Book 70: Selections from hsi writings (Martin Luther)

This was a tough book to get through. A selection of essays so dense that they probably out weigh uranium cubic cm for cubic cm.

Some of the concepts he discussed went completely over my head and other made a lot of sense. I really enjoyed Luther's style of writing and found the actual reading not that bad if you ignored the content. I actually think that Luther was really funny which was not a popular opinion in my tutorial group who thought he was incredibly depressing and wished they never had to submit themselves to him.

I give this lovely selection 8 out of 10. There are some essays that were just a joy to read and I would seriously suggest giving them all a try.

Book 69: Dr. Faustus

I wish I understood this better the first time I read this. I can safely say that I didn't understand the complexity of the text until I went to lecture and tutorial. On the surface it's just a very odd story about a damned man but deeper down there is a tale of a Lutheran who thinks he's lost favour with God and (who I believe) is very lonely and wants a friend but no one understands him so he has to conjure one for himself and God still hates him.

Yes, never would have gotten that the first go around. It is, however, an enjoyable read and get 7 out of 10.

Book 68: The Colour of magic

More updates have been made to the blog! You can now simply look at the labels to find out the rating (ooooooh) and all the previous posts who had different coloured writing have been made to match these one (aaaah) so now you can go back and read them all in comfort and I suggest you do!

Anyways, down to business. Well, what can I say? Terry Pratchett is a mastermind. Over the summer I watched the two (three?) part mini series The Colour of Magic  based on his books so clearly I had to read them. I knew they were going to be funny but not as funny as they were. The humor was similar to that of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy  only with fantasy instead of sci fi.

I really enjoyed the book, just in case you haven't picked up on that yet, and I give it 10 chests out of 10. I highly recommend it to everyone, especially younger readers.

Book 67: Utopia

You might have noticed some changes to my blog, namely the addition to several goodreads widgets. You might also notice that I am behind on my blogging (boo). Feel free to add me on goodreads. It would be a good time.

Anyways, I really enjoyed Utopia. I found that it had platonic rings on I found it far more intense. I liked it so much, in fact, I wrote my term paper on it. I wrote about the metaphor of the garden within the text. I have yet to get my mark for it to know if it was actually good or just really sad but I thought it was pretty awesome.

I give this book 8 pearls out of 8. Even if you're not reading for it's insights it still a fun read.

Book 66: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I loved this book! My Father recommended it to me a while ago and told me that he would loan me his but that didn't happen. So while I was at a second hand book store in the summer I bought my own copy of both The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

I had always heard glowing reviews of the book and I can see why. Not only is The Hitchhiker's Guide a superb novel and extremely funny but it is also a excellent social commentary. Because I'm a FYP student I can no long just sit down and enjoy books and as annoying as that is I think it made me appreciate the book even more.

After completing The Hitchhiker's Guide I went onto goodreads and read some of the reviews and was shocked and appalled to find out that about 25% of them were negative and people saying that they hated the book. Needless to say, I have come to the conclusion that they don't have a good sense of humor and don't understand some of the idea's that Adams presents.

I give this book ten towels out of ten. It was extremely well written and it was extremely good. I recommend that everyone read it.

Book 65: The Prince

I loved this book. As a child I spent a lot of time researching the middle ages and how they waged war, among other things. I also spent a lot of time playing a game called Stronghold Crusader which is a strategy game that takes place during the Crusades when you build a castle, army and farms and whatnot. I found that this really spoke to the child that still lives deep inside me.

Machiavelli's style is unparalleled in books that I have read on how to gain and maintain power and it. I give The Prince eight out of ten. As many of the other FYP books I've read I do believe that this is a key feature of anyone's personal library.

Book 64: On the Dignity of Man

I must say I did not enjoy this book much. I found it extremely dry and it felt like a rehashing of everything that we learned before this. It was a cross between Thomas Aquinas and Augustine.

I give this book a four out of ten. It was alright just not the greatest. I could live without having read this but I'm glad I finished it.

Book 63: Symposium and Phaedrus

I really enjoyed this book. Through FYP I've gained a great appreciation for classics. I found the Symposium extremely enjoyable read.

I don't have much more about this book just because it's been so long since I've read it but I really did enjoy it. I give this book seven out of ten. It's definitely on my growing list of books to buy.

