All About The Chocolate War

Well not quite! I finished reading the young adult novel, The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier two days ago, quite perplexed over the ending. Check out my review of the book here.

I then could not wait to start watching its film adaptation. The movie of the same name starred John Glover as the evil and cunning Brother Leon, one of the creepy characters in the book. His performance in the movie was superb. Another one is the intelligent Archie played by Wallace Langham. At the start of the movie, Archie's expression makes me think that he's about to vomit anytime....or probably that's how he looks anyway.

I was not happy with the movie's ending. I think the book was too depressing that a movie version of it cannot afford to be of the same mood. The main character, Jerry, had it worse for him in the book where he had to bear the feelings of grief, loneliness and intimidation. He is even bullied terribly at school. Not much of this was portrayed in the movie so don't avoid the film after reading the book.

Anyway, thanks to the film, I've come to know a new song, a very catchy song that is. In My Room by Yaz or Yazoo. Go listen to it. I feel that it suited the movie so much. I wonder if it was written specially for the movie?

I know that I should continue reading the sequel, Beyond The Chocolate War so as to know how it will end up for the schoolboys at the Trinity Catholic school. But from the description, I already expect for it to be just as depressing as the first book, if not more.

What should I read next???

Oh, do let me know if you have also reviewed The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier. Leave your links and I will add them to my review on my other blog. Thanks!

Day 6 – A book that makes me sad

This is the sixth post of the 30-Day Book Meme.

Day 6 – A book that makes you sad

I do remember reading several books that made me sad until I cried. No, I don't think I bawled like a baby but still, certain books did manage to evoke such strong emotions unlike other books.

But for this question, I'm going to pick a book which did not make me feel the happy kind of 'sad', you know what I mean. For example, Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern. It has a happy ending but I felt a bit teary for the two main characters who had to live almost their whole lives being apart until they realise that they are meant for each other. When they are already in their 50s. That's happy 'sad'.

For the really sad 'sad' kind of book, I'd choose The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne. If you have read the book or already know how it ends, you might understand. This book absorbed all my attention and the ending was even more gripping. I could not stop thinking of the ending even several days after I finished the book. Here is my review of it.

Would you want to share a book that made you sad?

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Today, I finished reading and also reviewed Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella. It is the sixth book in the popular Shopaholic series, which is one of my favourites. :) Do check out my review of the book.

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image taken from here

Here's wishing all my readers and also visitors of this blog a Happy Valentine's Day!

p.s. Did you watch the cute video on the Google homepage today (Feb 14)?

Book Review: The Cardturner by Louis Sachar

I finished reading The Cardturner by Louis Sachar last week. I enjoyed reading it although the story revolves around the card of bridge, a game that I'm not familiar with at all! Even so, I give the book four out of five stars! :) Read my full review here on my book review blog.

Book Review: Beauty and the Beast

Do read this version of Beauty and the Beast that was written and translated into English way back in the 18th century. Be warned, there are no enchanted teapots or saucers or candlesticks in this story. Just Beauty, her father who is a merchant, Beauty's three brothers and two sisters and not forgetting the Beast. The book has around 20++ pages but I read the story on my Kindle. :) You can get the Kindle version for free from Amazon.

Check out my review on my book review blog!

ETA: I just watched the Disney cartoon. Really, really adore the library! Haha!

The book in which love is a disease

I finished reading Delirium by Lauren Oliver two nights ago. I wished it was a stand-alone book but no, there will be two more books after it - Pandemonium and Requiem. The premise is good, what with love being identified as a disease. I couldn't wait to get started when I read the synopsis.

The book could have been better though. :/ Click here to check out my review.

Book Review: Mr Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange

I finished reading somebody else's diary two days ago. Well don't get too excited, it's only the diary of Mr Darcy, the dream guy from Jane Austen's novel, Pride and Prejudice. Haha!

I recently found out that Mr Darcy's Diary was published in 2007. Wow, I didn't know about it till Jane Austen's birthday last year when this book was available free for download on Amazon.

Anyway, reading the book was enjoyable. It was engaging, interesting and I literally couldn't put it down. It's one of those books that I really couldn't wait to continue reading.

Why, you ask? Okay, it's partly because I was curious about what Mr Darcy thought about almost everything - Elizabeth, her family, Bingley, Caroline (some shocking ones here!) and everything else.

You may check out my review of this book on my other blog. :)

I was supposed to read Dead Girls Don't Write Letters before this but made a detour with Mr Darcy's Diary. I think my next book is The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. But I also read Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick until page 50 when I was in the bookstore the other day. So it's gonna be either one of these books.

Just finished reading a mystery!

I woke up this morning to finish reading the last few chapters of Written in Blood by Sheila Lowe. It was only like four chapters left last night but I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore even though it was one of exciting parts! Oh well. Check out my review of this book on my other blog!

