Reading Update: Gone Girl

I am currently about a third way through Gone Girl. This book has been on my TBR for well over a year and it has only been bumped up to 'currently reading' due to my sister's influence (and by influence I mean constant begging). I have been coerced into reading the book so she has someone to talk to about it. 

At the moment, I think it's alright. I'm loving Gillian Flynn's writing style but at the same time I a little bored because nothing has really happened and it's 140 pages in. I imagine that this is one of those books that you can't really judge until you've finished it and know everything. My sister says it only really gets good after the first half which is mainly just character development. The second half has all the juicy twists and turns. But since she has already told me that there are so many twists and turns, I'm spending a lot of my time trying to figure out what they might be. I know this is a bad habit but who doesn't try to do that when they read a mystery novel. It's practically impossible to not analyse everything for a hidden meaning.

I will keep reading it (of course) but I wanna expedite my reading speed so I can get to the juicy stuff. At the moment I feel like I'm being dragged through possible twists with my eyes blinded. Not that this is an uncomfortable feeling, its just that I feel like I'm so slow in getting to the punch.

I still have my hopes high and expect and great ending. *fingers crossed*

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Book Review: Lisey's Story

An absolute thrill to explore. I was hooked and couldn't turn the pages quick enough. I was always wishing for more time to sit down and devour this book. My immediate opinion is that it is awesome but I think that is almost a given considering that it is Stephen King. This is one of King's newer books; it's actually the newest book that I've read by him. I could tell straight away that his writing style was a little different to the older books I've read, but I will get to this in a moment. First a brief synopsis. 

Lisey Debusher Landon lost her husband, Scott, two years ago, after a twenty-five-year marriage of the most profound and sometimes frightening intimacy. Scott was an award-winning, bestselling novelist and a very complicated man. Early in their relationship, before they married, Lisey had to learn from him about books and blood and bools. Later, she understood that there was a place Scott went -- a place that both terrified and healed him, that could eat him alive or give him the ideas he needed in order to live. Now it's Lisey's turn to face Scott's demons, Lisey's turn to go to Boo'ya Moon. What begins as a widow's effort to sort through the papers of her celebrated husband becomes a nearly fatal journey into the darkness he inhabited. Perhaps King's most personal and powerful novel, "Lisey's Story" is about the wellsprings of creativity, the temptations of madness, and the secret language of love.

From Goodreads 

This story took me surprise in a really good way. I only went into it with this tiny description that is was about Lisey, who is a widow of a famous writer and while she is sorting through his stuff, she is taken on a life-changing adventure. Obviously that synopsis was a little broad but that's the general gist of the story. Except it was so much more. 

Lisey is sorting through her husband's stuff, very slowly, and is approached by an obsessive fan and professor to hurry up and distribute some unpublished worked. This fan sort of hires a psycho to threaten Lisey into giving him the works when the psycho becomes a force of his own and Lisey has to face this one-of-a-kind villain.

Before any of this confrontation even happens, Lisey has to deal with her older sister who has a history of mental illness and is going through an episode. Whilst dealing with this, she is remembering memories of her and her husband which will ultimately lead her to some kind of a conclusion of her grief. 

This story takes an interesting concept to mental illness and where peoples minds go when they are 'gone'. The actual setting of Boo'ya Moon was so intriguing. Its a dangerous place whilst also being a place of healing and nostalgia for Scott and eventually Lisey as she returns. I liked how King took the concept of mental illness and gave a paranormal perspective which was both hopeful and terrifying. 

The writing style, which I mentioned before, identifed quite easily with King's older works but was more restrained in it's craziness; not that it wasn't crazy and wonderful to read. I get into a kind of rhythm when I read Stephen King and it didn't take me long before I go into the groove. I definitely enjoyed all the new words and concepts that he invented to compliment Scott's insanity. My favourites being 'bool hunt' 'smuck/smucking' and 'SOWISA: Strap On When It Seems Appropriate'. It's these kind of quirks that I admire and love about Stephen King and novels in general.

I only really had one slight tiff with book and that was that I didn't really connect with Lisey as I wish I could've. I don't think this is the book's problem. It's most likely mine because it took me so long to finish the book and therefore kind of lost my rhythm with the characters and their lives. Lisey was an interesting character as well as her odd sisters.

Overall, I loved this book and I'm so glad I decided to pick it up. Even though it wasn't a thriller, it was still a thrilling read and I was completely enthralled in Lisey's Story. 

