Those are some nice book reviews you got

This blog covers reviews on an array of books. Well, it will cover a bunch of reviews one day.

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Top Five Books I Read in 2013

(Notes: I don't think any of these were actually written this year. Also, beware of spoilers hidden in the quotes!)

5. Anthem by Ayn Rand

"There is fear hanging in the air of the sleeping halls, and in the air of the streets. Fear walks through the City, fear without name, without shape. All men feel it and none dare to speak."

4. Coraline by Neil Gaiman

"Nothing’s changed. You’ll go home. You’ll be bored. You’ll be ignored. No one will listen to you, really listen to you. You’re too clever and too quiet for them to understand. They don’t even get your name right."

3. The Princess Bride by William Goldman

" 'Don't you yell at me,' Max exploded right back, 'And don't you mock my methods--tickling can be terrific in the proper instances. I had a corpse once, worse than this fella, mostly dead he was, and I tickled him and tickled him; I tickled his toes and I tickled his armpits and his ribs and I got a peacock feather and went after his belly button; I worked all day and I worked all night and the following dawn--the following dawn, mark me--the corpse said, 'I just hate that,' and I said, 'Hate what?' and he said, 'Being tickled; I've come all the way back from the dead to ask you to stop,' and I said, 'You mean this thing with the peacock feather, it bothers you?' and he said, 'You couldn't guess how much it bothers me,' and of course I just kept on asking him questions about tickling, making him talk back to me, answer me, because, I don't have to tell you, once you get a corpse really caught up in a conversation, your battle's half over.' "

2. Plain Kate by Erin Bow

"Plain Kate was sobbing. She didn't want to cry in front of Stivo, but she couldn't stop. He dropped Taggle's body in the churned mud before the cage. 'Is this your creature, witch-child?'

"Taggle cracked open a yellow eye. 'Her name,' he drawled, thickly, 'is Katerina, Star of My Heart.' "

1. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

" 'But I'm not calm about it, if that's what you think!' Michael said. 'If you knew the trouble we've had because Howl will keep falling in love like this! We've had lawsuits, and suitors with swords, and mother with rolling pins, and fathers and uncles with cudgels. And aunts. Aunts are terrible. They go for you with hat pins. But the worst is when the girl herself finds out where Howl lives and turns up at the door, crying and miserable. Howl goes out through the back door and Calcifer and I have to deal with then all.' " 

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Preliminary Review for Paper Towns

"The way I figure it, everyone gets a miracle."

Paper Towns by John Green  is about something. I'm not sure exactly what yet because I haven't read much of it yet. Also, I have a feeling that Margo is going to die or go missing or something. By the way, Margo is really creepy. Even on the cover (I assume that's Margo on the cover), she is glaring at me. 

I've only read the prologue and the first eight words of the first chapter of this one. So far, I think it's pretty cool. I think I'll like it. Okay, that's it. Short review. 

I think I'm going to give this a four or a very high three out of five stars, but I don't knowwwww. Maybe I won't finish it; I have a habit of doing that.

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Complete Review for Howl's Moving Castle

"She cackled again as she walked on. Perhaps she was a little mad, but then old women often were."

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones is the story of a young woman becoming an old lady and also becoming a little bit crazy. Sophie Hatter is, tragically, the eldest of three and therefore highly unlikely to succeed much in life. Still, she tries to stay content with making hats when suddenly some nasty, old witch jumps in and makes her an old lady. So, Sophie runs out and jumps into the wizard Howl's castle. There, she meets Howl and his apprentice. She becomes friends with them, and stuff happens (a lot of which involves Sophie cleaning) , and they defeat the witch, and Sophie becomes young again. Then, Sophie and Howl fall in looovvveee and get married and have twelve children. Probably.

After I read this book, I was convinced that it was now my absolute favorite book of all time. I'm not sure about that anymore because I've gone back and re-read some of my previous favorite books. Now, I'm convinced that I will never be able to pick a favorite book. Anyway, I loved this book. I had to take a while to review so that I could forget all of the quotes and have to go back and look around for one that was nice. Also, as I was looking back, I noticed that many of the parts I thought of as funny were probably not meant to be funny at all. That kind of thing happens to me far too often than it should. But it was such a nice boookkkk!

