So I've been gone from this blog for about a month; the first week was spent packing for my trip back home to Malaysia, the next two weeks were spent in Germany (if anyone is thinking of travelling to Europe, please go there! Especially to the Southern parts, the scenery is incredible) and the last week was spent reading and remembering what it's like to imagine whole new book-worlds (an experience I've not had in a prettty long time unfortunately).
So yes, I've not made much actual headway into any of my WIPs in the past month. However, this past month has reconnected me to the spirit of good story-telling; the highlight of my Germany trip was this one point in time where I was sitting in the coach and staring at Neuschwanstein Castle (go Google it!) through the windows, deep in thought.
I remembered thinking: Wow, so this is what a real castle looks like. If I were a princess, would I both love and hate this place? Love it because it's so beautiful but hate it because it'd be so confining and I wanted to see the real world out there? If I were a servant and hated this place, could I ever run away? That forest surrounding the castle looks prettty darn thick, the mountain looks darn steep, and it must be a good hour away by foot to travel from the castle to the village on the valley below...
... And what I would think next would never be known because I was yelled at to "get off the bus! We're going to climb to the castle now!" -.-
Reading has done its bit as well; it's made me remember what makes a good story and what doesn't. Incidentally, if anyone wants book recommendations, I have two! Both read during the past week and both listed on my Goodreads account :)
The Shakespeare Curse by J.L. CarrellMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is supposed to be a sequel to "The Shakespeare Secret" but it can act as a stand-alone novel since the plots aren't related.
That said, one of the things I liked about this book was the way Carrell handled the relationship between the two protagonists (the relationship started midway through "The Shakespeare Secret" and continues in this novel). Whereas Dan Brown has a propensity to underdevelop the connection between characters who are thrown together to survive against a psycho killer, Carrell does a pretty good job at probing this connection without sacrificing the quick pace that is the hallmark of a thriller plot. I also like how Carrell explores the impact of traumatic events on the characters (something else Brown doesn't really do with Robert Langdon).
The only thing that detracted from a four stars rating was that there were times where I felt that there was an overload of on-the-side historical information that slowed the pace of the plot and detracted from the crucial line of thought of the main character. In terms of this, I felt that "The Shakespeare Secret" was the superior novel: its story was tighter.
Overall, this is a pretty good read and I would recommend it to anyone who loves thrillers based on loopholes in history.
View all my reviews
I Shall Wear Midnight (Tiffany Aching, #4) by Terry PratchettMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I have to say that this has got to be one of my favourite Discworld books; I like practically all the Discworld books but this is definitely in my top ten :)
In "I Shall Wear Midnight", Pratchett does what he does best: witty footnotes, wordplay, tongue-in-cheek humour but what I absolutely loved about this book was how Pratchett dealt with Tiffany growing up, which came as a pleasant blindside to me. I've read my fair share of coming-of-age stories and I have to say that this is one of the best I've seen; Pratchett doesn't come off as too preachy and heavy-handed.
Suprisingly (again) the thread of romance in this book is good as well: it's not that main plot but it has a deeper insight into the why of romantic relationships than most romance novels I've read. The gems of wisdom about life Pratchett sows throughout the story is also as good as ever.
In short, this is supposed to be a book for teenage readers; I say it's a good read for all ages! The characters that Pratchett create are real and the story, engaging :)
View all my reviews
I'm now reading Game of Thrones, and I have to say IT IS AMAZING SO FAR! It's been a long time since I've read good high fantasy novels (I'm not sure why I call it high fantasy but what I mean by it is fantasy that is Lord of the Rings-esque type with breathtaking landscapes filled with in-depth descriptions of mountains, valleys, rivers, swamps, forests, the whole she-bang) but I think I've found a winner and a keeper! Now the only thing I've got to do is get the rest of the books in the series and get my hands on the HBO series of Game of Thrones (which is also spectacular if hearsay is to be believed :D)
Anyway, I think I have, in my mind, the ghost of next week's blog post so I shall see you then :)
