Bonnie's Story by Janis Hill

Since this book is subtitled "a blonde's guid to mathematics", I thought it was gonna be one of those books that explain math in simple terms. But I was wrong - this book is a novel centered around maths.

And it's not science fiction.

Now that your minds have wrapped itself around this concept, let me get on with the review. To put it bluntly, this book is actually pretty good. It doesn't have any actual maths in it, but it's definitely entertaining.

But the reason I like this book is because of Bonnie, our lead character. She becomes the token girl in a group of geek guys (ok, there's another girl called Clara, but she's actually smart and science-orientated), which is something I could totally relate to. You see, I used to be the only girl in an all-boys robotics club, and was also the token girl (after two years, the only thing that I've learnt was how to clone a simple (part of a) robot. I can't program (I tried in Primary School and it failed), and I probably never will.

In fact, I acted like Bonnie - bossing people around and making them clean up the place. Hmmm.... I wonder if that's what all token girls do.

Well, Bonnie does turn out to have a special gift, but it's not that related to science. And well, since the book is called Bonnie's story, it's basically about how she met her boyfriend Rogan (and by extension, all those science people) and well, a problem that faced them (mind-controlling people after technology that could take over the world. As Kim Possible says "no biggie" - wait, does she say that? I don't know)

Even if you're not a science/math person, you will probably still understand this book. The only thing that you need to enjoy the book is a liking of humour and romance.

Side note: There's nothing explicit in this book, but there are references. That means that I wouldn't recommend this to kids or pre-teens/young teenagers.

Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.

The Giant Slayer (The Grimm Chronicles #7) by Isabella Fontaine and Ken Brosky

Oh yay! Book 7 of the Grimm Chronicles is out! I'm really loving this mini-series, and since they're all quite short (this book is 88 pages in PDF format), it's like having a mini-treat!

I mean those one-bite treats. Like cookie-dough pops! Ok, I'm gonna stop before I start making sweets that I ultimately give away because I made way too much and won't eat it anyway.

But to get back to the story, The Giant Slayer follows Alice as she leaves the 'safety' of America to go to Hungary (on the way to a fencing competition in Romania . The only catch is that the entire trip is funded by Sam Grayle, that corrupted dwarf. While he's only in the first few chapters of the book, you should know that the fact that he's not the most powerful being in the world bodes very ill for Alice.

While I enjoyed the story, I think that Alice's personal problems are starting to take over the whole Hero thing. There are three fairytales in this story, but due to a prophecy, she's doing some insecure thing that isn't helping her relationship with Chase. I understand where she's coming from, but this makes her more like any other YA heroine that's been appearing nowadays.

Seth, while in this book, also seems to be given less air-time. I really hope to see more of him in the next book. On the bright side, we do see more of Alice's fencing friends, which makes me think that fencing really could be what helps her fit into school.

I really really can't wait for the next book!

Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book as part of the Enchanted Blog Tours in exchange for a free and honest review.

This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

I was so happy when I started reading this book! I thought it was going to be something like Life on the Refrigerator Door (link to review), but instead of using notes, it would be done through email. But alas, most of the novel is written normally.

But, it's still a really good novel. This Is What Happy Looks Like (henceforth TIWHLL, oh forget it. I don't think I'll need to use the title again) follows Ellie O' Neil, a girl living in "Middle-of- Nowhere Maine", and ultra famous movie star Graham Larkin as they meet for the first time. Previously, they had only emailed one another, which started because of a misspelled email address. So it was really chance that brought them together.

And isn't chance sweet? Both of the characters are so lovable and make such a great pair. Despite being a huge star, Graham is still down-to-earth and is so sweet! (I prefer a nice guy over the misunderstood bad boy). Ellie is really a small-town girl, but she (and her mom) hide a fairly huge secret that blows up in the novel.

From that last sentence, you should be able to guess how the climax of the novel goes. I won't tell you anymore, but you should know that the plot is largely character driven. Personally, I think it really fits the story, but if you need a big plot  (taking over the world, defeating a secret society, etc) you might find this book too slow for your tastes.

This is a very sweet book and I highly recommend it!

How to Read Literature by Terry Eagleton

As you can see my the title, I'm in the "I'VE FORGOTTEN ALL MY LITERATURE HELPPP" sort of mood. Yeah, it pops up every now and then now that I no longer have literature as a class (I know, I'm weird).

So this book is a sort of refresher course. It's divided into five parts: "Openings", "Character", "Narrative", "Interpretation" and "Value". Of the five parts, I liked the last two the best. Why? Because it was something that I hadn't really considered before. The first three..... well, it would be useful if this is your first exposure to Literature, but if you've studied it before, you might find what he says to be a refresher.

