Rainy Day Reads

I’ve always been a little intimidated by Ayn Rand, because I’ve always thought she wrote really high-brow literary fiction which isn’t really my thing. But at the same time I’ve always felt like you “ought” to read Ayn Rand. So I finally did, and I think I can safely say that while I had no reason to be intimidated, her writing probably isn't for me.  The book is about a group of young people living in Russia some years after the revolution. The communist party is really getting into gear and setting up for world domination, and we follow these young people as they try to live their lives in-between the rules and regulations of the leaders of the country.  We mainly follow Kira, a young woman who is branded bourgeois by the government, as her father owned a factory before the revolution and they were well-to-do. Being branded bourgeois makes life very much harder, and the fact that the family resists the new leadership doesn’t help.  Kira meets two young men, one

As part of my reading challenge for this year I decided to read a book of poems, as it is a genre I haven’t really explored all that much. I picked this particular collection because it came highly recommended by Jean Bookishthoughts on Youtube.  For the most part I enjoyed reading this. But I have to say that, as with short stories, I just don’t think poems are my jam. I like small nuggets of wisdom or insights, but as for the longer “story-telling” poems I must say I prefer “regular” fiction.  The collection is divided into four parts; childhood, manhood, womanhood and blind profit. It sort of has a protagonist in Tiresias, but he doesn’t feature in all the poems, as far as I could tell. A lot of them also deal with Tempest’s own experiences growing up and becoming an adult. I thought most of the poems were fine, but there were only a few that I really liked, including “Waking Up With You This Morning” and “Ballad of a Hero”. As for the rest I just wasn’t too interest

This was another stop on the 2005 Interrail trip. I really hit a lot of good places on that trip! This was my first big trip planned by myself however, so our planning skills were not really fully developed, and we started out just finding places to stay when we got to our destination. Not a good idea! We turned up at the Loch Ness hotspot only to find that the ONLY hostel in the area was fully booked for that night. So we spent a few hours by the lake, taking pictures and desperately trying to plan ahead for the night, having learnt our lesson. We ended up staying in Fort William, a cute little town about an hour and a half’s drive from Loch Ness.  Loch Ness is of course famous because of Nessie, the reputed sea monster living in the depths of the sea. It was first spotted in 565 AD by St. Columba and has since captured the imagination of every monster-loving person on Earth. The legend of Nessie really took root in the 1930s, when a number of people claimed to have s

Winter Well, my library finally got the book in, so I could finish this review! And all my expectations of a kick-ass ending were well and truly met!  In this last book of the series we learn more about Winter, who was introduced in the last book. She is based on Snowwhite and as with the other girls, there are a number of elements from the fairytales that are recognizable in the story, but it is really a unique story.  In this final book all the storylines come together and we get an epic rebellion against the evil queen, and quite a few love scenes, as we now have 4 couples to follow. I felt like the plot was really well done. It all seemed to be going along smoothly, but then something would happen to throw it off course and it kept you guessing through the entire book. I was expecting a happy ending, but I must say Marissa Meyer had me on the edge of my seat anyway, and there were times when I thought the happy ending might be tinged with more than one sad event.

Cress This is the third book of the Lunar Chronicles series so I can't go into too much detail regarding plot or characters without spoiling the other two books.  The third book of the series has been the best so far. This time we meet Cress, who is based on Rapunzel. We had a brief glimpse of her in Cinder, but now we get her full backstory.  I can’t really say too much about the plot in this book without spoilers, but I will say that it was really action packed for the most part, and I felt like it moved along a bit faster than the other books. Towards the end however, I was lagging a little. I don’t think I am cut out for marathoning series, as I just get a bit sick of the same story line for over a thousand pages. So I’m glad I will have a little bit of a break, while I wait for the last book, Winter, to get to me from the library.  As for characters in this book, I feel like we get to know the old ones better, and the new ones are described quite well. I real

Scarlet This is the second book of the Lunar Chronicles. I won't go into too much detail with the plot as I don't want to spoil anyone.  In the second book of the series we are introduced to a new character; Scarlet, who is based on “Little Red Ridinghood”. Scarlet’s grandmother is missing and we follow her search for her as she  teams up with a mysterious young man, named Wolf.  Alongside Scarlet’s story we still follow Cinder and her trials. I thought the books might have been companion novels at first, basically just set in the same universe, but dealing with each their own story, but as Cinder’s story was unfinished in “Cinder” and we meet her again in “Scarlet” I quickly determined that this is an actual series. It does take a good long while, though, for the two stories to link up. It was over half the book until we found out how Scarlet and Cinder were connected, and I felt like that was too long.  The plot again seems to move quite slowly, and it just

