Livros de catálogo

Por vezes dou por mim a pensar na minha infância e nas dificuldades que passei como livrólica e depois, claro, penso que muito provavelmente não terei sido a única.
Digam-me caros leitores, era só a mim que chateava que os catálogos de brinquedos de Natal, aqueles em que púnhamos as cruzinhas, não tivessem praticamente livros nenhuns?

Lembro-me de gostar de bonecas e legos como qualquer outra criança mas depois chegava à parte final do catálogo onde estavam os livros e "chapéu" não havia quase nada em que regalar os olhos. E mesmo quando havia sem um resumo do que o livro seria era mesmo pedir livros pela capa.
Este ano quando peguei nos catálogos do Reino Unido deparei-me com o mesmo problema, apesar de já encontrar alguns livros nada de resumo. Suponho que faça o seu sentido visto que estes catálogos terem o espaço contado mas mesmo assim torna toda a tarefa mais aventureira.
Digo aventureira porque a minha mãe, sabendo que eu gostava de ler, lá me levava pela mão às livrarias e me deixava brincar com os livros para trás e para a frente até eu apontar uns cinco ou seis que gostaria de receber pelo Natal. E, depois, se me tivesse portado bem o Pai Natal lá me trazia dois ou três livros para eu me regalar.
Mesmo hoje em dia quando me perguntam que livros quero receber no Natal lá me sento eu em torno do computador ou da livraria mais próxima e ando em busca de algo para ler. Este ano quando fui à livraria fazer compras de Natal acabei por comprar um livrinho para mim que estou a gostar e que comentarei em breve chamado Murder Most Unladylike de Robin Stevens que por acaso já tinha visto pelo GoodReads nas listas de sugestões.

E vocês, Encruzilhad@s? Quando eram pequenos e queriam pedir livros no Natal como faziam?

Ki
(Catarina)

Sobre a autora:

Bibliófila assumida e escritora de domingo. Gosta de livros e tudo o que esteja relacionado com eles, tem a mania que tem opiniões sobre livros e gostas de as expor no seu blog conjunto Encruzilhadas Literárias, tem também uma conta no GoodReads e é das melhores coisas que já lhe aconteceu.

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Opinião: Maze Runner - A Cura Mortal, de James Dashner

Maze Runner - A Cura Mortal
de James Dashner
Edição/reimpressão: 2014
Páginas: 344
Editor: Editorial Presença
Resumo:

Thomas atravessou o Labirinto; sobreviveu à Terra Queimada. A CRUEL roubou-lhe a vida, as memórias, e até mesmo os amigos. Mas agora as Experiências acabaram, e a CRUEL planeia devolver as memórias aos sobreviventes e completar assim a cura para o Fulgor. Só que Thomas recuperou ao longo do tempo muito mais memórias do que os membros da CRUEL julgam, o suficiente para saber que não pode confiar numa única palavra do que dizem. Conseguirá ele sobreviver à cura?

Rating: 4/5

Comentário:

Preparem-se para muitos spoilers e emoções. Esta não é uma crítica que vão querer ler ANTES de ler o livro.