Like what I mentioned in my review, it's not all blood and gore in the story. I don't really know why such a title was picked either. But yeah, you can expect from the book a whole lot of mystery, suspense and a romance thrown in. Quite a quick and engaging read.

Now, what do I want to read next? Give me a moment. I'm gonna get up and walk over to the bookshelves.

...and I'm back. I picked out Dead Girls Don't Write Letters by Gail Giles. I bought this book around two or three years ago on eBay. Just now I was visiting the blog, Presenting Lenore and she mentioned this book in one of her posts. So I have decided to read this today.

What I read last week

I'm quite surprised but so far, January has been a pretty good reading month. I try to read on my off days instead of only watching TV! Nothing really spectacular, just good enough for me though I still hope to read more books!

It's been a YA reading month. :) Here's what I read so far (click on the links to read my reviews):

Della Says: OMG! by Keris Stainton

Loving April by Melvin Burgess

Wish by Alexandra Bullen

Book review: Shopaholic & Baby

I'm happy to have written a book review today.

Check out my review of Shopaholic & Baby by Sophie Kinsella! Wow, I've been absent from the blogging world for like three weeks? Or was it a month? Oh well, I've been terribly busy with work. It sucks the energy and time out of me. I'm so happy that I have today and tomorrow off! Man, I really do need a break.

What to read next? Oooh, there's plenty to read, no worries! :)

Book review: Shopaholic Ties the Knot

Check out my review of Shopaholic Ties the Knot by Sophie Kinsella!

Book review: The Korean Palace of Honolulu

Yesterday, I reviewed The Korean Palace of Honolulu by Linda Mi-Suk Enos. Click on the link to read my review.

N.B. It was a "Did Not Finish" book for me.

Finished reading The Devil Wears Prada

Do check out my review of The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger.

If you have reviewed this book, please leave the links in the review's comment section.

Finished reading I Capture the Castle

Do check out my review of I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.

Have you reviewed this book? Please leave me the link to your review!

***Have you joined my current giveaway? Check it out here!

Finished reading the Emily Dickinson book

Yay! I've finished savouring The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson and my review of it is up on my other blog. Do check it out! :)

Click on the link below to read my review:
The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson by Jerome Charyn

Mini review: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really wanted to find out what the hype was all about when it came to this book. It was banned due to the offensive language found inside and yeah, almost every page had offensive language or words that were deemed offensive.

Well, it certainly was a great experience reading this book. Holden Caulfield is an extraordinary character. I already knew the ending and read on to see how it went.

Holden is a depressed kid who only sees the pretentious side of everybody and everything. Therefore, he uses the word 'phony' loads of times. He also kept saying many things depressed him.

It's told from the first person point of view. It's also not like any book I've read. Some might call it a depressing book since the protagonist is so pessimistic and all. But I would definitely recommend this book to everyone as it is really thought-provoking.

Full review here

New Moon Review Is Up!

Check it out at BooksLoveMe.Com!
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

Finally, I wrote the review. And I like this font (Kristen ITC) so much! I'm searching for new interesting fonts. There are tons of interesting-looking fonts waiting to be downloaded and made use of. Too bad I can't use all I like. =)

Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones

This is the fourth Diana Wynne Jones book (272 pages) that I have read and it is also much better than Hexwood. Maybe because Charmed Life was a lot easier to read, as the language was simple and there were not many complicated names.

Eric and Gwendolen Chant were most unfortunate when their parents died during their family day trip. Then, they were sent to live with their neighbour, Mrs. Sharp. Mrs. Sharp was a certified witch and she was glad to have the children to stay with her. She was also interested in Gwendolen because she was a witch too. Eric, or Cat, as Gwendolen calls him, seems like a normal boy with no magical powers.

Gwendolen was then sent for magic lessons at Mr. Henry Nostrum’s place. He was very proud of her because she’s a very gifted witch and has the potential to rule the world. Well, that was what he told her.

One day, Chrestomanci paid the Chants a visit and invited them to live with him at Chrestomanci Castle. Gwendolen was ecstatic to be going there and it was her who wrote to him in the first place, telling him about her parents’ death. It seemed that Chrestomanci was somehow related to the Chants. Cat was not that excited to go there at all. He would miss Mrs. Sharp terribly.

The young Chants arrive at Chrestomanci Castle to find its surroundings were filled with magic. I like the way Jones described that you could smell magic or feel the magic in the air. I wonder how it’s like to smell magic!

Anyway, Gwendolen expected to be treated like a queen and waited on hand and foot. However, she was thoroughly disappointed when they did not fuss over her like how Mrs. Sharp and Mr. Nostrum did. Furthermore, she was not allowed to have magic lessons with Chrestomanci’s children, Roger and Julia.

