February Wrap Up and March Goals

Hey everyone. As promised, this post is a February wrap up and March goals type thing - basically all the books I've read in the month of February and the books I plan on reading in March. This will be a monthly feature, I think, to help me keep up with myself. So, let's crack on!

February Wrap Up

• The first book I read in February was Gypsy Wedding Dreams by Thelma Madine. I quite enjoyed this book, and it only took a few days to read in those little boring moments of the day. I did a review of this, which you can find here.
• The second book was Flour Babies by Anne Fine. This was a shortish one that I never actually did a review on. I've read it a few times before and, although it's far from a favourite of mine, I read it just to pass a lunchtime at college. It was okay, but I would only read it if I was needed something quick to fill some time, and I wouldn't necessarily recommend it eagerly to people.
• The third book of February was Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd. As you might remember from my review of this one (which can be found here), I really enjoyed this book. It was pretty fast paced, and so quick to get through, but you didn't feel like you were rushing it. I would definitely recommend this one, so pick it up and read if you ever see it around. I'd never heard of it before I spotted it in the library and borrowed it for one of my reading challenges, but I'm so glad I picked it up.
• The final book I read in February is Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce. Although I put my review for this (here) up in March, I finished it on the last day of February. I really did enjoy this book; it put an interesting spin on classic themes, and I'd like to read the rest of Pearce's fairytale retelling series. I would also highly recommend this one.

March Goals

My goal for March is really just to finish all the books I'm currently reading before I start anymore. I'm halfway through several and I think I need to finish them (or at least most of them) before I try to start any others. I did a post on my ongoing reads in February here and, although I've finished one of them by now, I've also added two to the list. I know, I know. I'm more than 3/4 way through three of them though, so look out for reviews of those soon.

Reading Challenges

My reading challenge sign up post is here. The goals I set myself are: Explorer Level (6-10 books) for the Nonfiction Challenge; 15 books for the Fur & Fangs Challenge; and Shamrock level (4 books) for the Ireland Challenge.
So far, I've read 1 book for the Nonfiction Challenge (here), 1 book for the Ireland Challenge (here) and 1 book for the Fur & Fangs Challenge (here). Pretty good going, I think, for 2 months into the year. 

So that's my wrap up and goals for this month. Hope you all had a good February - if you do a February Wrap Up and March Goals post too then put a comment on this post and I'll check it out. I think my next post will be a review of The Book Thief film (which I saw for my birthday), and I also have some more book reviews and another regular feature project that I'm really excited about. See you soon!
 

Book Review: Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

Hey everyone! I just finished Sisters Red and thought I'd do a review - I loved this book! I read this book for the 2014 Fur and Fangs Challenge hosted by Novel Heartbeat (also check out my challenge sign up post here). You can find the cover and Goodreads description on my Library Haul post, so I'll just jump straight in with the review. Enjoy!

What's the deal?

Sisters Red is about 2 sisters (Scarlett, the oldest, and Rosie, the youngest) who were victims of a terrible attack by a vicious Fenris (werewolf). Although Scarlett fought the Fenris off to save herself and her sister, she was left with terrible scars and an appetite for revenge. Rosie, forever indebted to Scarlett, helps her sister hunt down other Fenris to save young girls from suffering the same (or worse) fate. They also hunt with Silas (cute boy and lethal with an axe), the son of a woodsman who is estranged from his family. Although they live (reasonably happily) in a small town, the three travel to Atlanta to suss out why the Fenris packs are joining forces, and what they're looking for. This is where the action goes down (in more ways than one).

How does it work?

The book is told in first person narrative, and is split between Rosie and Scarlett's perspectives. The exception to this is the prologue and epilogue, which are both told in the third person. The main section of the book happens in a very short period of time, and because of this the action seems more urgent, the atmosphere tense. The story is quite fast paced (in that a lot happens in short bursts), but it also has enough passages about mundane everyday stuff (like shopping and taking classes) to make it more realistic, in the sense that you can imagine this type of thing happening in the city you live in. And of course, fighting werewolves isn't the only action (but if you want to know more, you'll have to read the book).

