Hey everyone, I just finished this one book that I have to tell you about. Interestingly, it doesn't have a title so far. Still, it's an absolutely brilliant book. It was written by Mark Jones... Wait.
WHOA! I FINISHED ANOTHER BOOK! TAKE THAT WORLD! BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Ahem. Right. Just letting you know! :)
Interestingly, my one subscriber Laura recently finished a book. Go Laura! This Christmas we'll have editing parties, and then they'll both be bestsellers, and then... we'll rule the world! :)
Thanks for reading,
-Mark
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Paper Towns
Hi everyone! Sorry I missed yesterday's post... and the post before that... and the post before that...
A long time after...
and the post before that. I swear, I still love you. I just took a five month vacation from you, thats all.
Today, we have Paper Towns, by John Green, on the table.
Now, I don't know if I mentioned this in my review of An Abundance of Katherines, but John Green, if you're one of the few people who still hasn't heard of him, is awesome. First of all, he writes great books. Bestselling books. In fact, I looked up a list awhile back of the 100 best books for teens, and all four books John Green wrote on his own were there, as well as a book he co-authored with David Levithan. He hits the mark every single time.
And then there are his youtube channels; vlogbrothers, which he does with his brother and has videos ranging from education to songs to funny things that happened to them the other day, and Crash Course, which is an entertaining but informative video series on science and history and all that good stuff. As well, he and his brother created vidcon, which I'm sure most of you have heard about. Overall, John Green is just an incredible guy. Look him up, people.
And now for the book. Paper towns is about a high school kid called Quentin, or Q for short. He likes (and by like I mean like likes) a girl named Margo Roth Spiegalman, who is crazily adventurous and quite good looking, to. He's always been half-friends with Margo, but then one day, she arrives at his window in the dead of the night. She wants him to go with her on a crazy adventure throughout the city, breaking into stores and parks, and just going crazy. Of course Q accepts.
It all seems to be going dreadfully well for Q. I mean, he's spending time with a girl that he really likes, and he's having a grand old time going on an adventure with her. But then, of course, a wrench is thrown into his life. The next day, Margo has disappeared, run away. And she's left a breadcrumb trail that it seems she wants Q to follow. And so he tries to, and discovers along the way that there was a lot more to Margo then he had originally thought...
Duh duh duh! I'll tell you right now, people, it's a great book. And you should read it right now. Why, you may ask? Well, they're making a movie out of it! Coming out sometime next year, people. So read the book! You won't regret it!
Thanks for reading,
-Mark
A long time after...
and the post before that. I swear, I still love you. I just took a five month vacation from you, thats all.
Today, we have Paper Towns, by John Green, on the table.
Now, I don't know if I mentioned this in my review of An Abundance of Katherines, but John Green, if you're one of the few people who still hasn't heard of him, is awesome. First of all, he writes great books. Bestselling books. In fact, I looked up a list awhile back of the 100 best books for teens, and all four books John Green wrote on his own were there, as well as a book he co-authored with David Levithan. He hits the mark every single time.
And then there are his youtube channels; vlogbrothers, which he does with his brother and has videos ranging from education to songs to funny things that happened to them the other day, and Crash Course, which is an entertaining but informative video series on science and history and all that good stuff. As well, he and his brother created vidcon, which I'm sure most of you have heard about. Overall, John Green is just an incredible guy. Look him up, people.
And now for the book. Paper towns is about a high school kid called Quentin, or Q for short. He likes (and by like I mean like likes) a girl named Margo Roth Spiegalman, who is crazily adventurous and quite good looking, to. He's always been half-friends with Margo, but then one day, she arrives at his window in the dead of the night. She wants him to go with her on a crazy adventure throughout the city, breaking into stores and parks, and just going crazy. Of course Q accepts.
It all seems to be going dreadfully well for Q. I mean, he's spending time with a girl that he really likes, and he's having a grand old time going on an adventure with her. But then, of course, a wrench is thrown into his life. The next day, Margo has disappeared, run away. And she's left a breadcrumb trail that it seems she wants Q to follow. And so he tries to, and discovers along the way that there was a lot more to Margo then he had originally thought...
Duh duh duh! I'll tell you right now, people, it's a great book. And you should read it right now. Why, you may ask? Well, they're making a movie out of it! Coming out sometime next year, people. So read the book! You won't regret it!
Thanks for reading,
-Mark
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
The Last Thing I Remember (Andrew Klavan)
Mr. Klavan, you've got some explaining to do.
This book was slightly unsatisfying. Sure, it's only the first book in a series, but at the end of the book, we're left with more questions then answers. Right from the beginning, we are faced with a question; what is the books main character, Charlie West, doing strapped to a chair in a room he's never been in before? Why does it look like he has been brutally beaten and burned? Why can't he remember going to this room, or who the people there are? Neither Charlie or the reader ever find all the answers. All he can remember is that yesterday night he went to bed as usual, and then woke up in the room. And unfortunately for him, someone has just ordered his death.
But as it turns out, it wasn't just his transportation to this weird room that he's forgotten. In fact, it seems that he has forgotten an entire year! And more importantly, that he was accused of murdering his best friend in that past year, and then escaped the police. He also, it seems, somehow got a girlfriend in that last year (which seems very odd, considering he supposedly killed his friend the day before his memory cut out. That would mean that he was probably arrested in the next few days, giving him little time to call his crush up, become her boyfriend, and still have time to talk about there life plans and mutually declare there love for one another).
Now, this isn't your usual memory loss story, where everyone else is the same way, or someone wiped his memory for some diabolical reason. No, in this novel, our main character has lost his memory and not a single soul, not even the people trying to kill him at the beginning, seem to believe him or have a clue why it's gone. Huh.
Aside from that convenient memory loss, there are a few plot holes in this book. There was the aforementioned getting of the girl. As well (Spoiler Alert; do not read this next paragraph if you plan on reading the book!), he is supposedly a part of a terrorist group trying to destroy America, (he doesn't remember this) but that same terrorist group is... Trying to kill him? It turns out that the people who had strapped him to the chair in the beginning of the book were part of that same terrorist group he was in. What the heck? As well, that group built this huge fortress for there operations, where they were keeping Charlie. Isolated as it may be, wouldn't the authorities eventually find this thing and wonder why there was a large, uncharted fortress in the middle of the woods?
And there were a couple other things that bothered me, on a deeper level then the ones mentioned above. The main one? The terrorist organization featured in the book, the homelanders, are "Americans, recruited by the Islamists. Because (they're) not foreigners (and so) don't draw suspicion." and that, I think, is the root of my discomfort about this book. I mean... in the book they're always talking about the Islamic extremists who are all trying to destroy the US, and all that jazz. But I mean... every religion has it's extremists, some people who take it a little two far or interpret the religion wrong. If you ask me, religion shouldn't even be mentioned when talking about people. There are terrorists all over the world, but I don't think that any of them are the way they are entirely because of there religion.
Also, the quote above says that Americans are recruited into the homelanders because they are not foreign and so don't draw suspicion. I really hope that that doesn't mean that people look at people who arn't from there country and are instantly suspicious of them. That would be a sad world.
But to backtrack a little bit, I doubt that the author actually means it that way. I mean, it's not like he said "people who arn't Christian are evil!" or anything like that at all. Still, that and a few other quotes from the book bothered me.
The book was, however, still a good book. It was fast paced and well written. And I like the authors writing style; he also wrote If We Survive, which attracted me to this book. I also love this type of book, where the characters are trying to escape from the authorities. And perhaps the most telling argument for the "I liked this book" cause is the fact that I finished it within 48 hours. I do not read books I don't like that fast!
So give it a try, if this kind of book is your cup of tea. An added bonus is that it is a part of a series, so if your out of books to read, this will keep you for a long while. Maybe they'll actually explain some things!
Thanks for reading!
-Mark
This book was slightly unsatisfying. Sure, it's only the first book in a series, but at the end of the book, we're left with more questions then answers. Right from the beginning, we are faced with a question; what is the books main character, Charlie West, doing strapped to a chair in a room he's never been in before? Why does it look like he has been brutally beaten and burned? Why can't he remember going to this room, or who the people there are? Neither Charlie or the reader ever find all the answers. All he can remember is that yesterday night he went to bed as usual, and then woke up in the room. And unfortunately for him, someone has just ordered his death.
But as it turns out, it wasn't just his transportation to this weird room that he's forgotten. In fact, it seems that he has forgotten an entire year! And more importantly, that he was accused of murdering his best friend in that past year, and then escaped the police. He also, it seems, somehow got a girlfriend in that last year (which seems very odd, considering he supposedly killed his friend the day before his memory cut out. That would mean that he was probably arrested in the next few days, giving him little time to call his crush up, become her boyfriend, and still have time to talk about there life plans and mutually declare there love for one another).
Now, this isn't your usual memory loss story, where everyone else is the same way, or someone wiped his memory for some diabolical reason. No, in this novel, our main character has lost his memory and not a single soul, not even the people trying to kill him at the beginning, seem to believe him or have a clue why it's gone. Huh.
Aside from that convenient memory loss, there are a few plot holes in this book. There was the aforementioned getting of the girl. As well (Spoiler Alert; do not read this next paragraph if you plan on reading the book!), he is supposedly a part of a terrorist group trying to destroy America, (he doesn't remember this) but that same terrorist group is... Trying to kill him? It turns out that the people who had strapped him to the chair in the beginning of the book were part of that same terrorist group he was in. What the heck? As well, that group built this huge fortress for there operations, where they were keeping Charlie. Isolated as it may be, wouldn't the authorities eventually find this thing and wonder why there was a large, uncharted fortress in the middle of the woods?
And there were a couple other things that bothered me, on a deeper level then the ones mentioned above. The main one? The terrorist organization featured in the book, the homelanders, are "Americans, recruited by the Islamists. Because (they're) not foreigners (and so) don't draw suspicion." and that, I think, is the root of my discomfort about this book. I mean... in the book they're always talking about the Islamic extremists who are all trying to destroy the US, and all that jazz. But I mean... every religion has it's extremists, some people who take it a little two far or interpret the religion wrong. If you ask me, religion shouldn't even be mentioned when talking about people. There are terrorists all over the world, but I don't think that any of them are the way they are entirely because of there religion.
