Monday 25 July 2016

Four Doors Down by Emma Doherty : opinion.

Four Doors Down
Unfortunately and despite the fantastic reviews the novel had I didn't like it as much as I expected to. It was more for middle schoolers than for young adults and there was one thing missing in the plot that I just couldn't understand: how can it be possible in this age of social media not to know who's dating who or who is into you ; even if you don't post anything there is always a friend or a friend of a friend who posts a picture or a comment . I just couldn't believe how clueless the main character was.

Stranger Things TV Show Soundtrack

1 - Intro theme 00:00
2 - She Has Funny Cars – Jefferson Airplane 00:51
3 - White Rabbit – Jefferson Airplane 04:05
4 - Africa – Toto 06:36
5 - Go Nowhere – Regan Youth 11:08
6 - Should I Stay or Should I Go – The Clash 12:30
7 - Marquee Moon – Television 15:41
8 - Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree – The Dawn, Tony Orlando 26:20
9 - Raise a Little Hell – Trooper 29:50
10 - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out – The Smiths 33:07
11 - I Melt With You – Modern English 37:05
12 - Hazy Shade of Winter – The Bangles 40:52
13 - Waiting For A Girl Like You – Foreigner 43:39
14 - Heroes – Peter Gabriel (from David Bowie) 48:26
15 - Atmosphere – Joy Division 52:38
16 - Elegia – New Order 57:45
17 - Nocturnal Me – Echo & the Bunnymen 1:02:06
18 - Sunglasses at Night – Corey Hart 1:07:02
19 - Concerto for 2 Violins, Strings, Basso in D Minor – Orchestra Mozarteum 1:10:59
20 - The Bargain Store – Dolly Parton 1:22:37
21 - exit – Tangerine Dream 1:25:18
22 - Fields of Coral – Vangelis 1:30:47
23 - When It’s Cold I Like to Die – Moby 1:38:30
24 - Carol of the Bells – Mormon Tabernacle Choir 1:42:43
25 - White Christmas – Bing Crosby 1:45:48

Saturday 23 July 2016

Stranger Things

My new favourite TV show is without a doubt Stranger Things (Netflix). It takes you back to the 80's in no time and if you never happened to be there, you can have a good look at what life was like without cell phones and the internet.

I love those films in which children ride their bikes freely around town getting themselves into lots of adventures. They remind me of that time when you thought everything was possible.You believed that monsters were likely to exist and above all that you could fight them with super powers.


Thursday 21 July 2016

You will know me by Megan Abbott: review

You Will Know Me

A gripping novel about the world of gymnastics and what it means to have to be number one. A real page-turner which will make you question why some parents willingly put their children through endless training sessions and deprive them of a regular childhood. Perhaps its because they are extraordinary just like Devon Knox , or perhaps it's because those parents are ready to do anything (and I mean anything) to see their child succeed .

The author describes in detail the atmosphere surrounding the world of gymnastics and includes some excerpts from Nadia Comaneci's Letters to a Young Gymnast , this woman was the first to be awarded a a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic event. The book is as realistic as it can be, Megan Abbott has indeed done a thorough research.

I truly recommend this book to fans of the TV show Make it or Break it, to people involved in gymnastics and avid readers who like thrillers.Without a doubt this is Megan Abbott's best novel.

*I read this novel while I was working out on a stepper . It made me feel more in sync with the characters and the situation . I ended up exhausted!

Monday 18 July 2016

Perak Tong Cave Temple in Ipoh , Malaysia.

Perak Tong is one of the many cave temples in Ipoh and the most popular one. The temple itself is nice and the garden surrounding it relaxing.





























For more information go to http://www.malaysia-traveller.com/perak-tong.html

Saturday 16 July 2016

The Glittering Court by Richele Mead: opinion.

The Glittering Court (The Glittering Court, #1)
I am tempted to write that this novel is The Selection meets the adventures of the pioneers in the Wild West (sorry but I cannot name a single novel on that topic). Just like The Selection it starts with the idea that women can be sold and bought as wives, but there is a twist in the plot and sieving for gold becomes an important issue for the main characters.

You will find more action (also romantic action) than in The Selection but somehow I found it slightly less entertaining in many parts .


Saturday 9 July 2016

A Circle of Wives by Alice LaPlante: review

A Circle of Wives

At the beginning I liked detective Samantha Adams. Her honesty about her shortcomings and the way she approached the investigation , even her descriptions of her boyfriend's peculiarities.

At first the novel made me smile more often than not, in spite of the plot : three women married to a man who is murdered.
However, as I continued reading and discovering new facts about the three wives , their present and past lives and their relationship with a very charismatic but moody husband, I felt that the novel was getting darker, sadder and not fun at all.

It is in fact a vivid description of the personal dramas of the characters involved in a murder investigation; more than the plot, it is the story behind those characters what makes the book interesting and at the same time quite depressing. As a matter of fact the detective's life is deeply influenced by the investigation and makes her question her ideas about love and marriage.

Although this comment has little to do with a review, I would like to say that I used to think that bigamy only happened in the films or to very strange people. However , I once met a girl who had recently found out that her father, who was still married to her mother, had another family and that she had three half-siblings. She had been devastated by the news and found it very hard to cope with it. I think she shared her story with other people to try to come to terms with it herself, she didn't want it to be a secret anymore . I felt terribly sorry for her. In the novel, the feelings of the victim's children are seldom mentioned but I think they suffered even more than the wives.

I would recommend this book to adult readers who like character driven novels about women, marriage and love.



Friday 8 July 2016

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater: opinion.

The Raven King (The Raven Cycle, #4)

It's difficult to enjoy a book when you are holding your breath, and that's what I did for the most part of it. I was dreading an unhappy ending , as a matter of fact from the very first novel of the cycle . Besides I just couldn't say goodbye to the wonderful characters and the imaginative world Maggie Stiefvater created. When I reached the end I exhaled, then took a big breath and closed it with a smile on my face.

Saturday 2 July 2016

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena: review.

The Couple Next Door

This book is about people who get married without really knowing each other, couples who have children without being ready, friendships that are made just because they live next door and poor decisions .

The writer describes thoroughly what is happening at the moment and the reader has to guess what happened before. The reader is EAGER to know what happened before because a baby has been taken and there is no way any reader can stand not knowing. I just couldn't wait. I read faster and faster, as often as I could.
The main characters made my blood boil. I just couldn't stand those bad parents who had left a baby alone to go to a dinner party. Unfortunately people do that, and worse things. They really make the reader wonder whether they deserved having had a baby, and perhaps not only the reader......
I would recommend this novel to judgemental parents who never make a mistake and those regular ones who often do, to people who trust their next door neighbours and to people who fear them.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.