Book 62: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

So many things happened int his book that I had forgotten and it is beautifully written but it will never be my favourite Harry Potter book. After the Philosopher's Stone and the Chamber of Secrets there's almost something anti-climatic about the third part of the series.

I love the roles of Dumbledore and Sirius Black in this book. The importance of family is really highlighted in this book and I think that this is something that's really important in every book but especially in youth fiction.

I am a huge fan of Snape. The first time I read the books when I was younger I hated him but as I've grown older I've grown to appreciate him. The third book is an important step in the road to discovering who Snape really is and why he is always so resentful of Harry. Although Snape is often portrayed as a villain, his true colours shine through in this book when he tries to protect Harry, Hermione and Ron.

I give this book ten cat hairs out of ten. All of the Harry Potter books played an integral part of my childhood and I will always have a great appreciation for these books. I believe that they are something that everyone should at least attempt to read at some point in their life.

Book 61: Paradise

This again is another beautiful book by Dante. I believe one of my friends summed it up very well when she said that she felt that it was so complicated that she felt very frustrated when she read because she felt that she wasn't getting as much out of it as she should be.  Paradise is very dense and I still don't understand it fully and part of me doubts I ever will even though the farther we get into the lectures the more I begin to understand the who Divine Comedy. Many of the lectures stress the fact that you can spend your whole life studying the Divine Comedy and still not fully comprehend its complexity so I feel alright about not being able to understand everything as well as I feel I should.

I would give Paradise 6 out of 10. I did like it but it wasn't as good as the other books in the Divine Comedy. I still believe that everyone should own and read it.

Book 60: Purgatory

Although my review for Inferno was less that glowing I can honestly tell you all that I really enjoyed Purgatory. Like Inferno, it was a literary masterpiece and still hasn't lost the idea of punishment but seems less cruel and a lot more awesome.  I don't have a lot more to say about the book other than it was far more easy to read that Inferno. I hate to compare the two so much but the are so connected in my mind that they are nearly impossible to differentiate between.

Like Inferno, I believe that no library is complete without one copy of this book. Also I believe it be impossible to only to own a portion of the Divine Comedy. I give this book 8 out of 10. It was a beautiful book, as was inferno, without the cruelty that we have seen previously. Again, I believe that everyone should read it and would go as far to say that no reading the Divine Comedy in it entirety should be a crime punishable by death. Although this may seem a little extreme I assure you it is not. All you have to do is read them and you will understand what I mean.

Book 59: Sexing The Cherry

Sexing The Cherry has very quickly made it to my list of favourite books. Normally before I put a book on this list I spend many hours in deep contemplation about whether or not the book really deserves this great and high honor but when I was halfway through Sexing the Cherry it became apparent to me that to not give this book that high honor would be a disgrace and that I should give up on reading all together for the rest of my days.

As many of the other books I have read recently it raises many questions about the nature of love amongst many other issues that we face in our society. I would go as far as to that this book has changed my life. I found it while looking in a window display at school and thought it sounded interesting so I decided to read it.

As FYP keeps on telling me language falls short most of the time when trying to describe something we have seen, experienced or felt this would 100% true of this situation. I have no words to use to try and tell you how great this book is or why you should read it. It has been the singular most moving book I've read so far this year, which is saying something because I have read quite a bit.  I give this book 10 bananas out of 10. I know some people do not feel as strongly about this book as I do and that many people didn't enjoy it much and thought the ending was very weird. Although the book was at times unconventional it brings out so things that we could spend years exploring. I strongly recommend this book.

Book 58: Inferno

This may be one of the most interesting books I've ever read, that being said I didn't enjoy it as much as many other people I know did.

For those of you who have spent your life living under a rock and have no idea what Dante`s Inferno is or what it is about I want to begin by assuring you your are not alone. I also want to also assure those of you who have many misconceptions about hell you are also not alone. For instance, I do believe that many of the people who will never read this believe that hell is filled with fire; whereas, those of us who are familiar with Dante all know that the middle of hell is actually a frozen lake due to the lack of Amor and as to quote my good friend "Lucifer's Junk" is the centers of the earth's gravity.

As I mentioned in the introduction to this blog I didn't enjoy the Inferno. I found it disturbing, which in all fairness I should. The punishments were cruel, as they should be, and I don't agree with Dante when he puts Brutus in the lowest circle of hell. That being said I do not believe that any library is complete without at least one copy of this book. I rate this book 7 out of 10. It has beautiful imagery in it and I believe that everyone should read it at least once.

