Author Interview with Mitchell Charles

7 Questions With Mitchell Charles 

Hi guys! As you probably know I have recently reviewed a book called Kingdom of Oceana, which is set on one of the islands in Hawaii. Today I have the pleasure of interviewing the Kingdom of Oceana’s author; Mitchell Charles.

Your book Kingdom of Oceana, centers a lot around the setting of Hawaii, where did you get your inspiration to set it there? Have you ever lived or been to Hawaii, or is it just a country you’re fascinated with?

I’ve spent a lot of time in the Hawaiian islands over the past 10 years, including living on Maui part-time for about seven years. I feel deeply connected to the land, the people, and the magnificent creatures that inhabit the waters, especially the mano (shark), kohala (humpback whale) and the honu (sea turtle).

What draws you to the young adult genre?

I have a teenage son and daughter and I enjoy reading what they read.

How much research do you do for your books?

I do a lot of research, both primary research through my travels and my underwater SCUBA adventures, and secondary research through reading books.

When did you start feeling like a real author for the first time?

When I started receiving so many favorable reviews and feedback from my readers.

What’s your writing process like? Do you use a laptop or do you prefer writing by hand? Do you prefer writing a plot or outline first, or do you just let the idea take you away?

I write on my laptop, usually starting very early in the morning before sunrise. I create an outline and character profiles before I dive into the text. However, I try to hold the plot loosely during the writing process so that story can evolve and organically follow each character’s arc.

If you could be the original author of any book ever published, who would you be? 

The Alchemist, by Paolo Coelho. It’s my favorite book!

Do you see yourself in any of the characters (or any of your traits in any of the characters) or plot? 

I think there are parts of me in both Ailani and the Kahuna. I was more like Ailani as a teenager, and I’m more like the Kahuna now, except I can’t shapeshift or move inanimate objects with my mind!

I would like to thank Mitchell Charles for the interview, and thank you so much for reading guys, and don’t forget to have a great break! 

Nina

Teen Page Turner

The Kingdom Of Oceana by Mitchell Charles

Title: The Kingdom Of Oceana

Author: Mitchell Charles

Publisher: Butterhorse Media

Publication Date: November 27th, 2015

Genre: YA/Adventure/

Length: 222 pages

Source: Publisher

Five Centuries Ago, On the Island Now Called Hawaii, There was a Kingdom Filled with Adventure, Beauty, and Magic. When 16-year-old Prince Ailani and his brother Nahoa trespass on a forbidden burial ground and uncover an ancient tiki mask, they unleash a thousand-year-old curse that threatens to destroy their tropical paradise. As warring factions collide for control of Oceana, it sparks an age-old conflict between rival sorcerers that threatens to erupt-just like Mauna Kea, the towering volcano. With the help of his ancestral spirit animals, his shape shifting sidekick, and a beautiful princess, Prince Ailani must overcome his own insecurities, a lifetime of sibling rivalry, and a plague of cursed sea creatures brought forth by the tiki's spell. Can peace be restored to the kingdom? Can Prince Ailani claim his rightful place as the future king of Oceana? ONLY ONE CAN RULE. 

One of the hardest things about writing, is creating a setting with enough detail to seem vivid and vibrant, but not too much as not to bore the reader. This book was a perfect balance and every single time something was described or a feature of something was explored you felt like there was a reason behind it. I have never been to Hawaii, yet the setting intrigued me and made me feel like I was in a place I have never actually been to. An author that manages to successfully convey something like this, is therefore a master in creating a good setting. What I thought was very clever, was how he used words from the language that the characters in the book used since it helped us understand the culture they were from.

I thought the idea of having a “guardian animal” was super cute, and made the overall aesthetic feel a lot more “customizable” if that makes sense. As for the main characters, I feel like a had a problem with how static they were. Yes, they were well written, however most of them remained the same throughout the book. Take Ailani’s older brother that is destined to be king as an example. While making the future king slightly evil is an interesting writer’s choice, I feel like Nahoa didn’t really evolve at all. He remained the spoiled brat and it was clear he was not meant to be king. I don’t feel like that’s even a spoiler alert since it’s so obvious due to the fact that The Kingdom of Oceana is kind of like a Disney movie. Actually as a fact, it’s quite similar to Disney’s new movie Moana. Except of course, the main character is male. The island is also quite literally the definition of “exotic”, which makes the story a lot more fun.

