Top 5 Wednesday - Characters You Wish You Could Drown

Top 5 Wednesday 

Characters You Wish You Could Down 

June 24 2015

I am going to list and rate (out of 5 stars) my most hated characters. The Criteria is..

* Star - You where mildly irritating

** Stars - I had hot flashes of rage towards you

*** - I loathed you

**** - You RUINED this book by being in it

***** - I sincerely wish you immortality through every torture I have ever witnessed on Criminal Minds,  AND then you can drown and die

1. Pearl, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, Holly Black *
2. Edmund,  The Lion The Witchand the Wardrobe (The Chronicles of Narnia), CS Lewis **
3. Davy, The Girl Next Door, Jack Ketchum ***
4. Medea, The Blade of Fire (The Icemark Chronicles), Stuart Hill ****
5. Bobbie Anderson, The Tommyknockers, Stephen King *****

Book Review - Dani's Story

Dani's Story
Diane & Bernie Lierow
with Kay West

266 Pages
Non-Fiction
Easy Vocabulary, Emotionally Devastating

I want to start by saying that I don't rate this kind of book (involving someones life story particularly if is involves trauma) in the traditional manner. I have found that people are interested and able to read this type of thing (its not something thats easy to read) or your not.

When I picked up this book, I had never read anything on the topic of child neglect, I had no idea of the severity of this issue or the outcomes. I considered neglect to be more along the lines of ignoring a child, distancing it from loving connections, maybe so far as to say malnutrition in a grubby home. Because of this opinion I went into this thinking that it would be an easier topic than say, physical abuse or sexual abuse. I was incredibly wrong, I am now aware that children who suffer from this kind of abuse could be considered worse off than children who are subjected to more common forms of abuse. I find it to be such a terrible thing that people even have to write these kinds of books, as a reader it is comforting to tell myself that these are just stories, but they really are not. They are people who have been put on paper, these actions and this suffering is something these children have honestly been through. I don't think anyone can even imagine what those horrors would be like.

Dani was nearly starved to death when she was removed from her mother's care, often left alone (over night possible for days) with her disabled older brother. There where no signs of sexual or physical abuse (not to say they didn't happen). Her neglect was so sever it handicapped her, unless we learn how to turn back time we will never know if she could have been a perfectly normal person. Her mother had been reported to child services multiple times since Dani was 3 but she wasn't removed from that home until she was 7. Unable to speak, unable to feed herself and still in diapers. Her mothers home was uninhabitable, with the amount of garbage in the house it was filled with mice, cockroaches, spiders, lice, and mould.

My Youtube Review of Dani's Story

Dani's Website
'The Girl In The Window' - CBN.com
Update on Danielle's Horrific Story of Child Neglect | Where Are They Now? | Oprah Winfrey Network

Book Review - The Secret Garden

The Secret Garden

By Frances Hodgeson Burnett

256 Pages

Easy Read

Classic / Children's Book/ YA
7/10 Stars

This is my mothers copy given to her by her parents

I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed this book, its a classic so it was on my TBR, but I wasn't really sure when, or if I was going to get around to it. After deciding to do the #rainbowthon, and making up my mind that I wanted to read paper copies (meaning I have to library or borrow) it was honestly the only green book I could find on my mother brother sisters shelves, it looked short so even though I wasn't thrilled about reading it I figured I could boogie through it and just be done with it.

I am not sure why I though this book had something to do with fairies but when I picked it up I thought it was some lame Alice in Wonderland,  rip off... separate world something to do with fairies.. Bottom line I was really expecting to find this a dull boring tedious read, 2 star book. 

I was pleasantly shocked obviously, I was drawn in almost right away, one of those books that are frustrating but aren't at the same time. I disliked Mary's character.. honestly most of the characters actually in the beginning but you where supposed to, the author justified why they where the way they where it really well and it all just made sense.

 I will definitively be recommending this to people who have never read it, especially people with children. It is a fantastic children's book there are so many lessons and morals everything. This book has layers, its quick read, just read it.

I like this cover better

SPOILERS BELOW BEWARE! +  character list, general story overview, random notes, more something for memory or school (not that i'm in school but... meh).

