Kaleidosophie

Wednesday, 25 June 2014

Review #48 - A Thousand Cuts by Simon Lelic

Trigger warning: murder and suicide

Despite the fact I bought this is in New York's Strand bookstore this book is British. It's about a teacher who goes into assembly one day and goes and kills three people. It follows the police woman in charge of the case and her working out why the teacher did this atrocity.

The book is written from two different types of perspectives; one is the third person following the police advancements of the case and the other is the dialouge from the testimonies. This is where the writing really really shines. They are woven together really well. Each character has a very distinct voice and this is probably the book's strongest point.

This book is gorgeously British, from references to supermarkets to the education system. I loved it for that. I don't think it would have had the same effect if it was set in the USA as they have a much stronger gun culture and school shootings are much more regular (which is just awful). It was shocking and the response was so strong because it never happens.

It was very gripping and paced really well. The narrative added to the pace in a really positive manner. It was just a really good crime novel that isn't too gory.

There was a lot about prejudice and bullying cultures throughout the book which felt like a social commentary. This part in the book especially was very dark and wasn't exactly a summer read. Most definitely an adult book.

I would recommend this if:
You want a non-gory entry into crime
You would like a book on crime that is very British
You want a book that is a caricature of British senior schools.

I gave this four stars.

Buy it here

Tuesday, 24 June 2014

Review #57 - Heir of Fire by Sarah J Maas

I often struggle with reviews. I find it hard to put what I didn't like about the book into words and coherent sentences. I have struggled to write this review because no words can quite put into words how I am feeling right now but for the opposite reason. This book is so perfect, it is impossible (well almost impossible) to quite put what I adored about it into words.

This is the third book in the Throne of Glass series and I received this is an ARC from Bloomsbury. For that I am so so grateful and is the best end of exam present ever. This review will be spoiler free.

The book is cleverly written: in the words that are picked, the dialogue (which I read over four or five times) and the relationships that are built. There are three main story lines and I did have a definite favourite but I adored all of them. The pace was maintained well in all three and covered all my favourite characters.

The emotions that I feel for these characters are beyond a level that is considered rational. I am emotionally invested in them beyond belief (especially to do with a certain new character who was introduced in this book). And Celaena is just as smart and brave and real as she ever has been. I read Assassins Blade when it came out (March) and the contrast between Celaena then and Celaena now is astonishing and so well written.

Honestly, I love these characters like my friends.

When I was about 40% of the way through this book I started thinking that I hadn't felt the emotions the book was stirring in me since Dumbledore's final scene in Harry Potter. By the end I knew it was much more than that. I haven't ever felt the emotion it stirred in me ever before, in real life or fiction. The best way I can describe it is pride mixed with love mixed with pure joy mixed with comfort mixed with a tinge of sorrow for all my darling characters.

I have grown up having "comfort books" that I lived on and grew from. Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Juliet Dove. All those series ended and though I was satisfied with those endings nothing ever really has filled the gap left by these writers. And then I discovered Sarah J Maas. I met her in October and right now, if I never meet JK Rowling (which was always my childhood and teenage dream) I think I will be okay, because I have a book that tells me to rattle the stars. Sarah J Maas has filled the literary hole in my heart and for that I will always be grateful.

Thank you, Sarah J Maas.

I would recommend this to:
Anyone with a heart
Everyone who is human
Everyone who contains an X chromosome

If you have read Crown of Midnight Sarah J Maas did an excellent video on Heir of Fire

Heir of Fire will be available September 2014.

Buy Throne of Glass (#1) here

Buy Crown of Midnight (#2) here

Buy The Assassins Blade (#0.1-0.5) here
I have linked all the UK editions because you don't have to separate them on a colour coded bookshelf and they look awesome.

Monday, 23 June 2014

An Explanation

I feel like I owe you an explanation, though I probably don't, about why I haven't been posting quite as much in the past three or four weeks.