3.5 Stars, the book didn’t get the full set of points because of not enough character development, as well as not static enough characters. Points for the setting and immersion into the story.

Vigilante Annie Scarlotte by Robert Kimbrell

Title: Vigilante Annie Scarlotte: Anthology: The Complete First Series

Author: Robert Kimbrell

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Publication Date: April 20, 2016

Genre: Adventure, Romance, Mystery

Length: 442 pages

Source: The Review Chain

Because Annie has no recollection of her birth parents, her life is full of unknowns. Still, she seems relatively content with her simple existence in Washington, DC. Marcus, her new Italian boyfriend, adds much desired spice to her life despite secrecy about his position at SecureVest. But when Annie becomes mysteriously ill, it is the catalyst for a life far from simple. Seemingly by luck, Annie discovers that she is maturing into a dhampir (a vampire/human hybrid), and to survive she must feed on fresh human blood. With Marcus fully aware of Annie's predicament, they concoct a scheme: find the evil living among us and act where justice does not. Vigilante Annie is born. In trying to adjust to her new life, Annie feels like a stranger in an unfamiliar land. Because Annie yearns to belong, she confides in father-figure Larry. When Annie finds out her friend Elisa works at SecureVest, where Marcus is employed, things unravel beyond control, and forgotten years from Annie's childhood make themselves known piece by piece. Will Annie be able to satisfy her body's cravings and stay alive? Who wants to use her for their own agenda? Can Annie trust Elisa's friends? Will she ever have the chance to meet her mother? In the end, will Annie be a slave to those who would use her, or will she have an opportunity for a freedom she has never known? 

Annie is a half-vampire that needs human blood to survive. No-one except her Italian boyfriend Marcus knows this, and to keep Annie Scarlotte safe Marcus builds a luxurious hideout in a no-longer-used storage shelter. Whilst not capable of restraining herself from fresh blood, she decides to only feed on evil humans that have caused pain and suffering for others, such as terrorists, murderers, and other criminals. Annie therefore finds these types of people and then uses their blood to feed, living in situation where she can’t trust anyone including closest friends.

I have never read a vampire book. Ever. I’m not sure whether I was just not up to the challenge of reading about a character that seems to outright split YA fans apart. Vampires have over time become very prevalent in many popular YA pieces, however each author seems to choose to portray these characters very differently. Some are evil, some are old, some are teens, some are mysterious, some are celebrities. Since vampires aren’t new characters necessarily as they have been used for centuries in more classical literature, the authors instead of making them up and their world as they go, instead choose to simply build up on it. This causes vampires as characters, be quite complex, with many rules of what they can and can’t do, and also gives the author a chance to decide whether he wants “his” vampire/s to be more traditional in a sense (allergic to garlic and sunshine for example) or if he wants to introduce new rules and say for example that the old ones aren’t real. This specific book’s author Robert Kimbrell decides to do the lather however his way of doing it is to make the vampire in his story as relatable as possible, the easiest way to do this is to introduce a half-vampire. Or dhampirs as they’re called in this book. The main character is one, and this allows us to understand her more as a character, we feel how scared and anxious she is about turning into one, but at the same time feels exhilarated since she’s a mythical creature with powers.

The plot as well as Annie’s universe had a lot of plot holes, relating to the way dhampirs and vampires lived. One of them for example was for example why the people bitten by Annie Scarlotte don’t turn into vampires themselves, defeating the entire purpose of Annie reason to kill them in the first place. The author maybe has decided that people killed by vampires don’t turn into vampires, yet he never clarified. He also never tells us the differences between vampires and dhampirs nor what things about them are myths. He briefly mentions dhampirs not being able to be killed by wooden stakes and the sun however we never are told whether this also applies to vampires?

