Brothers by Yu Hua

     Brothers is the first book I read that has been translated from Mandarin. It seems like the book was translated very well, but I thought that the story line was different from many of the Western books I read. In general, it was similar to other books, but I detected a strong importance of family image that are absent from Western literature. There were also subtle differences that I just couldn't pinpoint.
     As the title suggests, Brothers tells of the lives of two brother (...well, half-brothers), Baldy Li and Song Gang, starting from their traumatic childhood to their vastly different adulthood. The book is both both funny and serious with deeply emotional moments. I honestly have no concept of the historical accuracy of the book, but the Cultural Revolution scenes seem at least plausible. This book piqued my interest in Chinese modern history, since I knew virtually nothing, so the book encouraged me to gain a little new information.
     I really enjoyed reading the book, even though it took me until my winter break to finish it. It really broadened my horizon as to the types of books I am willing to read. I was pretty open to new genres, time periods, and language before reading the book, but that didn't mean I wasn't hesitant. Even for this book, I was skeptical to pick it up, but I am glad I did.
     I understand that a 700ish page Chinese book does not sound appealing to many of you, but I ask that you give it a shot and you may find that it just the refresher you need.

Summer Reading Catch-up

Unfortunatly, I forgot to post reviews on my summer books sooner and now have only a vague sense of my enjoyment while reading. However, it will not deter me from telling everyone my opinions because, dagummit, it's a blogger's right!

Ahem... So the first book I forgot to post a review for was The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larson. I am sure there are many critical reviews out there, so I will be brief. If you a) liked the first book, b) like crime/mystery/suspense or a combination of the three, or c) trust my judgement, then you will like this book. I definitely did. I enjoyed it so much that it is probably only one of a very short list of books I would read again.

The second book is Battle Royale by Koushun Takami. Again, there are many reviews out there, so I will just say that it is graphic and violent, but awesome. If you loved the idea of the Hunger Games, but hated it's execution, this is the book for you. In a quick summary, it is about a class of Japanese middle-schoolers that are chosen to kill off each other on a vacated island. The movie was good, but did not meet my high expectations. If you only plan to watch the movie or read the book, read the book.

Then there is Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy. It was very interesting, maybe a little more so than the first one. I did notice that her writing style is pretty simplistic and was probably never meant for an adult audience. My suggestion is that if you thought The Hunger Games was mediocre, then skip this one. If you loved it, you will really like the second one. I have heard that the third one is the worst in the trilogy, so I am hesitant to read it, but I already purchased it, so I will eventually read and write about it.

I think that's it! I am currently reading Brothers by Yu Hua so look for that review in the next year or so (I kid, I kid). Also, I have checked out a bunch of terrarium books so you can look for that review soon as well. 

Feast for Crows and Space Odyssies

     The time is ripe again for the posting of more book reviews. I have been very busy this summer - more so than last summer - so my reading has suffered, but I have still have many reviews that I need to write.






     The first is the easiest: A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin. It is easy, because there is no more I can say than what's in my previous reviews regarding the Song of Fire and Ice series. The series is great. This book had not a single weakness that I could see. The characters were superbly crafted and continuously honed and the plot is immersible and outstandingly realistic. I, again, urge anyone reading this blog to READ THIS SERIES! That's it for my Game of Thrones rant.

     I interestingly decided to read some real sci-fi this summer, and the book series I chose was 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clark. Although I was expecting an unrealistic portrayal of space travel, I was fortunately wrong. I was amazed (no... I mean literally stunned) by the realism that Clark used in this novel. The storyline had some slow points, but most books do so I can't hold that against it, but it was overall quite well done. I would not recommend this series to those that are entirely uninterested in sci-fi, but I strongly encourage those that have looked mouth-agape at the star-lit sky. (sometimes, I think I should be a poet. What!? I could totally be a good poet.)