Also, the quote above says that Americans are recruited into the homelanders because they are not foreign and so don't draw suspicion. I really hope that that doesn't mean that people look at people who arn't from there country and are instantly suspicious of them. That would be a sad world.
But to backtrack a little bit, I doubt that the author actually means it that way. I mean, it's not like he said "people who arn't Christian are evil!" or anything like that at all. Still, that and a few other quotes from the book bothered me.
The book was, however, still a good book. It was fast paced and well written. And I like the authors writing style; he also wrote If We Survive, which attracted me to this book. I also love this type of book, where the characters are trying to escape from the authorities. And perhaps the most telling argument for the "I liked this book" cause is the fact that I finished it within 48 hours. I do not read books I don't like that fast!
So give it a try, if this kind of book is your cup of tea. An added bonus is that it is a part of a series, so if your out of books to read, this will keep you for a long while. Maybe they'll actually explain some things!
Thanks for reading!
-Mark
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Updates
Hi guys,
this is just a quick post to tell you about a couple new things on the blog. First and foremost, the blog just hit 500 veiws! World record right there, folks. So pop open the champagne bottles and let's have ourselves a party!
Incidentally, it took me, I think... six or seven months to get that many veiws. My new goal is now to get 500 more veiws in the next 2 months. We can do it!
Aside from that, my blog also has a new page now. So far I havn't actually done much of anything to it, and it's title is, at the moment, just "experimental page." To be honest, I actually have no idea what I'm going to put on it. So help me out here. Write in the comments below what you think the new page should be about!
And that is really all you need to know at the moment. I tried to make a new survey, but for some reason it wouldn't display the questions, so that one was a bit of a dud. Anyway, I'm constantly searching for new gadgets to use, so you should see some new ones very soon.
By the way, if you happen to see anything on another blog that you like, just let me know in the comments and I'll see if I can do something similar here on my blog.
So anyway, thank you all for reading, and I'll see you soon.
-Mark
this is just a quick post to tell you about a couple new things on the blog. First and foremost, the blog just hit 500 veiws! World record right there, folks. So pop open the champagne bottles and let's have ourselves a party!
Incidentally, it took me, I think... six or seven months to get that many veiws. My new goal is now to get 500 more veiws in the next 2 months. We can do it!
Aside from that, my blog also has a new page now. So far I havn't actually done much of anything to it, and it's title is, at the moment, just "experimental page." To be honest, I actually have no idea what I'm going to put on it. So help me out here. Write in the comments below what you think the new page should be about!
And that is really all you need to know at the moment. I tried to make a new survey, but for some reason it wouldn't display the questions, so that one was a bit of a dud. Anyway, I'm constantly searching for new gadgets to use, so you should see some new ones very soon.
By the way, if you happen to see anything on another blog that you like, just let me know in the comments and I'll see if I can do something similar here on my blog.
So anyway, thank you all for reading, and I'll see you soon.
-Mark
Friday, July 18, 2014
Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince)
This book has eighty-five pages of text. Thats it, eighty-five. Take away 16 pages of full-page pictures, and the book is only 69 pages long. Then, if you include the smaller pictures scattered throughout the novel you are left with, I'd say, sixty-five pages. Sixty-five pages to tell a story of such power that it would go on to sell one hundred and forty million copies, making it the third best-selling book of all time. Sixty-five.
I wrote a review for The Little Prince perhaps six months ago on Goodreads. I remember writing something along the lines of "I won't say much in this review, as nothing I say can possibly do this book justice." And you know what, I still believe in that statement. Nothing I, or anyone else can say, will be able to fully convey the depth and magnitude of Antoine De Saint-Exupery's work. But I'll do my very best.
Right at the beginning of the book, a lone pilot crashes in the middle of a desert. Hundreds of miles from any inhabited land and with enough water only for a few days, he understands that he will either have to repair the plane or die. He goes to sleep, but is awakened at daybreak by a small boy who, of all things, asks the pilot to draw him a sheep. And so, hundreds of miles away from any inhabited territory and in danger of dying, the pilot meets the little prince.
And that is, now that I think about it, all that has to do with the pilot, more or less. The story then goes on to talk about the little prince's travels, until near the end when the story returns to him and the pilot.
And to be honest, the prince's travels on there own would have been quite unremarkable. I mean, he goes to a couple planets and talks with a couple foolish people. Then he travels to earth, chats with a plant, a fox, and several more people before finding the pilot. And that, in essence, is the entire plot.
But thats the thing about this story... it talks the entire story about the little princes wanderings, and him talking to the pilot, but these things by themselves are not the story. In fact, I would say that the story isn't about the little prince at all, but the lessons he teaches us.
In the story, the little prince, and the pilot, talk about there experiences. But from each and every one of these experiences, the reader can draw a message. For an example, I'm now going to write a short snippet from the story, one of my personal favourites. To give you some background knowledge, the little prince has been wandering around earth talking to people for awhile now, and this day seems no different. This time, he has found a salesclerk.
"Good morning," said the little prince.
"Good morning," said the salesclerk. This was a salesclerk who sold pills invented to quench thirst. Swallow one a week and you no longer feel any need to drink.
"Why do you sell these pills?"
"They save so much time," the salesclerk said. "experts have calculated that you can save fifty-three minutes a week."
"And what do you do with those fifty-three minutes?"
"whatever you like."
"If I had fifty-three minutes to spend as I liked," the little prince said to himself, "I'd walk very slowly toward a water fountain..."
A simple story, and yet one that, to me, rings with... truth.
It's like when your out for a long walk on a hot day. You desperately want a glass of cool water, but lets say you're still ten minutes away from home. You could just pop into a corner store or Starbucks to get a drink. But if you deny yourself that pleasure, and instead walk the remaining distance home before getting yourself a drink, I'd be willing to bet that the water at home would be much sweeter then water ten minutes before. Just like if we were all handed a billion dollars, I honestly don't think it would keep us happy for more then a week. Achieving something through your own hard work is so much more satisfying then having it handed to you.
And I honestly don't know if that example is any good. Maybe you think that the book sounds terrible, maybe your mouse is moving to get you away from this page right now. But no matter what you think of this post, no matter what you think of anything... go read this book. I swear, the world would be a better place if everyone read this masterpiece. It is hands down the best book I have ever read.
Thank you for reading,
-Mark
Have you read The Little Prince? If so, let me know what you thought of it in the comments. Put your favorite quote from this extremely quotable book as well, if your in the mood.
I wrote a review for The Little Prince perhaps six months ago on Goodreads. I remember writing something along the lines of "I won't say much in this review, as nothing I say can possibly do this book justice." And you know what, I still believe in that statement. Nothing I, or anyone else can say, will be able to fully convey the depth and magnitude of Antoine De Saint-Exupery's work. But I'll do my very best.
Right at the beginning of the book, a lone pilot crashes in the middle of a desert. Hundreds of miles from any inhabited land and with enough water only for a few days, he understands that he will either have to repair the plane or die. He goes to sleep, but is awakened at daybreak by a small boy who, of all things, asks the pilot to draw him a sheep. And so, hundreds of miles away from any inhabited territory and in danger of dying, the pilot meets the little prince.
And that is, now that I think about it, all that has to do with the pilot, more or less. The story then goes on to talk about the little prince's travels, until near the end when the story returns to him and the pilot.
And to be honest, the prince's travels on there own would have been quite unremarkable. I mean, he goes to a couple planets and talks with a couple foolish people. Then he travels to earth, chats with a plant, a fox, and several more people before finding the pilot. And that, in essence, is the entire plot.
But thats the thing about this story... it talks the entire story about the little princes wanderings, and him talking to the pilot, but these things by themselves are not the story. In fact, I would say that the story isn't about the little prince at all, but the lessons he teaches us.
In the story, the little prince, and the pilot, talk about there experiences. But from each and every one of these experiences, the reader can draw a message. For an example, I'm now going to write a short snippet from the story, one of my personal favourites. To give you some background knowledge, the little prince has been wandering around earth talking to people for awhile now, and this day seems no different. This time, he has found a salesclerk.
"Good morning," said the little prince.
"Good morning," said the salesclerk. This was a salesclerk who sold pills invented to quench thirst. Swallow one a week and you no longer feel any need to drink.
"Why do you sell these pills?"
"They save so much time," the salesclerk said. "experts have calculated that you can save fifty-three minutes a week."
"And what do you do with those fifty-three minutes?"
"whatever you like."
"If I had fifty-three minutes to spend as I liked," the little prince said to himself, "I'd walk very slowly toward a water fountain..."
A simple story, and yet one that, to me, rings with... truth.
It's like when your out for a long walk on a hot day. You desperately want a glass of cool water, but lets say you're still ten minutes away from home. You could just pop into a corner store or Starbucks to get a drink. But if you deny yourself that pleasure, and instead walk the remaining distance home before getting yourself a drink, I'd be willing to bet that the water at home would be much sweeter then water ten minutes before. Just like if we were all handed a billion dollars, I honestly don't think it would keep us happy for more then a week. Achieving something through your own hard work is so much more satisfying then having it handed to you.
And I honestly don't know if that example is any good. Maybe you think that the book sounds terrible, maybe your mouse is moving to get you away from this page right now. But no matter what you think of this post, no matter what you think of anything... go read this book. I swear, the world would be a better place if everyone read this masterpiece. It is hands down the best book I have ever read.
Thank you for reading,
-Mark
Have you read The Little Prince? If so, let me know what you thought of it in the comments. Put your favorite quote from this extremely quotable book as well, if your in the mood.
Weekly Stat Attack; Best Selling Books
Hello everyone for the very first weekly stat attack here at Marks Book Blog. For your enjoyment, I will now post a list of interesting book facts every week.This week, I'll start off with a fairly run-of-the-mill stat; a list of the best-selling single books of all time.
10. The Da Vinci Code (80 000 000 copies sold)
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (85 000 000 copies sold). I never actually read a word of this book. I'll tack it onto my to read list.
8. She: A History of Adventure (100 000 000 copies sold) I've never even heard of this book.
7. The Hobbit (100 000 000 copies sold) A few years ago I read perhaps 60% of the book and then couldn't take it anymore. I'm still reading The Lord Of The Rings, though, albeit slowly.
6. Dream of the Red Chamber (translated from Chinese) (100 000 000 copies sold)
5. And Then There Were None (100 000 000 copies sold) I read this book just last year. It was good, but I would never expect to see it on this list.
4. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone (107 000 000 copies sold) Good ol' Harry Potter. Although maybe I can't call him that, seeing as I've never read the sixth book and I thought that the books were only "good." My sisters disowned me for that one.
3. The Little Prince (translated from French) (140 000 000 copies sold) One of my very favourite books.
2. The Lord Of The Rings (not considered a series) (150 000 000 copies sold) The movies were, of course, incredible, and the book isn't bad so far. It's a little slow to get through... Scroll down this page and you'll find my review for the first half of The Fellowship Of The Ring.
1. A Tale Of Two Cities (200 000 000 copies sold) Don't really know a thing about this book, but if it's got the top spot, it must have something going for it.
Thank you good ol' wikipedia for providing all of this info. All information presented to you came from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_books, which was accessed on July 18'th, 2014.
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time.
-Mark
10. The Da Vinci Code (80 000 000 copies sold)
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (85 000 000 copies sold). I never actually read a word of this book. I'll tack it onto my to read list.
8. She: A History of Adventure (100 000 000 copies sold) I've never even heard of this book.
7. The Hobbit (100 000 000 copies sold) A few years ago I read perhaps 60% of the book and then couldn't take it anymore. I'm still reading The Lord Of The Rings, though, albeit slowly.
6. Dream of the Red Chamber (translated from Chinese) (100 000 000 copies sold)
5. And Then There Were None (100 000 000 copies sold) I read this book just last year. It was good, but I would never expect to see it on this list.
4. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone (107 000 000 copies sold) Good ol' Harry Potter. Although maybe I can't call him that, seeing as I've never read the sixth book and I thought that the books were only "good." My sisters disowned me for that one.
3. The Little Prince (translated from French) (140 000 000 copies sold) One of my very favourite books.
2. The Lord Of The Rings (not considered a series) (150 000 000 copies sold) The movies were, of course, incredible, and the book isn't bad so far. It's a little slow to get through... Scroll down this page and you'll find my review for the first half of The Fellowship Of The Ring.
1. A Tale Of Two Cities (200 000 000 copies sold) Don't really know a thing about this book, but if it's got the top spot, it must have something going for it.
Thank you good ol' wikipedia for providing all of this info. All information presented to you came from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_books, which was accessed on July 18'th, 2014.
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time.
-Mark
Thursday, July 17, 2014
If We Survive
Hi again all for another exciting post here at Marks Book Blog. Sorry that this post has taken so long to be created. However, today I have a valid excuse. This may take a minute, by the way, for those of you who won't give me a chance at an explanation and want to scroll the page down and read the actual review. For those of you who will hear me out, I want you all to know that you are officially in the Club Of Mark, which only accepts awesome people like you as members. Meetings are every Saturday and Sunday at my place, one o'clock sharp. Sandwiches and drinks provided. Casual dress code.
But now for my reasons why I havn't posted lately. Let's start at the very beginning...
Several weeks ago one of my sisters read my blog for the first time, and posted on her Facebook page about it, and included a link. Now, it just so happens that she has some 450 friends on Facebook, and it seems that just about every last one decided to show up on my blog, boosting my view count to... about 450. You can guess the rest. First, the newspapers started blaring my success all over the world. Three days later, the president of the United States called me up.
"Son, I heard that your blog has over four hundred veiws now," he said. "I'm just calling to personally congratulate you on this incredible achievement, and to let you know that June 15th is now an international holiday."
With all this fame, the newspapers have obviously been scrambling to get an interview with me. In fact, I've been so busy talking to newspaper reporters and going on talk shows that I have just had no time for my blog. And so I apologize, but being a world-wide celebrity just eats up your time. These accusations against me that say that I
A few weeks ago I somehow I found myself in a bookstore with ten bucks in my pocket. Of course, ten bucks doesn't get you very far in a bookstore, so I didn't have much hope that I would find a book. However, I soon stumbled upon the teen "bargain books" section, where all the books were something like 75% off. However, most of them looked uninteresting. There were plenty of books with pictures of girls in flowy dresses. There were plenty of books with pictures of girls in flowy dresses staring adoringly at shirtless guys with six-packs. There were also plenty of books with girls in non-flowy dresses staring adoringly at guys who didn't have their shirts off (although these books were the minority). In fact, there were so many of these kinds of books that I considered ditching the teen section altogether. (Perhaps I should have, and instead bought myself a new dictionary. I obviously need one to tell me that "flowy" isn't a word.) However, right then I saw two books that actually didn't look sappy. One of these was a big thick book that had to do with an alternate world and wonky glasses. This one was the first to catch my eye. However, it turned out that the book that was on sale was the second in the series, and they didn't have the first book available in the store. What's up with that?
Anyway, the second book was called If We Survive. I bought it for $5.99 and the rest is history.
This book follows Will Peterson and his four companions as they travel to a poor region of Central America to build a school. Unfortunately for them, the country they travel to ("Costa Verde," they call it. From Wikipedia, I can tell you that Costa Verde is not an actual country, but could be: 1. a coastline in Brazil 2. a "coastal region" in Portugal or 3. a coastline in Sardinia) is on the brink of a revolution, which breaks out in full force just before the Americans prepare to leave. Quickly, the group find themselves at gunpoint, with no idea how to escape. Hostile rebels swarm through the streets. The country's government quickly collapses. They plan to get to a plane and fly out of the country, but it's looking grim...
I have just a couple problems with this book. First off, the characters. I had several people who I quickly hoped wouldn't survive, so as to rid me of having to read about them. First and foremost there was a girl named Nicki, who was constantly screaming, crying, and being generally useless. Then there was a guy named Jim, who more or less just sat in a corner and spouted useless facts about Costa Verde. There was also a 20 year old named Meredith, one of the leaders in the group. She just happened to be completely angelic and fearless throughout the entire novel. Literally nothing could shake her. And so, she quickly became boring as well. The main character, at least, I could stand, although he was also unremarkable.
As well as one other adult in the group, who I actually liked, there was also an ex-soldier who, as the back of the book said, had "lost his faith" and could "betray them at any moment". The only thing is, it was extremely obvious that he wasn't a bad guy, despite the book's efforts to make you think otherwise. He never really looked like he was going to betray them at all, truth be told. But actually, he was another of the likeable characters.
Aside from some people who I didn't like in the book, however, my objections to the book are fairly minimal. But they are definitely still there. For example, the main antagonist at the beginning of the book was a rebel leader named Mendoza. Fairly early into the book, the surviving members of the party seemed to escape him. But then, he turned up again, a hundred miles away. Why was a small local thug suddenly, conveniently, right where the group of Americans was? Didn't they already get past this guy? Are there no more thugs to take his place? Apparently not. In fact, even when they shook him a second time, he decided to try his luck a third time. To be perfectly honest, in fact, it seemed that Mendoza had made it his life goal to track these people down, whereas every other rebel in the country gave up after a few chapters.
But as usual, I'm being way to harsh on a good book. I mean, it was an easy read, despite the subject matter. It was entertaining. I enjoyed it enough to finish it in a couple days. The book was well paced, had an interesting premise and a good plot. In fact, I was impressed enough with this book to look up what else the author has written. And that right there should tell you something. So, considering all these points, I'm going to give the book a healthy 7.5/10 stars.
As always, thank you for reading, especially when the article drags on for as long as this one has :).
I'll see you soon,
-Mark
(By the way, before editing this post was just over 1300 words; roughly 5 pages in a book! After deleting a sentence here, adding a sentence here, and changing a sentence here, the post is now at 1330 words. New record!)
(Oh, and a final note; a special thanks to my assistant editor for this post, Laura Jones)
"Son, I heard that your blog has over four hundred veiws now," he said. "I'm just calling to personally congratulate you on this incredible achievement, and to let you know that June 15th is now an international holiday."
With all this fame, the newspapers have obviously been scrambling to get an interview with me. In fact, I've been so busy talking to newspaper reporters and going on talk shows that I have just had no time for my blog. And so I apologize, but being a world-wide celebrity just eats up your time. These accusations against me that say that I
- Am too lazy to write on my blog
- decided to ditch several books I was halfway through or
- am just a slow reader
A few weeks ago I somehow I found myself in a bookstore with ten bucks in my pocket. Of course, ten bucks doesn't get you very far in a bookstore, so I didn't have much hope that I would find a book. However, I soon stumbled upon the teen "bargain books" section, where all the books were something like 75% off. However, most of them looked uninteresting. There were plenty of books with pictures of girls in flowy dresses. There were plenty of books with pictures of girls in flowy dresses staring adoringly at shirtless guys with six-packs. There were also plenty of books with girls in non-flowy dresses staring adoringly at guys who didn't have their shirts off (although these books were the minority). In fact, there were so many of these kinds of books that I considered ditching the teen section altogether. (Perhaps I should have, and instead bought myself a new dictionary. I obviously need one to tell me that "flowy" isn't a word.) However, right then I saw two books that actually didn't look sappy. One of these was a big thick book that had to do with an alternate world and wonky glasses. This one was the first to catch my eye. However, it turned out that the book that was on sale was the second in the series, and they didn't have the first book available in the store. What's up with that?
Anyway, the second book was called If We Survive. I bought it for $5.99 and the rest is history.
This book follows Will Peterson and his four companions as they travel to a poor region of Central America to build a school. Unfortunately for them, the country they travel to ("Costa Verde," they call it. From Wikipedia, I can tell you that Costa Verde is not an actual country, but could be: 1. a coastline in Brazil 2. a "coastal region" in Portugal or 3. a coastline in Sardinia) is on the brink of a revolution, which breaks out in full force just before the Americans prepare to leave. Quickly, the group find themselves at gunpoint, with no idea how to escape. Hostile rebels swarm through the streets. The country's government quickly collapses. They plan to get to a plane and fly out of the country, but it's looking grim...
I have just a couple problems with this book. First off, the characters. I had several people who I quickly hoped wouldn't survive, so as to rid me of having to read about them. First and foremost there was a girl named Nicki, who was constantly screaming, crying, and being generally useless. Then there was a guy named Jim, who more or less just sat in a corner and spouted useless facts about Costa Verde. There was also a 20 year old named Meredith, one of the leaders in the group. She just happened to be completely angelic and fearless throughout the entire novel. Literally nothing could shake her. And so, she quickly became boring as well. The main character, at least, I could stand, although he was also unremarkable.
