Showing posts with label TV series. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TV series. Show all posts

Monday, 12 June 2017

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket (1999)

 Title: The Bad Beginning
Author: Lemony Snicket
Series: A Series of Unfortunate Events
Pages: 162
Published: Sep 30th 1999
Publisher: Scholastic Ink


I didn't read these as a kid and therefore chose to buy it now when I'm older as I am told they are very very good. Nevertheless, it just sat on my bookshelf for almost a year until my 10-year old sister expressed her love for the TV series. So we sat down and read two chapters every night and where we hooked? Oh yes.

The Bad Beginning is so exciting and intriguing. I love the narrator voice of Lemony Snciket as it appears very educational and it explains complicated things easily. It's very imaginative and allowed my sister and I to put on exciting voices for different characters.

The books are quite short and there are thirteen off them so you are immediately thirsting for more. Me and my sister both enjoyed it very much. If you read it alone it probably won't take you even a day. But reading it as a good night story and having my sister ask for one more chapter was part of the fun to drag out the excitement and reading it aloud added character to the story.

Plot Summary:

Dear Reader,
I'm sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives with filled with misery and woe. From the very first page of this book when the children are at the beach and receive terrible news, continuing on through the entire story, disaster lurks at their heels. One might say they are magnets of misfortune.
In this short book alone, the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, and cold porridge for breakfast.
It is my sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales, but there is nothing stopping you from putting this book down at once and reading something happy, if you prefer that sort of thing.
With all due respect,
Limony Snicket

Favourite Quote:

"He found himself reading the same sentence over and over. He found himself reading the same sentence over and over. He found himself reading the same sentence over and over."

My Rating:

8/10

Other Books in the Series:

The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events #1)
The Reptile Room (A Series of Unfortunate Events #2)
The Wide Window (A Series of Unfortunate Events #3)
The Miserable Mill (A Series of Unfortunate Events #4)
The Austere Academy (A Series of Unfortunate Events #5)
The Ersatz Elevator (A Series of Unfortunate Events #6)
The Vile Village (A Series of Unfortunate Events #7)
The Hostile Hospital (A Series of Unfortunate Events #8)
The Carnivorous Carnival (A Series of Unfortunate Events #9)
The Slippery Slope (A Series of Unfortunate Events #10)
The Grim Grotto (A Series of Unfortunate Events #11)
The Penultimate Peril (A Series of Unfortunate Events #12)
The End (A Series of Unfortunate Events #13)


Tuesday, 24 November 2015

A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire Book 4) by George R. R. Martin

Title: A Feast for Crown
Author: George R.R. Martin
Series: A Song of Ice and Fire #4
Pages: 1061
Published: Oct 17th 2005
Publisher: Bantam Books


This book is thick. But good. It focuses only on the characters that are Kings Landing which I think was good and bad. It made one understand what was going on in one place and things made sense. But I missed Deanarys and John Snow and the rest of the characters in this colossal story. At least Tyrion was present throughout and his story was the most thrilling.


The ending was absolutely thrilling. I really started to like Oberyn Martell and I really miss his cocky attitude now. It added some spark to King's Landind I thought. Tyrion's ending is incredibly exciting to read and I can't wait till his next book.

I find it quite hard to write about these books because so much happens in them and I don't know where to starts without spoiling things. Because that would be a shame I think and then you wouldn't want to read them, which I understand.

Plot Summary:
The Lannisters are in power on the Iron Throne.
The war in the Seven Kingdom has burned itself out, but in its bitter aftermath new conflicts spark to life. The Martells of Dorne and the Starks of Winterfell seek revenge for the dead. Euron Crow's Eye, as black a pirate as ever raised a sail, returns from the smoking ruins of Valyria to claim the Iron Isles.
From the icy north, where Others threaten the Wall, apprentice Maester Samwell Tarly brings a mysterious babe in arms to the Citadel. As plots, intrigue and battle threaten to engulf Westeros, victory will go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel and the coldest hearts.

My Rating:
9/10
It's terribly long and I missed some of my favorite characters, but the ending was wicked!
Other books in this series:
A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire Book 2)
A Storm of Swords 1: Steel and Snow (A Song of Ice and Fire Book 3 Part 1)
A Storm of Swords 2: Blood and Gold (A Song of Ice and Fire Book 3 Part 2)
A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire Book 4)
A Dance with Dragons 1: Dreams and Dust (A Song of Ice and Fire Book 5 Part 1)
A Dance with Dragons 2: After the Feast (A Song of Ice and Fire Book 5 Part 2)


Friday, 20 November 2015

A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire Book 1) by George R. R. Martin

Title: A Game of Thrones
Author: George R.R. Martin
Series: A Song of Ice and Fire
Pages: 835
Published: Aug 6th 1996
Publisher: Bantam


I must say that I love these series. And there is only going to be minor criticism.

I heard about the TV series when they first came out in 2011, the posters were everywhere. Not having Sky however, I had a major problem and couldn't watch it (but believe me, I was dying for it). It had everything I could ask for: fantasy, history, dragons, magic, costumes, castles, royalties. I love that kind of stuff. Guilty.

So I bought the book. I got it at WHSmith for half price for buying The Fault in our Stars as well. This was back in 2012 and my mum had forbidden me to buy a new book unless I finished five because I had a ridiculous amount of unread books at home (I love buying books, don't have as much time to read them all). I bought them anyways and hid them. True story.

