Movie News: MORE Divergent!!

Can you guys tell that I'm really excited for this? More footage from the Divergent set has surfaced - a behind the scenes look and cast interview. Enjoy :)

Wishlist Wednesday (16)

Wishlist Wednesday is a weekly Meme hosted at Pen to Paper

This week I'm wishing for...

Eve by Anna Carey 

Summary from Goodreads:

"The year is 2032, sixteen years after a deadly virus—and the vaccine intended to protect against it—wiped out most of the earth’s population. The night before eighteen-year-old Eve’s graduation from her all-girls school she discovers what really happens to new graduates, and the horrifying fate that awaits her. 

Fleeing the only home she’s ever known, Eve sets off on a long, treacherous journey, searching for a place she can survive. Along the way she encounters Caleb, a rough, rebellious boy living in the wild. Separated from men her whole life, Eve has been taught to fear them, but Caleb slowly wins her trust...and her heart. He promises to protect her, but when soldiers begin hunting them, Eve must choose between true love and her life."

Why I'm Wishing for It:
Lately my local shopping centre has set up a little stall with piles and piles of books for only $5. So, naturally, I decided to buy a ton of books. One of the books I picked up was Once by Anna Carey, which just so happens to be the sequel to Eve - so, naturally, I have to get the first novel eventually. 

What about you? What are you wishing for this week?

Movie News: Divergent Teaser Trailer

The first teaser trailer for Divergent was just shown at the VMAs - how exciting! What do you think?

Get More: Movie Trailers, Movies Blog

Book Review: A is for Alibi (Kinsey Millhone #1) by Sue Grafton

A is for Alibi (Kinsey Millhone #1) by Sue Grafton

Release Date: 1st November 2005

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia 
Format: eBook
Pages: 320
Rating: 4.0/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2013 OTS, 2013 ODY, 2013 EBC, 2013 GVR and 2013 BSR

Summary from Goodreads:

"PI Kinsey Milhone, in a pretty California town, gets her first case. Laurence Fife was a slick divorce lawyer and slippery ladies' man until someone killed him. Released from jail after 8 years, his wife Nikki wants the truth. But the trail is cold, and at the end is a chilling twist - a second eight-year-old murder and a brand new corpse."

Review:

It took a while for me to get into this. I wasn't find anything spectacular in the story, and I felt that it was really just going through the motions - Kinsey was finding evidence, formulating some sort of idea as to who the killer was, but then, of course, her theory gets knocked around because things aren't adding up, etc etc. It wasn't really until at least half way through the book that things started to pick up.

Around about here was when some genuine surprises were thrown my way. There were some twists in there that I didn't see coming, even though I had some sort of inkling as to who the killer was. And it wasn't until the final 3 chapters or so that everything fell into place. Kinsey had it all figured out, there was the final showdown that I was expecting, and then very abruptly, the novel ended. Maybe it was just me, but I found that ending very quick, pretty convenient, and it prevented me from seeing some other things I wanted to see - Kinsey explaining it all to Nikki, telling the police - I just think that ending could have been longer, we could have seen some things after. 

Overall, this was a quick and easy read, and although it took me some time to get really interested in it, I really enjoyed it - my only major qualm is with the ending. Definitely something worth checking out if you're interested in a short, quick crime read. 

Wishlist Wednesday (15)

Wishlist Wednesday is a weekly Meme hosted at Pen to Paper

This week I'm wishing for...

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

Summary from Goodreads:

"It is the year 2059. Several major world cities are under the control of a security force called Scion. Paige Mahoney works in the criminal underworld of Scion London, part of a secret cell known as the Seven Seals. The work she does is unusual: scouting for information by breaking into others’ minds. Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare kind of clairvoyant, and in this world, the voyants commit treason simply by breathing.

But when Paige is captured and arrested, she encounters a power more sinister even than Scion. The voyant prison is a separate city—Oxford, erased from the map two centuries ago and now controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. These creatures, the Rephaim, value the voyants highly—as soldiers in their army.
Paige is assigned to a Rephaite keeper, Warden, who will be in charge of her care and training. He is her master. Her natural enemy. But if she wants to regain her freedom, Paige will have to learn something of his mind and his own mysterious motives."

Why I'm Wishing for It:
I was watching Carrie on her Youtube channel ItsWayPastMyBedtime just yesterday, and she decided to make a video recommending 10 novels. Her last pick was this one, and she couldn't stop gushing about how amazing it was. So of course I had to go and check it out online - and it sounds right up my alley. I just had to add this to my wishlist. 

