The Bookish Island: August 2018

8/09/2018

See You Next Time

I'm going on a hiatus.

I have been giving myself headaches trying to keep this blog up for well over a year now and I'm getting tired of that.

So here is what I'm going to be doing. I'm going to stop updating this blog from now on till things get better. Because I'm not going to be able to blog like I would want to. Because since Hurricane Maria (and I know I've been mentioning that a lot but considering that it's still affecting us even after all this time it's important) we dong have internet access. And to keep this blog up and running like I would want to it takes good strength wi-fi.

I've been trying to keep the blog alive with the weak wi-fi I get from my mom's phone but it's not enough. I can't open up Goodreads without waiting for hours. Or having whatever page I'm in just give up on me and have to start all over again. And sometimes I have to write the review on my laptop while I look up photos to add on the phone and I forget to refresh when I add stuff. Only to then have stuff disappear cause I didn't refresh. Ugh! It's maddening!

So I will probably be on hiatus till we get it all fixed and working.

In the meantime, I will be posting my reviews Goodreads and I'm still using Instagram so I will be there most of the time.

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8/08/2018

Can't Wait Wednesday #10 - The Geography of Lost Things by Jessica Brody

Can't Wait Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Wishful Endings.

I've decided to switch to this since Waiting On Wednesday has been over for a long time now. But its basically the same concept. Books that I can't wait to get my hands on or am really interested in that are to be released soon.

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Why I Can't Wait:
Jessica Brody's writing style is so easy to follow and I just love her books. ✨ So ya already know in need this book in my shelves STAT.
👿😜

The Geography of Lost Things by Jessica Brody

In this romantic road trip story perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen and Morgan Matson, a teen girl discovers the value of ordinary objects while learning to forgive her absent father. A lot can happen on the road from lost to found…

Ali Collins doesn’t have room in her life for clutter or complications. So when her estranged father passes away and leaves her his only prized possession—a 1968 Firebird convertible—Ali knows she won’t keep it. Not when it reminds her too much of all her father’s unfulfilled promises. And especially not when a buyer three hundred miles up the Pacific coast is offering enough money for the car to save her childhood home from foreclosure. There’s only one problem, though. Ali has no idea how to drive a stick shift.

But her ex-boyfriend, Nico, does.

The road trip gets off to a horrible start, filled with unexpected detours, roadblocks, and all the uncomfortable tension that comes with being trapped in a car with your ex. But when Nico starts collecting items from the quirky strangers they meet along the way, Ali starts to sense that these objects aren’t random. Somehow they seem to be leading her to an unknown truth about her father. A truth that will finally prove to Ali that some things—even broken things—are worth saving.

Published by: Simon Pulse

The Release Date for the book is:

October 2, 2018

Goodreads || Book Depository. || Amazon

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The Bookish Island

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8/07/2018

Top Ten Tuesday #10 | Books You'd Smash Together

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

August 7:
Books I'd Smash Together

When I saw this I was so on board to doing this. And I was thinking of going on a hiatus too. But I got a few ideas in my head of boos that would go great together to make one awesome book. After this one I'll definetly leave for a while.

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Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman & A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro

Vengeance Road on its own is ah-mah-zing.

But if you throw young Charlotte Holmes and Jamie Watson into that western setting you'd get something great. Besides I've never heard of the Sherlock Holmes theme set in a young adult western. And if there is one please tell me about it.

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Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman & The Ghost and The Goth by Stacey Kade

Again. Another one with Vengeance Road. A YA western but throw in some teens who can see ghosts and some that are ghosts and it will be brilliant.

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The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli & To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

Think about it. It will be two books I felt so attached to because they spoke to me on another level. One because I had so many crushes when I was in school and two because I used to write letters to them without sending them. So. Yeah.

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I have not read the books nor do I own them but I need to do this.

Penelope by Marilyn Kaye & Big Fish by Daniel Wallace

Here is my reason for this smash.

Not only have I always felt that Penelope and Big Fish are set in the same world but that they have the same magical feel to them. It's just that on Big Fish it's more magical and fantastical. When in Penelope its just a bit of fantasy.

I think that aspects of these two great movies (I haven't read the books so I don't know if they are also great) should make a baby and create another great movie together. Not to fuse together to create one movie but to make another movie that has the same elements. And it would be cool if it shared that great aesthetic these two have.

I hope this makes sense.

If you've ever seen these to movies and thought the same please tell me. Cause I've never heard anyone else say that.