   2010: Odyssey Two was slightly worse, in my opinion (but then again, whose opinion would I really be telling you?). The plot moved even more slowly, and things were changed around to be a sequel to the movie rather than the book (because there were differences apparently). This still had the same realism and made me very interested in Europa (did you it is covered by an ocean?! crazy...). My suggestion is that if you already read the first one, you might as well read the second, but I wouldn't go out of your way to get it. I hope the next two in the series are as good as the first one.

Wonderstruck Review

     Unexpectedly, I read Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick today. I saw the book at the library, and became fascinated by it... especially after I learned that the author also wrote the book that the movie Hugo was based on (The Invention of Hugo Cabret). I liked the movie, so I figured why not read one of his books. It is perhaps the most interesting book I have read in a long time. There are two stories separated by fifty years that eventually intersect in a peculiar way. The real kicker is that one story is told in just pictures and the other one is told the traditional way... you know, words. I had not intended to read the entire book today, but after I read about 100 pages in pretty much no time, I realized that the 620 pages would be cake to read. I literally just finished it (and I am writing a review already?! I must be ill...) after just about 2 hours of reading. Awesome isn't it? So if you have a couple of hours to spend, I would recommend this easy, but interesting read.

     One story is told by Ben, who is desperately trying to search for his father after his mother dies. The other story is shown through the eyes of Rose, who is running away from a unsatisfactory life. Each are from two different parts of the country, but come together in a bizarre, but not completely unexpected, way. I felt myself feeling for the characters and submerging myself into their stories. Because of its conciseness, originality, cohesion, and deep emotional impact, I loved it. This book has actually made me interested in Selznick, so you may be seeing more reviews of his work in the future.

Happy Reading!

Storm of Swords Review

      As usual, Martin has written another amazing book. Also unchanging is my reason for reading this one at the current time: so the show doesn't ruin anything. As mentioned from by previous blog, there are parts in the 2nd season that doesn't officially occur until the third book. On the positive side, I am far enough ahead that I won't have to read the fourth book for awhile, but on the negative side, I am addicted to the series and can't wait that long to read the fourth book. I am hoping to read it this summer, but I am also applying to medical schools and taking the MCAT and a bunch of other things so it is a wait-and-see kind of thing. 
     Alright, to the book... Martin is an amazing writer and if you haven't read him yet, you should. Even if it not part of the Song of Fire and Ice series (although you have to read that too!). What I find truly exhilarating about this book is that there are so many HUGE twists and cliffhangers. Of course there is still a lot of gore, sex, and ... characters. There never seems to be any less characters, even if they die, Martin makes sure to put one or two in their place. That is a slight annoyance, but there are so many things happening at once that is becomes a necessity. There is only so much that I can say about the plot before it gives something away either from this book or the first two books. I guess I can tell you some of my favorite characters. To me, the most interesting characters are Bran,  Daenerys , Tyrion, and Arya. They are and/or were awesome characters. That reminds me of an awesome saying I heard about George R. R. Martin recently: "The first rule of GRRM is never get attached." Very apt I would say.
     The rating of this will be high, and I am kind of feeling bad because I haven't read any "bad" books so it seems like I rate all of the ones I read highly. This is not the case; it is usually just that I pre-screen books before I read them so I don't waste any of my valuable time. Hopefully this persuades some people (*cough cough* this means YOU readers) to read this!

Give me some feedback! It is lonely at the computer ;)

The Hunger Games

     As I (probably) mentioned in a previous post, my elder cousin recommended the Hunger Games series to me this past Christmas. I had not intended on reading the series until the summer when I have a little more time, but then my friends informed me that we were seeing The Hunger Games movie the next day. If you know me at all, you wouldn't be surprised to know that I dropped everything I was doing and went to reading the book before I saw the movie. I had literally read for about 8 hours total (of course this was off and on. I mean ... I have to eat you know!!) and was a mere chapter until I finished it, and then I had to leave for the movie. I was a little frsutrated, but I got through the main points, so it wasn't a catastrophe.

