tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56213769304593071902024-03-13T03:29:08.671-05:00Stacking BooksBook reviews and book-related stuff.Shannon Mawhineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922566876468638982noreply@blogger.comBlogger92125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621376930459307190.post-38407703824438807932015-12-27T23:48:00.002-06:002015-12-28T00:00:15.483-06:00Book Review: The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch (Volume One) by Daniel Kraus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tsRHHZrh8O0/VoC0zW_QELI/AAAAAAAAclI/sEn5sH2jh_Y/s1600/27221870.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tsRHHZrh8O0/VoC0zW_QELI/AAAAAAAAclI/sEn5sH2jh_Y/s400/27221870.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
<b>My rating: 2.5/5</b><br />
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<b> </b>From Amazon: "May 7, 1896. <br />
<br />
"Dusk. A swaggering seventeen-year-old gangster
named Zebulon Finch is gunned down by the shores of Lake Michigan. But
after mere minutes in the void, he is mysteriously resurrected. ...<br />
<br />
"Zebulon’s
new existence begins as a sideshow attraction in a traveling medicine
show. From there he will be poked and prodded by a scientist obsessed
with mastering the secrets of death. He will fight in the trenches of
World War I. He will run from his nightmares—and from poverty—in
Depression-era New York City. And he will become the companion of the
most beautiful woman in Hollywood.<br />
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"Love, hate, hope, and horror—Zebulon finds them. But will he ever find redemption?"<br />
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First of all, to Mr. Kraus if he should ever read this review: I love your work. Super love it. <a href="http://mawhiney.blogspot.com/2013/11/book-review-scowler-by-daniel-kraus.html"><i>Scowler</i></a> is one of my favorite books. I just didn't like this one.<br />
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Second, this was an advance readers copy obtained at a convention by a friend.<br />
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Third, I'll avoid them as much as I can, but I may describe some minor spoilers here.<br />
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I began reading this book back in July. I have not read any books in between, and I'm both mortified and angry (at myself and it) for not having either finished or given up on this 600+-page tome earlier. But by gød (<span class="_Tgc">←</span> a convention in the book; please, no angry letters), I finished it on Christmas. And I'll keep it, because Daniel Kraus is one of my favorite authors and my friend got it signed for me and I think it's hilarious that the one autographed book I have from him is a book I pretty much hated. Irony is good; irony is for keeps.<br />
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Zebulon is not likable, and he's not supposed to be. Unlikable characters are fine, and they're interesting. And Zebulon is interesting; he has a great background and lives through some crazy, interesting, historical things. But Zebulon is writing this memoir from present-ish day, and for the most part he seems unremorseful for the things he's done, short of somewhat feeling sorry for himself. Treading through over six hundred pages of this, and especially in light of the fact that Zebulon really doesn't grow or change as a character (he tries a couple of times but fails, shrugs his shoulders, and moves on) is a slog.<br />
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The book also jumps forward in time far too quickly and confusingly. I often thought he'd lived through a time span of maybe a few months, when it had in fact magically been seven years or more. Surprise; the other characters are now much older than our protagonist/antagonist, and I didn't have this image in my mind. I wanted to feel the movement of time, whether it was quickly or slowly for Zebulon, and it's fine if this varies for him. Sometimes it's okay for him to think, <i>oh! of course she's no longer a child, I've been here six years</i>. But when Zebulon knows the passage of time but we're caught off guard by it; or when he and we are surprised in different ways... we're jolted out of the reality of the story. It also took me half of the book to realize <i>la silenziosit<span class="st"><i>à</i></span></i> was not figurative but literal. That was jarring, but I'll concede it was possibly due to my own lack of attention to detail.<br />
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The language, however, is beautiful, and in my opinion is the one saving grace for the book. Zebulon is eloquent and his language reflects what you would expect from an educated, well-read, 19th-century teenager, and he maintains this, no matter what he's describing. It serves as a great contrast to the forward movement of time, and I imagine it will be even greater in Volume Two, which presumably will start where this book ends in 1941. I'm also over-the-top impressed by an author who can sustain that type of language for so long, not to mention make it believable.<br />
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Several things, though, were not believable, and they may be what ruined the book for me. (Here I'll be brief to avoid as many spoilers as possible.) A few examples:<br />
<ul>
<li>Zebulon lives through a few too many exciting events. And even with all of these happenings, his brain may be eternally "stuck" at seventeen, but it is unreasonable how little he seems to learn from them or to grow any real compassion. </li>
<li>There were a few instances of things just simply not lining up. (E.g., he is stabbed in the shoulder during a fight while wearing a jacket, and moments later he describes how the jacket is unscathed. Was the assailant so kind as to pull aside his jacket first, without ripping it and without Zebulon even noticing?) </li>
<li>It seems obvious from whence his immortality might have sprung, but he never thinks of it, and he's an intelligent enough kid. </li>
<li>At several points in the book he tries very hard to keep a particular object inside his dead innards; but at another point he empties his stomach's contents, and not once is the object mentioned (either as remaining inside or exiting). </li>
<li>And I'll just cryptically say that rigor mortis doesn't work that way.</li>
</ul>
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I don't know what the intended audience is, but there is some language, sex, violence, and drugs. None is too much for a high schooler probably, but some of it is a little disturbing. I wouldn't particularly recommend this book, but I'd absolutely recommend <a href="http://mawhiney.blogspot.com/2013/11/book-review-scowler-by-daniel-kraus.html"><i>Scowler</i></a> and <a href="http://mawhiney.blogspot.com/2011/09/book-review-rotters-by-daniel-kraus.html"><i>Rotters</i></a> by the same author to almost anyone!Shannon Mawhineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922566876468638982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621376930459307190.post-82603939357664923162015-07-11T22:09:00.000-05:002015-07-11T22:13:19.992-05:00Book Review: Beloved by Toni Morrison<div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FaHoK4EBW44/VaHTPQ8aCKI/AAAAAAAAar0/yDgK8H5ijpA/s1600/beloved.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FaHoK4EBW44/VaHTPQ8aCKI/AAAAAAAAar0/yDgK8H5ijpA/s1600/beloved.jpg" /></a><b>My rating: 4.75/5</b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">From Amazon: <span style="font-family: inherit;">"<span style="color: #333333; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby. Sethe, its protagonist, was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. And Sethe’s new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved."</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">I really loved this book. The shifting points of view confused me in the beginning, but I adjusted to it after a short while. Beloved herself continued to be confusing, but I think that has to be intentional, and it didn't take me out of the story. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">I haven't read any historical fiction for a while, and maybe that's partly why I enjoyed this so much. Without being too focused on details, it's an intimate look at slavery and its effects on human beings </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">(sociological, physical, and psychological)</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> and what it would have been like to survive it. I can't say that I've seen or read anything else that put me right in the middle of this time period and really made me think and feel what slavery was like (though </span><i style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">12 Years a Slave</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> does come close). Nothing was overdramatized, which would have been easy to do. The reader has to deal with the events as they happen or are brought to light, right along with the book's characters. Nothing is drawn out for the sake of forcing or emphasizing how the reader should react. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">This book somewhat reminded me of <i><a href="http://mawhiney.blogspot.com/2013/09/book-review-we-have-always-lived-in.html?q=castle">We Have Always Lived in the Castle</a></i>, except that here every character was fleshed out enough to make them very real, even ones we never meet. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">And each one of the characters' viewpoints are made relatable.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> (Nothing against </span><i style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Castle</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">; the townsfolk not seeming particularly real worked to develop the main character in that book; here, it works better to have each person made very real.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Due to the somewhat difficult writing style and some of the topics covered (rape, sex, death), I would recommend for high school and above. </span></span></div>
Shannon Mawhineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922566876468638982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621376930459307190.post-61309638482875100242014-08-17T15:21:00.000-05:002014-08-17T15:40:26.535-05:00Book Review: World of Trouble (The Last Policeman Series) by Ben H. Winters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dXllEdu2NGw/U97x5owXDTI/AAAAAAAAAV0/kOYzew9QFU8/s1600/worldoftrouble.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dXllEdu2NGw/U97x5owXDTI/AAAAAAAAAV0/kOYzew9QFU8/s1600/worldoftrouble.jpg" height="400" width="263" /></a></div>
<b>My rating: 4.75/5</b><br />
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From Amazon:<span style="background-color: white;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">"<span style="color: #333333; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">With the doomsday asteroid looming, Detective Hank Palace has found sanctuary in the woods of New England, secure in a well-stocked safe house with other onetime members of the Concord police force. But with time ticking away before the asteroid makes landfall, Hank’s safety is only relative, and his only relative—his sister Nico—isn’t safe. Soon, it’s clear that there’s more than one earth-shattering revelation on the horizon, and it’s up to Hank to solve the puzzle before time runs out . . . for everyone."</span></span></span><br />
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<i>The Last Policeman</i> series is officially one of my favorites now. This last installment was just as good as the first two.<br />
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Though I wanted to see more of the doomed Earth in the second book, I actually liked how this one took place mostly in one location. It made sense, and the progression from the first book's wider view of the world to this one's much narrower one was nice. <br />
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The author is great at writing heartbreaking scenes, which again in this book brought me to tears. And the ending... you couldn't ask for a better ending to this series. It is beautiful. And Hank is a beautiful person, in the face of tragedy and the unknown, both personal and shared, in how he reacts so honestly and cares so deeply. People think he's weird, and he knows it and doesn't entirely understand it (which almost seems like autism), and I think that's a very relatable trait that many readers will understand, and that they don't get to see very often. There's not much else I can say without spoiling anything, but I will say that each character is unique and realistic, and they act and react both predictably and unpredictably... just like real people, with logic and reason twisted in the face imminent death.<br />
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I do wish the chapter headings had included, instead of just the date, something like "2 months ago," so that it was easier to tell when it was a flashback. It wasn't terribly difficult to understand, but I'm a forgetful reader and wouldn't remember the current date, so I'd have to flip back to another chapter to see where I was at time-wise. Not a big deal though; I still loved the flow of the book.<br />
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Like the rest of the series, I'd recommend it for high school and older. And I'm sad that the series is over, but I look forward to more writing from Ben Winters.Shannon Mawhineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922566876468638982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621376930459307190.post-9056434905483693492014-08-17T14:47:00.000-05:002014-08-17T14:47:32.708-05:00Movie Review: Divergent<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TP_DgNQ1Fmo/U-_wdMCJsWI/AAAAAAAAAXI/fEDk67ghhYk/s1600/Divergent.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TP_DgNQ1Fmo/U-_wdMCJsWI/AAAAAAAAAXI/fEDk67ghhYk/s1600/Divergent.png" height="400" width="255" /></a></div>
<b>My rating: 2.75/5</b><br />
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From Amazon:<span style="font-family: inherit;"> "<i style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Divergent </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">is set in a world where people are divided into distinct factions based on human virtues. Tris Prior (</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Shailene Woodley</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">) is warned she is Divergent and will never fit into any one group. When she discovers a conspiracy by a faction leader (</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Kate Winslet</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">) to destroy all Divergents, Tris must learn to trust in the mysterious Four (Theo James) and together they must find out what makes being Divergent so dangerous before it's too late."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Long story short: I got bored. Maybe it was because the movie followed what I remembered of the book well enough that I just wasn't surprised by anything, or maybe it was too slow. Or both. I do remember the book feeling very exciting, and the movie somehow doesn't bring that across. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Unfortunately it tries to liven things up by mimicking Twilight's style of adding pop music to scenes that really don't need it (e.g., eating in the cafeteria). It was distracting to such a point that I'd turn to my husband and ask if one of the characters had turned on a radio and I missed it. And Tris just doesn't come across as the strong person the book portrays her as. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Seeing the movie did make the book's story seem more juvenile to me too and reaffirmed the fact that I don't care to read the rest of the series: She's special; she can't be put in a category like these other dopes! Dauntless is crazy-- they get tattoos and zipline! etc. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I can't say the acting was terrible (not great, but not terrible), and there was nothing about it that was egregious, so I give it a 2.75. I can't quite bring myself to give it a full 3. </span></span>Shannon Mawhineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922566876468638982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621376930459307190.post-60211577067008282972014-08-16T13:26:00.002-05:002014-08-16T13:28:23.676-05:00Movie Review: The Giver<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2FmDLiGHGpk/U--cnMRDZTI/AAAAAAAAAWU/-q_SGmyYKtE/s1600/The_Giver.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2FmDLiGHGpk/U--cnMRDZTI/AAAAAAAAAWU/-q_SGmyYKtE/s1600/The_Giver.jpg" height="400" width="270" /></a></div>