I also didn’t like how the book decided to go political and out of nowhere started talking about how everything was interconnected making it sound like a conspiracy theory, and how the government was against us and the people in charge were all evil or not approved by the “Stonefish” or the organization Annie Scarlotte is part of. I came here for a short YA novel about vampires and dhampirs, not a 400 page-piece including how the government was against us all and a very vivid account of a terrorist beheading his daughter because she did something against Allah. I don’t know, that part just really bothered me, it did not at all seem suitable for a YA novel which was what is was marketed as? 

The actual story and ending, while infused with clichès, didn’t feel forced, the story just kind of went on, changing from character to character if a single one was talking for too long and kept changing the scenery and the point of view which was refreshing and insured I didn’t get bored. While being very complex, it usually was descriptive enough to not confuse the reader about what was happening which was great. Although I felt that there were too many new characters being introduced all the time which after time built up confusion.

One thing this book was really good at was creating atmosphere and scenery. The vivid descriptions of the clothing and the way a character looked were great and well thought out. I also liked how Annie Scarlotte decided to only take out the people that had done bad things instead of preying on the innocent, it just made a lot more sense than killing whoever was nearest including family members which is what happens in many vampire/dhampir novels. 

An okay-fast-paced read, if you want something quick that you can return to after longer periods of time.

The Carrier by Anne Tibbets

Title: The Carrier 

Author: Anne Tibbets

Publisher: Carina Press

Publication Date: 16th June, 2014

Genre: YA/Fiction/Dystopian

Length: 236 pages

Source: Provided by publisher

 Twenty-two -year-old Naya has spent nearly half her life as a sex slave in a government institution called The Line. When she’s kicked out after getting pregnant with twins, she’s got no way to earn a living and a horrifying choice to make: find someone to replace her, or have her babies taken in her stead. 

A doctor with a history of aiding ex-Line girls, Ric Bennett, wants to help. He runs a team of rebels that can delete Naya’s records and free her forever. But when The Line sniffs out his plan, things get bloody, fast. Naya means more to them than just a chance at fresh faces—her twins are part of the government’s larger plan. 

As they hide from government search parties, Ric comes to admire Naya’s quiet strength. And Naya realizes Ric might be a man she can trust. If they make it off the grid, they could build a new life. But first they’ll have to survive the long, vicious reach of The Line.

This book was a lot of fun to read. I wanted to read it due to the fact that it sounded very much like Only Ever Yours by Louise O’ Neal. Which if you have been following my blog, you know I absolutely loved. I’m happy to say it didn’t disappoint and while I was worried about the fact that the romance might end up a little cheesy, it was actually okay despite being just the tiniest bit cheesy at the same time. I think it was a good read and I recommend it to anyone who just wants to read something really fast, in a day or two, in intervals or short sittings since you nearly immediately get sucked back into the story. 

What I like was how vivid the characters were, each had an actual personality which is hard to create mainly in books. Towards the end there was also a lot of tension, and another good thing is that you have absolutely no clue how the book is going to end since you don’t even know how it could end. Some parts were a little predictable however at the same time stayed true to the story, plot, and characters instead of having an unpredicted but very confusing plot twist. 

So to sum up the key points:

Negative:

• In moments a bit predictable.
• Sometimes the tiniest bit cheesy.

Positive:

• Each individual character has a distinct personality.
• Lot of tension towards the end of book.
• Plot twists stay true to story and character’s inspiration.
• Good read if you want to have something to read little snippets of during intervals.
• You gave absolutely no idea how the book  is going to end.

Going Bovine

Title: Going Bovine

Author: Libba Bray

Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell

Publication Date: October 1st, 2010

Genre: YA/Fiction/Comedy/Satire

Length: 480 pages

Source: Book Depository

All 16-year-old Cameron wants is to get through high school—and life in general—with a minimum of effort. It’s not a lot to ask. But that’s before he’s given some bad news: he’s sick and he’s going to die. Which totally sucks. Hope arrives in the winged form of Dulcie, a loopy punk angel/possible hallucination with a bad sugar habit. She tells Cam there is a cure—if he’s willing to go in search of it. With the help of a death-obsessed, video-gaming dwarf and a yard gnome, Cam sets off on the mother of all road trips through a twisted America into the heart of what matters most.

