Before I start divulging all the books I finished in April I wanted to quickly explain the title…
“April Yarns”. You may be wondering why ‘yarns’, why not reads, books, novels even chronicles would have suited a book review post more so why yarns? Well I consume books in a manner of ways; either flipping through a paperback, tapping pages on my kindle, clicking next on an electronic book tab or listening to one of many audiobook apps. I’m yet to eat a book to make the use of the word consume seem fitting but that day may come. 😛
Hence the word ‘yarn’, in one way or another I consume the truths, tales and fictions of an author… their yarns. And I’m always up for a good yarn 🙂
Without further ramblings… below are the novels I completed in April. No spoilers, just honest opinions with a link to the novel, my star rating and a favourite quote.
| The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye |
“Science always loses its way when guided by ideology or wishful thinking.”
And so it continues. If you know the ‘Girl with the Dragoon Tattoo’ series then you already know the gist of this novel. The fifth in the series continues on the story of Lisbeth Salander and her search for her long lost twin sister Camilla (who was found in the forth book – okay I know I said I wouldn’t spoil anything but if you haven’t read the fourth book then why are you reading my review of the fifth).
The author has changed for the past two novels which initially I was hesitant about as I loved Steig Larsoon’s writing style and his investigative journalism experience. Though so far I have pleasantly surprised with David Lagercrantz and the story style doesn’t read too dissimilar to the original three books. However, of the five books in the series this one dragged and the ending wasn’t all that enthralling. Hopefully it is just building suspense for the sixth and final novel!
“We don’t always control what happens to us. But we always control how we interpret what happens to us, as well as how we respond.”
Just great. 🙂 While I’m not really one for self-help books this was great and spurred me onto reading multiple other self-help books… so thats got to be a good thing right? 😛
M. Manson’s main point throughout the novel is that with so many things going on in the world we can only give real thought, consideration and care to a few. So the remainder we needn’t give a f*ck about. While his dad comments, poop jokes and use of a lemon analogy a fair bit didn’t inspire me, I did like his simple explanations and general approach to managing everyday occurrences. Sure this is not the best self help book out there and the title is surely for effect rather than anything constructive, but I have found myself using some of the techniques he advises in my day to day. Knowing my limitations, taking responsibility for the emotions I assume of others and embracing my fears, faults, and uncertainties has made me more courageous in communicating and probably more honest. 🙂
| Verity |
“I think the idea of me is better than the reality of me.”
You go Co Ho! I’m a Colleen Hoover fan. She’s an automatic read for me. Her romance novels always evoke an emotion; passion, fear, sadness, even anger and hopefully happiness by the end. Regardless, I like all of her work. Her style of romance writing and the variety and depth of characters she creates is what keeps me reading her books. Verity was nothing like any Co Ho novel I had read before.
The authors first attempt at writing a thriller was bad – in ever good way possible. Bad words, bad characters, bad scenes, bad outcomes, just bad. And I loved it! The stories bold, unapologising, all-consuming and unrelenting plot and characters continued right till the very end. I’m still not convinced of exactly what even happened and thats kind of why I love it. I shan’t spill more details on my opinion of the novel as I want anyone who’s interested in reading this book to go in blind to the synopsis as I did, gosh I didn’t even know that it wasn’t a romance and I still loved it. 🙂 I recommend if you’re a Co Ho or suspense/thriller enthusiast to read this book.
| The Interestings |
“We are all here, on this earth for only one go around. And everyone thinks their purpose is to just find their passion. But perhaps our purpose is to find what other people need.”
Anything but interesting. That may be too harsh but if you name your book ‘The Interesting’s’ then surely the reader is going to assume something interesting happens, however I did not find this to be the case. Instead the book focused on six (really five) teenagers who meet at a summer camp and their journeys through life; the triumph, the talent, the pitfall, the friendship, the envy… so pretty much regular life.
I just didn’t find the book that interesting. The pace was slow; probably purposefully to allow the reader time to explore the intricacies of the characters, but unfortunately I found it boring and my mind kept wandering to what else I could be reading instead. The story never really went anywhere in my opinion. No climax, plot twist or exciting adventure to be had, instead it followed along a normal trajectory of human existence. As a reader who can’t not finish a book I persevered hoping it would get interesting, but sadly I just don’t think it ever did.
| Untamed |
“This life is mine alone. So I have stopped asking people for directions to places they’ve never been.”