<b>My rating: 3/5</b><br />
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From IMDB: <span style="font-family: inherit;">"<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">In a seemingly perfect community, without war, pain, suffering, differences or choice, a young boy is chosen to learn from an elderly man about the true pain and pleasure of the 'real' world."</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">I'll go ahead and out myself as holding <i>The Giver</i> on a very high pedestal as my favorite book of all time. However, I generally don't care if movies don't precisely follow their book origins; I actually like differences, especially when a visual or aural style is used that couldn't really be expressed effectively in written word (or vice versa, if some faculty was used well in a book but couldn't possibly be expressed in a visual/auditory medium). So long as they make sense. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">This movie follows the book pretty well, but to a fault in my opinion. They could and should have left things out to leave more time for memory-sharing (which I thought was far too short before Jonas freaked). The whole thing in general also felt rushed, probably to try and pack as much as they could from the book into it, and there was far too much "telling-not-showing." Every part that showed the audience what was going on rather than telling us was great. For example, the ceremony, with all the different ages that being celebrated for different things, and Jonas's number being skipped. That part was great. Other parts though felt like unnecessary monologue and hand-holding, and this led to cheesiness that I never got from the book and seriously detracted from the movie.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Acting was very good, I don't have any complaints there. I do wish they'd included the fact that "giving" a memory in turn makes the original memory-holder lose that memory, or at least only retain a very faded version of it. This isn't addressed, and I feel like it was important and would have made Jonas's giving Gabe some of his memories more compelling and sacrificial than they seemed in the movie. I also wish they'd shown more of the disdain for certain occupations, especially "birthmother;" the only time this is mentioned is when Asher hopes he doesn't get a waste-management position. Personally I think it's important to show that, even though this is a "perfect" society, people still don't treat everyone exactly as equals. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">And then towards the end... did anybody else worry (like, a lot) about Gabe being seriously injured after the jump off the cliff on the motorcycle, and the fact that sometimes Jonas is carrying him only by his head? :-/</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Overall though, it was still entertaining, and I did love how they showed memories in rapid succession sometimes, in extremely bright colors. I also liked how they handled the color transition. But a lot of things could have been done better I think, so I'll leave this at a solid 3. Warning to those who are very squeamish: true to the book, there is a scene where a baby is put to death. It's rightfully shocking, and makes this probably not a film for young kids.</span>Shannon Mawhineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922566876468638982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621376930459307190.post-62974497112877620072014-08-03T21:24:00.001-05:002014-08-03T21:29:23.904-05:00Book Review: The Cheshire Cheese Cat by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5R2Nye1y85A/U97q_CaaHRI/AAAAAAAAAVk/EhGmRd5GpIo/s1600/cheshirecheesecat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5R2Nye1y85A/U97q_CaaHRI/AAAAAAAAAVk/EhGmRd5GpIo/s1600/cheshirecheesecat.jpg" height="400" width="295" /></a></div>
<b>My rating: 4.5/5</b><br />
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"He was the best of toms. He was the worst of toms."<br />
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Skilley the cat finds a sweet new gig for himself at the Cheshire Cheese tavern, where the finest cheese in all of England is made... and where they have a real problem with mice. Unfortunately for the Cheese's employees and patrons (a cadre that includes Charles Dickens himself), Skilley secretly hates the taste of mice. In fact... he prefers cheese. Through some unusual friendships and not-so-unusual rivalries, Skilley and others learn about themselves, learn how to get along, learn what's important, and save the day (and even meet the Queen) in this smartly written young adult novel.<br />
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If you enjoy adding to your vocabulary (or your kids' vocabularies) in an easy-to-read manner a la Lemony Snicket, you should check out this book. It's a quick and entertaining read, even for adults. The occasional artwork is nice too, and this could be a great introduction to Dickensian stories for a younger audience.<br />
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See also the book's website: <a href="http://cheshirecheesecat.com/">http://cheshirecheesecat.com/</a>Shannon Mawhineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922566876468638982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621376930459307190.post-27142072317886824852014-01-15T07:00:00.000-06:002014-01-15T07:00:00.167-06:00Movie Review: Iron Man 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XJ4W_kTRk5s/UtLJX3n9J9I/AAAAAAAAASU/10esyY_s6SM/s1600/ironman3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XJ4W_kTRk5s/UtLJX3n9J9I/AAAAAAAAASU/10esyY_s6SM/s1600/ironman3.jpg" height="425" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>My rating: 4/5.</b> </div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Succinctly from IMDB.com: "<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">When Tony Stark's world is torn apart by a formidable terrorist called the Mandarin, he starts an odyssey of rebuilding and retribution."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">This was an exciting, entertaining movie, even with the one small complaint I have. Unfortunately I can't fully describe that complaint without giving away a huge plot point, but I will say that the cheesiness of the Mandarin's television interruptions were never redeemed for me later in the movie, even though they were for my husband. I still found them cheesy and unbelievable, while he found them to make sense. So, take from that what you will. Otherwise I really enjoyed the movie, especially the exchanges between Stark and the boy. Loved that part. I also appreciate when women are, at least sometimes, able to save themselves. We really don't see that often enough. </span></span></div>