The tone of the book is quite, well, there's a lot of angst, put it that way. There's palpable tension, first between Silas and Rosie, then between Silas and Rosie AND Scarlett, and then there's less tension and more action. There's quite a few twists and turns too. I guessed a few things at the beginning of the book, then it turned out I was wrong as new info was uncovered, THEN even more happened and it turned out nothing was as you thought at all. I tell you what! I was welling up towards the end as well and then ANOTHER twist happened. You never knew what was going down with this one (in a good way though). The prologue and epilogue were good as well, with the prologue setting the scene and helping you to understand the characters motivations, and the epilogue providing what I thought was a very bittersweet ending. It was also interesting to see both sisters points of view, as it showed just how much they differed, but also how similar they were. Two halves of the same heart and all that (seriously, read it).

Completely Loved:

• Werewolves. The Fenris in this book are different to the "normal" variety found in most werewolf books. They kind of seem like a cross between werewolves and shape-shifters (evil monsters who can turn any time of day or night). Pearce's wolves are edgy and dangerous, and seem more thrilling than traditional ones. It's a new and exciting concept.
• Silas. Who doesn't love a bit of eye candy who can hold his own in a fight against supernatural creatures? I imagine him to be the mysterious, smouldering, sexy type. And the boy can wield an axe too...
• The whole plot of this book was fun and interesting, with the darker bits and uplifting bits balancing each other out. I was totally gripped from start to finish.
• I also liked the concept of the cover. I thought how all the bits melt into each other was a really cool idea.

Not so much:

• Silas and Scarlett are hunting partners. Best Friends. I loved that relationship, which makes a few pages (and one particular part of the backstory which is revealed there) about 3/4 of the way through not so good for me. I'd hoped Silas WOULDN'T be the sort of guy to jump from his crush to the "next-best-thing" type scenario.
• In the same area of the book, Rosie seems to become whiny and clingy again. She has some great character development throughout the course of the book and I get why she's upset in this particular part, but she's spent 3/4 of the book trying to prove that she's strong, confident and independent and, for me, her character was sort of undermined in those few chapters.

Quotes

"I am confident, I am capable, and I will not wait to be rescued by a woodsman or a hunter" - Rosie. I like this quote because I think it's here that I as a reader realised that Rosie is just as strong as Scarlett, and she's not just the little sister anymore.

"My sister has the heart of an artist with a hatchet and an eye patch. And I, we both now know, have a heart that is undeniably, irreparably different" - Rosie.

"I follow, always, because it's the only time when I'm certain, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we are one person broken in two" - Rosie.

Final Thoughts

I give Sisters Red 4 out of 5. It was an enjoyable and well paced read, and kept me hooked throughout. There was a brilliant mix of action and romance that meant I was never bored waiting for something to happen. I very much enjoyed the rather unique spin on the "tried-and-tested" themes of werewolves and fairytales, and I now really want to read Pearce's other books.

Thanks for reading guys and I hope you enjoyed it! Next post will be a February wrap up/March goals type thing. See you next time!

Book Review: Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd

Hey guys. So, my next book review is of a book called Bog Child, and I read this for the Ireland Reading Challenge, hosted by http://booksnyc.blogspot.co.uk/ (read my challenge sign up page here). Bog Child is written by an Irish author, set in Ireland and features the charming Irish characters, most notably Fergus and his family, and Cora, Fergus' friend-turned-crush-turned-girlfriend type thing. The book cover and Goodreads description of Bog Child can be found on my Library Haul post so I'm just going to jump straight into the review.

Whats the deal?

Bog Child is primarily about a boy called Fergus, who is hoping to pass his exams so that he can get out of Ireland and escape the troubles to become a doctor instead. Fergus finds the body of a girl in the bog up in the mountains near his home, and the book follows what happens from then on. But it's not just the bog child that affects Fergus. His brother, who is a political prisoner, goes on hunger strike, Fergus makes friends with a Welsh soldier (who he's not actually supposed to be friends with) and Fergus is asked to do something he would rather not do by a man with connections to his imprisoned brother. Poor Fergus. There is a bright side though! Cora, a girl who comes up from Dublin with her archeologist mother to look at the bog child, seems to send Fergus' heart a flutter. And of course, we have the delightful Mel, the bog child, the curse, the abomination (but shhh! No spoilers).

