TheBookJazz
I read books, blog about them and make all kinds of book related videos on youtube.
I expected a lot more from this book. The beginning was a little slow and the whole flashback part really bored me. Not sure I'll be reading the next book in the series.
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The Time Keeper
Amazing. I loved the writing and the perspectives. This book makes me rethink my life. Time is indeed precious.
Strangelets
The synopsis of this book sounded really good and I was intrigued by it. After requesting in on Netgalley I couldn't wait to start reading. And the first half of the book had me totally hooked. I couldn't put it down and had to find out what was going on. What had happened? And where did they end up? The suspense was killing me. I had a lot of different ideas myself and only little by little did I find out what actually led to the three main characters end up in this bizarre world. So far so good. But the more I found out, the weirder it got. And for me it wasn't in a good way. Too me the world felt a little to abstract and far fetched. I also felt that some character and story developments lacked completeness and at times I was a little confused to why things had happened the way they did. The ending was really good again. It was a nice round-up to the story where almost all characters find a happy end.
Window
Window is a fantasy, young adult story that is quite different from everything else I have read. It has a unique storyline and is very modern. A great example for this is that some conversations are written down in form of tweets. It has a witty undertone but can also turn serious when the situation calls for it. The story is well-crafted and draws you in quickly even though it is rather short. It is a really cute, quick read.
Someday, Someday, Maybe
Lauren Graham starts this book with the typical dream. You are on stage, you freeze, you get hit by a tomato. All this is written in a refreshing and funny writing style which lets you chuckle on the first pages. Right from the beginning we learn that Franny is a very witty and funny character. She set herself a deadline when she came to New York and is now at the point where she has six months left to land an acting job that pays the rent. Franny is not very confident and doesn't believe in herself which is shown nicely by Graham in the inner monologue. Her thoughts are fast paced and ironic which give the book a refreshing feel. Especially funny are the parts where Franny thinks about what could be wrong about her, what has to change. Does she need and new hair do? Should she loose some weight? Or are her looks just wrong in general? Even though the writing style lets this topic appear to be funny, Graham manages to sneak in a serious undertone which makes the reader feel sorry for our main character.I am usually not a fan of this genre But the little extracts from plays and the pictures from Franny's filofax made this book really diverse. I felt with Franny and hoped for her to get each job. I also really enjoyed the additional answering machine messages.Altogether this is a really nice and cute read. If you enjoy books of the so called "chick lit" genre I recommend this book to you.I received this copy from Netgalley.
Prisoner B-3087
Based on a true story Prisoner B-3087 tells the journey of Yanek Gruener, a jewish boy who lives in Krakow. When he is 10 years old the German march into Poland and his life changes forever. He and his family are moved into the Krakower ghetto where they share a house with other families. Later the Gruener family is separated and brought to different concentration camps. Yanek meets his uncle again in one of them, who tells him the only important thing now is to survive. Yanek passes though 10 camps all together among them well-known ones like Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Buchenwald, Sachsenhausen and Dachau. The reader get's an inside view on the feelings which prevailed during the time, the hope the prisoners kept for more than 5 years even thought the cruelty was barely bearable. It is an emotional and touching read which let's the reader re-live the time during Wold War II.I personally found the story a little shallow. I was hoping for more depth and felt like the story was rushed. What happened in between the different camps? The storyline in each camp was a little short and could have been deeper. Since the author explains that the book is a work of fiction nevertheless, he could have added more to it.
The Spy Who Loathed Me
The Spy who Loathed me by Chris WestphalChris Westphal about his book:The Spy Who Loathed Me is a satiric novel. It is loaded with deluded misfits, absurd complications, and escalating madness. FBI agent Terrence Tillberry is in love with Petra Tarasova. Unfortunately, she's in the KGB.The book is set in Los Angeles, 1982.Terrence Tillberry is a loser. Let's face it. He is divorced, lives with his mother again and is bullied at work. But still he holds his head high. He tries to prove himself as an FBI agent when he has to tail the KGB spy Petra Tarasova. Only thing is, he's not doing a good job. Already in the first pages the reader finds out that Tillberry is in love with his target and that Tarasova finds it really funny how stupid that American is who's been following her around.Tarasova takes her job, to infiltrate hollywood, rather serious. As cover she works for a producer who is a sex addict and has a bad temper. To get him down when he explodes she talks to him like a mother would talk to her temper-tantrum throwing child. Tarasova starts to blackmail the hollywood producer after taking photos of him in a compromising position. And our naive FBI agent makes a deal with the spy he's suppost to tail. But that deal is not the only thing endangering his job. All these facts together have you smiling a lot while reading this book. Things appear not only funny but also quite absurd a lot. Chris Westphal's writing style helps to let the story appear sarcastic and refreshing. You, as the reader, have to get his kind of humor to really enjoy this book. This is not a story to take serious. It is a fun read which let's you sympathize with the characters even though you wouldn't like them in real life. Video review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjRNAlVjjZc
Annabel (Delirium Series)
Nice backstory which tells us about Lena's mother and how her parents met. A quite enjoyable, quick read.