Coffee Book Tag

1.Black: Name a series that's tough to get into but has hardcore fans.
The Game of Thrones, George RR Martin

2. Peppermint mocha: Name a book that gets more popular during the winter or a festive time of year.
Chronicles of Narnia, CS Lewis 
Ice, Sarah Beth Durst

3. Hot chocolate: What is your favourite children's book?
Goosebumps series, RL Stine
Warriors, Erin Hunter

4. Double shot of espresso: Name a book that kept you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.
Savage, Richard Laymon

5. Starbucks: Name a book you see everywhere.
The Lunar Chronicles, Marissa Meyer

6. That hipster coffee shop: A book everyone told you, you HAD to read
Twilight, Stephanie Meyer 
Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan

7. Oops! I accidentally got decaf: Name a book you were expecting more from.
The Fault in Our Stars, John Green

8. The perfect blend: Name a book or series that was both bitter and sweet but ultimately satisfying.
The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold

Disney Book Tag

*This is +Katytastic's Book Tag so shout out to her for the creation of this!

1. The Little Mermaid - a character who is out of their element, a “fish out of water”
Jason & Percy, The Heroes of Olympus, Rick Riordan

2. Cinderella - a character who goes through a major transformation
Ronnoch. Firebringer, David-Clement Davis 
Tally, Uglies, Scott Westerfeld 

3. Snow White - a book with an eclectic cast of characters
A Game of Thrones, George RR Martin 
Stephen King Universe - Derry

4. Sleeping Beauty - a book that put you to sleep
Twilight #2 #3 #4

5. The Lion King - a character who had something traumatic happen to them in childhood
Acheron, The Dark Hunter Universe, Sherrilyn Kenyon 

6. Beauty and the Beast - A beast of a book (a big book) that you were intimidated by, but found the story to be beautiful
11/22/63

7. Aladdin - a character who gets their wish granted, for better or worse
My Sisters Keeper, Jodi Picoult

8. Mulan - a character who pretends to be someone or something they are not
The Bourne Supremacy, Jason Bourne #2, Robert Ludlum
Jackie Faber, Bloody Jack L.A. Meyer

9. Toy Story - a book with characters you wish would come to life
The Dark Hunter Universe, Sherrilyn Kenyon

10. Disney Descendants - your favorite villain or morally ambiguous character
Hannibal Lecter, 

Childhood and TBR Series. Comics

Series I loved as a child

The Secrets of Droon
Shivers
Goosebumps
Dragon Slayers Academy
Captain Underpants

Do Comic Books Count as Series?

Garfield
Tintin
Asterix

TBR Series

The Lord of the Rings, J R R Tolkien

The Maze Runner, James Dasher

Sookie Stackhouse, Charlaine Harris

The Lunar Chronicles, Marissa Meyer

Top 5 Wesdnesday - Books with Multiple POVs

1. The Help, Kathrun Stockett
2. The Heroes of Olympus Series, Rick Riordan
3. My Sisters Keeper, Jodi Picoult
4. A Game of Thrones, George R Martin
5. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis

Although I have not read very many books with multiple perspectives, I do enjoy the writing style. When it is done well. I know I have stopped reading mid-book with multiple POV because the story got very confusing. 

I want to know if you ...

1. Enjoy this style of writing?
2. Have you read a book that transitioned badly between the multiple POVs?

Completed Series, Trilogies Duologies

Duologie

The Sight, David Clement Davies
If I Stay, Gayle Forman
The Shinning, Stephen King
Daughter of the Lioness, Tamora Pierce

Trilogy

As Dead As It Gets, Katie Alender
Inkworld, Cornelia Funk
Beka Cooper : The Hunt Records, Tamora Pierce

Complete Series

The Books of Pellinor (4 books)
Uglies, Scott Westerfeld (4 books)
Hannibal Lecter, Thomas Harris (4 books)
IceMark Chronicles, Stuart Hill (4 books)
Warriors, Erin Hunter (6 books)
The Beast House Chronicles, Richard Laymon (4 books)
Twilight, Stephenie Meyer (4 books)
The Circle Opens, Tamora Pierce (4 books)
Song of the Lioness Tamora Pierce (4 books)
Protector of the Small, Tamora Pierce (4 books)
Immortals, Tamora Pierce (4 books)
Circle of Magic, Tamora Pierce (4 books)
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Rick Riordan (5 books)
Harry Potter, JK Rowling (7 books)
Series of Unfortunate Events, Lemony Snicket (13 books)
The Nightside, Simon R Green (12 books)
Redwall, Brain Jaques (22 books)

Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge Intro.

I have never watched Gilmore Girls so I am not in a huge rush to finish this list by any means. I found this list on Pintrest, discovered I have already read quite a few and have some others on my TBR list.

