Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Basics:

Title: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Author: Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Originally published: 2005

Pages: 183

Genre: YA, Contemporary

Format: Paperback

Plot according to Goodreads:

"It all starts when Nick asks Norah to be his girlfriend for five minutes. He only needs five minutes to avoid his ex-girlfriend, who's just walked in to his band's show. With a new guy. And then, with one kiss, Nick and Norah are off on an adventure set against the backdrop of New York City--and smack in the middle of all the joy, anxiety, confusion, and excitement of a first date. "

My Thoughts: 

I read this book in two sittings. It was a perfect light read after reading To Kill A Mockingbird. I liked that the romance was not super excessive and althought there were some cringe-worthy moments, the overall feel made up for it. I really liked the characters, especially Nick. Though I found Norah's chapters rather boring and a serious lack of dialogue, it was all really fast-paced and just what you need after finishing a slow classic. I also liked that both of the characters were a bit more mature and there was not this constant nervousness surrounding sex and such things. I get why that is sometimes relatable but it was refreshing to read a book with experienced characters. Not that there was anything more than make-out action, but it gave a sort of calmness that they knew what they were doing. I'm rambling. I liked that music and bands played such a big part in the story and I have never really read anything like it. I may be biased since I did read this book at the perfect time (speaking of which, Ariel Bissett did a video on reading books at the perfect time which I highly recommend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xzADPOenF0) but I really loved it despite it's flaws. My review may be different if I re-read it in a few years, but for now:

5/5

Next review coming up: Hollow City by Ransom Riggs

/Ingrid

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Basics:

Title: To Kill A Mockingbird

Author: Harper Lee

Originally published: 1960

Pages: 309

Genre: Coming-of-age, Classic

Format: Paperback

Plot according to Goodreads:

"A gripping, heart-wrenching, and wholly remarkable tale of coming-of-age in a South poisoned by virulent prejudice, it views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a young girl, as her father ― a crusading local lawyer ― risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime."

My thoughts:

I had a mixed relationship with this book. I found it really slow at the beginning, really fast-paced in the middle (pages 80-200 ca) and the last part really dragging. Most books are slow in the beginning so I wasn't gonna let that stop me. During the books middle part if you could say that I really enjoyed it. The writing during the entire novel truly is amazing and so thought-through. The books consist of many events and how Scout and Jem deal with them is the main topic. However, during the last 80-100 pages, after the trial, I found that the book was dragging and the events did not contribute to the story. It was not until the last two chapters that things picked up again and returned to it's interesting writing style and fast pace. 

The characters are what makes this book so good and unique. Scout was definitely my favourite. I loved how smart she was for her age, yet still learning and you could still see the child in her. Atticus is probably the ultimate role model, not just for dads and raising kids, but really for anyone. I'm not gonna go into it that much but know that these characters are gold worth. 

4/5

Next review coming up: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

/Ingrid

What I have been reading

Yes, I have been away. Since before christmas however, I have read a few books which I shall do mini-reviews of below.

Yes, Please by Amy Poehler

I watched and finished the Parks and Recreation TV-show this fall and absolutely fell in love with Amy Poehler (as well as all other characters) and when I found out she wrote a book I had to read it. It was amazing. It is a biography although it is quite interactive and really witty. If you like anything Amy I suggest you give this a try. I will say though, if you haven't watched up until season 7 of Parks, you probably want to skip those chapters about the show (THEN READ THEM ASAP BECAUSE THOSE ARE THE BEST ONES). Since the book was published before season seven came out there aren't any spoilers there.

The only thing I did not like was the physical production of the book. Thick, "plasticy" pages in a paperback makes the book heavy and not very flexible. I suggest you read the hardcover.

Anyway: 5/5

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll

I will review these two as one. I was in Oxford in December and while there, you have to pick up something Lewis Carroll. It came upon me that I have never read Alice in Wonderland and I was in the mood for a light classic so I found a really nice small edition with both Wonderland books. I flew through the first one. I loved how silly and not logical it all was, yet the story still kept moving forward and it was like exploring the world along with Alice and not just watching her do it alone. However, the second book was a bit of a drag. I found that it was to slow and things weren't really clear about what was going on or what the goal of the story was.

