Saturday, September 26, 2009

Six Sentence Saturday - Take Four

Welcome to Six Sentence Saturday.
Where I try to express my thoughts on recent reads using only 6 sentences!!!!.
At the end of each review I will post a
rating scale of 1-5 using the cute and original (lol) Playing Cards.
Rating scale will be as follows:
5 of Hearts- You must read this book NOW!!
4 of Hearts- A great read, put it on your TBR list.
3 of Hearts- Glad I read but no big deal
2 of Hearts- Why did I finish this?
Joker Card - Don't bother (why did I?)

The Castle Corona by Sharon Creech
I first heard about this back during the last readathon - and I think I read it soon after! I found this book to be a very cutesy fairy tale-retelling and I had a lot of fun reading it! Anyone that reads my blog knows that I am quite fond of fairy tales, so this was right up my alley. It is not your conventional fairy tale, though. I am not sure I was exactly blown away by the ending, but I liked watching all the pieces of the novel come together. The characters were enjoyable, as was the story, and so I do recommend this book!Manga Shakespeare: A Midsummer's Night Dream
Manga Shakespeare: Romeo & Juliet

Manga Shakespeare: Hamlet

Manga Shakespeare: The Tempest

I have came along way in terms of graphic novels and reading them, but I have to say very frankly that this series didn't really impress me at all! All four of them came in for me at the library at the same time and I was curious, but I wasn't very impressed. I can understand how they can encourage those less likely to read Shakespeare to read him, but you are really missing out. All this made me do is want to read the original plays, but I haven't found the time to do so yet! They did have their good points, don't get me wrong, but I don't think classics retold as graphic novels work for me, especially since they had to cut so much out of the story. So, I am not a big fan of this series, but I do know other people have really enjoyed them.



Sweethearts by Sara Zarr
Sara Zarr is an author that I have seen around the blogosphere and always wanted to try. I actually was surprised that I liked this book because it is not something that I would normally read, but I guess that is why you should break out of your comfort zone once in a while. Jennifer (Jenna) thinks she has everything that she has always wanted in high school, but she holds on to the memory of her oldest friend and what life was like when she knew him. When he reappears she discovers that things do not always turn out exactly as you plan them to! This was a very good example of what high school can be like and I think Zarr captured it all very well. While I didn't love the book, I am still glad that I read it and will likely read something else by her in the future.




The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I was going to do a proper review for this book, but really, what can I say that hasn't been said before? I enjoyed this book, but I didn't love it as much as other people. I found the storyline was compelling enough to keep me wondering what was going to happen next and to keep me turning pages, but there were aspects of it that I really couldn't bother being interested in. For many the ending was annoying and had a huge cliffhanger, but it didn't really bother me all that much that I was going to have to wait for another book. I liked the characters, but didn't love them, and I thought that the story was pretty original. I will read the entire trilogy for sure, but I am not waving Team Peeta or Team Gale banners with excitement!

Love is Hell by Melissa Marr, Scott Westerfeld, Justine Larbalestier, Gabrielle Zevin, and Laurie Faria Stolarz
I read this for the Melissa Marr and Scott Westerfeld stories, of course! They are both authors that I just discovered this year and really enjoy, so I want to read everything I can from them. I read the entire book, though, and while I found it enjoyable I wouldn't say I loved it. I am not a huge fan of short story collections, but I do try to read them for some diversity. The Marr and Westerfeld stories were both really good, so I am glad I read the collection. I also liked the other stories enough to try out the other authors one of these days!



Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
I read Speak by her a couple years ago and was not really impressed by it like other people were. I decided to give her another chance, though, and I must say that I did like this book better, but I am still not a huge fan of Anderson. I remember the complexities of high school, but I find I have a hard time relating to them in young adult novels. This book was about a young woman battling an eating disorder and I thought that while the subject matter was disturbing, Anderson captured the character really well. I felt for the character, but I couldn't entirely relate and I think that is why I didn't love this book. I do recommend it, though, that's for sure, but advise that it is not for the faint of heart.

5 comments:

  1. I loved every single review you did!! Creech is a pretty solid author and I do need to read this one. At some point I want to read Sweethearts too but I really need to get my butt in gear with The Hunger Games!! Loved Wintergirls!

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  2. It's a relief to see another reader who didn't go absolutely bonkers over Hunger Games! I agree pretty much word for word with your assessment - I liked it, but didn't love it.

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  3. I actually quite like THE HUNGER GAMES. :)

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  4. Great reviews! I really want to read Wintergirls, although I have never read something by the author before, I keep seeing great reviews of it!

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  5. Last week I gave away my Manga Hamlet on Bookmooch. I decided I didn't even like the art enough to keep it. So yeah, not hugely impressed either :P

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