Castle in the Stars: The Space Race of 1869

In search of the mysterious element known as aether, Claire Dulac flew her hot air balloon toward the edge of our stratosphere―and never returned. Her husband, genius engineer Archibald Dulac, is certain that she is forever lost. Her son, Seraphin, still holds out hope. One year after her disappearance, Seraphin and his father are delivered a tantalizing clue: a letter from an unknown sender who claims to have Claire’s lost logbook. The letter summons them to a Bavarian castle, where an ambitious young king dreams of flying the skies in a ship powered by aether. But within the castle walls, danger lurks―there are those who would stop at nothing to conquer the stars. In Castle in the Stars, this lavishly illustrated graphic novel, Alex Alice delivers a historical fantasy adventure set in a world where man journeyed into space in 1869, not 1969.

 

This is my last book that I had to read for my 2017 reading resolution, which means I read 60 books!

This book is written by a French author. The story was okay–a little strange–but it was intriguing. It is a series. The art work was well done. The plot had a similar Jules Verne style. It was filled with adventure and a little mystery.

So, if you like books like Around the World in 80 Days and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea then I think that you might like this graphic novel.

 

Title: Castle in the Stars: The Space Race of 1869

Author: Alex Alice

Reading Resolution 36: Read a book that was originally written in a different language.

This review is written in my own words and is my honest opinion.

Renegades

Secret Identities.
Extraordinary Powers.
She wants vengeance. He wants justice.

The Renegades are a syndicate of prodigies―humans with extraordinary abilities―who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society and established peace and order where chaos reigned. As champions of justice, they remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone…except the villains they once overthrew. Nova has a reason to hate the Renegades, and she is on a mission for vengeance. As she gets closer to her target, she meets Adrian, a Renegade boy who believes in justice―and in Nova. But Nova’s allegiance is to the villains who have the power to end them both.

So, I absolutely liked reading  Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles and I still do. It is one of those series I would recommend to anyone. But, this book…

Is nothing like Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles. Which was super sad. Unlike the Lunar Chronicles which is fairy tales at their greatest, this book is super heroes but not at their greatest.

So, currently, I am not a fan of this book. Maybe in the future I will try it again but right now it is not my type of story.

 

Title: Renegades

Author and her website: Marissa Meyer

Reading Resolution 49: Read a book with a one-word title.

This review is written in my own words and is my honest opinion.

Stars Above

The enchantment continues….
The Little Android: A retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid,” set in the world of The Lunar Chronicles.
Glitches: In this prequel to Cinder, we see the results of the plague play out, and the emotional toll it takes on Cinder. Something that may, or may not, be a glitch….
The Queen’s Army: In this prequel to Scarlet, we’re introduced to the army Queen Levana is building, and one soldier in particular who will do anything to keep from becoming the monster they want him to be.
Carswell’s Guide to Being Lucky: Thirteen-year-old Carswell Thorne has big plans involving a Rampion spaceship and a no-return trip out of Los Angeles.
The Keeper: A prequel to the Lunar Chronicles, showing a young Scarlet and how Princess Selene came into the care of Michelle Benoit.
After Sunshine Passes By: In this prequel to Cress, we see how a nine-year-old Cress ended up alone on a satellite, spying on Earth for Luna.
The Princess and the Guard: In this prequel to Winter, we see a game called The Princess
The Mechanic: In this prequel to Cinder, we see Kai and Cinder’s first meeting from Kai’s perspective.
Something Old, Something New: In this epilogue to Winter, friends gather for the wedding of the century…

This series is so good. This book is actually a collection of short stories about characters from The Lunar Chronicles. I wish this was actually the 5th one but it is not. There is a story in this collection that ends the series, and that is my favorite story in the book.

 So, if you need a good series this story is worth reading. You do have to read the others in this series in order for this book to make sense. But it is worth reading them all.

I recommend this book and this series.

Title: Stars Above

Author and her website: Marissa Meyer

Reading Resolution 39: Read a fantasy

This review is written in my own words and is my honest opinion.

