Monthly Roundup: March

Wow what a month this has been. We are already 1/4 done with 2014 that's crazy, I'm still accidentally writing 2013.
Well this is the time of the month where I get to tell you the best and the worst. Let's get started! (I'm still deciding on what questions to ask in these posts but soon I hope to have it perfect.

Book I read this month: reviews are linked
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close [Movie Review]
The Healer's Apprentice (no review)
Divergent [Movie Review]
The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas
Clockwork Angel
Clockwork Prince
Clockwork Princess (haven't reviewed yet)
The Secret Life of Bees (haven't reviewed yet)

Longest: Clockwork Princess
Shortest: The Healer's Apprentice

Favourite: Extremely Loud and Incredibility Close
Least Favourite: The Healer's Apprentice

Best Cover:


It feels like it's been FOREVER since I read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close i can't believe it was just earlier this month that I finished it.

In other news tons of new book-to-movie adaptions have been announced including: The Giver, The Maze Runner, If I stay, and Insurgent have all been announced.
Go look up The Giver and The Maze Runner trailers.

Things to look forward to in April: more reviews, more book-to-movie reviews, and hopefully more random thoughts posts. I just hope I find time to read cuz lately I've had so little.

Also tell me in comments what you've read this month! I'd love to find out!

Hope you had a good March and have a wonderful April :)
DFTBA
-Janussa

Book to Movie: Divergent

     

  Book   |   Movie

I was blown away by the movie. It's not very often that the movie is at least as good as the book but Divergent was. All the scenes were perfect and the cast was amazing.

I could get nit-picky over how they did some things different but if I do that then I not enjoying the movie for how it is. A movie will never live up to everyone's expectations. Characters will be different how we imagined them. They have to leave stuff out and change some details and they have to make it fit in a certain amount of time. Divergent did a brilliant job with all of this and as I talk to more people about the movie they all agree.

This movie gives me hope that they won't ruin all book to movie adaptions, especially since there are so many new book-to-movie adaptions coming out right now. Hunger Games is still going, Divergent just started and The Giver, The Maze Runner and The Fault in Our Stars all come out in the next few months. The most important part of a movie adaption is to capture the world and the feelings and emotions of all the characters.

I definitely recommend you see the Divergent movie you will not regret it. It is perfect whether you've read the book or not (though I suggest you read the book it is amazing).

DFTBA
-Janussa

Poetry Corner #29

A Song
     by: William Blake

Sweet dreams, form a shade
O'er my lovely infant's head!
Sweet dreams of pleasant streams
By happy, silent, moony beams!

Sweet Sleep, with soft down
Weave thy brows an infant crown
Sweet Sleep, angel mild,
Hover o'er my happy child!

Sweet smiles, in the night
Hover over my delight!
Sweet smiles, mother's smile,
All the livelong night beguile.

Sweet moans, dove like sighs,
Chase not slumber from thine eyes!
Sweet moan, sweeter smile,
All the dove like moans beguile.

Sleep, sleep, happy child!
All creation slept and smiled.
Sleep, sleep, happy child,
While o'er thee doth mother weep.

Sweet babe, in thy face
Holy image I can trace;
Sweet babe, once like thee
Thy Maker lay, and wept for me:

Wept for me, for thee, for all,
When He was an infant small.
Thou His image ever see,
Heavenly face that smiles on thee!

Smiles on thee, on me, on all,
Who became an infant small;
Infant smiles are his own smiles;
Heaven and earth to peace beguiles.

Happy Weekend
DFTBA
-Janussa

Book Review: Clockwork Prince

Title: Clockwork Prince
Series: The Infernal Devices #2
Author: Cassandra Clare
Pages: 502
Release Date: December 6, 2011
Goodreads | Amazon

Summary: In magical Victorian London, orphan Tessa found safety with the Shadowhunters, until traitors betray her to the Magister. He wants to marry her, but so do self-destructive Will and fiercely devoted Jem. Mage Magnus Bane returns to help them. Secrets to her parentage lie with the mist-shrouded Yorkshire Institute's aged manager Alyosius Starkweather.