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8/06/2018

The Quiche of Death by M.C. Beaton | Book Review #124

The Bookish Island's Book Review:
The Quiche of Death by M.C. Beaton

Are there spoilers?

No.

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Title: The Quiche of Death

Author: M.C. Beaton

Series: Agatha Raisin #1

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Pages: 272

Publisher: St. Martins Paperback

Published: 2006

Genre: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Cozy Mystery

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Date Read: July 15 > July 17, 2018

Rating: ★★★★☆

Putting all her eggs in one basket, Agatha Raisin gives up her successful PR firm, sells her London flat, and samples a taste of early retirement in the quiet village of Carsely. Bored, lonely and used to getting her way, she enters a local baking contest: Surely a blue ribbon for the best quiche will make her the toast of the town. But her recipe for social advancement sours when Judge Cummings-Browne not only snubs her entry--but falls over dead! After her quiche's secret ingredient turns out to be poison, she must reveal the unsavory truth…
Agatha has never baked a thing in her life! In fact, she bought her entry ready-made from an upper crust London quicherie. Grating on the nerves of several Carsely residents, she is soon receiving sinister notes. Has her cheating and meddling landed her in hot water, or are the threats related to the suspicious death? It may mean the difference between egg on her face and a coroner's tag on her toe…

The Rating:

My Review:

I got introduced to Agatha Raisin when the series was announced. I don't remember when or where I heard about the show but I saw the photos and I thought it was going to be awesome so I waited till the first book got adapted. and they made a movie first. And when I saw it I fell so in love with Agatha and her friends and that little town so much that I wanted there to be more adaptations. Sure enough, after the movie of the first book came a series that adapted some of the other books. Though I think they weren't adapted in order. And the show was brilliant.

As for The Quiche of Death.

Agatha Raisin has just retired and is moving to the picture perfect cottage of Costwolds. There in the village of Carsely she tries to make friends but fails. And winds up participating in a quiche competition but buys an already made quiche. Then he quiche becomes the potential murder weapon when it winds up next to a crime scene where one of the villagers is found dead.

It was such an easy book to read. With well-written characters and great setting descriptions. The crime was brilliant and if I hadn't already seen the adaptation I wouldn't have known who the killer was until it was revealed. I had nearly forgotten too.

I also want to say that I felt madder at James while reading the book rather than the show. Because he was such an obvious coward when it came to being around Agatha. He didn't want to have her around but he was always around her. He was so confusing.

Goodreads | Book Depository

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8/04/2018

Kens by Raziel Reid | Book Review #123

The Bookish Island's Book Review:
Kens by Raziel Reid

Are there spoilers?

Yes, there are spoilers.

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Disclaimer: This book was sent to me from the publishing company through NetGalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

Title: Kens

Author: Raziel Reid

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Pages: 272

Publisher: Penguin Teen

Publication: September 2018

Genre: Young Adult

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Date Read: July 8 > July 14, 2018

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Heterosexuality is so last season: Kens is the gay Heathers meets Mean Girls, a shocking parody for a whole new generation.

Every high school has the archetypical Queen B and her minions. In Kens, the high school hierarchy has been reimagined. Willows High is led by Ken Hilton, and he makes Regina George from Mean Girls look like a saint. Ken Hilton rules Willows High with his carbon-copies, Ken Roberts and Ken Carson, standing next to his throne. It can be hard to tell the Kens apart. There are minor differences in each edition, but all Kens are created from the same mold, straight out of Satan's doll factory. Soul sold separately.

Tommy Rawlins can't help but compare himself to these shimmering images of perfection that glide through the halls. He's desperate to fit in, but in a school where the Kens are queens who are treated like Queens, Tommy is the uncool gay kid. A once-in-a-lifetime chance at becoming a Ken changes everything for Tommy, just as his eye is caught by the tall, dark, handsome new boy, Blaine. Has Blaine arrived in time to save him from the Kens? Tommy has high hopes for their future together, but when their shared desire to overthrow Ken Hilton takes a shocking turn, Tommy must decide how willing he is to reinvent himself -- inside and out. Is this new version of Tommy everything he's always wanted to be, or has he become an unknowing and submissive puppet in a sadistic plan?

The Rating:

My Review:

Kens was something else. I don't know how I read till the last page. Whether it was to torture myself or because I felt bad and felt I had to read the whole book. I seriously don't know but I did.

Here is how I tortured myself by reading this book:

At around page 6 or 8, I knew I wasn't going to like this book.