     In the book/movie, there is a future government controlling North America, and there are the (you guessed it) Hunger Games as punishment for the revolution that occurred about 75 years or so (judging form how many Hunger Games that have been). In these games, two teenagers from each district (one girl and one boy ranging in age from 12-18) are offered as tributes to fight to the death for the amusement of the rest of their country. It is a very dark plot, and kind of reminds me of the Pendragon book The Quillian Games, but Hunger Games is much more mature. The main characters are form District 12 and the two tributes are Peeta and Katniss. There is nice development between them throughout the book/movie as well as their attitudes of the government. You will just have to read them to find out (or I GUESS you could watch the movie, but what fun is that??)

     Since at this time in the past (or is it the present O.o), I had not finished the book, I will rate the movie followed by the book. I loved how no major things were changed in the adaptation, but was just a little concerned about some of the stuff that they left out. Unfortunately, I can't even be too upset with them about that, because the movie was already treading on the "too-long-to -sit-through" movie at 2 hours and 20 minutes. I think the only complaints that I can really make is the shaky camera (I absolutely hate that kind of filming. HATE IT I say!) and the romance that they added in. I thought that it was really cheesy (and I think it was meant to be) and if I hadn't read the book (or at least most of it), then I would have thought that Katniss liked Peeta (sorry if it spoiled anything, but I doubt it did). The director could have made the act on Katniss's part much more prominent, but instead left doubts in the audience's mind; making us think "well, maybe she IS in love with Peeta." It's all a bunch of hulabaloo. I guess overall, I have to rate the movie as a 8.5/10. Pretty solid movie, but as an adaptaion, the score drops to about 7.

     The book was fantastic! Many twists and very good writing style. I don't even know what to say. When a book is good, you shouldn't have to explain it's greatness.

     Oh, as I am sure all of you have noticed, there have been a lot of Hunger Games related things occuring out there on the web. SO I would like to take this oppurtunity to share something I found on tosh.O's blog:

I though that this was awesome!

Bacon TEA!? oh and some books or something...

     So I haven’t written a blog in literally months, but I was drinking my bacon tea from Twinings (yes it actually tastes like bacon… by far the strangest tea I have ever had) and listening to Zooey in the band She & I (I love Zooey Deschanel!!!) and decided it was time to write a blog. I had intended to tell you all about the books I read over winter break (pretty much the entirety of December), but I don’t think it would be fair to rate them now since it would not be accurate. I will however tell you a little about them and then I will look to the future.

     The first book I read was the second Game of Thrones book: A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin. It, of course, was amazing. If you started the series, don’t stop… ever… I am actually planning on reading the third book over Spring break in preparation of the new series (Funny story about that: I watched the trailer and saw Rob have some girl, and I thought the writers were just trying to mess with the book. When I asked my boss, he said it was real… from the third book. Sooo, guess what I will be doing for an entire week? That’s right! Reading 1000 pages!).

     After A Clash of Kings, I read the next two Dexter books. They were getting more and more different from the show, which is disappointing for the show because the books were so good. The only problem about the third book was that there was some fantasy bits thrown in there (monsters and the like) that I thought would have been better left out. It was the same thing when I was reading I am Not a Serial Killer. It would have been a better novel without the science fiction.

     That wraps up my winter reading, so let’s get to the future readings. I recently purchased the first two books in the Hunger Games trilogy upon the high praise from my cousin (she is an adult, so yes… adults can enjoy the books too :P). You can expect that sometime this summer…. Maybe when the movie comes to DVD :/ but eventually nonetheless. I also have The Girl Who Played with Fire on my “To Read” list. Again, probably the summer. The only two that may be expected sooner are A Storm of Swords (Game of Thrones #3) and the nonfiction book I am currently reading: Nudge by Thaler and Sunstein. I am not a huge fan of nonfiction, but this was an awesome book thus far and can’t wait to share it with y’all. Until next time, get reading.

As always, any book suggestions are always welcome!