Pygmalion

Have you watched this movie/Broadway? Well, did you know that is based on the 1912 play by George Bernard Shaw. Unlike the movie, the real title of the play is Pygmalion. If you haven’t watched the movie, it is a fun movie to watch.

Here is a little about the original My Fair Lady.

 

Shaw wrote the part of Eliza Doolittle – an east-end dona with an apron and three orange and red ostrich feathers – for Mrs Patrick Campbell, with whom he had a passionate but unconsummated affair. From the outset the play was a sensational success, although Shaw, irritated by its popularity at the expense of his artistic intentions, dismissed it as a potboiler. The Pygmalion of legend falls in love with his perfect female statue and persuades Venus to bring her to life so that he can marry her. But Shaw radically reworks Ovid’s tale to give it a feminist slant: while Higgins teaches Eliza to speak and act like a duchess, she also asserts her independence, adamantly refusing to be his creation.

 

I had to read a play or script for my reading resolution so I choose this one.

I read this book but it was after I watched the movie, so I already had an image of all of the characters. Even better was the fact that I could “hear” each character speaking in their own dialect. Pygmalion is an enjoyable read, it does not help that it is humorous. Although some plays are difficult to read and keep track of, this book was written in a understandable format! If you need a play to read, than this is one I recommend!

 

Title: Pygmalion

Author: George Bernard Shaw

Reading Resolution 23: Read a play or script.

This review is written in my own words and is my honest opinion.

 

 

 

The Proposal

Single mom Amber Richardson spends every holiday season working to give her young son the best Christmas possible and striving to ignore the empty chairs around her table, chairs she wishes her mother and father and extended family occupied. She’d hoped that this holiday would be fuller and happier than the rest. Her handsome firefighter boyfriend, Will McGrath, has brought immeasurable joy and love into her life. Up until recently, they’d even been talking about a future that included wedding bells. Lately, though, the wedding talk has been nonexistent and Amber can’t help but worry that Will’s starting to have second thoughts…. Until a fire station surprise brings very good tidings.

The back description of this book (if it can be called that) is almost longer than the story itself. It is a really quick read.

Anyway, I was talking to one of my sisters and I mentioned the few reading resolutions I had left to fulfill and she told me to look on my kindle and see what books had been put on there. She noticed I had this book and told me to read The Proposal. She absolutely loves Becky Wade and has read all of her books. Since I read True to You, I decided on this one.

Like I said earlier, it is a very short read. I read it within a half of an hour. The story was good. Oh, did I mention it is set around Christmas time. This short story belongs to a series, which I have not read yet.

If you need a quick read, then go and get this kindle book!

 

Title: The Proposal

Author: Becky Wade

Reading Resolution 42: Read a book that you own but never read.

This review is written in my own words and is my honest opinion.

 

 

Thornhill

Parallel stories set in different times, one told in prose and one in pictures, converge as a girl unravels the mystery of the abandoned Thornhill Institute next door.

1982: Mary is a lonely orphan at the Thornhill Institute For Children at the very moment that it’s shutting its doors. When her few friends are all adopted or re-homed and she’s left to face a volatile bully alone, her revenge will have a lasting effect on the bully, on Mary, and on Thornhill itself.

2017: Ella has just moved to a new town where she knows no one. From her room on the top floor of her new home, she has a perfect view of the dilapidated, abandoned Thornhill Institute across the way, where she glimpses a girl in the window. Determined to befriend the girl and solidify the link between them, Ella resolves to unravel Thornhill’s shadowy past.

Told in alternating, interwoven plotlines―Mary’s through intimate diary entries and Ella’s in bold, striking art―Pam Smy’s Thornhill is a haunting exploration of human connection, filled with suspense.

This review does contain SPOILERS.

This book is very similar to The Invention of Hugo Cabret. It is written in the same way, because it has pictures and a story. The art work is great! Pam Smy is a very good artist. All the pictures are in black and white but they fit the story and plot.

The story is actually quite sad. It follows two young girls but both are from different times. The written part of the story is Mary’s part. She is from the year 1982. The illustrated part is Ella’s story and she is from 2017. Despite being 35 years apart, both girls’ storys deal with bullying, a lack of a family that loves them, and death.