What do I have to say about this book? You know how sometimes you finish reading a very good book and this warm funny feeling spreads throughout your entire body? I love reading about worlds different than ours, mainly if the worlds captured by the author are funny, light, thought-through, and satirical, in a way that doesn’t come off as arrogant, yet captures an interesting aspect of a genre or idea. That is this book in a nutshell, I’m a devoted Libba Bray fan after reading only two of the books and I’m proud of it. So far, everything this author has to say provides an amazing and engaging commentary on our morals, our beliefs, and actions that instead of making me get a little upset or angry at, make me chuckle. Everything from her characters to the storyline, and all the little plot twists and turns make me loathe myself since I have such a hard time putting down her book.

I know a lot of people have said this book is incredibly average, yet I don’t see how. Libba Bray is incredible at making characters come to life, and writes her books in such a way that they manage to be thought provoking while still relatable, which I honestly think can be extremely difficult sometimes. I feel that it’s one of those books that you either love or hate. No in-betweens. Personally, I like reading strange and weird books that get their point across and if do as well, this book is perfect.

The things I did not like: The repetition of key points throughout the book. The book itself was a little bit too long and therefore some of the parts seemed stretched out in a sense. the beginning didn’t pull you in as good books tend to. It was obvious Bray was trying to make her characters sound funny and sarcastic, occasionally it got to the point where it was annoying. What I like about Cameron is that he’s a very average teen with a not so average problem which gets him into weird situations. Since he’s an average teen and not a super being, he comes off as relatable and thanks to his not so average fatal Cow-Disease his adventures are intriguing and anything but normal. It’s a funny contrast, and I think Bray pulls it off incredibly well.

So to sum up the key points:

Positives:

• Characters come to life.
• Great idea, as well as though provoking satire.
• Off the chars weird while enjoyable.
• The package includes: Disney Land, an Angel with punk combat boots and wings that change pattern, an average teenager that has an incredibly rare fatal disease, a ginormous road trip with the weirdest characters, and a kickass talking garden gnome and dwarf. I mean…
• Captures interesting aspects of our morals and beliefs.
• Is incredibly well written if we’re talking about the vivid description of places.
• The jokes in the book are sometimes so random and just plain strange, that at one point it feels like you have these inside jokes with the characters.
• The dialogues sounds real, and the characters’ personalities come off great in them.

Negatives:

• Tends to get a little repetitive, and you will see the ending coming as soon as you pick up the novel.
• A little bit too long.
• Doesn’t exactly grip you from the beginning.
• The tone that Libba Bray uses can sometimes come off as though she’s trying to hard to make her characters sound funny and sarcastic can get annoying at times.

MUC and The Great Gatsby Giveaway!

I hate to say it but it’s the end of summer vacation approaching! (Must finish reading ALL the books). If you know me, or have been reading my blog for a while now, you know that I love reading YA and Classics alike. I thought that it would therefore be a good idea to giveaway one of my all-time favorite classics (drum roll): The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. How I got it is actually a funny story. It was my birthday in June so I decided for my birthday I’d buy myself some books from the money I got. I have already read the Great Gatsby however my copy got destroyed when I took it to the beach one day…Why are you so cruel and heartless sea water why?! I found a small unabridged book which I thought would be perfect for my trip to France, however (cues dramatic music) a friend of mine knew how upset I was about losing my copy so she got me the exact same book I bought! which I know is really sweet but I wasn’t sure what to do about the copy I bought. But then I realized, I could do my first giveaway! 

I’m also giving away a copy of one of my favorite book series’ first book Model Under Cover: A Crime of Fashion. The reason I’m giving it away is because I have two copies since I won a signed copy from Carina Axelsson back in October and I have to get rid of books I have more copies of. It is a really good book (my review) , and hopefully you’ll like it! I’ll actually visit Paris in a few days’ time and there’s a really awesome small guide to the Author’s favorite places which I’ll definitely try to see while I’m staying there.