And, for all of its greatness, this book gets a 4.6879 out of 5 stars!

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Complete Review for Looking for Alaska

"I hated sports. I hated sports, and I hated people who played them, and I hated people who watched them, and I hated people who didn't hate people who watched or played them." 

Looking for Alaska by John Green is about a kid who goes to a boarding school, gets friends, and then experiences the tragic death of one of them. Miles, at some point, before the beginning of the book, decides he wants to go to Culver Creak, a boarding school that his father went to when he was Miles's age. So, he goes. After he gets there, he gets up to tons of shenanigans and smoking and drinking (even though his parents specifically told him not to! That little whippersnapper!!!). He makes friends with various people including a girl named Alaska, whom he falls in love with. Sadly, she later dies. Then, everyone gets sad, including him. (Fun fact: When I read through this book, I looked at the little number day things and thought to myself, "Miles is going to get into a car crash and go into a coma or die." Then, later, I was like, "Oops, wrong person").

I really liked this book. There were parts I didn't like, but then there were parts that were wonderful. Anyway, this book made me think things. Goodreads says that I finished reading it in March, which was the month that my cat died. I'm not sure if I read it before or after he expired, but I remember thinking about stuff. There were two main things I thought about:

1. The last words my grandfather said to me before he died ("That was the sweetest kiss I've ever gotten"), and

2. The last words I said to my cat ("Don't worry, I'll come back in a bit"). 

And that was a bit depressing. Also, I felt that this book had tonnnsss of great quotes in it. Sadly, though, I checked it out from the library when I read it, and because of that, I had to google some nice quotes. So, I'm sorry if that quote above is inaccurate in any way!

And this super-depressing book gets a 4.2753 out of 5 stars!

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Complete Review for Anthem

"It is not good to feel too much joy nor to be glad that our body lives. For we matter not and it must not matter to us whether we live or die, which is to be as our brothers will it. But we, Equality 7-2521, are glad to be living. If this is vice, then we wish no virtue."

Anthem by Ayn Rand is a book about an "I" in a  huge groups of "we"s. There's this kid named Equality 7-2521 who stumbles upon a sort of tunnel thingy in which is a bunch of stuff left from the Unmentionable Times. So, he makes a square lightbulb and tries to show it off to the scholars. They don't take it well. He has to escape from prison and go live in the Forbidden Forest or whatever it was called. Later, his girlfriend (AKA The Golden One) comes to live with him. They walk around for a while and find a nice house from the Unmentionable Times to live in. Inside is a bunch of books and clothes and stuff. Anyway, they name themselves Gaea and Prometheus and find out about the existence of the word "I."

Personally, I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was prettyyy swell. In fact, it only took me three days to read. Also, for some reason, I've been reading a bunch of relatively short books recently.  That's finneeeeee. Short books are pretty cool. It gives the authors less time to drown me in descriptions. I mean no offense to people who live huge paragraphs of description, though. It's just not really my thing. It's short and sweet.

And this sweet book gets a 4.2581

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A Note

There might be a few changes in the format I write my reviews in. We'll see, though. 

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Preliminary review for Before I Fall

"They say that just before you die your whole life flashes before your eyes, but that's not how it happened for me."

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver is a story about some girl who gets into a car crash and dies and recounts what happened during the day that she died. Well, apparently, it was a pretty long day because it's a relatively long book. Actually, even if it was a relatively short book, that would've still been a long day. 

Ah, I think this will be a relatively nice book. It has a nice cover too. I enjoy staring at people's eyeballs. You know, there are some book in which I have quite a bit to say in the review. On the contrary, there are some books that I could probably review in three sentences or less. Honestly, this is one of them. Hmmmmm, I wonder why that is. Perhaps I shall find out one day.

Anyway, I think I'll end up rating this around 3 or 4 stars out of 5 (which, in case you have not noticed, will probably be my estimation for most books).

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Preliminary review for Looking for Alaska

"The week before I left my family and Florida and the rest of my minor life to go to boarding school in Alabama, my mother insisted on throwing me a going-away party."