How does it work?

The book is mostly centered around Fergus, the protagonist, and what is happening in his life. HOWEVER, in Fergus' dreams, we flashback to Mel (the bog child) and her time. Mel tells us all about her life and what is happening there (and then), which draws parallels between the Iron Age (Mel) and 1960s Ireland (Fergus). The flashbacks lead up to what happened to Mel that left her in a bog to be discovered hundreds of years later. It was an interesting setup, flitting between Mel, and the different parts of Fergus' life - hanging out with Cora and discussing Mel, visiting his brother, talking to Uncle Tally, making friends with Owain.

The book isn't fast paced, but neither is it so slow it gets boring. The scene is set pretty much from the start and, as the story progresses, you are able to picture more and more of the landscape and events, good and bad. You pretty much get a feel for what's happening from a few chapters in, and there's an event that happens somewhere around the middle that ties in with the task that Fergus has been set (see how much I'm trying to keep all spoilers away?) that makes you think "I know exactly what's happening here". No. You don't. You don't know anything. In fact, about 3 chapters before the end, everything you know is flipped upside down. Let me just say this - the bad guy isn't necessarily the bad guy, nor is the good guy necessarily the good guy. Cryptic? Read the book and you'll see what I mean.

Completely Loved:

• The topic of the book. Although I'm not overly interested in politics, the theme winds through the book in such a way that I couldn't help but be interested. Seriously guys. I finished this book and thought "right, I think I'm gonna find another book and learn more about the Irish troubles". It's the kind of book that feeds you enough information about a topic to make you interested, without shoving it down your throat. And I loved that.
• Owain. Oh my Lord, Owain! He was so sweet, and amazing, and adorable and OH OWAIN! But seriously. This is a character who is supposed to be a "bad guy" (he's one of the British soldiers who everyone in Ireland hates just for being there) but actually he is, as Fergus finds out, human just like all the rest of them. Owain had a choice to make back home (he's from the Welsh Valleys) and he made the choice to run free from home. Ultimately, he's no freer than the rest of them. But he was funny and uplifting even in serious situations and I get the feeling that, if circumstances were just slightly different, he and Fergus would have been ever greater friends than they got to be.
• The Flashbacks. These were, I think, incredibly well done. The parallels between Mel's time and Fergus' own beautifully enhanced the story because they were clearly drawn and yet subtly interwoven all at the same time. I loved it.

Not so much:

• The cover of the book didn't interest me, and the blurb didn't pull me in at all. Maybe it's just because I don't usually read books like that but, I don't know, it just didn't make the book seem interesting enough. In fact, if I wasn't participating in the challenge (and panicking over whether I'd find any Irish books) I probably wouldn't have picked it up which is a shame because I really enjoyed it. As for the story itself, I can't think of anything I disliked enough to put in here. That's pretty good, right?

Quotes

I found a few quotes that I liked enough to share.

'We suffer more from the sins of omission than the sins of commission' ~ Felicity. I think this is a pretty nice way of saying you regret the things you don't do far more than you will ever regret the things you do actually do.

'Death is not a reaper, like they say, nor even a friend. It is dark, fierce water, an inundation' ~ Mel, in a flashback.

'The studying, the books, exams, arguments, theories. The jokes and pints, laughter, kisses and songs. Life was like running, ninety percent sweat and toil, ten percent joy' ~narrator, at the end. I think this part and the death part (see quote above) kind of look nice together; work hard and play hard in life so that death may not be so scary and dark.

'The summer of the bog child was over' ~ narrator. Although this line is simple, the way it is slotted in at the end of the book, makes you feel like it's the end of an era (which it kind of is), not just for Fergus and Cora, Owain and Mel and Joey and Tally and all the rest, but for the reader too.