Twas good but just not for me.
I really enjoy listening to authors narrate their own memoirs. Given they’ve written the book (well most of it hopefully) they should know what words to emphasise, where to pause for effect and what parts of the book might drag; in which a joke, clever remark or tangential story is appreciated. I reckon it’s the best method of reading memoirs. If the author can’t interest me in reading their own book then I’m surely not going to be able to.
This sadly wasn’t the case. The novel started strong, I was hooked with relatable quirks, interesting anecdotes and strong emotions but then it became a little preachy. Especially when she started slandering the entire human population and I just don’t need to feel bad about myself when listing to someone else’s story. Then the book took a confusing twist and started offered parenting advice, maybe if you are a parent this is entertaining but as someone who’s childless and can’t even keep a plant alive I got bored. Next she divulged stories of adversities she has overcome in life which intrigued me only to follow in subsequent chapters with more preaching. I really enjoyed listening to her retell her experiences and am very capable at taking my own message away from them, but when she would provide her opinions outright it felt unnecessarily confronting and self-righteous.
Previously I have enjoyed her columns and smaller work but by the end I was happy the book was over and quite disappointed.
| Everything I Know About Love |
“I am always half in life, half in a fantastical version of it in my head.”
While I didn’t finish this book learning a whole lot about love (like the title would suggest) I did laugh out loud, squeal with second hand embarrassment and head bob along to all nineties references in this heart-warming, funny and loving memoir.
I think this book would be enjoyable for people of a certain era; in their late 20’s to mid 30’s and dig GIRL POWER! It was lighthearted, concluded with a positive message about the importance of friendship, but mainly made me appreciate our current forms of internet communication and never having to play the ‘online’ + ’offline’ MSN messenger roulette game when trying communicate with a boy. 😉 Gosh that sucked.
| Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold |
“The Greeks thought it was Chaos who, with a massive heave, or a great shrug, or hiccup, vomit or cough, began the long chain of creation that has ended with pelicans and penicillin and toadstools and toads, sea-lions, lions, human beings and daffodils and murder and art and love and confusion and death and madness and biscuits.”
LOVED THIS BOOK. I should preface this review by saying that I listened to Stephen Fry narrate this retelling of Greek Mythology; his whimsical tones permeating through my tympanic membranes to enlighten me with these fantastical fables. I should also warn readers that I previously had no Greek Mythology knowledge. Sure I had heard of a wooden horse but didn’t know where it was, how big or when it was used. I wasn’t sure whether Prometheus was a type of salad dressing or sci-fi blockbuster film, nor what a Pandora was and definitely no concept of what was in the box. I was a complete Greek mythology newbie… until now.
The manner in which these myths are told is both extremely interesting and well structured. Starting with Chaos and the creation of The Night and Day, S. Fry explores the Greek God family tree including that of the Olympians and Titans, through entertaining, gripping and witty story-telling. Even natural phenomenons are explained such as Persephone’s role in bringing about the seasons each year, Apollo yielding his chariot across the sky daily to symbolise daylight and how a bee developed its sting.
This book is for everyone. 🙂
| Swear on This Life |
“This could be the best thing for us, after it stops being the worse.”
Another romance this month. Well after my first romance read turned out to be a thriller I thought I should try again. Fortunately this one was an actual romance and not too bad if I do say so myself. Right from the first chapter the reader is plunged into a story within the story, the main character (a struggling writer) is reading a best selling book and finds similarities to her own tumultuous childhood within its pages. I won’t spoil more of the tale from there but I found the characters and best selling book story instantly captivating!
In two sittings I had consumed the novel and was pleasantly satisfied with the ending, which if you know anything about me it is that I hate the endings of most books. I either know how it will end and am disappointed that the author couldn’t be more creative or it ends differently to how I expect and think the author has had a medical event thats forced them to make irrational conclusions. Either way I am never content with a book ending but this, this wasn’t too bad.
If you have read any of the above books, have suggestions for what I should read next or want to see what I’m reading right now comment and check out my Goodreads below.
GC Chronicles 