Ah, sadly, I read a summary while I was looking at the genre, and I spoiled myself a bit. Well, that's unfortunate. Anyway, Looking For Alaska by John Green is a book that starts out with a kid from Florida who's about to go to a boarding school in Alabama. Also, apparently, he has some nice times and then almost dies in a car crash. Woohoo. 

Hmm... Hmmmmmmm... I completely forgot what I was going to say about this book. My foot is asleep. Anyway, this book looks pretttyyy nice, and I've been meaning to read it for a while. I've heard that John Green is a pretty good author. Meanwhile, I must finish my homework. I apologize for this review's shortness.

I suspect that either I won't finish this book or it'll get somewhere near a four or so out of five stars. 

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Preliminary review for The Graveyard Book

"There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife."

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman is about some kid who lives in a graveyard and can't leave for some reason. Also, apparently, there it a hand in the darkness that is holding a knife. That's all I've read. Literally.

You may remember (or you may not, which is perfectly fine) that I read another story by Neil Gaiman called Coraline, and that I read that particular book in two days. Now, Coraline, for me, was kind of an impulsive book. You know, the kind of book that you don't spend at least half an hour researching about before you read it. I didn't really know too much about the book before I picked it up. In a way, Coraline and The Graveyard Book are similar. I'm not saying that they're very similar books; I haven't read enough of The Graveyard Book to tell whether they are or not. Thing is, I haven't really read too much about this book either. Usually, I go through a sort of process from looking at the general plot to reading the preview on amazon to pondering for a few weeks or so whether I want to read it or not. Well, while I did look at the general plot, I never really read any previews or anything. Instead, I just made a note of it in the back of my mind to check it out later. That's also one way that Coraline and The Graveyard Book differ. Before I picked Coraline from my library, I didn't really have any desire to read it at all (more or less). I've been meaning to read The Graveyard Book for quite a while now. 

Well, I lost my train of thought. I suspect that I'll rate this book somewhere from 3 to 4 out of 5 stars.

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Not Necessarily a Book Review, But Rather a Warning of One (or Two)

Just for future reference, I will usually try to put stuff that isn't a book review of some kind under a read more whatever thingy.

Hello~ It feels like it's been a while since I've done a book review (which, btw, I've probably got two preliminary reviews going up tomorrow and the next day). Well, sadly, this is not a book review. Instead, it's a warning of possible book reviews that I might be doing. 

At school, we do research papers each year starting in sixth grade. Anyway, this year, we're kind of doing a research paper, but the research paper part of it will be dramatically shorter than usual. We're doing an author project. That is, we have to write down three authors (in order of ones we would most like to write our paper on to ones we would least like to write our paper on) Friday, and she will look through our authors and assign us each one. The whole picking three and all that greatly reduces the chance of several people doing one author. We'll read one work by that particular author and write an actual school-like formal book review about it. Then, we'll get about seven sources from which we write down a bunch of facts on note cards and put our paper together and cite sources and stuff. 

Along with doing the school book review, I'm planning on writing a book review on here as well. It won't be the same review, though. I'll write them separately. I'll actually be honest with the one I publish on here. 

Anyway, I think I have my three authors. I'm not sure, though. It all depends on how long the biographies on them is (we probably have to do a review of that as well, or so I've heard). Here's my list:

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (I'll probably read A Sign of Four, but I'll definitely not be reading A Study in Scarlet, for it would be dishonest to re-read it).

F. Scott Fitzgerald (I'm not reading The Great Gatsby; I'm receiving the book for my birthday, and I wish to enjoy it).

Oscar Wilde (I'm not reading A Picture of Dorian Gray, for I am about fifty pages in, and that, too, would be brutally dishonest to read. Also, he's one of my favorite authors, but the biography they had about him at my library is pretty long).

Well, that's that. I hope I didn't bore you too much with school stuff.

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Preliminary review for Treasure Island

"To the hesitation purchaser:

If sailor tales to sailor tunes,

     Storm and adventure, heat and cold,

If schooners, islands, and maroons,

     And buccanneers, and buried gold,

And all the old romance, retold

     Exactly in the ancient way,

Can please, as me they pleased of old,

     The wiser youngsters of today:

--So be it, and fall on! If not,

     If studious youth no longer crave,

His ancient appetites forgot,

     Kingston, or Ballantyne the brave,

Or Cooper of the wood and wave:

     So be it, also! And may I

And all my pirates share the grave

     Where these and their creations lie!"

