If someone would ask me what has most influenced my early years (but I doubt anyone ever will), I’d say this family. I have been reading Jeanne Birdsall’s Penderwicks since I was five years old and they have had a major impact on my life. This is the reason why I was so enormously thrilled to finally see the fifth book in store!
New books I’m planning to read this summer
I haven’t quite done something like that where I talk about books I haven’t read yet, but you have to try new things! So here a couple of books I’m taking with me on vacation! Continue reading “New books I’m planning to read this summer”
After Iris – The Gadsby Siblings – Review
A family full of love, tragedy, laughter and fun – sounds just like the Gadsby Family, Natasha Farrant created. Three years after the tragic death of her twin sister Iris, Bluebell Gadsby (13 years) is still filled with grief. With her parents always flying on business trips and her being invisible in school, not even her three siblings can help her get out of misery. However, it all begins to change with the appearance of her new neighbor Joss, who is in fact, not as bad as she thought he was.
This book tells the tragic story of a broken family with so many funny and loving side stories that you can’t help but fall in love with this book. Besides the heartbreaking story of the dead sister, this book also brings up the perks of being a teenager: bullying in school, fighting with your siblings and first love.
While Joss starts off with just being a great friend for Bluebell, she soon realizes she is falling in love with her three year older neighbor. But not only she seems to like the new boy in town, so does her 16 year old sister Flora. After the death of Iris, Bluebell started to become invisible in class. She neither talked to anyone nor did she keep her old friendships up.
Without spoiling more, let me just say that this book is fantastic to read on a daily basis due to its simple but great writing and funny stories!
TOP 10 – Review
Have you ever made a list of the TOP 10 most hilarious/ funniest / most awkward moments of your life? This book counts down the TOP 10 moments of the friendship between the two high school graduates Ryan and Gabby.
Ryan and Gabby are completely, one hundred percent different: Ryan is a popular hockey player who has had NUMEROUS girlfriend which never lasted longer than a week. Gabby however is struggling with anxiety and fear. She is afraid of anything involving parties, attention or conversation with strangers. Two completely different characters and the story of a great friendship is told by Katie Cotugno.
The interesting part about this book is the order it is told in. It is not told from beginning to the end nor from the end to the beginning but separated by the importance of their friendship. Therefore there are moments where you can’t be certain you understood the meaning – but you’ll find out in the next sequel.
Katie Cotugno writes with such a passion and simplicity which not many authors are capable of. She makes her characters come to life and makes you love them. This book is perfect for a short trip or a couple of relaxed days by the pool because it can be read any time and everywhere!
I can not longer write about this book without spoiling important facts: just go read it yourself!
The Case for Jamie – Review
What’s a WATSON without his HOLMES? It’s actually a good question if thinking of the Reichenbachfall. Watson was clearly moving on but still held on to every memory that didn’t involve anything bad about his beloved Holmes – trying to hold on to the good stuff. Not quite in this book. After the tragic ending of The Last of August, the third novel of the Charlotte Holmes Series takes place one year after.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – Review
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is one of the most imaginative novels I have experienced yet. This strange novel – and by strange I mean a good strange – is perfectly added to the photographs which accompany the story. This book is as much strange as it is unforgettable because you haven’t seen anything this peculiar in your life.
It tells the story of the 15 year old Jacob who has been shown these weird and strange photos by his grandfather since being a little kid. With his grandfather being a jewish kid during the second world war and being raised in an orphanage in England, Jacob starts to believe the stories of his grandfather about these peculiar children. But with growing older, he begins to think the pictures of girls throwing a huge stone or a boy with bees coming out of his mouth are myths and his grandfather is trying to tease him.
But when he finds his grandfather dead in the forest his life is about to change… Not only seeing a monster at the crime scene but also the strange last words from his grandfather start to mess up Jacob’s life. His grandfather told him to find the bird and to go to September 3rd 1940 – but what has that to do with his death? Having nightmares about the creature he saw and being unable to get his grandfather’s last words out of his mind, Jacob leaves for the island Cairnholm alongside his father, where seventy years ago, the orphanage stood where his grandfather used to live.
But with every day on the British island, Jacob starts to lose trust in his guts: was it a wrong decision to make a trip to this deserted island trying to understand his grandfather? And why is the orphanage so destroyed and called the haunted house? Soon he makes discoveries that are about to change his life, starting with the question: can it be possible that these peculiar children are still alive?
This story is nerve – wracking in every perspective: the photographs give you goose bumps, the characters make you smile and the story makes you want to continue… The plot makes your heart race, never the less makes you addicted. It shows the world from a different point of view, of people having to hide because of their diversity, just what we have in this world as well. It opens your eyes on how it is, to be cut off from the lives being lived without living them yourself – because of the hate in this world. It shows the tragic story of a jewish boy loosing his parents and siblings in the war and then loosing his second family as well – never understood by the family he gained along the way…
It is a MUST READ, even though it has some long pages, not as interesting as the rest… It is a series of three books and even though I loved the first book, I am quite ok with the ending and I’m not planning to continue the story!
Why I am obsessed with John Green
Fair question, but actually not. Probably everyone who has at least read one of his books has seen the high value of his writing, the reflection of his stories and the humor his characters have. So far I have read three books he has written (The Fault in Our Stars, Paper Towns and Turtles all the way down) and I am deeply impressed by his writing skills. Continue reading “Why I am obsessed with John Green”
