Last Week's Shenanigans (November 3rd - November 9th)...

Okay so you all know that the Flat got a Wii U last week, so I'll start with that. Two words. Mario Kart! We need to buy some controllers so that more people can play, but it is seriously so much fun! Definitely, in my opinion, worth the buy. Other games that we have got hold of and played this week include Viva Pinata (fantastic game) and continuing on with the terrifying The Evil Within (also great). We've actually ended up doing a lot of game playing because it was Mat's University Reading Week!

On Wednesday, I had a day off from work to spend time with him and we had a really nice day out in London. Our first destination was to view the magnificent Poppies currently at the Tower Of London. My Grandparents are a big supporter of the Royal British Legion and it's a Charity pretty close to our family's heart. I was so glad when she got to go in September, and even happier that I finally got to see it for myself. It was a very sad sight, but it made me happy that so many crowds were there to view it and remember, as we all should. We then went to Leicester Square/Covent Garden and had a little adventure around M&M World, and some shops, before heading off to eat at Bella Italia. I was absolutely thrilled to finally see the Piccadilly Waterstones, which has four or five (I can't remember) floors! We didn't stick around, but they were getting ready for two seperate Author events when we left: Marian Keyes and Jodi Picoult! Exciting stuff!

I Reviewed:

Memes:

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Want To Reread

Life Of A Blogger: Concerts

Book Review: Soulwoven; Jeff Seymour.

I have had a very small amount of time to read this book, and didn't get to properly sit down and read this to completion until today. I have a lot of mixed thoughts, and can't wait to share!

SOURCE: Netgalley
TYPE: E-Read

TITLE: Soulwoven
AUTHOR: Jeff Seymour
SERIES: Soulwoven (#1)
PUBLISHER: Jeff Seymour
PAGES: 446
GENRE: Fantasy, Young Adult, Adventure

RATING: 2.5/5 Stars

Blurb:
Litnig Jin has spent his life yearning for the power to weave the souls of the dead into magic. His brother Cole has spent his believing in nothing bigger than his own two hands. 

When a dragon sinks its claws into their nightmares, their lives will change forever. 

A dream of moving statues, shattered chains, and seething clouds of darkness sets the brothers on a journey into the unknown. A prince asks for their help. A necromancer hunts them. The bloom of first love gives Cole something to believe in. 


As the brothers travel the world of Guedin seeking to prevent the hatred of a god from coming to life, Litnig discovers he has more power than he ever thought possible. But learning why may cost him his brother, his best friend, and everything he is. 

What I Liked:

• The plot was very action-filled. A lot of things happened in  this book and I never found myself thinking that it was dull at any point. There were dramatic twists and turns on every page and it certainly kept my attention. I thought that Seymour was a pretty good writer too, there were some very quotable moments and I loved his descriptive writing too!
• The main group of characters were very memorable and well-written. In fact, one of my favourite things about this book is that Seymour actually developed each and every one of his characters, rather than letting any of them become unimportant. They each had a story-line, a past, and a reason to change as the plot progressed. There was a great group dynamic too, and watching the characters slowly lose and gain faith in each other was interesting to read.

What I Disliked:

• I felt like the pace was just too fast throughout with no real pause for breath. The characters were constantly in danger, and almost died in pretty much every chapter. This resulted in a lot of confusion on my part. I felt like I was missing key events and revelations, and it being written from multiple viewpoints, it was difficult to tell who knew what and when/how they found out. At points it became repetitive too: if I have to read the phrase 'something felt/was wrong' one more time I might have a tantrum.
• Despite the great character development, I just felt distanced from the ongoing action and the characters. I didn't really find myself convinced by the 'power couple' of the story, and the love triangle annoyed me. I never really got attached to anyone in particular and as a result, didn't ever feel truly panicked or disturbed when their lives were in danger (which was pretty frequently).

Overall Conclusion:

At the start of this book I felt like I was really going to enjoy it. And there were things in this story that I haven't seen in other books for a while, such as great character development and wonderful description. But as time went on I began to feel like I was becoming a little aloof from the action, the characters and the whole 'life constantly in danger' thing got a bit old. It was a decent Fantasy with many of the favourite tropes, and worth a read if you're a big fan of the genre.

Life Of A Blogger: 'Concerts'.

I can't say that I've been to an awful lot of Concerts. I never really have the time in all honesty, and for quite a while, I couldn't afford it! However I've been to a few. Firstly, Mumford & Sons came to play at Folkestone so I went to watch them with Mat and my Sister. I love that band, so I was mega excited to get to see them live! They played so many of my favourites, including 'Thistle & Weeds'! They were supported by Slow Club and Pete Roe, who were also amazing.

