Review: Wolf by Kelly Oliver

Posted in Book Reviews by TheQuirkyBookNerd

Wolf by Kelly Oliver

My Rating: 3.5/5 TARDISes

Series: Jessica James Mysteries #1

Date Published: June 1^st, 2016

Publisher: Kaos Press

Pages: 316 pages

Source: Author

Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Synopsis: Montana cowgirl Jessica James is sleeping on a desk in the attic of the Philosophy Department at Northwestern University and she blames her advisor, Professor Wolfgang “Wolf” Schumtzig, “Preeminent Philosopher and World Class Dick-Head.” But when he’s found dead in his office, her real education begins. The murder weapon is a campus date-rape drug, supplied by the Russian mafia—and Jessica could be the next target.

Dmitry Durchenkov is trying to live a normal life as a janitor at Northwestern after escaping Russia with part of his father’s mafia fortune—which has suddenly disappeared. Jessica and Dmitry team up to wrangle mobsters, encounter a trio of feminist avengers, and lasso frat boys in order to rope in a murderer who’s read too much Existentialism. Together, the brooding Russian and the cowgirl philosopher learn that sometimes virtue is just the flip side of vice.

*I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review*

____________________________________________________________________

This is a spoiler-free review.

Wolf is pitched as being a crime novel that tackles some important issues using a good dose of intelligence, humor, and feminism—and it certainly lives up to these claims. Despite my love of the mystery genre, I was a bit unsure whether or not this particular combination of themes would really be my type of story. However, Kelly Oliver’s clever writing managed to erase all of my hesitations. Though some parts fell a bit flat or lacked believability, it turned out to be a very enjoyable read as a whole. I ended up getting completely swept up in the suspense and wit of this novel.

Throughout the duration of the narrative, we follow the lives of two characters. Jessica James, hailing from Montana, is pursuing her PhD in philosophy at Northwestern University when her advisor, Professor Wolfgang Schumtzig is found murdered in his Philosophy Department office. Dmitry Durchenkov, the university’s janitor, finds that the past he fled his homeland of Russia to escape is finally catching up with him, and at the worst possible time. Existentialism, murder, date-rape drugs supplied by members of the Russian mafia, and even the disappearance of famous works of art tie these two lives together in intriguing and unexpected ways.

Kelly Oliver takes some incredibly difficult topics and tackles them in a mature and respectful way. She carefully injects the humor into the story, giving the darker aspects of the plot the gravity that they deserve. There is never a moment where it seems as if the more serious moments are being taken too lightly. I appreciated how she focused on educating her readers about very relevant issues. On top of this, Oliver also adds quite a deal of philosophy and art history into the story, which I was very interested in. From her intelligent writing, it is easy to tell that she is well informed on all the subjects that she covers.

I’ll admit, I had a little bit of trouble getting into this novel to begin with, as the first fourth or so of the novel is much slower paced for the most part. This is primarily due to the fact that there is a lot of setup and familiarizing the reader with the characters rather than focus on action and the mystery unfolding. This is completely understandable, especially given that it is the first novel in a series, so even though it was slow going for me for a little bit, it did not by any means put me off the story.

I think that this initial sluggishness I experienced was magnified due to the fact that the narrative jumps between the two main characters. The entire novel is told in third person, but it switches back and forth between the storylines of Jessica and Dmitry every chapter or so. It takes some time to make significant progress in each storyline and for them to weave together. This causes the main body of the novel to be quite fast-paced, but sort of puts the brakes on things when it comes to the setup.

Writing a novel using this method can be fantastic for developing a feeling of suspense, but is also tricky to perfect. I found that the constant shifts sometimes caused me to feel that the narrative was becoming a bit jumbled. However, this did not detract from my reading experience too severely, particularly as I got further in. Once you get to know the characters, it is extremely easy to get caught up in their lives, and I tore through most of the novel.

Oliver juxtaposes the humor and awkwardness of Jessica’s life with the pain and fear plaguing Dmitry’s in order to create an ultimately gripping and unified plot. As a whole, she created the desired tension by leaving the reader wanting more at the end of each character’s contribution to the progression of the storyline. When it becomes fully apparent how closely these two lives are connected, the story picks up very quickly. For some reason, I was not expecting this link between them, and was pleasantly surprised with the direction that Oliver took it in.

