Book Chat (#2) - Struggle To Re-Read

Ever since I was young I would devour books. I got used to my family gifting me picture books, and then novels, and now gift vouchers for book shops. And because of this I always had a new book nearby to reach for. 

My issue was never with what to read next but more so those books I really enjoyed because I struggle we re-reading…

So many of my friends will enjoy a book and be able to re-read it a few months later but whenever I try this I end up putting it down after struggling to get to the halfway point. It honestly takes me a year or two before I am able to re-read a book and fall in love with it again even if I loved it the first time around!

I love opening the pages of a book for the first time and being shocked at every plot twist, learning about every character and finally seeing how everything is concluded. And I think my struggle comes from never being able to recreate these feelings to the extent I felt them the first time. On my second read and beyond I feel like I am beginning to anticipate events. I leave a long gap for re-reading so that I can forget a lot of what happened in the pages.

Do you struggle to re-read? How long does it take you to pick up a familiar book?

Book Chat (#1) - Book Jealousy

Book jealousy is something, I believe, that no avid reader is exempt from. Let me set the scene for you. You begin to read a book. You begin to click with the characters and invest time in the plot. You may even go on to bury yourself deeper in the fandom. This book is something you love and is at the top of your favourites list. It spoke to you in a way that not many other books have… AND THEN you see someone else reading your book and are overcome with a rage so strong you feel that you may rival The Hulk.

My friend, you have book jealousy. 

Watching other people reading a book you adore can often make you feel uncomfortable and for me that boils down to a few things. Usually I have gained something from the plot, some type of message, or I have found parts of myself in the characters. When someone else starts to read that book I think I freak out because I don't want someone to have a different opinion. I'm worried if they don't enjoy it they will make fun, and like a bear and her cub, I will have no control over how I react. 

But in all seriousness, I think when I get book jealous it is simply because I am scared. Different opinions and different views that conflict with my own may start to take the shine off something I love.

However, I think it is beneficial to be a bit more open. Rather than freaking out that people who don't usually read are reading a book and it becoming more popular, should we celebrate it? The more popular a book becomes the more likely we are to have discussions on it. We may even potentially see it progress to a film or TV series as was the case with TFIOS and Game of Thrones.

Overall, I don't think that book jealousy is a bad thing. I think it's wonderful being so passionate about books that we get protective over them. I just think we should be more open to giving others the chance at doing that as well.

Chocolate Book Tag

I recently took part in the 'Chocolate Book Tag' which was pretty interesting, originally created by A Daydreamer's Ramblings! I've tagged a few people on booktube but thought why not also tag some people in the book blogging community. So here it goes. I tag Saira at Growing Wings and Amanda at Adventures from the Bookshelf. Looking forward to your responses, ladies!

Here are the questions!

Dark Chocolate - A book that covers a dark topic (abuse, domestic violence, rape, loneliness, bullying, death etc)

White Chocolate - Your favourite light hearted/humorous read

Milk Chocolate - A book that has a lot of hype that you're dying to read

Chocolate with a Caramel Centre - Name a book that made you feel all gooey in the middle while you were reading it

Wafer Free Kit Kat - Name a book that surprised you lately

Snickers - A book that you are going nuts about

Hot Chocolate with Cream and Marshmallows - What book would you turn to for a comfort read?

Box of Chocolates - What series have you read that you feel has a wide variety and a little something for everyone?

Book Haul (#1)

Looks like I've accumulated some books again so here they are! Have you read any of them? What did you think? Do you have any recommendations for me?

1) The Ask and The Answer - Patrick Ness

2) Horns - Joe Hill

3) Shock of the Fall - Nathan Filer

4) The Ocean At the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman

5) Shakespeare's Counsellor - Charlaine Harris

6) Love and Misadventure - Lang Leav

7) The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter - David Colbert

8) This Is Not Forgiveness - Celia Rees

9) Fast Cakes - Mary Berry

10) Do Not Open This Box - Keri Smith

If you are interested in any of these books I have linked them to the book depository for you to purchase!

