Recently I've Been...

Hopelessly reachin' (sorry Mcfly song, couldn't resist)

Recently in the life of Bex...

• I'm in the process of entering the Guardian's Young Critics competition (need to type up and send away) in hope of winning £25, sweet :)
• Reviewing an Open Day (may win a hoodie- fingers crossed!)
• Planning to go to another open day this saturday focusing on an ENGLISH LITERATURE DEGREE- scary stuff, how am I applying to uni already?
• Getting my English book list for next years and probably will review on here at some point

1. Tess of D'Urbervilles- Thomas Hardy
2. Blue Remebered Hills- Dennis Potter
3. Songs of Innocence and Experience- William Blake
4. Assorted Pastoral Poetry
5. Jane Eyre- Charlotte Bronté
6. Pride and Prejudice- Jane Austen
7. The Worlds Wife- Carol Ann Duffy

• I also plan to read A Streetcar Named Desire, Oranges are not the only Fruit, The Catcher in the Rye and Rebecca so keep your eyes peeled!

My story extract

I looked into his eyes and suddenly felt a rush of emotion, of fear and of determination that I have tried for so long to hide from him. I can't do this any more. I cannot physically cause him

to suffer again at my hands. He reaches out, hurt radiating out of every blemish; every pore; every flicker of gold in his chocolate brown eyes. And it breaks my heart.

But my brain short cuts this. My silly hay-wired brain. The irrational side of me reaches back, pulls him closer until not even air comes between us. Two halves of a whole. Questions swarm around me. What will our families and friends think? Will I be able to go back? Will he ever move on?. Then his lips touch mine. Softly at first, then harder until I realise he is forcing me to see that he is what I want. So I kiss back, so hard that I wouldn't be able to tell him my own name. I open my eyes and all I can see is him. Flashes of him in 10, maybe 20 years time. Designing, which is what he loves best, in a huge studio. Returning home to a wife and smiling children. His dream. And I wonder where I fit. Some distant memory in the past, the first love who broke his heart but let him live his dream. I reconcile myself with that thought, then pour my life and soul into him so he can know it wasn't his fault. It's not you it's me. Ironically I actually mean it. Then I break away and start to run head-first into my future.

A Voice in the Distance

This is the second book by Tabitha Suzuma about Flynn Laukonen, the Bipolar pianist who starred in A Note of Madness. After Jennah and Flynn's relationship FINALLY takes off at the end of the first book, Suzuma picks it up again years later. Flynn has successfully been on medication for 2 years, however when we meet them again it's all falling apart. Flynn is sinking back into a routine of mania and depression, and the question on every readers lips is: will loving Jennah be enough to save him?

Of course, we all want her to be. But she has her own life, her own dreams. So she is left with a choice- can she put up with a life of walking on eggshells to be with the boy she loved and who might take drastic action if she leaves, or would she rather be free to decide her own future.

Suzuma writes this amazingly different novel in an amazingly different way. By splitting the narrative she shows both Flynn and Jennah's sides as they struggle to cope with an illness that rules the life of Flynn and those who care about him.

When life takes over.

Okay, first off I'm gonna apologize cause my guess is when I finally type up all I'm thinking, a whole lot of it isn't going to be remotely book related. So sorry in advance.

Do you know them days, the really sunny ones when you think the world just has to be right and you breakdown in tears 'cause its not? Well I'm having one of those days.

And partially I blame the Time Travellers Wife which I was re-reading. Unfortunately that's not the sole cause and I had to learn today what actually was the reason behind me crying at Henry's death, even though I knew it was going to happen.

But then I sat and thought about the reasons why I'm happy. These are what I've came up with

a) I'm going to EDINBURGH in a few weeks

b) In 6 days time me and my boyfriend will have been together for a year, seriously that's a big achievement for me!

c) I have no more exams to worry about until January

d) I have great friends and family, they are like a life support machine

e) I have an idea for a book, and would like to share an extract I have in my head with you later

f) Beautiful things captivate me each and everyday: bubbles, butterflies, the sunset, the feeling you only get after you achieve something, vintage stuff, the smell of old books, cupcakes, rainbows, walking barefoot on slightly damp grass, sitting with a candy striped notebook and a pot of pens waiting for the ideas to explode onto the paper and become real. These are the things I live for.

g) That I have my faith back. After losing my gran I turned my back on religion, now I'm learning to accept it back into my life.