Shannon Mawhineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922566876468638982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621376930459307190.post-82731422194435334672014-01-13T19:00:00.000-06:002014-01-13T19:00:01.031-06:00Movie Review: The Hobbit, An Unexpected Journey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y7SNPkmJLBI/UtLIJW6e51I/AAAAAAAAASM/NpIUG8wQqio/s1600/hobbit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y7SNPkmJLBI/UtLIJW6e51I/AAAAAAAAASM/NpIUG8wQqio/s1600/hobbit.jpg" height="400" width="270" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>My rating: 3.5/5.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">From Amazon: "<span style="background-color: white;">The adventure follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain, first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever Gollum. Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of ingenuity and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum's "precious" ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">I had heard that this movie wasn't great, mainly because it tried to be both a kiddie movie and an adult-fan movie at the same time and couldn't pull it off. I would agree to an extent, especially in the beginning. But I feel like by the second half of the movie, it had decided to be an adult-fan movie (especially judging by the gore; I don't recommend this for kids at all), and I liked it. I'm a pretty big fan of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and didn't like this movie quite as well, but I still liked it and think it's a good watch for any LotR fan. </span></span>Shannon Mawhineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922566876468638982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621376930459307190.post-73272311112920573392014-01-12T10:33:00.004-06:002014-01-12T10:33:52.625-06:00Movie Review: Cloud Atlas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gtdTulPBGKI/UtLB1nfMwWI/AAAAAAAAAR8/jc9hlv2sTjI/s1600/Cloud_Atlas_Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gtdTulPBGKI/UtLB1nfMwWI/AAAAAAAAAR8/jc9hlv2sTjI/s1600/Cloud_Atlas_Poster.jpg" height="400" width="270" /></a></div>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">My rating: 2/5. </span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">From Amazon: "<span style="background-color: white;">Future. Present. Past. Everything is connected. An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.The story is a time-shifting weave of six interlinking narratives, with diverse settings from the savagery of a Pacific Island in the 1850s to a dystopian Korea of the near future. Based on the New York Times best-selling novel <i>Cloud Atlas</i> written by David Mitchell."</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have not read the book, but judging by book reviews and previews for the movie, I really expected to like this. Instead, all I found it to be was a purposefully confused, often boring mess. Good storytelling doesn't have to force itself to be obtuse, and it needs to convey a point. This movie seemed mostly pointless. It was also unnecessarily gory a few times, and I never appreciate that. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I will give it credit for its makeup though. Holy cow; a few times it was quite a while before I realized which (famous) actor was behind a particular character's makeup job. But that's about all I can give it credit for.</span></span>Shannon Mawhineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922566876468638982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621376930459307190.post-65968345119982230232013-11-10T20:00:00.000-06:002013-11-10T20:00:02.034-06:00TV Show Review: Sleepy Hollow<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OT8bqPvPoig/Un8EA2dZzII/AAAAAAAAARI/c4w60_5K1cQ/s1600/Sleepy-Hollow-Season-1-Poster-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OT8bqPvPoig/Un8EA2dZzII/AAAAAAAAARI/c4w60_5K1cQ/s400/Sleepy-Hollow-Season-1-Poster-4.jpg" width="275" /></a></div>
<b>My rating: 4/5</b><br />
<br />
From Amazon: "A modern-day supernatural thriller based on The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow.
It follows Ichabod Crane as he partners with Sleepy Hollow's local
female sheriff to solve the mysteries of a town ravaged by the battle
between good and evil."<br />
<br />
Basically: If you're a fan of <i>Supernatural</i> and/or <i>The X-Files</i>, you'll probably love this show. The acting is great, the stories are (usually) great, and it's got enough camp and self-awareness (and honest-to-God history lessons) that it's fun and super engaging while having a great level of suspense. Everything seems well thought-out and elaborate without being hard to follow, and I love the conspiracy bits and gradual revelation of the background (a la <i>X-Files</i>). <br />
<br />
So far the scenes between Abby (the policewoman) and her sister haven't been great, but I'm hoping those will get better with time. They're not terrible, I just don't quite get the chemistry between them and don't quite understand the sister's character yet.<br />
<br />
Regardless, there aren't many shows we're excited to watch each week anymore, but this is definitely one of them. Shannon Mawhineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922566876468638982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621376930459307190.post-22561388839461803392013-11-09T21:41:00.001-06:002013-11-09T21:41:32.071-06:00Book Review: Scowler by Daniel Kraus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sSipstv88Kw/Un770fv-XPI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/P_HOjkRqwWQ/s1600/Scowler-Kraus-Daniel-9780385368353.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sSipstv88Kw/Un770fv-XPI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/P_HOjkRqwWQ/s320/Scowler-Kraus-Daniel-9780385368353.jpg" width="292" /></a></div>
<b>My rating: 4.5/5</b><br />
<br />
From Amazon: "<i>Imagine your father is a monster. Would that mean there are monsters inside you, too? </i>Nineteen-year-old
Ry Burke, his mother, and little sister scrape by for a living on their
dying family farm. Ry wishes for anything to distract him from the grim
memories of his father's physical and emotional abuse. Then a meteorite
falls from the sky, bringing with it not only a fragment from another
world but also the arrival of a ruthless man intent on destroying the
entire family. Soon Ry is forced to defend himself by resurrecting a
trio of imaginary childhood protectors: kindly Mr. Furrington, wise
Jesus, and the bloodthirsty Scowler."<br />
<br />
Much like Kraus' other book that I read two years ago, <a href="http://mawhiney.blogspot.com/2011/09/book-review-rotters-by-daniel-kraus.html"><i>Rotters</i></a>, <i>Scowler</i> is extremely well-written both in description and story and is themed around some seriously messed-up daddy issues. Also similar to <i>Rotters</i> is the constant, weird expectancy that something supernatural is about to happen, when in fact it all remains solidly based in Kraus' made-up reality... which is very, very crazy, but with a distinct lack of magic. <br />
<br />
The setting of this book is beautiful and one I've never experienced, in a book or anything else: part farm-life, part '80s horror movie (minus the camp), and part psychological thriller. It works perfectly. I would absolutely love to see this made into a movie, especially the interactions between real characters and imaginary friends. I think my only complaint is that Ry's sister, Sarah, never quite seems like a real, complete person, even though she's a pretty important character. A couple of other characters weren't, in my opinion, fleshed-out enough either, but they didn't have as big of roles as Sarah. She still isn't an entirely badly-done character though, so my complaint is minor. <br />
<br />
The book gets very dark, for a good portion of the book, and a little gory in spots. But if you're squeamish, you could probably skim over those parts and keep going. Otherwise I'd recommend the book for high school and older. Shannon Mawhineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922566876468638982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621376930459307190.post-47018104841262358992013-11-09T11:53:00.000-06:002013-11-09T11:53:06.546-06:00Book Review: Countdown City (The Last Policeman Series) by Ben H. Winters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-42lj_M0Y6mM/Un5x-JoA-jI/AAAAAAAAAQo/ZMGBEQmfLRw/s1600/CountdownCity.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-42lj_M0Y6mM/Un5x-JoA-jI/AAAAAAAAAQo/ZMGBEQmfLRw/s400/CountdownCity.png" width="261" /></a></div>
<b>My rating: 4.25/5</b><br />
<br />
From Amazon: "Now Detective Hank Palace returns in <i>Countdown City</i>, the second volume of the <i>Last Policeman </i>trilogy.
