Last week, I went to see EPIC and I really liked it (although I’m not a huge fan of the computer animated three-dimensional look most computer animated movies have nowadays [and by the way, I hate 3D!]).
EPIC was a lot of fun to watch and I loved the magical cinematography. Mub & Grub are my personal favorites. Here’s the trailer (I decided to post the one that’s not that funny, because it doesn’t have that many spoilers in it):
Last night, I finished reading The Humans by Matt Haig which I won from The Book Depository.
It’s hardest to belong when you’re closest to home . . .
One wet Friday evening, Professor Andrew Martin of Cambridge University solves the world’s greatest mathematical riddle. Then he disappears.
When he is found walking naked along the motorway, Professor Martin seems different. Besides the lack of clothes, he now finds normal life pointless. His loving wife and teenage son seem repulsive to him. In fact, he hates everyone on the planet. Everyone, that is, except Newton. And he’s a dog.
Can a bit of Debussy and Emily Dickinson keep him from murder? Can the species which invented cheap white wine and peanut butter sandwiches be all that bad? And what is the warm feeling he gets when he looks into his wife’s eyes?
The Humans is mainly set in Cambridge, England. The setting is very believable and realistic.
The book is written from the perspective of the person who took Andrew Martin’s body (let’s call him “the alien”). It is written in conversational style. As if “the alien” was talking to the reader, who, in his opinion, is one of his species. I think this is a very interesting and entertaining writing style, which is also very clever. This way, Mr Haig takes the reader by the hand and leads them right into the story. He makes them part of it instantly.
The main characters of The Humans are “the alien”, Andrew Martin’s wife Isobel and their son Gulliver. For me, they were all very easy to empathize with, especially “the alien” and Gulliver. I was able to follow “the alien’s” problems, his discoveries, his moral changes and his feelings throughout the book. I also had no problems understanding Gulliver’s teenage world and all the problems and feelings that he had. I could feel “the alien’s” and Gulliver’s relationship with all their highs and lows. I could also feel the relationship between Isobel and “the alien” but it wasn’t depicted as intensely as the relationship between Gulliver and “the alien”.
I really enjoyed the plot. It was a little predictable but had its twists and turns. I don’t think The Humans is a book you read for suspense, it is a book that is full of fun and creativity. The only thing I would have left out is the “Advice for a Human” list at the end. I didn’t really see a point in it and it was somehow boring. Other than that, I had great fun reading The Humans and I can fully recommend this novel to anyone who wants to read something different for a change.
Hi there,
This week is Children’s Book Week and this is why I’d like to talk about one of my favourite children’s books, A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond.
One day, the Brown family find a bear from Darkest Peru at Paddington Station in London. They decide to take him in and name him Paddington. That is when Paddington’s new life and his adventures start. He soon becomes part of the family. The children Jonathan and Judy enjoy Paddington’s company and Mrs. Bird, the housekeeper, quickly warms up to him. Paddington makes friends all over the place, his best friend being Mr. Gruber. The only person who can’t stand Paddington is the Browns’ neighbor Mr. Curry…
A Bear Called Paddington is set in and around the Browns’ house in London. The setting is very believable and nice and so are the characters. The stories are told by a third person narrator and usually revolve around Paddington, so the reader has a character to connect with.
The book is divided into short stories that are connected to each other and should be read in a consecutive order. In each story, Paddington usually learns something from his or others’ behaviour. So each story has its moral.
I really like A Bear Called Paddington because it is entertaining, easy to read and I think Paddington is simply cute. Also, I learned to read the time with Paddington when I was very young. This is a book I would recommend for both, children and adults 🙂
I am thrilled to announce that Clarkson Potter provided me with an advance reading copy (ARC) of Provence, 1970 by Luke Barr. The book will be out in October 2013. I will read it as soon as I can and then I’ll get back to you with a review.
¹http://www.randomhouse.com/book/202688/provence-1970-by-luke-barr
Happy Mother’s Day!
This year my mom got a book for Mother’s Day, because we can’t see each other. I ordered her The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon and I hope she’ll like it.
It is 1968. Lynnie, a young white woman with a developmental disability, and Homan, an African American deaf man, are locked away in an institution, the School for the Incurable and Feebleminded, and have been left to languish, forgotten. Deeply in love, they escape, and find refuge in the farmhouse of Martha, a retired schoolteacher and widow. But the couple is not alone – Lynnie has just given birth to a baby girl. When the authorities catch up to them that same night, Homan escapes into the darkness, and Lynnie is caught. But before she is forced back into the institution, she whispers two words to Martha: “Hide her.” And so begins the 40-year epic journey of Lynnie, Homan, Martha, and baby Julia-lives divided by seemingly insurmountable obstacles, yet drawn together by a secret pact and extraordinary love.
¹http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/rachel-simon/the-story-of-beautiful-girl/9780446574464/#desc
Why do you read books in English, if you’re not a native speaker of English? I mean okay, I love the English language. But there is something else:
So why do you read English books?