To enter all you have to do is follow my blog and my Instagram. The rest is only for extra entries. The winner will be announced a day after the giveaway ends (August 1st).

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Good Luck Teen Page Turners!

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Summer 2016 Book Haul (read here)

My Thoughts on Guilty Pleasure Books (read here)

My Bucket List (read here)

Reading Pop Sugar Challenge (read here)

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Japan Crate (read here)

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Title: All the Bright Places 

Author: Jennifer Niven

Publisher: Knopf

Publication Date: January 6th, 2015

Genre: YA/Fiction/Romance

Length: 378 pages

Source: Book Depository

Theodore Finch wants to take his own life. I’m broken and no one can fix it. Violet Markey is devasted by her sister’s death. In that moment we went plowing through the guardrail my words died too. They meet on the ledge of the school bell tower, and so their story begins. It’s only there that they can be themselves… I send a message to Violet: You are all the colors in one, at full brightness. You’re so weird, Finch. But that’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink. How far will Violet go to save the boy she has come to love?

Finch is considered a freak by most that know him, no-one special often contemplating suicide. Violet is popular and pretty, however the moment her older sister Eleanor dies, she feels as though nothing will ever make her happy. Violet gets into a near death situation when she nearly falls of the school bell tower, when she’s saved by Finch (who’s there due to his suicidal thoughts) and they become friends. After Finch asks to be partners with Violet for a group project, they explore various parts of the state they live in (Indiana) together. Violet realizes she loves Finch however, one day after doing their project, they fall asleep and only wake up in the morning. Violet’s parents are very upset due to the fact that they didn’t know where Violet was and were scared something had happened to her (like to her older sister Eleanor). Therefore thinking it is Finch’s fault they decide he poses as a bad influence on Violet and not allow her to see him anymore (Romeo and Juliet Cliché alert). Juliet… I mean Violet realizes how depressed and suicidal Finch is and she’s determined to save him from himself no matter at what cost…

I don’t think I’ve experienced this much heartbreak since Fault in Our Stars. Why Augustus, WHY????!! This might include some spoilers but let me just tell you, you don’t see the end coming and when it comes it hits you with all it’s force right in the feels. While I don’t think this is going to be the next FIOS I did really like the book and the way it talked about suicide and identity. I just feel that there are now more and more books about teens dealing with bullying, mental as well as anxiety disorders and depression which opens up the way to talk about it more instead of it being considered something you just keep to yourself and don’t talk about with others such as your loved ones and friends. 

Some parts were a little corny, and to be honest I kept liking and then not liking the characters because they just seemed so childish. They were really more like fourteen or fifteen year olds than eighteen year olds nearly adults. I can see how so many people think it’s going to be the next FIOS as the main character Theodore Finch is very similar to Augustus Waters up to the point where you have to think about the possibility that the author (Jennifer Niven) definitely was heavily influenced by FIOS... For example Finch also sometimes has an unlit cigarette playing with the idea whether he should light it (even though Augustus’s explanation for why he didn’t light it was so much better), Finch is also an outcast like Augustus and has this strange and a little mysterious, poetic side to him when he plays with analogies, and generally words, sometimes quotes by famous long dead authors (even though honestly quotes by long dead authors are more of Miles’s Halter’s thing if you ask me)…

The Events are mostly pretty unpredictable which is always good and let me tell you that the way some of the places this story takes place is being described really wants me to be there. I would not re-read the book but the one time I did read it I enjoyed it. Everything is pretty fast paced in the book so there weren’t really any parts in which I was bored but I sometimes felt that there wasn’t enough character development as I didn’t really associate with the characters, and the time the author could have used for character development was used up by the awesome (but long) descriptions of the places they went and what they did instead of focusing on the characters themselves.

