TAG: Verão com Leituras

O meu primeiro post em português lol

Hoje trago um post um pouco diferente. Fui recentemente apontada pela Catarina do blog http://asonhardeolhosabertos.blogspot.pt/ para participar na tag Verão com Leituras. Deixo o link para o seu vídeo aqui.

1 – Qual o teu género favorito para ler no Verão?

Hm, pergunta difícil. Acho que não tenho nenhum género em especial que reserve para o Verão. Geralmente aproveito estes meses para ler tudo aquilo que em tempo de aulas não pude ler. 

2 – Qual o teu lugar favorito para ler no Verão?

Gosto de ler na praia mas confesso que me chateia um bocado ver os livros com areia entre as páginas. Se não for na praia, qualquer sitio sossegado em que não oiça barulhos de carros e agitação da rua é perfeito ;) 

3 – Verão: campo ou praia?

Praia!!!! Gosto de campo também mas Verão sem praia não dá! 

4 – Qual o autor que não dispensas no Verão?

Sydney Sheldon e/ou Agatha Christie. Quando estava a ler esta ergunta apercebi-me deste padrão; é geralmente no Verão que acabo por ler livros destes autores. 

5 – Qual o autor muito associado ao Verão que toda a gente já leu menos tu?

Qualquer livro de Sarah Dessen. Há imensa gente que fala dos livros dela e chegam mesmo a dizer que são perfeitos para o Verão mas até agora ainda não li nenhum dela. 

6 – Qual a leitura que estás mais ansioso/a para fazer este Verão?

Hm outra pergunta difícil .... Acima de tudo quero aproveitar para ler os livros mais densos ou maiores que não pude ler em tempo de aulas, o que incluí continuar a saga do George R R Martin e ler O Nome do Vento de Patrick Rothfuss. 

7 – Que livro vai ser lançado neste Verão e estás ansioso(a) para ler?

Não me recordo de nenhum livro que me tenha prendido a atenção e que saia agora durante o Verão. No entanto, posso dizer que um dos livros cujo lançamento aguardo com alguma ansiadade é Allegiant, terceiro e último livro da trilogia Divergent, que sai em Outubro. 

8 – Que saga/trilogia recomendarias como leitura de Verão?

Sagas distopianas acho que são perfeitas para o Verão, especialmente se já estiverem completas (exemplo Hunger Games ou Matched). Outra que também me parece interessante para o Verão é Hex Hall; ainda só li o primeiro mas daquilo que li posso dizer que me parece perfeita para op Verão. Tem uma história simples e leve mas com momentos muito engraçados. 

9 – Mostra 3 livros que vais ler neste Verão e 3 livros que recomendas como leitura de Verão.

Livros que vou ler este Verão (eu aqui vou fazer alguma batota)

Estou a ler neste momento e estou a adorar!

Apesar de só colocar aqui a capa do primeiro livro, quero ler toda a série Uglies de Scott Westerfeld (livrinhos que irão chegar a minha casa algures durante a próxima semana hehe)

Queria avançar um pouco mais nesta saga e por isso, se conseguir ler, pelo menos, estes dois, já não será mau.

Livros que recomendo como leitura de Verão

Adorei este livro e cho que é perfeito para o Verão. Aqui podem ler a minha review.

Série Death Note. Primeira série de manga que leio e é simplesmente genial. Tem um conceito único e a história é incrivel! Podem ver as minhas reviews aqui e aqui

Também aconselho qualquer livro da Agatha Christie, especialmente aqueles cuja acção decorre ou na praia (alguns exemplos: Crime na Mesopotâmia, Encontro com a Morte, Morte no Nilo e Morte na Praia)

#Friday Reads (11)

I'm still reading the Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss and I plan on finishing it during this weekend. I have a little more than half to read but the story is so so so so so good and engrossing that I know I'll just fly through it

Here's the link to last week's Friday Reads

#Friday reads (10)

I know I was supposed to upload this yesterday but it just slipped my mind! 

Yesterday I started a new book and it was The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. I received this book for Christmas but it is so big I couldn't just start reading it right away so I waited until now because I knew I would have a lot more free time to really dedicate myself to it.

Here is the synopsis (from Goodreads)

Told in Kvothe's own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen. The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature. A high-action story written with a poet's hand, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that will transport readers into the body and mind of a wizard.

I've only read 30 pages so I don't have much to say right now. Nevertheless, I'm really excited about this book because people have been raving it and saying it is great. Hopefully I'll be able to read it in a week and as soon as I'm done with it I'll post my review here.

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

It’s 1895, and after the suicide of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is shipped off from the life she knows in India to Spence, a proper boarding school in England. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma’s reception there is a chilly one. To make things worse, she’s been followed by a mysterious young Indian man, a man sent to watch her. But why? What is her destiny? And what will her entanglement with Spence’s most powerful girls—and their foray into the spiritual world—lead to?

My Thoughts

Ever since I've started watching book reviews on Youtube I've been curious about Libba Bray. People rave her books and she seems to be quite versatile as far as her themes go. I really wanted to read one of her books and see if I would like it or not and since I won A Great and Terrible Beauty on  a giveaway I just took it as the perfect book to start with.