My next big Concert that I went to was to see McBusted at the O2 Arena with Mat! I was ridiculously excited when they announced their tour and snatched some tickets up as soon as I could. They played all of my childhood favourites, both Busted and McFly hits! I seriously love the idea of these guys as a single band, yet love them on their own too. They were funny too! During the Summer, I went to BST: Hyde Park and saw them again! Other acts that I saw their included Diversity, Scouting For Girls, The Vamps and The Backstreet Boys. They were all pretty amazing and I'm so glad I went, I had a ton of fun!

Over the years I've gone to a few 'Create' Festivals that have been held in my hometown of Ashford, Kent. They too were really good and a fair few talented bands played there! 

Top Ten Tuesday: My picks for 'Books I Want To Reread'.

So this week's topic is rereads! Now, I don't really do an awful lot of rereading books,but there are a few that I would if I had the time!

1) The Book Thief; Markus Zusak.

This is my favourite book of all time. Of course it was going to be on the list! Seriously, it has everything I could ever love in a good book and if I had the chance, I would read it over and over again. It's a beautiful story that broke my heart to read and stuck with me for a very long time afterwards.



2) The Harry Potter Series; J.K. Rowling.

I suspect this series will be on many a list this week. If only I had the time on my hands to reread this gorgeous set of books! They were my favourite set of stories to read growing up, and I loved the way that it felt like they grew up with me. Rowling writes so well in these books and to this day, I'm still waiting for my Hogwarts letter!

3) The Black Magician Trilogy; Trudi Canavan.

I don't think that I ever really mention this series in my lists, but it is such a good one! One of my good, book-loving friends lent it to me when I was at school and I was hooked from Book one! It had amazing characters, a great story-line and a very well-built world. It's finale will haunt me for the rest of my days too. 

4) The Inheritance Cycle; Christopher Paolini.

Okay, so I haven't technically finished this series. But that is exactly why I have to reread it! I want to make sure I remember every detail that I need to in preparation for the final book. So yes, in an ideal world I would definitely reread this amazing series. And I just hope the last book is worth it!



5) The Name Of The Wind; Patrick Rothfuss.

For exactly the same reason as above, I need to reread 'The Name Of The Wind'. Rothfuss has such an amazing writing style, and I was impressed with that novel from start to finish. I just wish that I had got round to reading 'The Wise Man's Fear' when it came out. Now that 'The Slow Regard Of Silent Things' is on it's way, I'm feeling very behind.


6) Pride & Prejudice; Jane Austen.

This is one of my all time favourite classics that I read in Year 9 at school. I've read it a few times and never stopped enjoying it, but it has been quite a while since the last time that I read it. If I could, I would love to reread it!




7) All books set in Tortall; Tamora Pierce.

Perhaps I talk about Tamora Pierce's books too much but seriously I love this woman and her books! The series that I am referring to are of course: 'The Song Of The Lioness' Quartet, 'The Immortals' Quartet, The 'Protector Of The Small' Quartet, and the 'Daughter Of The Lioness' series. I also began but never finished the 'Beka Cooper' series and thought it was pretty good too! Though I'm writing specifically about books set in Tortall here, I did also enjoy the 'Circle Of Magic' series set in Emelan. 


8) The Tale Of Raw Head & Bloody Bones; Jack Wolf.

This was the very first book I reviewed on this blog and I thought it was great! I felt so conflicted while reading, not sure whether to root for the'hero' or be disgusted by him, whether anything he was saying was true or in his head. The romance sub-plot was such a power couple for me, even though the relationship that they had was a little twisted. Gah! I couldn't make head nor tale about my thoughts on this book and yet, I loved it. 

9) The Demonata Series; Darren Shan.

I have read his other series, 'The Saga Of Darren Shan' and really loved it. However, the series I really would like to reread is this one. I just remember the artwork on the cover was so pretty (in a gruesome way), the characters were pretty memorable and the Demons very imaginative. I feel like I lost it about two thirds of the way through and want to reread to try and understand it better!

10) The Snow Child; Eowyn Ivey.

This was a pretty recent read from this year, but I adored this book and would jump at the chance to reread. It is my favourite Fairy Tale retelling of all time! It is a take on a not very well known Russian folk tale, The Snow Child. This book was both beautiful and heartbreaking, and I did have a little cry at the end. Read it, if you get the chance!

Last Week's Shenanigans (October 27th - November 2nd)...

So this week I started with a slight change to my shift pattern! I worked on Monday and had Wednesday off instead! Mat had Uni for a bit so I spent the morning watching TV with my lovely flat mate Tash. I haven't watched Home & Away for years, but it has become so dramatic! Afterwards, we had a go of a game I got a while back but never played: Zoo Tycoon on the Xbox One. I loved it, though I wish there had been a wider variety of animals (No penguins? Madness!). 

Mat's brother came to visit on Thursday and brought one of Mat's pre-ordered games with him, 'The Evil Within'. Just in time for Halloween! We've played four chapters now and I have to say, it's pretty terrifying. Halloween itself was a lot of fun and consisted of Movies, Games and of course chocolate! Perfect! As well as that, Mat and I decided to bite the bullet and buy a Wii U between us (we had a £200 Game Card so it didn't really cost us much in the end) and I can't wait to tell you about it next week!

