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ANIMAL FARM

ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell 144 pp. Penguin Group. £8.99. (Ages 13 and up) ISBN 9780141182704 Rating: ? Stars     This book is set in a future when animals are much cleverer than now. And because of their cleverness, the pigs started a revolution against the humans. Pigs could speak fluently in English unlike the other animals, and that gave them the power to be leaders. But, the story that follows only happened a few years after that...     Their first leader, Old Major, was kind and fair who knew animals should be equal. But when Napoleon became the leader it was very unpleasant. He made a rule that allowed the pigs to have better food and that forced all of the other animals to work crazily hard every day and night. That wasn’t enough, Napoleon wanted more power.     He decided to kill his brother, Snowball, so that he would be the only leader. Snowball was admired because he came up with a clever idea to build windmill. Sn...
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The Secret

The Secret

Thursday's Thoughts: On Being Critical

So... Discussion posts. Something that I have always wanted to done but never felt confident enough to do. But I have now decided to take the plunge (thanks to Jamie over at The Perpetual Page-Turner for the inspiration)- we'll see how this goes. Perhaps it will become a weekly feature! 

Over the past six months or so I have noticed that I am being increasingly more and more critical when it comes to what I read/ how I review. Take for instance, "Stealing Parker" by Miranda Kenneally. I know that had I read this book a year or two ago I would have been ALL OVER it, giving it four, if not five, stars. But now? I gave it two stars (or "Black City" by Elizabeth Richards, where I have it 2 stars, or or "Easy" by Tammara Webber, where I only gave it 3 stars, or... Oh gawd, a million other books). Or, where the average star rating I used to give books was in the 4.5 range is now in the ~3 star range. Additionally, a couple of months ago I did the one thing that I never thought that I would- I DNFed some books ("Dearly, Beloved" by Lia Habel and "Anna Dressed in Blood" by Kendare Blake). Furthermore, I can't help but scratch my head when I see people going crazy for some books (for instance, "The Diviners" by Libba Bray), especially, in my opinion, when other books are so much more deserving ("The Lost Girl" by Sangu Mandanna).

And I'm not quite sure why this is. I don't know if it is because my friends/ bookish peeps are rubbing off on me, if, as I get older, I am am no longer able to connect to characters in their teens as much as I used to, especially those in high school (I don't know about y'all, but high school was all around good for me, despite being a HUGE victim of bullying in elementary school. Our high school didn't really have any cliques, almost everyone knew everyone else and everyone got along- it was nothing like high school as portrayed on television/ in books- or maybe I am just really lucky with this being the case), if, through my writing, I have somewhat of a better idea of the relationship between reader/ writer, because of library school (nowadays when I read a book I can't help but wonder where it would fit in a library setting, if at all, and who the appropriate audience would be), or if I am really coming into my own- truly understanding where my likes and dislikes lie. 

And it's not that I want to be critical- I really, really, REALLY hate it. The main reason being because I used to enjoy so many more books that I read than I do now. I used to always finish a book with a large smile on my face and a bubbly feeling in my chest- whereas now that is a rarity (in fact, the first time, in probably close to six months, that I experienced that feeling was when I recently read "Scarlet" by Marissa Meyer). That being said, I wouldn't say that becoming more critical has made reading feel like a burden, that I am becoming disenchanted with it, or anything of that nature, it's more so along the lines that every time I pick up a book I squeeze it tightly, close my eyes, and repeat to myself, not unlike a manta, "Please be one of those books, please be one of those books, please..."

So what do you think? Would you consider yourself to be a critical reader and/ or reviewer? If so, why do you think that that is? And how do you deal with it? 

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ANIMAL FARM

ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell 144 pp. Penguin Group. £8.99. (Ages 13 and up) ISBN 9780141182704 Rating: ? Stars     This book is set in a future when animals are much cleverer than now. And because of their cleverness, the pigs started a revolution against the humans. Pigs could speak fluently in English unlike the other animals, and that gave them the power to be leaders. But, the story that follows only happened a few years after that...     Their first leader, Old Major, was kind and fair who knew animals should be equal. But when Napoleon became the leader it was very unpleasant. He made a rule that allowed the pigs to have better food and that forced all of the other animals to work crazily hard every day and night. That wasn’t enough, Napoleon wanted more power.     He decided to kill his brother, Snowball, so that he would be the only leader. Snowball was admired because he came up with a clever idea to build windmill. Sn...
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Book Review: The Dream Thieves

Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after... The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater was very high on my holiday wishlist, and I was thrilled when I unwrapped it. I loved The Raven Boys so I was excited to delve back into this world. As with all of Maggie's books, the story takes time to unfold. Her books are rather slow reads for me, as they're so interesting and beautifully written that I read slow and savor each word. When the writing is this good, there's no need to rush through it. The Dream Thieves picks up where The Raven Boys left off, the search for a sleeping Welsh king, Glendower. Each of the characters have an important role to play in fin...
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Author Interview: Sarah Dessen

I was so honored when I was asked to interview Sarah Dessen at her recent event in DC. I’ve met her before, and she is such a sweetheart, so I was very excited to get this one-on-one time. Sarah’s answers are paraphrased, not direct quotes unless it’s within quotes. Aine: What was the inspiration for your latest novel, The Moon and More ? Sarah: I was at my favorite spot in North Carolina, Emerald Isle. I had finished What Happened to Goodbye and had no idea what to write next. A hot shirtless guy, who was rather chatty, spoke with me. He was from Emerald Isle and told me all about growing up there. A lot of my books are set in Colby, which is based on Emerald Isle, but I had never written about anyone from there. After speaking with him, I thought “There’s my book.” Aine: If I recall correctly, it was announced under a different title. Why the name change? Sarah: The Moon and More was my original title. But we were worried that people would think that with the word “moon” in the...
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