h)Second chances.

i) The add to dictionary button :P

So I'm going to share my current favourites of the week basically cause it will cheer me up. Then I promise 2 more posts: a book review and an extract from my possible-someday-book :)

Fave song: Stand in the Rain by Superchic[k]

Fave book: Even though it brought on a breakdown, I can't resist Time Travellers Wife

Fave word: Hope. It's what gets me through

Fave place: The back garden because its boiling hot and full of beautiful flowers, and I like to spend a while on the rug with my dog Harry, a Diet Coke, sun lotion and a well-read book

Fave memory: This week it will have to be lying on the grass with Scott, looking up and seeing him illuminated by a halo of sunlight and falling in love again

Fave food: White Magnums

Fave Film: The Simpson's Movie. Yellow people shouldn't make me laugh that much "Steady, steady OWWW!" but apparently they do.

Book I want to read next week: Forbidden by Tabitha Szuma...wonder if I can convince my mates to let me go to the library tomorrow- I've been known to spend hours in there.

10 favourite books

1. Let's Get Lost by Sarra Manning- Because I could identify the whole awkward teenager and backstabbing friends and a past of being bullied with Isabel. And Smith is one of my favourite characters ever.

2. The Pact by Jodi Picoult- Okay so not the nicest of plots but I found Picoult's unique take on a controversial situation clever and captivating.

3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban by J.K. Rowling-I'm a huge Harry Potter fan and this book is my favourite out of the series because I like the stuff about Sirius and James Potter's history.

4. The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffeneger- I've always liked the idea of time travel and Henry DeTamble is the best time traveller :)

5. Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause- Exactly what I want from a forbidden love story. And this time the female is the mythical creature. However my friend wasnt too impressed with me, cause I like Aiden better than Gabriel.

6. This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen- I like this book because Remy is a quirky heroine, the cynic who falls in love. And Dexter reminds me of my own boyfriend, mussy clumzy and cute :)

7. Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold- Okay I like morbid books. I just like the way Sebold writes, she is really original in a topic that hasnt really been approached by writers before.

8. Lucky Star by Cathy Cassidy- Cassidy was one of my favourite authors when I was 12/13 and I got the amazing opportunity to meet her at a book signing in my school. The first book of hers I read was 'Dizzy' and I was totally taken in by Mouse's character which is why I love this book.

9. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson- Blomkivist and Salander make a terrifyingly good pair.

10. A Note of Madness by Tabitha Szuma- I love this book because of the characters especially laid back Harry and energetic Flynn

Great Gatsby for anonymous :)

The next book to be reviewed is 'The Great Gatsby' by F.Scott Fitzgerald (Penguin Modern Classics). This again I studied for my AS and I have to say it was my favourite. Set in the pretentious societies of East and West Egg the novel presents a cynical view on the American Dream and the appearance-obsessed world. Although some people argue that Gatsby is indeed not 'great', in my opinion he is of his own right as he builds himself up from nothing (okay so his methods aren't exactly legal) just to gain the love of Daisy who looks down on him because she INHERITED her riches instead of actually having to earn them. Okay so Gatsby uses Nick once or twice but only because he is so focused on his dream. Surely everyone should have dreams and instead of just waiting for them to come true they should actually take positive action towards MAKING them true.

So I guess you could say I like Gatsby's character. On the contrary, I loathe Nick. And Daisy. And Tom. In my opinion they represent everything that's wrong with the world. But hey thats my opinion :)

A character I do like is Owl Eyes. Not only is he very funny when being totally taken aback by the fact Gatsby has REAL books with ACTUAL pages, he turns up to Gatsby's funeral when no-one else of Gatsby's 'friends' do. So maybe there's hope afterall for those corrupted rich. But then again maybe not.

My favourite part of the book is right at the end when Fitzgerald writes "so we beat on, boats against the current, bourne back carelessly into the past" as it is such an amazing quote as being a 'boat against the current' was Gatsby in general but to me the quote means that you can fight all your life but in the end you're only going to do it all again.

