New Year's Reading Resolutions

Happy New Year to all of you!

For the year 2013 my reading resolutions are to do the A-Z book challenge, read more classics, reread my favorite books all within the 50 book challenge.

Classics list:
1- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgareld
2- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgareld
3- The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
4- A Midsummer's Night Dream by William Shakespeare
5- The Complete Short Stories by Oscar Wilde

Non-Fiction list:
6- Diary of a Young Girl by Ann Frank
7- Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me by Mindy Kaling
8- Shit My Dad Says by Justin Halpern
9- Writing in the Dark by David Grossman
10- كخه يا بابا by عبدالله المغلوث
11- بيكاسو و ستاربكس by ياسر حرب
12- طوق الياسمين by واسيني الأعرج
13- العبودية المختارة by أيتيان دي لا بواسييه
14- The True Secret by Amira Ayad

Re-reead list:
14- The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling 
15- The Host by Stephenie Meyer
16- The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Steven Chbosky
17- Looking for Alaska by John Green
18- Julie & Julia by Julie Powell
19- The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
20- The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
21- Dreamland by Sarah Dessen

A-Z Book Challenge (fiction list):
23- A- Avalon high Coronation volume 1 by Meg Cabot
24- A- Avalon High Coronation volume 2 by Meg Cabot
25- B- Blueeyedboy by Joanne Harris
26- C-  Cracked by K. M. Walton
27- D- A Dance of Dragons by George R. R. Martin
28- E- Every You, Every Me by David Levithan
29- F- A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin
30- G-The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
31- H- Horns by Joe Hill
32- I- Invisible Monster by Chuck Palahniuk
33- J-John Dies at the End by David Wong
34- K- Kraken by China Mieville
35- L- Life of Pi by Yann Martel
36- M- Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
37- N- Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
38- O- Othello by William Shakespeare
39- P- A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
40- Q- 1Q84 by Haruka Marukami
41- R- Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
42- S- Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
43- T- Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
44- U- Ubik by Philip K. Dick
45- V- Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre
46- W- Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan & John Green
47- X- X by James Galvin
48- Y- The Year of the Flood by Margret Atwood
49- Z- The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks

I-must-finish-this-book-to-die-a-happy-person:
50- عزازيل by يوسف زيدان

I challenge everyone reading this to do the same, and create lists because it is so much fun. You don't have to read the A-Z challenge books in alphabetical order, and in case you want to remove a book from a list you must replace it with one in the same category.

Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor.

A Young Doctor's Notebook Review

Daniel Radcliffe is starring in a brand new show alongside John Hamm. The story takes place in a remote Russian village in 1917, and Moscow in 1934. Radcliffe plays the young doctor, and Hamm plays the old doctor. The old doctor can travel to his past and relive his memories alongside his young self, but the young doctor cannot travel into the future (obviously).

 After watching the first two episodes of the series I discovered that it is based on a Russian book under the same name. I don't think I will be reading the book, though, as the series are really great and I don't think much additions or cuts are needed.

There's this one character (who plays a dentist assistant?) who is super annoying to the doctor. He likes people to think highly of him. He is an excellent character, very funny and different to the other two in the hospital staff. I like his scenes with the doctor the best, as they have a nice dynamic and funny conversations. There are only four characters in the show and five cast members, so it is very easy to understand each characters and their dynamics with others.

I do wish they've cast actors with Russian accents, as that would have been much more realistic, even if it was just the minor characters and not just the doctor. Another thing I found odd was the fact that both Daniel Radcliffe and John Hamm speak in two different accents. Their accents are quite similar but some things seem different.

John Hamm & Daniel Radcliffe do have similar features: nose shape, eyes, thin lips, but the production took that a step further giving them the same hairstyle.
Both actors did a great job on that front as well, sporting similar facial expressions and the exact nervous jaw stroke.

The show has just the right balance between psychological scenes and gore-y scenes. Although you cringe through a whole season in the second episode of the doctor giving an eight year old girl an amputation with a blunt saw, you still watch. You also keep watching while the doctor tries to pull a tooth from a man's mouth and ends up breaking a piece of jaw bone with it.