As well as one other adult in the group, who I actually liked, there was also an ex-soldier who, as the back of the book said, had "lost his faith" and could "betray them at any moment". The only thing is, it was extremely obvious that he wasn't a bad guy, despite the book's efforts to make you think otherwise. He never really looked like he was going to betray them at all, truth be told. But actually, he was another of the likeable characters.
Aside from some people who I didn't like in the book, however, my objections to the book are fairly minimal. But they are definitely still there. For example, the main antagonist at the beginning of the book was a rebel leader named Mendoza. Fairly early into the book, the surviving members of the party seemed to escape him. But then, he turned up again, a hundred miles away. Why was a small local thug suddenly, conveniently, right where the group of Americans was? Didn't they already get past this guy? Are there no more thugs to take his place? Apparently not. In fact, even when they shook him a second time, he decided to try his luck a third time. To be perfectly honest, in fact, it seemed that Mendoza had made it his life goal to track these people down, whereas every other rebel in the country gave up after a few chapters.
But as usual, I'm being way to harsh on a good book. I mean, it was an easy read, despite the subject matter. It was entertaining. I enjoyed it enough to finish it in a couple days. The book was well paced, had an interesting premise and a good plot. In fact, I was impressed enough with this book to look up what else the author has written. And that right there should tell you something. So, considering all these points, I'm going to give the book a healthy 7.5/10 stars.
As always, thank you for reading, especially when the article drags on for as long as this one has :).
I'll see you soon,
-Mark
(By the way, before editing this post was just over 1300 words; roughly 5 pages in a book! After deleting a sentence here, adding a sentence here, and changing a sentence here, the post is now at 1330 words. New record!)
(Oh, and a final note; a special thanks to my assistant editor for this post, Laura Jones)
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
I Want To Go Home
I went to camp, once.
It was a five day affair in which I literally got 130 mosquito bites, was almost crushed by a falling tree, practically starved due to my picky eating, was nearly shot by an arrow, and almost froze to death.
It was not fun.
In fact, I was so homesick, so miserable, that I honestly considered taking off down the road and escaping. However, if I Want To Go Home taught me one lesson, it taught me that escaping camp is easier said then done. If it taught me two, then it taught me that Gordon Korman is awesome.
Admittedly, not all of Korman's books are great. I never liked the Swindle series, or the Dive books. (Also, you can't email him, you have to send a full out letter which is supposed to take three months to get to him and back!) However, when he gets them right, he gets them right! The Kidnapped and On The Run series, Schooled, and many other books of his are wonderful. However in my opinion, he only really struck gold with I Want To Go Home. Indeed, it's one of my favourite books of all time.
The book follows Rudy Miller; a stoic, literal boy with an incredible knack for seemingly everything. At the advice of his school's guidance department, Rudy is sent to camp Algonkian for the summer; perhaps, they think, he'll open up, ditch his constantly unenthusiastic attitude. Upon arriving, he meets Mike Webster, who, like Rudy, hates the camp. United by there dislike, they become friends. And although at first Mike participates in the camp activities, Rudy soon convinces him to take his way out; refusal to do anything.
However there bunk warden, Chip, is less then enthusiastic about this idea. He tries to get the two involved in the activities going on; after all, there just homesick, and will soon snap out of it. Rudy and Mike have other plans. There obviously not going to be left in peace, and so they begin to hatch daring plans... escape plans. This, of course, will be difficult, especially since the camp is on an island far from the mainland. But Rudy is clever, and has more then a few tricks up his sleeve...
This book, as I've already mentioned, is wonderful. It's the funniest book I have ever read. No matter what I write here, I will not even get close to how wonderful the book is. So buy it. Read it. Study it. This book is amazing.
Thanks for reading,
-Mark
It was a five day affair in which I literally got 130 mosquito bites, was almost crushed by a falling tree, practically starved due to my picky eating, was nearly shot by an arrow, and almost froze to death.
It was not fun.
In fact, I was so homesick, so miserable, that I honestly considered taking off down the road and escaping. However, if I Want To Go Home taught me one lesson, it taught me that escaping camp is easier said then done. If it taught me two, then it taught me that Gordon Korman is awesome.
Admittedly, not all of Korman's books are great. I never liked the Swindle series, or the Dive books. (Also, you can't email him, you have to send a full out letter which is supposed to take three months to get to him and back!) However, when he gets them right, he gets them right! The Kidnapped and On The Run series, Schooled, and many other books of his are wonderful. However in my opinion, he only really struck gold with I Want To Go Home. Indeed, it's one of my favourite books of all time.
The book follows Rudy Miller; a stoic, literal boy with an incredible knack for seemingly everything. At the advice of his school's guidance department, Rudy is sent to camp Algonkian for the summer; perhaps, they think, he'll open up, ditch his constantly unenthusiastic attitude. Upon arriving, he meets Mike Webster, who, like Rudy, hates the camp. United by there dislike, they become friends. And although at first Mike participates in the camp activities, Rudy soon convinces him to take his way out; refusal to do anything.
However there bunk warden, Chip, is less then enthusiastic about this idea. He tries to get the two involved in the activities going on; after all, there just homesick, and will soon snap out of it. Rudy and Mike have other plans. There obviously not going to be left in peace, and so they begin to hatch daring plans... escape plans. This, of course, will be difficult, especially since the camp is on an island far from the mainland. But Rudy is clever, and has more then a few tricks up his sleeve...
This book, as I've already mentioned, is wonderful. It's the funniest book I have ever read. No matter what I write here, I will not even get close to how wonderful the book is. So buy it. Read it. Study it. This book is amazing.
Thanks for reading,
-Mark
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Gadgets
Hi again for another special episode of This Post Has Nothing To Do With Books. Yes, today I've decided to catch you up with some new features on the blog! After signing up for Google+ yesterday, I discovered "Gadgets" on the blog layout page. For those of you who don't know, gadgets are like widgets. For those of you who don't know what widgets are... Well, I don't really get what widgets are either. The best definition a friend could give me was "widgets are apps that you don't have to click on to view." If you are one of those few people who can actually give a good explanation of what widgets are, then please do so in the comments. In English please. I swear, I don't even know what a harddrive is, and everytime I ask someone they're to busy laughing to answer. But then again, perhaps you don't have to put the comment in English, because you can now use a gadget to translate this post, or any other post, into almost any language! (Even Japanese! For some reason thats my favorite language to translate to. The letters are just so different from the ones I am using right now.) You can find that one in the very bottom left corner of this page.
I also found a page view counter. Incidentally, I suspect that later today this blog will have a grand total of two million page veiws!... Wait, what was that?
Oh, sorry folks, it turns out I'm actually at two hundred page veiws. Oh, well...
There is also a gadget for surveys, and at the time of this posts posting you can find it in the upper right corner of the blog.
And last but not least, there is a Random google+ counter thingie!... No idea what that actually does, but oh well.
I was also extremely tempted by other gadgets you could get such as the daily puppy picture and the daily Harry Potter spell gadgets, but in the end I decided to turn those down. This is a blog about books, after all. But then again, those puppy pictures sure looked cute...
And that concludes today's episode of This Post Has Nothing To Do With Books. Thank you so much for reading and please leave a comment!
-Mark Jones
I also found a page view counter. Incidentally, I suspect that later today this blog will have a grand total of two million page veiws!... Wait, what was that?
Oh, sorry folks, it turns out I'm actually at two hundred page veiws. Oh, well...
There is also a gadget for surveys, and at the time of this posts posting you can find it in the upper right corner of the blog.
And last but not least, there is a Random google+ counter thingie!... No idea what that actually does, but oh well.
I was also extremely tempted by other gadgets you could get such as the daily puppy picture and the daily Harry Potter spell gadgets, but in the end I decided to turn those down. This is a blog about books, after all. But then again, those puppy pictures sure looked cute...
And that concludes today's episode of This Post Has Nothing To Do With Books. Thank you so much for reading and please leave a comment!
-Mark Jones
Fighting Fantasy
I think that if someone were attempting to merge video games and books without the use of electronics, the Fighting Fantasy series is about as close as that person would get. We have all seen this type of book before; a book where it is your decisions, as the reader, that determine the fate of the protagonist. These books can, at times, be cheesy. They can be infuriating when you read for two hours only to have your character meet a bloody end. They can also be addicting.
Have you ever had that moment when your watching a movie, and your sure that its a trap/she shouldn't trust him/the character is making the stupidest decision ever, but despite you yelling at the screen the character goes ahead and makes the mistake anyway? In my mind, books where you make the decisions for your character are the equivilent of making a movie character hear your advice. And that, to me, is pretty awesome.
The Fighting Fantasy series is, frankly, a series. Composed of 59 books in the original series, the books are written by multiple authors and, perhaps as a result, few are connected in any way. However, despite the abundance of books to choose from, I have yet to complete a single book. Whether the books are set in space, a dungeon designed to kill you, or in a mountain in which lives a powerful sorcerer, I am always killed within the hour.
These books are wickedly frustrating. At the beginning of the book, I generally have good scores that decide my character's strengths and weaknesses (there are three things that your character needs to make it through the book; high skill (to determine if he or she kills the monster or can make it across the hall without hitting a tripwire) high luck (to see if the boulder the tripwire sent tumbling down towards you misses you) and high stamina (to see if your character can survive being crushed by a ten-ton boulder). However, after an hour or so of cleaving my way through the monsters, my reserves of luck and stamina begin to run dangerously low. Then I decide to jump the pit instead of trying to find another way across the chasm, but this time my luck fails me and I'm sent hurtling to my death. And that is a typical Fighting Fantasy game book for me. And even if you do crawl your way through almost to the end, the writers always have something waiting for you at the end of the road. Almost every book, when you get to the final challenge, there is someone lurking at the end to finish you off. "Just through these doors," that person says with a sneer, "there is that magical object/a cheering crowd to congratulate you for surviving/whatever it is that you've spent the last three hours trying to get to. But to unlock the door, you must have collected three keys or a similar number of some other random item. If not, (and at this point the man guarding the exit pulls out a crossbow) then you will become my slave!" And at this point you put the book down because you know that the game is over.