Rating -  4 out of 5 stars

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I Guess, I'm Back

I've had a few book blogs in the past (and even in the present) but only one I've stuck to. That would be my book tumblr which has now become my main blog on tumblr because what else would I really be posting on there except books. 
I've always been interested in sticking to reviewing my books. In fact, for awhile a few years ago I used to review every book I read. Unfortunately, (not really) I started reading too many books to review them all so I ended up stopping altogether. For awhile I've wanted to start getting back into the habit but I was still reading too many books for it to be an easy habit.
This year I've started my law degree which means I hardly have any time to sit down and read, therefore the amount of books I've been reading has been on the down low. 
Now that I'm reading a book over about a week or two, I feel like I can get back into the habit of reviewing books again. I absolutely love trying to capture all my emotions of a book I've just finished into words. 
This post is kind of like an re-introduction. I have done review before but this time I would like to make it a habit and stick to it. I would also like to post more than reviews here because I have a lot of bookish opinions that rear their head at time to time. 
I hope you enjoy my blog, in all it's reborn freshness.

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100 Bookish Things

Here is kind of a challenge to list 100 Bookish things or opinions about me. I imagine it will take some effort but here goes.

1. I've always been a good reader (since before I started school)
2. I was reading adult non-fiction when I was 6/7 because kid dinosaur books were too childish
3. I started Harry Potter after I watched the first movie when I was 6
4. But I never fully read the series until last year
5. Goblet of Fire is my favourite book
6. But Chamber of Secrets is my favourite movie
7. Roald Dahl was my favourite author when I was in primary school
8. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was the book I finished by him
9. The Little Princess was the first book I remember finishing.
10. Until middle school, I always remember having trouble with finishing books.
11. Now I have to finish or a book or it will drive me up the wall. (even if I hate it)
12. I do not feel the same way about a series.
13. I like my series to be in all the same editions
14. I tend to wait till a series is finished before I start it
15. A Song of Ice and Fire is the big exception because I was so afraid of spoilers from people who watch the show.
16. I had the whole of Book One spoiled for me, but I didn't mind that much.
17. Other than that spoiler, I despise spoilers and will literally disown friends for it
18. A friend in high school ruined Jane Eyre for me, that I stopped reading it
19. I still want to read Jane Eyre because it is such a good story 
20. I haven't read as many classics as I would like to have read
21. I haven't read Frankenstien
22. I loved Dracula way more than I expected to.
23. I haven't read any Dickens
24. Though I read a children's version of Great Expectations when I was 10/11
25. I started Great Expectations in 2011 but haven't picked it back up
26. I've read all the Grimms Fairy Tales
27. I haven't completed one Sherlock Holmes tale
28. I picked up Alice in Wonderland probably 5-6 times in my life and I can never remember finishing it.
29. I loved the Series of Unfortunate Events
30. But I only read about 5 or 6 of them.
31. Goosebumps Choose Your Own Adventure books are what got me into the horror genre.
32. I wanted more advanced books to read when I was a kid
33. My uncle suggested Stephen King but my mum told me I couldn't because she didn't want to deal with my nightmares
34. Since then I remembered Stephen King and wanted to read his stuff and get freaked out.
35. My first King was The Shining and I read it in 2012.
36. It didn't scare me
37. But I was surprised by how much I enjoyed and admired King's writing
38. I read Carrie straight afterwards
39. I also decided that I wanted to read everything he had ever written.
40. Goes without saying, Stephen King is my favourite author
41. The Dark Tower series is my favourite thing I've ever read. I'm obsessed.
42. I got the Dark Tower series in matching paperbacks as an anniversary present and incidentally we broke up soon after; I like to think I scored well.
43. I've read 18 Stephen King books, with #19 soon to follow
44. I own 40 Stephen King books
45. Eddie is my favourite Stephen King character (Dark Tower)
46. The ending of the Dark Tower put me into a coma, not literally, but I can't stop thinking about it and trying to analyse it.
47. I haven't read It
48. or Misery but I want to this year.
49. I own two copies of the Gunslinger.
50. Insomnia was so much better than expected.
51. One Hundred Years of Solitude was an instant favourite.
52. The Passage was the first book I bought on my first kindle.
53. I now own the hardcover
54. I've read it twice.
55. I haven't read the Twelve because I'm waiting for the third book to come out
56. It is my favourite post-apocalyptic series.
57. Allegiant was a great book and the ending, although heart-breaking, was good
58. I loved the Uglies series
59. I didn't like Mockingjay
60. I've read the Twilight series more than once.
61. But I don't own them anymore.
62. The movies sucked.
63. I hated the Shining movie. 
64. Les Miserables is one of my favourite books
65. and I own two copies of it
67. War and Peace wasn't as long as I thought it would be.
68. plus it was really good.
69. I will read from literally any genre
70. I tend to not judge books too seriously and can be really open minded.
71. I like weird books
72. I really didn't like Blood Meridian
73. I like to randomly tell people in bookstores which books I like
74. I first read the Book Thief in 2009
75. and fell in love.
76. I will never be over Rudy.
77. Oddly, I don't own a copy of it.
78. Sometimes I prefer reading on my kindle than physical books, just because it's easier to hold. (aka I'm lazy)
79. Sometime telling me that they didn't like a book won't completely deter me if I want to read it.
80. I love books with illustrations
81. My favourite genre is probably fantasy or literary fiction.
82. I shamefully haven't read the Lord of the Rings
83. I have read the Hobbit and absolutely loved it
84. If I listen to an album for the first time (on repeat) whilst reading a book, the songs will remind me of the book. (eg I listened to only Bastille while reading the HP series, now whenever I listen to Bastille I think about HP)
85. I only listen to music while reading to block out other noises (bus, loud house)
86. Otherwise, I prefer complete silence.
87. Sometimes I procrastinate reading.
88. I like/enjoy reorganising my bookshelves.
89. I currently have my books ordered in alphabetical order by title.
90. I can't understand not having some kind of order to a bookshelf
91. I wish I could read faster
92. or at least had more time to read
93. I've never read Terry Pratchett and this makes me sad.
94. The oldest unread book on my shelf is about 2 years old.
95. 2 years ago I had literally no books in my room
96. I only used the library
97. because I couldn't afford books and I read too fast for it to be reasonable.
98. I have somewhere around 100-160 unread books on both my shelf and kindle (unsure)
99. I think YA can be a little overrated at times and I wish that I knew more people who read outside YA.
100. I shocked myself (and family and friends) when I set out to read 25 books last year but instead read 124.

