Reviewing the last 4 children's books that I read

 Hello friends!

So, being a mom of a 5-year-old boy I read quite a few children's books, so I decided to talk about a couple of the latest ones we read and really enjoyed.

1. 
   "The Gruffalo's Child", by Julia Donaldson, Axel Scheffler (Illustrator):                I understand that this book is part of a series, but I haven't read any of the other books in the series, so I can only talk about this one for now. Father Gruffalo warns his child about the big, scary mouse, but baby Gruffalo still goes searching for it. Is the mouse really that big, bad, and scary, though? This is a fun story about the cute, little adventure of Gruffalo's child. The story is simple and fun, the rhyming patterns are nice and easy to follow, the illustrations are very cute and unique and my son couldn't stop talking about it, so it was a 4* rating for me! I would like to try the other ones in the series as well.

"Avatar The Last Airbender: Team Avatar Tales" || A mini book review

Hello book friends!

I'm continuing with the ATLA comic books and today I'm here with a short review of "Team Avatar Tales". If you want to know what I thought of the previous comic book in the series ("The Rift"), you can check my full review here.

This is a collection of mini team Avatar stories that occur after the events of the show and in between the other "main" comic books. Some of the stories are just pure fun and enjoyment and some others carry a bit of a theme or a moral message in them. This is one of the weaker comic books in the avatar universe. It was fun and entertaining, but surely not as good as the others. I rated it 3*, because I didn't love it as much as the others, but it was still fun.

The strongest stories were "Rebound" (Mai's story) which, as I understand, also becomes pretty relevant later on in the story (what with Kei Lo's appearance and Mai standing up to her father and taking her little brother away), and "Sisters" (Ty Lee's story) which seems to play an important role in her character development and her overall arc. The funniest one was probably "Toph and the Boulder". "Origami" was sweet and nostalgic. "Shells" was classic kickass Suki being cool and empowering! The rest of the stories were not as good, but still okay.

The illustrations in this one do not follow the familiar pattern that most of the other main comic books use, instead, it follows the "Lost adventures style" of having many new and different styles of illustrations between stories. I didn't love all of the illustrations equally, some were better than others, but it is always fun and refreshing to see the new styles and have a bit of variety. 

It was a nice, fun read, but nothing great and with the exception of Mai's and Ty Lee's story you wouldn't really miss much if you skipped it and just went on with the rest of the comic books. The only two stories that add anything to the overall plot and characters are "Rebound" and "Sisters" and the others aren't necessary to the overall universe. You could go on reading the rest of the comic books and skip this one without really missing much, but if you want to see more of the characters you love and you don't mind, you could still enjoy it. 

Thank you for reading!

Are there good and bad books? || Book-shaming || A Book talk

 

Hello everyone,

I'm back with a discussion topic that is as old as time, yet new for this blog. 

Reading is one of the most beneficial activities that an individual can pick. It's one of the activities that always has something to offer more than just pure entertainment, whether that is learning fresh vocabulary and new/different ways to express yourself, learning facts and skills, acquiring knowledge, or developing new ideas and views for the world, gaining empathy, understanding for others and perspective in life! The reading experience is enriching and becomes even more so the more you exercise it.

Naturally, the argument that would follow would be that not all books can offer you the same and that some books may be beneficial as if you've not read anything at all. Or that certain types of books don't really count because they are too short, too childish, too funny or you haven't physically read them, so they're not as much of an experience. This could not be further from the truth! The truth is that reading all kinds of books in whichever way or form they may be, is still consuming books, you still invest your time and attention, you still take in all its contents, you still have the ability to understand and process it in your mind, you can still think about it, overanalyze it, talk about it with others, and make it the center of conversations, you have still taken everything in. And the truth is that fully and successfully consuming whichever book in whichever form can very rarely be not beneficial, not informative, not enlightening, not entertaining, and not helpful in any way.

There is much prejudice when it comes to reading choices. Some genres are considered to be inherently lesser than others, and it has recently come to my attention that this bias extends to not just genres, but also forms of books (e-Books, audiobooks, etc.). If you've been a reader for a while then you are no stranger to ideas like: "only classics are serious books", "listening to audiobooks doesn't count as reading", "comic books are stupid and have nothing to offer", "non-fiction books are boring", etc. We all like to lie to ourselves about such prejudice and pretend that we are above it, that we do not care, and that we are free spirits. But the truth is that at one point or the other anyone might be guilty of it whether willingly or not and most readers have at some point been subjected to it. We're surrounded by it so it's not always easy to avoid it.

