Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts

Finally, another book review!

I've been meaning to write more book posts since I've gotten back into reading more often.  Here is one of the latest that I've read...


Shades Of Grey by Jasper Fforde

Rating: 4/5
Recommend: Yes, indeed!!
Quote: ""Okay, this is the wisdom. First, time spent in reconnaissanse is never wasted. Second, almost anything can be improved with the addition of bacon. And finally, there is no problem on Earth that can't be ameliorated by a hot bath and a cup of tea."" 

Jasper Fforde is one of my favorite authors and I always enjoy the satiric way he plays with words. Having read all of Fforde's last books, I knew I wouldn't have trouble enjoying this one. This book is much different than his last few, but his off beat sense of style is very apparent throughout the novel. 

Shades of Grey is the start of a new trilogy set in a dystopian world called Chromatica, a world were the social hierarchy is determined by the colors you can see. Our main character, Eddie Russett, is sent away from his comfortable home town to the Outer Fringes to do a survey for the Colortocracy.  Eddie soon comes to find that the world he once knew has all but dissolved.  His normal, rigid adherence to the rules of the Colortocracy are no longer doing him any good. Eddie, with the help of Jane, a Grey, begins to learn that following the rules will not guarantee merits and safety in the Outer Fringes.  

I wish I could give this book a 5, but the extreme slow pacing in the beginning gave me a rough time.  I had to force myself to read at times, but once everything fell into place I could not stop.  Fforde takes great care in building a story and the world that it takes place in. There's action, humor and the end holds you until the very last pages.  I'm already wishing for a sequel!!

If you've ever read and enjoyed any Jasper Fforde novels, I highly recommend you pick this up!

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone...

Well there is no sun in my neck of the woods today, just rain and wind.  This weather always makes me feel cozy and provides a good reason to stay indoors and read.  So no polish today, but a book review instead!


The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Rating: 5/5
Recommend: Highly
Quote: "So many humans. So many colours. They keep triggering inside me. They harass my memory. I see them tall in their heaps, all mounted on top of each other. There is air like plastic, a horizon like setting glue. There are skies manufactured by people, punctured and leaking, and there are soft, coal-coloured clouds, beating, like black hearts. And then. There is death. Making his way through all of it. On the surface: unflappable, unwavering. Below: unnerved, untied, and undone.” (p.331)


For some reason, I am greatly interested in Holocaust literature, but I couldn't really explain to you why. Just the raw human emotion and devastation that is written about in books like this really grabs me.  I've read children's literature and regular adult lit about the topic, but this was my first Young Adult novel on the topic. This book should be on everyone's shelves. I couldn't put the book down because I became so involved with the character's lives. It isn't about working in the concentration camps or having to survive one, but about a young girl struggling with her adopted family to avoid being noticed by the Nazis.  The novel itself was told from death's point of view and I think this was a fantastic use of the narrative point of view.  Personifying death was grave, but necessary for this book and I think it showed human nature from a perspective seldom seen. 
This book is sad, but never morbid. The author's care in this story is very apparent and provides a sad, but not always bleak view of the Holocaust. 

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