Summer 2014 Wrap-Up part one (the summer books)

According to my goodreads account I've read 16 books, out of which 7 can be tagged "summer". You know what I mean - the sweet, cute, funny, romantical stories everyone loves reading (especially on the beach ... where I haven't been for a few years). I liked all of them, but who doesn't like these books, right? :) I don't read this genre very often (unless you think of GoT as a romance :) ), so it was a nice rest from all the mysteries, thrillers and heartbreaking novels ( John Green I'm looking at you ... ).

The first book I've read was To all the boys I loved before by Jenny Han. Since everyone on booktube was talking about it, I had to read it too and to my great surprise it was worth it! At first I was discouraged by the cover, which to me looks like something my 12 year old self would have enjoyed, but I thought "Why would everyone love it so much if it was bad, right?" 
Now it's been three months since I've read it and the book doesn't really stand out for me anymore. All the stories are being mixed up in my head, but I don't think that really matters. I think we all like these books, because of the predictability. We know that the characters are going to stay together, we just don't know how and when it's going to happen. There's something calming in reading a book that you know how's going to end. It may not be as exciting as other books, where you're almost afraid to turn the page, expecting your favourite character to be stabbed in the stomach (boy that escalated quickly ...), but sometimes it's nice to just read and not have to think about anything. Does that make sense? So I decided not to write about each book, but just to give you a list. Some of them may not be exactly viewed as "summer books" but this is my list, my rules.

Here's the list of my summer "summer" reads:

An abundance of Katherines by John Green  (is my least favourite, but still good)

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (maybe my expectations were too high because of all the hype, but I  haven't enjoyed it as much as everyone else seemed to, but it was still a great read)

 Lola and the boy next door by Stephanie Perkins (was as good as Anna and the French Kiss which I loved!)

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins (is my favourite of the triology. And my favourite of the summer reads as well. That says something ...)

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour (The ending here is obvious, but the way to it? Not so much)

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (The only non-YA book here, but still fun to read. A lot of fun actually!)

And what about you? Do you like to read romantic fiction during summer days? Or do you stay with your favourite genres all year long? Have you read any of these book or any similar one? Let me know in the comments, I'd love to know what you think!

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

I'm not sure if it's better to write about a book right after I've finished the last page or to let the thoughts settle down for a while. With Gone Girl I chose the second option, because , guys (!) that book is just so ...  ? :)

The book has two parts. The first one (and actually the second one too...) is told by Nick (a New Yorker and a former journalist living in North Carthage with his wife Amy) and by Amy , but in the form of diary entries. Nick finds out that his wife Amy has gone missing and their house looks somewhat strange so naturally he immediately calls the police. The story develops to the end of the firs part, where everything seems very bad for Nick and then *bang* - Part two! 
               I will leave out spoilers and just say that GG is full of plot twists and unexpected events that will keep you up long into the night (or through maths class ;) )

So lets talk about the characters for a while, because these are not "just another characters from another book", they are very remarkable and that was a big part of the story, because have they not been so interesting and unpredictable, non of it could ever happen.

Nick used to be a journalist in NY, but he lost his job due to downsizing. Both his parents are sick so he decides to move to North Carthage to help his sister take care of them and they run a small pub together. At first he seems like an average guy but as he goes deep into the investigation he reveals a hidden side of his personality.

Amy is a daughter of famous writing couple, who have made a fortune by publishing Amazing Amy books (based on Amys life although they say it's not) and that must changed her early in her childhood. She's pretty and smart, but also cunning and vindictive (Is that a spoiler?).

Then there's Nick sister, who I think was the most "normal" of the family (she's my favourite character in this book btw.), Nick's dad and Amy's parents and the police officers, of which all but one think that Nick the one to blame (and the only one changes her mind too later in the book ... poor Nick).

OK so as lazy as I am I still haven't finished this review and after all the time that has passed I can't remeber exactly what i thought, so I'll leave it as it is. I think you can already guess what my opinion on this book is (was) and with the movie coming you'll hear about it a lot. 

 Lesson learned for me: never leave a post unfinished, it's going to stay in the concept folder for ever! 

Have a nice day ...

Memento movie

Do you think that Inception with its dream within a dream within a dream concept is confusing? And what about a story told backwards? Memento is a Christopher Nolan film from 2000. It's based on a short book written by his brother Jonathan. 

