I have a few weeks off course, so naturally I took myself to the library to pick up some novels:
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
The Maze Runner - James Dashner
Beautiful Girls - Beth Ann Bauman
Mortal Fire - Elizabeth Knox
The Dragon Keeper - Robin Hobb
Await Your Reply - Dan Chaon
Finding Alice - Melody Carlson
I've finished the first 5 in that list, and have just started Await Your Reply.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky - Young Adult Fiction - Coming-of-age
First up, I'd already seen the movie and loved it (wasn't Emma Watson gorgeous?!) so I was expecting the book to be heaps better. It was! Surprisingly the book to movie adaption was really well done, no key points were missed, however the movie did leave out some of Charlie's humor. You really got a sense of the tension and anticipation of the story as it progressed, and I really felt like I was part of it, growing up and understanding the world as Charlie did. That's a rare thing to find in a book, and not only did I feel pulled in, it was hard to separate myself when the end came. 10 million stars and a round of applause.
The Maze Runner - James Dashner - Young Adult Fiction - Sci-fi/fantasy
I was recommended to read this like 4 years ago by two of my good friends, but only picked it up now, it had always been taken out at my local library, for good reason! I'm a big fan of sci fi, I read Goosebumps a lot when I was a kid, then when I turned 14 I read a lot of Neal Shusterman (Bruiser, Unwind, Full Tilt, Everlost Trilogy) and Patrick Ness (Chaos Walking Trilogy and A Monster Calls) which I still read. The Maze Runner has a awesome plot, young teenage boys have had their memories wiped and been sent to a giant maze somewhere, which they've been trying to solve for two years. The climax of the story was excellent, I never saw it coming, and usually I'm pretty good at predicting books and movies. Awesome book. There's a sequel as well, but I feel the story would be better off as one book.
Yes a short story collection. All about girls and women, all beautiful heart warming (or wrenching) stories. I loved them all, and it inspired my to write my own short story, something I've never really been good at (I'm more of a poet).
Mortal Fire - Elizabeth Knox - Young Adult Fiction - Fantasy
If you've read the Dreamhunter Duet, then you'll love this! I read them a couple of years ago on recommendation from a friend, and loved them. Mortal Fire was just as good, if not better. The concept of the story is very original, I've never come across anything similar, and I consider myself pretty well read. The world of Mortal Fire is (geographically) set in New Zealand/ Pacifica region, and intermingles with the world of Dreamhunters (which no longer exists). I can't really give a summary without writing a million words, so here's the blurb on Goodreads. The only thing I had to fault is that the concept and rules of the magic is a little hard to follow, had to re read some bits to completely understand it. But then again I'm a fast reader, so it might be just me.
The Dragon Keeper - Robin Hobb - Adult Fiction - Fantasy
I found this while looking for Perks of Being a Wallflower. Stood out to me cos of the dragon, haha. I love dragons! This book is Book 1 in the Rain Wild Chronicals, and after finishing it, I know I'll definitely be reading the rest. It's in third person, and follows several different characters, and the mingling of their lives. It's about a new generation of dragons that have just emerged from their 'cases' after hibernating for half a year. They were previously sea serpents, so it's kinda like the transformation from a caterpillar to a butterfly. But something went wrong, and the dragons emerged stunted - couldn't fly and and wern't properly formed. The local city has been feeding them for 4 years, now they've decided they can't carry on doing so, so the dragons are being shepherded up a river (Rain Wild river) by the Dragon Keepers to find an ancient dragon city that they have in their memories. I enjoyed this book, but it was a little bit too predictable.
That's it for now! If you've read any of these books, I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions, so comment away!
TTFN
M.F.S
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