The Art Of War by Sun Tzu || A Book Review

I read this a while ago and it was one of the books that are completely out of my comfort zone. When it comes to books I don't usually go for, I tend to pick the audiobook, as a great chance to get more familiar with audiobooks as a medium and with different and unfamiliar subjects as well. I listened to the audiobook in a few hours and the narrator was excellent, but I have to admit that I felt weird reading it, however, in the end, it was still an interesting experience.  

This book is a guide on war, but it could as well be called "The Art of Strategy". What is interesting about it, is that despite it being a guide on war, the advice given could easily be applied to multiple other occasions outside of war or battle. It manages to give simple and still coherent today advice on dealing with conflict, and complicated, messy situations.

Another interesting fact about it is that even though it was written in a particular era, most of the rules are still of use and can apply to the modern-day world and situations. In my opinion, this gives it a sense of timelessness. I can't tell if the other intended to give this timelessness to it, or if it just occurred, but it's definitely there.

The writing style wasn't great, as I felt it was repetitive and a bit tedious at times, but the book is not so much about the wiring itself, as it's for the concepts analyzed and these concepts are worth the read. The book is short but it could have been shorter and more concise, thus helping with the repetidness as well. 

Concluding, this is a simple and accessible book that's unique and memorable in its own way. It was an interesting experience reading it and I'm glad to have read it, and even though I recognize its value, I couldn't rate it more than 2* out of 5*. I didn't love it, but it was a good read and I believe that even if you feel hesitant, you should still give it a chance.

My 2024 Reading Goals

 

2023 was not my most productive reading year, but it was nevertheless quite enjoyable. The time has come now for me to set my reading goals for 2024 in hopes that I will this time make it. I will try my best to reach these small goals and even more to enjoy this reading year.

1. Read at least 20 books
   
   
2. Read at least 2 classics
   
   
3. Listen to at least 2 audiobooks
   
   
4. Read at least 2 non-fiction books
   
   
5. Read at least 2 Stephen King books
   
   
6. Keep reviewing the books I read

My goals are exactly the same as last year, so I don't have anything extra to say about them. The logic behind each one of them is the same as previous years and since last year I didn't make it, I don't feel like changing any of them. 

If anything, my goal is to be more consistent with my reading, writing and blogging in general and I really hope that I'll make it.

Please, feel free to share your goals down below. I'd love to read your answers.

"Farmer Giles Of Ham" by J. R. R. Tolkien || Book Review

This is a book I read back in the summer, but for a reason I cannot fathom I completely forgot to write a review about it. I only just realized this and decided to write a review now, on the last day of the year, even if it's been quite some time since I read it. So here's my last post of 2023 and my last book review of the year...

This was not my first contact with Tolkien's work. I have tried reading some of his books in the past and while admittedly he's a masterful author and his works deserve credit and admiration, there's no doubt about their worth, I still couldn't quite get into them. Sometimes I thought they were boring, or weird, or I simply couldn't "dive" into the story, so his books I'd tried so far, while amazing in their own right, simply were not my cup of tea.

So, when I picked up this book I was reluctant, to say the least. When I finally started reading, I quite liked it and it sucked me in quickly. I bought myself flipping the pages and only pausing when my son - whom I was reading it with - couldn't follow, and by the end, I was so unexpectedly and pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it!

"Farmer Giles of Ham" is something completely different compared to Tolkien's other works (the ones I'm familiar with, at least). It's a particularly unique and well-written novella. It's a fun little tale aimed at younger and older audiences alike, which stars knights, dragons, giants, and other magical creatures. Don't expect epic battles and endless action, but an enjoyable, entertaining, light-hearted adventure with a fairy tale atmosphere, as well as a subtle sense of humor.

Giles is far from your typical hero/protagonist and while he's brave, he's also smart and cunning. He has an interesting way of dealing with his problems. Instead of taking the predictable direction of immediate action and bloody fighting, he tries to use more careful and smart approaches that border between genius and hilarious. This in itself leaves the tale going in unexpected directions which, in my opinion, is the main clue that makes his character memorable and worth reading.

The story, while short, is still rich in content. It's fast-paced, reads very easily and the ending is satisfying, fun, and pays off. There's a unique atmosphere and worldbuilding, which I couldn't tell you if it's part of some wider Tolkien universe - I suspect it might be - because I don't know for sure but I can tell it stands very well on its own in this story.

My favorite character was Garm the dog who I found hilarious and I loved every scene he was in.

Long story short, I really enjoyed this book, and I rated it 4/5*. Out of the books I read in 2023, this was the one that positively surprised me the most and left me with unexpectedly good impressions. 

My 2023 Reading Wrap-Up || Or "How I completely failed the reading goals I set for myself"

As the title states, this post will be My Reading Wrap-Up for 2023. Unfortunately, though, this has not been a very good reading year for me, and while it was a great year in all other aspects of my life, I barely got any time to read. This has consequently resulted in me failing all of my reading goals 😂. Here's how it went...

• My reading goals for 2023:

1. Read at least 20 books ✘
   
   I only managed to read 12 books this year and I'm now halfway through the 13th, but I don't think I'll be able to finish it within the year. 
   
