Dice Living...??? #1

Today I want to post something that isn't book related...well technically it is. Today I learned about Dice Living which is basically letting fate decide what you do with your life. There is a book called the Dice Man that I really want to read but today i'm using the dice to decide which book I read next because I have far too many options so below are my options and under that i'll post what I rolled.

1. Wicked by Sara Shepherd
2. What I Did On My Holiday by Chrissie Manby
3. A Storm of Swords Part 2 by George R. R. Martin
4. Kiss Me I'm Irish by Various Authors
5. Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
6. Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

And I rolled:

4 

That means for the night i'll be reading Kiss Me I'm Irish which is a really good thing because i've been seriously neglecting this book.

Hopefully i'll check back tomorrow and see if I get a different book.

Speak to you all soon 

Leigh xoxo

Thoughts thoughts thoughts...

Hey everyone,

So I feel like i'm really not doing much for this blog very often any more and I really want to do more reviews since it's been a while. I stopped doing A Song of Ice and Fire reviews simply because I feel like I don't do them justice but i'd really like to do some more reviews on smaller and easier to talk about books. 

But, here is the dilemma, I am only at 41 in my book reading challenge with just over 2 months to go and so I really need to concentrate on making it to 50 but all of the books that I seem to be reading are sequels and it has been too long since I read the first book that I can't remember everything about the first book. 

One thing that I really really want to do is a series review of every one of the Southern Vampire Mysteries including the short stories but that would involve reading the whole series again and reviewing each one as I go.

The next thing is that i'm not going to be doing a challenge next year and instead of hauls each month i'm going to do a wrap up of what I read each month meaning that I could re-read some books and do some more reviews.

Let me know if anyone has any ideas that they would like me to do or any recommendations and i'll talk to you all soon,

Leigh xoxo 

Books to Films Series #6 - The Road

The Road - Cormac McCarthy
Book...

This one is a difficult one to write about simply because I was forced to read this book for higher English and I really didn't like it at all. The whole idea sounded really good and it was the first book of it's type that I read and I was surprised by how much I disliked it. The whole story was boring and repetitive and I didn't fall in love with any of the characters. Even the little boy who's name I can't even remember didn't catch my attention and I didn't care what happened to him.

Film...

The film was just as boring as the book was for me and really didn't make me anymore interested, I thought that maybe the film would help me to understand the book more but it only served to confuse me more. I really didn't like the film and the whole thing was really weird, very close to the book but not at all entertaining.

Comparison...

PLOT...

The plot of the film and book are very close which I wasn't expecting and if you loved the book I would definitely recommend the film to you but bear in mind it's a very melancholic book and the film is just as bad. But I know many people enjoyed the book and so those people may enjoy the film more than I did.

CHARACTERS...

I didn't connect with the characters at all in the book or the film, the characters are nameless and this added to my dislike of the characters, you would expect me to relate more to unnamed characters but for me it just made them all the more boring and unlikable.

Books to Films Series #5 - Jane Eyre

Book...

The first time that I read this book was when I went on holiday to Gran Canaria in 2008 and I loved it although I had seen the TV Series on BBC1 so I already knew the plot which I think helped me understand it much better. The story is the perfect romance and is also a little Romeo and Juliet-esque which I adore because as you all know i'm a sucker for a good romance.

Film...

Technically this wasn't a film that I saw it was actually the TV Series in 2006 which I will link here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Eyre_(2006_miniseries)

So this is the first version that I ever saw and since then i've watched little bits of others but none of them can compete with this, I love the cast and the story is so well portrayed that I could watch it again and again.

Comparison...

PLOT...

Ok so for plot this book to film adaption is pretty well done and I really enjoyed it, as I saw the series first I knew the basic outline of the book and it really didn't disappoint. Often I find if I watch the film first I enjoy the book more and with this it was exactly like that, if i'd read the book first i'm not 100% sure whether i'd have understood it as well as I did especially when picturing the landscape, characters and the house where Jane goes to work.

CHARACTERS...

Ahh where to start, the girl who plays Jane is very pretty in an unusual way and she really was a good actress which I liked because she made the part seem believable and Mr Rochester in this version, and this version only, is an absolute babe. He is sexy and mysterious and I found myself falling in love with him along with Jane, he is by far one of my favourite choices of actor to portray a character that i've ever come across.   

Another Book Tag

What are you reading right now?

A Storm of Swords Part 1: Steel and Snow by George R. R. Martin.

Do you have any idea what you’€™ll read when you a€™re done with that?

Probably A Storm of Swords Part 2: Blood and Gold funnily enough.

What magazines do you have in your room right now?

Love it! But that's all.

What’€™s the worst thing you were ever forced to read?

Nineteen Eighty-Four, for 4th year English

What’€™s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?

A Game of Thrones it's amazing, I adored it so much even though I was so sure that it wasn't my thing at all.

Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don’t they?

Nope. I never go to the library. I prefer to buy books from a bookstore or online.

Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don’€™t like it at all?

