I am now debating on a book to read seeing as I finished the Great Gatsby. People say that the trilogy of Lord of the Rings is pretty good so I might start reading that. I also watched all three films so I would also like to compare the movie to the film.

I have finished the Great Gatsby now, and I think that it is possibly one of my favourite books. I love the was that the writer brings that characters and descriptions to life, he makes you think that you are watching a movie instead of reading the book. The thing that disappointed me a bit was the fact the Jay Gatsby died in the end, he was a favourite character. I liked the way that he was mysterious but at the same time completely open about anything. He was sweet as he wanted to give Daisy the life that she wanted and that he thought she deserved. In the end, we find out that Gatsby makes his money by selling illegal alcohol and that everything that he was telling everyone wasn't true.
  Daisy on the other hand, was the one that shocked us the most, first of all, she let Gatsby take the blame for the death of Myrtle, she also never called Gatsby when she said she would and she also didn't attend his funeral.
  I don't understand why the author made Gatsby die in the end, I guess it makes the story more realistic as not all stories have happy endings and it also made us see the gravity of the situation. He thought that Daisy really loved him but even when he died, she didn't show up fro his funeral, actually, no one did. No one respected Gatsby enough to attend his funeral but they had the audacity to go to every single one of his parties. The only person that actually cared was Tom.
  The death of Gatsby is what drove Tome into becoming an alcoholic and a drunk and this whole story was seen from Tom's point of view, a small town boy coming to live with millionaires. I think that it was a good idea to narrate the story from  Tom's point of view because that way we get to see Gatsby and Daisy's love from the outside.

I rate the book 9.5/10.

The Alchemist (part I)

The Alchemist - Paul Coelho

"People learn, early in their lives, what is their reason for being..."

Even though I only read through a few chapters in this book, it found it quite interesting. This story is set in Spain. The protagonist seems to be a young shepherd named Santiago. The story started when he met a beautiful girl who is the daughter of a wool merchant. When he travelled from town to town, he would always be thinking about the girl and how he could impress her. One day, he travelled into a town where he met a gypsy. She told him about a treasure in Egypt but he didn't believe her. He then sat on a bench in the town square. He met an old man who also told him about treasure however this time, the old talked to him about philosophy to convince the shepherd about the treasure. Finally, the shepherd was convinced and crossed the strait to Africa.

So far, this book has many interesting philosophical questions that left me thinking after reading it. It piques my curiosity. The character development in the book so far is not visible but I have a feeling that it will turn out to be an awesome book. I'm looking forward to read more of Santiago's adventure.

Private Peaceful 9

Thomas is watching the military parade unravelling in front of his eyes, Children were stomping along side the parade with wooden sticks and women were throwing flowers. Thomas went on following the crowed round the town and into the square. The band began playing God save the King and the union Jack was fluttering. A Sergeant Major made a speech convincing people that joining the war would make you a real man and that no one would want to see England's streets filled up with "huns. For the first time I have discovered the name of the village which is called Hatherleigh. As Thomas was watching attentively when he saw the the sergeant asking for volunteers to come and fight. I believe that Thomas never realised that he fit the candidate for a soldier until volunteers, friends that he knew stood up and go in the line and than an  old patriotic lady next to him was cheering him on. Thomas is still young and I was very aggravated towards the lady that she was making him go up in front against his will. Everyone was cheering him and staring at Thomas but he did not even have time think about his decision and in it was to much for him so he ran away and everyone especially the old lady was screaming Chicken. I understand where she was coming from but I thought it was unnecessary and but Tommo in a very awkward situation.

Private Peaceful 8

In this book every chapter we have one paragraph that is totally different from the rest and the title of that paragraph is always to do with a time reference example: twenty-eight minutes past. I believe that this paragraph is also narrated by charlie and that as the book is in relation with world war one that he is in France fighting. In the present story Big Joe had just been found and everyone is celebrating even the strict and uptight parents of Molly and to a add the cherry on the top the Colonel offered the Peacefuls a lift. He made a statement in the car, "They'll soon need every horse they can find,Mrs Peaceful and every man too."In the book the war in France has started coming up in conversations but till now it has not reached the village yet. A big moment in Thomas life is about  to occur when he enters the house after a long day at work and sees Molly crying in his mothers lap.  Mrs peaceful announced that Molly would be staying with them because her parents there her out. The reason why she was thrown out is because she is pregnant with Charlie's baby.It was a huge shock for Thomas as he still has feelings for Molly and now any hope of him and her being together is lost. The news spread about Molly's baby and everyone was ashamed of her behaviour they to married but under the condition that no bells no gyms or any celebration was to take place. I feel pretty bad for the Peacefuls as they do not have luck on their side and everyone is ashamed of them, they also lead a pretty isolated life. Thomas did not want fight or be confronted with his brother so at work he did other jobs and more errants to leave the farm. One day he left to go to the market and saw upfront the war for the first time. He did his errant and he heard a parade coming and a lot of noise so he followed it around the corner. There he saw all the soldiers in their splendid scarlet uniforms all marching, arms swinging in perfect timing with shining boots. They were singing along with the band. I believe that Charlie must of been overwhelmed. The book is a good book and I am waiting to see when the next plot twist will occur.

"Ascend" by Amanda Hocking

I am at the climax of the book now. The Vittra are now about to attack the Trylle to see who will be the dominant race of their species. The Vittra King has now realised that Loki has completely betrayed him and that Loki has been a spy for a long time for the Trylle and that Loki is now in love with Oren's (Vittra King) daughter. The Trylle have been preparing for this attack for a long time they have fully trained all of the trackers to fight and now they have their most powerful weapon, Wendy. She can now move and pick things up with her mind, she can hear peoples thoughts and she can "mind slap" people. A mind slap is basically slapping someone but you slap away their intelligence so they are completely blank for about an hour or so. They have no thoughts or feeling for that amount of time, they are basically brain dead. She can also persuade people to do anything she wants, though Wendy struggles a lot on how to use her powers as she doesn't want to hurt anybody and she has a good heart. Wendy struggles between her duty as Queen and as one of the most powerful Trylle to exist and following her heart and her morals. 

Now that Wendy understands that her Kingdom is her duty she is ready to take on Oren. Oren is extremely vicious and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. What also doesn't help is that he is nearly immortal as he is one of the last full blooded Vittra to be born, he is nearly one hundred years old. He ages very slowly and heals very quickly, making it extremely hard to kill him. So the Trylle have their work cut out for them, though they have heard rumours that their might be a revolution in the Vittra as many people don't like the way Oren rules, so maybe they will be able to help the Trylle fight. This book is amazing and I can't wait to find out what happens next.

Murder on the orient express

Murder on the Orient Express is a amazing book so far, I am almost finished with reading it and im convinced everyone in our english class should read it. I have to admit that at the beginning ( introduction part of the book ) was a little too long and it took me a while to properly understand whats going on and get hooked. Im at the part where every passengers Luggage gets checked and Im thrilled to find out that Countess Audreny`s luggage is very suspicious by being wet. I can't wait to read the ending and I hope that by the end the mystery will be solved....
SERIOUSLY read it everyone.

The Great Gatsby:

As I get closer to the ending of the book, I realise that Tom Buchanan isn't the most loyal or respectful man as he slaps Myrtle when she brings up Daisy and he is also having a secret affair with Myrtle. He also drives Gatsby into anger at the Plaza.  All the characters personalities are starting to become more and more clear. We get a real idea of who they really are. Daisy, for example was the golden girl, the sweetest girl in the book, so we thought but she turned out to be superficial to hide her pain. Gatsby on the other hand, was the mysterious man that thew big parties and further into the book we find out that he actually had feelings and really wants to love Daisy as he did 5 years ago.
   As I was so curious to find out at the beginning of the book, the book is like the movie but just with a few minor differences. I just have a few more pages to go until I finish the book and so far it is probably one of the best books that I have read.

We were liars

Sorry I haven't wrote a post for a while. I have finished "We were liars". The book was very gripping and always kept you on the edge. The book was about a girl called Cadence. Cadence spends most of her summers on her grandfather's private island with her cousins, Johnny and Mirren, also Gat, her aunt's husband's nephew. She calls her cousins, Gat and herself as 'the liars'. Cadence struggles to remember the circumstances leading up to an head injury she endured two summers ago. She returns to the island after having one summer with her father abroad. She tries to figure out how she hurt her head. With the help of the liars, she remembers how her mother and aunts had  feuded over placement in their father's will (her grandfather), mostly over who would inherit the largest house on the island. I won't spoil the end, but the ending is a huge shock. I definitely recommend this book for everyone.

House of Hades

Understanding the book:

At the end of the last book, Percy and Annabeth (who are the main characters of this series get trapped into the underworld. And the only way to free them is to find the Doors of Death on both sides, the rest of the demigods leave with much grief to set off on a quest to find these mythical doors.

