A Book Lover's Guide
Blogging about anything and everything regarding books!
- Celestial Cate
- "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind." (Dr. Seuss)
Friday 21 September 2012
Wednesday 15 August 2012
Itching to read these....
It has been
a while since I last read a book by Rick Riordan. Currently there
are three books I am itching to read and they are “The
Serpent’s Shadow” from the Kane Chronicles, and from the Heroes of
Olympus series, “The
Mark of Athena”, and “The
Demigod Diaries”.
Rick Riordan
is one of my many favourite authors because he wrote mythology based fictional
stories surrounding Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, and Ancient Rome. I love
reading fictional stories about these three ancient civilisations and for Rick
Riordan to depict them in his witty and thought provoking novels, I was
immediately hooked.
The Kane
Chronicles Trilogy are about two siblings named Sadie and Carter Kane, and
their story is based around the magicians and magic that was performed in
Ancient Egypt, and about the powerful mythological Egyptian gods and goddesses.
The trilogy of books in the Kane Chronicles are: “The
Red Pyramid”, “The
Throne of Fire”, and “The
Serpent’s Shadow”. The first two books I have read and I cannot wait to
read the final instalment in this trilogy.
The other
books I cannot wait to read are from the Heroes of Olympus series which is a
spin-off or as I see it, a continuation of the Percy Jackson & the
Olympians series. Along with some of the main characters from the Percy Jackson
series, there are new characters introduced in the Heroes of Olympus series,
with both series meshing together the mythological world and the gods/goddesses
of Ancient Greece and Rome. Currently the books in the Heroes of Olympus series
are: “The
Lost Hero”, “The
Son of Neptune”, “The
Mark of Athena” (released on October, 2012), and the supplementary
collection of stories called “The
Demigod Diaries”.
Now if only
I can find the time to read these new books!
Wednesday 8 August 2012
The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins |
Because of the critically
acclaimed and the hype generated with the release of “The Hunger Games” movie, I found myself curious in finding out what
the story was about. I was a little wary whether I would enjoy the trilogy
written by Suzanne Collins since it appeared to be a series that was targeted
towards the adolescent audience. I am glad to say that I was pleasantly and
utterly surprised at how much I really enjoyed and loved the trilogy!
The first book of the series is
called “The Hunger Games”, the second
is “Catching Fire”, and the third is
called “Mockingjay”. All three books
actually managed not only to move me beyond incredulity, sadness, tears,
happiness plus other myriad of feelings while reading them, but it made me
think deeply about war and humanity in a way that affected me greatly. I also
saw similarities of the societies lived between the fictional country Panem, a Latin
phrase for panem et circenses,
literally meaning 'bread and circuses',
and that of the civilisation of Ancient Rome. Children were pitted against each
other to the death in Panem's Hunger Games arena, while slaves and prisoners battled each
other in the Gladiatorial arena of Ancient Rome, until one victor remains. However, I
had trouble getting past the fact that in the Hunger Games the participants
were selected from a pool of children, the youngest at 12 years old and the eldest at 18yrs. I was horrified at how
brutal, savage and cruel the Hunger Games would get as the children fought to survive, not only each other, but also the traps and perils the Hunger Games Gamemakers created and executed within the arena.
Overall, I enjoyed the books
for what they were. I liked how the story of the love triangle between Katniss,
Peeta and Gale was played out and why and who Katniss eventually chose in the
end. Though I was utterly horrified at how many people died in the trilogy, war
has its inevitable causalities and I knew some would die, I just did not expect
certain characters I grew to like to be the ones that did. I liked the ending
and it tied off lose ends and neatly packed up the whole story. With that in
mind, I am not sure whether I will enjoy watching the “The Hunger Games” movie that
has been released with the other 2 books to follow, because I know I will
nitpick at them just as I always do whenever I read the book first. But I am
sure I will eventually get around to it just for curiosity sake.
Wednesday 1 August 2012
An avid reader...
I love to read. I love the feel of a book between my hands as I hungrily read the written words, immersing myself in and within the story of the book. One of my passions in life is reading and from the moment I learnt to read, books became constant companions in my life.
I read many genres, from fiction to non-fiction, and from many different authors. If a book captures and captivates me after a few chapters, I will quite happily read it from start to finish. However, I do have my favourite genres like Historical Romance, especially those written in the Regency era in England, such as the books written by one of my favourite authors, Jane Austen of which “Pride and Prejudice” is my favourite novel. One of my treasured collections of books is a Special Limited Edition “Jane Austen – The Illustrated Library” gifted to me by my cousin and her husband. Within its pages are beautifully drawn black & white illustrations as well as coloured picture plates, depicting scenes from the novels written by Jane Austen.
The other books I absolutely love to read are by a writer called Johanna Lindsey who writes Romance novels. I can proudly say that I have collected and read all her books and have loved and liked all the books she has written. Of all the books she has published, my favourite is the ‘Malory Family’ series, with “Gentle Rogue” as my number one choice in that series.
I started buying and collecting books from when I was a teenager and I can proudly say that I have amassed quite a large collection of books and I am still collecting. My ever growing collection range from non-fiction books (biographies, cookbooks, academic, motivational, inspirational, and spiritual) and I have many fictional books from different genre and various authors. Although I still prefer the physical feel and smell of a book (old & new), with a paper between my fingers as I turn the page, I will not pass up the portability and convenience of reading a digital copy of a book, so I have also started to collect e-books.
Whatever form books come now and in the future, I will not stop reading and collecting books whether they are hardbacks, paperbacks or e-books. I will continue to immerse myself in and within the story of the book I am currently reading (whenever I can find the time), indulging in my passion. J
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