January 2016 Rewind

We're a whole month into 2016, and sometimes I still think this is 2015. Hopeless, I know. I think I've managed to hold on to most of my resolutions, though I am already failing at the 'exercise regularly' part. How are you guys going with your resolutions?

Now, onto the recap!

New to My Shelves

• I plucked up the courage to request two ARCs through Blogging for Books and Edelweiss, and I got them! I've just finished Brooklyn on Fire, so a review will be coming soon, and I'm currently enjoying A Useful Woman. Also, looking at these covers below, can't you tell I have a soft spot for lady detectives?   

• All The Light We Cannot See was $4.99 on iBooks, and since I've been eyeing the book for months, I decided to buy it. That leaves me with a $95.01 book budget for the rest of the year, which isn't too bad, right?

Reviews

• The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
• Puppy Love by Frauke Scheneumann
• Elementary: The Ghost Line by Adam Christopher
• Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea

Other Things on the Blog

• I discussed some of the things that make a retelling fantastic.
• It hit me that maybe I was being a snob about classics literature and changed my mind about translations of classics (and recognised the value of book translations in general).
• I joined the Beautiful People link-up and discussed my writing goals for 2016!
• I'm considering switching my commenting system to Disqus. Thoughts?

Not quite on the blog but related, here are the photos I uploaded to my bookstagram this month. Click on the picture to see my account!

Challenges Progress

• Goodreads challenge: 4/30 books
• Discussion challenge: 2/24 discussion posts
• Diverse Reads challenge: 2 books
• #RockMyTBR challenge: 3 books
• Backlist Books challenge: 3 books
• Around the World challenge: ermmm, I still need to import the locations into my map, but there are about 8 locations so far.
• Commenting 365 challenge: 25/365 comments (not as far behind as I thought I was!)

In general, I'm on track with all the challenges, except for Around The World. I need to start remembering to take notes of the locations when I read.

Around the Blogosphere

I read a lot of fantastic discussion posts in the past month, and I'd like to share some of them with you!

• Mishma at Chasing Faerytales argues that reviewing backlist books shouldn't merely be a trend.
• Kristen at Metaphors and Moonlight asks us to stop blaming the girls in love triangles.
• Alyssa at The Devil Orders Takeout tells us all about China's teahouses.
• Nicole at Feed Your Fiction Addiction wants to know what type of YA MC you would be.
• Cristina at Girl in the Pages talks about considering her culture when reading
• Paloma at Pages and Pineapples discusses how life experiences shape her reading preferences.
• Pamela at A Writer's Tales tells us why she stopped reviewing every book she read.

In Life

January has been another big month for me personally. I finished at work last week, which was bittersweet. I've grown to really like my colleagues and (some of) my students, and while I'm excited about the next chapter of my life, saying goodbye wasn't as easy as I expected. I've also started packing my suitcases, and in a couple of days I'll be moving out and heading for grad school. There's so much to do, I might actually forget most of my anxieties about the transition!

In Store for Next Month

As I will be really busy for at least two weeks in February, and potentially without internet for a bit, I may be absent in terms of replying to comments. I'm planning on queueing up some posts to go up while I'm away, so fingers crossed the following posts will actually go up next month!

• Review: Brooklyn on Fire
• Review: Everything, Everything
• Review: Go Set a Watchman
• 2 discussion posts.

Let's chat! 

How was your January? What are you reading right now? Did you find a new favourite? What are you looking forward to in February? 

The Liebster Award

The Liebster Award is given to bloggers by bloggers to recognize awesome blogs, get to know others in the blogger community, and follow new blogs! Thanks so much to Alexis Elizabeth @ The Reading Hideaway for the nomination - this is my first time so I'm quite excited :D

The rules:

- Thank the blog who nominated you and link back to them.
- Nominate up to 11 other bloggers to receive the award.  To be eligible, they need to have 200 followers or less.
- Answer 11 questions from the blogger who nominated you.
- Tell your readers 11 random facts about yourself.
- Give your nominees 11 questions to answer on their blog when they post their nomination.

The fabulous bloggers to whom The Liebster Award goes to...

1. Cam @ Cammminbookland

2. Alyson @ Harry, Jane and John

3. Kristen @ Kristen Burns

4. Faith @ Faith's Bookspiration

5. Catherine @ Based on the Book

6. Erika @ Books, Stars, and the Pages in Between

7. Jane @ Greenish Bookshelf

8. Julia @ The Tree of Books

9. Connie @ Drowning in Books

10. Shay @ The Story Goes...

11. Jordan @ The Heart of a Book Blogger

(I'm going to go around and let people know they've been nominated soon, but if you're reading this and you see your name - go for it!)