I really liked the setting and how Libba Bray addressed the society and the way of thinking of Victorian England. However what was really interesting was the way  she criticized - in a subtle way - some of its standards and the role played by women during those times. I really enjoyed this and though Libba did a great job at it.

As for the characters, I liked them but I didn't love them. They had some interesting traits and I liked the fact that there was more to them than I initially thought. At first they came across as silly girls that would only care about finding a good husband and keeping appearances; petty girls that didn't have anything better to do than to mess around with those that didn't have their social status. However, as the story progressed I realized there was more to them than just that and that they had fears and anxieties and just wanted to escape their one lives. 

Of course Gemma Doyle stood out because she wasn't as futile as the other ones seemed to be and really had a mind of her own but she was also too stubborn and didn't think things through and that made her a bit reckless at times. Felicity was interesting but I didn't like how she was willing to do anything to gain power and Ann was just so desperate to fit in that she lacked self-confidence and was unable to see what her best features were. Pippa surprised me the most but I can't go into more details because I would spoil the story ...

There were only two things that bothered me a little bit about this book. I wanted to know more about the magic and the realms and unfortunately we weren't offered that much information about it. I just hope that in the other two books we get to know more about it. And then there was Kartik. I know he is supposed to play a big part in the story but in this first installment of the trilogy he didn't seem to be that relevant. I just hope that changes in the next book. 

I have to say, I didn't know what to expect from this novel. I knew it was set in Victorian England and that there was magic involved but that was it, I didn't know much else. Overall I liked the book and thought it had an interesting premise. I wasn't particularly impressed by the characters but they were fun and witty and somewhat relatable. What really stood out - at least for me - was Libba Bray's writing style. She makes writing seem effortless, she's able to create dialogues that sound quite natural and real and the way she makes subtle critiques to some of the values and behaviors promoted at the time was spot on! 

An interesting start to this trilogy and a great introduction to Libba Bray's work.

4 out of 5 stars!

Quote of the Week #17

The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.

 

Harper Lee

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

HERE IS A SMALL FACT - YOU ARE GOING TO DIE. 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier. Liesel, a nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Liesel steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street when the bombs begin to fall. SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION - THIS NOVEL IS NARRATED BY DEATH. It's a small story, about: a girl, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. ANOTHER THING YOU SHOULD KNOW - DEATH WILL VISIT THE BOOK THIEF THREE TIMES

My Thoughts:
 
I’ve just finished reading this book and let me start by saying that IT IS AMAZING!!! It has a lot of great elements and the story is so rich and beautiful that it’s impossible not to feel (at least) touched by it.

I’ll admit, I was feeling a little hesitant about this book. I really wanted to read it but I was afraid it was going to be a bit depressing because of its setting and the fact that it dealt with such heavy issues. However I quickly realized my fears were unfounded because of the way the book was written and also for its amazing group of characters and unique perspective. I was also afraid the pacing would be somewhat slow but that wasn’t the case either. It’s true, this isn’t the best book to power through because there is so much to take in but – again – the writing style is so beautiful and the story is so compelling that you just keep on reading with the same eagerness throughout the entire novel.

As for the characters, what can I say? What a stunning group of characters! First there is Liesel, a young German girl that loses her close family at the beginning of the book and is taken by Hans and Rosa Hubermann, her foster parents; she is determined, strong and works hard, all great qualities that made me like her. Then there was Rudy, her best friend. He had a great sense of justice, of what was right and wrong and was such an endearing boy that it was impossible not to fall in love with him. Max was also amazing; I really liked how strong minded he was and the fact that he understood just how powerful words could be. However, my favorite character was, by far, Hans Hubermann. He might have been a simple man but he understood that not everything was black and white and that he couldn’t just blindly follow Hitler’s ideas. He was altruistic and because of his simple gestures of kindness and humanity he really warmed my heart and that made me appreciate his character. He was Liasel's rock, the man she loved the most and the one who had taught her so much about life.

This book had another great feature which was its unique perspective. The fact that Death was the narrator of this story just added to the book and – I know this might sound strange – its presence was actually comforting. This was a great twist to the novel.

I loved this book! I was afraid my expectations wouldn’t be met, especially after hearing so many people gush about it, but fortunately that wasn’t the case. I loved Markus Zusak’s writing style and how he dealt with issues like humanity, the power of words and the need to stand up for what we believe is right, among others. The story was so engrossing that even when I wasn’t reading the book I was still thinking about it and about its characters.

A compelling story that is worth reading and that will most definitely become a literary classic. A must read that has become one of my favorite books of all time.


5 out of 5 stars

#Friday Reads (9)

I started reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak this Monday but I've been so tired lately that I wasn't feeling particularly inclined to read.

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.

I'm about 130 pages in and I think the story has a great concept and it's really engrossing - it's just unfortunate that lately I haven't been in the mood for reading.

Read in June

This month I didn't read as much as I wanted; it was finishing my last semester in university and had to study for my finals so I didn't have a lot of time to read. So these are the books I managed to read

Review here

My favorite book of the month. Review here

 The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde - review here