Rating: 4

Review: I love this even more than Clockwork Angel it was an amazing sequel! I cannot explain how happy I am about this book! Well I can say that a certain couple got together and I very much approve!

You learn a lot more about all the characters and this book has everything in it: romance, action, betrayal, and you learn the truth about so much. I fell even more in love with the characters reading this sequel.

The love triangle is even more important in this book and Cassab Clare has skill and you love both guys.I love both Will and Jem so much and I would never want either to get hurt, they have both been through so much. I still like one of them slightly more but that's just me.

The writing continued to be beautiful and this book was even harder to set down. I completely feel in love with the story and it was a very emotionally ride because so much happens. I can't spoil any of it for you you'll have to read the book.

This led from one thing to another and the world-building is amazing. I wasn't confused by the plot at all like I was in Clockwork Angel which was good because the book moves fast. Some books that are 502 pages long can get really boring but Clare has a talent to make you want to read each and every page.

I thought this was an amazing sequel and that ending! So glad I waited until the series was over to read Clockwork Princess right away. If I had to wait I would have died after knowing who shows up at the end and nothing else.

I would definitely recommend this i was a superb sequel and I am so excited t see what happens in Clockwork Princess.

DFTBA
-Janussa

Book Review: Clockwork Angel

Title: Clockwork Angel
Series: The Infernal Devices #1
Author: Cassandra Clare
Pages: 479
Release Date: August 31, 2010

Summary: The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them....

Rating: 3.5

Review: I was very impressed with this book and I loved it much more than City of Bones. I was much more impressed with the story line and with the characters in Clockwork Angel.

Tessa is very strong willed and independent. She is very confused throughout the book and must adjust to everything new she is discovering about the world and she is brave through all of it. She goes to live in the London institute. While there she learns so many new tings and as she begins to lose her family she gains another made up of Charlotte, Henry, Sophie, Will, Jessamine, and Jem. All the characters were wonderful and they all had very distinct characteristics. Will was rude and pushed everyone away. Jem was so sweet and nice and tires to always see the good in things.

The plot was good, I just had a hard time following parts of it. Once she moved into the institute Tessa was able to learn and grow and there were bumps along the road and it was it always perfectly clear. She had to find her brother and help him.

Cassandra Clare's writing is beautiful and elegant. She makes you want to constantly read more and know what will happen to the characters. She draws you into the story so you cannot put it down. By the of the book I wasn't sure if I loved the book because of the story line or because of the wonderful way it was written. I decided it was both.

I definitely recommend Clockwork Angel, especially if you like the Mortal Instruments but even if you didn't this series is much better

Favorite Quotes:

“One must always be careful of books," said Tessa, "and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us.”

“Only the very weak-minded refuse to be influenced by literature and poetry.”

DFTBA
-Janussa :)

Book to Movie: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

     

Book   |  Movie

I originally saw the movie when it first came out and then I read the book after I had forgotten many of the details. After reading a book so deep and complex it seems very hard for it to be turned into a movie. The movie makers did the best job they could turning a story so complex into a movie. I loved it and the most important part that this movie included was the emotions that Oskar was feeling. It perfectly portrays the pain he felt after his fathers death.

Obviously the movie could not include everything but it still made the story seem real and important. In the book Oskar seemed more confused abut he was still very much in pain because of his fathers death, in the movie the pain he felt because of his fathers death was more evident.

I think the casting was very good and all the characters are portrayed correctly. I had a hard time imagining the characters in the story and I usually don't which is good because then I don't have high expectations of how they should look in the movie.

Just like the book I do not think everyone would appreciate this movie and I think it is too wonderful to recommend to people who would not appreciate the meaning of this story. I definitely think this was a wonderful adaption and I hope it inspired other people to read the book.