This book is filled with a diverse and quirky cast of characters, all filled with a great amount of inner strength. I found the characterization to be an exceptionally strong point. Jessica is a great example of how to create a female protagonist. She is funny and delightfully awkward, while also being a very intelligent and independent heroine. Dmitry shows his strength in a different way, fighting to move forward from a troubled past that won’t let him go.

I think Lolita ended up being my favorite character in the novel. I love what a strong woman she is and how much she cares for and supports her friends and family. All of the primary characters are fully formed and multidimensional, each showing some amount of progress throughout the novel. No matter what their personal story holds or what struggles they are facing, each character does their part and is working hard to be the best version of themselves that they can be—someone they are proud of.

There is also a major focus on relationships between friends and the importance of family rather than on romance, which is an aspect of this novel that I found to be quite refreshing. The friendship between Jessica and Lolita—the way they look out for and support each other—is absolutely lovely and shows the strength that can be produced from that sort of companionship. Dmitry’s devotion to his family and the lengths he goes to in order to keep them safe is quite beautiful, adding both more dimension and a greater sense of urgency to his struggle.

The small amount of romance that is present, though I really wanted to like it, fell sort of flat for me. It felt a bit forced and at times confusing, so I do wish that it had either been addressed a bit more or left out completely. But this was the only area of issue in the portrayal of relationships and the theme of love. Overall, the dynamics and interactions between the various characters added more depth and meaning to the story, and was one of the strongest and most captivating aspects.

Wolf is a novel with a lot of heart and a good sense of humor, despite its fairly dark subject matter. With smart and skillful writing, vividly depicted characters, and an addictive plot, it proves to be quite a rousing read. Kelly Oliver has created a unique and memorable mystery that both educates and entertains. I am incredibly eager to continue on with this series, and look forward to seeing the ongoing adventures of Jessica James. I would definitely recommend giving this book a try.

4Sep2016

Review: Doctor Who: The Stealers of Dreams by Steve Lyons

Posted in Book Reviews by TheQuirkyBookNerd

Doctor Who: The Stealers of Dreams by Steve Lyons

My Rating: 4/5 TARDISes

Series: Doctor Who: New Series Adventures #6

Date Published: September 8^th, 2005

Publisher: BBC Books

Pages: 254 pages

Source: Purchased

Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Synopsis: In the far future, the Doctor, Rose, and Captain Jack find a world on which fiction has been outlawed. A world where it’s a crime to tell stories, a crime to lie, a crime to hope, and a crime to dream. But now somebody is challenging the status quo. A pirate TV station urges people to fight back, and the Doctor wants to help – until he sees how easily dreams can turn into nightmares. With one of his companions stalked by shadows and the other committed to an asylum, the Doctor is forced to admit that fiction can be dangerous after all. Though perhaps it is not as deadly as the truth…

____________________________________________________________________

This is a spoiler-free review.

This is a particularly interesting review for me to do because my experience with this novel shifted back and forth between reading a physical edition and listening to an audiobook. I will say upfront that I am not a huge fan of audiobooks, feeling like they detract quite a bit from my personal reading experience. The quality of the audio, the style of the narrator, whether those aspects are good or not, audiobooks and I have never gotten along especially well. That being said, when I found this one, I decided, why not give it a go—and to be honest, I ended up relatively pleased with my choice.

In this novel, the Doctor, Rose, and Jack find themselves entering a world where fiction and fantasy has been made illegal. There are no writers or novels, and those who are caught engaging in the creation of stories—or something as simple as dreaming—are imprisoned in “The Big White House”, where they are meant to be “rehabilitated”. In this society, being found to be “fiction crazy” is as bad if not worse than the act of murder. However, an underground society of dreamers is rising up, taking to the airwaves on a pirated radio station and attempting to bring fiction back to the people. When the trio accidently get split up, they become deeply involved in the dangerous workings of this truth-obsessed city.

Out of all the Doctor Who novels I’ve read so far, this ended up being one of my favorites. The plot is not an incredibly new or unique topic in fiction, but it’s nevertheless always an interesting one. And of course, Lyons puts his own unique flair on this familiar concept. As a writer and reader, I find it both fascinating and terrifying to imagine what the world would be like if we were not allowed to create and fantasize. This theme is inherently captivating, and Lyons has formed it into a fast-paced novel. With plenty of suspense and mystery, as well as a twist ending I personally did not see coming, this is quite an enjoyable read.