There are just 77 days before a deadly asteroid collides with Earth,
and Detective Palace is out of a job. With the Concord police force
operating under the auspices of the U.S. Justice Department, Hank's days
of solving crimes are over... until a woman from his past begs for help
finding her missing husband.<br /> <br /> "Brett Cavatone disappeared
without a trace—an easy feat in a world with no phones, no cars, and no
way to tell whether someone’s gone 'bucket list' or just <i>gone</i>.
With society falling to shambles, Hank pieces together what few clues he
can, on a search that leads him from a
college-campus-turned-anarchist-encampment to a crumbling coastal
landscape where anti-immigrant militia fend off 'impact zone' refugees.<br /> <br /> "<i>Countdown City</i>
presents another fascinating mystery set on brink of an apocalypse--and
once again, Hank Palace confronts questions way beyond 'whodunit.' <i>What
do we as human beings owe to one another? And what does it mean to be
civilized when civilization is collapsing all around you?</i>"<br />
<br />
I loved book #1, and this did not disappoint as a sequel. It didn't feel as urgent as #1, but it didn't particularly need to be; the urgency from the first book carried over to the second, which probably says a lot for the author's world-building. (And his/Palace's insight into the human condition and the description thereof... faaaantastic.) It also didn't feel quite as dark as the first book, but I took that to be purposeful. The people who are left are mostly deciding to hang in there until the bitter end, rather than just hanging themselves. Maybe those who have stuck around have a little more hope. <br />
<br />
But that's not to say there isn't plenty of death and despair, and things are definitely getting worse. There are sad moments, but at least I was already privy to Palace's childhood at this point and didn't cry at any revelations. His promise to his sister is very sweet, but not tear-worthy, and that's fine.<br />
<br />
I wish we'd seen more of the outside world though. Even though Palace travels to several locations, and it makes sense that he really can't travel very far at this point with the general infrastructure of everything having fallen apart, I still felt stuck in a microcosm while reading, even though the entire world is falling into chaos. And maybe that's the point; Palace, and everyone else, probably feels that way too, cut off from the world at large compared to the recently-ended, hyper-information age. I still hope though that in book #3 we get to see more of what's happening to at least other regions of the country, if not the world. If only for curiosity's sake.<br />
<br />
Overall, great book, probably good for high school and older.Shannon Mawhineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922566876468638982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621376930459307190.post-55496886899187865982013-11-06T20:45:00.001-06:002013-11-06T20:45:24.701-06:00Movie Review: Ender's Game<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mq1BrMHZl0c/Unr6SjOnB3I/AAAAAAAAAQY/3oPmVVTiV1M/s1600/Enders-Game-Movie-Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mq1BrMHZl0c/Unr6SjOnB3I/AAAAAAAAAQY/3oPmVVTiV1M/s400/Enders-Game-Movie-Poster.jpg" width="255" /></a></div>
<b>My rating: 4/5</b><br />
<br />
From Amazon: "In the near future, a hostile alien race has attacked Earth. If not for
the legendary heroics of International Fleet Commander Mazer Rackham
(Ben Kingsley), all would have been lost. In preparation for the next
attack, the highly esteemed Colonel Hyrum Graff (Harrison Ford) and the
International Military are training the best and brightest young
children to find the future Mazer. Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), a
shy, but strategically brilliant boy is pulled out of his school to join
the elite"<br />
<br />
I appreciated how well this movie followed <a href="http://mawhiney.blogspot.com/2013/08/book-review-enders-game-by-orson-scott.html">the book</a>. The acting was awesome, especially by Asa Butterfield; he was absolutely perfect for the role of Ender and I'm honestly excited to see what roles he plays in future movies. However, the only role in the movie I didn't entirely appreciate was Petra. The actor playing her was perfectly fine, but for some reason they decided to hint at her being a love interest for Ender almost every time they interacted, when in the book she was nothing more than a sister-like friend. For goodness sakes, she's a tough-as-nails child soldier and she appears on Ender's communicator near the end of the movie in an almost-seductive pose in her pj's with her braided hair pulled over her shoulder. Why??<br />
<br />
Other than that though, I think I loved every character. I wish there had been more of Valentine and Peter and their political takeover back home, but I understand how that would be hard to put into a movie, especially one that's already almost 2 hours long. Overall, great movie, would recommend to any sci-fi fan.Shannon Mawhineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922566876468638982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621376930459307190.post-4875191263250555952013-10-11T19:27:00.001-05:002013-11-09T21:50:36.561-06:00Book Review: Return to Perdition by Max Allan Collins<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q-53PCwsd-8/UliPSPVjg-I/AAAAAAAAAQA/eKJCxPj8Wdg/s1600/Return-to-Perdition.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q-53PCwsd-8/UliPSPVjg-I/AAAAAAAAAQA/eKJCxPj8Wdg/s400/Return-to-Perdition.jpg" width="270" /></a></div>
<b>My rating: 2/5</b><br />
<br />
From Amazon: "The time is America in the early 1970’s and our third generation hero,
Michael Satariano, Jr. is a Vietnam vet recently returned to the States.