Reading tastes and preferences are strictly personal and they shouldn't be criticized and/or laughed at. Yet, we continue to see that reading preferences are often not only criticized, compared (with other, theoretically better choices), and looked down upon, but are also being immediately associated with the reader. In many people's minds, the types of books someone chooses to read define their personality and character. Please, don't get me wrong it is true that what we choose to read does correlate to some extent to our lives, personalities, interests, and experiences and we certainly do tend to pick things that we can relate to. But, this is definitely not a one-way road, and to take it to the extreme where every single book you may pick is immediately connected do your whole identity is irrelevant and absurd. 

For one thing, human beings are not one-sided, they are not defined by one single quality or trait. Nor are all people the same, fitting into defined little boxes. Human beings are multi-dimensional, they have many sides, various depths, and layers and they are usually more complex than what could be narrowed down to a few words or a couple of choices. Sure, this one book may be saying something about you, maybe you relate to this theme or character, but that cannot possibly be all you really are. We are more than just our favorite color, piece of clothing, food, more than just smart, or just athletic, or just sensitive, more than just our appearance and sexuality. All these are just some of our traits and the total of them that we carry comprises our identity. They are just small individual parts of a large and complex puzzle and just like a puzzle could not be comprised by one single piece, humans cannot possibly be just what you assume with a single glance.

For another, nobody is obligated to like and enjoy only one thing! Just because you love dark chocolate doesn't mean you won't occasionally enjoy white, just because you love action movies doesn't mean you won't occasionally enjoy a good romance and, similarly, because you love this genre of book doesn't mean you won't enjoy or want to explore other genres, authors and styles! As a matter of fact, I find it that if you are a big lover of a particular hobby, it will be nearly impossible for you to limit your choices down to only a couple of variables. We are free to enjoy many different genres and styles of works and we can definitely choose to have them in different phases of our lives, in order to express different aspects of our characters. I can't imagine how boring it would be if someone had to decide to follow one single thing (book, movie, food, style of clothing, etc) for your entire life and exclude all other different options. 

Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and if you want to think that one work is lesser than the other for whatever random reason then it's fine, you do you. But nobody has the right to shame, criticize or berate others, or make quick assumptions about them based off of this! Because everyone has just as much of a right to enjoy whatever they like and whatever are they want in whichever way they prefer just as much you have a right to your opinion. All people have the right to enjoy what they like better freely without being bothered. Nobody should be discouraged to read whatever they like because nobody should be discouraged from such a nice hobby, such an interesting pastime, and such an active, engaging, and enlightening activity as this of reading. On the contrary, people should be encouraged to enjoy whatever book they want without being ashamed of their choices. Readers should always feel that the reading community is a safe space and they are always welcome to it no matter what. Because even if there were such a thing as good and bad reading choices, discouraging someone from reading in general, will only lead them away from it. But if you encourage them to keep reading, they will definitely find their way back to it and they may even eventually find their way to want you to consider to be better and even if this does not happen they will surely find what's better for them.

And besides, criticizing somebody else's choices and tastes never made anyone better at anything or superior to others, quite the contrary, it shows that you are below. However, being unashamed and keeping doing what you love and specifically reading can only make you better more interesting, and raise you up to higher standards every day. Bottom line; do whatever makes you happy and don't care about what anyone else says and try not to make others feel bad for their own preferences. And while there are books that have stronger story, prose, or character than others I don't think there are universally good or bad books, only books that are good for specific readers and not so good for others. Even if there was such a concept I don't think I'd want to view the matter like this, I think I'd much rather go with the concept that there's the right book for each person. And when you find it, you will inevitably fall in love with reading!

I would love to read your opinions and experiences on this matter, so feel free to share! In the meantime, thank you for reading for one more time! 

"Blood Wedding" by Federico Garcia Lorca || Book Review

I don't usually read plays and, to be honest, I kind of avoided them for quite some time thinking that they wouldn't be my thing. This was one of the first plays I've read in general and definitely the first one I read of my own free will, and not because I had to do read it for some lesson. I'm not yet convinced whether it is something I love or not, but now I'm a lot more willing to step out of my comfort zone and give plays a try in the future. I read this a couple of years back and I thought it was fine, though not outstanding, so I never bothered writing a review about it, but recently it has been popping up in my head and this is what prompted me to write this post.

The selection of this book was completely random, it just fell in my hand at a moment when I really needed something to read and had nothing else around. I had heard of it, and it did intrigue me, but I knew nothing else about it so I went in with no expectations but with a lot of curiosity about what was coming.

It was a very fast and easy read - I read it in two sittings - mainly because it is a play and it goes by really fast, but the pacing and the rhythm of the story are excellent as well, they work and they compliment the story, since, on the one hand, the subject is quite heavy, but the plot quite simple and straight forward. So, it couldn't have been any longer and it shouldn't feel any longer either.

