Book Review: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz *Contains Spoilers*

We're off to see the wizard! The wonderful wizard of Oz!


That's right, this is my review for L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.


Now some of you might be wondering why I am reviewing such a classic tale. Well, to be honest, this is my first time reading the original novel. I grew up watching the 1939 Judy Garland film and it is still one of my favorite movies, but now that I have read the original story, it amazed me how different the book is compared to the movie. Perhaps this will also give me an insight look as to what to  expect from Gregory Maguire's Wicked series. By reading other reviews, Maguire actually respected the book and the film adaption's twists. We all know that Hollywood usually exaggerates stories and adds in a couple of different changes, but wow, there are quite a bit. Like did you know that the Wicked Witch of the West was not the main villain and is only in about two chapters? In addition, she was a Cyclops! Did you know that Glinda isn't even mentioned until close to the end? The Wizard can take on many forms, the Winkies have their own land and are enslaved by the Wicked Witch of the West, the flying monkeys are not the Wicked Witch of the West's henchmen, there is a golden cap that summons the flying monkeys, there is apparently a good witch of the North and many, many more. New beasts are introduced and new journeys lie ahead just for Dorothy to return home to Kansas.


I would definitely recommend this book to children and adults because The Wizard of Oz is a timeless sensation that will forever be a part of our lives. If you haven't read the novel or seen the movie, come out from under that rock and follow the yellow brick road to the Emerald City!


Until next time!


- D

Book Review: The Paris Wife

*high pitched voice* Hello!!!


This post is my review on The Paris Wife by Paula Mclain.


Set in the 1920s, The Paris wife tells the story of Hadley Richardson, first wife of Ernest Hemingway. Hadley is a 28-year-old who mostly given up on love and happiness until she meets Ernest in Chicago. After a whirlwind of courtship and falling madly in love, the two marry then set sail for Paris where Ernest is set to make it big. As Ernest struggles to find his voice, Hadley realizes that she is not ready for the hard-drinking, fast-living and free-loving life of Jazz Age Paris. Add in a baby and a love affair, and all chaos ensues. The Paris Wife is a heartbreaking portrayal of love and torn loyalty.


Even though this book is considered to be historical fiction, Paula mentioned in her note on sources that it was important for her to render the particulars of their lives as accurately as possible, and to follow the very well documented historical record. So basically, we are actually reading a live action account of what went down between Hadley and Ernest with some minor revisions. I have always been a fan of historical fiction, and it was interesting to read about one of America's most influential writers. There are some slow spots within the story, but it picks back up fairly quickly, especially within the moments where Hadley is finding out that Ernest is cheating on her. I'm all about the drama :P However, I felt like Hadley really didn't fight for Ernest, at least not as much as she could have. Yes she was definitely better off without him in the end, but if you are really in love with someone, I would have thought she would have fought a lot harder.  Some reviewers have even considered her to be a pushover and her character made the book uninteresting. All in all, it was interesting to learn about the history of Ernest and Hadley.


Well that's all I really have to say about The Paris Wife. I will be posting a video review on our YouTube channel tomorrow.


Until next time!

- D

Book Review: Maus 1&2

Hey guys!

This post is going to be over Maus 1&2 by Art Spiegelman.

These books are graphic novels told from an interview that Art had with his father, Valadek. Art wanted to know more about his fathers time in the war and what it was like being a Jew and surviving. The stories are illustrated by using animals instead of people. The Jews are portrayed by Mice, Nazi's are portrayed by cats and everyone else are portrayed by pigs. Why pigs, I have no idea. The story goes back and forth from Valadek telling the story to 'present day' where Art is interviewing his father. This story isn't just about the war and a survivors tale, it is also about the importance of family.

Overall I thought this was a decent book. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. Personally, I'm not a big history buff. I don't really enjoy reading about history but I thought I'd give these a chance since they are portrayed in such an unique way an they are graphic novels. Had they not been in graphic novel format I probably would not have continued reading them.

That being said I feel like anyone that has any interest in history and war and reading about survivors and what their life was like during that time would love these books. As I said I liked them well enough and I'm glad I have read them but I am also glad I got them from the library instead of buying them.

That's really all I have to say about these books. As always you can find us on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and now Facebook, links at the bottom of the blog home page, come chat with us!! :)

Until next time,

-G

Book Review: Gone Girl *Contains Spoilers*

Hey guys!

So this is my more in-depth review of Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. I didn't want to spill too many spoilers in the video.

So as I said in the video, I have this bad habit of seeing a movie before reading the book. I had every intention to read Gone Girl before the film came to theatres, but that sooooo didn't happen. However, I do not let movies persuade my opinion. I still wanted to read the book and I was determined to get through it. And let me tell you, I was hooked from the first page!

Gone Girl is the story of a married couple, Nick and Amy, who live in a small Missouri town. It's their fifth wedding anniversary and upon returning home, Nick discovers that Amy is missing. After an intense police investigation, all clues determine that Amy was murdered and all eyes are looking at Nick which turns his world upside down. Did Nick really murder his wife? Yes, they have an unhealthy marriage, but would Nick go that far? I was told that there was going to be a huge plot twist that we wouldn't see coming, and surprise, surprise! Amy is actually alive. She had this whole plan to frame Nick for her murder. Gone Girl is read from the point of view of both Nick and Amy, and the first half of Amy's story are all diary entries. Turns out the diary was all part of diabolical and sinister plan. In the end, she returns home and basically has full control over Nick as to where he cannot leave her. You'll have to read the book to understand.