And at around page 50 I wanted to DNF this book and forget about it.

At around page 120 something I really really wanted to DNF this and never think about it again.

Page 170 something. This is one of the most UGH!!!. I hate this book!

Page 189. At this point, I'm only going to finish this as punishment for not properly reading the synopsis or available reviews for this book. Cause after I read half I went back and read the reviews and they weren't good either.

Page 214. I got so much worse. Who thought this was a good book to publish?

I finished it and not surprisingly I expected what happened.

*takes off imaginary glasses, stands up from a comfy sofa and walks over to the window.*
*a book is seen flying from the window through the skies all the way to the Atlantic ocean where it drops and sinks all the way down*
*a dark ominous fish opens its jaws and eats the book, only to spit it out and keep going*

Kens is a parody of Heathers and Mean Girls but with gay teens. So its supposed to have an edgy comedic style to it. And its also supposed to parody a bunch of bad things. But no matter how much I kept reading I never found myself laughing or even chuckling. To me, it was just not funny. At all. I actually found this super troubling and offensive in all kinds of ways.

The characters were literally plastic and had zero personality except dumb and vicious. I couldn't see myself rooting for these characters. I didn't even understand who was the good guys or the bad guys. Or if there were any.

I also feel like I should make a list of all of the bad things that this book has. Because if you don't like any of the things I will mention then you probably won't like this book because it has a lot of these things going on. So here is my warning (cause it needs one) for anyone who is thinking of giving it a chance.

This book parodies the following things:
Fat Shaming
Rape Culture
Suicide
Copycat suicide
Underage use of Drugs and Alcohol
Bringing Guns to School (it was fake but still)
School Shootings
Black Lives Matter
Satanism
Plastic Surgery
Peer Pressure
Murder
Catfishing
Slut Shaming
Cyberbullying
Real Life Bullying
...And other stuff too.

Most importantly, it's also not a good representation of LGBT+

And on top of it all. The e-arc copy I had been given by Netgalley had a huge watermark across the entire page which confused me when I was reading it. It just ended up mixing the words as I read them and I already have dyslexia so that just made it worse.

I want to say that I am at fault because like I wrote above I should have read the synopsis and thought it through before asking for it. I should have also read the available reviews and thought it through before making the decision. But I just saw the cover and asked for it. Big mistake.

I also want to add that maybe this was all from my experience reading this book and that others may think differently. But I found the humor to be insulting and too much. And that the plot was all over the place with the author trying to take on too many themes at once.

Goodreads

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8/02/2018

Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding | Book Review #122

The Bookish Island's Book Review:
Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

Are there spoilers?

No.

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Title: Bridget Jones' Diary

Author: Helen Fielding

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Pages: 288

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 1999

Genre: Women's Fiction, Contemporary, Romance

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Date Read: July 7 > July 8, 2018

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Meet Bridget Jones—a 30-something Singleton who is certain she would have all the answers if she could:
a. lose 7 pounds
b. stop smoking
c. develop Inner Poise

"123 lbs. (how is it possible to put on 4 pounds in the middle of the night? Could flesh have somehow solidified becoming denser and heavier? Repulsive, horrifying notion), alcohol units 4 (excellent), cigarettes 21 (poor but will give up totally tomorrow), number of correct lottery numbers 2 (better, but nevertheless useless)..."
Bridget Jones' Diary is the devastatingly self-aware, laugh-out-loud daily chronicle of Bridget's permanent, doomed quest for self-improvement — a year in which she resolves to: reduce the circumference of each thigh by 1.5 inches, visit the gym three times a week not just to buy a sandwich, form a functional relationship with a responsible adult, and learn to program the VCR.
Over the course of the year, Bridget loses a total of 72 pounds but gains a total of 74. She remains, however, optimistic. Through it all, Bridget will have you helpless with laughter, and — like millions of readers the world round — you'll find yourself shouting, "Bridget Jones is me!"

The Rating:

My Review:

Bridget Jones's Diary is cute. I wouldn't say I'm happy that I got to experience this book but I also wouldn't say that I'm glad I read it. It was just not as great as I thought it would be.

I fell in love with the movie so much that I somehow thought I would love the book too. I mean, I don't like to watch movies multiple times because everything is just too fresh in my head but with the movie version of this novel I have probably watched well over ten times if not more.

Colin Firth was amazing and even though I hadn't seen him as official Darcy in the Pride and Prejudice adaptation I loved him as Mark Darcy.