The dynamic of the show is really great, the young doctor being really awkward, unsure, and trying to fill the shoes of his predecessor, Leopold Leopoldvich, and the old doctor mature and confident but still unsure in his present life.

final rating: 5/5

Game of Thrones: What to Expect from Season 3 and A Storm of Swords review

 Game of Thrones quickly became my favorite fantasy story ever. The place was previously held by Lord of the Rings, but not anymore. Game of Thrones' characters are very alluring, well developed, and interesting. The setting -in my opinion- is better than any I've seen before. It truly is a marvelous epic story.

What we can expect from the third season is more plot twists. Oh God, much much more plot twists. Characters meeting and having multiple scenes together, including characters you never thought will ever meet. More players star playing the Game of Thrones. More betrayals, love, death, perspectives, failures, success, and a lot more.Characters we haven't seen since the first few episodes reemerge, smaller characters get bigger roles.
Be emotionally prepared, the stuff are more heart breaking than Eddard dying.

Now, I guessed a lot of stuff about the third part before I read it based on the second season. Now, if you know me, I'm pretty much the prediction master when it comes to TV, but Martin continues his mad man fiasco and surprises everyone with more twists and turns and a couple of BAAAM!s and KABOOM!s.

This is as far as I'll go without spoilers from the THIRD book, so if you haven't read that leave now. 

Brace yourselves, spoilers are coming.

What I'm really excited about seeing in the third season is the introduction of characters that were supposed to be introduced in the second season but were left out: Ramsay Bolton, Jojen and Meera Reed, and Ser Kevan.

I'm also excited to watch how the whole Sansa and Dontos situation played out, as they left all their Godswood meetings from the second season. Will Baelish just come out from the beginning and she'd instantly know he was behind it and AGREE to go with him? Sansa is my number one favorite character in both the books and the show, and seeing how she developed and grew throughout the third book is very fascinating. She still put her trust into people sooner than she should, Dontos was bad news, but she clung to a hope she had gained through a children's song. Which, kudos on that George R R Martin, showed the reader that she's just a child. Okay, she did go through a lot and witnessed a lot, but she still lives in her own world, shielding herself from everything bad out there, and when she saw a familiar glimpse of a story she loved when she was back home with her parents and brothers and sister she held on to that.

Will the prologue be filmed or would the murderous plots against Lord Commander Mormont be a complete surprise until the deed is done in a much later episode. Which, okay, let me talk about Mormont for a bit. The guy is built like a freaking bear, he's old, huge, and intimidating. He's one of those people that are probably weaker than they seem but are so badass and frightening they could probably scare an army. Who in their right mind came up with the midevil assassination idea?

Since we are talking about the Mormonts, let us talk about the bear cub. It was no shock that Jorah would come onto Dany sooner or later, I was not surprised by that at all, nor was I surprised by the whole I-will-punish-you-for-betraying-me thing. That whole plot was as predictable as a teen movie. Dany is a kid, she's trying so hard to grow up and prove she isn't but she is, and instead of keeping him as a close, and very wise, counsel she banishes him for betraying her before he even knew her. Back then, he wasn't sworn to her, he didn't know her, he didn't love her. It was a different time. The only thing he did wrong was send Varys a message from Qarth, which shouldn't be punishable by banishment. Sure, Dany did teach her "court"a lesson and they'll think twice before they cross her, but at what cost? Sacking the slavers and freeing the slaves in Astapor, Yunkai, and Meereen was badass, though, I'll give her that.

Brienne and Jaime.

I love how Jaime's a lesser jerk when he's around her or when her safety is in the question. Yelling "SAPPHIRES!" and jumping into the bear pit. I know I'm romanticizing their relationship and then some, but I really don't care. I enjoyed reading Jaime's chapters. I'll risk and say they were my favorites in the book, all the excitement and constant flow of the plot, I loved it. I still don't forgive him for Bran, though.

 Thanks to an idiot who didn't tag their post on tumblr, I found out about The Red Wedding prior to reading the book, so on that front I can't say I was surprised. The only thing I can say is Lame Lothar or whatever he's called is such a snake. I trusted him. I thought he didn't know. Roose Bolton, I was expecting as much of him, after all an apple doesn't fall far from a tree. I still love Roose, though, he's one of my favorite minor characters. He was right in doubting Robb as a king. He's a greenboy, and childish still. He lost the north, and his heirs in the process, while simultaneously managing to lose his biggest ally, cause a spread of doubt amongst his troops, and piss of his mom.