He doesn’t know that his father’s real name was Michael O’Sullivan, and
is unaware of the conflict between his dad, his grandfather and John
Looney – the criminal godfather of Rock Island, Illinois. But when he’s
recruited by the Mob as a hit-man, he’s going to learn the hard way that
you can never outrun (or outgun) your past."<br />
<br />
Color me immensely disappointed. Though I really enjoyed the first two, this fifth installment of the <i>Road to Perdition</i> graphic novel series felt unedited and possibly rushed (similar to the <a href="http://mawhiney.blogspot.com/2012/08/book-review-road-to-perdition-by-matt.html">first one</a>, but much worse; Michael's girlfriend calls him by her uncle's name at one point for goodness sake, and it's not the character's mistake). There was nothing very unique about the story, though I was surprised by something near the end and probably shouldn't have been, and I did appreciate that fact. Some parts were rushed through in only a few frames when they should have been much more detailed, and other parts dragged on. I admit I got bored but did finish it, since it isn't terribly long. Some sections appeared to be an excuse to draw naked women, which can be fine if there's a good story to go with it; but when there's not, it comes across as a 13-year-old's pornographic fantasy. Having this one take place in the '70s would have been fine too, even though I really liked the Prohibition-era setting of the first two; but all this felt like was a watered-down version of a '70s gangster film. <br />
<br />
The artwork wasn't badly done, and I did appreciate the part that surprised me, so I at least gave it two stars. This book doesn't lessen my love for the <a href="http://mawhiney.blogspot.com/2012/10/book-review-road-to-perdition-2-by-max.html?q=road+to+perdition">second book of the series</a> or the movie based on the first, but I have no desire to go back and read numbers 3 and 4 (<i>Road to Purgatory</i> and <i>Road to Paradise</i>). Shannon Mawhineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922566876468638982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621376930459307190.post-22650489469000909502013-10-07T19:00:00.000-05:002013-10-07T19:00:02.063-05:00Movie Review: World War Z<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X7ljCal31kk/UlGSpSPtK1I/AAAAAAAAAPw/8YrXHC2laA4/s1600/WWZ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X7ljCal31kk/UlGSpSPtK1I/AAAAAAAAAPw/8YrXHC2laA4/s640/WWZ.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b>My rating: 3.5/5</b><br />
<br />
From Amazon: "A former UN investigator is thrust into the middle of trying to stop
what could be the end of the world. Worldwide destruction sends him
around the globe seeking clues about what they are fighting and what it
will take to defeat it, as he tries to save the lives of billions of
strangers, as well as his own beloved family."<br />
<br />
I actually didn't think this movie was half bad, even though I'd heard it was terrible. It sort of followed the book, though not exactly, but that really didn't bother me at all. I didn't notice any bad acting, and Brad Pitt was great for the main character. It was intense, and it did intensity well; but when it tried to be emotional, it didn't quite get there, and I'm not really sure why. In fact the only thing that almost choked me up, a little, was the police officer who ran into the looted grocery store, seemingly because of the gunfire... and ignores the firefight to fill a bag with baby food. I can't give the movie a very high rating though only because the level of coincidence in the events is staggeringly unrealistic. We literally laughed at these moments. But other than that, it is an enjoyable movie. Shannon Mawhineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922566876468638982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621376930459307190.post-28165135234653701412013-10-06T11:11:00.001-05:002013-10-06T11:11:31.818-05:00Book Review: The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PnnYOH_OjIE/Uk4kLKlXIRI/AAAAAAAAAPg/5-ge6TyNQmA/s1600/tlp_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PnnYOH_OjIE/Uk4kLKlXIRI/AAAAAAAAAPg/5-ge6TyNQmA/s400/tlp_cover.jpg" width="262" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>My rating: 4.75/5</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">From Amazon: "What’s the point in solving murders if we’re all going to die soon, anyway?<br /> <br />
"Detective Hank Palace has faced this question ever since asteroid
2011GV1 hovered into view. There’s no chance left. No hope. Just six
precious months until impact.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>"... </i>The economy
spirals downward while crops rot in the fields. Churches and synagogues
are packed. People all over the world are walking off the job—but not
Hank Palace. He’s investigating a death by hanging in a city that sees a
dozen suicides every week—except this one feels suspicious, and Palace
is the only cop who cares. <br /> <i> </i><br /> "The first in a trilogy, <i>The Last Policeman </i>offers
a mystery set on the brink of an apocalypse. As Palace’s investigation
plays out under the shadow of 2011GV1, we’re confronted by hard
questions way beyond 'whodunit.; <i>What basis does civilization rest upon? What is life worth? What would any of us</i> <i>do, what would we </i>really <i>do, if our days were numbered?"</i></span><br />
<br />
I haven't been this excited to read the rest of a series in a really long time. I loved this book. It's fantastically real, with a nice, even mix of down-to-earth and imaginative description. It really makes you think 'yeah, that probably is how people would act during impending worldwide doom.' Shirley Jackson's 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle' came close to this level of book love for me, especially in how often I stopped to read passages out loud to my husband. But this book went beyond that; I had to keep updating him on what was going on in the book even without having particular passages to relay. It's also the first book in a really long time that I already want to re-read.<br />
<br />
I don't know that I've ever read a book with such a calmly, unassumingly passionate protagonist. Katniss in 'The Hunger Games' comes close, but Palace goes much farther, and I loved the character for it. The reader really sympathizes with him too, without any description or emotion being shoved down your throat, ever. I rarely cry because of a book, but one small passage here, which doesn't flat-out say why his boss calls him 'kid' but only subtly implies it... I couldn't help it. His background is heartbreaking, and you only slowly learn about it throughout the book. It's beautifully done. <br />
<br />
I only had two small complaints, which are why I didn't give it a straight 5 (but pretty darn close). First off, the beginning is slow and Palace is a difficult character to grasp at first, to the point that I almost quit reading the book after the first few chapters. I'm definitely happy I didn't, and without going back and re-reading the book (yet), I'm not sure if all of that was just me for some reason or if it's how the writing is at the start of the book. Either way, if you start the book and don't like it at first, keep reading. It's awesome. Second, it's possible I missed something in the book, especially since after I thought about not finishing it, I set it aside for a week or so; but I'm confused why insurance companies were paying out to the families of people who had committed suicide. I thought that was generally an automatic deal-breaker, but I might just be wrong about that, or there may have been something that explained this. But as far as my complaints go, I wasn't offended by them, and the rest of the book far outweighs the bad. <br />
<br />