I thought that Lyons did a rather solid job of portraying the ninth Doctor, Rose, and Jack. The three go their separate ways early on, so the majority of the narration switches between each person’s exploits every chapter or so. Jack was a particularly strong character in this story, and I really enjoyed his parts. Occasionally, the narrative felt a bit jumpy and jumbled because it switched around so frequently between each storyline, but this did not affect my experience too drastically.

The additional characters were also well crafted and fit nicely into the world they belonged to. We get to see people on either side of this society—those who enforce the eradication of fantasy and those who secretly defy the law. Their interactions with the main trio and their individual views added some great dimension to the plot. I liked that whether obsessed with truth or fiction, their interpretations of life were so limited and so dependent on clichés. It shows how desperately we need a proper balance of each in our lives.

The audiobook I listened to for part of my reading experience was the unabridged audio, narrated by Camille Coduri. This is not one of the slightly abridged ones, acted out by one of the cast members, though I would like to give one of those a try some day as they seem like they would be fun. When it came to this particular book, I actually did not mind the narration for once. I admit, I’m still not sold on audiobooks in general, but my experience with this novel was overall a positive one.

Coduri has a fairly pleasant voice to listen to, and her delivery—though quite unique and slightly unusual, in my opinion—was something I found to be very enjoyable. I feel as though her style might not be something that is everyone’s cup of tea, but it worked well enough for me. She gave each character a distinctive voice and did a respectable job of portraying the appropriate emotion in each scene. One of the major pitfalls of an audiobook can be adding too much or too little voice acting into the narration. Coduri’s performance was very three-dimensional, her acting complementing the story as a whole rather than distracting from it.

I’ve said before that I tend to hold novels from this series to a different standard than most. They are not inherently poor quality novels by any means—they feature a lot of strong writing and storytelling. However, they are much more along the lines of fun reads than great literature. That being said, this was one of the better ones, both in content and quality. The plot was intriguing and that, along with the portrayal of the characters, stayed very true to the beloved television show. It was a great addition to the series and I would highly recommend this novel to all Doctor Who fans out there.

25Aug2016

The Great British Bake Off Book Tag

Posted in Tags by TheQuirkyBookNerd

I have wanted to do this tag for a while now, and since the newest season started this week, I figured this would be the perfect time to do it! I discovered The Great British Bake Off a couple of years ago and binged watched the first four seasons in about week! I do live in the US, so it can be hard to keep up with the show, but it is one of my favorites of all time and I’m so excited about this new season!

This tag was originally created by Jack from Reading With Jack, and I discovered it through Sam from Sam’s Nonsense.

CAKE: The cake has sunk in the middle. Pick a book that didn’t rise to your expectations.

The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone by Adele Griffin

This novel was pitched as being sort of like the “found footage” of literature (made clear from the start that it is fictional). On top of that, it was interspersed with artwork and photography, as the biography was about an artist. That sounded absolutely awesome, so naturally, I had very high hopes for it. Oh boy, what a letdown it was. The art aspect was fantastic, but the actual text of the novel was like reading transcripts of interviews rather than an actual biography. Very boring, very paperwork-esque, and so disappointing.

Click here to check out my full review!

BISCUITS: Once you’ve eaten one, you’re hungry for more and each time you eat another, they get more and more delicious. Pick a book series or trilogy that got progressively better.

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

Throughout my life so far, I’ve mostly read standalones, so this was sort of hard to come up with an answer for. I’m not actually finished with The Lunar Chronicles series yet, but it’s the only series I can think of to fit this question. I enjoyed Cinder, and Scarlet—which is the only other book I’ve read so far—was even better. Most people say this continues to be the case through the rest of the series, so I’m excited to continue!

BREAD: Kneading dough requires hard work and determination. Pick a book that you put off reading for ages and needed a lot of determination to pick up.

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Even though I already knew I loved the television series, I put off picking up this novel for ages because of its (and all the other books in the series’) size. However, I finally got up the courage this summer and started it while I was traveling. I’ve been reading it in very short bursts lately because I have a lot of review copies to catch up on, but I (unsurprisingly) love it so far. I’m looking forward to getting through the rest of it and continuing on with the series when I can.