Book 57: Saint Augustine Confessions

Against all odds I really enjoyed this book. I think it might have changed my views on love and time and I believe Augustine to be a supurb author.

Through out my reading this year in FYP I've read books that have been good and I've read books that haven't been that great but so far this has been my favourite. I can't really explain why I liked it so much but something in this text spoke to me more strongly than any of the other books I've read. I give this book 8 out of 10. I highly recommend it to everyone to read. Hopefully if you do read it you can gain some insight to my speechlessness.

Book 56: Oresteia

So today I realized I was rather behind in my book blogging so I figured I should catch up a little. I finished both Oresteia and The Aeneid quite some time ago.

Oresteia was a very good play. I was very impressed with it but slightly disappointed that it was still about Troy because I felt that it being the third book I had read about Troy in a row it was a little bit of over kill. That being said it was extremely different from all the other books on the Trojan war that I had read thus far.

It dealt with some very difficult conflicts and the proper forms of justice. All the characters were extremely strong. The ending leaves something to be desired but you can't have everything in a book.

I would give this book 7 snakes out of 10. I liked it so much in fact that I wrote my last paper on it which wasn't the best but one can't complain too much. If you're looking for a good play about Troy this is definitely your book.

Book 55: The Aeneid

After reading the Odyssey the Aeneid seem like kind of a let down. It was the same story with the same characters told from a different point of view. The writing was very similar to Homers and it was just a rehashing of what we had already read. Needless to say I was rather unimpressed but it was still a pretty good read. If you want to read this book I would suggest giving a fair space between in and anything by Homer lest all you'll be able to think about is Homer.

Book 54: The Odyssey

Ah, The Odyssey. Who doesn't know the tale of Odysseus and his journey? I found this book very enjoyable but long. Having already known the story it seemed rather drawn out sometimes. The beginning and the end were slow and dragging but the middle was very exciting and filled with adventure, in fact I did more adventuring in those 200 odd pages than I have in my entire life. The battle with the kyklops(and yes that's spelt correctly), kalypso, Kirke, and the seirenes all in their full glory. No retelling could do it justice.

I give this story 8 adventures out of 10. It was grueling at some times and it started out weird but all in all it was an excellent read.

Book 53: The Republic

The Republic wasn't nearly as bad as I had anticipated it being. When I startes the book it seemed like such a daunting task because Plato was never been something thay seemed like it would be easy
The story, I call it that because there doesn't seem to be any other word in my vocabulary that accurately describes what the book really is, is narrated by none other than Socrates. I thought this gave the book an extra dimension because if you can't trust Socrates who can you trust?

I agree with the majority of the idea that Plato introduces in the book and found some of them more radical than ideas that have been though up in our modern age. His society ruled by philosophers is what I believe to be the perfect society that we have been searching for for centuries.

I give this book 7 warriors out of 10. The second half was very repetitive and grew very dry very fast but it was still a fascinating read.

Book 52: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

I really hate spiders and snakes. They've always terrified me. I don't like the way they move. So, as you can imagine this was never one of my favourite Harry Potter books.

That being said, it again was far better then I remember it being. The Death Day Party is probably one of my favourite events and it saddens me greatly that it was never in the movie (along with Peeves).

I don't really have a lot to say because my brain is rather foggy. I give this book 8 spiders out of 10. It's a fantastic story and I can't think of anyone who's any fun not liking it.

Book 51: The Book of Flying

The first time I read this book I was 14. I still remember the day I bought it. I was out getting groceries with my mother one morning when we found our way to the mall. I cannot remember what our purpose was there but I do remember begging her to take me to Coles, the book store. At this time I only have $10 and wanted to buy a new book so badly even though much like today I still had over a dozen sitting on my shelf to be read. I wanted to get the most out of my meager sum of money as I possibly could so I started browsing the sale books. Many of them were being sold for two dollars which suited my needs perfectly. That fortunate day I picked up Captaine Alatriste for $5 and The Book of Flying for $2. I was so pleased with myself for getting books at such a discounted price I didn't even start to ponder what an impact they would have on the rest of my life.