And so I can see why you might give up on these books after awhile. However, if you like these sort of books, then I would definitely recommend the Fighting Fantasy series. It's an interesting concept that adds a twist to reading, that can entertain you for hours. In fact, if you have a child who dislikes reading, then this might very well be a good way to start them down the reading path.
As always, thanks for reading, and I hope to see you in the comments below! As well, if you haven't read my last post ('And Now... A Survey!'), please do and let me know what you think!
-Mark Jones
Have you ever had that moment when your watching a movie, and your sure that its a trap/she shouldn't trust him/the character is making the stupidest decision ever, but despite you yelling at the screen the character goes ahead and makes the mistake anyway? In my mind, books where you make the decisions for your character are the equivilent of making a movie character hear your advice. And that, to me, is pretty awesome.
The Fighting Fantasy series is, frankly, a series. Composed of 59 books in the original series, the books are written by multiple authors and, perhaps as a result, few are connected in any way. However, despite the abundance of books to choose from, I have yet to complete a single book. Whether the books are set in space, a dungeon designed to kill you, or in a mountain in which lives a powerful sorcerer, I am always killed within the hour.
These books are wickedly frustrating. At the beginning of the book, I generally have good scores that decide my character's strengths and weaknesses (there are three things that your character needs to make it through the book; high skill (to determine if he or she kills the monster or can make it across the hall without hitting a tripwire) high luck (to see if the boulder the tripwire sent tumbling down towards you misses you) and high stamina (to see if your character can survive being crushed by a ten-ton boulder). However, after an hour or so of cleaving my way through the monsters, my reserves of luck and stamina begin to run dangerously low. Then I decide to jump the pit instead of trying to find another way across the chasm, but this time my luck fails me and I'm sent hurtling to my death. And that is a typical Fighting Fantasy game book for me. And even if you do crawl your way through almost to the end, the writers always have something waiting for you at the end of the road. Almost every book, when you get to the final challenge, there is someone lurking at the end to finish you off. "Just through these doors," that person says with a sneer, "there is that magical object/a cheering crowd to congratulate you for surviving/whatever it is that you've spent the last three hours trying to get to. But to unlock the door, you must have collected three keys or a similar number of some other random item. If not, (and at this point the man guarding the exit pulls out a crossbow) then you will become my slave!" And at this point you put the book down because you know that the game is over.
And so I can see why you might give up on these books after awhile. However, if you like these sort of books, then I would definitely recommend the Fighting Fantasy series. It's an interesting concept that adds a twist to reading, that can entertain you for hours. In fact, if you have a child who dislikes reading, then this might very well be a good way to start them down the reading path.
As always, thanks for reading, and I hope to see you in the comments below! As well, if you haven't read my last post ('And Now... A Survey!'), please do and let me know what you think!
-Mark Jones
Saturday, June 14, 2014
And Now... A Survey!
Hi again, all. I've been trying desperately to keep the reviews coming on a regular basis, however due to my slow reading and lack of new books that I care enough about to finish, I must admit that, on book reviews alone, I cannot post as much as I would like. And so today, I've decided to mix up my routine.
For a while now I have been wondering when I should release a review of my personal favourite book. However, I don't think that the moment is quite right. And so in the meantime, to set the mood, I present you with a survey; which book do you believe is the best book of all time?
Survey Rules
As there are an estimated 129 million different published books out there (according to Google in 2010), I obviously cannot make a "proper" survey on blogger, as it would take me a rather long time to write down all those titles for you to choose from. Instead you, the reader, will comment on this post (or any other post), what book you think deserves the top spot.
Now, I know that a lot of you will not be sure exactly what your favourite book is. Therefore, I will except up to three choices. You can rank these as your favourite, second favourite and third favourite, but all books mentioned will only get one tally regardless of there rank.
For this survey, I will rank the best books in the world- not the best series.
As for how long his survey will run for, I honestly couldn't say. It could be a month, it could be a year, or it could never end, with periodic updates on the rankings. Or, alternatively, it could be the first book to receive a certain amount of votes. (Tell me when/how you think it should be decided in the comments below!)
No matter how the winner is decided, I'll be interested to see how this survey plays out (especially to see if my personal favourite does well). I'm sure that it will be a close contest, with many good books put forth. Until that time, however, I give you a sincere thank you for reading. See you next time.
-Mark Jones
For a while now I have been wondering when I should release a review of my personal favourite book. However, I don't think that the moment is quite right. And so in the meantime, to set the mood, I present you with a survey; which book do you believe is the best book of all time?
Survey Rules
As there are an estimated 129 million different published books out there (according to Google in 2010), I obviously cannot make a "proper" survey on blogger, as it would take me a rather long time to write down all those titles for you to choose from. Instead you, the reader, will comment on this post (or any other post), what book you think deserves the top spot.
Now, I know that a lot of you will not be sure exactly what your favourite book is. Therefore, I will except up to three choices. You can rank these as your favourite, second favourite and third favourite, but all books mentioned will only get one tally regardless of there rank.
For this survey, I will rank the best books in the world- not the best series.
As for how long his survey will run for, I honestly couldn't say. It could be a month, it could be a year, or it could never end, with periodic updates on the rankings. Or, alternatively, it could be the first book to receive a certain amount of votes. (Tell me when/how you think it should be decided in the comments below!)
No matter how the winner is decided, I'll be interested to see how this survey plays out (especially to see if my personal favourite does well). I'm sure that it will be a close contest, with many good books put forth. Until that time, however, I give you a sincere thank you for reading. See you next time.
-Mark Jones
Friday, June 13, 2014
The Book Of Awesome
The title says it all, really. Recently, I logged onto goodreads to see what others were saying, and was somewhat surprised by the results. Although The Book Of Awesome has been receiving considerable media attention, it could only obtain 3.9 stars (still a good score, but still...). Most reviews, as expected, were positive. However on the opposite end of the spectrum, the negative reviews were scything. Dan C said that The Book Of Awesome is "not really re-readable." Mr. "T" said that he "slogged through it across six months." Eva said that the book was "sad... annoying and incredibly stupid." I say that these people have no soul.
Lets look at Eva's comment. She said that this book was "sad." I would just like to point out that this entire book revolves around celebrating the little "awesome" things in life that make life so wonderful. She also said that this book was "annoying." Although I suppose that constantly cheery, bubbly and optimistic attitudes could start to grate after too long, the writing in this book was so sincere, so relatable, that I could never get irritated by the writing. She also said that the book was "incredibly stupid." Well, if celebrating things like popping bubble wrap is stupid, then I don't know what isn't.
This book started out as a blog, 1000awesomethings.com, (I couldn't figure out how to make a direct link, but if you highlight the name and select "search with google" it will bring you one click away from the blog) and eventually became a best-selling book. This book is quite obviously modelled after the blog, with every awesome thing being essentially a copy of one of his blog posts. And so admittedly, you are not going to read this book from cover to cover in one go. However, if you are ever feeling down or are simply in the mood for a laugh, this book is the place to go. It's really incredible how many of the things in this book we take for granted, or that you had no idea other people also did. For example (and now comes what is inevitable for anyone reviewing this book; a list of there favourite awesome things); old, classic board games, the sound of ice cracking in a drink, cutting your sandwich into triangles, and the sound of rain on a hot sidewalk. And my friends, if these things aren't worth sharing and celebrating, then I don't know what is.
And now I ask you to remember Dan C, who posted on goodreads that The Book Of Awesome was not re-readable. And perhaps the chances of this mysterious Dan C actually finding this blog, then finding this post, and reading to the very end are one in 100 million. However, Dan, if you are reading this right now, then I have something to say. The Book Of Awesome has to be the book I have re-read the most times out of my entire collection. I have never become tired of reading about friends saving me seats, or smiling at strangers, or friends with swimming pools. And I hope that someday everybody can appreciate all these wonderful things that we experience every day, without even realizing it. Truly, the best things in life are free.
-Mark Jones
If you'd like to hear Neil speak, use "search with google" on http://www.ted.com/talks/neil_pasricha_the_3_a_s_of_awesome to hear his speech at TED talks in 2010. As always, thanks for reading and leave a comment below!
Lets look at Eva's comment. She said that this book was "sad." I would just like to point out that this entire book revolves around celebrating the little "awesome" things in life that make life so wonderful. She also said that this book was "annoying." Although I suppose that constantly cheery, bubbly and optimistic attitudes could start to grate after too long, the writing in this book was so sincere, so relatable, that I could never get irritated by the writing. She also said that the book was "incredibly stupid." Well, if celebrating things like popping bubble wrap is stupid, then I don't know what isn't.
This book started out as a blog, 1000awesomethings.com, (I couldn't figure out how to make a direct link, but if you highlight the name and select "search with google" it will bring you one click away from the blog) and eventually became a best-selling book. This book is quite obviously modelled after the blog, with every awesome thing being essentially a copy of one of his blog posts. And so admittedly, you are not going to read this book from cover to cover in one go. However, if you are ever feeling down or are simply in the mood for a laugh, this book is the place to go. It's really incredible how many of the things in this book we take for granted, or that you had no idea other people also did. For example (and now comes what is inevitable for anyone reviewing this book; a list of there favourite awesome things); old, classic board games, the sound of ice cracking in a drink, cutting your sandwich into triangles, and the sound of rain on a hot sidewalk. And my friends, if these things aren't worth sharing and celebrating, then I don't know what is.
And now I ask you to remember Dan C, who posted on goodreads that The Book Of Awesome was not re-readable. And perhaps the chances of this mysterious Dan C actually finding this blog, then finding this post, and reading to the very end are one in 100 million. However, Dan, if you are reading this right now, then I have something to say. The Book Of Awesome has to be the book I have re-read the most times out of my entire collection. I have never become tired of reading about friends saving me seats, or smiling at strangers, or friends with swimming pools. And I hope that someday everybody can appreciate all these wonderful things that we experience every day, without even realizing it. Truly, the best things in life are free.
-Mark Jones
If you'd like to hear Neil speak, use "search with google" on http://www.ted.com/talks/neil_pasricha_the_3_a_s_of_awesome to hear his speech at TED talks in 2010. As always, thanks for reading and leave a comment below!