Bem vindos à minha crítica daquele que era suposto ser o último livro da saga Maze Runner mas já não o é! *levantaopunhoemchoro* Pois é, além da prequela que James Dashner escreveu para a série já há outro livro a caminho e outro no forno, o que significa que a trilogia é agora uma sextologia? Uma trilogia com uma pré-trilogia? Nem tenho bem a certeza como classificar esta situação caricata. Chamemos-lhe Saga!
A Cura Mortal vem encerrar a "trilogia Thomas" iniciada com Correr ou Morrer e, infelizmente, acaba por não encerrar muitas das questões postas no primeiro livro. Em Correr ou Morrer conhecemos Thomas, os seus amigos, o labirinto e a CRUEL. Tudo é um misto de emoções fortes e de dúvidas, o que é a CRUEL, porque é que eles estão ali dentro, porque é que Teresa é a única rapariga.
Tal como nós Thomas não sabe o que se passa e como o seguimos acabamos como ele por, tal como ele, ir criando a nossa visão deste mundo. No entanto à medida que a história avança a necessidade de encontrar resposta torna-se maior, principalmente após o segundo livro e a descoberta do grupo de Brenda e de que a experiência do labirinto tinha sido feita a dobrar.
Quando Thomas parece finalmente "colaborar" com a CRUEL pensei que finalmente iríamos descobrir o porquê dele ter colaborado com a CRUEL. Pensei que o veríamos a ter as suas memórias de volta e pensei que ele fosse finalmente entender a Teresa. E se por um lado fiquei extremamente frustrada com a teimosia de Thomas em não querer as suas memórias de volta, principalmente quando todos os seus amigos estavam dispostos a fazê-lo, por outro lado consegui perceber os medos que o levaram a optar por não fazer a operação. Afinal pelo pouco que Thomas descobre ele foi uma pessoa que fez más escolhas e que acabou por ajudar na criação de uma experiência que matou muitos dos rapazes que se tornaram seus amigos. Quem, podendo apagar todo um passado de "más escolhas", não o faria? Além do mais não revelando neste livro o que Thomas fez o autor reserva para si mesmo a oportunidade de o contar agora na pré-trilogia (apesar de não saber se é esse o caminho que ele vai seguir).
Pode não ter sido visível pelas minhas críticas anteriores mas gostei muito da Teresa e tive pena que ela não tenha tido mais tempo para nos dar a ver o seu lado da história. Com a sua fé inabalável na CRUEL e depois de ter sido jogada por tudo e por todos acho que podemos dizer que a Teresa foi uma personagem muito maltratada.
Tenho lido várias teorias na net (quem nos segue sabe que gosto de ler metas bem construídas) e todas falam de como esta história, tal como Os Jogos da Fome, não é uma história de amor. Na realidade toda a vida amorosa (e em geral) de Thomas e Teresa é manipulada pela CRUEL, logo apesar de haver faísca entre os dois temos que manter em mente que foi a CRUEL é que acendeu o rastilho e que brincou com esta relação conforme quis.
Foi também a CRUEL que destruiu tudo ao fazer Teresa escolher entre trair o Thomas e salvar-lhe a vida ou ficar com ele e vê-lo morrer às mãos da CRUEL. Dói-me imenso o fim que a Teresa teve porque acredito que mesmo no fim, mesmo após tudo e ela ter provado mais uma vez a sua lealdade para com os seus sentimentos em relação ao Thomas, ele não a compreendeu e não percebeu que para ela o "bem do mundo" e o amor que ela sentia por ele, era mais importante que a vida dela. Também me doí que o autor a tenha descartado tão depressa e tenha feito o Thomas "apagar" as emoções que tinha pela Teresa e substituí-la pela Brenda, tornando-a aos olhos de Thomas a tal quando a Brenda também foi jogada por todos os lados para criar a empatia que levou aos "sentimentos" entre eles. Além do mais confesso que não consegui gostar da Brenda porque senti o livro todo, mesmo no fim, que ela jogou tanto com as personagens quanto jogaram com ela e que planeou as coisas mais do que deixou todos acreditarem. (O que o epílogo acaba por confirmar! *punhonoarIKNEWIT*).
Outra personagem que me surpreendeu foi o Gally e a sua aliança com os revolucionários. O grande problema desta saga de Dashner é que nunca podemos ter a certeza do que as personagens são, visto que a CRUEL vai revelando informações conforme acha oportuno e a fé das personagens é constantemente abalada e testada até elas se reinventarem. Acho que o Thomas que chegou ao fim desta saga é muito mais "cruel" que o Thomas que a iniciou.
Como nos outros livros da saga podem contar com cenas rápidas, acção, traições, mortes e até drama. Toda a história de Newt e do que ele fez pelos amigos é digna de ser lida e dá uma profundidade a estes rapazes que deixaram tudo para "achar uma cura" que não nos pode deixar indiferentes. (O Consultor Literário ainda berra quando se fala do Newt).
Apesar de deixar mais questões que repostas acho que A Cura Mortal é um livro que está ao nível dos outros da saga. Acredito que Dashner aproveite a sua trilogia prequela para nos dar mais informações e expandir o universo de Maze Runner. Por estes lados o Consultor Literário não se conteve e já leu em inglês The Kill Order, onde várias informações sobre a praga são reveladas e onde a origem de Thomas nos é apresentada.

 «Estas e outras novidades no site da Editorial Presença aqui»

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Review: Magisterium: The Iron Trial, by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

The Iron Trial [Magisterium #1]

by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

Format: Hardback / Paperback / E-book 

Nr of Pages: 400 

Publisher: Random House Children’s Publishers

Synopsis: 

Think you know magic? 

Think again.The Magisterium awaits . . .

Most people would do anything to get into the Magisterium and pass the Iron Trial.

Not Callum Hunt. 

