"Rumble" by Ellen Hopkins

I have heard great things about Ellen Hopkins' books and I was also fascinated by the fact that she writes entirely in verse. Rumble was the first book of hers that I read and I now see what the fuss is all about. It is the story of a teenage boy - Matt Turner - who is faced with a lot of difficult issues. His younger brother committed a suicide, his parents, whose marriage was always rocky, are on the brink of divorce, and his girlfriend, who has stood by him through the most difficult times, is starting to draw away from him as she immerses herself in her faith, youth group activities and church work. Matt himself is entirely disillusioned when it comes to religious beliefs. He feels there is no God, or else, what God would inflict such misery on His creation?

I thought Hopkins did a great job portraying the struggles of a teenager with such universal and timeless issues as one's purpose and meaning in life, morality, faith and relationships. Matt is a great character. He is smart, sarcastic and witty. He is also ridden with guilt, doubts and anger. I highly recommend this book and cannot wait to check out Hopkins' other work.

"We were Liars" by E. Lockhart

This novel has gotten mixed reviews from readers and I was curious to check it out. The story follows a rich New England family that spends every summer on a private island near Nantucket. The family consists of grandparents (who have all the money), their three adult daughters and their children. The story is written from the point of view of the oldest granddaughter and heiress to the Sinclair fortune Cadence Sinclair. She tells us about her summer on Beachwood Island when she was 15. She has the fondest memories of spending time with her cousins and also falling in love with her aunt's stepson Gat. Then, one day something terrible happens. Cadence is found on a beach late at night by herself and appears to have suffered some sort of head injury. She remembers nothing of the accident or the events leading up to it. Long hospitals stays, pain medication and constant migraines are Cady's reality after the accident. E-mails to her cousins remain unanswered and the boy she thought she was in love with never visits her in the hospital or makes any attempt to contact her. Cady is devastated. Two years after the accident she is determined to go back to Beachwood Island to confront her cousins and Gat and finally get some answers.

I loved this book. I ended up getting it as an audiobook from the library and I would highly recommend this format. It is fairly short and beautifully narrated. Some reviewers mentioned that they figured out how the story would end. I was not one of them. The ending was completely unexpected to me and I really liked how the story wrapped up. I am really glad I decided to give this book a go.

My 2015 in Books

It is December 27th so I thought this would be a good time to review the reading goals I set for myself back in January and see how I did.

1. I wanted to read 70 books in 2015. I ended up reading 113! Yes, this is the most books I've read in a year in my entire life (some of my other hobbies ended up on the back burner).

2. I wanted to read more classics. I am proud to report that I read 10 classics this year.

3. My next goals was to read at least one book in Russian. I am happy to say I read 3 books in Russian in 2015.

4. I planned to read a biography. I read Persepolis, Persepolis 2 and Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi, all autobiographical graphic novels. I also read Wild by Cheryl Strayed - also an autobiographical book recounting the author's hike on the Pacific Coast Trail.

5. I wanted to read a book written entirely in verse.  Just yesterday, I finished Rumble by Ellen Hopkins, a heart-breaking and poignant story of a teenager dealing with his brother's suicide and tackling the eternal issues of faith, God, guilt, difficult parents and relationship issues.

6. My last goal was to catch up on some series I had previously started. I did OK in this category. I definitely finished off some series, but I also started a few new ones, so this is an ongoing goal.

Overall, my reading progress is presented in the photo below (courtesy of Goodreads).

Top 5 Wednesday: Series I want to start next year

 

The end of the year is definitely the time to start thinking about plans and resolutions for the coming year. I am planning to do a separate post on my reading goals. However, since this week's Top 5 Wednesday topic is also focused on reading objectives for 2016, I could not pass it by. As usual, if you'd like to know more about Top 5 Wednesday, it is a Goodreads group and the link to the page is here.

Now without further ado, here are the five series I would very much like to start is 2016.


1. Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger

This is a 5-book adult steam punk series that I keep hearing great things about. I own all five books in the series and as far as I know there will be no more books coming out. The thing I dislike about long series in which books do not have self-contained plots is the long wait until the next installment. Oftentimes, I forget a lot of things in the previous books and have to either go back and re-read the series or look up summaries on the internet. In this case, all the books are out so 2016 is a great time to pick them up.

2. Selection by Kiera Cass

This is an on-going series, but my understanding is that the first three books can be read as a stand-alone trilogy. I have seen mixed reviews of this series but at the same time I am interested in it. I don't want to get spoiled on the plot so I purposely have not read much about these books. I only know that it is a Cinderella-type story that also includes royalty and romance. So sounds like a perfect series to relax with.

3. Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

This is a young adult fantasy series that is extremely popular and has great reviews. In fact. Lainey from GingerReadsLainey who started the Top 5 Wednesday Goodreads group talks about this series all the time and highly recommends it. I think there will be either 6 or 7 books in the series and 4 are currently out. I am really curious about this series and do hope that I can get to it this year.

4. Angelfall by Susan Ee

This is another series that I hear only good things about. In fact, I don't think I've seen a bad review of this trilogy. It is supposed to be really fast-paced fallen angels books and seems like I should be able to just breeze through them.

5. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

I never read these books or watched the movies and I hear it is a really good children's classic. I am not sure i will read the entire series, but I would definitely like to pick up at least the first book.

"Moby-Dick" by Herman Melville

I finally finished this literally "whale" of a book! When I first started reading this famous classic, I knew very little about it other than that it was about a whale... Because it is such a massive and multifaceted work, I am not even sure how to structure a review of it. So I will just list my various impressions and thoughts about it.

First of all, the most unexpected thing about Moby-Dick was Melville's humor. His observations about human nature are on point and often quite funny. In fact, the first line in this review is borrowed from Melville. At one point in the book, he notes that if one is going to write a book about the leviathan, he cannot help but end up with a leviathan of a book.

Secondly, Moby-Dick is so much more than an adventure story about a mad captain chasing a great white whale. Melville includes in his book an encyclopedia's worth of information about whales and whaling. I would say this aspect of the book makes it the most difficult and the most amazing. It is difficult because of terminology and pure tediousness of long and very detailed descriptions of everything from various tools to the actual process of killing a whale and getting its oil. At the same time, the extent of Melville's knowledge and the care he took in organizing and presenting this information is simply mind-boggling. Not only did he use his own experience on whaling ships, he also read extensively on the subject of whaling and whales and attempted to systematize and analyze the existing body of knowledge in regards to the biology of whales, mythology and art work featuring leviathans, and peculiarities of the whaling business.

Thirdly, Melville is a keen observer of human nature and a philosopher at heart. He examines the nature of good and evil, superstitions, and beliefs. He also quotes extensively from and comments on the Bible. In fact, the main characters in the book have Biblical names. The narrator's name is Ishmael. In the Bible, it is the name of Abraham's first son born to him by Sarah's handmaiden Hagar. Once Sarah herself miraculously at the age of 99 becomes pregnant with Isaac, she insists that Hagar and Ishmael be sent away into the desert. God hears the infant's cries and leads Hagar to a well of water. Thus, the boy miraculously survives and fathers the nation of Ishmaelites. If you know this biblical story going into the book, the name does prefigure the ending of the story.

The mad captain in Moby-Dick bears the name of Ahab. In the book of 1 Kings, it is the name of an evil king of Israel, who worships Baal instead of the true God, and whom the prophet Elijah condemns and challenges to a contest.

Thus my overall impression of this book is that it is unbelievably complex. If you are going to read it, I would recommend getting an illustrated version and reading all the footnotes. Melville quotes from many sources and understanding the context will help the reader appreciate the extent of the author's erudition and curiosity. Illustrations are helpful for visualizing the various tools and implements used in whaling.

Now finally to the characters. Melville is a master of creating colorful and unforgettable characters. In some sense everyone on the whaling ship is a quintessential sailor. Like in some other classics, Melville's characters also launch into long monologues expounding on their choices, making philosophical observations or in one case preaching to the sharks.

Sorry about this whale of a review, but it simply cannot be helped. Overall, I am glad I read this book. But I do see that it is definitely not for everyone. If you like classics, you will definitely want to read this one. 

Top 5 Wednesday: Books to Read by the Fire (Winter/Holiday Recommendations)

It is that time of year when book bloggers/book tubers compile lists of winter/holiday reads. I must say, normally I do not associate winter/holiday time with any particular type of books. However, late December/early January for me was always a great reading time because of school break/vacation time. When I was in high school, my mother would often give me a book for Christmas and I would end up reading it during the holiday break (here is my post from last year reminiscing on those good times). So for me, any good book would be great for reading by the fire. However, I did pick out five of my favorites that are bound to put you into a holiday mood:


1. My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories edited by Stephanie Perkins

This is a compilation of holiday-themed short stories by popular YA authors such as Holly Black, Laini Taylor, Gayle Forman, Jenny Han, etc. I read it in December of last year and loved it. As with any anthology, there were some stories that I liked best and some were just so-so. But overall, it is a great book to read around the holidays. The stories are heart-warming and sweet, and will also give you a nice sampling of these authors' writing.