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Boys Own Stuff
When a book's pages fall out in chunks of 100 at a time, this can tell you three things; 1. The book was poorly made. 2. The book received constant attention and eventually fell apart from to much love. Or, 3, the owner is just a crappy owner and let harm come to his or her book. In my case with Boys Own Stuff, I believe it was a combination of the three. Now I know that at the moment you are probably ignoring the second point, and probably the first to a certain degree, and so I want to impress a point upon you. I do not intentionally let harm befall my books; on almost all occasions it was a simple mistake. For example, don't wrestle with your father when books are in the vicinity. Don't let your book and food come within one meter of each other. Never overlook the fact that backpacks, suitcases and messy lockers are death traps for book's covers. And of course don't huck books onto the floor or a bed. Follow all these rules, and you will be a better person then I am in the art of book preservation.
However I repeat that I still take good care of my books. Aside from the occasional ripped cover or stain, only two books of mine have all-out fallen apart. The Lord Of The Rings, in my defense, was something like thirty years old. As for Boys Own Stuff, I have already presented the reasons in the first sentence of this post. And if now you will ignore the first and third reasons, you will see that Boys Own Stuff was damaged mostly for one reason; it was a great book.
Boys Own Stuff is comprised of dozens of different guides on subjects that will lead you to "boyhood like it's meant to be." These range from "how to polish your shoes" to "build your own stomp rocket" to "SAS survival skills IV: finding and purifying water." as well as activities like these, the author included interesting stats such as those on fighter aces, and several entertaining stories. Perhaps one of my favorite features of the book is the section entitled "fifty movies every boy should see." As the title of the section implies, all the movies that I have so far seen I would recommend. If you are more into books then movies, however, lists of recommended books are also included. I however, was not to interested in most of the mentioned titles (ironic how I'm writing a book review blog and yet liked the movie list better...) and so couldn't tell you if the books mentioned truly deserve the spotlight. And perhaps that is the beauty of the book; I didn't care for that particular section of the book (or many others for that matter), but I still found dozens of sections that I enjoyed reading and re-reading. This book has a medal in the mind of yours truly for the best travelled book in my collection; ever since receiving this book two or three years ago, I have not gone on vacation without Boys Own Stuff in tow. It is truly indispensable. 8/10 stars.
-Mark
As always, thanks for reading and leave a comment below! You can contact me at m.jones10@hotmail.ca or in the commons if you have any questions. Thanks!
However I repeat that I still take good care of my books. Aside from the occasional ripped cover or stain, only two books of mine have all-out fallen apart. The Lord Of The Rings, in my defense, was something like thirty years old. As for Boys Own Stuff, I have already presented the reasons in the first sentence of this post. And if now you will ignore the first and third reasons, you will see that Boys Own Stuff was damaged mostly for one reason; it was a great book.
Boys Own Stuff is comprised of dozens of different guides on subjects that will lead you to "boyhood like it's meant to be." These range from "how to polish your shoes" to "build your own stomp rocket" to "SAS survival skills IV: finding and purifying water." as well as activities like these, the author included interesting stats such as those on fighter aces, and several entertaining stories. Perhaps one of my favorite features of the book is the section entitled "fifty movies every boy should see." As the title of the section implies, all the movies that I have so far seen I would recommend. If you are more into books then movies, however, lists of recommended books are also included. I however, was not to interested in most of the mentioned titles (ironic how I'm writing a book review blog and yet liked the movie list better...) and so couldn't tell you if the books mentioned truly deserve the spotlight. And perhaps that is the beauty of the book; I didn't care for that particular section of the book (or many others for that matter), but I still found dozens of sections that I enjoyed reading and re-reading. This book has a medal in the mind of yours truly for the best travelled book in my collection; ever since receiving this book two or three years ago, I have not gone on vacation without Boys Own Stuff in tow. It is truly indispensable. 8/10 stars.
-Mark
As always, thanks for reading and leave a comment below! You can contact me at m.jones10@hotmail.ca or in the commons if you have any questions. Thanks!
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
An Abundance Of Katherines
It never fails: when reading a book I am always the most likely to be interrupted when I am about to finish. The battle is raging at full swing, the character is about to make some deep philosophical discovery about themselves, or the mystery is about to be solved when, suddenly, someone comes stomping in and completely snaps my concentration. And then of course I can't recapture the moment, because by the time it takes me to get back in to mood of things you've already missed the crucial moment. I'm sure you can relate. It happened during The Fault In Our Stars. It happened during The Book Thief. And literally thirty minutes ago, it happened during An Abundance Of Katherines. (Twice in fact. In the last two(!) pages.) I mean sure, on most of these occasions there was good reason to interrupt me; I've been reading for an hour and a half on the toilet perhaps, or maybe it's just getting late. But still, you'll excuse my rant. To clarify, all you really need to take from that is I may not have fully comprehended all of the deep revelations that the main character, Colin, was making, and so my view of the book may be slightly diminished. Not to say that it wasn't a good book; quite the opposite in fact. But lets back it up here.
This story follows the aforementioned Colin; a child prodigy who longs to become a genius and, perhaps more importantly, not be forgotten when he dies- something I can personally relate to (the being remembered part only, I'm afraid...). For reasons mostly unknown (coincidence, he says, though this seems odd), Colin has only ever dated girls with the name Katherine. It is after a breakup with Katherine the 19'th that he, in an attempt to recover, takes a road trip across the United States with his happy-go-lucky friend Hassan. They soon find themselves in Gutshot, Tennessee, where Colin has his "eureka moment;" the idea of creating a mathematical formula that will predict the outcome of any relationship. This he hopes, will turn him from a prodigy into a genius. From someone who does what others have done and knows what others have known to someone who is the first to discover, the first to do. This proves to be just a little trickier then previously thought, however...
All in all, I was very satisfied with this book. It was short and entertaining enough so as not to drag on, but long enough so that I walked out satisfied with almost all loose ends seemingly tied down. I had heard that all of John Greens characters were similar from book to book, however I did not find this when comparing to The Fault In Our Stars. This book was funny, interesting, and overall simply well written. 8/10 stars.
-Mark Jones (well, he is the only person writing on this blog at the moment... :)
If you enjoyed this review or any on this site, it would mean a lot to me if you would leave a comment below. As always, thanks for reading and I'll be back as soon as I can.
This story follows the aforementioned Colin; a child prodigy who longs to become a genius and, perhaps more importantly, not be forgotten when he dies- something I can personally relate to (the being remembered part only, I'm afraid...). For reasons mostly unknown (coincidence, he says, though this seems odd), Colin has only ever dated girls with the name Katherine. It is after a breakup with Katherine the 19'th that he, in an attempt to recover, takes a road trip across the United States with his happy-go-lucky friend Hassan. They soon find themselves in Gutshot, Tennessee, where Colin has his "eureka moment;" the idea of creating a mathematical formula that will predict the outcome of any relationship. This he hopes, will turn him from a prodigy into a genius. From someone who does what others have done and knows what others have known to someone who is the first to discover, the first to do. This proves to be just a little trickier then previously thought, however...
All in all, I was very satisfied with this book. It was short and entertaining enough so as not to drag on, but long enough so that I walked out satisfied with almost all loose ends seemingly tied down. I had heard that all of John Greens characters were similar from book to book, however I did not find this when comparing to The Fault In Our Stars. This book was funny, interesting, and overall simply well written. 8/10 stars.
-Mark Jones (well, he is the only person writing on this blog at the moment... :)
If you enjoyed this review or any on this site, it would mean a lot to me if you would leave a comment below. As always, thanks for reading and I'll be back as soon as I can.
Saturday, May 17, 2014
The Zombie Survival Guide
Again, I feel the need to give a shoutout to all the people who think up things like this. Zombie apocalypse movies, books, and shows are one thing, but a survival guide is in a league of it's own when it comes to genius.
Written by Max Brooks (the author of 'World War Z,' which although I haven't read is supposed to be good), The Zombie Survival Guide is marketed as a book not for the "police, military, or any government agency," but for the common citizen. At the period when this book is set, zombies have become prominent in the world, with there numbers reaching several million, but have yet to become a global threat. In preparation for the possible incline in the zombies population, the book urges you to create a plan to defend yourself. This includes scouting out your area for possible shelters, fortifying your home, and training for combat situations. Advice on running, fighting, and defending your self and area from the horde is all readily available. Even better, the first chapter details all the misconceptions and truths about the zombie- dispelling any doubts in the readers mind about what they will be facing should the zombie threat increase. The author, in short, is so dedicated to the survival of the human race that every aspect of zombie survival is gone over in acute detail. He even outlines what to do should your group be practically the last on earth. And then comes the final chapter, which outlines practically every zombie outbreak ever recorded. And that is where I lost interest in the book.
You could easily argue, at this point, that I am not a true zombie fan, as clearly if I was I would enjoy every word of the 64-page long final chapter. Unfortunately, you would be right. I have only seen a few episodes of The Walking Dead and have never read the books. I have never watched Night Of The Living Dead and have no plans to in the immediate future. I have never read World War Z, as previously mentioned. And perhaps that is why I very nearly fell asleep reading this last chapter (to be fair, the night I read almost all of the book was my first successful attempt at staying awake for a full twenty-four hours). This chapter completely killed the momentum that the very enjoyable rest-of-book created. There are only so many stories of zombies moving into a pack of armed men and not dying despite being blown to smithereens that I can take in one night.The repetition was driving me mad.
And so I will give this book a new record rating for this blog of 7.8. Perhaps it could have gotten a full 8 or even 8.5 if it had not been for the buzz-killing ending and my determination to save the higher ratings for only the books that completely blow me out of the water. But still, a 7.8 rating is very respectable in my eyes, and so I recommend this book for anyone who likes the concept of zombies and has a sense of humour. Tell me how you like the book in the comments below, or when me and you are both struggling to survive the apocalypse and meet up in a corpse-strewn street. Until that time, thanks for reading, and I'll see you as soon as I can. Cheers,
Mark
Upcoming reviews; City of the Beasts, Lord Of The Rings The Fellowship Of The Ring Book Two, and Fighting Fantasy. If there is any book which you would like to have reviewed, please let me know in the comments and I'll see what I can do :)
Written by Max Brooks (the author of 'World War Z,' which although I haven't read is supposed to be good), The Zombie Survival Guide is marketed as a book not for the "police, military, or any government agency," but for the common citizen. At the period when this book is set, zombies have become prominent in the world, with there numbers reaching several million, but have yet to become a global threat. In preparation for the possible incline in the zombies population, the book urges you to create a plan to defend yourself. This includes scouting out your area for possible shelters, fortifying your home, and training for combat situations. Advice on running, fighting, and defending your self and area from the horde is all readily available. Even better, the first chapter details all the misconceptions and truths about the zombie- dispelling any doubts in the readers mind about what they will be facing should the zombie threat increase. The author, in short, is so dedicated to the survival of the human race that every aspect of zombie survival is gone over in acute detail. He even outlines what to do should your group be practically the last on earth. And then comes the final chapter, which outlines practically every zombie outbreak ever recorded. And that is where I lost interest in the book.