Because of the drug use and violence (neither of which are put in a good light), as well as the rare sex and swearing (which aren't particularly put in a bad light but aren't over the top), I'd recommend this book for high school and older. And I would recommend the heck out of it. Shannon Mawhineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922566876468638982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621376930459307190.post-51101973142746394232013-09-30T21:00:00.000-05:002013-09-30T21:00:27.596-05:00Movie Review: The Great Gatsby<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-psRubtd0fyY/UkonBbfheLI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/VBHT4xZ4qGU/s1600/the_great_gatsby_movie-wide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-psRubtd0fyY/UkonBbfheLI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/VBHT4xZ4qGU/s640/the_great_gatsby_movie-wide.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b>My rating: 4/5</b><br />
<br />
From Amazon: "Aspiring writer Nick Carraway goes to New York City at the height of the
Roaring Twenties and is drawn into the world of the super-rich and the
mysterious millionaire, Jay Gatsby."<br />
<br />
Because this movie was made by Baz Luhrmann (<i>Moulin Rouge</i>, <i>Australia</i>, <i>Romeo+Juliet</i>), I had high expectations. And a lot of those expectations were met: beautiful cinematography, a good amount of music, a nice tragic love story, over-the-top but well-done drama. Unfortunately though, it got pretty slow towards the end, and the music wasn't nearly as integrated as it could (and I think should) have been. I'm not sure an entire song was ever played through, and it wasn't nearly as important to the plot of the movie as it was, for example, in <i>Moulin Rouge</i>. I was disappointed. But as for the rest of the movie, the acting was great and the story was great, and there's not much more you need for a high rating from me.Shannon Mawhineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922566876468638982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621376930459307190.post-83852637138622269692013-09-17T18:19:00.000-05:002013-09-17T18:24:18.234-05:00Movie Review: Warm Bodies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h117UEMKQS8/UjjhfdmyKSI/AAAAAAAAAOM/GgNZ9-vdkyk/s1600/warm-bodies-movie-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h117UEMKQS8/UjjhfdmyKSI/AAAAAAAAAOM/GgNZ9-vdkyk/s400/warm-bodies-movie-poster.jpg" width="282" /></a></div>
<b>My rating: 3.5/5</b><br />
<br />
From Amazon: "An unlikely romance between a beautiful human teen and a sensitive
undead slacker sets off a chain of events with the power to transform
the world."<br />
<br />
After reading <a href="http://mawhiney.blogspot.com/2011/07/book-review-warm-bodies-by-isaac-marion.html?q=warm+bodies">the book of the same name</a>, this movie just didn't compare. Big surprise I suppose, as so many people say the same thing about so many books-turned-movies. But I really expected this to be at least almost as funny and dramatic and dark as the book, and it just didn't live up to expectations. It actually starts out good with some quick humor, but it very quickly dies down and the majority of the movie drags. Acting is mostly sub-par too, which does it no favors. If you're looking for something to pop in and have as background noise while you work on some homework, it's not terrible. If you're actually looking for Isaac Marion-level entertainment, read one of his books.Shannon Mawhineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922566876468638982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621376930459307190.post-9524725548890428252013-09-15T11:29:00.002-05:002013-09-17T18:24:31.499-05:00Book Review: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson<br />
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<b>My rating: 4.5/5</b><br />
<br />
From Amazon: "Since the mysterious death of four family members, the superstitious
Mary Katherine 'Merricat' Blackwood, her ailing uncle Julian, and
agoraphobic sister Constance have lived in a bizarre but contented state
of isolation. But when cousin Charles arrives in search of the
Blackwood fortune, a terrible family secret is revealed."<br />
<br />
First of all: I need to read more Shirley Jackson books. I loved this one. Her writing is poetic, easy, and creepy all at once. And I love books full of realistic, believable characters, no matter what genre, and Jackson does this perfectly. Even minor characters are entirely believable, especially in the horrible things they do and the subsequent horrible feelings (or lack thereof, depending on the character) that follow. Seeing the story through crazy Merricat's eyes is gripping in a way that almost makes you feel detached from the story, as she does, but also with the full realization of what's happening. I haven't enjoyed a book this much in a while, especially one written twenty years before I was born. It isn't an especially long book, I don't remember any particularly bad language or goriness, and I think high school and older would probably enjoy it. Shannon Mawhineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922566876468638982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621376930459307190.post-41034201310854614522013-09-08T21:10:00.001-05:002013-09-17T18:24:45.805-05:00Movie Review: John Dies at the End<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>My rating: 4/5 </b><br />
<br />
From Amazon: "An otherworldly invasion is underway, and mankind needs a hero. What it
gets instead is John and David, a pair of college dropouts who can
barely hold down jobs."<br />
<br />
This movie was unexpectedly great and hilarious. I had no clue what it was about before watching it (mainly because I haven't read the book, which I may go back and do now). I doubt I'd want to watch the movie again though, if only because the end sort of unraveled and was suddenly gory. Hence the 4/5. But good on it for making me want to read the book; that's a rare thing for me.Shannon Mawhineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922566876468638982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621376930459307190.post-19046763917662682412013-08-15T19:00:00.000-05:002013-09-17T18:25:05.239-05:00Book Review: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>My rating: 4.5/5</b><br />
<br />
From Amazon: "Intense is the word for <i>Ender's Game</i>. Aliens have attacked Earth twice
and almost destroyed the human species. To make sure humans win the
next encounter, the world government has taken to breeding military
geniuses -- and then training them in the arts of war... The early
training, not surprisingly, takes the form of 'games'... Ender Wiggin is
a genius among geniuses; he wins all the games... He is smart enough to
know that time is running out. But is he smart enough to save the
planet?"<br />
<br />
As much as I don't tend to like political dramas (sci-fi or not), this book was super accessible and I could hardly put it down. It was exciting, realistic, and heart-wrenching at times, watching everything Ender went through (socially, mentally, and physically) as well as his sister Valentine. Every character was deeply explored to the point that I felt like I knew every one of them. I got the feeling that the author didn't know how to write kids, but he got around this perfectly by writing children who are abnormally advanced and more adult-like than child-like. I'm really, really excited for the movie now (trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SRizeR4MmU). Shannon Mawhineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922566876468638982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621376930459307190.post-85187192655580173042013-08-14T19:00:00.000-05:002013-09-17T18:25:20.380-05:00Movie Review: Beautiful Creatures<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X_ndFHpEnhY/UeNty0nrl9I/AAAAAAAAAM8/QBB2WoLpDk0/s1600/BeautifulCreatures.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X_ndFHpEnhY/UeNty0nrl9I/AAAAAAAAAM8/QBB2WoLpDk0/s1600/BeautifulCreatures.jpg" width="432" /></a></div>
<b>My rating: 4/5</b><br />
<br />
From Fandango.com: "Lena has just moved to the small, Southern town of Gatlin, where the
only person who seems to understand her -- or dream of bigger places or
ideas -- is a cute guy named Ethan Wate (Alden Ehrenreich), who
recognizes her instantly from the cryptic dreams he's been having every
night. Lena is an orphan, and she's come to stay with her mysterious
uncle, Macon Ravenwood (Irons), the patriarch of her powerful family.