To be perfectly honest this book is not one I would recommend to young readers, due to the whole ending of the story. (INCLUDES SPOILERS) The ending deals with suicide, but that was not even the worst part. At the end of the books it shows another character moving into Ella’s room. He looks out of the window and sees the two girls. And that is how the book ends. In my mind, it was as if Pam Sym was showing that that character was going to die like the other did or showing that he was the next victim. That, to be perfectly honest, did not sit well with me.

So, due to those reasons, I do not recommend this book to young readers interested in books like The Invention of Hugo Cabret. This story left me feeling depressed, and to be honest, this society does not need any more young children feeling depressed. The idea of the book was interesting but it should have been written as a book intended towards older people, not one that can be found in a young adult section.

Title: Thornhill

Author: Pam Smy

Reading Resolution 57: Read a debut novel.

This review is written in my own words and is my honest opinion.

The Giver

Twelve-year-old Jonas lives in a seemingly ideal world. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver does he begin to understand the dark secrets behind this fragile community. 1994 Newbery Medal winner. Twelve-year-old Jonas lives in a seemingly ideal world. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver does he begin to understand the dark secrets behind this fragile community.

So, first and foremost, I read this book way before the movie came out. I just watched the movie a couple of days and let me tell you, the book was way better. The movie was not bad but books are usually better than their movie.

This book came out in 1993. It was the Divergent by Veronica Roth of its time but is still popular to be read. It is a science fiction/dystopian type of fiction. I liked this book very much. The story was interesting and intriguing.  I have actually read all of the books in this series. Yes, it is a series. There are three other books.

1st: The Giver

2nd: Gathering Blue

3rd: Messenger

4th: Son

All of the books were good reads but my favorite was The Giver.

I recommend this book and I do recommend the movie, but the book was better.

 

Tile: The Giver

Author and her website: Lois Lowery

Reading Resolution 41: Read a book that has been banned before.

This review is written in my own words and is my honest opinion.

Keep Calm and Read Jane Austen’s Emma

Today is Jane Austen’s birthday, she was born on December 16, 1775. It is so weird to think that she was born just one year before the United States declared her independence. She is my all time favorite author and I still do not get tired of pulling my well-read copies of Pride and Prejudice and Emma off my book shelf.

Are you ready? Pull up a chair and talk about her book Emma with me. Oh, I am also going to talk about the graphic novel and TV mini series. This is going to be so much fun, so get ready!

If you have any thing to add you can comment below.

Beautiful, clever, rich – and single – Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr. Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protegee Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected. With its imperfect but charming heroine and its witty and subtle exploration of relationships, Emma is often seen as Jane Austen’s most flawless work.

This book is my second favorite Austen story. Pride and Prejudice is the first but this one follows close by. It is a cleverly written story about matchmaking and the consequences of doing so. Emma is a perfect example of a leading heroine. She, like Elizabeth Bennett (Pride and Prejudice), is the perfect example of a leading female character that keeps you interested in the story, even though she does a few things that leave you rolling your eyes. Now that I have talked about Emma, let’s talk about Mr. Knightly. He isn’t your Mr. Darcy but he is still a great character. To be perfectly honest, I blame Jane Austen for my high expectations of men. Oh, if there was a Mr. Darcy or Mr. Knightly in my life, right now. (:

This book is well worth reading especially if you like any other books by Austen or like the movies (there are many but I will talk about my favorite in a few).

I highly recommend the this book!

Title: Emma

Author: Jane Austen

Now, I am going talk about the graphic novel Emma.

 

Manga Classics brings Jane Austen’s classic tale of youthful folly and romantic exuberance to a modern audience with this beautiful new manga adaptation of Emma.

 

I am not usually a graphic novel kind of girl but when I saw that the library bought this book, I had to read this book.

It was fun to see Emma change into a black and white graphic novel. Seeing all the characters change, into graphic novel characters, with big eyes was fun to see as well.

I thought at first this book would be a book that made fun of the real story but it did not. So, if you cannot tell, I liked this book and I recommend this book.