Now, if I was Nick, I would have killed Amy right then and there. Prison seems like paradise compared to what he goes through. Amy is a twisted and vengeful character which makes this book the perfect psychological thriller. I love that the story is broken up between Nick and Amy where we really receive and inside glimpse of what's going through their minds.

Gone Girl was published in 2012 and is Gillian Flynn's third book. However, it is the most popular due to high critical praise and the film starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike. I never heard of this book until Gina told me about it. I thought it sounded good, so why not? I did not know that it would be an emotional roller coaster. You're all like "Wow, Nick is a real jerk!" to "OMG are you kidding me?!"  The plot was really thought out and we definitely see how every characters evolves.

My only problem is I wish the ending was different. There are so many unanswered questions - although again, you'll have the read the book to find out what those are ;)

So, if you have nothing going on in your life at the moment and wish to pick up a gripping and enthralling book, I definitely recommend Gone Girl. You will not be disappointed.

In the meantime, don't forget to follow us on Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, etc.

Ciao for now!

D

Gotta Love Used Book Stores

Okay guys!! Some exciting stuff just happened!!

So we have this little independent used book store here in town that I like to visit on occasion, see what they have. Lately I've been trying to find the first five books in the Anita Blake series since I lent them out and never got them back. I didn't want to pay full price for them again so I've been patiently waiting to find them for cheap. 

Throughout the years I have found 3 of the 5 needed. Today, not only did I find the last two I found the last two along with two others in the series in ORIGINAL FIRST EDITION covers!!!! I was so excited I HAD to buy all four! 

Now that alone wasn't worthy of an entire blog post. When I got home I decided to look in the book to try and figure out if they were original US covers or if maybe they were England covers (they are US covers btw). To my surprise when I was flipping through the first few pages was that ALL four of them were SIGNED copies!!! :D They are personalized, but I don't mind. The fact that they are signed by Laurell K. Hamilton and dated for 11/22/97 and that they ARE original covers is freaking amazing!! (Note I almost used the term amazeballs here....) 

That's all I have for now! Time to go put my new books on my Anita shelf! ^.^ 

Until next time,

G 

P.S. After putting them on my shelf I notice that I now have the firs EIGHT (with the exception of the third book, Circus of the Damned) in Original US covers!! I'm now on a mission to find Circus of the Damned in it's original cover.

P.P.S Went back to the book store to see if I by chance looked over Circus of the Damned, I did!!! I now have all original US covers on my Anita books! And Circus of the damned is signed, also found a signed Blue Moon! :)

The four I got today ^.^                                       

 The three I already had (Bloody Bones I got from a friend a few years ago the other two I've found at various used book stores)

 And the 7 I have Original covers for (not including all of the newer books that I are for sure original covers since I bought them when they first came out. :P )

Book Review: Yes Please by Amy Poehler

Hey Guys!!

This review is going to be over Amy Poehler's book Yes Please. First thing I want to mention about this book is the cover. Its shiny and bright and very appealing to the eyes. (Picture will be posted at the end of this review) The back of the cover is a note from Amy about if you buy this book you have these duties, it goes on about how you will read the book and where you can and should read it and how you should talk about it. The writing goes all the way to the bottom and the font keeps getting smaller and smaller. If took me a while to read the last few lines but I eventually made them out. 

The back is probably the main reason I bought this book on site, I didn’t even open the cover to read the synopsis. Another cool thing about the cover is when you open it up you see all these thumbnails of various different shots from the cover shoot. It’s pretty  cool and I suggest you guys check it out. 

The last bit about the cover is the actual cover of the book. I like taking the dust jacket off books and seeing how the book actually looks. This book is very sleek and white and simply has Yes Please engraved in bright blue lettering, but the cool thing about it is the back. It says Thank you. I thought that was really cute and clever and it goes well with the title of the book. (Maybe I'll go take a picture for Instagram ;).)

As for the book itself I loved it! I am very interested in reading biography style books by celebrities that I admire and whose careers I follow. While I don’t follow all of Amy’s work I know who  she is and I appreciate her comedy.

In the book she is very open about the fact that writing a book is hard and she almost quit on multiple occasions. Overall in her book she talks about her experiences and all the events that led her to where she is now. She goes into stories about her childhood and college. A big part of this book is centered around her improv career in Boston, Chicago, and New York. The book is sections off into three sections and has a lot of pictures to help the reader have a sense of who she is as a person. I loved the pictures and thought they really added to the book.

The one down side I had about this book is that some of the stories didn't seem to have enough info in them. Granted she has a lot of stories so just doing a few sentences per person she wanted to talk about was beneficial for her. 

Overall I really enjoyed reading this and would definitely recommend it to anyone that likes learning more about celebrities from their POV, especially people who are a fan of Amy Poehler.

That's it for now, 

Until next time you can find us on Twitter, Instagram (linked above) and Goodreads (Gina) / Goodreads (Denny)

If you've read Yes Please, I'd love to hear your input! Comment and let me know what you thought!

-- G 

YOUTUBE!!!

Today is the day!! :D

We JUST launched our YouTube (BookTube) channel! I'm so exited for this and can't wait to see what happens! Be sure to check it out and subscribe!

CLICK IT!!! :D


Have a great night guys!

G