Powerful, because The Ravenwood clan are Casters, born with powers that
ordinary mortals don't have, like the ability to move objects, control
the elements, and even step out of normal space and time to communicate
only with each other. But just as Lena feels ready to open up to Ethan,
she discovers that their love is in imminent danger, because when female
Casters turn 16, their destiny as either good or evil is revealed.
Unwilling to let her nature be dictated by forces outside her control,
Lena and Ethan set out together to uncover the strange, secret lore of
their families' intertwined histories dating back to the Civil War, and
figure out how to grant Lena the power to choose her own destiny."<br />
<br />
We weren't sure what to expect from this movie. On the one hand, it looked like a Twilight knockoff with witches; but on the other, it had Jeremy Irons. As it turned out, the movie was on the Jeremy Irons side. I hate romance but loved the romance between the main characters. They were both smart, weird, and just smarmy enough to make it totally enjoyable to watch. The only reason I couldn't give it a full 5 was that it dragged towards the end quite a bit, and we didn't get as much of the smart-aleck quirkiness that we did in the first half of the movie. Still, it was a great movie, and I'd really like to read the <i>Caster Chronicles </i>series now. Shannon Mawhineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922566876468638982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621376930459307190.post-1545861444497278232013-08-13T07:00:00.000-05:002013-09-17T18:25:33.347-05:00Book Review: The Dark by Lemony Snicket<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1350766092l/15790852.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1350766092l/15790852.jpg" width="311" /></a></div>
<b>My rating: 3/5</b><br />
<br />
From Amazon: "<span id="freeTextContainer1152375880042037593">Laszlo is afraid of the dark. The dark is not afraid of Laszlo. <br /><br />"Laszlo lives in a house. The dark lives in the basement. <br /><br />"One night, the dark comes upstairs to Laszlo's room, and Laszlo goes down to the basement.<br /><br />"This is the story of how Laszlo stops being afraid of the dark."</span><br />
<br />
<span id="freeTextContainer1152375880042037593">This book might be good for little ones who are afraid of the dark, and that does seem to be the intended audience. But as far as a Lemony Snicket book goes, this one lands pretty close to the bottom. I expected more humor and weirdness (a la <i>The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming</i>: <i>A Christmas Story</i>), but it's pretty straight forward and quick. It's not a bad book; I just expected more Lemony Snicketiness. </span>Shannon Mawhineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922566876468638982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621376930459307190.post-65647168990235061292013-08-12T19:00:00.000-05:002013-09-17T18:25:44.922-05:00Movie Review: Oz the Great and Powerful<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-URRq-_Mm5n0/UeNr3MBhMHI/AAAAAAAAAMk/u0ULlnasniE/s1600/Oz+The+Great+And+Powerful.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-URRq-_Mm5n0/UeNr3MBhMHI/AAAAAAAAAMk/u0ULlnasniE/s1600/Oz+The+Great+And+Powerful.jpg" width="640" /> </a></div>
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<b>My rating: 3/5</b></div>
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I can't say this movie wasn't entertaining, and I enjoyed the witches' characters a lot. James Franco's Oz, though, was always kind of smarmy and really never changed, which made viewers want to dislike the main character throughout the entire movie. It was also too long (2 hours 11 minutes) for no good reason. If editing had been tighter I would have rated it a little higher. And if Oz had been likeable, it could have come close to a 5. It's still worth seeing, but... it's not worth much. Rent it for cheap or borrow it from the library.</div>
Shannon Mawhineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922566876468638982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621376930459307190.post-10676751315852505032013-08-11T21:27:00.003-05:002013-09-17T18:26:02.858-05:00Book Review: Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PyQx4mRPaq0/UeNsaIJ5dBI/AAAAAAAAAMs/rp3PJccrsGg/s1600/GatheringBlue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PyQx4mRPaq0/UeNsaIJ5dBI/AAAAAAAAAMs/rp3PJccrsGg/s1600/GatheringBlue.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
<b>My rating: 2.75/5</b><br />
<br />
From Amazon: "Kira, newly orphaned and lame from birth, is taken from the turmoil
of the village to live in the grand Council Edifice because of her
skill at embroidery. There she is given the task of restoring the
historical pictures sewn on the robe worn at the annual Ruin Song
Gathering, a solemn day-long performance of the story of their world's
past. Down the hall lives Thomas the Carver, a young boy who works on
the intricate symbols carved on the Singer's staff, and a tiny girl who
is being trained as the next Singer. Over the three artists hovers the
menace of authority, seemingly kind but suffocating to their
creativity, and the dark secret at the heart of the Ruin Song.<br />
<br />
"With the help of a cheerful waif called Matt and his little dog, Kira at
last finds the way to the plant that will allow her to create the
missing color--blue--and, symbolically, to find the courage to shape
the future by following her art wherever it may lead."<br />
<br />
As much as I loved <i>The Giver</i>, to the point that it's still my favorite book, I was really disappointed reading <i>Gathering Blue</i>. The plot wasn't terrible, but it wasn't very exciting; no character ever quite seemed real; dialogue was meh and I never could quite understand the accents of some the characters; and I just plain old got bored and struggled to finish it. I really wanted to read the whole trilogy, along with <i>The Messenger</i>, but at this point, I think I'm done. I would say that it's only because I'm older now and not as entertained by middle school reading, but I re-read <i>The Giver</i> just a few years ago and still loved it. I don't know exactly what I was expecting, other than a lot more excitement and an actual sequel to <i>The Giver</i>, but this wasn't it. I probably wouldn't even recommend it to a middle schooler. Shannon Mawhineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922566876468638982noreply@blogger.com0