For the longest time I've had an obsession with wings and flying as well as a passion for books, reading and writing and it wasn't until I started to reread this book that I figured out why. The main character is a young man name Pico. Pico was born of the winged people but he had no wings and those without wings cannot live in the towers. His mother gives him to a young librarian to raise and so Pica grows up on the ground and lives in the library. He does the same things everyday and spend the majority of his time alone in his library reading and writing poems. In the evening he goes and watches the winged people fly and he falls in love with one of the. He teaches her how to read and they spend all their time together until one day she decides that she could never truly love him because he has no wings. He continues on with his life for a while until he finds a letter someone wrote and buried in the ground before a fire consumed his city years ago which speaks of the Book of Flying. A book that the letter claims teaches the wingless to fly. This leads Pico on an adventure to get his wings so he can marry the one he loves so dearly.

From this brief synopsis you can no doubt tell why this book struck me in such a way and in some ways influenced the way I am today. While reading that book my desires for flight didn't seem so unusual and neither did my love for literature. It was very reassuring for me to read about someone who in my mind was exactly like me.

I give this book 10 poems out of 10. It will always hold a special place in my heart no matter what anyone else says.

Book 50: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Of course this isn't the first time that I've read this book. After watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II I thought it might be a good idea to reread the series that defined my childhood and to be honest with you I was surprised by how much I forgot about the first book.

I remembered the parts that they put in the first movie that I had watched two days before the premiere and more times than I would like to admit on my own accords. I remember when I was in grade 3 I was so excited for that first movie to come out being a big fan of the books since my father started reading them too me two years earlier (I was a very slow reader as a child and had no patience for tasks that took longer than 30 minutes so reading Harry Potter to my mind was outside of the realm of the possible but I was more than happy to allow my father to read me and my younger brother one chapter a night (unless we could convince him to read more). I liked it because he would read in different voices which added an extra element to the story.).

Needless to say that the first book of the series is one of my favourites and will always remain so and because of this there is no other course of action than to give this lovely book ten owls out of ten. It's an excellent read for readers of all ages (I loved it when I was seven, I love it now, my father loves it when he was in his 40's and my grandmother loves it in her 70's). If you haven't read it (which I highly doubt) I would recommend going out and buying the whole series right away especially if you've seen and liked the movies because the books are ten times better.

Book 49: Don Quixote

It's strange that a book that was written over 400 years ago can still bring enjoyment to a modern audience whose world is so my different today than the world that is described in the book. I have never read another book about a knight that could surpass this one in humor and ridiculousness and I'm sure that no matter who reads it they will find at least one aspect in it that they enjoy.

Don Quixote was long. Very very very long. I loved the first part of the book. It was entertaining and really fun to read, so fun infact I wrote the beginning to my blog about it before I even finished the book. But then the second part came. The first 200 pages of it really didn't fit with the tone of the beginning of the book which I found rather odd but the pace of the story picked up after that and remained thus until the last chapter which was very depressing.

I give Don Quixote 8 lashes out of 10. Even though it dragged in the middle I really enjoyed reading the book.

Book 48: Clockwork Angel

There is so much to say about this book but whenever I try to think of the words I draw a blank. It is the first book in Cassandra Clare's new series The Infernal Devices. The Infernal Devices is predicted to have two more books in the series the first of which, Clockwork Prince, to be released in December of this year and the third installment of the series, Clockwork Princess, to be released a year after that.

This was a wonderful beginning to what should be, judging by the brilliance and success of The Mortal Instruments, a smashing success and a joy to read and it does not disappoint. The story is set in Victorian London and has all our favourite families involved as well as Magnus Bane who has swiftly grown to be my favourite character of Cassandra's creation.


Thus far it has reminded me a lot of Philip Pullmans Sally Lockhart Quartet. The feel of the books are very similar, the both take place in the same time period, have an air of mystery and were very fast paced.


I give Clockwork Angel 7 necklaces out of 10. It didn't quite live up to my expectations but The Mortal Instruments is hard to compare to other books after I was so blown away by it. I would recommend this book to anyone who has read Cassandra Clare's other books but would advise you to go into it with an open mind. If you haven't read any of Cassandra Clare's books I would recommend starting with The Mortal Instruments mostly because the story is mostly complete and waiting for the next book in a series to come out is a pain.

Book 47: The Epic of Gilgamesh

The name says more about this book. The Epic of Gilgamesh aside from being an epic poem is a very epic story. It has quests of great daring, fighting, a journey to the faraway and sadness; everything you need to make a good story that is fast paced and easy to read.

