Friday 27 January 2012

Birdsong & a review!

I have finally got my mitts on Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks! My mother had bought the book a few months ago and was raving about how good it is, however it took me ages to find the book because she put it in storage whilst i was at university (im back for the weekend) in the garage with all the other hundreds of books we have!

Im going to start reading this tonight and i am soooo excited!!





Review: Tripwire by Lee Child: 4/5
I am working my way through the Jack Reacher books and since there are 16 books in the series (so far) then you know that this whole year is probably going to be dedicated to me getting through them all!
So Tripwire is the 3rd book in the series, Reacher is living in Key West without much happening, then a stranger comes to find him...who ends up dead. Reacher then tracks this stranger back to New York where he finds an old flame and an mother and father who's son was lost in Vietnam and lots of cover-ups and story lines overlapping. My kind of book :)

I didn't really like this book compared to the previous two i have read, i think it was because there are soooo many characters in the book over two plots which admittedly do come together in the end and makes sense. But at the start i was thinking 'oh no this is going to so confusing' which is probably why i didn't get along with it.
The characters are believable and varied, and I love reading about all the technicalities and detailed information that Reacher knows about guns and winning fights.

Sometimes books i personally believe do not go into the right amount of detail, and just relie on the storyline, Lee Child does not do this. He gets into the details which helps the reader get a better picture of what is going on, and which is why i am giving this book a 4/5; its loosing 1 point because of the confusion of all the characters.

Monday 9 January 2012

Books into Films

At the moment there seems to be alot of film trailers for book adaptations, such as War Horse, The Hobbit, and even fairy tales like Jack and the Beanstalk! I love that these books are being brought out to those who probably would not have read the books, and I will admit I have never heard of and therefore not read War Horse (But it is now on my to read list!). 

However the most anticipated book adapted to film is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Its a dystopia novel in the future where the Capitol select a boy and a girl from each District (sort of like states/countys) where they fight to the death, which is aired on TV, the book follows Katniss who volunteers instead of her sister who was originally picked to fight. I heard of this book a year ago and never got round to reading, until i saw it in my local bookstore and i never looked back!

When i first heard about this book being adapted into a film, I was slightly put off/annoyed because other books i have read that were adapted into films such as One Day in my view did not do the book justice. And i was quite scared that the adaptation of the Hunger Games might fall into the same trap, however from looking at the trailers recently released I am really excited and it seems like the Director Gary Ross has done the book and Suzanne Collins proud.

Also we cannot talk about books being adapted into films without a mention of Stieg Larsson's Girl with the dragon tattoo which is my ultimate faveorite book in the world. 


The book was apapted into a movie in 2009 by Sweden, I can vaguely remember that it was being shown in the UK too but because the film was Swedish it had subtitles, which puts me off watching films. Then in 2011 the Uk version of the book/swedish film was released! The book was so gritty and so detailed so i am still deciding weather to go and watch the film or just stick with the book, because im sure they will cut out the best bits from the book. 
What do you think on book to film adaptations? 

Friday 6 January 2012

2012 book resolutions

I never tend to set myself proper goals for books i tend to just read whatever looks interesting and a good read, but because of this I tend to stick in my comfort zone genre; crime, thriller, mystery. I have seen some really interesting books under other genres such as fantasy, science fiction, biographies, and real life accounts. So my first goal/resolution/whatever will be to step out of my comfort zone!


Read some classics
(Image: Miss Havisham from the BBC adaptation)
I will admit I have never read any 'classic' books such as Pride & Prejudice, Jane Eyre, and Great Expectations. Everyone always raves about these books and (mostly due to guilt) I really want to read a few book before 2012 is over, especially Great Expectations; as i watched it on the BBC iplayer a few days ago and fell in love with the story line.

Reorganise my books
I am officially a book hoarder. I have about 50 books in my wardrobe stored away, and another 200 taking up space in the garage. Whenever I see them i get a little pang of guilt that they are sat there collecting dust, and I know that I am very unlikely to re-read the books again (especially with the above goals) but I can't bear to part with them!
Hopefully this year when I move back home from University in June I can muster up the courage to tackle my ever growing book collecting and donate them to charity.

I hope you all had a lovely start to the new year, and i will be updating regulary (at least once a week!). So keep your eyes peeled!