In the UK we have three major sets of exams before university: GCSEs, AS levels and A2s. AS Levels and A2s take up your last two years of school and I did my GCSEs last year. Typically people do 10 GCSEs, 4 AS levels and then 3 A2s.

I decided at the beginning of this year that I was going to do my 4 AS levels in Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Maths this year and then also an A2 in Maths. Also in June I have to write a personal statement for the uni application (quakes in boots) and the last 2000 words of my 5000 word essay on if TENS can be used as an effective pain relief for Phantom Limb Pain (plot twist, it can't.)

So I spent every hour of every day doing past paper after past paper of C3 and C4 (maths). So I didn't have much time to blog or even read. But last Wednesday was the day my exams finished and even though my personal statement needs work and I've still got 500 words of this essay to write, I am trying to get back into activities I did in my spare time before exam season. Like reading Heir of Fire. Blogging. Arranging trips to Legoland Windsor. The usual.

I'm back to give very opinionated reviews and to generally stroke books. Talk about summer. Hello world, I'm out of my bedroom and ready.

Sunday, 15 June 2014

Review #47 - Start Here: Read Your Way Into 25 Amazing Authors

This will be a short review as this book is about 170 pages. It's a book where different people tell you in which order to read books of a certain author if you want to start reading them, i.e. if you want to read Dickens you should read Oliver Twist.

This book is suppose to inspire you to read the authors it talks about when really I just wanted the book to be over so I could add it to my goodreads challenge. If anything it put me off the authors it talked about even though I am a big fan of a couple of them (Arthur Miller etc).

The book is really short with a lot of spacing so it didn't bore me to tears as it was short so it was over and done with quickly. I guess that's what made it two stars rather than one star.

Parts of this book are written my academics who are experts on the authors they are discussing. As a result the order that they put the author's books in were in a good author to see the evolution of their writing etc, but it wasn't a good order for someone who is intimidated by authors, who are the target audience. For example, the book recommends you read Oliver Twist first, when that book is a good 500 pages. It didn't think about the audience, but then again, these are academics not CEOs.

I would recommend this if:
You can get this for free
You are a child prodigy academic and just want to read some E M Forster for fun
You have read every author and want to hear academics opinions

I gave this two stars

E book only.

Wednesday, 11 June 2014

Review #46 - Ann Veronica by H G Wells

This is an Edwardian book about a girl called Ann Veronica who's father forbids her from studying Biology at Imperial so she goes to London by herself to become a student. However, while she is there she falls in love with one of the professors.

This is a really, really good book but I did have a concern about it. That, however, didn't stop it becoming really important to me as a book. It left me wanting to buy an actual copy and being one of the five to ten books I take to university next year. It was just this perfect balance between being pro-women's-rights/feminism and wanting to be a mother and part of the "classic female" roles.

Ann Veronica is one of my favourite female characters of all time because she is strong and resourceful especially in the time that the book was written. I really liked how she wouldn't conform because she felt that it was oppressive and really a really good reflection on H G Wells. Also, there is a part of me that feels very similar to Ann Veronica vis-à-vis an obsession with London and wanting to do a Biology degree etc. There was also this contrast between her strength and her naivety which I loved.

The sentence construction was really beautiful "Were I a painter of subject pictures, I would exhaust all my skill in proportion and perspective and atmosphere upon the august seat of empire, I would present it grey and dignified and immense and respectable beyond any mere verbal description, and then in vivid black and very small, I would put in those valiantly impertinent vans, squatting at the base of its altitudes and pouring out a swift straggling rush of ominous little black objects, minute figures of determined women at war with the universe." My favourite parts were the bits where Ann Veronica was in love: "and now her mind was so full of the thought that she was in love - in love! that marvellous state!" They were just really, really powerful and captures it so so perfectly.

It did go on a bit but that is my only criticism. It isn't one for people who get bored easily.