Unlike The Song of Roland the introduction to The Epic of Gilgamesh flowed very well and delivered the information that you need to understand the text in a way that is easy to understand and enjoyable to read. It really made me thankful that I took Ancient History in high school. It gave much more context to the information and made it so I didn't have to do any further research to understand what the author was talking about.

I give this epic 7 out of 10. It was the most enjoyable of the FYP books that I've read thus far and delivered itself in such a way that not a lot of extra though was put in to understand what was being said before comprehending what it meant. Again, I would strongly recommend reading the introduction to give context to the epic and I promise that it won't be grueling

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Book 46: The Song of Roland

I thought The Song of Roland would be a good book to choose next because it didn't look like it would make me sleepy. Unfortunately the introduction couldn't be read without napping every few pages but the actual poem was quite enjoyable.

It tells the tale of France's battle for Christianity against Spain and Rolands death. It gave a view from both sides of the battle and made sure to let you know how each side felt when one of the key players for their side was taken out. It offered an interesting prospective on war and death.


I would give this book 6 out of 10. The introduction was grueling but it offers you the information you need in order to understand what is going on in the story, gives you historical context and points out any translation issues and makes you aware that some of the wording may be different that what we are used to because it's being translated in addition to it being written in a different time. If you are going to read The Song of Roland I would highly recommend reading the introduction.

Book 45: Meditations on First Philosophy: In Which the Existence of God and the Distinction of the Soul from the Body Are Demonstrated

There comes a time in every students life where they have to read an enormous amount of books for university and my time is now. I am doing Foundation Year at the University of King's College next year and I have 43 books to read before I get there. Meditations on First Philosophy was the one (out of the four I currently own) that I decided to read first for no apparent reason.

As many other books of it class it made me sleepy, though this is due to the fact that it causes me to think and when I do any amount of that sleep is soon to follow because my brain needs a rest from me. That being said, I enjoyed the book immensely. Descartes is good at writing in a way that is easy to understand and get the bigger picture from. I really enjoyed how he proved that he was real.

I would say that this book is a 6 out of 10. If I was reading it on my own time it may be more and it may be less. It's hard to say.

Book 44: City of Fallen Angels

This series I've found very hard to review on a book to book bases because they never really end. City of Fallen Angels, like the rest of the books in the series, left so many unanswered questions that I can't even begin to imagine where I would begin for a review.

I enjoyed reading this book. It was fairly fast pace and transferred between POV's swiftly and with much ease. I would give this book seven rings out of ten. It's definitely not the best book in the series but one can never stop halfway through a series.

Book 43: City of Glass

This book has left me speechless. Absolutely speechless.

Ms. Clare went above and beyond in this book with plot twists that will send your stomach flying. There have been few time when I really don't know what to say about a book and this is one of them.

I have discovered which of the characters is my favourite too, Alec. For a long time I thought it was Jace for the obvious reasons but Alec has so much more character and he's adorable around Magnus.

I give this book seven rings out of ten.

Book 42: City of Ashes

City of Ashes was an excellent book. Seeing that it's a middle book I don't have a lot to say about it without giving away the plot so sorry that this is short.

In general I liked the story in City of Bones better but this book was next to impossible to set to. It was so hard in fact that last night when I went to chapters I was unable to buy a new book because I was so flustered. Ask Amanda. It was terrible.

I give this book 7 runes out of 10. I really hope that wasn't the same as the last one. It would be a real shame that I was repeating myself. As I said, it was a really good book and I would strongly recommend it to anyone who read City of Bones. But then again, I rarely don't recommend the rest of the books in a series. Why start if you aren't going to finish?

Book 41: City of Bones

This book has gotten a lot of hype and it's been on my list of books to read (which is quite extensive) for quite some time. After the Twilight incident I've been very cautious about books that get a lot of hype but this one deserves most of it.

Although this blog does not yet reflect it, I love to read books about angels, daemons and lore of any sorts and this book has no shortage of them. It started back when i read The Fallen by Thomas Sniegoski and that book and series really set the bar for books of such a nature (similarly to the Tortall books by Tamora Pierce). Because of this I believe I didn't enjoy the book as much as I might have and it has distorted my view on the book.

I've spent a great deal of time studying lore and when slight changes are made it gets under my skin really easily and for this reason I rate this book 5 runes out of ten. Not great but not terrible. It's a very fast paced book and an excellent weekend read.

