Thursday 31 December 2015

Best 2015 Movies

1. The Man from U.N.C.L.E


2. Mad Max: Fury Road

3. Cinderella

4. Spectre

5. Hunger Games: Mockingjay part 2


6. Crimson Peak


7. Shaun the Sheep Movie

8. Goosebumps

9. Krampus

10. Jupiter Ascending

Wednesday 30 December 2015

Best 2015 Children's Books

1. The Girl Who Walked On Air

2. The Lost Children

3. Shiverton Hall: The Creeper

4. Violet and the Pearl of Orient

5. The Time of Fireflies

Tuesday 29 December 2015

Top 5 Books of 2015

1.The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender
 
2. The Miniaturist

3. The Invention of Wings

4.  The Museum of Extraordinary Things

5. The Girl with all the Gifts

Tuesday 22 December 2015

On Screen: Krampus

Krampus is a Christmas (some people called it anti-Christmas) movie...a bit like Gremlins but much darker. Krampus is a character frpm German folklore...kinda opposite of Santa Clause. I really enjoyed it though....not suitable for kids coz of horror and use of 'f' word few times.

Wednesday 25 November 2015

Wednesday 28 October 2015

October Purchases

1) Trigger Warning
2) The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events)
3) The Name of the Wind

Saturday 17 October 2015

Saturday 10 October 2015

On Screen: Stonehearst Asylum

Based on Edgar Allan Poe's short story The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether,this movie is a mixture of thriller, mystery, and dark comedy. I loved this movie...a treat for Halloween/Christmas season.

Wednesday 7 October 2015

October Book Releases

Chick Lit
Historical Fiction+YA+Horror+Gothic
Historical Fiction+ Thriller+YA

Tuesday 6 October 2015

Review: The Seven Sisters

Blurb: 

Maia D’Apliese and her five sisters gather together at their childhood home, “Atlantis”—a fabulous, secluded castle situated on the shores of Lake Geneva—having been told that their beloved father, who adopted them all as babies, has died. Each of them is handed a tantalizing clue to her true heritage—a clue which takes Maia across the world to a crumbling mansion in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Once there, she begins to put together the pieces of her story and its beginnings. ...

  My Thoughts:

I loved the whole idea of seven girls being adopted by a millionaire from different corners of the world...and then the mystery aspect about their biological parents. The idea was excellent but it was poorly executed. The characters were boring and there was no dimension to them....for the most part they were either eating, drinking, or sleeping. The conversations between characters had no depth...no emotions. The more I read, the more I hated the characters. By the end of it, I wanted to throw the book from top of a 39th high storey building.
This book had the potential to be amazing but the writing style killed it. 

Wednesday 30 September 2015

September Purchases

1) Frankenstein
2) Keats Poems
3) The Wolf Princess
4) The Early Years at Malory Towers

Sunday 20 September 2015

Review: Violet and the Pearl of the Orient


Blurb:
When a new family move in next door, Violet is sure there's something strange about them. Then her eccentric, but lovely neighbour, Dee Dee Derota, has a precious jewel stolen. Could the new family be to blame? Violet is on the case to uncover the truth…




Violet and the Pearl of the Orient is the first book in the series written by Harriet Whitehorn. It's a charming middle-grader mystery with  characters and illustrations. The protagonist is Violet who is rich and kind-hearted girl...and pretty smart too.



The second book is out but I haven't read it yet...but
because I enjoyed the first book I'll be reading all the books in this series.

Saturday 19 September 2015

Unforgettable Trains and Train Journeys in Literature

In 1920s Nick's commuter train that runs between West Egg and New York passes through an industrial area Nick calls "Valley of Ashes". (Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

Sylvia has to take a long train journey from London to the countryside where her cousin lives...she meets a stranger on the train, and gets attacked by a wolf. The 19th century train journey in Joan Aiken's classic book still sends shivers down my spine. (Wolves of the Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken)
Hercule Poirot starts his journey from Istanbul to London travelling on Orient Express when murders start to take place in the luxury train compartments. (Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie)
"The Hogwarts Express" is the name of the train that makes a run between London, King's Cross Station Platform3/4 and Hogsmeade Station." Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling)
A magical circus that travels in a train disguised as an ordinary Victorian coal train. (The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern)
A cargo train called "401", "a great gold beauty of a train"......that travels through the territories of the Solace Kingdom. (The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson)
"Capitol Trains travel at an average speed of 250 miles per hour...most of Panem citizens are not authorised to travel by train unless they are reaped for the Hunger Games. (The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins)
"Seeing is believing, but sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can't see. " (The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg)