Books I Read:
What's it about: school, bullies, bad principal, dragons, teachers, magic
This was really short (about 144 pages), I read it this in about an hour and some minutes - It really seems like a short story and yet, not really. I sort of liked this but it was just so short and everything moved quickly.
What's it about: angels, devils, power struggle, parenting, friendship, demons
I didn't know this is a series so I'm kind of disappointed by the ending with unsolved things.
The main character is Jonathan who had been sheltered so he is new to this world of angels, devils, magic and new to his powers - your basic hero who only knows how to use his powers at the very end when it's really necessary.
I like this but not a lot. There is an interesting scene where Jonathan (he's always called Jonathan) went into a world that is created by magic in order to retrieve Gabriel's clock - that bit I like and there's a dragon or something like it but we don't spend too long there since it's a temproary pocket of space or something like that.
The writing was a bit off but it's the author's debut so I guess that's a good excuse for it. The subject matter seemed too mature for children (characters gets tortured and someone's eye is sent to Jonathan and his friends, fight scenes that's more r-rated than pg 13) but I guess that depends on who's reading this. And that bit about accidently drinking a tea that was made with a dog's ashes is not funny or was it supposed to be funny? There is a bit humor but not enough to outset all the serious dark stuff. It seemed lots of stuff is jam-packed, tons of back stories and so many characters are mentioned, all into this single book which apparently is the first in a series. I didn't like this first book enough to read the rest of the series.
What's it about: school, weird/wacky creatures, science-ish talk about weird/wacky creatures, a couple of million worms, something about saving the town from more worm-like creatures
I disliked the narrator - She (for whatever reason I find her very male but her name is Dr. G. Edwina Candlestank) interrupts the story only to give some lame reason or commentary or telling the reader she did a dumb thing like showing a scene ahead of the story. There are also bold text at the end of each chapter or part - I don't like that either. The illustrations are fun but somehow enhanced the weirdness which I kind of like but also hate but mostly because I can't see it too well on my tiny ereader (supposedly I can zoom in but somehow I can't). And the annoying footnotes - sometimes it is mostly just commentaries which I hate or additional stuff to the story which are sometimes fun and sometimes annoying.
Mostly, this book is about worms - there's tons of talk about them and there is even a scene with tons of worms - and three girls and a somewhat mad woman scientist trying to save the town from a giant worm-like creature. All the good guys are weird and badly dressed and all the bad guys are nicely dressed and snobbish. I like one of the girls is an inventor. The creatures are a little weird, a little gross, a little creepy, a tiny bit delightful and that's how I felt about this book. I'm too creeped out by the worms and the creatures to continue the series. I think people (mostly kids) who likes to discover odd creatures and aren't creep out by them, may enjoy it. Also, this is book 1 of a series and it ends with a cliffhanger.
Books I Re-read:
What's it about: murder, mystery, friendship, finding corpses
Upon re-reading, I still loved this series. If you're an Agatha Christie fan, you might enjoyed this plus the author placed some Christie's references (Hercule Poirot series and other titles) so that's like a fun game to see if you can spot them.
Aggie Morton, the female main character, is what I would imagine a young Agatha Christie might be if she had a morbid preoccupation at a young age. Aggie's best friend, Hector Perot (the other main character) is exactly how I pictured the fictional Hercule Poirot as a young boy. Is it weird Hector is a fictional creation of another fictional creation?
It's a fun series if you have a mind for morbid preoccupation or you just want a fun mystery.
Book I Unfinished:
What's it about: murder, poor people, women detective in 19th century
Quit at: 24%
I only wanted to read this because they use the phrase 'first woman detective' in the synosis. I don't like the many viewpoints that made Mary Handley (main character) seemed like a secondary character. Why couldn't they just tell the story from Mary's perspective? Most of the view seems to be from the killer/assasin's perspective, a man nicknamed Bowler Hat because he wears one. The beginning of the book is mostly Bowler Hat killing his way from someplace (I forgot) and through New York. All the inventors in this book are either assholes or mad men - one of them drinks wine made with cocaine like coffee. And almost all the men are assholes because it's that time period where men are mandatory to be assholes toward women. Also, Mary has a potty mouth - I think her cursing makes me think she's trying to be a man - I see no purpose in this characteristic trait other than her sounding vulgar for no reason.
I didn't like the ultra violence Bowler Hat used. When he tortured a man and then made him watched as he raped his wife (chapter 9), that's it - it just unnerved me. I couldn't continue after that.
Two notes of interest: Mary dodges bullets like a real superhero - it's really in the book as witnessed by a few book reviewers. I'm tempted to borrow the book again to see how she dodges bullets which is ridiculous since the book's setting is based in reality and is not a paranormal or a fantasy. Mary Handley is a real person so don't google her unless you want to find out who the killer is.
Shows & Movies I Watched:
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| Leave No Soul Behind; Soul Doctor; Soul Detective |
What's it about: souls/ghosts, reincarnation, deaths, show business, therapy, family
Actually, these two shows and the third one (Soul Detective which I watched last month) are a trio that is all set in the same world of ghosts/souls, afterlife but they can be watched as standalones although Soul Detective continues Soul Doctor with the escape of a certain character.
Both shows is mostly about ghosts who needs to fulfill their last wishes so they could weight 21 grams in order to reincarnate with the help of a living woman (both have a woman as main character trying to help the ghosts). I enjoyed Leave No Soul Behind though it's a bit sappy (so many people crying) but it has a happy ending.
As for Soul Doctor, I mostly hated the younger sister (seen in flashbacks) looking exactly like the older sister. So younger sisters can grow up to look exactly like their older sisters but in this case, it's confusing and unnecessary. But I hated the ending even more - so dumb to kill off a character when it really wasn't even unnecessary. For some reason this show has only 15 episodes while the other two have 20 episodes.
What's it about: souls, re-examination of dead people's lives to judge if they are worthy of reincarnation
These two movies is about reviewing people's life and seeing if they are worthy enough to reincarnate. I liked these two movies. There are bits of humor but mostly it's quite a lot depressing life events but it's touching.
Have you read any good books or seen any good shows or movies lately?
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- Kurt Vonnegut