There is a fabulous paper on feminism and femininity in Ann Veronica by L.S. Limanta (spoiler-full though) so if you do want to read that (or just skim it) click here

I would recommend this if:

You want to read more Edwardian Literature

You want to read a book that captures female life so wonderfully

You want a book that reads freaking beautifully.

Buy it here

I gave this four stars

"I wonder" said Ann Veronica at last "if I am beautiful? I wonder if I shall ever shine like a light, like a translucent goddess?"

She wondered why he was so distinctive, so unlike other men, and it never occurred to her for some time that this might be because she was falling in love with him.

"I want to be a person" said Ann Veronica to the Downs and the open sky; "I will not have this happen to me, whatever else may happen in its place."

Tuesday, 10 June 2014

Review #45 - We Were Liars by E Lockhart

In all seriousness go into it not knowing anything because otherwise I'd think it'd ruin it.

Monday, 9 June 2014

Review #44 - Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins

*takes deep breath in and out*

This has glorious reviews. Booktube was raving about it. I went into it with high hopes. This book was going to be exciting. It would be one of the best books I'd read in 2014. And it did keep me interested because the plot was intriguing. I'll give it that. I read it in a relatively short space of time but I really disliked this book.

Harper goes to her Homecoming and is about to be crowned queen when something strange and mystical happens while putting on her lip gloss. Then her life takes a crazy twist and she has to protect the one boy she hates.

First problem - it was full of this "perfect daughter" stereotype and this really bugged me. I can't explain it (great review there, Sophie) but I felt like everything that happened was met with "oh I can't do this, why is this happening to me, I'm the perfect daughter." It felt really really moany. Ok, maybe I can explain it.

I love stand alone books and occasionally series (cough Throne of Glass cough) and this is the first book of a series. I like books in series if they have endings that are worthy of the amount of time you spend on the book. I felt the ending was inconclusive and just didn't feel satisfied. It felt like it added "an element of surprise" just to make you want to keep reading without giving the first book a real ending. I don't want to keep reading. I'm not spending any more money on this book.

This was a very girly book. I won't deny that I spend my life in skirts and I am addicted to Urban Decay. This was too girly for me. I felt like it locked out a lot of its potential readership and the cover didn't reflect this as the knife sort of suggested it would be girly like Throne of Glass is girly. It was a little too obsessed with lipgloss and didn't really capture "awesome female warrior princess" like I'd hoped.

This is a very rom-com book. If a Drew Barrymore or Jennifer Aniston film could be made into a book it would look like this.

I would recommend this if:

You want some really girly fiction while having adventure

You love chick flicks

You like series (ok I was a bit short of ideas this time)

I gave this two stars

You know what, don't buy it.

My general tbd link

Monday, 2 June 2014

Review #43 - How to Worry Less about Money by John Armstrong

This is a book by the School of Life on money. Every book I've ever read about money (which isn't a vast amount of books) says how to manage money, how to keep track of it so you can afford holidays and cars etc etc. I am great at managing money (I was the FD for my Young Enterprise company) but I still worry about it. This is what this book is for.

This wasn't particularly practical or useful if you are struggling to manage your money. It was oddly philosophical. It talked about relationships with money and how to think about it in a healthy way so you don't hate not having money or fear money. It was a really different way of looking at finance. It was a much "smarter" book than all the other "this-is-how-you-budget" books.

This merges the gap between non-fiction and fiction really well. It's full of little short stories that are used as examples for the main points within the chapters. These made this different to normal non-fiction and really made it stand out from the genre. I do really like little stories in non-fiction.

I did disagree with some concepts that felt like the author was justifying his own lack of wealth. There was one point he made where he said that the satisfaction your job brought you goes down with income, so high income jobs could not be fulfilling. It felt like the author was telling himself that he wasn't well off because he was doing a job that was fulfilling. It made me feel like the rest of the book would be biased and trust it less.