There are 338 Books on the List, the Link to the list is here

Read

1. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
2. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
3. Carrie, Stephen King
4. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
5. Christine, Stephen King
6. The Crucible, Arthur Miller
7. Cujo, Stephen King
8. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, Mark Haddon *I remember Loving this book and thinking it was something everyone should read in school but I need to reread it
9. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown
10. Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson
11. The Great Gatsby F Scott Fitzgerlad
12. Hamlet, Shakespear
13. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
14. Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, JK Rowling
15. How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Dr Seuss
16. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
17. The Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe, CS Lewis
18. The Little Match Girl, Hans Christian Anderson
19. The Lottery, Shirley Jackson
20. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold
21. My Sisters Keeper, Jodi Picoult
22. The Raven, Edger Allen Poe
23. Romeo and Juliet, Shakespear
24. A Room of Ones Own, Virginia Woolf
25. The Shinning, Stephen King

Started But Never Finished

When I was taking english classes in school many of these where on reading lists for final projects or some of the bigger essays, I would start to read one of these books and if I couldn't figure out how I was going to write the essay from the book, to go with whatever our topic question was I would put the book down after about 100 pages and try again... Some of these I will finish some I might not they are at the bottom of my TBR more or less

1984, George Orwell
Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carrol
Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
Beowulf
Canterbury Tales, Chaucer
Charlottes Web, EB White
A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
Edgar Allen Poe, Complete Tales
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S Thompson

My Rory Gilmore TBR List

The Dirt : Confessions of the Worlds Most Notorious Rock Band, Motely Crue
Fat Land : How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World, Greg Critser
Lord of the Rings, J R R Tolkein
Frankenstein, Mary Shelly

Top 5 Wesnesday - Favourite Books of the Year so Far

1. It, Stephen King
2. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson
3. The Lost Heroes of Olympus, Rick Riordan
4. Dirty Rocker Boys, Bobbie Brown
5. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, Holly Black

Top 5 Wednesday - Books That Made You Think

Top 5 Wednesday

Books That Made You Think

March 11 2015

1. Not Without My Sister, Kristina Jones :  It is a non fiction novel this was one of the first cult books that I had read, it also deals with child abuse, zealots, fanatics, brain washing,polygamy,.. it was harrowing, and terrible to think that people could do these things to one an other in the name of anything. I kept coming back to the thoughts of those who thought they where doing right, doing your worst while you intend on doing your best... I just can't fathom.
2. The Silence of the Lambs, Thomas Harris : The second book in the Hannibal Lecter Series, at this point you have gotten to know Lecter quite well, I had seen all the movies at this time as well so a had a general idea of where thing where going (the movies where accurate enough for a movie). This was the first book where I had to really consider if the "bad guy" was a villain, I knew he was a murderer, and a sociopath, psychopath... but considering his past, his motives, who he killed it was something I put a LOT of thought into.
3. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley : The original dystopia, from which I think most others spawned it had the most profound effect considering where our society was when the book was written (1932) to when I would have first read it (2011 ish) and where we are going currently. It was and is really unnerving to think that we are fallowing this pattern... how much can be a educated/formulated guess. it all uncanny
4. Futility, Morgan Robertson This book was written in 1898, it is about a ship on her maiden voyage, she is unparalleled in modern technology and luxury, On the maiden voyage the ship hits and iceberg and sinks with most of her passengers on board, due to inadequate safety precautions because the ship was considered unsinkable by her builders, this ship was called the Titan... Does that sound familiar? funny thing is the Titanic didn't sink until 14 years later in 1912 (construction wasn't even started on the titanic until 1909.
5. The Kite Runner, and 100 Splendid Suns, Khaled Hossini, I think anyone who says that they haven't ever been affected by mass opinion/popular opinion/ cultural prejudice/ outright racism towards people from the middle east is a liar. Even if you do not buy into what the media says if you have heard it (which we all have MULTIPLE TIMES) something has had to cross your mind. This book was from the perspective of a child in Afghanistan during the war, not on the side of the Taliban/ Zealots of any kind. He grows up in this war zone and to me he is the grey area to those of us not from the middle east. As an adult he goes to America and I can only imagine the judgement he faced. While he does not consider himself and is not "one of them" we (being the majority of outside society) still considered him "one of them"... this is such a hard concept to imagine, an entire section of culture belonging no where... I have done such a poor job explaining this novel. I put it last on this list because for me this is the hardest book to explain, what I was thinking about. Its much more an emotional explanation than rational..