Book 40: The Dead-Tossed Waves

It's hard to rate or describe this book in a suitable fashion. There was so much emotion in it that I really don't know quite where to begin.

The Dead-Tossed Waves is a sequel to The Forest of Hands and Teeth. When I looked at the cover I thought it was going to be another story about Mary but it wasn't. Mary was still in it but it wasn't the books primary focus. It was about the girl she adobted and how vastly different they were but yet at the same time very much the same.

As in any really good book there was a long adventure filled with danger and death and an ending that didn't answer any of your questions but that's how authors make money. Write a book get readers hooked write a sequel with an cliff hanger sell more books come out with the last book land a movie deal and be set for your next series.

I didn't like this book as much as The Forest of Hands and Teeth. It was so hard not to compare The Dead-Tossed Waves to it that it really affected the rating of the book. I'd say that it was six sonnets out of ten. Still a very decent rating but room for improvement. I did like the book a lot and if you've read the first one it's always good to follow up with the rest of the series. Books enjoy company just as much as we do.

Book 39: Phantom

As soon as I finished Chainfire I picked up Phantom. It has shocked me to the core and left me without words and an overwhelming desire to go out and buy Confessor with money that I don't have an contemplate buying The Omen Machine the day it comes out even though it would be in hard cover and ruin the visual appeal of my shelf.

Terry Goodkind weaved a story like I've never read before. It kept me up late thinking about my life and gave me a new Wizard's Rule to live by: "Willfully turning aside from the truth is treason to one's self" (page 134).

The last two books have read like a mystery. Slowly revealing clues and making you think one thing before in the next chapter revealing something else that makes all your previous thoughts untrue. The characters all get into situations that are so hopeless that you want to give up on it all but then someone prevail again all the evil that surrounds them. These books put a seed of doubt in your head and really make you think about what's good and what's evil. They are extremely thought provoking and really mean something.

The other day one of my friends was asking me about the television series Legend of the Seeker and what I thought of it. I adore that series. It even surpassed my love of Fringe before it was cancelled. I told him that if he really wanted to get the most out of it he would be well advised to read the first four books in the series because the show has a lot of holes and inaccuracies in it. He asked me about how many pages that would be and when I told him roughly 4000 he was completely turned off by the idea. I tried to explain how life changing the series really is and even though right now I'm so far in that I can't explain it anymore he should really at least give it a chance. Needless to say this started a debate on reading and books and I feel bad because I discredited him on many accounts but when you insult my favourite series by one of my favourite authors you can expect no less.

I rated Chainfire rather low because I found it disappointing but Phantom get eight night wisps out of ten. It was a phenomenal read and one of the fastest paced books I've read in a while. It kept you on the edge of your seat the whole time. I really enjoyed it. It will not let fans of the series down.

Book 38: Chainfire

I started reading Chainfire what seems like forever ago and the beginning is very foggy in my memory. I didn't enjoy it as much as any of the other books in the series. I didn't think it was possible for Richard to be more whiny than he was but alas it was possible indeed.

I really enjoyed Wizards Ninth Rule:

"A contraction cannot exist in reality. Not in part, nor in whole. To believe in a contradiction is to abdicate your belief in the existence of the world around you and the nature of the things in it, to instead embrace any random impulse that strikes your fancy - to imagine something is real simply because you wish it were. A thing is what it is, it is itself. There can be no contradictions. " (Page546)

As most of the Wizard's Rules are very applicable to our everyday lives. They aren't just for wizards.

Overall I didn't like the book all that much. I found that Richard was far too whiny. For this reason I give it five arrows out of ten. The story must go on.

Book 37: Debt of Bones

Before I left for Disney I read Debt of Bones by Terry Goodkind and forgot to post a review. Partly because I was too lazy too and partly because I was too busy. It's my stance on such matters that it's better late than never.

I really enjoyed Debt of Bones. It's about Zedd when he was younger. It wasn't a prequel in any sense of the word but a history of the place that anyone who has read any of the Richard and Kahlan novels have come to love. I hope that Mr. Goodkind writes more of these because it makes what goes on in the rest of the series makes more sense. The world that he has created is so filled with history.

I cannot remember what I would have rated this book but it was probably somewhere around a seven. It was a good fast read.