Every Day - David Levithan

Title: Every Day - David Levithan
Publisher: Electric Monkey (Egmont Books)
Series: N/A
Service: Own
Release Date: 02/09/2013
Pages: 372
Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★★

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Every day I am someone else. I am myself - I know I am myself - but I am also someone else. It has always been like this.

Each morning, A wake up in a different body. There's never any warning about who it will be, but A is used to that. Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

And that's fine - until A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with - every day...

Give us a few words...

Why do you say that?

This was a tough one to rate. For the majority of the book I was absolutely hooked but there were a few things that I found to be frustrating. 

A finds himself in the body of Justin and spends the day with his girlfriend, Rhiannon. For the first time A finds that he has a strong emotional attachment to Rhiannon and wants to spend time with her which, of course, is not possible. However throughout the book we bare witness to A taking more and more risks just to be able to see her.

I love the concept of this book. It was written beautifully and is rather heartbreaking. As it is from A's point of view we get first hand experience at his frustration of not being able to keep one body, his longing to start a relationship with Rhiannon and his guilt at 'hijacking' bodies of others so that he can start living his own life. The relationship that begins to grow between Rhiannon and A is not smooth and I'm glad that Levithan made it realistic with Rhiannon struggling to cope with A's ever changing appearance.

I was unsatisfied with certain aspects of this book. Rhiannon constantly defends her relationship with Justin saying that there are reasons why they work and that A wouldn't understand. Neither do the readers. Although we may have got a biased opinion of Justin when A was in his body, the other times we see him, Justin seems uninterested in his girlfriend and I just wish we could have known what the glue was that kept them together.

My only other issue with this book was the ending. There was closure to some of the characters that we met however I wanted so much more. I felt like the book was a little rushed at the end and I would have liked to see where all the characters ended up next. I am happy to know that in 2015 we are expecting to see a companion novel entitled, 'Rhiannon' and I hope that will tie up some loose ends.

Overall, I feel that Every Day is a story that raises questions about love and the karmic consequences of our actions. Heart warming and heart breaking, I would definitely recommend that you give it a shot.

The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness

Title: The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness
Publisher: Walker
Series: Chaos Walking Trilogy (2, 3)
Service: Own
Release Date: 22/10/2008
Pages: 479
Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★★★★

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Todd Hewitt is the last boy in Prentisstown.

But Prentisstown isn't like any other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in a constant overwhelming, never-ending Noise. The is no privacy. There are no secrets.

Or are there?

Just one month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd unexpectedly stumbles upon a spot of complete silence. Which is impossible. Prentisstown has been lying to him. And now he's going to have to run...

Give us a few words...

This video contains spoilers. Do not watch if you have not read the book! The review below is spoiler free.

Why do you say that?

I was gifted More Than This by Patrick Ness by having never read any of his work, decided to read The Knife of Never Letting Go. 

It centres round the story of Todd Hewitt who lives in Prentisstown. This town is in the New World and its only inhabitants are men and boys. Through the story we learn this is due to a war that broke out early when they first settled there. Their enemies (Spackle) released a Noise germ that killed off all women and girls and left the boys, men and animals able to hear each other’s thoughts constantly.

I fell in love with this book from the first few chapters. When Todd encounters a break in the silence he struggles to hide it and push it away from his Noise leading to everything being set into motion.

Todd’s whole journey to find safety away from Prentisstown and his meeting with people along the way is both heart warming and heart breaking. Ness makes you feel so protective over Todd’s stubborn character and there are points in the book where you will want to yell at him for being so pig headed. His overall character development throughout the story is something I loved and look forward to seeing in the next book.

With the full range of character personalities showcasing stubborn, strong, power hungry and down right crazy I felt the mix was perfect. The whole book keeps you on edge in a number of ways. If you aren’t worried about who might catch them you are wondering about the truth behind Prentisstown. All questions are answered with a horrifying truth.

The end of this book broke my heart and I cannot wait to pick up the next one in the series. Ness has easily made his way into my top 5 favourite authors. I highly recommend you get involved in The Knife of Never Letting Go, book one of The Chaos Walking Trilogy.