My answers to The Reading Hideaway's questions:

1. What bookish memes (if any) do you participate in? 

I participate fairly regularly in Top Ten Tuesdays. I've been thinking about doing the Sunday Post, but I'm rarely on my laptop around the weekend.

2. What's your go-to beverage when you're reading? 

Nothing, really. I tend to read in bed or while commuting, and I don't usually have a beverage with me then, or I'd wait until I finish reading to fish out my water bottle.

3. What's your dream vacation? 

A leisurely travel through Europe, ooor a week in Orlando where I get to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Disneyland and enjoy them as much as I want.

4. What's one book that you've had on your shelf for a long time and haven't read yet?

Oooh there are heaps! I think the one I've had on my shelf the longest is The Golden Compass. I started it a couple of years ago but lost interest a few pages in. 

5. When did you start blogging and why? 

I started blogging in April 2015. I realised that, together, my family and I owned a ridiculous amount of unread books, and I thought it would be fun to share my effort in reading them all. 

6. Do you enjoy writing? 

It's my absolute favourite thing to do in the world.

7. What's your favorite scent?

Hmmm. It's either shea butter or the smell of my mom's kitchen when she's cooking.

8. Coke or Pepsi?

Neither. I don't like soda.

9. Paperback or Hardcover? 

Paperback! Hardcovers are pretty, but I like to bring my books around with me and hardcovers are too heavy.

10. Who do you consider to be your book boyfriend/girlfriend? 

Funnily enough, I've never really thought of this! I'd say Peeta Mellark or Jem Carstairs or Ron Weasley - they're the sort of guys I'd have the biggest crush on in real life.

11. What's one book you would want to be adapted into a movie?

The Night Circus. It has the potential to be really gorgeous visually, and with the right cast, it would make quite a magical movie. 

11 Random Facts About Me:

1. When I was in elementary school, I wrote a 3-part series that was basically a rip-off of Animorphs - an alien meets a group of children and tells them to save the world kind of thing. It was not good but will never see the light of day again, but at the time it was huge for me. It was the first piece of writing I showed my friends and my parents, and they took it seriously. 

2. Australian Open is the only time of the year I care about tennis.

3. If I could speak one more language, I would want it to be Mandarin or German.

4. I don't like naps.

5. According to my parents, the first story I loved is Sleeping Beauty.

6. I can't ride a bike.

7. In the five years I've had my iPhone, I've only dropped it five times. The screen is still in tact.

8. I've never been really artistic, but lately I've gotten into colouring. It's far more fun than I thought it would be!

9. I used to (and, in a way, still kind of do) write Harry Potter fanfictions. 

10. I kissed a dolphin when I was six years old.

11. I love freshly squeezed orange juice.

11 Questions for the bloggers I nominated:

1. What 3 books are on your must-read list for 2016?
2. If you had to eat the same food every day, what would you choose?
3. What is your favourite thing about blogging?
4. Which do you prefer: tablet or laptop?
5. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you go?
5. Noodles or rice?
6. What book do you always recommend to everyone?
7. Do you have a favourite Disney movie?
8. What is your comfort food?
9. What is your favourite quote?
10. What's the one book you would never, ever, read?
11. What's the most important thing you've learned about blogging so far?

To the bloggers nominated - I hope you'll have fun with this, and please leave me a link if you do the post!

Top Ten Books I Wish I Had a Book Club For

Top Ten Tuesday is an original meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. Click here for information.

While I have bookish friends with whom I can discuss certain titles with, we (naturally) don't always read the same thing. There have been books that left me wishing I had a friend to dissect them with; not just to talk about how I feel about it in general, but to discuss the details, question themes and plot twists - basically I need a book club.

So for this week's freebie TTT, I decided to talk about ten of those books!

1. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger.
I DNF-ed this book, but there were many things that I would love to discuss about this book. The twins' dependency on each other and lack of ambitions; am I the only one who found most of the characters unpleasant?; what did you think of Valentina's decision??

2. The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
Many of Picoult's books leave me with things to mull over long after I finish, but The Storyteller is the one that had me pushing it on my mum (a fellow Picoult fan) all, "Read this now please, right now." The major themes of mercy and justice got me thinking about a lot of difficult questions. My mum and I had a cool conversation about it, but we didn't go as detailed as I would've liked due to time constraints.

3. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
I barely remember anything about the story now, except that I enjoyed it, but at the time of reading I wish there were people who could discuss it with me.

4. Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea
I expressed my thoughts on this book here yesterday. I really wish I knew someone else who has read it, because I need to talk about the book's points about the changing (or unchanging) traditional values and their impact on women.

5. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
This is a strange book. I enjoyed it and was very confused by it at the same time, so naturally it would be awesome to have other people to talk about it with.

6. The entire Animorphs series by K.A. Applegate
I've talked about this series a looot, but I'll talk about it again anyway. For a children's series (or is the term Middle Grade? I'm not sure about the distinction), the characters face serious moral dilemmas on a regular basis. It's the stuff book clubs are made for, really.

7. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Really, what do you think about the punishments? Is there any justice, or is it all just a madperson's twisted game?

8. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
My mum and I had wildly different reactions to this book, and I'd be curious to see if it's a generational gap or something else. Of course I'd need to re-read this book before I'm up for any discussion in the near future, but still.

9. Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
I'm still reading this book at the moment, but already there are loads I'd like to talk about. Thankfully, my friend is reading it with me so we get to text each other our thoughts as we go.

10. Fairest by Marissa Meyer
I don't want to say much in case you haven't read it yet, but let's just say that this would the perfect book to discuss three-dimensional villains. Put it side by side with Dorothy Must Die, and I'd be so in for that book club meeting.

Let's talk!

What's your TTT topic this week? Do you have a book that you'd love to discuss with someone?

Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea ll We're all the same under a different name*

Title: Girls of Riyadh

Author: Rajaa Alsanea

Publisher: Penguin Books

Source: Bought

Synopsis: Released in 2005 in Arabic, Girls of Riyadh caused a sensation throughout the Arab world. Now in English, Rajaa Alsanea's bold first novel exposes the hidden lives of young upper-class women and their personal conflicts with cultural traditions and offers Westerners an unprecedented glimpse into a society often veiled from view.

From the Saudi singles scene in Riyadh to their travels outside the country, four young women, Gamrah, Michelle, Sadeem, and Lamees, literally and figuratively shed traditional garb as they negotiate their love lives; their professional successes; their rebellions, large and small; and ultimately their place - somewhere in between contemporary Western society and their Islamic home.

Review:

O God, we - the Girls of Riyadh - have been forbidden many things. Do not take the blessing of love away from us, too!

The premise of this book intrigued me right away. I had yet to read a book about women in Saudi Arabia. The fact that this is written by an Arabic woman made it even more appealing; an own voice story is likely to have more than just a few grains of truth in it, surely. Plus, stories about female friendships have a special place in my heart. So I went in with high hopes.

Some of my expectations were met, particularly with the leading ladies. The four women are all complex individuals. Some are more interested in pursuing a career, others in settling down. Some rail against traditional values and the limits they impose on romance, others negotiate their way within those boundaries and live relatively peacefully with them. Despite the unfamiliar setting, they are recognisable to me. I know that girl who falls so deeply in love she loses herself; the bright, sharp-tongued girl who would rather pave her own way than be told what to do; the girl who is happy to let someone else takes the wheel. At the end of the day, we all know what it's like to fall in love.

This book is also a compelling insight into Arabic social norms, I feel. Questions are raised throughout the story about whether those norms disadvantaged women, and I walked away from the book knowing more and with quite a number of things to ponder. This is the kind of book I'd make a friend read so we can discuss it. However, it's good to keep in mind that this is about upper-class women; whether women from other social strata have the same struggles with their culture is not covered here.

My main struggle with this book is the email format. The blurb on the back of my book compares this story to Sex and the City, but the format immediately reminded me of Gossip Girl. We have a narrator who (as far as we can tell) isn't directly involved in the stories, and I felt that put some distance between me and the characters; there's a lot of 'telling' instead of 'showing' with this kind of narrator. I still rooted for all of them, but I felt about three steps removed from being immersed completely in their lives.

All in all, this is a fascinating read, and I'd recommend it to people who are interested in learning about a different culture from the women's point of view.

Let's talk!

Have you read a book set in Saudi Arabia?