Therefore: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 5/5 and Through the Looking Glass 2.5/5

The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

As a child, I loved the Narnia films. I still do (although I have not seen the latest one, I heard it was quite rubbish. Will fix that in the immediate future) however, I never read the books, which is quite strange since I always read the books of the movie I loved. I even read movie-to-book adaptations of Star Wars, Pirates of the Carribean and High School Musical. Needless to say, they were all rubbish. Anyway, I received an entire box-set with the Narnia Chronicles for Christmas so now I can finally catch up. The first book is really more of a set-up for the other books and it explains the entire world of Narnia, for example: why there is a lamp post in the woods. It is a really nice little story but I feel like it is not much without the rest of the series. I haven't continued the series just yet since I received quite a few books for christmas but I'm getting there!

In conclusion: 3/5

Next review coming up: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

/Ingrid

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Basics:

Title: Fangirl

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Originally published: 2013

Pages: 433

Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult

Format: Hardcover

Plot:

Cath and her twin sister Wren are off to the same college. Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Along with the whole world. She and her twin sister, Wren, devoured the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it's what got them through their mother leaving. Cath also writes Simon Snow fan-fiction. Wren used to be a part of it, however, since Wren grew out of the fandom they do not collaborate anymore. Wren and Cath are almost opposites. Wren is outgoing, confident and loves partying. Cath is quite introverted, has social anxiety and mostly spends her time in her room, writing fan-fiction. Fangirl is about Cath’s college experience and how she deals with her roommate, among others, while still taking care of her father.

My thoughts:

Forgive my casual language today, it’s just one of those days.[1]I did not expect to love this book as much as I did. I have read Eleanor and Park and loved that book (maybe not the ending) so it should not come as a surprise. Rainbow Rowell has a quirky writing style and the way she portraits these characters is just so relatable and makes the reader care for them. I felt some king of connection with every character except for Nick. Read the book and we can discuss that further. I think the last time I actually had a crush on a book character was Edward Cullen from Twilight back in 2009. It has been 6 years and I thought I had grown out of crushing on characters but Rainbow Rowell just threw me back on that band wagon when she created Levi. Normally, I would find it annoying how impeccable he is, but Rowell finds a way to make him so likable. That goes for all the characters.

I think what makes me likes this book so much, except for the characters, is how you I can relate to all of the characters in some way. Especially Cath. I too struggled with social anxiety as a kid and I could recognise myself in her thoughts and I totally understood what she was going through. Still, this novel is very fast-paced, up-beat, with both humorous and serious elements. This may one of the best contemporary novels I have ever read (although I don’t read much contemporary). I’ll have to think about that. However, I can’t recommend this book enough.

/Ingrid

Next review coming up: A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin

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[1] Limp Bizkit – Break Stuff (if you’re having one of those days)

Miss Peregrin's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Basics:

Title: Miss Peregrin’s Home for Peculiar Children (#1)

Author: Ransom Riggs

Originally published: 2011

Pages: 379

Genre: Fantasy, spooky

Brief Plot:

A boy who suddenly loses his grandfather under mysterious circumstances goes on a journey to a isolated island across the Atlantic to find out what has happened, while meeting some most peculiar characters.

My thoughts:

As with “The Pianist” I went into this book with high expectations, which were well met. I decided to read the book when a friend used it as a reference in a school presentation, saying that it was the scariest book she’s read. More on that later. I loved that the book was so full of old pictures. It really set the mood and gave the book a spooky feeling. I have to admit, I did not fancy reading the book in the dark, because of the pictures. Some were quite harmless, other were simply terrifying. However, the plot was not what I had expected. From what I had heard a thought this was going to be a sort or horror story, and all the characters were to be a sort of ghosts. That was not the case. In a away, I was disappointed because of the lack of horror that I was expecting, nevertheless, I still loved the way the book turned out to be. I fell in love with the characters. I wish we’d know more about the side characters since I found them the most interesting. But this is the first book in a trilogy so I take it there is more to come.