Greatjon and smalljon, I'm not sure if they were killed or taken captives, but I really hope it's the latter. As for Robb and Catelyn, good riddance. Robb is an idiot who can't honor anything, especially his dead father. He tries too hard to do the right thing and then ruins everything by being a stubborn little prick. It was a stupid thing to kill Rickard Karstark, and it was stupid to give Rickard reason to do what he did in the first place. He wasn't fit to be king. I'm curious if that was the theme of his royal plot from the beginning, to show that the Stark was less of a north-man than the Snow. I'm also curious to see how Catelyn 2.0 the Zombie edition works out in the fourth book.

Arya is continuing to kick some serious butt, but she's soon finding out that without Jaqen H'gar she's not a ghost, she's still a little girl who cant be overpowered with a hand of a bigger person. I loved seeing her with Sandor, that was pretty cool, seeing the dynamic between them and her seeing him for what he is. I liked the parts of her "prayers" a lot. I liked how her lists shrinks by the end of the book. I hate how she and Gendry got separated. I want to know how she can get "wolf dreams" like Bran and how she saw that Catelyn was actually dead.

Bran's part were fairly dull and slow until he reached The Gift, and then things started to get interesting. Meeting Sam, however briefly, it was awesome. I like his relationship with Meera and Jojen, and how he "reached out" to Hodor and both of them were terrified by what happened.


I liked The fact that Theon's chapters were gone and replaced by Sam's. Sam's chapters were very interesting, smoothly paced, and overall satisfying. I loved Sam the Slayer, I loved Sam the oathkeeper (to Bran's), and I loved Sam the wife savior. I loved what he did when he came back to the wall.

Everything about The Wall is great. Stannis coming to the aid, I almost died. Davos, you brilliant, faithful, wise man. All hail Davos, the onion lord, hand of the king. Rescuing the wall like he did, so much love for this badass.

And Stannis, offering the north to Jon. I couldn't believe it. It shows how Stannis developed as a character. Earlier in the series, he would have never offered a lordship to a bastard, and a brother of a traitor, but know he sees that in order to win compromises must be made. I loved that plot twist.

Because the book is super huge I'm going to just post a Roose Bolton reaction to some major events I haven't discussed:

a) Ygritte and John

b) Ygritte dying

c) JOFFREY'S DEATH

d) Tyrion & Sansa's marriage

what is WRONG with you people?

e) Pyter pushing Lysa out the moon door

f) Tyrion killing Tywin

g) Peach Brothel's scene with Arya and Gendry

h) we find out Joffrey hired Bran's attacker

I) we find out Littlefinger was responsible for every bad thing that happened

final rating: 5/5
now reading: blueeyedboy

Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 was not on my to read list. I didn't even know what the book was about, but after hearing so much about it I decided to give it a go. It's a short dystopian fiction about a world where firemen ignite fires instead of putting them out. It's a world where books are banned and distractions are everywhere.

The protagonist of the story is Guy Montag, a fireman, who likes to burn books, and takes some sort of power high out of it.
Early in the book discovers the error on his ways, thanks to a teenager named Clarisse.

 

 

 

fun.

The concept and story are very strong, and it shows. Though Bradbury's writing style is somewhat alluring, he is no Oscar Wilde.  His style is straight forward and to the point, no beating around the bush with symbolic and cryptic sentences with this one. Although the story did have a lot of potential to be filled with beautiful mysterious symbols, he chose not to walk that route. Another thing the the book is lacking; sub plots. The story basically follows one guy's journey, a guy named Guy. There is a joke here somewhere but I'll borrow from Bradbury and FIGHT any imaginative and creative idea that comes to mind.

The book has almost five characters in total: Guy, Mildred, Beatty, Clarisse, and Faber. My favorite character is Captain Beatty, he is a very powerful character, well developed, and most of all intriguing. You just want to read more and more about him. My least favorite character is probably Mildred. Although she's my least favorite, her character was very well written. Now, I hate characters with no dimensions as much as the next person (maybe more) but this one really fit. As her life was consumed by routines of TV shows in the parlor, Bradbury wrote her as a one dimensional character.