DESSERTS: Foreign deserts such as crème brûlée and Spanische Windtorte are on the menu. Pick a book set in a foreign country.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

I’ve read a lot of books set in foreign countries, but this novel is by far one of my favorites of all time. It is such an important and meaningful read with absolutely beautiful writing to boot. If you have not read this yet, I very highly recommend it.

ALTERNATIVE INGREDIENTS: Not usually used, but surprisingly good. Pick a book from a genre you wouldn’t normally read but ended up loving.

Wolf by Kelly Oliver

This is primarily a crime novel, so that’s not an unusual genre for me, but this also falls into the category of feminist literature, which is not something I would typically go for. Don’t get me wrong, I’m clearly a feminist, so I don’t avoid it due to disagreeing with the perspective—rather, I find that it can get a bit over-the-top sometimes. I prefer when a heroine is a bit subtler in their strength and it’s not all constantly in your face girl power (if that makes any sense). Show rather than tell! However, Kelly Oliver did a solid job with it in this novel. There were a few exaggerated moments, but nothing I couldn’t get past, and I ended up really enjoying the story. Review to come soon!

PASTRY: Shortcrust pastry can crumble easily. Pick a character who you initially liked, but as you read more and more, your relationship with them crumbled apart.

Mare Barrow from Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

I’m not sure if this one technically counts because I didn’t really like Mare at any point in the novel—but this is the closest I could get. I definitely liked her more at the start of the novel than at the end. She very quickly got on my nerves—which is unfortunate seeing as she is the narrator—and things continued to go downhill for us…

Click here to check out my full review!

VICTORIAN/OLD-FASHIONED BAKES: Recipes from the past that still taste delicious today. Pick your favorite classic novel.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I was trying to think up an unpredictable answer for this one, but…here we are again. This really is my favorite classic, and it definitely “still tastes delicious” every time I devour it! 🙂

PATISSERIE: You’re eating a chocolate éclair but there’s barely any filling inside. Pick a book that lacked substance and fell flat.

A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall

I think most of you know by now that, though I am totally a hopeless romantic, romance is not my preferred genre to read. However, I have occasionally found some hidden gems. This was not one. It had an interesting and unique premise—boasting fourteen different viewpoints—but it ended up falling flat for me. This main selling point turned out to be the novel’s biggest weakness as it failed to allow the author to create any sort of depth in the characters or plot, instead causing a very disjointed feeling.

Click here to check out my full review!

CHOCOLATE: Chocolate is a comfort food for many people. Pick a book you could read again and again and still find comforting.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

Obviously I have to choose my go-to cozy read! These mysteries never fail to give me the book nerd warm fuzzies. ❤

Click here to check out my full review!

THE GRAND FINAL: Everyone is out to impress with extravagant show-stoppers! Pick your favorite book of the year so far that really impressed you.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I’ve had incredibly good luck reading-wise so far, and have read a number of truly amazing books. But I don’t think anything quite tops The Book Thief for me yet. It took me years to get to, but I finally did and I’m so glad—it was everything I hoped it would be and so much more.

I Tag:

Everyone! I’m not sure who is a fan of this show, so I’m not going to tag anyone specific. But if you like GBBO (or this tag!), then consider yourself officially tagged! 😀

24Aug2016

Top 5 Wednesday – August 24th, 2016

Posted in Top 5 Wednesday by TheQuirkyBookNerd

Top 5 Wednesday was created by Lainey at Gingerreadslainey and is now hosted by Sam from Thoughts on Tomes. Every week, book reviewers all over the world are given a bookish topic and respond with their top 5 books (or elements of books) that relate to that topic. Click here for the Goodreads group if you would like to learn more about Top 5 Wednesday and join in!

This week’s Top 5 Wednesday topic is the top five books you want to read before the end of the year. Welcome to yet another installment in the “Ari’s TBR Shame” series! Today, we’ll be doing a bit of New Year’s reading resolution shaming, as I believe that all of these books are off of my “16 in 2016” TBR from the beginning of the year. However, on the positive side of things, I have a fairly good feeling I’ll be able to finish all of these novels by the end of the year (she says with eternal optimism…). 🙂

5. The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

This one comes straight off my “been on my TBR for way too long” list from yesterday. Even though I’m sure I’ll love this one, I am so overloaded with books right now, I think I’ve been putting this series off mainly because of the length. I’ve been trying to put a bit more of a dent in my TBR before starting on this one, but I’m going to make sure it gets read before the year is out!

4. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Tying in with yesterday’s Top 10 Tuesday post, this is a book that I’ve had sitting on my TBR for a very long time—definitely since well before I started blogging. In fact, it was one of the first books I added to my Goodreads TBR. I’ve started working on this one already, so my finishing it before the end of the year is pretty certain.

3. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

This is another one that’s a duplicate from yesterday’s list. I’ve owned a copy of this novel since it was first released and have been dying to read it for years—and yet, it’s still siting on my TBR. I started it at one point, got really busy with schoolwork, and unfortunately had to put it aside. But I already know I love the story—or at least what I’ve read—so this is a must read before the end of 2016!

2. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

As I said before, this was on my list from the beginning of the year, and it’s been a goal of mine to read my first Tolkien novel in 2016. Thus, The Hobbit makes it onto this list. I figure this will be a good one to start off with, and then I can jump into LOTR later on.

1. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

And once again, another one rolling over from yesterday’s list! I’m really determined to get some of these ones that have been sitting on my TBR done soon. Though this has been on my list the least amount of time out of the five I’ve chosen, this is by far the craziest one. Victoria Schwab is one of my favorite authors and it is absolutely insane that I haven’t begun this series yet! This is a top priority!

What books are you guys hoping to eliminate from your TBR before the end of 2016? Let me know in the comments!

-Ariana

23Aug2016

Top 10 Tuesday – August 23rd, 2016

Posted in Top 10 Tuesday by TheQuirkyBookNerd

Happy Tuesday, everyone! It’s time for another Top 10 Tuesday list. This is an original weekly blog meme created over at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week, there is a new bookish topic for bloggers to create a list about. If you want to know more about Top 10 Tuesday, click here!

This week’s Top 10 Tuesday topic is the top ten books that have been on your shelf (or TBR) from before you started blogging that you STILL haven’t read yet. Well, this is quite an easy list for me to make. Or rather, a hard one because I have too many to decide between! 😛

Now, I’ve only been blogging for a year, but there are still some pretty embarrassing books sitting in my TBR pile. So I chose the ones that I am most mortified about still having not read—ones that I’ve been consistently saying for this past year of blogging that “I’m getting to them next” and then don’t. Most of the books that I picked out for this list have been in my pile for much longer than a year, and you may see some of these popping up in tomorrow’s Top 5 Wednesday post as well…

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

More Than This by Patrick Ness

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Soulless by Gail Carriger

What books have been on your TBR the longest? Which ones do you keep saying you’ll get to next, but then put off? Let me know in the comments!

-Ariana

19Aug2016

The Reader Confession Tag

Posted in Tags by TheQuirkyBookNerd

I was tagged to do the Reader Confession Tag by my two blogger besties—Heather from The Sassy Book Geek and Anna from My Bookish Dream! Anna and Heather are not only incredible book bloggers, but also two of the kindest people ever. I love these girls and their blogs so much and I know you guys will too! You should totally already be following them, but if you’re not, please make sure you stop by and check out both of their wonderful blogs!

1. Have you ever damaged a book?

I may have done when I was little, but to the best of my recollection (and by looking at the books I currently own), I haven’t damaged any of my books. I may be just a tad bit overprotective of my books, so they typically stay in very good condition. 😛

2. Have you ever damaged a borrowed book?

I can say with complete certainty that I’ve never ever damaged a borrowed book!

3. How long does it take you to read a book?

This depends on: a. the book, b. my schedule, c. my stress/fatigue/distraction level. Lately, I’ve been in a bit of a slump, so I’m not at all up to my usual amount of reading. However, if mostly all of these factors are in my favor, I can get through a normal 300-500 page book in two or three days, and on average I would say I read three to four books a week.