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson is probably going to be about pirates and stuff. That quote that I just put up there is literally the only thing I've read of this book. To be honest, I've always disliked Robert Louis Stevenson. Well, at least, I hated the parts of his writings that I had to read for school. Anyway, he seems like a pretty cool guy anyway. Also, have you ever seen Wishbone? Well, it's about this dog who tells you about classic novels and stuff. Anyway, there was a Treasure Island episode, and I saw it. I don't really remember much about it, but it was probably pretty nice. [[ Incidentally, it if you want to watch it, here you go: [x] ]]

Well, it looks pretty cool; so, I hope I like it. I hope I read all of it. I have a strange way of not doing that. By the way, if you wanna watch it, you can click the link in the forbidden italicized section, or you can click this one: [x]

I predict that I will rate this book somewhere from one to five stars.

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Good News?

Well, I've exempted all of my exams, which means I won't be going to school next week. I'm not sure if I read more or less over break. Also, sorry for not posting for a while; I was studying for tests and stuff (and just generally goofing off). And to that person who sent me the ask on January 2, I might answer you eventually. I'm just reaaallllyyyy lazy. 

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Complete review for Coraline

" Coraline sighed. 'You really don't understand do you?' she said. 'I don't want whatever I want. Nobody does. Not really. What kind of fun would it be if I just got everything I ever wanted? Just like that, and it didn't mean anything. What then?' "

Coraline by Neil Gaiman is a book about a girl who goes through a weird door to a weird world full of pretty much everything she could ever want. Kind of. I mean, in that other world, she eats nice food and can feel free to do what she pleases. At least, that's how it seems. Everything is going well and she likes it there until her other parents tell her that, in order for her to stay, they must sew buttons over her eyeballs. Well, she backs away slowly and returns home. However, when she gets there, there's something missing. Her parents. And they remain missing for a few days. Finally, she goes over to the mirror and notices them there. Through their breath, they convey to her their need to be rescued from the evil clutches of the other mother. Remembering the cat's advice ("Challenge her"), Coraline makes a deal with the other mother. If Coraline can find the souls of the three children the other mother has trapped behind her mirror and her parents, then the other mother has to let Coraline and her parents and the three children leave. And, if Coraline is not able to do that, then she will have to stay with her other parents forever and let them sew buttons on her eyes. Well, it works out well for Coraline. She finds her parents and the three souls, and, even though the other mother does not really keep up her end of the bargain, Coraline manages to escape. But, alas, the other mother's right after her. Luckily, Coraline arranges some stuff, and the other mother's right hand falls down a mile-long well.

This book wasn't half as creepy as I thought it would be, but I liked it much more than I thought it would. Actually, I read it in two days. Two. Days. That's not something I do. That's not how I roll. I don't read books quickly. I've never finished a book over one hundred pages in two days. Well, now I have. Anyway, there's another factor playing into this whole Chex-suddenly-reads-fast-everything-is-upside-down thing. My computer was freaking out too and didn't want to work. So, I sat down, and decided to read ten pages or so. Then, after reading that much, I looked at my computer, and it was still freaking out, so I decided to read a bit more. And that went on for about two hours (I ended up having to restart it).

And, because of those great two hours, I'm giving this book a 4.4359 out of five stars.

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Preliminary gambling review for Coraline

Opening sentence:

"Coraline discovered the door a little while after they moved into the house."

Basically, I haven't heard too much about this book other than that it's creepy. I'e read the first page, and it's mainly about Coraline moving in and finding that two of her neighbors (Miss Spink and Miss Forcible) have a bunch of cute dogs. Also, apparently, Hamish (one of the dogs) should not be allowed to eat the fruitcake, "or he'll be up all." The sentence stops there, and I would rather not write up a preliminary gambling review after having read the second page. Anyway, if it's anything like the movie trailers, what it behind the door is a few weirdos who seem really nice. Also, I'l read the reviews on the back and the little genre things on the copyright page thing and a little bit of the summary on the inside of the cover. Something about the fourteenth door being locked. Also the cover is pretty creepy, and one of the reviews says it's pretty creepy; so, I'm guessing that I'll be kind of creeped out while I read it. 