Let's think about "Interpretation". We (my lit classes), used to joke that as long as you give enough supporting evidence, you could argue anything for a piece of text. And Terry Eagleton does exactly that. He interpreted the nursuary rhyme "Baa Baa Black Sheep" into a poem that depicts a power struggle very well, assuming that there are two speakers. If you didn't grow up singing the rhyme, you would probably think "hmmmm he's got a point." If you're like me and have three younger siblings, you'll probably have listen/sung the rhyme so much the first reaction is "yeah right". So which response is right? Well, he spends the rest of the chapter debating the subject. That alone would make the book worth recomending, but he adds on the "Value" chapter.

"Value" looks at the age-old question "What makes a book literary?" This question is way more important than you think, because face it, would you consider Harry Potter literary? (Especially if you think that the Narnia series does). What about Twilight or any similar books?

Lastly, writing style. The author, I think he's trying to be funny. I don't know because his type of humour is not my type of humour. I can see when he's being funny, and I can imagine people laughing, but my reaction is ".... ok". It's really a personal preference thing.

For the discussion in those two chapters alone, I'd recommend the book to Literature students. However, if you're a total beginner, I'd recommend "How to read Literature" or "How to read a Novel" because the writing style is more accesible.

Schoolgirl Cinderella by Priya Narendran

Let's move Cinderella to the modern times. And make her a schoolgirl. That's bascially Schoolgirl Cinderella in a nutshell.

Our 'Cinderella' (Briony), becomes the poor overworked maid when her parents die in a tragic accident, leaving the horrid Mrs Eyres in charge of her parent's school. And since Mrs Eyres was previously fired by her father (shortly before the fatal accident in fact), she can't wait to vent her anger by turning the precious daughter into a maid of sorts.

And for our 'Prince Charming', is the heir to a huge biscuit factory, making him the most elligible bachelor in town (Tom). But when he serendipitously meets Cinderella, sparks fly, and I believe you know the story.

Personally, I really like the re-telling. I think it's quite a good version, if not for one problem - the old 'show not tell' problem.

Maybe it's because this book is written in present tense (It's not exactly my favourite form of narrative - and one I think is very hard to do successfully), but I felt like I was being told how the characters felt and why they acted. That meant that characters that should have been engaging and likable felt like cardboard pieces. And sometimes, I didn't understand the character motivation. Sure, I knew why they did it, but I didn't believe it.

I think that's the only flaw in this otherwise good re-telling.

Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book as part of the Enchanted Book Tours in exchange for a free and honest review.

Happy Mother's Day!

Today's Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day mommy! I miss you!

And if you're wondering what I gave her, well, there's a present, but since I was told not to mail stuff back anymore, I "gave" her an e-magazine too.

If you're looking for the link, here it is! Feel free to share this with your moms.

A Glove Shop in Vienna by Eva Ibbotson

I say this every time I talk about her books, but I first knew of Eva Ibbotson from her novel Journey to the River Sea (which was a recommendation from a friend. And I remember spending a week's allowance at the travelling bookstore in the canteen just to get my own copy). So quite a few novels later, I found her book of short stories.

There's a really strong Russian-influence in this story. Well, Russia and Eastern Europe. It really does make me want to learn Russian, but I have other classes that clash with this. Perhaps I can take a class next year. But anyway, back to the Russian-influence. A lot of the novels involve a Russian protagonist, or is even set in Russia. If not, it's probably in Eastern Europe, and the last story should be set in England. Quite Europe-ish, if you like that sort of thing (which I do).

And I remember reading this somewhere, but most of her stories revolve around a "great love". That is true. There is always a great love, and sometimes it's tragic, sometimes it's not. You'd think that this would get repetitious, but it doesn't - I loved all the stories. The exception I can think of would be the first story, which is about about the Christmas Angel and growing up. I think that would be my favourite story, because of how much the protagonist learns. And probably because it's not about romance, like the other stories.

It's making me mushy.... But seriously, I'm quite amazed at how this doesn't feel similar to the other YA romances out there nowadays. YA nowadays is very "we're both special (and possible mortal enemies but our forbidden love will triumph".  At least, it's like that to me! But somehow, even if the love is forbidden in this collection, it feels nothing like all the YA novels. If you're looking for something different, I highly recommend this.

If you love Eva Ibbotson's other novels, you'll probably love this. And if you like stories with a European influence, you'll also like this. Give it a try!