*Quote in title from Ingrid Michaelson's Blood Brother
Reading this book contributes to the following challenges:

•  Goodreads Challenge
• #DiversityReads2016 Challenge
• Around the World 2016
• The Backlist Books Reading Challenge
• #RockMyTBR Challenge

Book Talk: The Importance of Having Classics Translated

image source

In the last year, I've noticed that more and more classical English novels grace the main displays of one of the biggest local bookshops. Persuasion, Anne of Green Gables, even Les Miserables. When I first saw these books, my train of thoughts went like this:

"Oooh look at these gorgeous covers!"

"Wait. This isn't in English."

These books were, in fact, the translated version, from English to Indonesian. That stopped me short. I couldn't imagine not reading 'it is universally acknowledged that...' when I open Pride and Prejudice, or how Anne Shirley would proclaim people her kindred spirits in Indonesian. I actually turned to my mother, pointed to these books, and went, "How odd would reading those be?"

Then during lunch last week, my friend and I started discussing translated books. According to her, in the translated version of Matilda by Roald Dahl, the insults Matilda received from her father are less harsh than the original lines. He's nicer, somehow. She also referred to this line from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

"You've forgotten the magic word," said Harry irritably.

This phrase - 'magic word' - doesn't really make sense when translated directly, just like 'cold turkey', or 'fat chance'. We both agreed that it's so much better to read a story in the language it was written in. In translation, things may get toned down or changed, and the nuances of the language may be lost.

However, we are also both English teachers. I taught my teenage students the difference between 'jog my memory' and 'refresh my memory' yesterday and was reminded of how difficult it can be to understand this language. Hell, I still find classics headache-inducing; how difficult would it be to read Persuasion for my students? How many of them would even want to try reading it? Not many at all.

Anyway, I grew up on translated books myself; I probably won't recognise a quote from any Enid Blyton book if it wasn't in Indonesian. When I was even younger, my mother read Secret Garden to me, translating as she went along. In recent years, I've read a book translated into English from French. The language didn't matter; all I knew was that I loved the stories. That's the most important part. The fact that I can now appreciate the poetry of the sentences is a big bonus.

Besides, I only speak two languages. If I turned my nose up at all translated books, I'd never be able to read stories from China, or Japan, or other parts of the world; I'd be missing out on so much.

Thinking of my students, I would want them to fall in love with the stories first, in a language they can understand. Then I'd tell them to work harder on their English, so they can appreciate those stories in all of their glory.

Let's talk!

Have you read books translated from another language? Is there a book you'd like to read, but can't because you don't speak its language?

Review: Elementary: The Ghost Line by Adam Christopher

Title: Elementary: The Ghost Line

Author: Adam Christopher 

Publisher: Titan Books

Source: Purchased

Synopsis: Summons to a bullet-riddled body in a Hell’s Kitchen apartment marks the start of a new case for consulting detectives Sherlock Holmes and Joan Watson. The victim is a subway train driver with a hidden stash of money and a strange Colombian connection, but why would someone kill him and leave a fortune behind?

The search for the truth will lead the sleuths deep into the hidden underground tunnels beneath New York City, where answers—and more bodies—may well await them...

Review:

I am a fan of Elementary, so you'd think that I snapped this book up as soon as I saw it on the books-on-sale shelves. I didn't. I had only read one other novel based on a television show (Heat Wave in connection with Castle) and it was a disappointment for me. The blurb at the back of The Ghost Line intrigued me though, so I got it. Happily, I don't regret that decision.

Christopher writes the characters true to the portrayals in the show; I could imagine the actors playing out this story and not find any of the scenes to be odd. I especially love Sherlock's little gestures, as Jonny Lee Miller tends to do them too, and those little details kept me immersed in the Elementary world. The only thing I found rather jarring was the amount of time Watson grins; it didn't seem in character.

The mystery was fun! While I never believed either of them was in any real danger, I was really drawn into Sherlock and Joan's detective work. I won't spoil it, but the resolution was perfect, in my opinion, in that it was all about Sherlock using his brilliant mind rather than force to diffuse a dangerous situation. Moreover, the story is also populated with diverse characters. While Sherlock Holmes is British, Detective Bell, Joan Watson, and a number of other characters all come from non-white backgrounds.

My biggest issue with the book is the amount of internal monologues. There are points where it is necessary, when the character is alone and digesting information, but there are times when I skip right over paragraphs of musing because they feel irrelevant.

All in all, fans of the television show is likely to enjoy this tie-in novel. I wouldn't recommend it to non-fans, however, as I feel its charm is reliant on the reader being familiar and in love with the show's portrayal of Holmes and Watson.