Book 36: The Forest of Hands and Teeth

I read this book way back in 2009 for the first time right after I discovered Scott Westerfeld. Then it captured my fascination and when I had a spare 20$ and couldn't decide what new book I wanted to buy I decided to go with an old book that I loved when I first read it. At the time I was listening to a lot of Cemeteries of London by Cold Play which after the second read I believe suits the book better than any other music that I can think of.

It is a book about a girl named Mary who lives in a highly secretive society that's fenced in from the rest of the world. There was a virus that consumed the world turning everyone into unconsecrated (zombies) which made everything outside their small village dangerous. As we all know good things don't last forever and neither did this utopia.

I find this book very depressing. It just keeps on getting worse and worse but the ending is very satisfying. I really love how strong of a character Mary is. She is very inspirational and earns her spot on my "courage heroins" shelf. I give this book 9 red vests out of 10. It is very good but you really need to be prepared for it.

This book has two covers. The new one isn't great but the old one has my heart. It was the one that drew me in and made me read it.
Old:

New:

Isn't the old one better?

Book 35: So Yesterday

This was my plan ride (twice), my 20 minutes before bed and my day at the beach (water parks are close enough) and as always Scott Westerfeld does not disappoint.

Similarly to his book Peeps (Not so much The Last Days that one was weird) every chapter started out with a story or definition. This is perhaps one of my favourite things that Westerfeld does in his writing. I love to learn new thing and picking up random interesting facts that I can spurt out in the middle of awkward conversations and Scott Westerfeld's books are one of my largest sources for this. I'm still raving about Toxoplasmosis and it's been 4 years since I read Peeps.

Anyways, So Yesterday is all about cool and consumerism. It reminded me a lot of The Tipping Point only in novel form with a mystery woven in. It breaks down society into it's elements and describes how they interact which is very fascinating.

One of the best points that the book brings up is how hard it is to be "cool", how ambiguous cool really is and how cool doesn't last or really matter. We all spend so much time in out lives worrying about what other people will think about us if we wear something or listen to a certain band that we aren't really ourselves anymore. We are all sheep and we all fall for stupid advertisements because we can't help it because of the way our brains are programmed. Everything's been done before and originality is dead. We just need to move on with our lives.

I give this book 8 pairs of shoes out of 10. It was really well written but it wasn't what I expected. I wanted more and it left me high and dry. It was still a fantastic read.

Book 34: Naked Empire

This is not one of my favourite books from the sword of truth series. I never enjoy the time Richard and Kalhan spend together. It's a constant stream of love and gush and nothing get's accomplished. That aside, it was a fantastic read.

This book really elaborated more on the ungifted and a society in the Old World that was populated only by the ungifted. I found it rather interesting. They were so against any form of violence that they would do anything to ignore it. One of Kalhan's quotes about them really defined the book for me "Worse, she already knew that there were bitter people devoted to the morbid ideal of the presutural cannibalism of appeasement that they defined as peace." (Chapter 51, Page 573). I don't think there is any other way to describe the idea of using appeasement to gain peace. Throughout history it's never worked and it became dreadfully apparent when reading about these people who knew how to do nothing else but to be a door mat.

We also got Wizard's Eighth Rule "Deserve Victory" (Chapter 61, page 626).  I think it brings up an important point. You're not going to win unless you try and are concrete in your convictions. But it's not one of my favourite rules.

Terry Goodkind is an amazing author and this was a great book. It brought out every emotion I have and it was near impossible to set down. I give it eight goats out of ten. I can't wait for his new book to come out.

Book 33:Sense and Sensibility

I find it hard to decide whether or not I love Jane Austen's writing or hate it. Sense and Sensibility was the first book I've read by her. I really enjoyed the story but I'm not sold on the writing. I haven't really read a lot of the classics. I read half of "The Tale Of Two Cities" by Dickens in grade 10 but I never finished it. Everything was so wordy.

If I hadn't have watched the movie before I read the book I would have had no clue what was going on in Sense and Sensibility. If I re-read it in a few years I might fall completely in love with everything that is Jane Austen but for now I'm going to stay on the cusp.

I give the book a ten out of ten for plot and a five out of ten for style. It is a really good book it's just hard to read.

Book 32: Inkdeath

This book was pretty spectacular and really makes me love Cornelia Funke even more than I did before, but I feel let down. There was so much build up and then the closure isn't what you expect. It's not what you want. You spend several hundred pages in the deepest of dispairs only to have everything work out. It doesn't seem quite right. The rest of this is filled with spoilers just fyi.