The Selection by Kiera Cass, I don't understand why it has so many bad reviews when I loved it so much. 

Do you read books while you eat? While you bathe? While you watch movies or TV? While you listen to music? While you’€™re on the computer? While you’re having sex? While you’€™re driving?

While I eat? Nope, While I bathe? I haven't but it sounds like a good idea, While I watch TV? Nope it puts me off, While you listen to music? Yes and people don't think it's possible. I'm not actually listening to the music though i'm just drowning out the sounds around me, While  you're on the computer? Yes, While you're having sex? This one made me laugh but no, While you're driving? I don't drive so no plus that's probably not very safe unless you are stuck in traffic.

When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits?

No, I never told anyone that I liked reading at all up until I picked it back up again this year. Now one of my friends thinks that i'm weird for having a book blog but not for reading.

What’€™s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?

A Clash of Kings but not for a good reason, I just wanted to finished the thing because it was getting so boring.

Thank you

I just wanted to  post a little Thank you to everyone who has been reading my blog, i've recently reached 200 views which for me is a huge achievement. Please feel free to leave me a comment or to follow me to keep up to date with my posts.

Again thank you for all your interest in my blog, it means so much to me.

Leigh xoxo

Books to Films Series #4 - The Time Travelers Wife

Book...

This book is one that I found very confusing, you have to pay very close attention to the beginning of each chapter where it states Henry's age and Claire's age but apart from that it is an amazing book. It's pretty long and the writing is pretty small so it takes a bit of work to get through it but in the end it's very good. The story is special in the fact that the main character Henry DeTamble is a time traveller, now as someone who is not a huge fan of Sci-fi this turned me off at first but I loved the romance aspect so much that it only added to my overall love of this book. I honestly believe that this is one book that I would recommend to any lover of romance, however, the film also does the book justice which is rare and should definitely be watched.

Film...

I adore this film. I've watched this umpteen times and I love it so much, it's a warm-hearted romance with a twist unlike any other that i've seen. The film is very easy to understand because you can see the characters and what age they are and it's also easy to tell the year because, more often than not, they mention it. The way in which the story is portrayed in Film form is very well done which doesn't always happen and as with a few others there are not huge amounts of plot left out.

Comparison...

PLOT...

The plot of the book is very complex and each chapter names the date, Henry's age and Claire's age, this is because often Claire is only a young child and Henry is in his 30's visiting from the future or occasionally Henry visits his younger self from the future. The film's plot is very close to the book with very little changes or parts missed out, this is the reason why I believe it is one of the best adaptions that i've seen.

CHARACTERS...

I adored the characters in this story and found them really easy to relate to, Henry is a strong handsome guy and Claire is a beautiful girl and I think the actors that were casted for the roles were absolutely perfect. I had seen the film before I read the book so I already had the picture of the characters in my head but even since reading the book I think they are very well suited.

A Clash of Kings Review

Hey everyone,

The first thing I have to say is that A Clash of Kings definitely wasn't as good as A Game of Thrones but I still managed to work my way through it albeit much much slower than the first book. 

Because these books are  so complex the way that I plan to explain everything that happens is to break it down into each main character but please note THIS WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!

As with the previous book this book is written in the viewpoint of a number of characters, however as we lost one of the main characters in the first book his chapters have obviously not appeared in this book.

The book also contains two new viewpoint characters; Theon Greyjoy and Davos Seaworth.

Tyrion Lannister is of course back, and I think that he is one character that will be there until the very end. In this book he has absolutely tons of chapters, more then everyone else in the books at least. In this book the kingdom are all fighting for the Iron Throne as Joffrey is currently the king and everyone has been told about the fact that he is not the true heir as he was born of incest between Cersei Lannister and her twin brother Jaime. Tyrion does not particularly want his nephew on the throne either but he doesn't really have a choice. In this book Tyrion's chapters really bored me, the only thing getting me through them was his sense of humour.

Catelyn was as annoying as the first book through this one and I still haven't grown to like her. I have nothing to say about her chapters apart from the fact that she is with Robb while he is fighting wars. I really don't like her character at all and I feel that it would be so much more interesting if we had Robb's point of view rather than hers.

Davos is another character that I didn't really like, again it was all about the fighting which really bored me after a while and for a while I didn't understand him at all. After I actually had a picture of him in my head it was easier but I still didn't really like him which is disappointing because I was looking to the new and interesting POV.

Sansa is a character that I like, I feel sorry for her having to pretend that she still loves Joffrey after he ordered the execution of her father. Throughout the book her character progresses and she has to pretend that she still plans to marry Joffrey and be his wife. Nearing the end of the book we learn that Joffrey is no longer to marry her and is instead to marry Margery Tyrell who has recently lost her husband Renly Baratheon. Renly was a character that I thought I could like a lot but then he gets killed off. Sansa is very relieved and believes that she will get to go home to Winterfell but is reminded that in fact that she is a hostage and if Joffrey wants to bed her he will whether she is his wife or not.