4. Books that you haven’t finished?

I barely ever stop in the middle of books even if I hate them, so my DNF list from over the years is pretty small:

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

Dead Rules by Randy Russell

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Fallen by Lauren Kate

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

5. Hyped/Popular books you didn’t like?

I admit, I don’t really rush to read a lot of hyped/popular books (though I do sometimes)—I’m always pretty wary about hype. I am extremely picky about the hyped books I do pick up, so a lot of times, I end up really enjoying all the ones I read. However, I can think of a couple over the years that weren’t a big hit with me. The Twilight series for one was just never my cup of tea, and recently Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard sort of failed to meet my expectations for it.

6. Is there a book you wouldn’t tell anyone you were reading?

Nah, I don’t think so. I don’t really care what people think of what I’m reading—I’ll read whatever the heck I want, thank you very much!

7. How many books do you own?

I don’t have an exact number but I would say, between my physical library and my Kindle books, I have…brace yourselves…probably about 800 books, maybe a bit more.

8.Are you a fast reader or a slow reader?

I’m never sure what to say when asked this question. I tend to think of myself as a fairly slow reader because it feels that way to me when I’m reading. But then I end up get through books in a reasonably short amount of time, especially if I’m really enjoying them—and like I said earlier, I can many times read three to four books in a week. So I’m not really sure what I am because it fluctuates…I’m delightfully quirky! 😛

9. Do you like to buddy read?

I LOVE to buddy read! One of my favorite things in the world next to reading books is talking about them. I used to do it all the time with my friends when I was little and now I’ve been getting the chance to do buddy reads with my fellow book blogger friends. Reading is fun no matter what, but nothing compares to the experience of reading and discussing a book with someone else, whether you end up enjoying the book or not. It’s nice to have another person to compare thoughts with and to think about the story in ways you might not necessarily have considered on your own. Also, if you both really enjoy the book, it can be pretty fun to fangirl with someone else!

10. Do you read better in your head or out loud?

I read SO much better in my head! I’m absolutely terrible at reading out loud—I get all shy and awkward and tongue-tied. I used to hate to be told to read out loud in school. And in terms of actual reading comprehension, that’s basically nonexistent for me when I’m reading out loud! 😛

11. If you were only allowed to own one book, what would it be and why?

I would definitely choose The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Not only is it one of my favorite novels of all time, but also, since it’s a collection of short stories, it doesn’t feel quite as repetitive when you are rereading it over and over again. And honestly, this is just one of those “cozy reads” for me, so I love immersing myself in it! 🙂

I Tag:

Jessica @ The Awkward Book Blogger

Aubrey @ If Mermaids Wore Suspenders

Emily @ Rose Read

Fran @ Nightjar’s Jar of Books

SSJTimeLord

Zezee @ Zezee with Books

Michelle @ Book Adventures

Fatima @ NoteablePad

Cheyenne @ Cheyenne Raphael Writes

17Aug2016

Top 5 Wednesday – August 17th, 2016

Posted in Top 5 Wednesday by TheQuirkyBookNerd

This week’s Top 5 Wednesday topic is your top five favorite first sentences of books. A first sentence is by far one of the most important aspects of any novel. It’s what draws the reader into the story by immediately making them want more. It creates a feeling of mystery and intrigue, causes a reader to question what might happen next or why the first sentence says what it does. Making a good first impression on a reader is key in any good book.

Here are five of my all-time favorite first sentences. Some are gripping and enticing, others just have that nostalgia factor for me. Either way, each of these opening lines holds a fond place in my heart.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

“I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975.”

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

“The monster showed up just after midnight. As they do.”

Alice by Christina Henry

“If she moved her head all the way up against the wall and tilted it to the left she could just see the edge of the moon through the bars.”

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

“When I think of my wife, I always think of her head.”

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

“First of all, it was October, a rare month for boys”

Nostalgia Bonus! 😀

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.”

What are some of your favorite opening lines from novels? Let me know down in the comments! 🙂

-Ariana

16Aug2016

Top 10 Tuesday – August 16th, 2016

Posted in Top 10 Tuesday by TheQuirkyBookNerd

This week’s Top 10 Tuesday topic is the top ten books with X setting (ex. top ten books set near the beach, top ten book set in boarding school, top ten books set in England, etc). I’ve decided to do my own little twist on this topic by picking ten books that take place in or have a connection to my personal top ten travel destinations.