Anyways, onto the book. I love it. Not having watched the TV series I built my own interpretations of the characters and it was wonderful. The Stark children are younger which I appreciate because being 14 at the time, they were still older and I could really connect with them. They were still older than me. It took me a few chapters to understand which bastard was which, but we got there in the end.

The chapters I enjoyed the most were John Snow's, Daenarys and Arya's. I can't remember if I loved or hated Tyrions chapters. I love them nowadays and have loved them for a good while because he's so much like me in the way he behaves and his attitude. Please don't judge now.

However, the chapters I could not stand were Caitlyn's. I didn't like her as a character. I understood her, but I didn't like her. I didn't like Bran's too much either. Mainly because there were so many of them and I felt like we weren't getting anywhere. Now, I don't like politics, mainly because I don't understand a thing about it and can't be bother (I know, it's bad) and Ned's chapters were full of politics. I learnt to like it though because A Game of Thrones wouldn't get anywhere without politics. A fight between seven kingdoms. WITHOUT POLITICS?! Not possible. Sorry mate. I don't think I realized how much I appreciated Ned's character until the very end when I knew that I would read no more chapter of him. I wondered how the series could possibly go on without him. He died after the first book and it pretty much centred around him. I was wrong.
I love the world. Just like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings it was been so well thought through. Not a plot hole. The fact that it's based on pieces of history that I enjoy a lot, like the War of the Roses, makes me understand it better. It was probably the first proper fantasy book I pick now I've opened up to that genre completely. When I go into bookstores I go straight to that shelf. I always loved fantasy films but never really read anything until I picked this book up so thank you very much!

Plot Summary:
Summer span decades. Winter can last a lifetime. And the struggle for the Iron Throne has begun.
As Warden of the north, Lord Eddard Stark counts  it a curse when King Robert bestows on him the office of the Hand. his honour weighs him down at court wher a true man does what he will, not what he must... and a dead enemy is a thing of beauty.
The old gods have no power in the south, Stark's family is split and there is treachery at court. Worse, the vengeance-mad heir of the Dragon King has grown to maturity in exile in the free Cities. He claims the Iron Throne.
-as by the book cover
My Rating:

10/10

Other books in this Series:

A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire Book 1)
A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire Book 2)
A Storm of Swords 1: Steel and Snow (A Song of Ice and Fire Book 3 Part 1)
A Storm of Swords 2: Blood and Gold (A Song of Ice and Fire Book 3 Part 2)
A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire Book 4)
A Dance with Dragons 1: After the Feast (A Song of Ice and Fire Book 5 Part 1)
A Dance with Dragons 2: Dreams and Dust (A Song of Ice and Fire Book 5 Part 2)

Available on:

Amazon
Book Depository
Waterstone

Thursday, 12 November 2015

Friday Night Lights by H. G. Bissinger (1990)

Title: Friday Night Lights
Author: H.G. Bissinger
Pages: 357
Published: Sep 28th 1988
Publisher: Da Capo Press


I have mixed feelings about this book and I feel like I'm going to say worse things about it than it deserves so hold on.

Reading the prologue and the preface of this book I got really excited. The book seemed to have a meaning and I was prepared to get seriously blown away. The characters were introduced and I felt like we connected straight away. However, as the book started to actually give me history about Odessa, the politics and the economic situation I started to loose interest. The chapters on racism, discrimination, education and economy were interesting, because I can relate to it, I understood it. But frankly, I don't understand economy and politics. Not my area. At all.

I didn't quite understand the football parts either, although I mean, what else did I expect? It's a football book. About Football. A Town. A Team. And a Dream. Literally. But I didn't get the semantic field. I don't understand how it can matter how far you run in one season. I don't know what's a lot and what's not. I know three words: touchdown, quarterback and running back. That's my vocabulary. Finito. Unfortunately. I think I may have enjoyed the book much more if I had understood it.

I would highly recommend the TV series 'Friday Night Lights' which is honestly more about the characters and their lives rather than the football itself. That appealed more to me. The series is only based on the idea surrounding the book. It does include any of the characters, the same team or town. The film however, which is based on the book is quite boring. I lost interest quicker than I lost interest in the book.

Despite all my criticism about the book it is still regarded as the best sports book written, so if you do understand the language of Texas football, by all means go for it. But I'm a fantasy/history/sci-fi/romance kinda person and maybe it had to do with the fact that it was a school book.

Plot Summary:
In the state of Texas American football is a religion. And nowhere is more fanatical about its football than the small town of Odessa. There, every Friday night from September to November, a bunch of seventeen-year-old kids play their hearts out for the honour of their high school. In front of 20,000 people. In 1988 H.G. Bissinger spent a season in Odessa discovering just what makes a town pin its hopes on eleven boys on a football field. He lived with the students, coaches and townspeople who dedicate their lives to their team, sharing their joys and triumphs, their pains, injuries and bitter disappointments. He returned with a compassionate but hard-eyed story of a town riven by money, race and class, where a high school can spend more on medical supplies for its athletic program than on its English department. Friday Night Lights is one of the best books about sport ever written. It is the story of how dreams and reality collide, at once glorious and immensely sad. Because for the 30-odd boys of the Permian Panthers, these days will have been the best of their lives.
- Waterstones.com

My Rating:

5/10
It really wasn't my kind of book.