What about you? What are you wishing for this week?

Book Review: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Release Date: 28th June 2011

Publisher: Baker and Taylor
Format: eBook
Pages: 544
Rating: 4.5/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2013 OTS, 2013 ODY, 2013 EBC and 2013 GVR

Summary from Goodreads:

"Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed."

Review:

Coming off from reading Days of Blood and Starlight, this was always going to have to fight an uphill battle. And, surprisingly, this book didn't fail to impress. 

The Help is set in the small town of Jackson, Mississippi during the early 1960s, during the time of the civil rights movement. We follow three ladies - Skeeter, a young aspiring author, and Aibileen and Minny, two black maids working for two white families - as they come together and try to make a difference, however small it may be. 

I've never read about this period of time before, so that it itself was quite interesting. The racism everywhere - from how the town is segregated into sections based on race, to Hilly's campaign to install additional bathrooms in all houses employing black maids because of their 'diseases' - it's just astounding to read that and think that people used to live like that. And nothing was ever done about it because either a) people had just come to accept the way things were (in Aibileen's case) or b) they just never thought about how wrong it all was (in Skeeter's case). Just that in itself was fascinating to read. 

I loved each of our three narrators for different reasons. Each had their own little story, and each grew throughout the novel and bridged the gap between the races. Minny grew to care for her employer on a personal level, for the first time. Skeeter grew to really appreciate her childhood maid, Constantine, and see her friends' true colours. And my favourite part by far, Aibileen decided to teach Maw Mobley, the little girl she looked after, that there was no difference between black people and white people. It may have gotten Maw Mobley in trouble a couple of times, but I loved that Aibileen taught her to see people for who they really are, not just the colour of their skin.

I loved so very many aspects of this novel, and it's a fascinating read - I'd suggest checking it out (or even just the movie, I heard that was pretty good too).    

A to Z Book Blogger Survey

A little while ago Jamie at The Perpetual Page Turner created this little survey about all things bookish. I love surveys, so I thought I'd have a go!

Author You've Read the Most Books From: 

Marian Keyes (I think). I've read all her books so it's a good guess that she's the one I've read the most of 

Best Sequel Ever:

The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Currently Reading:

The Help by Kathryn Stockett 

Drink of Choice While Reading:

Probably just water

E-reader or Physical Book?

I love my e-reader, oh so very much, but I'm always going to prefer a physical book over an electronic one

Fictional Character You Probably Would Have Dated in High School:

Let's go with Noah from the Mara Dyer series

Glad You Gave This Book a Chance:

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor - I always knew I was going to read this, but it took me quite some time to actually get around to that. I'm glad I finally did!

Hidden Book Gem:

Juliet by Anne Fortier - I picked this up on a whim and was really surprised

Important Moment in your Reading Life:

Probably when I decided to start this blog. Reading had been falling to the wayside for a few years but I really wanted to get back to it, and having a blog to write down my thoughts pushed me to read more than I ever have before - and I love it!

Just Finished:

Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

Kinds of Books You Won't Read:

Almost anything non-fiction

Longest Book You've Read:

At 864 pages, that would be A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Major Book Hangover Because of:

I don't usually suffer from book hangovers, but I did find it a struggle to pick up a book after Days of Blood and Starlight

Number of Bookcases You Own:

Just one

One Book you have Read Multiple Times:

I don't tend to re-read books, and if I do, it's only to skim over the plot before I move onto the sequel

Preferred Place to Read:

Curled up in my bed

Quote That Inspires You:

I don't record quotes from books, but I'll hit you up with one from Charlie Chaplin: A day without laughter is a day wasted

Reading Regret:

Not reading the Harry Potter series. When the books first came out my mum tried to get me into it, but it just never happened - I've only read that last one

Series You Started and Need to Finish:

The Caster Chronicles by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (Two down, two to go)

Three of your All Time Favourite Books:

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin, and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Unapologetic Fangirl for:

The Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Mara Dyer series

Very Excited for this Release More than All the Others:

Allegiant By Veronica Roth (just over 2 months to go)

Worst Book Habit:

Maybe sometimes I don't treat my books so well...

X Marks the Spot: Start at the Top of your Shelf and pick the 27th Book:

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Your Latest Book Purchase:

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Zzz-Snatcher Book (last one that kept you up way to late):

Insurgent by Veronica Roth