Brief Summary:

The House of Hades is the 4th book from Rick Riordan's series "Heroes of Olympus". So far I am on page 56 and a lot has happened. Firstly, the Argo II (which is Leo's and the rest of the demigod's ship) has been attacked by rock gods in the Apennine Mountains, which they have to cross, but Leo manages to defend the ship fairly well without taking that much damage. These attacks are worrying for the group of demigod's and Hazel, the daughter of Hades, thinks that all these attacks are because of her since she is the daughter of the God of the Underworld and that all the ground spirits don't appreciate her presence. However they need to fly the ship to land (Oh! If you didn't know, they have a flying boat) so that Hazel can talk with Hecate, the Godess of magic. She is then given the choice between three doorways, one that shows to camps fighting, the other that shows the Argo II crossing the Apennines but severely damaged, and the last door show Hazel, Leo, and Frank (son of Mars) badly injured with Percy and Annabeth motionless nearby. The question is: which one will she choose?

Opinion so far:

So far I am enjoying the book because I love rick Riordan's style of writing. Science-fiction is also my favourite genre of book to read as I find it the most entertaining and enjoyable to read. The book has also made me want to read so much more due to its suspense and I can't wait to get back to reading it!

The end of C.R.A.

The end of Crazy Rich Asians

"I've had enough being around all these crazy rich Asians, all these people whose lives revolve around making money, spending money, flaunting money, comparing money, hiding money, controlling others with money and ruining their lives over money..." -Rachel Chu

That is one of my favourite quote from the book because it basically explains the title. I finally finished the book last night. It was really addicting since it was when Rachel had enough of Nick's family. Nick's family had been trying to drive her crazy and away from Nick. They were trying to prevent her from marrying him. I thought this was pretty pathetic. To stick to the family traditions and not adapting to the modern society is seriously a problem for the children who is growing up in a modern world. Nick was pressured by his family not to marry her but he was adamant. I understood him because my grandfather's family is Chinese and thought that Chinese traditional values are important. However, the difference between my family and the family in the book is 'freedom'. My grandfather is much more open and his family is adapted to the new society. I have the rights to choose my job, wife and education. However, in the book, Nick had no choice but to follow his family. Even though they might be the richest family in Asia, having no happiness is a sad thing. To be honest, this brought many interesting questions into my mind while I read. It is definitely worth reading. This book is a book that made me quite addicting to reading (usually, it's hard for me to find an addicting book). Partly because I made some references to my family and comparing them while reading.

Rachel Chu, the female protagonist of the story is a really smart person. I felt bad for her since she was not accepted by Nick's family because of her family's social ranking. Since she was smart, she was able to charm Nick's friends with her talkative traits. This book taught me many things about living happily, it showed the negative side of having too much money.

My favourite quote from the book:

"I want them  (their future children) to love their family, but to feel a deeper sense of pride in who they are as individuals, Nick, not in how much money they have, what their last name is, or how many generations they go back to whatever dynasty"

I strongly recommend this book due to its plot, colourful descriptions and comedy.

Almost at the end

So now we join Scarlet Adams and Richard Green as they meet the General of the rebellion against the old ones. They ask the General what has happened and when they can leave, but the General said that know one could leave because the old ones were guarding the door which can teleport them to any place Scarlett thinks of.

I Hope you choose to read this book too.

Thank You

Author's technique in C.R.A.

Kevin Kwan's technique in Crazy Rich Asians.

Kevin Kwan did an extraordinary job to show us the magnitude of the wealth in this book. He used a lot of precise descriptions to create this world. Here is one of the most interesting technique he used:

Brand Names and precise description of items: Throughout the book, Kevin Kwan poured in tons of brand names to make each Asian character colorful. Most of the descriptions are on clothings. Since these characters are extremely rich, all of them wear extravagant dresses and clothes. To make them seem expensive and unique, Kevin Kwan usually states the name of the brand (usually famous), followed by the designer of the dress. He went further and described the achievement of the designers, like the people that wore the works of the designer.

At the climax of this book, which is the wedding, Kwan put in all the important people of Asia into the ceremony to show us the importance of the wedding. He described some of important people in detail to show their influence in Asia. Like I said before, clothings show how important they are in the Asian society. The detail included in the book is incredibly precise and projected a clear image to the reader's mind. With this technique, this book became very interesting and worth-reading.

