This weeks musing asks...Describe one of your reading habits.
One of the things I always tend to do when I pick up a new book is quickly flip to the back. Mostly I do this to see how long the book is, so I can gauge how long it will take me to read it. I can be put off by books that are over 500 pages long, and I'm more likely to leave those till when I'm on holidays, rather than tackle it during semester. What I used to always do was also quickly scan the last few sentences of the book. I have no idea what would possess me to do that - waaay too much potential of ruining the book (in fact I think I did ruin a book or two by reading the last few sentences) - luckingly I've broken out of that habit! What about you? Do you jump to the end of a book before you start reading it?
The movie Red Dog just last night - animals dying in films gets me every damn time. What chore do you absolutely hate doing? I don't actually do many chores. It's 'highly recommended' to me that I give my bedroom a thorough cleaning at least once every 3 months, which basically means that my room gets striped, everything is dusted and every corner is vacuumed. What is your favourite form of exercise? Walking, generally with my dog tagging along.
What is your current desktop picture? It's a collection of all the Lifescouts badges I've collected, Lifescouts being the adult version of boy/girl scouts . If you're interested in what Lifescouts is take a look here. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where would you go? Europe, hands down.
It's been a while since I wrote a post concerning movie adaptations, because it's not often that I read a book before it's translated to the big screen. More often than not, movies actually introduce me to new books - The Hunger Games, The Mortal Instruments and The Caster Chronicles were all brought to my attention when I heard about the films or saw the trailers. BUT, I actually have some thoughts on some upcoming films which are based on books that I've already read - for once I'm ahead! 1. Divergent Casting If you've been reading my book reviews, you guys would know that I absolutely loved Divergent when I read it earlier this year (my review here). And no sooner had I finished the book that news came out that it was being adapted for film. What with the success of The Hunger Games, dystopian films are all the rage right now. The film's currently in pre-production and will be released sometime next year, and only a little information about the casting has been made public - but we do have our two leads!
Shailene Woodley was cast a little while ago as our female lead Tris. To be honest, I'm still not sure on this casting. Woodley didn't jump out to me as the perfect choice, not the way Jennifer Lawrence did with Katniss. But, Woodley can act - she's proven herself in Secret Life of an American Teenager and The Descendants. I'll be interested to see how Woodley goes - I'm still not convinced she's the absolute perfect choice for Tris, but she could prove me wrong.
More recently we were told who has been cast as our male lead Four - Theo James. You might recognise him from The Inbetweeners Movie or Downton Abbey, where he had a small part yonkers ago playing Kemal Pamuk. Personally, James is an unknown to me, so I have no idea what his acting abilities are like. Again, I'll be interested to see how James goes.
Alongside Woodley and James, Kate Winslet is set to appear in the film, but what role she will play is still under wraps. It's been theorised that she'll either play Jeanine or Tris' mother, both roles that Winslet could easily rock. Also, Zoe Kravitz - is it just me who thinks she is the perfect fit for Christina?!? 2. Daughter of Smoke and Bone I was super excited when I heard that Daughter of Smoke and Bone is being turned into a movie. It's very early days yet, but we do have a screenwright - Stuart Beattie, who is responsible for Pirates of the Caribbean. I really hope Beattie is able to translate DOSABwell - I think it could be a bit tricky, but if it's done right, I've no doubt this movie will be amazing.
3. Mockingjay will be 2 films The 3rd installment of The Hunger Games film franchise will be split into two films. Whether or not this is the right decision, I'm not 100% sure. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was split into two films and that worked out, but I think everyone can agree that one Breaking Dawn film would have sufficed. I think, if done right, splitting Mokingjay in half could work - I think there is just enough material in the book to fit into two films. Finding a place to stop the first film and start the second is probably going to be tricky, but I think that's always going to be the tricky part of splitting a story into 2 sections. The Hunger Games was an amazing film, so I think it's safe to assume that the sequels are going to be amazing too (at least I really hope so). And, one of my main gripes with the first film was that it cut out some important plot points - splitting Mockingjay into two films is sure to solve tihs problem! What about you? Have you read Divergent? What about Daughter of Smoke and Bone? Are you excited for their upcoming movies?
Beautiful Creatures (The Caster Chronicles #1) by Kami Garcia & Maraget Stohl Release Date: 1st December 2009
Publisher: Little Brown Books Format: Paperback Pages: 563 Rating: 5.0/5.0 This book was read as part of the 2013 OTS, 2013 ODY and 2013 BSR Summary from Amazon:
"There were no surprises in GatlinCounty. We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere. At least, that's what I thought. Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong. There was a curse. There was a girl. And in the end, there was a grave.
Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.
Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.
In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything."
Review:
Ooooo did I enjoy this book. Let's keep this short and sweet. I really enjoyed basically everything about this book - the plot, the characters, the supernatural themes, the romance, the twists and turns. I really liked how the history and romance of Ethan Carter Wate and Genevieve Duchannes was intertwined with Lena and Ethan's romance, and ultimately their future. However, I did think that the ending was a bit of a cop out - it seemed like the easy way out that allowed the story to continue in more books. But, overall, I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading the sequal (and seeing the movie too, but I've heard mixed things about it - well, at least I hope it's good!)
Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer Release Date: 5th Feb 2013
Publisher: Puffin Books Format: Paperback Pages: 452 Rating: 5.0/5.0 This book was read as part of the 2013 ODY, 2013 GVR and 2013 BSR Summary from Amazon:
"Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison--even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive.
Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner."
Review:
This was a fitting sequel to Meyer's debut novel, Cinder. To be honest, I was worried that the introduction of new main characters might interfere with what was already set up in book one, but it all worked out really well. What I love about this series is that each book incorporates a retelling of an old fairytale. Cinder, if you can't tell based from the name, was based on Cinderella, and Scarlet has been based on Red Riding Hood. I was worried a bit when I found this out, because I wondered how Meyer was going to effectively incorporate a new story and new characters, whilst also continuing on the story she began in Cinder. But, Meyer was very clever with how she used the characters of Scarlet (little red riding hood), Wolf (that one's pretty self explanatory) and Scarlet's grandmother Michelle, so that they had significance to the continuing storyline from Cinder. Overall, Meyer continued the fascinating story of Cinder in the second novel in the Lunar Chronicles, and I'm really excited to see where the next novel takes us.
Wolf Hall (Wolf Hall #1) by Hilary Mantel Release Date: 1st April 2010
Publisher: HarperCollins Format: Paperback Pages: 650 Rating: 4.0/5.0 This book was read as part of the 2013 OTS, 2013 ODY and 2013 GVR Summary from Amazon:
"In the ruthless arena of King Henry VIII’s court, only one man dares to gamble his life to win the king’s favor and ascend to the heights of political power.
England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years, and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. The quest for the king’s freedom destroys his adviser, the brilliant Cardinal Wolsey, and leaves a power vacuum.
Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell is a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people and a demon of energy: he is also a consummate politician, hardened by his personal losses, implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?
In inimitable style, Hilary Mantel presents a picture of a half-made society on the cusp of change, where individuals fight or embrace their fate with passion and courage. With a vast array of characters, overflowing with incident, the novel re-creates an era when the personal and political are separated by a hairbreadth, where success brings unlimited power but a single failure means death."
Review: I'm actually finding it a bit hard to sort out my thoughts on this book. On the one hand, I really like reading historical fiction and this book was definitely interesting. But on the other, nothing particularly surprised me in this book, and being surprised by the plot is one of the things I most enjoy about reading. Having already watched The Tudors on TV (which is amazing, by the way), I already had some understanding of the going-ons at the Tudor Court, and as a result, I pretty much knew the whole story. Granted, this was told from someone else's perspective, but it all boiled down to the same story. So now I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place, because I just cannot sort out my thoughts on this book. Would I have enjoyed it more had I not seen The Tudors first? Probably, but I really can't be sure. This book was very long and extremely dense for me, and that could have overwhelmed me if I didn't already know the plot. In this sense, having already seen The Tudors pushed me to keep reading this book, because I knew the plot would be interesting. Overall, I think that hardcore historical fans will really enjoy this book, but I wouldn't say this book is for everyone. What I would recommend is watching The Tudors - that show is seriously good.
This weeks musing asks...Do you have a bookish rant? Share it with us!
There are probably many things I can rant on about to do with books, but today I'm going to stick with something that doesn't happen to me often, but when it does, it just ruins it for me. People spoiling the book. I just don't understand why you would do that! If it's an honest mistake, or something very minor, then I can probably forgive you, but if you give away the entire ending, expect to get an evil stare from me. The whole reason I am reading the book is to find things out as I go, to get to be surprised when the surprising things happen. Honestly, if someone gives me a massive spoiler, then what even is the point of continuing to read the book?! I now know how its going to end, and I have many other books I don't know the plot to that I could be reading, so I think to myself, why am I even bothering? Luckily, books don't get spoiled for me that often :D What about you? Do books get spoiled for you often? Or do you spoil books for others?
