Bookends is going to be a segment of this blog at the end of every week, where I’ll write a little about books other than those I’m reading for the project. This will include books in a number not chosen, books I’ve already read for a given number and fiction books I’m currently reading. I also feel I should preface this post with the disclaimer that I really am under 25 years old and that the use of words like “hokum” and “humbug” will probably be unusual in this blog, although they do both appear in this post! Oh, another disclaimer… At the end of every post, there will be a summary of the book reviews in the post, in case you don’t want to read my ramblings to get them 🙂
Section 001 – I don’t think I’ve ever read any books in this section before, although it does seem an appropriate place for a jeopardy trivia book I got as a gift when I was younger. As I mentioned in the previous post, one particularly strange book in this rather strange section did stand out to me, entitled “The Allies of Humanity” (available here). In order to have some grounds for criticism, I read through the first chapter this evening and skimmed the rest. I kept hoping it would turn out this book was just a rather unusual method of suggesting that people consider international cooperation and preservation of our natural resources. Unfortunately, by the end I can only recommend wasting a few minutes on this book if you want a good laugh. A book review found here sums up the absolute hokum found in this book very nicely.
Current Fiction Readings – Fortunately, I have had the pleasure of reading two wonderful fiction books lately to make up for my poor experience with The Allies of Humanity. The first book, Magyk is the beginning of the Septimus Heap series and was so good that I’m re-reading it with my boyfriend. It is a young adult book, but that hasn’t stopped either of us from enjoying it! This book is written in an engaging and humorous fashion and I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy novels. Its not horribly deep, has no shocking plot twists and the world isn’t exceptionally well developed (yet! it’s a 7 book series, so if you like that sort of thing, the books might improve later). However, the characters are very fun and the authors style really sells it for me. This is a pretty typical good vs evil story line, so I suspect that just reading a chapter and getting a feel for the authors writing would be enough for you to determine if this book also does it for you. But I’m sure you’d have to be a complete humbug not to like it!
The second book I’ve read and loved lately was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I’m honestly not sure my favorite thing about this book. I liked that the main character had a lot of, well, character and spunk as well. She was a very strong female leads. The plot twists in this book weren’t hugely shocking, but I certainly didn’t anticipate all of them and enjoyed even the ones I did! It was also a really well-balanced book, with lots of action but also lots of good character development. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series!
Summary:
The Allies of Humanity – 1 star – recommended only for those who want a laugh
Magyk – 5 stars – recommend everyone a least try the first chapter!
The Hunger Games – 5 stars – couldn’t put it down, can’t wait to read the next one!