"Ascend" by Amanda Hocking

So Wendy has now finally told Loki that she wants to be with him and only him. His reaction was very different from what she is used to, usually when she would tell Finn that she wanted to be with him forever, his commitment issues would always come to light and he would run the second he possibly could after stealing a kiss or two. Though with Loki it was different, he smiled and at the same time seemed so happy and thankful he went over to Wendy overjoyed and gave her a huge hug. Wendy's mind was completely overwhelmed by this feeling of requited love and feeling of commitment, that he was never going to leave her. I think that because Wendy has only loved Finn apart from Loki that she never knew what it felt like to be loved back in a full and equal way. Finn loved her but he didn't love her enough to stay with her when she really needed someone to be there for her. But then again maybe he loved her almost too much to let his low rank in society ruin her position and reputation as Queen. I believe that Loki is a great match for Wendy as he will always love her as much as she loves him. Wendy has been through enough, she was literally stabbed by her fake mother at age 6, she found out that she was basically lied to her whole entire life at 16 and then became the Queen of a whole entire Kingdom at 18. She needs someone who can stick around for the long run and help her through it all. One of the main themes in this book is unrequited love or unequal love. I believe that real love is only real when it comes from both sides, you can't love a person to the fullest of your abilities if they don't love you back. Unrequited love is the worst kind of love, you fall in love alone and you constantly feel unloved. I am happy that Wendy has finally made the right choice and I can't wait to find out more about the story.

Psmith in the city

I am reading Psmith in the city. There are 2 main characters mike and Psmith they both work in a bank. Mike goes to play in A cricket team which is administered by Psmith's dad which was where they met for the first time.  They both work in a bank. But the main reason they had met was that they were in the same situation. There boss was Bickersdyke who was Psmith's dad's friend. Psmith didn't like Bickersdyke too much. Psmith tried to get in good terms with his bosses, he followed Mr. Rossiter's football club Man United. He succeeded and was in very good terms with Mr. Roositer. After that he also tries to gain Bickersdyke trust but he wasn't very successful. Bickersdyke was a very republican person and was on a political campaign. Despite Psmith not having good relations with Bickersdyke, he convinced him not to fire Mike from the bank and he succeeded in doing this. Bickersdyke got elected to parliament and this made Bickersdyke less close to him so Mike got another job in the bank.
  It's a good book which I enjoy but it's supposed to be funny but it isn't. It gets confusing at some parts and I have to reread to understand

Thirteen problems

I read the next short story and it was my favorite one so far (I've read three). It was cold Ingots of Gold. It was about a ship that sank and its bullion was missing (the place where you keep the gold). The police was investigating the case. One night there was a storm and Mr Newman left to go on a walk and went missing. He was found in a ditch on the next day. His story was that he saw some man carrying something out of this ship and transporting it to a cave. He followed them, but they took him in a lorry and left him where he had been then. The tyre tracks matched to a lorry owned by Mr Kelvin, but his maid confirmed that it hadn't been used. In the end, we find out it was Mr Newman who planned it all in order to hide that he stole the gold. He had taken out a tyre of the lorry and had put it on his own and that's where the confusion was.

In the Great Gatsby, nothing much is really happening but I am still astonished by the way that the author describes the characters and the surroundings and so far it is also a lot like the new movie except that in the movie, they did not include the whole dialogue of them at the dinner table the first time that Nick went to visit Daisy. While they are at the table, you can feel that it is more tense so I want to see what happens next even though I already know form the movie, I want to see how the writer describes the complicated scenes.

Frankenstein

Chapter 3-4
Victor leaves Geneva and goes to Ingolstadt, to the university, when he was seventeen. Victor didn't think it was necessary, but his father said it was best if he went. However, before he leaves, his mum catches fever. On her deathbed, she wishes that Victor and Elizabeth marry. Either way, Victor leaves to Ingolstadt, feeling very sad. Victor starts exploring the town-city and sets up a meeting with the Natural Philosophy professor, Mr Krempe. He tells Victor that the Alchemy that Victor studied so far were not so affective. Victor then attends Mr Waldman's (Science Professor) lecture. This convinces Victor to continue studying Science.

Victor spends a lot of time studying Science and makes progress, but seems to pay little attention to social life, including his family in Geneva. He begins to study the human body, as he was interested in the mysteries of "the creation of life". He also learn how the human body falls apart. Victor decides to create a creature, a new race, a live model. He does his work in his apartment, where nobody can see him. He practically spends all his time on his work and almost doesn't pay any attention to his friends, family or even his studies. Consequently, he becomes very thin and pale.

Paper Towns pt3

Quentin left with a poetry book that doesn't really help the case, feels lost and hopeless; the only message that comes across from the poem is that Margo might have ended her life.
After visiting an abandoned shack that Margo had been in more recently, and finding a message from her, Q becomes certain that Margo was in a growing depressive state.
So he sets out on a search of her, or even her body, realizing that no one, not even him, knew the girl. Who is Margo Roth Spiegelman?
She definitely isn't what she made out to be.
She was a misunderstood and lonely girl, constantly surrounded by people that didn't know anything about her.

