Highly Recommended.
5/5 Magical Monkeys
This book shocked, frustrated and awed me. I don't read nearly enough non-fiction and it was a real treat to revisit the genre with Jeannette Walls's incredible memoir. This book will leave you thinking about your own struggles and hardships long after the last page has been read. It's a fairly quick read and the story simply infiltrates your moral core and pulls at your heartstrings. Read this one.
Highly Recommended. 5/5 Magical Monkeys
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Well, it was fine little story but I have no doubt in my mind that The Alchemist has built up an inflated ego because of its popularity. In reality, the story is very simplistic and the writing style is uninspiring. Translations definitely affect the quality of one's writing, there's no question about that but I really cannot look at this book any other way. Wait - that's not exactly true. The philosophical aspect of the text is great and I think that this story is just perfect for a Grade 10 student who is struggling with his or her identity. It also purports a refreshing message that is tantamount to the teachings of morality, but with a Pilgrim's Progress angle to it. Overall, I liked the story but it lacked a burning spark to make it entirely captivating.
3/5 Magical Monkeys. Current Progress: COMPLETE This book is powerful. I can no longer bash Canadian writers because Davidson may have just written one of my favourite novels of all time; at the very least, it is on my top forty. Davidson tells a great story filled with love, mystery, self-doubt and a quest to uncover inner beauty. A true masterpiece. - June 2, 2011 Current Progress - Page 370 / 465 I've enjoyed this book so very much. It has everything I love in a good novel: the macabre, graphic description, fantasy, history, love. I have read several reviews of Davidson's writing style, and I can't understand why some people are not enamored by it. Honestly, I think they're just jealous. I admit he likes his similes, but they're entertaining people: EXCERPT: "Yes that's exactly what love is: a tiny, jittery primate with eyes that are permanently peeled open in fear. For those of you who cannot quite picture a pygmy mouse lemur, imagine a miniature Don Knotts or Steve Buscemi wearing a fur coat. Imagine the cutest animal you can, after it has been squeezed so hard that all its stuffing has been pushed up into an oversized head and its eyes are now popping out in overflow. The lemur looks so vulnerable that one cannot help but worry that predator might swoop in at any instant to snatch it away.Marianne Engel's love for me seemed built on so flimsy a premise that I assumed it would come apart the moment we stepped through the hospital doors. How could a love based on a fictional past survive into an actual future? It was impossible. That kind of love was a thing to be snatched up and crushed in the jaws of real life." I love it. It's a great book, filled with superb descriptive prose and it tells a great story. I'm going to be sad when it "ends".- May 31, 2011 This was a nice story, told with entertaining wit and fair emotion.
But the title sucks. Well, it doesn't really suck. There is an allusion to watering elephants in the text but I have a hard time figuring out how significant this event is in the context of the plot. Anywhoozer, I would have named it something else but the story is great. It's a fun read, filled with emotion and humour and for a Canadian author to pull either of those off is no easy feat. That's right, a CANADIAN author (well, she moved to Chicago, but she was born in Vancouver people). I definitely felt like I actually was Jacob Jakowski in parts of the text; I was rooting him on and empathizing with his desire to find his niche in society. For the most part, the prose moves forward and keeps your interest. A definite recommendation and a fine example of where Canadian/Chicago writers can sometimes surprise us. 4/5 Magical Beans. I consumed this book in less than a day. Granted, it's not long by any means, but the plot is intriguing and the story is so interesting that you just can't put it down. The Giver has been touted by educators as one of the quintessential utopian/dystopian texts for young adult readers, and I can definitely see why. The text offers many controversial ideas and concepts and asks us to think about how certain characteristics of society are taken for granted. Lowry synthesizes innocence, intrigue and irreconciliation and tells a great, quick, powerful tale.
4/5 Magical Beans This series wrapped up nicely. I've heard various mixed reviews of The Hunger Games trilogy, but I have to say that the story was satisfying and enjoyable. Collins concludes Katniss's story by utilizing an array of effective cliffhanger plot-points. There was plenty of action and gore in this third installment and the storyline had only a few distracting kinks. I have to say that the epilogue was unnecessary (much like the one at the end of HP and the Deathly Hollows) but the overall story ended nicely. A great YA dystopian text/series.
3.5 / 5 Magical Beans -- Book #3 4 / 5 Magical Beans -- Series / Trilogy Rating Catching Fire is a great teen read. The mixture of fantasy, sci fi, twilightesque love triangles and a strong central female character produces a strong, solid story. Perhaps Collins's greatest writing strength is her use of the cliffhanger at every possible turn. To be honest, I can't remember an author using cliffhangers this often ... ever - at least not effective, dramatic cliffhangers that remain intriguing and are not, by any means, weak or uninteresting. Nice work Collins! She really delivers with this powerful dystopian sequel. A nice read.
4/5 magical monkeys Awesome possum!
I really liked this short novel; it was a quick, entertaining read that really hit home for me . . . not that I know what it's like to go book burning but what I mean is that I have always had a severe phobia of losing books. Losing a book is like the pope losing his iconic Mitre or a mother losing her child (or her Mastercard). I would love to teach this book. Highly recommended as a nice lead-in to Ray Bradbury!!! 4/5 Magical Monkeys I can no longer bash Atwood's writing because I thoroughly enjoyed the dystopian feminist writing of The Handmaid's Tale. It was awesome. As an educator, I appreciate the themes and ideas that Atwood is purporting. The most disturbing aspect of the novel is that it connects to so many truths that are currently evolving in societies throughout the world; this enhances the story's message and gives it an added layer of realism, which affects the reader and prompts him or her to challenge the status quo. I would love to teach this text as part of a series of dystopian texts; it complements themes explored in Brave New World and 1984 and would be very interesting to teach to high school students. It took me a while to get through the book in between completing readings for my classes and writing up my unit plan for my teaching practicum, but I managed to find time and get through the last quarter of the novel in one sitting. A very powerful read.
I had to reread this book this week because I am constructing a Unit Plan on it for my PSII Practicum placement. I have to say that Harper Lee's classic was truly a thousand times more enjoyable the second time around. I found that I really appreciated the text so much more than the first time I read it way back in Grade 10 when my uninspiring English teacher had us read it at home with little or no discussion at school. As a result, my first reading was not memorable or engaging and I didn't really absorb much of what I had read. This time around, I found myself scarfing down the chapters one after the other and managed to get through the book in two days. Lee writes about social constructions of prejudice - specifically racism, class and gender - in such a powerful, engaging way. The child-like perspective of Scout, coupled with the adult reflective narration makes for a great storytelling medium. This is by far one of the greatest books ever written and I simply cannot wait to teach and discuss it with my Grade 10 classes next month. A must read.
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The Book BlogEnter the Book Blog! The BB is used as an ongoing blogging forum where I can post my thoughts on books as I'm reading them. This section will also include book reviews of finished novels. Archives
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