Iceland

Burial Rights by Hannah Kent

Prague

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Egypt

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

Italy

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke

Scotland

Macbeth by William Shakespeare

England

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

New England/Boston

Jackaby by William Ritter

Russia

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons

Germany

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

France

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Super special fictional extra bonus place! 😛

Narnia

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

What are some of your top travel destinations? Are there any books that you’ve read or are interesting in reading that take place there? Have books ever inspired you to want to travel to a particular place? Let me know in the comments!

-Ariana

14Aug2016

The Olympics Book Tag

Posted in Tags by TheQuirkyBookNerd

I was tagged to do the Olympics Book Tag by the wonderful Richard from The Humpo Show. Richard is an absolutely fantastic blogger who writes a wide variety of very interesting posts about both books and films, so please make sure to stop over and check out his blog.

I have been enjoying watching the Olympics so much this year—in fact I am watching them while I’m writing this up—so this is definitely a very fitting tag to do right now! I did the seven from Richard’s tag and tacked on three other topics I found at the end.

100m | A book you have raced through.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Not only is this by far the most gorgeous novel I have ever read in my life, I also absolutely sped through it. It’s not a long book and, on top of that, it was so captivating there was no way I was going to put it down before I turned that final page. It only took me about an hour and a half at most to read this, which is pretty fast for a generally slow reader like myself!

Michael Phelps | The best book you’ve ever read.

It is incredibly difficult to think of just one book that is best out of the hundreds I’ve read throughout the years. It would probably be a three-way tie between A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. All three of these books are so unique compared to each other in all types of ways, and I love them all for different reasons—it would be impossible to say that one is better than the others.

Synchronized Diving | A perfect couple.

Percabeth

In trying to answer this, I realized just how few books I’ve read that actually involve romance and couples—to any extent, but at least between main characters. But I do have one particular favorite, and I am in complete agreement with Richard. Percabeth is the best!

Simone Biles | A short and sweet book.

The Little Android by Marissa Meyer

This is a novella that Meyer wrote in the same world as The Lunar Chronicles series. As the name suggests, it is a retelling of The Little Mermaid, and I found it to be such a quick and truly enjoyable read. In just a short time, she packs this story with a huge range of emotion, staying true to the original tale by Hans Christian Andersen while putting her own unique twist on it. Though it was a sad story, overall, it was an incredible short and sweet read.

Rugby 7s | A tough book you struggled to finish.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

In terms of the text and writing itself, this is not a difficult book to read. However, I just could not get into this novel—despite absolutely loving Divergent—and I ended up really not enjoying Insurgent much at all. Everything I loved about Divergent was missing from the sequel, and I somehow could not manage to connect with the characters in the same way. It took me almost a month of on and off reading to finally finish it, compared to the four days in a row it took with the first.

Golf | A new genre outside of your comfort zone.

Romance/Young Adult Romance

Though I am totally a hopeless romantic, for some reason, the romance genre is not a favorite of mine, and these two novels—The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and Love and Other Unknown Variables—were way out of my comfort zone. However, I found them both to contain a lot of serious subjects that were dealt with in an intelligent and mature way, and I ended up thoroughly enjoying both. While these books have a concentration on romance, there is also a good amount of attention given to different types of love, such as that of friendships and the relationships between family members. Neither novel falls victim to the clichés of many that have a focus on romance, particularly those that are young adult.

Heptathlon | The best series.

The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

Like I’m sure many people would, I am going to agree with Richard on his choice once again and say Harry Potter is the absolute best series of all time. There is so much to adore about this novel—so much for people of any age to connect with. It’s hard not to enjoy immersing yourself in this magical world. For me, it was just such a huge part of my childhood and played an important role in the discovery of my passion for writing and storytelling. I know that there is no way that any series could top this one for me.

Gymnastics | A book with a lot of plot twists.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

I think if you look up the meaning of “plot twist” you just get a picture of Gillian Flynn. She is the master of making complex and twisted plots, and Gone Girl is completely packed with examples of this. It’s a beautiful portrayal of Flynn’s skill as a writer and her ability to captivate and constantly shock her readers. Even though I had been spoiled on a bit of this novel before reading it, I was still in utter disbelief through most of the story.

Swimming | A book that made you sob.