Thirteen problems

I read the next short story. It was about a girl, who was "possessed" by this oriental wonan. In the end it all turned out to be conpletely realistic, but I liked the fact that at first they wantted to make the reader think there is something supernatural going on when in fact it is all reasonable and there is a good explanation for it.

Beach Babylon by Imogen Edwards-Jones

 As we follow the life of the manager of a 5-star luxury hotel island resort, we find out all the dirty secrets. From Russian Billionaires bringing prostitutes as their guests to Germans who get into fights with the staff.
 This book is really appealing to me and I am making great progress. All the action is almost to much for one book. I am sucked into the book when the staff revolt against the managers or when famous models visit for photo shoots. I have just reached a part where the staff have revolted and the ringleaders have been kicked off of the island. The most intriguing part about this book is the fact that it's all true. I can't wait to find out what happens next and I highly recommend the book.

Private Peaceful 7

Bertha the dog that was shot by the evil Colonel is being buried where all the other animals were buried of Big Joe. All of them were to angry to grieve thus did not lay flowers neither did they sing hymns. Big Joe was fascinated by the idea of heaven how it was like up there and every time mother always said that it was were all the good souls were at peaked and how Bertha was going to go up to heaven and meet father. These remarks touched Big Joe. That evening after the burial Big Joe went missing, the Peaceful's were not worried at first because Big Joe always wandered off my himself and always came back. It was starting to get late and Big Joe was afraid of the dark so the Peaceful's started to get worried, the began searching. They all went in different directions and searched in the orchard and around the woods but nothing. Charlie could recognise if it was B.J because when he was scared he would sing a wailing drone however there were no drones to be heard. As a reader these pages were very mysterious as I did not know the area the book was situated in very well so to understand every place where he could of been was a challenge. As the Peaceful's were so concerned they called the person in charge thus the Colonel and with the help of the vicar gathered all the villagers together to make a search and rescuer party. If B.J was found the church bell would ring. Every one set about to find B.K but no luck. I the reader was beginning to get worried as we all know that B.J has an illness thus for him to be by himself at night his not the best scenario. The next afternoon there was still no sign of B.J and now all the village was trimmed face and hopeless. Molly comforted Mrs Peaceful. Charlie was trying to think how B.J would and understand if he was upset or lonely were he would go. To me that was a very clever point of Charlie try to step inside the shoes of the person. He had an euphoric moment and realised that B.J wanted to be with Bertha and that there mother explained to B.J that Bertha was in heaven high in the sky. Charlie finally reached the conclusion to where B.J might be and ran towards the destination. It was the church tower the highest point and closest to Heaven in the whole village. He sprinted up all the stairs and found curled up in a ball,  B.J was pale and cold. He shook him and shook him praying he was alive and Charlie immediately rang the church bell and announced the good news.  Everyone gathered even Grandma Wolf and they all cheered.

"Ascend" by Amanda Hocking

I am really enjoying this book. Finally all the tension from the Finn, Wendy and Loki love triangle has reached its climax. Finn and Wendy kissed and it nearly led to more but Wendy stopped it as she now knew that Loki was the one for her. She knew that she could never be with Finn as he would never be good enough for a Queen in the eyes of the public as he was only a tracker. And that usually wouldn't matter but Finn never thought that he deserved her and was constantly putting himself down and running away. Finn had many insecurities and he covered them up by being dark and distant and of course constantly running away from his problems. Wendy knew that even though Loki was Vittra he was still higher than Finn in society so he might be more accepted by the Trylle. She also knew that Loki didn't have insecurities and that he was confident and sometimes a bit cocky but thats what she loved about him. He was playful and was always up for a challenge and at this point in her life thats what she needed, someone who would always be there for her no matter what and would always put a smile on her face even when she wanted to cry. I believe that this is a very good choice. Wendy cannot constantly chase after Finn and be constantly worrying wether or not he is going to leave her again when she least expects it. She has to control a whole Kingdom and in order to keep the Kingdom stable her own personal life needs to be stable and happy. She has finally taken control of her personal life which used to be a jumbled up mess and now she is going to tell Loki that he is the one for her. Now that her love life is sorted she can move on to ruling her Kingdom in the best possible way that she can. She can also spend more time with her mother, Elora, who seems to be getting weaker and weaker by the second. Elora is now permanently in a dark room, lying down in bed. Her hair is nearly all grey and her face is nowhere near as smooth as it used to be.

I am very excited to find out more and how Loki is going to react to Wendy telling him that she loves him.