Hello Everyone,
It’s that time of the year where the sun is shining brightly in the sky and the family are preparing the house for a massive spring clean! I thought that I would start my spring clean in the online world. On this blog and my others I have decided to switch things up a bit. I have changed my theme and added some extra pages which I hope you will all enjoy.
My online adventure can only go onwards and upwards.
Until next time….
Charlotte x
Time to Say Hello by Katherine Jenkins
Publisher: Orion Publishing (February 2009)
ISBN: 9780752884479
Synopsis: “Katherine Jenkins is an international singing superstar who has redefined a music genre: she has brought classical music to the masses and inspired young and old with her incredible voice, her glamorous looks, and, above all, her love for music, her country, and her fans. Born in Neath, South Wales, Katherine won national acclaim as the BBC Welsh Choirgirl of the year and soon after a place at the Royal Academy of Music. Auditioning for a terrifying panel of industry experts at Universal Music she came away with the largest recording deal in classical music history. And so began Katherine’s meteoric rise to stardom. Packed with laughter, adventure, heartbreak, and music, Katherine’s incredible story is the tale of a dream coming true, one that will keep you gripped to the last note”- Goodreads.com
Review: I am a fan of Katherine Jenkins’s music. Thus, reading her autobiography was the logical next step, I am always intrigued by celebrity autobiographies as you can see if their lives started off similarly to yours and how they differ.
This was brilliantly written and engaging. Her personality springs from the pages and you can really imagine her saying this. The book was both moving and entertaining.
A truly great read. Thoroughly enjoyed it.A must for any Jenkins Fan.
Rating: ★★★★
Moonwalking with Einstein : The Art of Science and Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer
Publisher: Allen Lane (April 1st 2011)
ISBN: 9781846140297
Synopsis: “Moonwalking with Einstein” draws on cutting-edge research, a surprising cultural history of memory, and venerable tricks of the mentalist’s trade to transform our understanding of human remembering. Under the tutelage of top “mental athletes,” he learns ancient techniques once employed by Cicero to memorize his speeches and by Medieval scholars to memorize entire books. Using methods that have been largely forgotten, Foer discovers that we can all dramatically improve our memories. Immersing himself obsessively in a quirky subculture of competitive memorizers, Foer learns to apply techniques that call on imagination as much as determination-showing that memorization can be anything but rote. From the PAO system, which converts numbers into lurid images, to the memory palace, in which memories are stored in the rooms of imaginary structures, Foer’s experience shows that the World Memory Championships are less a test of memory than of perseverance and creativity. Foer takes his inquiry well beyond the arena of mental athletes-across the country and deep into his own mind. In San Diego, he meets an affable old man with one of the most severe case of amnesia on record, where he learns that memory is at once more elusive and more reliable than we might think. In Salt Lake City, he swaps secrets with a savant who claims to have memorized more than nine thousand books. At a high school in the South Bronx, he finds a history teacher using twenty- five-hundred-year-old memory techniques to give his students an edge in the state Regents exam. At a time when electronic devices have all but rendered our individual memories obsolete, Foer’s bid to resurrect the forgotten art of remembering becomes an urgent quest. “Moonwalking with Einstein” brings Joshua Foer to the apex of the U.S. Memory Championship and readers to a profound appreciation of a gift we all possess but that too often slips our minds” – Goodreads.com
Review: After being recommended this by a friend, I picked it up from the library and read it within about two days.
I found it fascinating. The explanations of how the memory champions remember all that information was brilliant.
It didn’t help with my memory but it was intriguing to see Foer going from an average memory to winning the championship.
Never heard the words memory palace, now they keep cropping up everywhere.