2. Skipping Christmas by John Grisham

This book was made into a movie a few years back starring Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis. However, I think the book is much better. It is a laugh-out loud impossible-to-put-down kind of read, and I absolutely love it. As a side note, I used to read everything by John Grisham and this book really opened him up for me as a versatile writer who successfully crosses over to other genres from his usual detective story/legal drama/thriller type books.

3. Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle

This is a compilation of three stories by three different authors. All three stories are set in the same location and have common characters, but each individual story zeroes in on a different couple. Reading this book reminded me of watching "Love Actually" or "New Year's Eve", the movies that have several story lines, but the characters all one way or another know each other and all come together at the very end. Overall, I would say the stories get progressively better as you go along. It is a great book to curl up with near a Christmas tree with a cup of hot chocolate. These are all fluffy love stories with couples finding true love or reuniting on Christmas Eve/Day. It will also make a great holiday present for a book-lover in your family.

4. The Night Before Christmas by Nikolai Gogol

This is going to be a different kind of recommendation. Did you know that Carol of the Bells is a Ukrainian folk song? It celebrates the festive season and its traditions such as the pealing of church bells at Christmas and caroling. The Night Before Christmas by Ukraine's greatest comic writer Nikolai Gogol is a fairy tale set in a Ukrainian village on Christmas Eve. It is not a typical Christmas story. It features a witch and the devil who are at their most powerful right before the birth date of Christ. There is also a wonderful Christmas miracle in this tale. The story creates a wonderful atmosphere of Ukrainian festivities, beliefs and traditions. I highly recommend it. 

5. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

I was debating as to whether or not include this book in this list. It seems like such an obvious choice. But I do love both watching the movie/theater adaptations of this story at Christmas time and reading the book. Nothing creates a better holiday atmosphere for me except for maybe The Nutcracker. 

"Uprooted" by Naomi Novik

Uprooted is a very atmospheric standalone fantasy novel that reads more like a Slavic fairy tale. The story takes place in a remote village located at the border of an old and dangerous Wood. Villagers who venture too close to the Wood tend to disappear and those who return are corrupted and serve the Wood in sowing evil. The lord of the land is a wizard named the Dragon. He lives in a tower at the edge of the Wood and keeps the surrounding villages safe. In return, every ten years he takes a young girl into his tower. No one ever knows what exactly happens to the young maidens there, but at the end of 10 years none of them return home. Instead, having been transformed into cultured and wealthy young women, they choose to settle in big cities.

The story is told from the point of view of Agnieszka, a young village girl who is chosen by the Dragon to spend the next 10 years in his tower. We learn early in the story, that the Dragon chooses her not because of her beauty or talents, but because magic runs deep in her blood. Agnieszka is a witch and is in need of training.

I really liked the writing in this book. The narrative is slow and very poetic. Despite that the story is also very gripping and unpredictable. I also really enjoyed the magic in this book. Agnieszka relies on her own intuition rather than formulaic spells. She is also very attached to her homeland and draws on the power of nature rather than complex incantations. No wonder she connects so deeply with stories of Baba Jaga, a legendary witch who roamed surrounding forests and used spells no one (until Agnieszka came along) had been able to replicate.

This was a five star read for me. I highly recommend it.

"Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass is the first book in a very popular YA fantasy series by Sarah J. Maas. Earlier this year I read the first book in another fantasy series by this author and was underwhelmed by both the plot and the writing. However, Throne of Glass seems to have much better reviews and a lot of readers really like it so I decided to give it a go. The main character is a young assassin named Celaena who has been sentenced to work in salt mines and that is where we meet her in the very beginning of the story. The King of the land decides to hold a competition and choose a champion to do his bidding. The Crown Prince tracks down the famous assassin and promises her freedom if she wins the competition and serves the King for four years. Celaena feels she was made an offer she could not possibly refuse.

First of all, let's talk about our main character Celaena. I loved her. She is smart, sassy, fiercely independent, an impossible flirt and she is lethal. She sort of reminded me of Rose from the Vampire Academy. I also thought she acted her age which was really refreshing. A lot of times in YA characters seem way too mature to me. I was not that mature when I was 17-18 years old. Making mistakes is part of being young and I like to read about characters who act their age.

In terms of the overall story line, I thought the plot was quite interesting with unexpected twists. I liked the supernatural/fantastical elements of the world. The book is very fast-paced and easy to read. I literally flew through it. The world is definitely not as complex as in some high fantasy novels (e.g. A Game of Thrones), but I also don't think that was the author's intent. This book was just exactly what I needed when I read it, and I really enjoyed it. Needless to say, I will continue with the series. I hear the series gets better with each subsequent book. This was a 5 out 5 stars read for me.