It’s hard to choose what my absolutely favorite part was because there were so many heartwarming scenes but I do have two favorites. One of them is when there’s this part in the book where Finch is returning back home in his car after (unsuccessfully) trying to do a part of the project himself since Violet is busy, and he decides that going by car is too slow, gets out and runs to the nearest villages which is miles away. He then proceeds to find a flower nursery (which is closed) but begs the owners to let him in as it’s a matter of “life and death”. They let him in and after choosing a whole bucket of flowers for Violet (which you guessed it, includes violets) he tries to pay them however the really sweet owners let him have them for free. The other one is when the two of them are doing their project and one of the places is a garden owned by this man, in which there are two homemade rollercoasters (only seating one person though) which Finch and Violet drive a billion times. That was also a really nice description as well as book part. 

The only reason I’m not giving this the full amount of stars is the characters and the character development thing but it is a good book so read it if you have the time!

Persepolis (Book 1 and 2)

Title: Persepolis (The Complete Persepolis)

Author: Marjane Satrapi

Publisher: Pantheon

Publication Date: October 30th, 2007

Genre: Non-fiction/Memoir/Young Adult

Length: 341 pages

Source: Book Depository

The intelligent and outspoken child of radical Marxists, and the great-granddaughter of Iran’s last emperor, Satrapi bears witness to childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country. Persepolis points an unforgettable portrait of daily in Iran and the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life. This is a beautiful and intimate story full of tragedy and humor- raw, honest, and incredibly illuminating.

I already wrote about this book and how much I loved it in my 2016 Summer Book Haul, so I’ll just basically quote myself and put that in here as I though it explained the synopsis of the novel well.

“For anyone who does not know Persepolis, just please find it on Amazon and read the first six pages. Like right now and return to this post when you’re ready for the amazingness that is Marjane Satrapi’s work. Her work is similar to Malala Yousefzai’s in means of speaking up for what she believes is right with the exception of instead of a book, being a graphic novel. It’s so honest and raw discussing themes like parents, education, identity, drugs, first love, growing up, and doing what you love no matter what. It’s sounds so close to home yet it was written by a woman who grew up during the Muslim revolution in Iran, under circumstances so different from my own. If anything it shows how much teens feel alike no matter the culture or circumstances they grew up in it’s this very book. And while I know many people have this weird bias against graphic novels “because they’re like comics” I can’t imagine this book in any other format but with beautiful minimalist black and white images drawn by Satrapi herself depicting her childhood in Iran and Vienna.”

+I’ve just discovered the amazing thing that is a graphic novel, and so far, reading about five ones considered popular by the general public, I have to say: “Yes, these are very much like comics.” And Yes I know you might be thinking “Is that actually everything you want to say about them??!” and “Are you saying that graphic novels aren’t “real” books.” Well here’s the thing: many people hate on graphic novels because “They aren’t actual books.” and “They are just text with pictures, but mostly pictures.” But really a graphic novel is just a medium through which an author gives us information and I can’t imagine Persepolis any other way. 

+I’ve actually read the first book a long time ago as the series is made up of two books, however since I wanted to order the second and there was an opportunity to buy a book including both books at the same price as one, I jumped at the opportunity. I feel like I can say that overall both books were about the same regarding the quality of the story and writing, and there weren’t any significant changes from one book to the other regarding the style the author wrote in. However, I do feel that the first book was meant to be a little more fast paces with twists and turns happening every chapter (or at least the way it was written as it’s an autobiography), while the second book is more fluent and you just can’t stop reading due to how soothing it is to just read on. Truth be told this is one of those books which you can’t wait to continue reading when you have the time, and can just spend hours in this time vortex, not knowing how long you’ve been reading.

+Actually occasionally I do this thing where I don’t necessarily even have to be bored with a book, but I’m just obsessed with how much progress I made. For example I’ll constantly flip to the end to see how many pages there are in all, then subtract it by the number of the page I’m currently on to see how many more pages until the end. Truth be told, I tend to do that a lot. Most books really. It is however helpful to help me measure how much I enjoy the book at certain times and the book overall. If I don’t do this often or not at all, I know I’m reading a really good book. I can say I don’t really remember doing this a single time for the duration of the entire book.