The first time I read it, it felt like something was missing and maybe that was just me, or maybe it's because of the form since plays are meant to be played and seen, not merely read. But I recently found myself remembering it and thinking about it. I was suddenly filled with an urge to re-read some parts of it and so I went on and read some parts that I remembered to have enjoyed. I realized that reading these small parts for the second time felt like an entirely different experience. This time around I could hear the voices distinctly, I could see the story unfolding before my eyes, almost as if actually "seeing" it, so I think that this time around I got it right.

The story itself is very intense and tragic, it tackles the conflict of love and duty, the tragedy of unfulfilled love and expectations, and the tragedy of death in the name of love and passion. Lorca uses very strong imagery that is not just about the visual enjoyment, but also very strongly symbolic, relevant, and enhancing to the theme he tries to convey each time. His writing is generally very poetic, rich in symbolism and metaphors but without it getting too heavy to read. On the contrary, even though it is a work that belongs to a different time, it reads as easily as if it was modern. It's a strange combination, but it works.

The female characters were my favorite ones, especially the mother, I just loved her lines (even though my single favorite line belongs to Leonardo*). Most of the characters don't even have a name and I have to admit this was strange for me, but again, it works. We don't really know them, but we know them. We get to know only what is important and we need to know and nothing more and there's nothing missing from them. They too symbolize something...

Overall, it was a nice first try at reading plays for me and it made me eager to try and read some more. I really liked it, but it didn't blow my mind, so I rated it with 3*.

Thanks for reading!

*"To keep quiet and burn is the greatest punishment we can heap upon ourselves. What use was pride to me and not seeing you and leaving you awake night after night? No use! It only brought the fire down on top of me! You think that time heals and walls conceal, and it’s not true, not true! When the roots of things go deep, no one can pull them up!"*

"Avatar The Last Airbender - The Rift" || Comic Book Review

Hello friends,

so if you've read my blog even once before it should come as no surprise that I'm a big ATLA fan and since I'm currently reading the comics and exploring the whole world, it seems like I have to share my thoughts and opinions about them with you! If you'd like to see what I thought about the previous story in the series ("The Search") you can check out my full review here. 

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Today we're talking about the next addition to the series, "The Rift"! Comparing "The rift" to "The search" and "The promise", it is not nearly as powerful and capturing. It is a nice story overall but not as good as the previous ones. Neither the premise nor the writing lives up to you the high expectations set by the previous two comic books in the series. Still, it is a nice read a very okay addition to the whole, and helps you pass your time very pleasantly.

My first thought about this trilogy is that the first book really cannot stand up to the other two as it was very slow and boring. Books two and three were more interesting and engaging. Book 2 starts to pick up slowly and the tension builds very slowly at first and then gradually faster and by the third book it rises skyward really fast and becomes interesting. A few spirits, quite a bit of action, great character dynamics and development, nice themes and messages sprinkled into them and yes Books 2 and 3 really remind the ATLA we know and love. Book three was my favorite of the three and book two was a good connection between the 1st and 3rd books. 

One of the elements I liked was the connection between Toph and Satoru; it was so cute and sweet and I think they are nice for each other. They really seem to have something going on there and I would be interested to see a bit more of it in the future they really seem to have some connection and chemistry and they seem nice for each other.

I really missed uncle Iroh and I was really happy to see him again after all this time! He was funny and his character was a fun addition.

There is one thing I really dislike about the comic books in general even the previous ones which I really loved and this is the portrayal of Sokka. They've really done our boy dirty, making him just a comic relief when we know he is more than that! He is intelligent, creative and resourceful! You don't really get to see anything of him anymore in the comics and it's irritating.

I liked the conflict between Toph and Aang and the philosophical dilemma it showed of tradition versus fresh ideas, past versus future, preserving versus creating. ATLA has a unique way of handling various serious subjects and making them a part of the world convincingly as well as passing numerous messages. And I love how the solution always lies in the balance one way or the other which after all is what the Avatar is all about.

To sum it up, "The Rift" was a nice and I had fun reading it, but I wasn't thrilled with it. I rated the 1st part 3* as it was the weakest of the three. Parts 2 and 3 I rated 4*, but none of them quite reached the 5* in my opinion. Nevertheless, very nice and enjoyable.

Thank you for reading once more! 

How to get out of a reading slump || My tips

A reading slump is one of us bookworms' worst nightmares. Suddenly, you cannot read more than a couple of pages without getting tired, bored, or distracted. Up until recently, you could devour a whole book in one sitting and now you're struggling to get through 1 book in a year. I have been there and I have been through the struggle and I know how horrible it is and how much you hate it. I was in a reading slump that lasted about 2 years. In these two years, I must have read only a handful of books and even those with difficulty. I finally managed to get out of this slump 3 years ago and to get back on my reading track, with fewer books at first and more as time passes. Not only did I get back closer to my original reading rhythm - though not to its fullest, I'm not at my zenith, but at a very good point nevertheless - but the enjoyment also came back to me. My love for books never quite left, but I did lose some of the interest and enjoyment for the procedure, but since I got back to it, I have been enjoying it more every single day, maybe even more than before! So, my friends, I'm here to share with you my small tips to help you get out of this unpleasant situation you're facing... Let's go!