It definitely wasn't aimed at my age group so some parts were really irrelevant because large parts were all about having a job. The other parts were still really good.

The School of Life makes these beautiful books and they look so pretty and they have rounded corners and they're so cool.

Buy it here at TBD

Sunday, 1 June 2014

May 2014 Wrap Up

Buy any of these books here

1. Lean In: For Graduates by Sheryl Sandberg (★★★★★)
2. Just One Day by Gayle Forman (★★★★★)
3. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (★★★★☆)
4. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (★★★☆☆)
5. The Treatment by Suzanne Young (★★☆☆☆)
6. The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart (★★★☆☆)
7. How to Worry Less about Money by John Armstrong (★★★★☆)
8. Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins (★★☆☆☆)
9. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (★★★★★)
10. Ann Veronica by H.G. Wells (★★★★☆)
11. Start Here: Read Your Way Into 25 Amazing Authors by Jeff O'Neal (★★☆☆☆)
12. A Thousand Cuts by Simon Lelic (★★★★☆)

London Count: 3 (I know, I surprised myself with that one)

I've had a lot of blog views this month. My blog views plummeted when I changed my URL last December but they're back! Hi to the USA, we haven't seen you in ages. I love you guys though. Hi to the Netherlands, Germany, Cyprus and China. Thank you to everyone who reads, Amy-Anne, my lovely main commenter and anyone who buys from my book depository link. You guys are the best.

1. I want to do well academically I think I'm ok atm. Shockingly
2. I want to get interviews for medicine (n/a)
3. I want to start writing a novel Little bits are coming through.
4. I want to get well enough to go to South Africa with Biology. 45 days to go!
5. I want to write more. Is it happening? I think it's happening? I need to do that sunflower award thing.
6. I want to write more reviews. I feel like it's going better
7. I want to blog more consistently. Ditto
8. I want to do more for my future. myehhhh/A Levels
9. I want to take more photos. Hi have you seen my instagram?
10. I want to keep my room tidy. Unfortunately past papers happened
11. I want to be more productive. I AM ON PRODUCTIVITY FIRE
12. I want to stop being terrified of growing up. Yes yes YES I am finally looking forward to it.

Friday, 30 May 2014

Stacking the Shelves #3

Stacking the shelves is a blogging meme from Tynga's Reviews which I stole from Lauren Hannah. Lauren Hannah's button is in the right hand bar.

All of the books I have linked to the book depository are the editions I have them in and every link pays me 5% commission if you buy from it. I want to be upfront about this but any sale is greatly appreciated.

What would you recommend - The Dichotomous Key

I do Biology so we're trying something a little different. Answer question 1 and it will lead you to another question. Do this until you have your book.