Hopefully I haven't numbered it wrong. But I did it. Didn't take me too long. Maybe challenge to think of 100 bookish things about you. 

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Book Review - The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

Oh, the anguish. This may be the saddest book I've ever read (trumping Les Miserables and The Book Thief). I had some control at the beginning of the novel and held back my tears by in the last chapter or so I was a complete mess. It was emotionally traumatic.

After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day’s journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season and shore leaves are granted every other year at best, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby. 
Tom, whose records as a lighthouse keeper are meticulous and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel has taken the tiny baby to her breast. Against Tom’s judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them. 
M. L. Stedman’s mesmerizing, beautifully written novel seduces us into accommodating Isabel’s decision to keep this “gift from God.” And we are swept into a story about extraordinarily compelling characters seeking to find their North Star in a world where there is no right answer, where justice for one person is another’s tragic loss. 

From Goodreads 

I was utterly enthralled by Stedman's writing style and I was captured by the character's stories. I literally couldn't put this book down. I was swept away into their anxieties and I wasn't let go till the very end.

This book has a whole heap of downs. Like things can't go right for these characters and you immediately feel for them. You begin to sympathise with every one of the characters and after awhile, sympathising with every character creates unwanted anxieities because it every character can't possibly be satisfied. Oh the anguish! I felt so deeply for all the characters and I didn't know how they would make it through all of this. I was completely consumed with anxiety throughout this novel and then brought to an emotional mess at the conclusion.

I love sad books, books that make me feel something, and boy did this book make me feel. 

What a masterpiece of dramatic writing!

Rating - 5 out of 5 stars

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Book Review - House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

House of Leaves is the kind of story that loves to mess with your head a "little" bit. It doesn't have one storyline and one of the stories can be unreliable at times due to his increasing lack of sanity. I found myself spiralling downwards in a maze of subtle confusion as I continued through this novel. All of this may sound like a discredit to the novel but I absolutely loved it. Thought it was innovative as a book and a story.

A brief synopsis about what's going on:

• Johnny Truant finds a suitcase with a manuscript in it, written by a friend's neighbour who is recently deceased.
• The manuscript is a "non-fiction" analysis of a documentary that follows a family as they move into their new house and discover that it is bigger on the inside.
• The Navidson Family become increasingly affected by the house and there are several explorations made to try and discover how big it really is and what is making that roaring noise.
• Johnny Truant adds footnotes to the manuscript that depict a sort of life story as he makes his discovery of the manuscript.
• The book has extensive footnotes and appendices and at some points takes an innovative approach at page space (as in a sentence might be backwards, upside down or spread across several pages)

I honestly don't know what I enjoyed the most about this book because there is just so much to love and appreciate. 

The story may seem like a haunted house novel or a man's decline into insanity, either or, they were composed with such skill that made them seem believable and in a scary way, relatable. Even though Zampano was a silent character, his present is very much felt, especially in the poems and the bits he decided to try and cut out of the manuscript. Navidson was described and experienced in a very different way as well as his wife, Karen. I got to know them in a way I've never a character before due to the non-fiction approach to their story. Johnny Truant's parts were the scariest and definitely kept me thinking, especially his ending (which to be completely honest, I didn't quite understand it).

Because of the general non-fiction layout of this novel, I felt it lacked a necessary climax but that didn't really bother me because there was enough excitement to satisfy my preferences. 

Absolutely amazing and I just loved the innovation in this book. It was a terrific treat to read.

Rating - 5 out of 5 stars 

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Just finished Aesop's Fables (and loved it!)

Such a beautiful book with such wonderful tales. Absolutely loved it. 

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