Final rating: 3/5
Currently reading: A Storm of Swords

This far in the book nothing particularly happens, the next paragraphs will have spoilers, so read no more if you don't want the book spoiled.

I loved how Beatty played Guy's string like a violin. He accused him of quoting poetry in poetry. Genius. GENIUS. In a way Beatty was portrayed as the villain in the story, but was he? I don't think he was to be honest. So he tormented Guy with poetry quotes and told him to turn in the book he had. Was that wrong? Morally, it is debatable, but it was his job. In the society they lived in, that was wrong and illegal. For example the society we live in bans drugs, if a drug inspector stole drugs wouldn't you want his chief commander to deal with that situation? Wouldn't you feel safer if those in security positions did their job without emotional attachment to others gone 'rogue'. I'm not comparing books to drugs, I'm comparing the situation and nothing else. Although both do take you to a "different world". So, no, Beatty wasn't the bad guy, he was doing what was best for society.

There are somethings that I didn't find very convincing in the book or found hard to imagine.

a) Mildred's attitude upon finding that Guy hides books in the house: Okay, now she was shocked and scared, I do give her that, but I expected her to bundle her things in a suitcase and leave. This is a woman who can't even remember how she met the person she is living with. This is a person who tried to commit suicide and failed and didn't even know it. This person watched TV all day and is afraid of anything and everything her TV family doesn't tell her about. Bradbury can't possibly try to convince us that she actually read some books with Guy. That's just impossible. The action she eventually took was the one I expected her to react with from the start; calling the station and reporting Guy. Now, that is believable.

b) The mechanical hounds: I couldn't visualize them, and couldn't understand them. I did see the idea behind them, though. It was clever. A dog to kill humans because humans didn't want to interact with others in any way. It's the opposite of "The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword." -Eddard Stark. It also symbolized the danger technology has over humanity. Okay, there were few symbols.

c) The time lapse between Guy meeting Clarisse and Clarisse's death: The author stated that they've had months together before Clarisse's accident, but I think that would have been better conveyed than stated. I haven't seen the movie, but they better have that part in a montage with a very sad yet powerful song then what's the use.

I haven't watched the movie, nor do I think I will watch it in the future. Watching a movie based on a book that's about how watching movies instead of reading books ruined humanity is a bit strange in my opinion.

Last Resort

The only drama shows I currently enjoy are Game of Thrones and Suits. Since both are on hiatus until 2013, I looked for a show to fill in their place and I watched Last Resort. Guess what, seven episodes into the season and the show was called off. They will still air the episodes they've filmed, bringing the total of all the episodes to 13.

  Now my brain considers Last Resort and Prison Break essentially the same thing. I don't know if it's the inner security government conspiracy or the brunette with a father in a power position.

you are the same person.

 Now, unlike what I did with the review of the TV show Suits, here is why Last Resort is awesome and should not be cancelled.

a) sub plots: I love sub plots in shows, books, movies, life (not really), and anything else. This show has at least 3 or 4 stories going on in each episode which is awesome.

b) The crew of the Colorado are not only men but also include female officers, which is really a first in this genre, at least to me.

c) There is this one episode in which the entire island was drugged with a chemical compound which caused hallucinations and whatnot.

d) the island, which due to my limited google-ing skills I couldn't find any pictures of.

e) this guy: Even though he and his 'battalion?' were the reason this whole mess happened and two of his friends died, he thinks he's on a vacation.

d) there's a backstreet boy involved and he's a wuss and I hate him with a passion

e) the bully kid from the first season of Glee is there and he gets shot on the first episode

f) mental breakdown

g) we will have a girls' night sleepover, goddamit

h) There's a guy whose title is Cobb but I have no idea what's his name and he's always ruining everyone's plans and being demeaning to superior ranks

i) one episode, the island's gangster master kidnaps and officer and straps a bomb on her but she doesn't die

j) the lady from the O.C cleaned up really well and then became a DC hotshot.

k) this lady is in it and she's a cool bartender and I love her and I want to be her

l) UNIFORMS

 

 

final rating: ABC, I hate you and hope you never find true love and die alone and cold.

douchebag

The Fault in Our Satrs, John Green, and some other stuff

A couple of weeks ago I read John Green's latest novel, The Fault in Our Stars.