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Vanished (Private Justice Book #1): A Novel
Vanished by Irene Hannon is a romantic suspense novel. Moira, a reporter drives home on a deserted street when all of a sudden, a person is in front of her car. She tries to stop but hits the person and crashes her car too. She hits her head and suddenly a man appears at her car. He tells her to sit tight and that he will call 911 and check on the person on the street. Moira passes out and when she awakens again an hour later there are no emergency vehicles, no strange man and no person she might have hit. The police don't believe her story and no investigation takes place. So Moira has to take matters in her own hands and seeks the help of a private investigators office to find out who the woman, she hit that night, might have been. Oh and you mights ask, but where is the romance part? Hey, I just told your she meets up with a PI. Figure it out. I really enjoyed this book massively. Right from the beginning it is full of suspense and a real page-turner. Different than in other suspense novels Irene Hannon doesn't let the reader hang and tells from the start what happened that night. We don't have to speculate but are intrigued by the way our main characters try to find out all the little details. The characters a developed in a "real" way, they don't feel over-board but like people you know in real life. The writing style has a nice flow to it and just draws you in. I got really invested into the story and the characters. I hope Irene Hannon is quick in writing the next book in the "Private Justice" Series so I can get my hands on it. I can't wait to find out what is still in stores for the three PIs.
The Darkest Minds
The Darkest Minds is a YA dystopian novel. It's about a girl, Ruby, who was sent into a camp when she was 10 years old. Most of her friends and classmates had died of a weird disease by then. The illness, called IAAN (Idiopathic Adolescents Acute Neurodegeneration) usually befalls children between the ages of 8-14. Ruby survived but developed special abilities. She can see into people's minds and later learns how to control people. The only problem: she can't control her abilities and things go wrong. The book starts out really fast paced and interesting. The reader learns a lot about the world the story takes place in and also about Ruby's situation and background. The middle part of the book felt a little flat to me. I had problems getting back into the story because it didn't seem to evolve. The storyline felt stuck and really slow. I was waiting for more to happen. In comparison, the pace picked up again later on and when the reader was let to the end of the book I was completely invested in it again and couldn't put it down. All together a quite enjoyable read.
The Ruining
The Ruining is about a girl, Annie, who didn't have the best childhood. She isn't a lucky girl but now luck might finally come to her…or so she thinks. Annie takes on a job as a nanny in San Francisco. She stays with a nice and wealthy family and looks after their two kids. Only this way she can pay for university. Not sure what to study her host mom encourages her to study the same she did herself. Annie feels really close to her host mom because she thinks only she "gets" her. The first weeks roll by without any problems and Annie is happy and feels like this could really be a good thing. She meets Owen, her neighbor and immediately likes him. They go out.Now and then though, weird things happen and Annie questions her own judgement. It all starts when the door to her room is taken away because it needs fixing but even weeks later she still has to live without any privacy. Sometimes she's treated like a family member and other times like a servant. Annie starts to think she might be imagining things and starts to wonder what is actually true. I really enjoyed this book. It was fast paced and full of suspense. But it also really messed with my head. As the reader you think you know what's going on but a few pages further your theory is just completely off. I barely put it down because I had to know what comes next. They only thing I expected more of was the ending. It all felt a little to flat and forced. Like the author had to finish it and couldn't go on for a few more pages. The whole book is full of twists and turns and the ending just falls flat in comparison.
The Night Circus
This book takes you on a magical ride.Divided into different parts The Night Circus tells the story of a circus which just appears without people seeing it arrive. It is just there. There are no ads or posters because people will notice it anyway and tell their friends. The circus is only opened in the night. The reader learns about two of the main characters right from the start. About their childhood and how they are connected. You find out about how the circus came to be and later on what purpose it has. In this world real magic exists, not only the illusion of it. You are introduced to the different members of the circus and all the different tents. Because that's what makes the circus special too. There is not only one tent. In between the chapters are little extracts which make the reader feel like they are part of the circus. You, the reader are in the circus and explore it. The writing style is what makes this book so special. It is so delicate and soothing. I felt with the people in the story and was drawn into the storyline. I was in the circus. When I finished the book I had a really emotional moment. I actually felt sad to leave the circus. I felt sad to leave all the characters in the book who had grown close to me over the week it took me to read this book. This is a masterpiece and I can't wait to read it again.