Let's talk!

Have you watched Elementary? If not, what's your favourite Sherlock Holmes adaptation?

Reading this book contributes to the following challenges:

• Goodreads Challenge
• #DiversityReads2016 Challenge
• Around the World Challenge 

Beautiful People #1: 2016 Writerly Resolutions and Goals

Beautiful People is a linkup hosted by Sky @ Further Up and Further In and Cait @ Paper Fury. It’s aimed at writers so they can answer the questions about their characters and their books. It’s designed to help you get to know your book better! (And also give your followers a sneak peek of your works-in-progresses.) You can check out the official page (FAQs and examples and archive of previous lists) if you wish.

Yesterday I had a moment of clarity with a story I've been carrying around in my head for a long time now, so I've decided I'm going to really really work on it this year. I've seen this link-up while floating around the blogosphere before, and it looks like a lot of fun! So here we go :D

1. What were your writing achievements last year?

After pretty much pantsing it for Camp Nano the year before (and basically falling into a slump two weeks in because I need plans), I downloaded yWriter5 in March and started a skeleton for my novel. I have an idea of my characters and the world they live, and that's a lot more of a start than what I've had in ages.

2. Tell us about your top priority writing project for this year?

I have just one: I want to finish at least the first draft of the aforementioned novel. It's going to be hard since I'm starting grad school next month. However, I'm hoping that if I stay organised enough, I'll be able to manage it. 

3. List 5 areas you’d like to work the hardest to improve this year.

I only have three, though the first one is a huge problem when it comes to my writing. 

- I would like to set aside time regularly to write this original fiction and not only fanfiction, which has been my main writing outlet for a while now. 

- I also would like to work on my world-building. My descriptions of settings tend to be rather convoluted, I feel. Given my novel is going to take place in a futuristic environment, it's going to be important to be able to paint a picture or the readers.

- Lastly, I need to be less afraid of research. The story I'm thinking of is going to fall under science fiction, and I feel like I know nothing about the technology I'm about to use/invent as plot devices. The idea of having to dig into it has been rather intimidating, which might be why I've been putting off writing it for so long!

4. Are you participating in any writing challenges?

Well, I don't think I can cope with NaNo in any form. I've tried it twice and I ended up wanting to cry every time I opened a Word document. xD I don't really know any other writing challenge at the moment!

5. What’s your critique partner/beta reader situation like and do you have plans to expand this year?

I don't have a formal critique/beta situation, but I have a good friend who's also a writer. We've practically been writing together for years now, so I feel comfortable bouncing ideas back and forth with her. I don't have actual plans to expand, though if I do meet people whom I trust enough to share my writing with, that would be nice!

6. Do you have plans to read any writer-related books this year? Or are there specific books you want to read for research?

None that I can think of off the top of my head. I have a few writer-related books on my shelves, but I haven't read them in yeaaars. Really, I'm just hoping to read more books in general this year, and perhaps diversify my choices in terms of genre as well as actual diversity to broaden my literary horizons. 

7. Pick one character you want to get to know better, and how are you going to achieve this?

I have two main characters, and I need to understand their motivations better. With characters, I have found that the best way for me to understand them is to have a profile and then just write them a lot. So, I'm going to work on detailing their traits and histories, write an anecdote or two about their lives, then dive into the plot.

8. Do you plan to edit or query, and what’s your plan of attack?

I'm going to edit the draft I already have from my NaNo experience, but that's all the editing I plan on doing. I need to have a finished draft first before I start picking it apart; otherwise I'd never have a draft!

9. Toni Morrison once said, “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”  What are the books that you want to see more of, and what “holes” do you think need filling in the literary world?

I'd like to see more female friendships highlighted. I haven't read a lot of sci-fi or dystopian YA where the heroine has close girl friends; at least, the ones I have read seem to always have a loner leading lady with a love interest. Also, I'd like to see more sci-fi or fantasy stories set in my side of the world. It's not quite a hole in the market if you consider the local market, but it never hurts to have more diversity.

10. What do you hope to have achieved by the end of 2016?

All I want is to finish the first draft of this novel and not want to rip it to shreds. I have loved writing fanfictions and it's helped me grow in terms of writing characters, but I want to spend more time making my own sandbox, instead of playing in someone else's so much. That is all. 

Let's talk!

Do you have any writing goals or resolutions for 2016?