I found that things got very interesting when nearing the end of the book. I also believe that this book is the first part of the Chrestomanci series. In other words, this book should be the first book in the Chrestomanci series to be read. The next one to read would be The Lives of Christopher Chant.

Roots by Alex Haley

Roots, which is written by Alex Haley is undoubtedly the best, heart-warming book I have ever read. It is the story of Kunta Kinte, who is from Africa. He is an extremely brave, loyal young man from a small village, Juffure, in The Gambia.

He has turned 17 and was very excited because he has become a man. But unfortunately, things did not turn out the way he would like it to be. One day, while he was out chopping wood to make a drum, he was abducted and sent on a slave ship to the New World to become a slave.

In America, a John Waller, who treated him like dirt, bought him. Kunta tried to escape 4 times but he was caught and finally, the slave-catchers cut off his right foot. He was then sold to John Waller's brother, a doctor who treated his slaves better.

Kunta got married and had a daughter, Kizzy. She was taken from her parents to become a slave to another master. He used her for his own pleasure and she had a mulatto baby, George. George grew up to be fighting cock trainer. He got married and had kids, too. So, the story goes on until Alex Haley was born.

When he was a young boy, he would hear stories of Kunta Kinte, who claimed he was from Africa and was also very proud of his homeland. Then, Alex Haley set out to find out the true story of Kunta and his history. It took him 12 years to complete the book.

Really, read it for yourself and you will learn a lot. It made me appreciate that I have my family with me now and I have no one torturing me till I bleed, half-dead, and practically losing hope of ever getting the chance to be free again. This book deserves 5 out of 5 stars!

I read this book in 2004. It took me 3 whole weeks to finish this book!

Hexwood by Diana Wynne Jones

Finally, I finished reading Hexwood (384 pages) by Diana Wynne Jones! Honestly, it was a difficult book to read, as it was utterly complicated. Even after I’ve finished the book, I still don’t understand some parts and I think I’ll have to read 4 or 5 more times to fully comprehend the whole story. I don’t think I can bear to read it again anyway. I’m considering selling the book off on eBay!

The story starts with a letter from Hexwood Farm to the Sector Controller Borasus, complaining about an ancient machine called the Bannus, which had been intentionally activated one of the clerks.

Then, there are 5 Reigners who control everything in the universe. Well, the present 5 Reigners are bad ones because they had cheated the Bannus many years ago. The Bannus’ job is to pick up 5 Reigners, each from different Houses, every 10 years, if I’m not mistaken.

One day, Ann, a 12-year-old girl who lives near Hexwood farm wanders into the wood. In the wood, in a weird and bizarre incident, she meets Mordion, the Reigners’ Servant. A Reigner Servant is responsible for killing people on the Reigners’ orders. However, Mordion hates the Reigners very much and wished to take revenge on them.

He creates Hume out of his and Ann’s blood. Mordion plans to train Hume so that Hume can finish off the Reigners for him. But later on, he realized how cruel it was to train Hume to do such a thing and did not want Hume to do the dirty job for him anymore.

There are more characters and even more complex events after that. This is the first book that I don’t particularly like from Diana Wynne Jones. I hope her other books would not be like this, too!

Calvin & Hobbes - The Best Cartoon Ever!

I started reading Calvin & Hobbes when I was in my primary school years mainly because it was a comic! The comics are colourful, humorous and incredibly entertaining. I used to read C&H for hours. Calvin is smart yet stupid at the same time.

He uses big, bombastic words but he is frightfully hopeless in Math. His best friend is a stuffed tiger toy, Hobbes, which he imagines is a real and talking tiger.

He detests girls and loves to bully his classmate and neighbour, Susie Derkins. I truly enjoy the ones where there are Calvin and Susie. Susie is smart and friendly. Unfortunately, Calvin stubbornly remains unfriendly and hostile towards her. However, it may be possible that he likes her!

He frequently gives his teacher, Miss Wormwood, lots of headaches. He is also afraid of Moe, a big but not-that-smart bully who always asks him for money. Moe calls Calvin ‘Twinky’.

Calvin is also afraid of his teenage babysitter, Rosalyn. Rosalyn also considers him a little monster but she baby-sits him because she needs the money for college. Something always goes wrong when she comes over to baby-sit him for the evening.

His mom loves to throw him out of the house as he is always making a mess in there. His dad tells him things, which are not quite true. It seems that Calvin’s dad is a resemblance of the comic’s author, Bill Watterson.

The characters in Calvin & Hobbes never grow old. Calvin will be 6 years old forever. It would be awfully interesting if he did grow. But, I guess Mr. Watterson had no plans of making him older!

It’s still fun reading the comics anyway. =D I wonder how many Calvin & Hobbes books are there in total. There is a box set - The Complete Calvin and Hobbes - that includes ALL of Calvin & Hobbes comics and would be a must-have treasure for any Calvin & Hobbes fans. It is also priced at a whopping $90.00!