SPOILER SECTION!!!

I will start off by just writing some meaningless words just so that if anyone accidentally reads the first few lines, they will not be spoiled. So if you’re for some reason STILL reading this, stop right now. I didn’t fancy the love sequences between Jacob and Emma. I found it very weird and not necessary. It seemed obvious that she only fancied him in the first place because he looked like his grandfather. Other than that I found the book amazing.

Summary

I really liked this book. It was fast-paced, the writing style was simple but not boring and I really liked the way the story developed. I loved the characters and I’m very excited to continue the series and hopefully witness some serious character development! I heard that the up-coming books will introduce some new characters which I am all for! To to summarize, I recommend this book to anyone who is out to read a moderately creepy book and explore new worlds!

Next review coming up: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

/Ingrid

The Pianist by Wladyslaw Szpilman

Basics

Title: The Pianist

Author: Wladyslaw Szpilman

Orginally published: 1998

Pages: 222
Genre: Biography

Plot

The Pianist is a book based on the true story of Wladyslaw Szpilman and his survival during WWII in Warsawa. I don’t want to go into too much detail since I prefer not knowing too much of a book before I read it. I will tell you the basics. Wladyslaw is a Jew who works at a radio station as a pianist before the Germans invade Poland. As they do, the Germans “wipe out” the Jews from the city, neighbourhood by neighbourhood. As mentioned earlier, the plot surrounds Wladyslaw as he moves around the city, to live in various absurd conditions as he tries to hide from the Germans. There is an Academy Award-winning movie based on the book which I highly recommend watching after you finished the book.

My Thoughts:

I went in to this book with high expectations. I had seen the film a few years earlier and still consider it to be one of my favourite films about the holocaust and second world war. I originally read the book for a school assignment. We had a list of works to choose from and The Pianist immediately caught my eye. So I read it. To be honest, I’m still not sure what my final thoughts on the book are. Despite its heavy topic, it was a fairly quick read. The plot goes on quite quickly, and the language was easy-read, yet still sophisticated.  Szpilman is great at describing environments in a raw form and does not exaggerate with pro-longed sentences to create an unnecessary dramatic effect. Sometimes, that is beneficial for the writing style, however, I liked that Szpilman kept it simple. You still get a good view of what is happening.

We have mainly two characters in the novel, Wladyslaw himself, and a soldier who is unnamed. I expected the soldier to be featured more in the novel, since he plays such a big part in the movie, however, it is not until the end of the book that we meet him. I found the side characters to be quite dull, not much of description, nor do we know much about their personalities. I understand that you can’t “connect” to a character in this situation, however, the only character I cared about was Wladyslaw. Perhaps that’s the whole point.

As a whole, I really liked this book. I had never read anything about the holocaust before and it is a great starter. It isn’t too long, nor too graphic. I find it hard to rate this book and I feel like I should read it second time before doing so, but for the sake of the review I will place my current rating below.

Next review coming up: Miss Peregrin's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

/Ingrid

A brief introduction

Well hello there!

Let me start off by introducing myself and what this blog is about. I'm an 18 year-old girl who adores book. Quite simple. I've had a few blogs in the past but it never really worked out. I figured it was because I was not writing about something I cared about. However, I did enjoy the concept of blogging. Therefore, I have come to the solution that a blog about books would be perfect! I may or may not restrict myself to only writing about book, but it will be the major topic. Reviews, mainly.

So, what kind of books do I read?
It varies depending on what I'm in the mood for, however, consistent genres include contemporary YA, fantasy and classics. I do occasionally take up a horror, or mystery-based book, HOWEVER, no crime novels. I just never got those books and I find them quite repetitive. Anyway, I will start off this blog by writing a couple of reviews on books I've read recently. A history-based book during the second world war, and a YA mystery book I guess you could call it. So keep an eye out!

/Ingrid