1a. Do you want fiction? - Go to question 2
b. Do you want non-fiction? - Go to question 3
2a. Do you want a children's book? - The Letter to the King (review 20)
b. Do you want YA? - Go to question 9
3a. Do you want a visual book? - Go to question 4
b. Do you want a non-visual book? - Go to question 7
4a. Do you want a book on travel? - Go to question 5
b. Do you want a graphic novel on history? - Anne Frank Graphic Novel (review 19)
5a. Do you want a guide book? - Go to question 6
b. Do you want a book of maps? - Maps (review 21)
6a. Do you want a book on the whole of Europe? - 36 Hours (review 1)
b. Do you want a book on Amsterdam? - Amsterdam Guide Book (review 2)
7a. Do you want a book on self-improvement? - Go to question 8
b. Do you want a book on London and/or sailing? - Circle Line (review 3)
8a. Do you want a book on money? - How to Worry Less about Money (review 11)
b. Do you want a book on exercise and/or philosophy? - How to think about Exercise (review 10)
9a. Do you want contemporary? - Go to question 10
b. Do you want non-contemporary? - Go to question 16
10a. Do you want a mystery? - Go to question 11
b. Do you want something else? - Go to question 13
11a. Do you want something by Sara Shepherd? - Two Truths and One Lie (review 17)
b. Do you want something by someone other than Sara Shepherd? - Go to question 12
12a. Do you want a book on the rich and the devious? - We Were Liars (review 13)
b. Do you want a book with a manic pixie dream girl? - Paper Towns (review 4)
13a. Do you want a book set in high school? - Go to question 14
b. Do you want a book set in college? - Just One Day (review 9)
14a. Do you want a book on writing? - Struck by Lightning (review 16)
b. Do you want a book on something alternative? - Go to question 15
15a. Do you want a book on being cool? - Be More Chill (review 6)
b. Are you under 15? - The Boyfriend List (review 18)
16a. Do you want a male protagonist? - Go to question 17
b. Do you want a female protagonist? - Go to question 18
17a. Do you want a book on ghosts? - The Boy in the Smoke (review 15)
b. Do you want a book on witches? - Half Bad (review 14)
18a. Do you want dystopia? - The Treatment (review 7)
b. Do you want fantasy? - Go to question 19
19a. Do you want a book with wolves? -Go to question 20
b. Do you want a book without wolves? - Rebel Belle (review 12)
20a. Do you want a book with werewolves? - Shiver (review 8)
b. Do you want a book on a fairytale? - Scarlet (review 5)

Books I got from The Book Depository

1. 36 Hours - 125 Weekends in Europe

I saw this in Anthropology on Regents St but Anthro is so expensive so I got it online. This is a book by The New York Times about what to do in different cities in Europe if you are going for a weekend. I want to do more travelling in Europe as there are some lovely cities that I haven't been to or haven't been since I lived in Germany when I was really young. There is also a large section on the cities in the UK which is also really interesting as it isn't the usual tourist trail.

Buy it here

2. Amsterdam - DK Eyewitness Travel

I got this because my family visited Amsterdam in April. This is the very visual guide book with floor plans of the museums and has pages on the histories of the houses on certain streets. This is by no means the best guide book for visiting (I will always recommend Lonely Planet) but it's really interesting to look at and read, even when you're not there.

Buy it here

3. Circle Line: Around London in a Small Boat by Steffan Meyric Hughes

This is a book about a man who sails around London through canals and the River Thames. It's my first piece of travel literature and though I didn't love it, if you love Sailing and London (a love of both is necessary) this may be for you.

This is a book I've done a review for.

Buy it here

4. Paper Towns by John Green

I own this on kindle but I've wanted a paper copy for ages and they've introduced new ones which I hate so I wanted to buy this cover before it goes out of print. This is one of my least favourite John Green books. It's about a girl, Margo Roth Spiegelman who takes her neighbour on a mission of revenge and sea world. Though the beginning is really strong and beautiful and metaphory but it does go downhill. I think you should read it though in the same way everyone should read Austen or Great Gatsby.

Buy it here

5. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

This is the sequel to Cinder in the Lunar Chronicles, a futuristic, dystopian fairytale series where every book is a different fairytale with a twist. Cinder is based off Cinderella and Scarlet is based off Little Red Riding Hood. Though I wouldn't say you had to read Scarlet, Cinder is really good so I would ready that.

This is a book I've done a review for.

Buy Cinder here
Buy Scarlet here

6. Be More Chill by Ned Vizzini

Be More Chill is a book about a boy who eats a tiny computer that tells him how to be cool. It's witty and observational and I would definitely recommend if you are still in senior school/high school. Ned Vizzini was a really entertaining writer.

This is a book I've done a review for.

Buy it here

7. The Treatment by Suzanne Young

This is the sequel to The Program. This does have strong themes of suicide so trigger warning. I really enjoyed The Program, but I wouldn't spend money on this if I were you. It's not worth it. The full review goes more into what the book is about but I don't want this post to be triggering in any shape or form.

This is a book I've done a review for.