Arya is a really good chapter in this book, she is travelling north to the wall to escape King's Landing pretending to be a boy bound for the Nights Watch, however as they are travelling they are captured and are taken to Harrenhall where they are unfairly treated and are forced to work. She manages to make it by with a few friends that she made while travelling and eventually she is owed a favour from one of the murderers that she helped escape and he helps her escape from Harrenhall to try to reach Riverrun where her mother grew up.

Bran becomes a lot more powerful in this book with his strange dreams about being his wolf Summer, he meets two of the children of the forest who explain to him that he is able to see through his wolf as a third eye. He then runs away from Winterfell when Theon Greyjoy comes to take it and we believe that he is dead but him and Rickon are in fact safe in the crypt underneath Winterfell

Jon is still one of my favourite characters, he is travelling above the wall which is really interesting and I was excited to hear about what lurks above the wall. When they travel to a village where a man lives with many women we wonder why and soon discover that each of the girls are his wives but are also his daughters. These women are forced to bear his children and if the baby happens to be a boy he sacrifices it to the gods so that he does not have any competition from other men in the village. When Jon is captured by some Wildings we meet Ygritte who is an amazing character in my opinion and I hope to see more of her in coming books.

Theon's chapters actually interested me because we do not know anything about where he comes from and so we get a view of the Iron Islands and the way in which they live which is very different to Winterfell. Theon meets his family again and when he first meets his sister he does not realise who she is and ends up with his hands in an inappropriate place of hers. Later when she tells him who she is he is mortified but blames her for not telling him in the first place. He then goes to take over Winterfell where he pretends to kill Bran and Rickon.

Daenerys, I still love her so much and this book didn't disappoint, she travels to a city named Quarth with her dragons where she meets an old warlock with blue lips who invited her to the House of the Undying. This was my favourite part of the book but I can't even begin to explain the complexity of the whole thing. I adored it. Her dragons are the best characters and I can't wait to meet them some more in the next book. 

Overall this book did not beat A Game of Thrones, not even close, but i've already made a start on A Storm of Swords Part 1 and I have heard a lot of great things about it.

Talk to you all soon 

Leigh xoxo

Books to Films Series #3 - The Last Song

Book...

This book is the second Nicholas Sparks book that I read and is almost as good as Dear John. When reading this one I didn't feel as strong a connection to it as Dear John but I still loved the story, it's an amazing plot with amazing characters and the ending is another tragic one. The book is relatively short making it easy to convert to film without losing a lot of the story, I would recommend this to anyone who has read Dear John.

Film...

The film is another very good one which I actually preferred more than Dear John which surprised me. The story really captivates the audience and I love the way the whole film is portrayed exactly like the book without missing out any important information essential to the story.

Comparison...

Plot...

The plot of the book and the film are relatively similar although I noticed that a few bits had been left out but it was nothing major that affected the storyline as with other films. The plot of the book is so distressing that it makes me cry every time I read it and I didn't think that the film could do the same thing but it really does. The actors and actresses are very good and they make their grief very believable. In both the book and film there are two love stories which are the focal point, the love between Ronnie and Will and the love between Ronnie and her father and brother. The love of the family is the main focus of the story and how we should never take family for grated is definitely a point stressed in this story.

Characters...

Ronnie is exactly how I pictured her in the book, however, again, the cast had already been casted and so I knew that Miley would be playing Ronnie, however I did not expect her to be so convincing in her role as Ronnie, she plays the rebellious teen well and through the film and book we notice Ronnie growing from a rebellious teenager who hates her family into and incredibly strong young woman. Another character that I adore in the film and the book is Jonah, he is only a child yet the actor was amazing, the way he portrayed the grief that Jonah felt was immense and I often find myself crying along with him. And  Will. Who could not love Will? He is perfect and handsome and smart and when reading about him I fell in love with him.

September Book Haul

Hey everyone,

Firstly I want to apologize because yet again this is an awful book haul with a total of two books. Yes two. But these two are pretty darn good books.

The first book that I bought this month is A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin.

This book is simply amazing. I love the series so much and so far I adore this book, it's as encapsulating as the first and I can't wait to continue on with the series. If someone had told me just how much I would love this series at the beginning of the year i'd have told them that they were crazy and i'd never have believed them but it's such an amazing series. I love the writing style, I love the characters, I hate the characters and I love the picture that I have of each and every one of them as well as all of the places in the world which is created. I feel like some characters appeal to some people and some to others and then there are characters that everyone despises and wants to die, but of course they are the ones that always stick around. With each book in the series I make up my mind about someone and then in 3 chapters they completely change the way that I thought about them. I never in a million years thought that i'd love this as much as I do but I would really urge anyone to give it a try. 

And secondly and finally the last book that I bought in September was A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin.

I am just getting onto this book now so i'll maybe have a little review thing up at the end of this month, I have high hopes for this book and hope that it's just as good as the first 2.

Just to let y'all know i'm planning a trip to The Works during this month meaning that there might be a few more books in the pipeline for next month.

Leigh xoxo