Rating: ★★★★
Go Visit Brilliant and Beautiful Books over on tumblr for more reviews from previous years. And lots of pretty pictures of book too! http://brilliantandbeautifulbooks.tumblr.com/
Is It Just Me by Miranda Hart
Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton on 1st October 2012
ISBN: 9781444734140
Read: Dec 2012
Synopsis: Well hello to you dear browser. Now I have your attention it would be rude if I didn’t tell you a little about my literary feast. So, here is the thing: is it just me or does anyone else find that adulthood offers no refuge from the unexpected horrors, peculiar lack of physical coordination and sometimes unexplained nudity, that accompanied childhood and adolescence? Does everybody struggle with the hazards that accompany, say, sitting elegantly on a bar stool; using chopsticks; pretending to understand the bank crisis; pedicures – surely it’s plain wrong for a stranger to fondle your feet? Or is it just me? I am proud to say I have a wealth of awkward experiences – from school days to life as an office temp – and here I offer my 18-year-old self (and I hope you too dear reader) some much needed caution and guidance on how to navigate life’s rocky path. Because frankly where is the manual? The much needed manual to life. Well, fret not, for this is my attempt at one and let’s call it, because it’s fun, a Miran-ual. I thank you. – Amazon.co.uk
Review: Such Fun!
Been a fan of Hart’s work for a while now, absolutely in love with her eponymous sitcom and her other comedy work and decided to read her memoir. I don’t regret.
The stories that she tells throughout are hilarious and heartwarming. Each chapter was a burst of something new, something fresh and something equally as funny.
I could really see myself as Miranda in the scenarios. As a clumsy, tall teenager it was nice to know that awkwardness has always been around! I have done quite a lot of the things that she mentions in the book.
I love the lists that she includes throughout and agree with nearly everything she says and the interactions that she continuously makes with the reader (my dear reader chum being a personal favourite)
The messages that she portrays throughout are brilliant. Believing in yourself and not taking yourself too seriously have always been keen.
A lovely read for a Comedy enthusiast.
Rating: ★★★★
The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer
Publisher: Little Brown Publishers on 17th July 2012
ISBN: 9780316201575
Read: Dec 2012
Synopsis: Alex and Conner Bailey’s world is about to change, in this fast-paced adventure that uniquely combines our modern day world with the enchanting realm of classic fairy tales. “The Land of Stories” tells the tale of twins Alex and Conner. Through the mysterious powers of a cherished book of stories, they leave their world behind and find themselves in a foreign land full of wonder and magic where they come face-to-face with the fairy tale characters they grew up reading about. But after a series of encounters with witches, wolves, goblins, and trolls alike, getting back home is going to be harder than they thought.- Goodreads.com
Review: Being a follower of Colfer’s work I couldn’t resist picking myself up a copy of his latest book.
I wasn’t disappointed and absolutely loved this book because I am still a kid at heart. A must read for someone who loves fairy tales. Stunning writing and imagination has gone into Colfer’s first Children’s Novel.
The story is well written. The stories are pure gems and really good extension of the traditional fairy-tales we are all used to. Alex and Conner freakily remind me of my brother and me as little children.
A pretty quick read for me but I enjoyed every minute of it. Couldn’t put the book down. Can’t wait to read Colfer’s Struck By Lightening book and I can’t wait to see where he takes the twins to next!
Rating: ★★★★★
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Publisher: Wordsworth Edition in 1993
ISBN: 9781853260865
Read: 2011
Synopsis:The aristocratic vampire that haunts the Transylvanian countryside has captivated readers’ imaginations since it was first published in 1897. Hindle asserts that Dracula depicts an embattled man’s struggle to recover his “deepest sense of himself as a man”, making it the “ultimate terror myth”.- Goodreads.com
Review: At the beginning of this novel I was a tad skeptical. I love vampire fiction and was really exited when we were reading the original stuff in Lit. However, at the beginning, I wasn’t convinced. I don’t quite know what it was but i just didn’t find it that interesting.
Then I got to the middle of the novel and my opinion changed. Going in-depth in class made me realize that I was truly understand the text in the best possible way.
Stoker uses the Gothic elements brilliantly to intrigue the audience. His characterizations are superb, brilliantly put together to get a reaction from you. For example, Lucy is so well written that i disliked her character and also the same with Jonathon. My favorite character by far was Van Helsing, the intriguing foreigner who comes into save the day.