   
2. Read at least 2 classics ✘
   
   I read 1 classic book this year; "The Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens, which was a first-time read for my son and a very exciting re-read for me, since we read it together.
   
   
3. Listen to at least 2 audiobooks ✘
   
   I listened to 1 audiobook this year and it was "The Art of Always Being Right" by Arthur Schopenhauer.
   
   
4. Read at least 2 non-fiction books ✘
   
   Only one non-fiction book made it to my list this year and it's the same one I listened to as an audiobook.
   
   
5. Read at least 2 Stephen King books ✘
   
   Nope, not even one... 😂
   
   
6. Keep reviewing the books I read ✘
   
   Did I? I can't even remember, I think I may have written about 1 or 2 reviews this year...

So is there any point in me even making a post like this when I haven't made it with my goals? I do feel a pinch of guilt, especially since I was the one who set the goals for myself and I purposely set them so low so that they would be achievable. However, I still feel happy for the few books I read this year and I enjoyed some of them very much. Some of these books I expected I would enjoy, while some others were an unexpected pleasant surprise. I have concluded after the years that love of books and of stories is not necessarily measured in the number of books or pages you consume, but rather in what you get from reading. So, I'd say that there is always a point in doing a small review of your reading year however impressive or disappointing it might have been, and trying to motivate yourself to do even better - which is something I really hope to achieve next year.

So, how has your reading year been? Did you reach all of your goals or some of them? Which were your favorite books for 2023? Feel free to comment down below...

Spooky Would You Rather || Book Tag

 Hello, book-friends!

October is almost over and Halloween is just around the corner so I decided to do a fun book tag for this post. I found this tag over on The Sassy Book Geek's blog so you can go and check her out because she has some amazing content!

1. Thrillers or Supernaturals?
   I've read plenty of both and I love both so I'm having a bit of a hard time choosing, but I'll pick thrillers for this one...
   
   
2. Ghosts or Zombies?
   That was an easy one since I'm not really a zombie fan. Plus, ghosts can have many different interpretations and many different ways to be written and executed. It could be good ghosts, bad ghosts, ghosts you can see, ghosts you cannot see but only hear, ghosts from 1000 years back or ghosts from 50 years back, ghosts that can or cannot affect the protagonist's reality, ghosts that can or cannot be resurrected back to life and the list goes on... So, to conclude, I'll easily pick ghosts over zombies. 👻👻👻
   
   
3. Vampires or Werewolves?
   That one is a bit complicated since we've seen many different kinds of vampires and different kinds of werewolves, so I would say that it depends on the type of werewolf/vampire.
   
   
4. Witches or demons?
   I'm not very much into demons and demon stories and I really like witches, so witches any day.
   
   
5. Would you rather read a book with 13 chapters or a book with a black cat on the cover?
   I'm not superstitious in general and neither of these two bothers me, but I'll pick the black cat cover because I really like black cats!
   
   
   
   
   
6. Would you rather read a spooky book in the dark with only a candle for light or by yourself in a locked brightly lit room?
   I don't really mind the darkness and being locked in a room seems pretty scary by itself. And if I had to be reading something spooky in one of the two settings I'd easily pick an open room - even if it was dark - rather than a closed space, because then I could easily get out of the room 💃 to get fresh air and feel less scared, whereas if I couldn't escape it would feel even scarier.
   
   
7. Would you rather face your worst fears or be trapped in the mind of a killer?
   I mean... being a writer... I have to accept that being in the mind of a killer would be rather interesting... 😇 And it could probably give me ideas for a story or two... 😅 And it still doesn't feel remotely as scary as being trapped in a room with cockroaches (which is one of my biggest fears) so I'll pick the killer. Besides, it wouldn't even have to necessarily be a bad killer, it could be like an avenger type of killer, or maybe a killer that kills rapists and criminals, right? 😅😂 And I'd so dig this... 😂
   
   
8. Would you rather watch a scary movie or read a scary book?
   Either one is fine for me, I like them both.
   
   
9. Would you rather read spooky books during the fall time or all year?
   I would rather read them any time of the year I feel like it. I'm kind of a mood reader and I want to read whatever I feel like reading at a given time, not specific things at specific times...
   
   
10. Would you rather read 10 spooky books in October or 10 spooky books all year?
    I doubt I would have time to read as many as 10 books any given month. My time is limited in general and I'm a slow reader on top of this so I couldn't read 10 books of any genre in a month, so I'll say I'd like to read 10 spooky books spread throughout the year...

I really enjoyed this tag and I hope you enjoyed it as well. If you did, then feel free to tag yourselves and do it as well or comment your opinions down below... I'd love to read them all.

The Last 3 Childrens' books that I Read || Reviews

Hello book friends!

I'm back with some more reviews of children's books. This time I'm going to give you a brief review of the last three children's books that I read with my son, hoping to help you pick the next read for your kids. So, without further ado, here we go...