Final thoughts

I would give this 4/4.5 out of 5. It was an enjoyable read, very funny and entertaining, but also serious as well, and I think Dowd got the balance perfect between the two. It was warm yet heartbreaking, and I grew to love the characters so much that the end was completely bittersweet. Completely. I would definitely recommend this to anyone, not just those who are interested in Irish history. Because I think that's part of the beauty of this book; it takes a topic that some might say is interesting and some might say isn't, and handles it in a way that makes it accessable to all, regardless of your level of knowledge or interest in history or politics.

I hope you enjoyed my review, and I hope I encouraged some of you to read this! If you have read it (or are going to) please comment your thoughts below. Hopefully, I'll post quite soon (within the next few days), workload permitting, so I'll see you then!

Buying books from Charity Shops

Hey guys! I love browsing in bookshops, and if I could I would spend all day in Waterstones, looking through the shelves for my next babies. However, I am a student and don't have a full-time job so this dream is slightly unrealistic. That's why I love my Kindle so much - the books are so much cheaper and easier to find, particularly if they're not very new ones (I've done a post on the Pros and Cons of a Kindle if you want to have a gander at that). However, my next favourite thing is buying books from charity shops. I love the thought that the book has brought joy to someone else, and they then gave it away so it can bring joy to me. Additionally, the books are so cheap, which of course is a big bonus. I don't usually buy books but I saw a complete trilogy in my local Oxfam shop and each book was just 99p! I was powerless to resist...

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Cover and description from Goodreads

Twelve-year-old Meggie learns that her father, who repairs and binds books for a living, can "read" fictional characters to life when one of those characters abducts them and tries to force him into service.

Characters from books literally leap off the page in this engrossing fantasy. Meggie has had her father to herself since her mother went away when she was young. Mo taught her to read when she was five, and the two share a mutual love of books. He can "read" characters out of books. When she was three, he read aloud from a book called Inkheart and released characters into the real world. At the same time, Meggie's mother disappeared into the story. This "story within a story" will delight not just fantasy fans, but all readers who like an exciting plot with larger-than-life characters.

Cornelia Funke has been recommended to me several times, and I've also heard her name crop up in many YouTube videos I've seen. This book sounded really interesting, and I do like a bit of fantasy. Since it was so cheap (and the money is going to a good cause) I thought I'd try it out. I also got the second and third books in The Inkworld Trilogy at the same time...

Inkspell by Cornelia Funke

Cover and description from Goodreads

The captivating sequel to INKHEART, the critically acclaimed, international bestseller by Cornelia Funke, an author who is emerging as a truly modern classic writer for children.

Although a year has passed, not a day goes by without Meggie thinking of INKHEART, the book whose characters became real. But for Dustfinger, the fire-eater brought into being from words, the need to return to the tale has become desperate. When he finds a crooked storyteller with the ability to read him back, Dustfinger leaves behind his young apprentice Farid and plunges into the medieval world of his past. Distraught, Farid goes in search of Meggie, and before long, both are caught inside the book, too. But the story is threatening to evolve in ways neither of them could ever have imagined.

Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke

Cover and description from Goodreads

CAUGHT BETWEEN THE COVERS OF A CURSED STORY...

Ever since the extraordinary events of Inkspell, when the enchanted book Inkheart drew Meggie and her father, Mo, into its chapters, life in the Inkworld has been more tragic than magical.

The fire-eater Dustfinger is dead, having sacrificed his life for his apprentice Farid's, and now, under the rule of the evil Adderhead, the fairy-tale land is in bloody chaos, its characters far beyond the control of Fenoglio, their author. Even Elinor, left behind in the real world, believes her family to be lost - lost between the covers of a book.

Facing the threat of eternal winter, Mo inks a dangerous deal with Death itself. There yet remains a faint hope of changing the cursed story - if only he can fill its pages fast enough.

I think this series sounds quite interesting and I can't wait to see what I think of it. I'll be sure to put up reviews of the books when I get to them (They are perching precariously on the top of a massive to-read pile so...)