Love and Other Unknown Variables by Shannon Lee Alexander

I very rarely ever cry while reading books, watching movies, anything like that. A Monster Calls is probably the book that I cried over the most out of everything I’ve read, but since I’ve already used that twice, I figured I should choose a new book. Love and Other Unknown Variables was a novel that took me completely by surprise in terms of how much I ended up enjoying it, and it totally made me bawl my eyes out!

Trampoline | A childhood favorite.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Next to Harry Potter, the Narnia series pretty much defines my childhood as a book nerd. A favorite of my mom’s when she was a kid, she passed them down to me and I completely fell in love with these stories. I have many fond memories of reading these books over and over again, never getting tired of them. And of course, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is my favorite in the series!

I Tag:

Lashaan and Trang @ Bookidote

The Orang-utan Librarian

Ellie @ Ellie’s Bookshelf

…and anyone else who wants to do this, I tag you! 😀

12Aug2016

Review: Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

Posted in Book Reviews by TheQuirkyBookNerd

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

My Rating: 4/5 TARDISes

Series: Standalone

Date Published: September 13^th, 2011

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Pages: 640 pages

Source: Library

Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Synopsis: Ben and Rose secretly wish for better lives. Ben longs for his unknown father. Rose scrapbooks a famous silent actress. When Ben finds clues and Rose reads enticing news, the children independently run to New York for what they are missing. Ben’s story in words, Rose’s in pictures, come together in deafness.

____________________________________________________________________

This is a spoiler-free review.

Brian Selznick is a complete master of his craft—of turning the experience of reading a traditional novel into something so much more unique and powerful. This story is a particularly intense and utterly enthralling demonstration of that. Selznick’s novels take the reader on an adventure of the senses, producing a sort of “silent film” effect in novel form, which works on so many levels here. The style that he has chosen to use in order to unfold and bring together these two character’s lives is an absolutely brilliant one, and once again, I must complement his boundless creativity.

In Wonderstruck, Selznick alternates between the lives of two children—Ben Wilson, whose story is told solely through text, and Rose Kincaid, who is portrayed entirely in illustrations. Rose’s story takes place in the 1920s, while Ben’s is in the 1970s, but the many ways in which their lives tie together throughout the novel is mesmerizing. Each tale twists into the other, revealing piece after piece of the plot in turn as they weave toward the end. This technique creates a very fast-pace that carries the reader over the pages, holding onto them until the final image.

The main aspect of this novel that makes the alternation between text and image especially powerful is the overarching theme of deafness and silence. Ben is deaf in one ear, while Rose is completely deaf, making her story perfect for recounting through images rather than text. Rose becomes enamored by silent films and their actors as she lives alone within her own personal silence. Ben is on his own, in mourning for his mother. Both children are trying to find better lives for themselves, and end up discovering a mutual home in the comfort of a museum, another hall of silent stories. The full importance of this theme to each character’s life and the overall tone of the novel becomes magnified through the art of wordless storytelling.

With lyrical prose and expressive sketches, Wonderstruck is classic Brian Selznick material. He expertly plots out the progression of both storylines so that the juxtaposition of the illustrations and the text lines up to fully bring the setting to life, even with the difference in time period. Each progression in one story layers more intrigue onto the other, building and entwining, not missing a step, until the most important connection is revealed at the climax.

Selznick has a very singular art style that might not appeal to everyone, but I personally love it. His work has the feel of quick, casual scribbling—a bit rough, yet packed with so much intricate detail. It works well with the text, producing the same voice in an extremely different sort of narrative. Overall, he performs multiple artistic roles at the same time with an equal amount of competence, creating an imaginative and unified piece. Neither the text nor the art suffers for or at any time feels eclipsed by the other—he skillfully achieves a solid balance between the two.

This novel is another incredibly masterful piece of art produced by an extraordinarily talented man. It is one of those books that everyone will thoroughly enjoy, no matter what age they are. Using both text and illustration, Brian Selznick perfectly demonstrates multiple methods that humans can use to paint a picture for an audience—an audience that he effortlessly captivates. Time and time again, he shows that he knows exactly how to interlace the two mediums fluidly so that one builds on rather than overpowers the other. I found Wonderstruck to be a particularly strong example of this style of his—a story that it truly enriches the meaning of—and I highly recommend giving it a read.