Buy The Program here
Buy The Treatment here

8. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

This is YA Werewolf fiction. It involves romance, a Twilight-y atmosphere and that feeling you get when you open the fridge for too long and it beeps at you.

This is a book I've done a review for.

Buy it here

9. Just One Day by Gayle Forman

I freaking love this book. It's partly set in Paris, partly set in Amsterdam and partly set in an American college. It's a romance and it's about self discovery and I love love love books about uni. I would definitely read it.

This is a book I've done a review for.

Buy it here

10. How to think about Exercise by the School of Life

I'm currently reading this. This is a book about the philosophy of exercise. It has tips at different points in the chapters but its main message is "nerds can be fit too!" I'm not loving it at the moment.

Buy it here

11. How to Worry Less about Money by The School of Life

This isn't a book on managing money; it's about not worrying about money. It isn't really relevant for teenagers who don't earn (I'd recommend The Teenagers Guide to Money for that) but it has a really interesting perspective on money.

Buy it here

12. Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins

This book was gripping but eugh can a book be more annoying? When reading back my notes on this book the recurring theme was "eugh." Sort of terrible. I don't even like the cover. Dreams=crushed.

Buy it here

13. We Were Liars by E Lockhart

READ IT. Just READ IT. Go into it knowing nothing about it but READ ITTTTTTT.

Buy it here

A Book I got from WH Smiths

14. Half Bad by Sally Green

This is a book about a boy who is a witch who is half good and half bad. His father is evil and it covers the prejudice he faces as a half black witch. I really enjoyed this.

This is a book I've done a review for.

Buy it here

A Book I got from WBD at Blackwell's

15. Boy in the Smoke by Maureen Johnson

This is the prequel to The Name of The Star. Unfortunately this is no longer on sale as it was a World Book Day book but if you can borrow it off someone I would as it is creepy and just great. I did do a whole review on this

This is a book I've done a review for.

Books I got from Waterstones

16. Struck By Lightning by Chris Colfer

If mediocrity and poor writing could ever be summarised into one thing, it would be this book. It's just not great. I know, you may be a huge glee fan but this book is poor. It just is dependent on visual humour in a book and the writing is not good.

This is a book I've done a review for.

Buy it here

17. Two Truths and a Lie by Sara Shepherd

Dear Waterstones,

When you sell a book by itself by an author, can you make sure it's the first in the series? Starting on the third book makes it hard to get into and makes me buy books earlier in the series from other sellers.
Best wishes
Sophie

Buy it here
Buy the first in the series here

18. The Boyfriend List by E Lockhart

This definitely isn't my favourite E Lockhart book but it was still entertaining and funny. I would really recommend this to you if you are in your early teens as I think it would have really resonated with me if I was younger. It's an easy read but still enjoyable.

This is a book I've done a review for.

Buy it here

Books I got in Amsterdam

I went to Amsterdam in Late April and bought some really lovely books: one from the American Book Centre and one in the Anne Frank House.

19. Anne Frank - The Graphic Novel by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon

I've always really struggled to read Anne Frank's diary for one reason or another but this was a really accessible way of reading about it. It was smart and really beautiful. It also includes the aftermath of the diary in the concentration camps which is a bit disturbing so just a warning before you read this. The book also tells you the situation of Europe at different points in the book. Really, really great graphic novel.

This is a book I've done a review for.

Buy it here

20. The Letter for the King by Tonke Dragt

This is like everything that is good about children's fiction all in one book. How this isn't as big as The Hobbit I don't know. It's really, really enjoyable. Read it. Plus it has got a map on the inside cover.

This is a book I've done a review for.

Buy it here

A Book I got as a present

21. Maps

I got this from my Mum and Dad which was so so lovely. It's an atlas of the world and has double page spreads on individual countries and their cultures. It also has individual African countries which is really rare because Africa is often thought of as a country. I think this book is pitched at kids but I'm 17 and I love it.