Review: Puppy Love by Frauke Scheunemann

Title: Puppy Love
Author: Frauke Scheunemann
Publisher: Corvus
Source: The Book Grocer
Synopsis: Hercules is a dachshund, who was rescued from the animal shelter by the sweet and loving Caroline. Life for this little dog would be perfect if it weren't for Caroline's new boyfriend, Thomas. Hercules and his new friend, Mr. Beck — a tomcat and a good judge of human nature — devise a shrewd plot to get rid of Thomas and to find a new companion for Caroline.

But when things don't work out with the men that make the dachshund’s short list — no matter how many romantic moonlight strolls he gets her to take with them — it comes down to just one man they both might agree on . . .

Review:

My sister was the one to pick this up in the bookshop. She loves daschunds, so that was the first selling point. I was also really curious about having the story told through a dog's point of view. I've only read such books twice before, and enjoyed both immensely. So I went into this book expecting cuteness and funny observations of human behaviours. While I wasn't entirely disappointed, I came away wishing there had been more to the story than fluff.

There was definitely cuteness. Hercules is adorable in his insistence to be something grander than what he seems from the outside, and I enjoyed his growth as a character. The romance is also fairly sweet, and not as predictable as I expected it to be!

Now here's my main problem with this. My parents have a beagle puppy that, at the time of my reading this book, is incredibly energetic and naughty. She chews through everything, jumps up on us, defiant of orders (I know she knows not to climb on things, and she does anyway), and other puppy behaviours. I could not reconcile that with Hercules, who is so smart he understands everything said to him. I know really smart dogs exist, but Hercules is too human-like. I feel that he belongs in a Disney animated movie or a children's book more than as a narrator of a romance.

Also, I didn't connect with any of the humans. Understandably, we see only what Hercules sees of them. Still, I think there could have been more nuances to the characters. I've seen it done in The Art of Racing in the Rain. As it stood, I never rooted for Caroline, which took away from my enjoyment of the book.

Overall, this is a good book for any dog-lover who's looking for a quick read, but don't expect anything more than fluff.

Let's talk!

Would you read a book narrated by an animal?

Book Talk: What Makes A Great Retelling?

image source: moonchild-ljilja @ DeviantArt

(I chatted with my dear friend, Corissa, while I was drafting this and drew inspiration from the points she brought up. She deserves half the credit for this post, so thanks Cor!)

I am a fan of retellings. If my love for The Lunar Chronicles hasn't betrayed this fact, then all you have to do is look at the line-up of Simon and Schuster's Once Upon A Time series on my shelf. More recently, I read The Book of  Lost Things by John Connolly (review here). My interest is not just limited to fairytales; I adore the television show Elementary, and A Study in Charlotte is one of the releases I'm most looking forward to next year.

It's hard to create a compelling retelling. While I'm drawn to the stories mentioned above and more by my familiarity and love for the original tales, what makes a retelling stand out for me is the element of surprise.

A Change in Perspective

There are two sides to every story, and through retellings we are getting the other point of view. More and more stories are being retold through the eyes of the villains. This kind of retelling is intriguing to me, because it turns the things we know about a story on their heads. Who's good? Who's evil? Are the villains really just people who made bad decisions? Retellings that can make me think about these questions often win my heart. Wicked by Gregory Maguire comes to mind, as well as Fairest by Marissa Meyer.

Not Only Skin Deep

Changing certain characteristic about a character is potentially a great way to do this. Most of the people I've talked to frown at the idea of an Asian-American Joan Watson of Elementary. I, on the other hand, love it.

A character's cultural roots and gender affect the way they look at the world, if only because the world looks at them differently first, and so the story they'll tell won't be the same. I can't think of a bookish example for this at the moment other than Winter, but let me know if you do!

Fill in the Details

Obviously, a retelling with the same exact story will be boring (and not a retelling at all). I love it when all the familiar elements should be there, but the bits in between are different. Snow White should be beautiful, with a problematic relationship with her stepmother and apples, but if we already have the story where she basically plays mother to seven dwarves. Take her time-travelling, cross-dressing, armed with a bow and arrows to lead a coup against her stepmother (*coughs* Once Upon A Time *coughs*) - go crazy. :D


Really, no matter what twists an author puts, the best kind of retellings make me stop looking for the similarities with the original story. I should get so absorbed in the new story and then get pleasantly surprised when a familiar element appears.

Let's talk! 