If you want to know more about the book you can read the review I wrote here on the blog.
DFTBA
-Janussa

Poetry Corner #28

Alone
     by: Edgar Allan Poe

From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.
Then- in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life- was drawn
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still:
From the torrent, or the fountain,
From the red cliff of the mountain,
From the sun that round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold,
From the lightning in the sky
As it passed me flying by,
From the thunder and the storm,
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view.

DFTBA
-Janussa

Book Review: The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas

Title: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Author: John Boyne
Pages: 224
Release Date: June 1, 2006
Source: School Library

Berlin 1942

When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance.

But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.

Rating: 4

Review: How do I describe this book. Because I do not want to ruin the story, I will keep the review short.

This is a brilliant book and it was beautifully written. It follows the story of a nine year old boy named Bruno. Bruno's family moves from Berlin because of his fathers job. Next to their new house is fence and on the other side of the fence is a concentration camp. Bruno, being nine, does not understand that it is a concentration camp or that the people on the other side of the fence are Jews.

He tries to have an adventure while staying at his new home and he makes a friend on the other side of the fence.

I won't say much else about this book for fear of ruining it. It is a very sad story but it is also very much worth reading. It is a beautiful tragic story that I think everyone needs to experience.

DFTBA
-Janussa

Book Review: Divergent

Title: Divergent
Series: Divergent #1
Author: Veronica Roth
Release Date: April 25, 2011
Source: School Library
Goodreads | Amazon

Summary: In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Rating: 5

Review: I originally read this book two years ago and I thought it was amazing but a while after I read it I slowly started liking it less and less for no reason. I forgot how good it really was so rereading it now made me remember why I loved it originally.

This book is breathtaking. The characters are fresh and real. This book follows Tris Prior after she makes the choice to leave her family and go to Dauntless. The book lets us see how she reacts to her choice and the consequences of it.

Tris must go through the process of Dauntless initiation before she can be truly Dauntless. While there she befriends Christina and Will. The three of them go through initiation and must learn how to fight, how to overcome fears and cowardice and how to be brave. Abnegation is about selflessness and Dauntless is about bravery. As Tris goes through initiation she realizes that she is more selfless than she thought she was. Her instructor Four helps her to realize that she is most brave when she is trying to protect others and being selfless. He tells her that selflessness and bravery aren't that different.

I loved all the characters. The characters had to find out what was really happening at Erudite headquarters so they can prevent bigger problems. I loved Christina, she came from Candor where they always tell the truth so she has a habit of just saying whatever is in her head. Will is Erudite so he knows so much and is always acting to smart for the Dauntless. All the characters must learn to leave their old lives behind so that they might be able to except their new lives as Dauntless. Tris's brother Caleb chose Erudite and he must learn to deal with all the rumors Erudite was giving about Abnegation. It's a learning experience for everyone in multiple ways. The characters must learn to accept the choices they made.

The writing in the book was beautiful. Veronica Roth described everything so beautifully. She described the world so well that I was able to see it all in my head.

After rereading the book it makes me wonder why I ever stopped liking it in the first place it is brilliant. I am more excited than ever for the movie that comes out this Friday. I definitely recommend this book.

Favorite Quotes:

“We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another.”

“Becoming fearless isn't the point. That's impossible. It's learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it.”

“I have a theory that selflessness and bravery aren't all that different.”

“Sometimes crying or laughing are the only options left, and laughing feels better right now.”

“A brave man acknowledges the strength of others.”

DFTBA
-Janussa :)

Poetry Corner #27

Absence
     by: Pablo Neruda

I have scarcely left you
When you go in me, crystalline,
Or trembling,
Or uneasy, wounded by me
Or overwhelmed with love, as
when your eyes
Close upon the gift of life
That without cease I give you.

My love,
We have found each other
Thirsty and we have
Drunk up all the water and the
Blood,
We found each other
Hungry
And we bit each other
As fire bites,

Leaving wounds in us.
But wait for me,
Keep for me your sweetness.
I will give you too
A rose.