• Make reading a habit. Try to read a little bit every day even if it's just a couple of pages it's still good and you're still making progress! This is my number one tip because it has helped me a great deal a few times. I start by requiring myself to read 2 pages every day. It is a small and easy task and it doesn't feel like a stressful burden and soon I find myself reading 3-4 pages without realizing and soon even more.
• Try different places and ways to read. Go to your bedroom or to the sitting room, maybe you can try reading outside at a park or a Cafe. You can try reading with music while drinking a beverage or maybe you can read while on the bus or a train to try to make your usual daily trips to work or uni less boring. The options are endless! Try something new and shake things up from what you usually do.
• Try different kinds of books to get you out of your comfort zone or on the other hand you can reread one of the books that made you fall in love with reading in the first place! Either of the two could rekindle your love for reading depending on your preference and mood.
• Try to set daily or weekly goals for yourself and see if it works for you. Tracking your progress however small could encourage you to get back on track. I find that once I've made some progress and see it written down into numbers, this makes me feel proud of myself and keeps me going.
• On the other hand, if you have been setting reading goals in the past but now you find yourself stuck, you should probably refrain from it for a while and just read without stressing yourself out about your count.  So, maybe you don't work well under pressure, maybe constantly setting goals stresses you out and is counterproductive. Reading is a wonderful pastime and more than anything else it's supposed to be fun, so relax and just enjoy it, without stressing too much about goals and word counts. (I've been in both places in the past and I found that both of these tips worked depending on my overall mood and situation in life.)
• Try to find people to talk about books! It could be your friends, it could be a book club, it could be people from social media, whatever it is give it a try see if it works!
• Finally, if nothing else seems to help, just take a break from it, do other things that you like. Just enjoy yourself and don't feel guilty for not reading! There's nothing wrong with getting a break and enjoying other activities as well. When your brain will have had its rest, I believe it will just automatically want to get back and do some reading again.

Whatever you do in the end, and however you decide to tackle this situation, it's up to you and you don't need to get frustrated. If you have any other ideas to add, new tips to suggest, feel free to comment below, I would love to read your own opinions and experiences!

Thank you for reading! Until the next time!

"Brida" by Paolo Coelho || Book Review

Going into this book I suspected I probably wouldn't like it, since it's not my usual type of book, but I still read it. Finally it's over! Now, why did I keep reading even though I disliked it from the first paragraphs? I honestly have no idea, maybe it's because I wanted to torture myself, maybe I felt guilty of DNFing a book, whatever it was I just felt I had to go through with it once I started.

And the conclusion is... I didn't like it! It gave me a hard time, I didn't enjoy it and I had to speed-read it at multiple occasions, because I desperately needed it to be over. It was mind-numbingly boring, repetitive, predictable and generally disappointing. But thankfully it's finally over and I can move on... Before I move on however, here are some of my thoughts on it...

First of all, the book is too big for its story! It needed far fewer pages to make sense, about half of it was generic and pointless rumbling that should have been cut out and leave the actual important parts do their work.

This book is the proof that a collection of beautiful and meaningful quotes - which is the only nice thing I thought this book had and that I actually enjoyed - are not enough to make a book good. The meaning of any book cannot get through to the reader simply by inspirational quotes, the story and characters have to carry it forward as well. I understand that this is not supposed to be your typical novel, but it still needs some basic elements of storytelling to work. 

Moving on, what was all this rumbling about God, why all the prayers, all the talking about Adam and Eve and what on earth where they doing in a story about witches, rituals, magical visions, reincarnation and pagan rituals??? Do they believe in a deity and which one? Does it have anything to do with their "Gifts"? Is this supposed to be the writer's attempt to say that there is only one universal higher power for everyone despite how each culture interprets it depending on their civilization and traditions? Maybe.... I cannot really tell... It tries to discuss certain philosophical matters, but I don't think it does it successfully. On the contrary, it kind of leaves you with several wtf's hanging over you...

I found myself wondering would this book even be published if it wasn't Coelho's? I doubt it. It's weak and pointless. I feel I didn't gain anything out of it and I wouldn't have missed anything if I had never read it. If anything I felt relief to finally be over with it. For all the reasons I mentioned I cannot give this book more than 1* and if I want to be honest even that feels a bit much - I would give it half a star if that was possible. 

Thanks for reading!