Really enjoyed the book, much more than expected and I am looking forward to writing about it at length in the exam.
Rating: ★★★★
I OWN A COPY
The Great Gatbsy by F Scott Fitzgerald
Publisher: Wordsworth Editions in 1925
ISBN: 9781853260414
Read: 2010
Synopsis: Generally considered to be F. Scott Fitzgerald’s finest novel, The Great Gatsby is a consummate summary of the ‘roaring twenties’ and a devastating exposé of the shallowness of the ‘Jazz Age’. Through the narration of Nick Carraway, the reader is taken into the superficially glittering world of the mansions which lined the Long Island shore in the 1920’s, to encounter Nick’s cousin Daisy, her brash but wealthy husband Tom Buchanan, Jay Gatsby and the dark mystery which surrounds him.
The Great Gatsby is an undisputed classic of American literature from the period following the First World War, and is one of the great novels of the twentieth century – Goodreads.com
Review: This book was the first Fitzgerald novel that I have tried. I am always fascinated by historical novels which give me an insight into that era.
Fitzgerald was amazing at writing description. The 1920’s lavish locations are beautifully described.The beginning and the ending of the novel are superbly written but the middle falls a bit short for me.
The theme of the American dream was what made the book all the more exciting.
Fitzgerald characters are brilliant. Described in class as a “bromance” Nick and Jay are intriguing characters with Nick’s vision of Gatsby being hazed by money and status. Almost being an obsession.
Brilliant and fairly quick read. Intend to read the novel again once I have finished education in the hope of realizing the novels full potential and increasing my understanding of the text.
Rating: ★★★
I OWN A COPY
The 39 Steps by John Buchan
Read Oct 2011
Synopsis: “The 39 Steps” remains his most famous work. It is the first of five novels featuring Richard Hannay, an all-action hero with a steely determination and an extraordinary knack for getting himself out of sticky situations; the original, archetypal ‘man-on-the-run’ character, which has been a staple in literature and film in subsequent decades. The novel charts the electrifying story of an ordinary man caught up in a sinister international plot. Repackaged as a striking hardback, it is an edition to be cherished by any fan of the book, or anyone just discovering Buchan’s work. – Waterstones.com
Review: Just finished reading The 39 Steps! Really enjoyed it. Th book is very short (only 108 pages long). But there is lots of stuff packed into those pages. The edition is really nice and was pretty cheap too.
Rating: ★★★★
I OWN A COPY
Publisher: Vintage in 1996
ISBN: 9780099740919
Read: 2011
Synopsis:In this multi-award-winning, bestselling novel, Margaret Atwood has created a stunning Orwellian vision of the near future. This is the story of Offred, one of the unfortunate “Handmaids” under the new social order who have only one purpose: to breed. In Gilead, where women are prohibited from holding jobs, reading, and forming friendships, Offred’s persistent memories of life in the “time before” and her will to survive are acts of rebellion. Provocative, startling, prophetic, and with Margaret Atwood’s devastating irony, wit, and acute perceptive powers in full force, The Handmaid’s Tale is at once a mordant satire and a dire warning.- Goodreads.com
Review: One of my favorite books on my course and one of my favorite books in general.
This book had me gripped from the start. The novels plot was brilliant and worryingly realistic. The placement of the novel is also key, being set in a dystopian setting of past Harvard university, allows the reader to see the situation as even more real as they have something physically to grasp onto. This feminist novel truly enhances the fears of repression that women worry about.The role of the handmaids integral.
Offred is a really intriguing character.Throughout the novel, just by using that name it reminds the reader that this is a story of possession and ownership of someones life, (she is of Fred).
By far, my favorite novel that i have read this year and in my opinion one of Atwood’s best.
I would definitely recommend this to everyone including my online and real life friends.
Rating: ★★★★★
I OWN A COPY
brilliant and beautiful books 