The last hundred pages were absolutely amazing. There was so much tension and you kept on thinking things couldn't get any worse and they did. You could see the end. The violent, bloody end which could go either way. Of course the scales get tipped and everything works out and there isn't what you want.

Violante is in love with Mo. She has a soft spot for rouges (but lets be honest, who wouldn't? In books they're so glorified and she's a book worm just like us. Everything she knows in fiction.). Near the end it looked like Resa was going to die which left an opening not only for the loss of good (which the story really needs) but also for love to shine through in a different way.

Also, the whole love triangle with Maggie, Farid and Doria was terrible. It broke my heart into a billion pieces. From the beginning of the book it's always been Maggie and Farid. They were perfect for each other. But then Doria comes along and Maggie is infatuated with him and at the time it wasn't so bad. He was an alright guy. But when she choose Doria over Farid at the end my heart was with Farid. He's all alone now. Dustfinger has Roxane and Meggie has Doria. What does that leave Farid? Nothing. Him and Dustfinger were always my favourite characters so to see his spirit crushed like that killed me inside just a little bit.

Although I had some issues with the plot this book went above and beyond what I expected of it. I give it 9.5 glass men out of 10. It would have made a perfect ten if one of the love triangles worked out the way I thought they should or someone died. But you can't have everything in a childrens novel can you?  If you've read the other books in the series you defiantly have to read this one. It gives the story the closure that Inkspell doesn't. I really mean it when I say this book is amazing.

Book 31: Inkspell

I read this book a very long time ago, way back in grade 8 and while rereading it for this, my lovely blog, I discovered something. I didn't finish the book. Sometimes, when you get emotionally attached to a character and something bad happens to them you just want to give up and that's exactly what I did all those years ago. I was only 20 pages from the end. Also, the parts I did read I remembered wrong so rereading it was like reading it for the first time. 

Inkspell was far darker than Inkheart. In Inkheart there was some sort of hope that everything would turn out all right but Inkspell was just buckets of depression.  The story would be looking up for a chapter or two only to take a nose dive to the bitter end of the story and I fear that Inkdeath will be even worse. 

Dustfinger broke my heart. He is my favourite character in the books. I really appreciate the romance between Meggie and Farid. Fenoglio is awesome and the villains are so well written that they make me shake in my very stylish boots. Inkspell was very very well written and super easy to read and would have been done much sooner if I had the time.

I give Inkspell 8 fire elves out of 10. I read a lot of dark books but that doesn't mean I like them a lot. I find it hard to deal with all the dark all the time because I use books to escape from my own pathetic life and when they're depressing they don't do their job. Everyone should read the Inkheart trilogy. They're too good to pass up.

Just a note: I have exams soon so it might take me longer than normal to get my next post out...that being said I'm not very consistent...Wish me luck!

Book 30: Inkheart

So, the other day I finally had the money to buy my own paper back copy of Inkdeath. I haven't read it yet and it's been several years since I read Inkheart and Inkspell so I thought rereading them would be wise.

Halfway through the book I was finding it really hard to get through it. If you would recall they made a movie about it several years ago and I've watched it several times so the story felt too known. I knew what was coming and I knew what happened in the end and I really can't stand that measure of predictability.  But I digress.

Inkheart is truly one of the better fantasy trilogy's in existence today. Simply because it hasn't really been done as much. The written word is magic, a magic I don't possess, and Cornelia Funke does a wonderful job at bringing this magic that we all feel whenever we open up a book. I always find it amazing when an author creates a book inside there book. Just thinking about the amount of thought that must take is hard for me to comprehend because not only do you have to know the story that you're trying to create but you must also know the story that creates the one that you now write.

Inkheart is one of my favourite books (you can tell by looking at the spine. It's actually been broken unlike all the other ones that inhabit my shelves) and although I didn't enjoy the reread as much as I enjoyed the first time I opened the book I would still recommend it to anyone even if fantasy isn't really your thing. I would rate this book a 9 faeries out of 10 because it is really well written and very well translated, because as we all know Cornelia Funke is German...We all knew that right? Fun facts.

But in all seriousness, read this book, even if you've seen the movie and don't think you'll like the book. As always the book has surpassed the movie in all ways possible.