiman's take on these myths would certainly be interesting.

Loki, from an Icelandic manuscript
First of all, I have to comment on the order of the stories. Yes, there are 15 stories in this collection, but they are placed in a -sort of- chronological order. Even though I am a complete beginner to norse mythology, I was able to witness the creation of the world and by the end of the book its end. Of course, in between those two narrations there are plenty of adventures that made all those gods so famous. I was even able to witness the creation of Thor's famous Mjolnir, his warhammer, as well as other artifacts that the gods use.

But being a beginner in norse mythology also has its downside. Not being familiar with those myths, I couldn't actually find out if those retellings were in fact close to the core that they should have. I mean, if a book dealt with greek mythology (I'm looking at you Mythos) I could easily tell if the feel was right. I don't mind for certain things and actions to change in a retelling, but I am always looking for the things that made them distinctive. So, in this case I can't really be the judge of the fidelity of those myths to the original ones. I will only refer to the enjoyment of these adventures, although I do have a hint that the original ones might be slightly darker.
Thor, fishing for Jormangandr

Having made my position clear, I can finally say that these stories are pure fun! We see where the world came form, and we have a bunch of guys that seek knowledge, in Odin's case, adventure, in Thor's case, and even mischief, in Loki's case. There are adventures here, like all of the long gone heroes have to boast about. There is fighting and scheming, hidden plans and causes for celebration, there is hope, and despair, there is form-changing and what-are-you-even-doing-Loki moments, there are gods, frost giants, dwarves, and all of those creature! And there is plenty of mead!

It's funny to think that every Thor's venture came from something that Loki had started. In fact, their whole relationship is better described by Gaiman's own words:
"There were things Thor did when something went wrong. The first thing he did was ask himself if what had happened was Loki’s fault. [...]. So he did the next thing he did when something went wrong, and he went to ask Loki for advice."
BUT let's get things straight: Loki is Odin's blood brother, NOT Thor's (I'm sorry Marvel fans).

One thing that I'm not sure about in Norse Mythology is character development. Apart from the relationship between Thor and Loki, and a little bit of Odin, we don't really get to find out the true colours of each one of the characters. And there are many of them. Nevertheless, it's not a common thing in mythology not to dig into human psychology, and so this could be something forgivable in this context. Although I can't hide that I was a tiny bit disappointed by this. In the end, these are retellings - you can go wild!

All in all, Norse Mythology is a very enjoyable read. These are stories to satisfy every fantasy fan, even the ones that aren't familiar with mythology. They trigger the imagination, like every myth should, so for me the retellings achieved what they ought to. I might not be familiar with the original myths, but now I feel like I have an idea about what norse mythology is about.

December 4, 2017

The Reading Book Post, December 4th



Hello, everyone! It's been a while since I've written a Reading Book Post, but here you have it: the first Reading Book Post of December! I'm already thinking what Christmas novel I'm going to read next. Do you have any recommendation? 

  • Gayle Forman, the author of If I Stay, has a new book coming on March 27, 2018. You can now see the cover of I Have Lost My Way, which is available for pre-order!

  • Wow! This must be one of the most impressive libraries I have ever seen! It's located in Binhai destrict in Tianjin, China. Well, I'vw just added one more dream vacation spot!

  • What if classic novels were written in the modern time? How would they even be called? Twitter users have come up with the most hilarious suggestions by using the #MakeClassicNovelsModern. I would definitely read Tess of the d'Uberdrivers, please someone make it happen!

  • Books: we love them, we read them, we collect them. But after a while, books begin to get old and damaged. Can't we do something for our books to remain in great condition? These are some helpful tips for all of the bookworms!

  • Earlier this year we lost the great playwright Sam Shepard. But his last novel, Spy of the First Person, is yet to be published. You can hear Michael Shanon read an excerpt from the upcoming novel.

  • Dictionary.com has announced that the word of 2017 is complicit. It's no wonder that such a word is used to describe this year..

  • Which "Cards Against Humanity" Card Defines Your Life? Take the quiz to find out! My card is "David Bowie flying in on a tiger made of lightning"! This is AWESOME! What's your card? 


December 2, 2017

Play(list) by the Book: The Gunslinger


Hello, everyone! 

My long break from The Reading Armchair is officially over, and I'm coming back with my most favourite segment (probably), the Play(list) by the book! The truth is that this Play(list) by the Book had been created on my Youtube channel since summer, and it was available there for some, as are some other playlists that I'll be posting the following weeks.

This playlist is from the first instalment of The Dark Tower series by Stephen King, called The Gunslinger. It's a fairly small one, so sit back and enjoy!




The rules for a Play(list) by the Book are the same: every song, artist, album, or lyric that is mentioned in a book is included. In the more general cases, like mention of just an artist's name, I choose a song that I feel that it fits the story the best, or simply the song by this artist that I like the most. In The Gunslinger I didn't really expect to find enough songs, but the master, indeed, found a way to mention some even in this post-apocalyptic world!

Find more playlists at: Play(list) by the Book