Well, I saw this book at my library about three weeks ago, but I didn't really want my friend's mother to see me picking out too much creepy-looking stuff. Anyway, during the three weeks that I didn't go to the library and today, I pondered whether I should read another horror. I was pretty sure I didn't want to read it, but, alas, I shall anyway. It looks interesting. Also, it's relatively short. That means  I can take the exact same amount of time it takes me to read a really long book, and I can pace myself and savor it more.

Anyway, I estimate that it'll get somewhere between a 4 and a 4.3 out of five stars.

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An Interesting Note

As today is my last day off, and I have to go to school tomorrow, prepare for a lot less posts. I'm sorry. Also, to the person who sent me the ask: I will respond eventually. I'm just lazy.

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Complete review for The Ranger's Apprentice: The Battle For Skandia

"And then he heard a sound form the past, a sound eerily familiar from hours spent in the forest around Castle Redmont."

The Ranger's Apprenticec: The Battle for Skandia by John Flanagan (AKA the fourth book of the Ranger's Apprentice series) is mainly about the Skandians defending themselves from the dreaded Temujai. Okay, so, Evanlyn and Will have escaped slavery, right? Well, Evanlyn gets caught again. Except, this time, it's not by the Skandians. It's by the Temujai, fierce warriors from the land of Temu. So, naturally, Will tracks them down and goes to beat them up, but, alas, before he is able to, his old buddy Horace and his master Halt arrive to crash the party.they end up going to the Skandians to help them defeat the Temujai who are planning to attack Skandia. Will ends up training a bunch of slaves to shoot arrows at them. Then, they go into battle, and the Temujai are overwhelmed and retreat. In the midst of battle however, the Skandian Oberjarl dies, and Erak (a really friendly guy) is elected to be the new Oberjarl. They establish a treaty with the Araluens, saying that they won't declare war on them for a while. Also, I forgot to mention something. Evanlyn turns out to actually be Princess Cassandra. Anyway, they go home and Halt is magically unbanished. All is well in the land of Araluen, and Halt and Will ride off into the sunset, leaving behind Horace and Cassandra to gaze at the horizon.

Like I said before, I really love this series. However, the battle scenes seem to be a little tedious to me. It might just be me, though, and the rest of the book really makes up for it. Plus, it's all still really cool. Anyway, I find that I liked this book a lot more than the last one. 

And this book gets a 4.5329 out of five stars.

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Complete review for The Ranger's Apprentice: The Icebound Land

"Will seized the small handful of the gray, herblike substance with horrifying eagerness. For the first time, she saw a glint of expression in his normally dull gaze. But his attention was totally focused on the drug and she came to realize how completely it ruled his life and his mind these days."

The Ranger's Apprentice: The Icebound Land (AKA the third book of the Ranger's Apprentice series) is about Will and Evanlyn being slaves to the Skandians while Horace and Halt go on a quest to rescue them. Let me mention how cold it is in Skandia. It's very cold. I mean, Skandia is freeezzzinnnggg. It's so freezing that Will becomes a druggie. Meanwhile, Halt is denied permission to go rescue his apprentice; so, he decides to get himself banished. Also, Horace stalks him and forces him to let Horace go along with him. They get into tons of trouble, Horace becoming "Sir Horace of the Order of the Oakleaf." Meanwhile, a Skandian named Erak helps Evanlyn take Will and escape. At this point, Will is pretty much a mindless zombie. This book made me realize how much I love Will being the main character. Don't worry, though. It only lasts for most of the book. Then, at the end, he wakes up and starts talking. Thank goodness!

After writing this review, I noticed that it seems like not as much happened in this book as in the others. That's partially true. Not too many notable things happened. I mean, not as many things that were crucial to the plot. The characters went on a bunch of little mini-adventures. To be honest, this was probably my least favorite book in the series so far, but it was still pretty good.

And that pretty good books gets a 4.3829 out of five stars.