Ugh I have been so busy with school recently and I have had no time to read my spring break is soon though so I really hope I get more time to read then :) Sorry I just haven't had much to post because I have no new book reviews.

DFTBA
-Janussa

Book Review: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Title: Extremely Loud and Incredible Close
Author: Jonathan Safer Foer
Pages: 326
Release Date: January 1, 2005
Source: School Library
Goodreads | Amazon

Summary: Nine-year-old Oskar Schell is an inventor, amateur entomologist, Francophile, letter writer, pacifist, natural historian, percussionist, romantic, Great Explorer, jeweller, detective, vegan, and collector of butterflies. When his father is killed in the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centre, Oskar sets out to solve the mystery of a key he discovers in his father's closet. It is a search which leads him into the lives of strangers, through the five boroughs of New York, into history, to the bombings of Dresden and Hiroshima, and on an inward journey which brings him ever closer to some kind of peace.

Rating: 5

Review: All I can say abut this book is good things but the issue is trying to put a book this incredible into words is hard.

This book follows the story of Oskar after his father died on September 11th. He finds a key in a vase in his father's closest. Oskar hopes this means something so that he can have a way to connect with and be close to his father again after his death. He spends months going around the city trying to find who the key belongs to.

This was a very special read for me and it holes such a special place in my heart. How do I describe this book? I loved this book immensely and I can relate to Oskar in weird ways but there are many people that would not appreciate it. Two of my best friends like to read some but I would never recommend this to them. I know they would say it is boring and slow. You have to take time to read each word so that you can cherish all that this book says.

In The Fault in Our Stars by John Green there is a quote that says "Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book. And then there are books like An Imperial Affliction, which you can't tell people about, books so special and rare and yours that advertising your affection feels like betrayal." Hazel say this book about her favorite quote An Imperial Affliction. Often I have books that I want to share with people so i can put the shattered world back together, but never before have I truly understood what Hazel meant about a book so special that you what to keep it to yourself. I feel as if this is the book I need to keep to myself because I do not want to betray the story. I can't stand the thought of recommending this book to most people, only a handful of people would appreciate it the way it should be appreciated. This book truly is my An Imperial Affliction.

I loved Oskar he's emotions were so real, life is complicated and confusing. Oskar just wanted to figure life out and find a way to be close to his father even after he was gone. Emotions are complicated and it's hard to being happy when living life. Throughout the book it says 'living is harder than dying' I think it's so true, it is so easy to just give up and die. You have to work to live and you have to keep trying even when everything bad has happened to you.

This book is beautiful and tragic and wonderful. I cannot say whether I recommend it to you because you need to choose if you want to read it. I only recommend it to someone who will love it for everything that it is.

Favorite Quotes:

“Sometimes I can hear my bones straining under the weight of all the lives I'm not living.”

“Why didn't I learn to treat everything like it was the last time. My greatest regret was how much I believed in the future.”

“I regret that it takes a life to learn how to live.”

“I like to see people reunited, I like to see people run to each other, I like the kissing and the crying, I like the impatience, the stories that the mouth can't tell fast enough, the ears that aren't big enough, the eyes that can't take in all of the change, I like the hugging, the bringing together, the end of missing someone.”

“I hope that one day you will have the experience of doing something you do not understand for someone you love.”

“Why do beautiful songs make you sad?' 'Because they aren't true.' 'Never?' 'Nothing is beautiful and true.”

“Songs are as sad as the listener.”

“Humans are the only animal that blushes, laughs, has religion, wages war, and kisses with lips. So in a way, the more you kiss with lips, the more human you are. And the more you wage war.”

I am super busy right now with school and I barely even have time to read on weekends. Spring break is in a week and a half so I hope to get lots of good reading and reviews in, in lieu of posting book reviews I will probably start posting random thought posts again :)
DFTBA
-Janussa