I Reviewed:

Memes:

Top Ten Tuesday: Films To Get In the Halloween Spirit

Life Of A Blogger: Halloween

Six Degrees Of Separation: We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Karen Joy-Fowler

I Posted:

October Wrap-Up Post

Planned Reads For November

Six Degrees Of Separation (We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves; Karen Joy Fowler)

So the first Saturday this month has fallen on the first day of the month as well! I've been looking forward to finding out this month's book and playing this game again. Six Degrees Of Separation is a fun Meme hosted by Annabel Smith and Emma Chapman!

This month's book is Karen Joy Fowler's 'We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves', which I  haven't read as of yet. It has been extremely popular though and highly reviewed throughout the Blogosphere.

'If You Find Me' focuses a lot on Mental Illness as a subject, as well as including strong family themes. 'If You Find Me' by Emily Murdoch is also heavily written around those subjects, and was the first book that I thought of in relation to this month's pick! Both books seem to show strong sibling relationships, between Rosemary & Fearne, and Carey & Jenessa. 

In 'If You Find Me', Carey's Mother disappears and leaves the two girls to fend for themselves. While this isn't quite the case in Neil Gaiman's 'Coraline', parents do disappear in both books. It's also quite ironic that while 'If You Find Me' is a story about not knowing what you don't have until you find it, 'Coraline' is completely the opposite: not knowing what you have until it has disappeared.

'The Graveyard Book' is also by Neil Gaiman and so there is an obvious link here. As well as that, both are children's books that are a little creepy, while being filled with magic and adventure. I thoroughly enjoyed both of these books and have a deep, awe-filled respect for Gaiman's imagination.

While we talk about creepy books aimed at children, I feel like 'Doll Bones' by Holly Black is an obvious choice. There isn't a whole lot of scary moments in this one, but there is enough for me to connect the two. Both books are in essence about children trying to solve a mystery too.

While reading 'Doll Bones', the only book that I could think of was Garth Nix's 'The Ragwitch'. It had a very creepy doll that was out to cause havoc and mayhem, just like 'Doll Bones'. In both stories, it is children that must solve the problem too, as the parents are both oblivious or uncaring.

My last choice is 'Cuckoo Song' by Frances Hardinge. I suppose we are going with the obvious Doll connection here (though the Doll isn't necessarily evil in 'Cuckoo Song'). As well as that, the younger sister starts off the trouble in both books and sorting it out repairs relationships throughout.

It would seem I've gone down a bit of a creepy path this week. As yesterday was Halloween, I think it's pretty fitting and I really enjoyed this week's choice. I can't wait until next month!

Planned Reads For November.

So as I mentioned in my last post, my huge lack of time means that I average out at about one book a week. That feels like significantly less than I used to do, and I would love to keep challenging myself to do more. I will keep giving myself extra books as well as the challenge books, except I'll make it three this time!

Crossover Books:

1. 'Soulwoven'; Jeff Seymour. I have started reading this one already and am very much looking forward to seeing where it will take me. It looks to be a pretty epic Fantasy and I've heard some pretty good things about it. It's a Netgalley read too which I'm doing my best to get through at the moment!

Challenges:

Jumble Your Genres Challenge: Historical Fiction. I bought 'The Miniaturist' while on holiday a couple of months ago and it looks great! I can't wait to get stuck into it, Waterstones seemed very excited about it when I went in there to look around. I'm also very happy with this month's chosen genre!

2014 'Key Words' Challenge: Into, Sound, Blue, House, My, Last. I chose 'Between The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea' because I really loved the cover and I found the plot concept intriguing. I've seen pretty mixed reviews on this one, so hopefully it is worth the read!

2014 'Monthly Motif' Challenge: An Oldie But A Goodie. As this was published in 1998 (so before 2000), this can definitely count in this category. It's a popular series too, which puts it in the 'Goodie' section of the motif. I enjoyed 'A Game Of Thrones' so hopefully the second book is even better!

As I said, I've only picked three extra reads, and they are basically repeats from last month's extra reading challenges. I hope I get round to at least one of these because they all look so good!

1. 'Scarlet'; Marissa Meyer. I have been waiting to read the next book in this series for so long now and I'm pretty sure I'm going to burst if I don't get onto it soon! It just looks so good! I really miss reading Fairy-Tale retellings too!
2. 'A Song For Ella Grey'; David Almond. This is such a sweet looking book. I don't usually go for romance, but it is somewhat loosely based on the Greek Myth of Eurydice and Orpheus, and I'm a sucker for age old stories and legends like that!
3. 'Ruby Slippers'; Keir Alexander. Does anyone remember me winning this in a Goodreads First Reads Giveaway? It was a very long time ago and I really ought to have read it quite a while back. Maybe this month? Please?