Today’s review is about Graham Joyce’s Some Kind of Fairy Tale, which I won over at Buried in Books at the Fairytale Fortnight a few weeks ago 🙂 Thanks again Heather!!
For twenty years after Tara Martin disappeared from her small English town, her parents and her brother, Peter, have lived in denial of the grim fact that she was gone for good. And then suddenly, on Christmas Day, the doorbell rings at her parents’ home and there, disheveled and slightly peculiar looking, Tara stands. It’s a miracle, but alarm bells are ringing for Peter. Tara’s story just does not add up. And, incredibly, she barely looks a day older than when she vanished.
Some Kind of Fairy Tale is set in a town in England and its surroundings and in a (parallel?) place where the so-called (or not called) fairies live. The England setting is really nothing special. The only image that somehow stood out for me was the Outwoods in spring while they were covered in bluebells. I liked Joyce’s description here but somehow, I still could not really smell the bluebells. As to the “fairy land” (I’ll just call it that way), I had problems connecting to it. Somehow the description of the setting did not feel complete for me. It did not really enchant me.
This is also something that I felt missing for some characters: completeness. There were quite a lot of characters involved in this story and it seems like Mr. Joyce could not make up his mind which characters were his main characters. Who were they? It is clear that Tara was one of them. But Peter? Richie? Jack? Mr. Underwood? Mrs. Larwood? Hiero? I could not connect to many of them because there seemed to be something missing.
As to the story, it is original, that is for sure. I really liked the idea and I really liked the outcome. What I did not like, was that it took me until chapter 10 to get into the story. That is almost 70 pages. When I chose this book, I was not interested in reading about a court case. I wanted to read about a fairy tale, or at least a fairy tale like story. I also did not want to read about a psychiatrist taking notes on a patient. These are two of the things that annoyed me most about this book: the court case and Mr. Underwood’s notes. The third thing has to do with writing style: Mr. Joyce hops around between perspectives all the time. Once you get into the story a chapter ends and you are in the head of another character again. This totally turned me off and was confusing. Of course, this technique works very well with 2 or 3 perspectives but with as many as Mr. Joyce used, it gets confusing.
All in all, Some Kind of Fairy Tale was a nice novel with an original story, that, unfortunately, was confusing and could have been an easier read, if only the writing style would have been different.
¹ http://www.randomhouse.com/doubleday/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780385535786
About a month ago, I won something so big, I still cannot believe it. The Book Depository often has so-called competitions where you can books and other stuff. And as I buy most of my books there, I always enter these competitions. I never thought I’d win something at The Book Depository because there’s probably hundreds of thousands of people entering their competitions BUT one day I had an e-mail from them and I almost thought it was a promo e-mail. Still, I gave it a second look and it said that I won a competition and that I will receive 15 different books. How awesome is that? Two weeks later, they were in the mail and as you can see, it was a very nice mix. Even my dad is happy about this win. He picked 5 books to read too 🙂
Many thanks again to The Book Depository!
So today I got something fun for you and unfortunately, it’s something probably only German speaking people will understand.
I entered a contest on Lovelybooks to win two audio books by Frieda Runge. They are called Die ehrlose Wildbacherin (The Dishonorable Wildbacherin) and Föhn über Brauneck (Foehn Wind over Brauneck). To enter I had to write a short story with a similar sound to it than the descriptions of the audio books. The short story should also be written in our local dialect.
Here’s my short story:
DA NAIGIARIGE METZGASBUA
Es woa an an Nochmittog um hoib drei, do is da Hias, da Bua vom Metzga, wieda spechtln gonga. Wia imma is a ummi zua Magdalena, da Pfoarraskechin. De Kich vom Pfoarra is untn im Kella und hod a recht praktisch’s Fensta bei dem da Hias von da Strossn oba eini schaun ko. Wiara do an dem Dog so schaut (und niagnds die Magdalena siagt), haut eam auf oamoi wea oadntlich ane aufn Hintan. Da Hias draht si um und so schnö ko a goaned schaun, hod a an Opfikuchn im Gsicht pickn. Wia a si den Kuchn ausm Gsicht wischt, siagt a die Magdalena vua eam steh. De schaut fuxdeifiswüd aus. Grod wia da Hias weglaufn wü fliagt a auf die Pappn. Die Magdalena hod eam s’Haxl glegt. Wia a zum rean ofonga wü, fongt die Magdalena o zum lochn und sogt: “Schea di zum Deifi Hias. Wennst mi wiaklich gean host, donn bringst ma des nexte Moi a poa Wiascht und kimmst bei da Eingongstia eina!” Draht si um. Und geht.
And today I got the message that I really won both audio books. I heard that they should be real fun to listen to. 🙂
Today, I’d like to share with you my favourite short film: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore You don’t have to understand English to watch it because it works with a language we all understand: pictures & sound
This 2011 short film was directed by William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg and received an Academy Award in the category Best Animated Short Film.
All That Magic 