What do you think makes a great retelling? What do you think ruins one? 

Tell me about your favourite retelling!

Review: The Book of Lost Things

Title: The Book of Lost Things
Author: John Connolly
Publisher: Gramedia Pustaka Utama (Indonesian translation copy)
Source: I bought this years ago and then kind of lost interest, until recently.

Synopsis: High in his attic bedroom, twelve-year-old David mourns the death of his mother, with only the books on his shelf for company. But those books have begun to whisper to him in the darkness. Angry and alone, he takes refuge in his imagination and soon finds that reality and fantasy have begun to meld. While his family falls apart around him, David is violently propelled into a world that is a strange reflection of his own -- populated by heroes and monsters and ruled by a faded king who keeps his secrets in a mysterious book, The Book of Lost Things.

Taking readers on a vivid journey through the loss of innocence into adulthood and beyond, New York Times bestselling author John Connolly tells a dark and compelling tale that reminds us of the enduring power of stories in our lives.

Review:

"Once upon a time – for that is how all stories should begin – there was a boy who lost his mother.” 

It may be the influence Disney had on my childhood, but I generally don't gravitate toward dark fairytales. There are a lot of those in this book; in fact, I can't think of any mentioned that has a happy ending. Set in London at the time of World War and started with David's personal tragedy, the mood of the book never wavered far from bleak. This was the main reason I quit this book a couple of years ago: I was uncomfortable and wanted something happier.

Now that I'm older, I'm as fascinated as I am uncomfortable with this story. It's billed for adults who can still remember what it's like when your childhood is ending, and it doesn't sugarcoat that journey. Rather, it's a realistic take on growing up: it's going to be hard, you're going to suffer losses that you can't get back, but you can find courage and strength within you to keep moving forward and fight the monsters. I feel David embodies this message perfectly, and his self-discovery and growth is absolutely my favourite part about the book.

I enjoyed the world-building despite my preference for more sunshine. Connolly took elements of familiar fairytales, twisted them, and sewed them together to make a world. It felt a little patchwork-y at times, but I think this world is meant to be disjointed and broken given the evil that has been ruling there.

As mentioned above, this book is not for you if you don't like graphic violence. There are a lot of bloody and gory scenes, and some of its subplots can be downright disturbing. This is really the main reason I'm only giving it three stars. While I enjoy the storytelling aspects, this doesn't appeal to my personal tastes. If you like your fairytale retelling dark with a good helping of creepy, this may be the book for you.

Let's talk!

Do you like dark retelling of fairytales? What about happy or realistic endings?

December 2015 Rewind

(That picture above is totally not representative of my tropical December, but a girl can dream.)

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you have had a relaxing and joyful holiday, and do not dread going back to real life too much next week. I'm excited to settle back into my writing and reading routines, if nothing else, and I look forward to share more bookish things with you guys. :)

First, here's a look back on the happenings of last month:

Reviews

I failed and only wrote one review in December, which was basically me gushing about Winter by Marissa Meyer. I read several more books toward the end of the month though, and reviews for those shall be up soon :D

Around the Blog

• I made a bookstagram! I'm very much an amateur at it and there's no particular aesthetics to the pictures yet, but I'm enjoying it. Let me know if you have one and I shall check it out! You can also follow me at pavedwithbookss. 
• Recap the Blogger Positivity Campaign with me! 
• I filled in Jamie @ The Perpetual Page Turner's End of the Year Survey (and probably talked too much about my love for The Lunar Chronicles).
• I made some reading and blog resolutions for 2016. Feel free to share yours if you made some too!

In Life

• Apart from the holiday season, there is a very good reason why I have fallen pretty quiet around the blog lately. I interviewed for and was offered a place in graduate school for next year! There were a couple of difficult decisions and paperwork to deal with following that offer, as I would be moving internationally for the course, but of course there was also plenty of excitement on my end. :D 

Challenges Progress

Here is a look back at the challenges I joined in 2015. I apparently didn't fail too badly at most of them!

In Store for Next Month

January will be something of a transition phase for me as I wrap up things at work and prepare for going back to uni, so I may be a little scattered at times. However, I've got myself a planner and am hoping to develop and stick a schedule, so hopefully things should stay on track, including for this blog! Next month, you can expect:

• Review: The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
• Review: Puppy Love by Frauke Schenemann
• Discussion posts. I swear I will at least finally finish the draft that has been sitting in my folder for the last month.

How was your December?