Leonard (Guy Pearce) can’t create new long-term memories as a result of assault at his home when his wife was raped and killed by John G. The last thing he remembers is his wife, dying. Now Leonard wants to find and kill John G, but looking for someone when you don't remember what happened 5 minutes ago can be quite hard. In order to remember what he knows, Leonard tattoos information on his body and he takes polaroid pictures of everyone he meets and writes down who they are and what does he think of them. The movie beggins with a picture of a guy named Tedd that carries a clear message: He's the one, kill him. And so he does. The next scene beggins in motel room and ends where the first scene began. Between colorful scenes are black-and-white sequence, that beggins in a motel room where Leonard is on the phone with an anonymous person and here the story evolves in chronological order. At the end of the movie the black-and white sequence changes into a color sequence and from that point the story continues only chronologicaly.

Early in the movie it was pretty easy to follow what actually happend, but by the end I was confused. But I didn't really mind, I was enjoying it. The structure of the movie puts you in the same place as Leonard is. You know what needs to be done, but you don't know what happened. Do you know this person? Is he your friend? Is he who he says he is? Is Johny G the one who killed your wife? And is she really dead? I felt sorry for Leonard, not only because what happened to him, but also because everyone around him was using his "memory thing" and manipulating him to their own benefits. 

Overall I liked the movie a lot. I wasn't bored a single time, not even for a second, because the movie simply forces you to focus on it. I'm not a movie critic and I can't tell whether someones acting is good or bad, but it felt to me like all the characters were really them. And I know a movie is good when i think about it for next few days and this made me think about it a lot ;) 

Have you seen the movie? And what do you think? Did you like it or was it just another movie, you'll probably forget by the end of the week? Let me know in the comments!

Btw I watched another movie yesterday (Only Lovers Left Alive) and absolutely loved it! There's definitely going to be a post on it.

May Wrap-up part 2

Hi! Today I'm going to finish my May wrap-up. The first four books I've read in May are in the part 1 (surprisingly ;) )

I saw the movie based on the fifth book before I read it so I knew what lay ahead, yet it was an intense experience (pretty rough too). It's Requiem for a Dream by Hubert Selby Jr. (directed by Darren Aronofsky) and if you read it or watched the movie then you know what I'm talking about. It's a story about three heroin addicted friends and mom of one of the boys (she's taking too much diet pills). They all dream of a better life, but in real life you don't always get what you want. Don't expect it to be a happy ending story, because it deffintely isn't, but I think that not all books are written to make us feel safe or comfortable. Btw the book made it's way to my favourites list ;) 

 

The sixth book is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It's about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his home land to Africa. Along the way he meets diferent kinds of people (some more real than others) and learns to trust his heart and believe in himself. It's a vivid and warming novel, which was exactly what I needed after The Requiem for a Dream. And i put it on my favourites list too ...

And finally the last book of May is The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. And if you've never heard of this book I have to ask you something: Are you sure you have been on earth for past two or so years? Because this book is everywhere now! It was the second time i read it, because I wanted to refresh my memory before watching the movie. And I like this book, but it's not my favourite John Green book. And in case you are from Mars here's a picture of the book: 

 

... I'm just joking. I know that some people have an actuall life, go to work, study etc. and not just sit behind their computer for several hours a day watching youtube videos and tumblr ... :D

 Enjoy the rest of the weekend and DFTBA

May Wrap-up part 1

So this month's been quite succsessful in terms of reading. I've finished 7 books (wow) and I'm reading 8th one, which is The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden.
 The first book of the month May was The Winger by Andrew Smith. I gave it 5 stars out of 5 on goodreads and added it to my favourites shelf so i don't need to say how i loved it. This is not a review so I won't go into details, but i'll just say one thing: don't judge a book by it's cover. And by that I mean just don't! And prepare yourself for a big shock!

The second book was The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz. It's about a boy called Oscar who is a overweight nerd Dominican living in New Jersey with his mom and sister. He belives that his family is haunted by the fukú - a curse that's been in his family for several generations. I liked this book, but the problem was that there was a lot of Spanish which I can't speak and also the writing style was quite hard for me to understand, but as I got deeper in the book I got used to it and by the end I was actually enjoying it! I gave it 3 stars, but I think that if i read it in czech I'd give it more (At least it made me realize that my english is not as good as I'd like to think ;) )

After that I read a duology called If I Stay by Gayle Forman. The first book's narrator is seventeen ­year-old Mia, who's the only survivor of a car accident. Both her parents and her brother died and as she's having an out-of-body experience she has to decide whether to stay or go. The sequel called Where she went is narrated by Mia's boyfriend Adam who tells what happend after the first book. I know that this is a spoiler but as the second book was already released it's quite obvious that Mia survived ...

 

I almost forgot to say that a movie based on the first book is going to be released on 22nd of August (directed by R.J Cutler).
That's everything for today - I decided to split it in two parts, because it would be a long post :)
Have a great time!