Title: Emma

Author: Jane Austen

Author: Stacy King

And now to the last part of my review. The BBC mini series, which is my all time favorite version of Emma.

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This version of Emma is my favorite. I have seen other versions of Emma but this is the best. This one is produced by: BBC: Masterpiece Classic. Everything about this version is good. The two main characters, Romola Garai (plays Emma) and Jonny Lee Miller (plays Mr. Knightly) are so good together. Unlike some versions of Emma, Mr. Knightly does not look like he could be Emma’s dad. Romola Garia played the perfect Emma. Just her facial expressions make her play her role so well. Now whenever I read the book, I see those two as Emma and Mr. Knightly. All the rest of the actors and actresses did a splendid job as well. That is the whole big reason why I like this version best–because each character played there parts perfectly.

I just had finals and I am now on Christmas break from classes. So, my sisters and I are watching it again. And it is still super fun to watch. It is one of those movies I could watch over and over!

I recommend this mini series.

Title: Emma

Authors: Jane Austen

 

 

I hope you enjoyed reading this extra special Jane Austen post. I am going to have to do one on Pride and Prejudice very shortly.

Reading Resolution 49: Read a book with a one-word title.

All of these reviews are written in my own words and is my honest opinion.

 

 

 

 

 

The Gift of the Magi

Today this book is having its 112 birthday. It was originally published on December 10, 1905. Isn’t that so so cool, well, I think so.

This is a short Christmas story by O.Henry. It, in the version I read, is only three pages long, so, it is a very quick read. I remember listening to a dramatized version of this a long time ago but this is my first time reading the story. Since it is Christmas time, it is the perfect time for me to read it.

If you need a short story about what true gift giving is all about, then this is the story you should read. It is about a young couple, who learn the meaning of giving.

Title: The Gift of the Magi

Author: O Henry

Reading Resolution 40: Read a book that was published before you were born.

Barefoot Summer

Madison’s heart has been closed for years. But one summer can change everything. In the years since her twin brother’s drowning, Madison McKinley has struggled to put it behind her. Despite the support of her close-knit family and her gratifying job as a veterinarian in their riverside town, the loss still haunts her. To find closure, Madison sets out to fulfill her brother’s dream of winning the town’s annual regatta. But first she has to learn to sail, and fast. Beckett O’Reilly knows Madison is out of his league, but someone neglected to tell his heart. Now she needs his help—and he’ll give it, because he owes her far more than she’ll ever know. Madison will do anything—even work with the infamous Beckett O’Reilly—to reach her goal. And as much as she’d like to deny it, the chemistry between them is electrifying. As summer wanes, her feelings for him grow and a fledgling faith takes root in her heart. But Beckett harbors a secret that will test the limits of their new love. Can their romance survive summer’s challenges? And will achieving her brother’s dream give Madison the peace she desperately seeks?

This is the third Denise Hunter book I have read. No, wait, I did not read the book. I listened to it. Julie Lyles Carr was the reader and I have to say, she did a nice job. My two younger sisters and I listened to the book together. The youngest sister said she did not want to listen to this book but ended up listening to it, without complaint. To be perfectly honest, I might have fallen a sleep a few times while listening but, if I missed any, I caught myself up by re-listening, reading the parts I missed in the book, or asking my youngest sister (and she didn’t even want to listen to it but she did!).

The book was good. It was a little sad because both of the character were struggling with depression and guilt. It was a story that showed that when you are struggling with something, whether it guilt or depression, you need to get help. Both of the character need to see a counselor, in my own opinion. Everything else about the book was good. I would call this book a binge read. It was easy to listen to and not that long. Why the word binge? Well, it is because I wanted to know the ending and could not wait to listen when I got the chance. I am also intrigued with the other books in this series, since many of the characters from the other books played a part in this one.

Anyway, I would recommend this audio book. The reader did an excellent job and Denise Hunter invented a cute story. I am looking forward to reading a few more of her books. Do you have a favorite, if so, which Denise Hunter book do you recommend?

 

Title: Barefoot Summer

Author and her website: Denise Hunter

Reading Resolution 45: Listen to an entire book on CD.

This review is written in my own words and is my honest opinion.