Cinder The first book in the Lunar Chronicles series is “Cinder” and it is based on “Cinderella”. The book is set in the far future with space ships, mind controlling people living on the moon and cyborgs. Cinder is a cyborg, meaning that she is part human, part robot. When she was a kid, she was in an accident and to save her, scientists fitted her body with wiring and computer parts.  Cyborgs are considered less than human, and as Cinder was orphaned in the accident, she now lives with a family, whose mother uses her as a servant.  One day when Cinder is working in her booth at the market, she meets the crown prince, who is coming to her to get his android fixed. This meeting sets off the chain of events that make up the plot of the book.  I won’t go into further details about the plot, as I don’t want to spoil anyone. I will say that I felt like it moved along quite slowly. I don’t know why, as there weren’t really any lulls, everything was pretty interesting as f

I read this book as part of my Bingo Chart Reading Challenge. With this I can cross out “Read a collection of short stories”. I picked this because it came highly recommended by Jean BookishThoughts on Youtube.  This is a collection of short stories, seemingly all based on fairy tales. I say seemingly because there is one or two where I can’t recognize the fairy tale, but that is probably just me being dimwitted. Most of the other stories are recognizably based on Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast and Puss-in-Boots to name some.  I really liked the writing of these stories. They are all beautifully written and Carter can conjure up an eerie feeling with just a few words. But, as I have recently discovered, short stories just aren’t for me. I just can’t seem to get into the story, when it’s that short. And if I can’t get into it and connect with the characters I find myself pretty much uninterested. I will say that I really enjoyed one or two of the longer stor

On the eastern side of the Vltava River lies the oldest part of the city of Prague right by the Charles Bridge. In the 10th century AD a marketplace was founded her, right by the crossroads of the trading routes of Central Europe. Over 1000 years later the old city square (Staromestske namesti) is still a bustling centre of activity. Only now it is bustling with shops, tourists and cafés instead of medieval traders.   Central to the square is the 600 year old astronomical clock. It is set on the wall of the former city hall, and every hour as it strikes the time, a wealth of apostles and allegorical figures carved in wood move around the clock. It was made in 1410 and is the oldest astronomical clock still in operation. There are two other clocks older than this one, but they do not operate anymore. The top clock face shows the rotations of time, the sun, the moon and the planets, while the bottom face shows the day and the month. You can enter the 60m high tower for a breathtakin

I picked this book up because it was a recommendation for the Lonely Genres Book Club for the genre steampunk. I don’t think I have ever read anything steampunk, so I decided to give it a try. And I quite liked it.  The book is set in steampunk Victorian London, which in this universe is populated by humans, werewolves, vampires and a very few so-called “soulless” people. Alexia Tarabotti is one of these soulless people, and what that means essentially is that she cancels out the supernatural with a touch. So if she touches a vampire for example that vampire becomes human again, as long as she touches him.  The supernatural folk have struck a precarious balance with the humans and they are living side by side in sort of harmony. But then supernaturals start to disappear and Alexia is hunted for her soulless state which is very coveted. It all kicks off from there and the book is quite action packed. Apart from the action there is the Austen-esque descriptions of high soc

I saw this making the rounds on Booktube last year and I am sure it will again this year. And so I decided to get in on the action. This tag was co-created by ReadLikeWildfire  on Youtube, but I saw it first on SarawithoutanH .  So without further ado, let’s get started! 1. Best book you've read so far in 2016. Aside from my reread of Harry Potter (which doesn’t count as that wouldn’t be fair to other books!) I guess this has to be “ The Day of the Triffids ” by John Wyndham. I was pleasantly surprised when I read this, as I was reaching a point where I felt like nothing I read really interested me that much. But this book about an “alien” invasion and the fall out from it was so good, and I am definitely checking out more Wyndham soon.  2. Best sequel you've read so far in 2016. “Winter” By Marissa Meyer. This is the 4th and last book in “The Lunar Chronicles” and it was a kick-ass ending to a series that started out a little slow for me but definitely

It's that time of year again! Favorites time! Like everyone else, I can't believe half the year has passed already. It's such a cliche but time does really move so fast! Below are a few things that I have been enjoying these past 6 months.  Naked Nibbles Coconut Bliss - these little nibble balls are made of dates and raisins flavored with coconut. They are a great snack and they come in a variety of flavors, but coconut is definitely my favorite so far. They are glutenfree, which is a necessity for me, and dairy free too. It’s a great alternative to more unhealthy snacks, and a life saver in situations where glutenfree foods are not available. I usually keep a bag of these with me whenever I go somewhere, where I am not sure of the selection of food. Just in case.  Palmer’s Coconut Oil Body Lotion - this was a random purchase, but a very nice surprise. It was one of those ordering-stuff-online-I-need-to-buy-more-to-get-free-shipping things and as I was in