1.  "Stories From Around The World", by Heather Amery and Linda Edwards
   
   
   

   First, we have this big book that contains a collection of stories from many different parts of the world. More specifically, it shares 22 stories from the following locations: Australia, Persia, Greece, France, South America, New Zealand, Germany, Mexico, India, Scandinavia, Italy, Holland, Morocco, China, Chech Republic, Spain, Africa, Russia, Britain, North America, Japan, Cambodia. All the stories are unique in their own way, as they carry not only the myths and fairytales from various countries but also the essence of the cultures they came from, and part of their philosophy. The stories are interesting and they're painted in their own beautiful colors - literally and metaphorically. The stunning illustrations show beautifully the different origins of the stories and the variety of ideas and values that created them. Most of the stories contain a nice message at the end, and a moral conclusion, so they are educational as well as entertaining. This is a good, solid contribution to literature that develops cultural awareness. My son loved it and we both gave this book 5/5*.

   
   
   
2. "Newton and Curie": The Science Squirrels", by Daniel Kirk
   
   
   

   Newton and his little sister, Curie are two adorable little squirrels that explore the world and learn new things about it. In this book, science is given in a simple way that is easy and enjoyable for kids to understand. The two squirrels are named - as you may have guessed - after scientists Sir Isaac Newton and Marie Curie. While I loved the premise and the idea behind the book, I wasn't too excited about how the two siblings were portrayed. While Newton (the older brother) is curious and actually interested in science and the mechanics behind it, Curie - his little sister - doesn't seem to care much about most of it, and instead, seems to only be interested in playing games and having fun. Not only is she not interested in much of it and doesn't get to do much as her older brother does, thus failing to live up to her namesake, but she also repeatedly dismisses her brother's interest in those things. I can't tell if she was portrayed like that because she is the little one, or because she's the girl. In any case, and even if it was done entirely unintentionally, I didn't like it, because not only it doesn't respond to the truth either way, but it also helps perpetuate wrong and harmful stereotypes. This was the main reason I could give this book the highest rating was 3/5*.
   
   
   
3. 
   "The Story of Space: A First Book About Our Universe": Catherine Barr, Steve Williams, Amy Husband
   
   
   This book was given to my son as a gift and I was excited for it from the moment I saw it. It talks about the universe and the creation of the earth and planets in a beautiful and simple way. The illustrations are stunning, I loved looking at the images and my son loved them as well. This book was both educational and entertaining and it's a book I'd definitely recommend and pick as a gift for young kids to help stir their interest and love for science. My son loved it and his rating was 5/5*. On the other hand, I thought it was more like a 4/5*.

Overall, my son and I both really enjoyed all three of these books, and we want to recommend them all to anyone else who might be interested. We would love to hear your opinions of these books if you have read any of them as well as your own book recommendations.

Until the next time,

Keep reading...

"Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" by Stephen King - Book Review

 

“It always comes down to just two choices. Get busy living, or get busy dying.”

Hello book friends,

So... 2023 started with a book I've been meaning to read for a long time. I have wanted to read this book ever since I first saw the movie adaptation and absolutely loved it.

The movie itself succeeds on many levels; the acting is on point, the directing is fitting, and, most importantly, the storytelling is flawless. This is the reason this story always has always stuck out to me and still ranks amongst my favorites of all time and which is also the reason that led me to want to read the book so much.

It was a short and easy read. It's written simply but not simplistic or shallow in any way. It reads very enjoyably and it has all the suspense and depth in storytelling and character development that this genre needs. The narration (from Red's POV) is vivid and believable, and, the way it's written, makes you feel like you can really hear his voice and get into his head.

This book is a simple and eloquent depiction of endless hope, friendship, and redemption. It is a story about the durability of the human spirit. A story about managing to maintain dignity and humanity even through the toughest of circumstances... A story about patience and endurance... A story about justice and how it's found or, on the other hand, often lost.

Andy is an amazing character overall, and one of my favorite characters in fiction generally. But in this story Andy is not just a character, no, it goes way beyond that. Andy is a symbol. He is a symbol of hope, dignity, and freedom for Red - and probably the other prisoners as well - but he can also become a symbol of hope for the readers as well. A symbol of hope for life in general and how to go through hardships unbroken and... clean... even if you had to get through some stinky situations. Andy's character is so pivotal, that even though this is Red's narration of his own life, it's all about (or mostly about) Andy. 

The characters in the book are physically described differently than what the actors look in the movie, and I don't really mind this change, because both depictions are good and bring something different to the story. Each character's voice however is very accurate to the source material and that was very satisfying. The actors did a great job portraying their respective characters and transferred their voices and distinct characteristics very well to the screen, so much so, that while reading I could hear the actors' voices reciting the words. 

The book leaves the ending more uncertain and open, while the movie gives us a glimpse of the future, which is actually something that I loved about the movie and preferred to the book. I find the movie ending to be more fitting to the story as it gives a sense of optimism and hope.

This is an absolutely beautiful story that I would recommend to anyone as it has so much to offer not only in terms of enjoyment but also in terms of themes, meaning, and messages. This is the significance and beauty of a timeless work. Few stories are so memorable and at the same time so well-crafted. A very well-deserved 5/5* rating! 

Thanks for reading!