You could easily argue, at this point, that I am not a true zombie fan, as clearly if I was I would enjoy every word of the 64-page long final chapter. Unfortunately, you would be right. I have only seen a few episodes of The Walking Dead and have never read the books. I have never watched Night Of The Living Dead and have no plans to in the immediate future. I have never read World War Z, as previously mentioned. And perhaps that is why I very nearly fell asleep reading this last chapter (to be fair, the night I read almost all of the book was my first successful attempt at staying awake for a full twenty-four hours). This chapter completely killed the momentum that the very enjoyable rest-of-book created. There are only so many stories of zombies moving into a pack of armed men and not dying despite being blown to smithereens that I can take in one night.The repetition was driving me mad.
And so I will give this book a new record rating for this blog of 7.8. Perhaps it could have gotten a full 8 or even 8.5 if it had not been for the buzz-killing ending and my determination to save the higher ratings for only the books that completely blow me out of the water. But still, a 7.8 rating is very respectable in my eyes, and so I recommend this book for anyone who likes the concept of zombies and has a sense of humour. Tell me how you like the book in the comments below, or when me and you are both struggling to survive the apocalypse and meet up in a corpse-strewn street. Until that time, thanks for reading, and I'll see you as soon as I can. Cheers,
Mark
Upcoming reviews; City of the Beasts, Lord Of The Rings The Fellowship Of The Ring Book Two, and Fighting Fantasy. If there is any book which you would like to have reviewed, please let me know in the comments and I'll see what I can do :)
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Cracking Codes & Cryptograms For Dummies
If your anything like me, the mere fact that this book exists is mind-blowing. I personally have always found the subject fascinating, although I have only once tried to actually solve a code, and that attempt was met with dismal failure. And so, any code-cracking attempts of mine were postponed. But when I found this book at the library while searching for books on a completely unrelated topic, my old desire to crack codes was instantly rekindled, and my mind was promptly blow open, causing quite the ruckus in the library. Sorry, EPL. But I mean, anyone who decides to write a book on cracking codes deserves a tip of the hat in my book. The "For Dummies" series, I salute you.
Now, this book is impressive. With over 350 codes, it has enough material to keep you going for months. It also has a mercifully brief introduction and history of codes chapter (I tend to force myself to read every word of a book, so the shorter opening allowed me to quickly get to the good stuff. However, if you do want more info on the history of codes, the book suggests another half dozen titles for further reading) and hints and answers for every code in the book at the back. It was another pleasant surprise to find that the section on how to solve the codes is a mere twenty pages. I myself have only read the instructions on how to solve three different codes so far, and have only tried solving four codes in total. These were, of course, ranked as easy, and I found them... well... easy. It was almost boring solving them, as the book gives you instructions on how to solve all the types of codes in the book, and then gives you the code type for every code, and so it was a mere matter of following the instructions. And this gives rise to my only worry so far about the book; that the codes are too easy. Then again, I probably won't be thinking that by the time I try the "treacherous" codes! (I'll follow up on that later with either an update or a note in another review).
So if your into this sort of thing, definitely give this book a try. I think it's pretty cool myself, and I hope you do to. Thanks for reading and until next time,
Mark
(Okay, update. After trying a few "treacherous" codes I can conclude that the "rail fence ciphers" are very doable, but some of the other codes require much more trial and error and so are much more difficult. My one worry has been dispelled. This book is awesome :)
Now, this book is impressive. With over 350 codes, it has enough material to keep you going for months. It also has a mercifully brief introduction and history of codes chapter (I tend to force myself to read every word of a book, so the shorter opening allowed me to quickly get to the good stuff. However, if you do want more info on the history of codes, the book suggests another half dozen titles for further reading) and hints and answers for every code in the book at the back. It was another pleasant surprise to find that the section on how to solve the codes is a mere twenty pages. I myself have only read the instructions on how to solve three different codes so far, and have only tried solving four codes in total. These were, of course, ranked as easy, and I found them... well... easy. It was almost boring solving them, as the book gives you instructions on how to solve all the types of codes in the book, and then gives you the code type for every code, and so it was a mere matter of following the instructions. And this gives rise to my only worry so far about the book; that the codes are too easy. Then again, I probably won't be thinking that by the time I try the "treacherous" codes! (I'll follow up on that later with either an update or a note in another review).
So if your into this sort of thing, definitely give this book a try. I think it's pretty cool myself, and I hope you do to. Thanks for reading and until next time,
Mark
(Okay, update. After trying a few "treacherous" codes I can conclude that the "rail fence ciphers" are very doable, but some of the other codes require much more trial and error and so are much more difficult. My one worry has been dispelled. This book is awesome :)
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Gathering Blue
If I was to look for a terrible book to read, one that I would struggle through valiantly only to receive a confusing and disappointing end, I would not think to read Gathering Blue. First off, its supposed to be a dystopian novel, a genre that I tend to like. Second off, it's the sequel to The Giver, which, although it didn't blow me away, was still a good read. Yes indeed, my quest to find a terrible book would most likely bypass Gathering Blue altogether, not knowing that it would be a gem for it's patheticness. Now, where to start my criticisms?
OK, first off, this supposed sequel has absolutely nothing to do with the original book. Yes, if your thinking of reading this book in an attempt to figure out what happened after that cliffhanger in book 1, put the thought out of your head. Indeed, Jonas is not mentioned at all in this novel. In fact, they seem to be two completely different worlds, those of Jonas and Kira; one interesting, with a feeling that something is amiss from page one, and one thats... boring. I guess we'll never know what happened at the end of The Giver. In fact, unless you like reading books about people weaving all day, bypass this book altogether. I swear, thats all that happens in the whole entire book. Just weave, weave, weave. Oh, whoops, sorry for the spoiler. The book summed up in three sentences; 'Once upon a time a girl named Kira's mom died and her father had disappeared, and she was sad. She had a crippled leg, and it looked like she might be thrown out of the village. Luckily, she wasn't and she happily weaved all day for the rest of her life.'
And thats the entire book. I was waiting for some kind of good twist to come at the ending; explaining some shocking secret about the village in which Kira lived. The'd been hinting about something, it seemed... Kira's supposedly nice guardian yelling at a child hidden in the lower levels of the government building, people mysteriously dying all the time... and yet in the end of the book, nothing really happened. As with any luck you will have the good sense not to read this book by now, I feel that I can now safely 'ruin' the ending for you. Perhaps this way I can save any of you who still want to read the book by deterring you. Are you ready?
First off, I'll do a tiny bit more explaining. Kira's father was taken by "beasts' before she was born. At the start of the novel, her mother dies from a mysterious disease. With her mother no longer protecting her, a member of the village, Vandera, wants her chucked out of the village for having an unresponsive leg and therefore being "useless." Luckily for Kira, she is good at weaving, and the council allow her to stay in their building, provided she works for them. There she lives happily, weaving all day, talking with her friend thomas (a wood carver) and Matt (a younger village boy). Then the book promptly stalls for about a hundred pages, with nobody doing much of anything. The only thing anyone seems to care about is that Kira can't find some blue thread to stitch with.
And now for the shocking twist; Matt, while searching around other villages looking for blue thread for Kira, happens upon her father (gasp) who, when reunited with his daughter, tells her that her Gaurdian, a member of the village council, tried to murder him so as to take his place in the council. Luckily, he survived and was taken in by another, more peaceful village where everyone dances around all day and everybody is nice. Soon after her fathers appearance, Kira realizes that her mother was poisoned in order for the council to secure her weaving skills, as she had no other guardian. (though the council could have just asked if Kira wanted to work for them. She and here mother lived in little more then a hut from what I understand, and so of course Kira would accept. It's just down the street from her mothers, anyway). And, although that was a sort of lame twist after hours of "and she selected a green thread and wove it into...," the ending might still have earned the book a four out of ten stars. But no. The book had to be destroyed further.
After learning that her guardian is an axe wielding maniac, after learning that her mother was poisoned, after learning that she could go with her dad to a nice, happy village a little ways away, what does Kira do? For some reason, she decided to stay. She said; "I am an artist! I like weaving even though I'm doing it for some corrupted government and my guardian is a criminal! And I, the person nobody likes, the person who some people want thrown out of the village, am going to change the corruption in my society without being killed by the council!"
O.K, I'm sorry to sound like such a downer, but… yeah, good luck Kira.
And so, my final judgement on the book; Boring beginning, boring middle, and what-the-heck-just-happened ending...
2 out of 10 stars.
Thanks for reading
OK, first off, this supposed sequel has absolutely nothing to do with the original book. Yes, if your thinking of reading this book in an attempt to figure out what happened after that cliffhanger in book 1, put the thought out of your head. Indeed, Jonas is not mentioned at all in this novel. In fact, they seem to be two completely different worlds, those of Jonas and Kira; one interesting, with a feeling that something is amiss from page one, and one thats... boring. I guess we'll never know what happened at the end of The Giver. In fact, unless you like reading books about people weaving all day, bypass this book altogether. I swear, thats all that happens in the whole entire book. Just weave, weave, weave. Oh, whoops, sorry for the spoiler. The book summed up in three sentences; 'Once upon a time a girl named Kira's mom died and her father had disappeared, and she was sad. She had a crippled leg, and it looked like she might be thrown out of the village. Luckily, she wasn't and she happily weaved all day for the rest of her life.'
And thats the entire book. I was waiting for some kind of good twist to come at the ending; explaining some shocking secret about the village in which Kira lived. The'd been hinting about something, it seemed... Kira's supposedly nice guardian yelling at a child hidden in the lower levels of the government building, people mysteriously dying all the time... and yet in the end of the book, nothing really happened. As with any luck you will have the good sense not to read this book by now, I feel that I can now safely 'ruin' the ending for you. Perhaps this way I can save any of you who still want to read the book by deterring you. Are you ready?