+Marjane herself is a very likable character and maybe the reason why I loves this book was because she was so well developed and it just really made me feel like I was talking with a good friend instead of of reading.

+Reading Persepolis was incredible because for example there was this time when she said that she wanted to be a communist because communists were all equal. And I, having grown up in a country in which there was communism (after WW2) which meant that of course I had my bias and my opinion about it, and here is someone saying they want to be a communist... I was really puzzled at this because I grew up being told communism was not at all that equal for everyone, and here is a girl who I think is really nice and seems kind, wanting to be something I was disgusted by. Yet I realized I still liked her, I still liked the character. It made me do a lot of thinking, and I realized how different people’s perspectives can be about things which you don’t necessarily have to like, but understand what they mean, for example I can see why Marjane thought communism would be a good thing, as she believed it would bring equality to a country which needed it.

-The only thing I did not like was the size of the lettering. I know it isn’t very important and it’s not like it changes the story or characters, but still. It being a graphic novel just kind of makes me realize things I usually would’t even though they are in a regular book as well, for example the size of the lettering and the font. This brings me to the last point  which is about the illustrations.

+If you haven’t seen Marjane Satrapi’s work before (because you’re incredibly stubborn and didn’t check it out when I told you to) her work is all black and white and incredibly illuminating (that’s what the blurb said) yet it can go from light and fun to outright depressing and sometimes poetic as when she describes war in Iran (have you ever heard anyone say that a graphic novel is poetic? Because if no, you should stop reading and order that ish right now.

I recommend Persepolis to anyone and everyone, actually it should be mandatory for EVERYONE.

Summer 2016 Book Haul

Hi people out there currently on my blog! 

Summer vacation is finally here! Which means more time to read stuff, write stuff, and also actually have a good night’s sleep for once. And what better way is there to get ready for nine weeks of essentially doing nothing than buy books? LOTS OF BOOKS. Because now, you’re finally allowed to not be productive and do math all the time. In my school we actually don’t have any mandatory reading for thirteen year olds, but I asked the two English teachers in my school to borrow me their copy of books they want their students to read. One list is for fourteen year olds which I turned this June, and the other list is for secondary three to four, so the equivalent of sixteen to seventeen year olds. As soon as I got my hands on the list I rushed to the bookstore closest to my house, (which is still pretty far as I live in a village with no bookstores) while my parents were buying necessary, boring commodities such as sun lotion and toilet paper. So the first list is about two pages long while the second one is around four. That’s right, four pages of book recommendations written in Times New Roman 11pt. I know it’s amazing, it’s basically like this good book cheat sheet for whenever you can’t control yourself and step into a bookstore to spend all your life savings! I am however lucky enough to have an amazing family that supports my hobbies, so since my grandparents were visiting for my birthday they actually got me a couple of books from the list, and I payed for the rest. 

Disclaimer: I did not actually buy all of these books in one day (as the nonexistent rules of a book haul state), however they were bought within three days of each other, more or less at least… I did buy one of these online from www.bookdepository.com which is my go-to site for buying books not available in Eastern Central Europe, however I bought all the rest of them in the same store. Basically the first day (when my grandparents were there) I ended up buying four books and three days later I was in the same mall and saw them unpack some of the books on my list, so after an (unsuccessful) moment of looking for them myself, the lady working there was nice enough to approach me and help me find three more which I also bought. Altogether that’s 8 books, plus the two books I got for my Name’s Day. I had a couple of friends from the U.S. in school who told me they don’t , that is really a lot. Anyways here’s a list of some of the books that I bought and the reason why they grabbed my attention while going through the list.

The Martian by Andy Weir I have (obviously) heard about the movie which came out (this year?), but I haven’t seen it since I’m the kind of person that either sees four movies in one month or none at all.This was the week I wasn’t going to the cinema and now I’m really delighted that past me didn’t go as the pleasure of reading the book wouldn’t be as strong. I’m actually nearly done reading it today (40 pages to go) and hopefully a review will be up soon. However reader be aware that there is a lot of complicated Physics and Math stuff going on. The book is basically complicated Physics and Math stuff voiced over by a smart ass character who is admittedly really funny but the Math is just… no…. like no… The whole reason of me reading is avoiding math. 