The Kite Runner- for Melissa :)

Since Melissa voted I am going to review 'The Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini (Bloomsbury, 2004). I studied this book as part of my AS and my overall opinion is that it is a worthwhile book to read. The book follows the life of Amir, as he tries to make up for leaving his friend and servant, Hassan, to get raped in an alley. I like the book because it helped open my eyes to what I had done wrong in the past, and helped me start to forgive people who hurt me. I was really inspired by Hassan's character as he just took everything and got on with his life, still smiling. Unfortunately, Im not so nice about Amir and Baba. Another good character for me was Rahim Khan as he was a sort of mentor for Amir when Baba failed. I also liked Hosseini's use of language as he used it to tie the 2 very different cultures of Afghanistan and America together. My favorite part of the book was at the end when Sohrab smiles and Amir realises that although rescuing Sohrab doesnt make everything better its the first step towards it.

Reading List

Hey today I'm doing something a little different. Here are 5 choices of books I could review...all you have to do is vote :)

1. The Great Gatsby by FScott Fitzgerald

2. Lets get Lost by Sarra Manning

3. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

4. 1984 by George Orwell

5. A book you suggest :)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

My first review is going to be Steig Larsson's 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' (Quercus, 2010)

Plot

The book starts with a rather ambiguous prologue which confuses the reader as they are unsure what the book is going to be about. Larsson then goes on to introduce one of the book's main protagonists, Mikael Blomkivist, the amusing 'womanizing' journalist. One of the sub-plots of the book is that Blomkivist is convicted of lying in an exposé of the industrialist, Hans Wennestrom and will do anything to prove he was 'set up' and expose Wennestrom as a crook.

However a cover up is in order to protect Blomkivist's magazine 'Millenium'. So, Blomkivist leaves the magazine. He promptly receives a phone call with a job interview (if only it were that easy) from Henrik Vanger, asking him to investigate the alleged murder of his niece, Harriet Vanger some 40 years previously under the pretence that he is writing the family history. He agrees to work for Vanger for a year, after being hooked by an offer of information on Wennerstrom.

On arrival to Hedeby Island, Blomkivist sets off trying to unlock the mystery. In the process he strikes a precaurious relationship with Cecilia Vanger which is on, then off, then on again, then definately off. He finds striking new leads including uncovering the meaning of some phone numbers, which are instead bible quotes with links to murders commited in Sweden. Mikael then gets in touch with Lisbeth Salander, the girl with the dragon tattoo, who is a hacker and an excellent researcher, to help him find the murders Harriet had uncovered. They are threatened several times by members of the Vanger family who fear that Henrik's 'obsession' with finding the truth about Harriet will kill him. This escalates when Henrik is taken to hospital, ill.

After several months Blomkivist accuses Martin Vanger and his father Gottfried Vanger of the murders and suspects Harriet was killed for discovering this. He is then captured and tortured by Martin Vanger, who admits to everything other than killing Harriet. Salander then saves Blomkivist and chases Martin, who then deliberately crashes his car and dies.

After that Salander contacts Plague, a fellow hacker, who arranges a team to aid her and Blomkivist to hack Annita Vanger's phone in London. Blomkivist attempts to talk to Annita but is refused and she subsequently telephones a number in Australia, where Blomkivist travels. Salander returns to Sweden where her mother has just died.

In Australia, Blomkivist locates Annita Cochrane, who is actually Harriet Vanger. They return to Sweden to tell Henrik Vanger. Henrik's lawyer Dirch Frode then reveals Henrik's information on Wennestrom is effectively useless, however Salander reveals she has hacked his computer and has all the information Blomkivist needs. The rest of the book develops their relationship and Blomkivist writing his expose, before concluding with Salander witnessing Blomkivist and his 'occasional lover' Erika Birger.

My response

A complex plot, with many sub-plots but completely worthwhile reading, with it's daringly different heroine and the irresistable Blomkivist. Witty, fun and very engaging I rarely put this book down.

1. Cover- my version is less good- I prefer the original cover
2. Plot- Complex but engaging- 9/10
3. Characters- I love Salander and Blomkivist, and found the very corrupted Vanger family's dramas more entertaining than Eastenders- 8/10
4. Overall impression- 8.5/10 :)

Hey :)

Hi I thought I would start by telling you a little bit about me...

• My name is Bex
• I'm 17, well nearly.
• I am studying psychology, sociology, science and English literature A Levels.
• I plan to do an English Literature with Journalism degree at a local University, then progress to a postgraduate teaching course.
• I love to read and the aim of this blog is to produce user-friendly book reviews.
• If you have any comments or ideas please leave a comment :)

Thanks x