Author: Jeff Kinney Genre: Children Reading Level: Ages 9-12
I loved the first two books and I also enjoyed The Last Straw and like the first two books, the third book is equally hilarious. I recommend reading this series if you are looking for a good laugh! Though the book is targeted to a young target audience I think adults would also enjoy the humour and Greg's antics growing up.
The movie is out already but I haven't had a chance to see it. Anyway, here's the trailer of the movie:
You can also read my review of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, here and Rodrick Rules, here.
Coping with his mother’s recent death, Ethan Carter Wate is sick of the small town life in Gaitlin and dreams of escaping into the world. On the surface, Ethan lives a normal life but he is troubled by terrible nightmares of a girl he has never met before in his life... until of course he meets newbie Lena Ducheness who moves into town to live with her reclusive uncle.
Beautiful Creatures is written from Ethan’s point of view which is out-of the ordinary as most romance novels I’ve read are from the female’s point of view. The mysterious attraction between Lena and Ethan made the book a more interesting read but I can’t help feeling annoyed with Ethan sometimes. At times he comes across as the male version of Bella from Twilight, not the clingy part but the “I’m obsessed with the love of my life” part kinda made my eyes roll more than once. (My thoughts on Bella here by the way)
I absolutely loved the paranormal aspects of the book. It had a unique storyline and I found the characters especially the ‘Casters’ who each carry different powers or abilities quite intriguing to read about. Overall, the book had a slightly slow build-up but the unique paranormal premise was enough to substitute that.
I enjoyed reading Beautiful Creatures but I wouldn’t say that I absolutely head over heels loved it. It started off well but kinda moved slow after that. I do love the unique paranormal storyline and hope to read more about it in the second book, Beautiful Darkness.
Note: If you have a copy of today’s Star newspaper, check out the Stuff@school section which featured a review on Beautiful Creatures. There is also a 25% discount voucher in that section from MPH if you would like to purchase either Beautiful Creatures or Fallen (three guesses what my next purchase would be?).
Gosh! This is my first Friday Finds post since October of last year. I've been out of action and I miss my blogging friends. Do give a shout out if you're reading this cause I miss everyone terribly!
Anyway, I've compiled a long list of books that I've found to be of interest. Since this is my first Friday Finds post for 2010, I won't bombard you with too many but these are three books that I definitely want to get for myself sometime soon:
Sometime back I started reading A Game of Thrones which came highly recommended by a friend of mine. I absolutely loved it and bought the whole available series though finding the time reading each book is now proving to be a challenge.
Whilst I was on holiday at Lipe Island I had plans to read other books but at the last minute decided to read the second book from A Song of Ice and Fire Series, A Clash of Kings.
Firstly, I absolutely love and am truly amazed by George R.R. Martins's style of writing. I find it incredible that he has managed to write so many different characters with so many storylines in one book. A Clash of King is intertwined with multiple political agendas and each character has their own interesting journey and adventure which truly captured my interest as a reader. Though I prefer the first book more than the second, A Clash of Kings was still a good book to read.
I hope to start the third book A Storm of Swords sometime soon. In the meantime, I found out that a TV Series is currently being developed based on the book. It'll probably take forever for the series to arrive in Malaysian shores but I'll definitely be one of the first to catch the show when it arrives.
Ya. Ya. You can call me uncool, backdated, slow... whatever... for being the only person who has not heard about Studio Ghibli before but I guess its better late than never, right? Anyway, while I was on holiday with hubs at Lipe Island, the resort we stayed in kept repeating an animated film titled 'Howl's Moving Castle'. Of course, hubs and I were too busy exploring the island so we didn't really get to watch the whole movie but whatever we saw roused our interest enough to scout around town looking for a copy of the DVD the minute we got back to KL.
I managed to get a copy of the movie and I think the effort of looking high and low for the DVD was really worth it! Howl's Moving Castle is one in a million. It's the latest addition in my 'I Like' category on Get Glue (LOL) and definitely the latest on my list of things to rave about to my friends.
Howl's Moving Castle is based on a young adult fantasy book by British author Dianne Wynn Jones. The story revolves around Sophie Hatter who encounters a young wizard called Howl by chance. The chance encounter made the Witch of the Waste (who also has the hots for Howl) jealous enough to put a curse on Sophie and turn her into an old woman. With the curse upon her, Sophie embarks on a magical journey in her effort to break the curse.
I absolutely loved Howl's Moving Castle. The characters were unique, the storyline was one of a kind and Sophie's adventures were truly magical. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it. The voice-over cast has quite an impressive list of actors like Christian Bale, Billy Crystal and Jean Simmons. I intend to purchase a copy of the original book just to see the difference between the book and the movie. Here's a trailer of the movie if you're interested:
Since I liked Howl's Moving Castle so much, I decided to get copies of other movies produced by Studio Ghibli. The other movie that I've seen is Spirited Away. Personally, I thought that it was not as good as Howl's Moving Castle but it was still an enjoyable movie to watch. Here's the trailer for your viewing:
I can't wait to watch the rest of the Studio Ghibli movies. I hope all their movies are as good as Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away.
If you've seen a Studio Ghibli production, which one is your personal favourite?
Author: E.Nesbit and Illustration by Alan Marks Genre: Children's Classic Reading Level: Ages 9-12
This is a retelling of E.Nesbit's classic children's story The Railway Children. Bobbie, Peter and Phyllis's life is transformed overnight when their father is mysteriously taken away. Forced to leave the city, the children embark on a variety of adventures in the surroundings of their new home.
I've never read the actual book by E.Nesbit but I think the Usborne Young Reading Series provides a great introduction to the classic children's book. It's simple to read with only 60 pages filled with colourful pictures and easy to read text. I enjoyed reading this to pass my time at the bookstore. The Usborne Young Reading Series has a variety of titles to choose from and I think it makes quite a good collection to read to kids.