It was beautiful, emotional, witty, smart, funny, lovely, hopeful, and cute.  All the praise to John Green for writing this awesome piece of contemporary fiction.

The style of the writer has many lyrical and poetic touches to it. The book contains many beautiful lyrical quotes, some of my favorites are:

"Grief does not change you, Hazel. It reveals you." -Peter Van Houten
"I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once." -Hazel Grace
"My thoughts are stars I can't fathom into constellations." -Augustus Waters
"What a slut time is. She screws everybody." -Hazel Grace
"Writing does not resurrect. It buries." -Peter Van Houten

I wouldn't say that this nook has much food for thought, but it definitely stirs some ideas in the crock pot that is the human brain. The characters in the book are ridiculously well developed. I can't even begin to describe how well written each character's personality is. When you read the first appearance of any of the character's appearance you immediately understand their role in the story, their morals, their background, their attitude, and yet the characters still develop throughout the book.

I loved the small, inside, and sarcastic jokes. They lightened up the atmosphere of gloom that surrounds a story about two cancer patients falling in love, yet it doesn't lessen the magnitude of seriousness of the story.

I do recommend this book for anyone with a heart. It truly is a book that gives more than it appears to be capable of. It's gripping, funny, intellectual, and cute. I can't emphasize how not sickeningly cute this book is.

Final Rating: 4/5

Almost a week before reading The Fault in Our Stars I read An Abundance of Kathrines.

Now, An Abundance of Kathrines is the one John Green book no one ever talks about. I mean never ever. I was always curious about the reason why no one talked about it. Ever. If you read it you'd know. It is NOTHING you'd expect a John Green book to be. Frankly, it was as if Sarah Dessen wrote it, except the lead character is a boy instead of a girl.

I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it, nor did it stick to my memory. I remember the main outline but none of the events. I don't know if it's because it's a  road trip story or if it's just, well, disappointing. The book left me emotionless and unattached to any of the characters. It wasn't that the book itself wasn't well written; it's that I didn't find the concept nor the main idea itself interesting nor gripping.

I don't think this idea had much potential to be a success, and yet it could have been carried out a little more gracefully.

Final rating: 1/5
John, I'm only harsh about this one because I think you're a genius.

Now, the only reason I read those two is that a little over a year ago I read Looking for Alaska and thought it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever read. The story, like Alaska's blue nail varnish, is electric. It's a to-be-finished-in-one-sitting book. It's the book you reread when you're in a reader's rut. It lights up the thinking light bulb inside your heart, and gives the one inside your brain a start up as well.

It's not every day we see deep thoughts presented through young adult fiction, and that's what made this book even more special. The story is original and unique, the setting is suitably perfect, the characters are extremely well written, and the poetic flare in this book is ridiculously amazing. 

The main character, Pudge, is very easy to relate to, just as the story itself. We all had that moody friend who seemed to know everything and was prettier than any superbly intelligent person you've ever met. You loved that person, you wanted to be close to them. Around them you'd act like a sponge, soaking up every thought or subject they elaborate when talking about. Thinking about what they've said later and finding that whatever side they were on, you were too. You were convinced.

What I liked most was the third part, or the days "after". It showed real struggle, hesitance, fear, love, and hope. It also showed great childishness in characters that grew up too much and too quickly.

the book is really great and touches many interesting subjects, but most of all it makes you think, why am I the way I am? Why do I think and act the way I think and act?

Final rating: 4/5

Note: All the books have really beautiful covers, and my kindle doesn't do the cover designs any justice. so here are some pictures from the internet which I don't own but think are very cool and will put them in my blog anyway

As far as the internet informed me, the rights to three John Green books to be turned into movies have been bought by film studios. Those three are Looking for Alaska, The Fault in Our Stars, and Paper Towns, the latter of which I haven't read yet but am looking forward to.

Currently reading: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Footnote: John Green has a very awesome educational youtube channel called Crash Course in which he teaches history.