First off, I'll do a tiny bit more explaining. Kira's father was taken by "beasts' before she was born. At the start of the novel, her mother dies from a mysterious disease. With her mother no longer protecting her, a member of the village, Vandera, wants her chucked out of the village for having an unresponsive leg and therefore being "useless." Luckily for Kira, she is good at weaving, and the council allow her to stay in their building, provided she works for them. There she lives happily, weaving all day, talking with her friend thomas (a wood carver) and Matt (a younger village boy). Then the book promptly stalls for about a hundred pages, with nobody doing much of anything. The only thing anyone seems to care about is that Kira can't find some blue thread to stitch with.
And now for the shocking twist; Matt, while searching around other villages looking for blue thread for Kira, happens upon her father (gasp) who, when reunited with his daughter, tells her that her Gaurdian, a member of the village council, tried to murder him so as to take his place in the council. Luckily, he survived and was taken in by another, more peaceful village where everyone dances around all day and everybody is nice. Soon after her fathers appearance, Kira realizes that her mother was poisoned in order for the council to secure her weaving skills, as she had no other guardian. (though the council could have just asked if Kira wanted to work for them. She and here mother lived in little more then a hut from what I understand, and so of course Kira would accept. It's just down the street from her mothers, anyway). And, although that was a sort of lame twist after hours of "and she selected a green thread and wove it into...," the ending might still have earned the book a four out of ten stars. But no. The book had to be destroyed further.
After learning that her guardian is an axe wielding maniac, after learning that her mother was poisoned, after learning that she could go with her dad to a nice, happy village a little ways away, what does Kira do? For some reason, she decided to stay. She said; "I am an artist! I like weaving even though I'm doing it for some corrupted government and my guardian is a criminal! And I, the person nobody likes, the person who some people want thrown out of the village, am going to change the corruption in my society without being killed by the council!"
O.K, I'm sorry to sound like such a downer, but… yeah, good luck Kira.
And so, my final judgement on the book; Boring beginning, boring middle, and what-the-heck-just-happened ending...
2 out of 10 stars.
Thanks for reading
Thursday, April 24, 2014
The Lord Of The Rings: Book One
Hi again,
After not giving a second thought to this blog for several months, I decided that it was time to step my game up and actually post something for my loyal readers. (Or, maybe more accurately, to gather some loyal readers :). Anyone reading this who know's anything about The Lord Of The Rings will probably have noticed and objected to the fact that I wrote 'The Lord Of The Rings: Book One,' instead of saying 'The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring.' However I have recently found that all three of The Lord Of The Rings novels were split into two smaller books, for a total of six books in the series. Yes, I do hear you critics sneer "Well then, why didn't you call the book by whatever It's real name is?" However, I couldn't be bothered to retrieve my copy of the book and find out for you, and my two-minute search for it on Wikipedia did not yield the answers either. And so in fact maybe the book is unnamed. However, I catch myself rambling on about nothing in particular again (I have a feeling in my gut that my first post was much the same), and so I feel that the time has come to actually get down to my review. I will, however, save you the summary of the plot. If you don't know enough about The Lord Of The Rings to follow this review, then I invite you to leave my blog until such time as you have repented for your sin. And so.
The reason why I didn't just read all the way 'till the end of The Fellowship Of The Ring and save you the speech up above is simple; I had enough trouble getting through the first book to be bothered fighting through the second (all in good time, dear readers). And that fact is in stark contrast to the one I am about to present to you; that I enjoyed the book. Perhaps I can explain it this way; I enjoyed finding out what was originally intended to happen to Frodo and the Gang, and yet to be perfectly honest I really didn't need to know all the lyrics to a song that the hobbits sang while taking a bath. Also the famous Tom Bombadil, as much as I enjoyed his character, didn't really add anything to the plot. On the other hand, however, all these tiresome songs and useless scenes did work together to create for the reader a 3-D world for the characters to explore, which allowed you to immerse yourself in the story when you weren't drifting off from boredom. And so I find myself conflicted; bored yet enchanted with the book simultaneously.
And now, though I hate to cut my review short, I end it here for several reasons, which may include that my idea of 'cutting it short' is probably your idea of a droning speech that you zone out of halfway in (much like the book, in fact), and also the fact that it is fast approaching midnight here. So now for the final verdict. As I am in a generous mood and it must be pretty good to be so universally popular, I will give The Lord Of The Rings a respectable rating of… (drumroll) 8/10. A discussion for the comments; which do you prefer, The Lord Of The Rings books or movies? My votes on the movies right now :). Cheers,
Mark Jones
After not giving a second thought to this blog for several months, I decided that it was time to step my game up and actually post something for my loyal readers. (Or, maybe more accurately, to gather some loyal readers :). Anyone reading this who know's anything about The Lord Of The Rings will probably have noticed and objected to the fact that I wrote 'The Lord Of The Rings: Book One,' instead of saying 'The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring.' However I have recently found that all three of The Lord Of The Rings novels were split into two smaller books, for a total of six books in the series. Yes, I do hear you critics sneer "Well then, why didn't you call the book by whatever It's real name is?" However, I couldn't be bothered to retrieve my copy of the book and find out for you, and my two-minute search for it on Wikipedia did not yield the answers either. And so in fact maybe the book is unnamed. However, I catch myself rambling on about nothing in particular again (I have a feeling in my gut that my first post was much the same), and so I feel that the time has come to actually get down to my review. I will, however, save you the summary of the plot. If you don't know enough about The Lord Of The Rings to follow this review, then I invite you to leave my blog until such time as you have repented for your sin. And so.
The reason why I didn't just read all the way 'till the end of The Fellowship Of The Ring and save you the speech up above is simple; I had enough trouble getting through the first book to be bothered fighting through the second (all in good time, dear readers). And that fact is in stark contrast to the one I am about to present to you; that I enjoyed the book. Perhaps I can explain it this way; I enjoyed finding out what was originally intended to happen to Frodo and the Gang, and yet to be perfectly honest I really didn't need to know all the lyrics to a song that the hobbits sang while taking a bath. Also the famous Tom Bombadil, as much as I enjoyed his character, didn't really add anything to the plot. On the other hand, however, all these tiresome songs and useless scenes did work together to create for the reader a 3-D world for the characters to explore, which allowed you to immerse yourself in the story when you weren't drifting off from boredom. And so I find myself conflicted; bored yet enchanted with the book simultaneously.
And now, though I hate to cut my review short, I end it here for several reasons, which may include that my idea of 'cutting it short' is probably your idea of a droning speech that you zone out of halfway in (much like the book, in fact), and also the fact that it is fast approaching midnight here. So now for the final verdict. As I am in a generous mood and it must be pretty good to be so universally popular, I will give The Lord Of The Rings a respectable rating of… (drumroll) 8/10. A discussion for the comments; which do you prefer, The Lord Of The Rings books or movies? My votes on the movies right now :). Cheers,
Mark Jones
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Divergent
At the request of my sister, Julia (see her blog at couverturetocopertina.blogspot.ca), I recently read the popular book Divergent, by Veronica Roth. Set in a future world (one that is strikingly similar to our present one), Divergent takes place in a city where the people are divided into five different factions; Amity, Erudite, Dauntless, Abnegation, and Candor, which house the peaceful, the intelligent, the brave, the selfless, and the honest, respectively. When a child turns sixteen, they take a test to determine what faction they are best suited to, and the next day they choose which faction they want to train to get into.
However, our protagonist, Tris, has a bit of a problem when determining what faction she belongs to. She finds out that she is suited equally to no less then three of the five factions. This means she is called "Divergent," which she is told is dangerous to be.
Okay, now I'm going to cut short my summary, and ask you this question that I was definitely asking at that point; so what if she could be in any of three factions? What does that matter? How is being Divergent dangerous? These were questions that got me interested in the book. However, I soon found myself annoyed whenever the subject of Tris being divergent came up. Why? Because Tris just wouldn't be quiet about it! Seriously, Tris kept blabbing about having dreams of being divergent, about thinking the word was plastered on her forehead, on and on, even when she didn't know why it was dangerous. Seriously, Veronica, WE GET THAT SHE'S DIVERGENT!
And now back to Tris. She was brave, resourceful and hardworking, as a protagonist should be... but she was mean. She rejected some guy one day, and the next day, he went and killed himself. Sure, it was probably the brutal dauntless training camp they were in wearing him down and it wasn't really her fault. And yet, you'd think that maybe she'd feel at least a little guilt. Basically, the extent of her remorse was an 'oh. whoops. Maybe I should've been nicer.' And we never heard about the incident again.
But seriously, besides though two little incidents the book was actually very good. I will call this book predictable, although my sister basically told me everything about it when she read the book (are you reading this sis?), so maybe I can't say that truthfully. So in the end, I have a well written, if slightly predictable, book with only a few flaws. Seven out of ten stars.
-Mark
However, our protagonist, Tris, has a bit of a problem when determining what faction she belongs to. She finds out that she is suited equally to no less then three of the five factions. This means she is called "Divergent," which she is told is dangerous to be.
Okay, now I'm going to cut short my summary, and ask you this question that I was definitely asking at that point; so what if she could be in any of three factions? What does that matter? How is being Divergent dangerous? These were questions that got me interested in the book. However, I soon found myself annoyed whenever the subject of Tris being divergent came up. Why? Because Tris just wouldn't be quiet about it! Seriously, Tris kept blabbing about having dreams of being divergent, about thinking the word was plastered on her forehead, on and on, even when she didn't know why it was dangerous. Seriously, Veronica, WE GET THAT SHE'S DIVERGENT!
And now back to Tris. She was brave, resourceful and hardworking, as a protagonist should be... but she was mean. She rejected some guy one day, and the next day, he went and killed himself. Sure, it was probably the brutal dauntless training camp they were in wearing him down and it wasn't really her fault. And yet, you'd think that maybe she'd feel at least a little guilt. Basically, the extent of her remorse was an 'oh. whoops. Maybe I should've been nicer.' And we never heard about the incident again.
But seriously, besides though two little incidents the book was actually very good. I will call this book predictable, although my sister basically told me everything about it when she read the book (are you reading this sis?), so maybe I can't say that truthfully. So in the end, I have a well written, if slightly predictable, book with only a few flaws. Seven out of ten stars.
-Mark
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