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald I just realized and this is really random, but it’s weird how I have two books here that both have movie adaptations and the leading actors who played in them competed with each other for an Oscar for the best male leading actor. Can you guess who they are? (Answer: Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon from the before mentioned book: The Martian.) Anyways, as for the Great Gatsby itself, everyone kind of has that movie that they feel is just so comforting. Like whenever you have a bad day at school or a bad day in general you just feel like watching it twice in a row while eating Ben & Jerry’s Peanut Butter cups ice cream. The Great Gatsby is just this movie that essentially get’s better whenever I re-watch it (if that’s believable). Since I loved the movie so much, the book being on the list finally gave me an excuse to at last read it. This is in point of fact the book I bought online, and when it comes to books I just can’t resist finding a good price for a book I’ve been looking for forever. This version cost like 3 euro something, yet I panicked when it finally came in the mail because it was wafer thin (only 120 or 130 pages) when in reality I have already seen a The Great Gatsby book and it was around 300 pages. I really despise accidentally buying condensed versions of books, and although it did say it was unabridged (so it should be the full version) I still don’t see how they got it from 300 pages to a 100… I just don’t trust those types of things. That’s what I get for being a cheap skate (sighs).

The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchet Phew, I’m finally going to read a Terry Pratchet book! I feel like every bookworm has like a list of books that have to read at some point and Terry Pratchet is nearly always present. I feel that people either love or hate him, and he has books that you just find sold in like random airplane bookstores and train stations by the magazines, so I thought I might finally give him a try. Admittedly one of the problems to buying my first Terry Pratchet book was that I didn’t know where to start? He just has so many books, which are divided into sub series, but somehow the order doesn’t matter? I don’t know. What really helped me and came in handy was this chart from Epic Reads which had a pretty cool graph on how to get into Terry Pratchet. Inserts link somewhere here: 

All the Light we cannot See by Anthony Doerr I don’t know a whole lot about this book except that it won best (something) genre for the year 2015 and since it already was on my reading list before I thought I would try it.

Perfume by Patrick Suskind Murderer? Perfume? Innocent women? Famous? Paris? That’s about everything I need to know and since we’re going to France this year for summer vacation, and we might see Paris for a day or two I’m leaving this book for then, plus it’s small so I can carry it around when we bike or sight see.

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert Recommend to me by my mom as well as my English teacher, worth a read. Also can we talk about how pretty the cover is? At least my edition which I’m sure will soon appear on my Instagram is!

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Classic. I legit don’t know anything about this book except that it’s supposedly one of the first real dystopian books. Maybe like divergent?

The Circle by Dave Eggers Retelling of  Brave New World but a little more modern? 

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne A puritan woman commits adultery in a the strict puritan society and has a child. She is made to wear a scarlet colored letter “A” on all her clothing to tell everyone she meets she’s an adulterer. 

Persepolis (both book 1 and 2 edition) by Marjane Satrapi For anyone who does not know Persepolis, just please find it on Amazon and read the first six pages. Like right now and return to this post when you’re ready for the amazingness that is Marjane Satrapi’s work. Her work is similar to Malala Yousefzai’s in means of speaking up for what she believes is right with the exception of instead of a book, being a graphic novel. It’s so honest and raw discussing themes like parents, education, identity, drugs, first love, growing up, and doing what you love no matter what. It’s sounds so close to home yet it was written by a woman who grew up during the Muslim revolution in Iran, under circumstances so different from my own. If anything it shows how much teens feel alike no matter the culture or circumstances they grew up in it’s this very book. And while I know many people have this weird bias against graphic novels “because they’re like comics” I can’t imagine this book in any other format but with beautiful minimalist black and white images drawn by Satrapi herself depicting her childhood in Iran and Vienna.

There it is! I hope you guys are having an amazing vacay (and have lots to read) in the comments down below tell me what book you want to read during summer vacation!

Stay Awesome,

Nina

The Teen Page Turner