Call has been told his whole life that he should never trust a magician. And so he tries his best to do his worst – but fails at failing.

Now he must enter the Magisterium. 

It's a place that's both sensational and sinister. And Call realizes it has dark ties to his past and a twisty path to his future.

The Iron Trial is just the beginning. Call’s biggest test is still to come . . . 

(You can read a small preview on the Waterstones website here.)

Rating: 4/5 

Review: 
MINOR SPOILERS ahead! They are crossed over.

I have to admit that I was worried about how this book would be planed out. I love Holly Black’s writing, her plots and character development. I also love how conflicted she tends to create her characters and how you can sense the humanity in them even when they are at their worst. As for Cassandra Clare I did enjoy the first three books on The Mortal Instruments series but when I tried the first book of The Infernal Devices I didn’t enjoyed it as much as the characters didn’t seem very different from the ones in the previous books.

So what I really hoped to find in this book was Clare’s imagination regarding myths and world building and Black’s characters so I could have more or less the best of both worlds. Magisterium: The Iron Trial is the first volume on a saga of Children’s Fiction/Young Adult books that will follow Callum’s journey through his magical school and lead him to his fate which  is quite unsentelling. The first book has a strong focus on the young in Young Adult since the main characters are all twelve but is also full of adventure and diversity.

I like that Clare and Black have created a diverse main cast where among the three main characters we have a POC and a character with a disability (Callum’s leg was broken when he was a baby and he has had several operations meaning he can’t run or walk properly), I would also like to note that although Callum is the main character he is not the one in front of the cover which I found interesting.

Most people tend to compare all magical school books to Harry Potter which I don’t agree with, I believe books can stand on their own and The Iron Trial is no doubt a book that stands on its own even though it is about a young boy in a magical school with a shady past and unforeseeable future.

I enjoyed reading about the Magesterium and how this magical school operated, I found the admission tests quite interesting, specially the written one that sounded like a math test. You can read it in full at the end of the book and it's a blast! I liked how it operated more like a sort of cooperative than a boarding school. As the teachers are always changing and each one has a different way of teaching their apprentices.

The story also tacks bullying and making real friends who can see beyond what you are capable of doing and treat you normally. It tackles being a hero and and anti-hero and how you can be nice even if you are a jerk which I found quite reinvigorating. 

The story is easy to read and follow and I read half the book in a day which shows how interested I was in following Callum’s adventures. I would recommend this book for young readers or people who like me enjoy Children’s fiction. I imagine that like in the Harry Potter and Percy Jackson books as the series goes on it will became more mature and aboard more complex and maybe darker themes but for now it’s a good adventure book for young readers.

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Review: Thief's Magic by Trudi Canavan

Thief's Magic [Millennium's Rule #1]

by Trudi Canavan

Format: Hardback / Paperback / E-book

Nr of Pages: 560

Publisher: Little Brown Book Group 

Synopsis: 

In a world where an industrial revolution is powered by magic, Tyen, a student of archaeology, unearths a sentient book called Vella. Once a young sorcerer-bookbinder, Vella was transformed into a useful tool by one of the greatest sorcerers of history. Since then she has been collecting information, including a vital clue to the disaster Tyen's world faces.
Elsewhere, in a land ruled by the priests, Rielle the dyer's daughter has been taught that to use magic is to steal from the Angels. Yet she knows she has a talent for it, and that there is a corrupter in the city willing to teach her how to use it - should she dare to risk the Angels' wrath.
But not everything is as Tyen and Rielle have been raised to believe. Not the nature of magic, nor the laws of their lands.
Not even the people they trust.

Rating: 4/5

Review:

Warning: This is going to be a LONG review so I am putting it under a read more. Please bear with me. I have a lot of feelings.

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Review. Gangsta Granny, by David Walliams

Gangsta Granny

by David Walliams 

Ilustrated by Tony Ross

Published in: 2011 

Pag Nr: 299 

Editor: HarperCollins Children's Books

Burble:

Ben is bored beyond belief after he is made to stay at his grandma's house. All she wants to do is to play Scrabble, and eat cabbage soup. But there are two things Ben doesn't know about his grandma: she was once an international jewel thief and she has been plotting to steal the crown jewels. Now she needs Ben's help.

Rating: 4/5

Review:

I have been promising myself that I will get around to read David Walliams books for almost a year now. I read great reviews about The Boy in the dress and later on of Billionaire Boy. By the time Gangsta Granny hit the shelves Walliams was already being called the next Roald Dahl and since I liked Dahl’s books I decided that I really should check out Walliams books.

Gangsta Granny tells us the story of Ben’s granny who is, as it is to be expected, a typical textbook granny. She is old, with white hair, fake teeth, and tissues up her sleeve… Oh! And stolen jewels from all over the world! Ben doesn’t like to spend every Friday night with his granny he believes she is boring until the day he accidentally finds the jewels and his granny becomes the most interesting person in the world.

Since I was young that I have always enjoyed being around elderly people, I always found them fascinating and wise and I was lucky to have grandparents who loved to tell stories and who always cooked my favourite meals. Unfortunately for Ben everything his granny cooks is cabbage based and that includes her cabbage cake. Ben really can’t get out of his granny house fast enough and I think most 12 year olds would probably feel the same way.

However there’s always a side of our grandparents, and most people actually, that we don’t get to know and when Ben finds his granny’s “dark side” he simply can’t leave her house. This leads to a bunch of misadventures and of course the biggest jewel theft ever.

I loved how the main message of this book was to respect and help elderly people, it was a book that spoke about kindness towards the old and how the young seem to forget that they will be old someday as well.  It’s a book that reminds young people that old people were young once as well and that they had adventures as well. It’s a book about following your dreams and about never giving up.

Also Tony Ross's illustrations really help the book come to life. I really enjoyed seeing his drawings of granny and Ben's parents. Specially mom with her makeup out of place.

Another solid 4 starts and a reading that I recommend for 12 year olds! (And 28 years old with children’s hearts). 

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Review: Panic by Lauren Oliver

Panic

by Lauren Oliver

Format: Hardback / paperback / ebook

Nr of Pages: 416

Published: March 6th 2014 by Hodder & Stoughton Ltd 

Synopsis:

Panic began as so many things do in Carp, a poor town of twelve thousand people in the middle of nowhere: because it was summer, and there was nothing else to do.

Heather never thought she would compete in panic, a legendary game played by graduating seniors, where the stakes are high and the payoff is even higher. She'd never thought of herself as fearless, the kind of person who would fight to stand out. But when she finds something, and someone, to fight for, she will discover that she is braver than she ever thought.

Dodge has never been afraid of panic. His secret will fuel him, and get him all the way through the game; he's sure of it. But what he doesn't know is that he's not the only one with a secret. Everyone has something to play for.

For Heather and Dodge, the game will bring new alliances, unexpected revelations, and the possibility of first love for each of them-and the knowledge that sometimes the very things we fear are those we need the most.

Rating: 3,5/4

Review:

Lauren Oliver is a favourite on our blog. We are very passionate about the way she creates real characters and how she moves her plot lines. We like her so much she even has her own tag (which is something not every author has on our blog so that gives her some status) and she was the first author we ever interviewed (our motto is “Go big or go home!”).

We have been following Lauren’s books since Delirium and besides Spindles we have read them all. Liesl and Po is my favourite. I have a soft spot for children’s fiction and Lauren’s book was just like reading a fairytale, also the illustrations were soft and amazing.

Panic is a stand alone YA book (which is becoming more and more unusual in the gender) and tells us the story of Heather, her friends and the very dangerous game that it’s Panic. Stuck in the little city of Carp the teens have found a new way to celebrate prom in a game were they will face their phobias, nightmares and possible and not at all improbable death. This years e prize is 67,000$ which is more than enough money for anyone to leave Carp behind forever. When we first meet Heather she is not suppose to be competing but things change quickly than the wind in a storm and before Heather even realizes she is in and nothing will ever be the same.

As a writer Lauren likes to get her hands dirty and to create different types of families. In this book alone we meet broken families, okay families, getting by families and “I ran from home” families. She also realizes that just because you have fallen out with your parents it doesn’t mean you have fallen out with your siblings. We also meet very brave characters that take it upon themselves to save themselves which is always a good approach to problems.

Panic is about courage in the face of fear but it’s ultimately the realization that we will always have fear and we will always rise above it. It’s a contemporary novel that reads like science-fiction or fantasy because the game is so intense and so out of the ordinary you completely forget that you are dealing with normal teenagers and not “super heroes”.

I rated Panic 3,5 stars because I am not sure how I fell about it. It was a fast paced read I rented out of the library Saturday and returned it on Tuesday but although I enjoyed the story it didn’t really catch my fancy. The book is well written and the suspense builds up to the Joust. We want to know who is going to make, who will take the grant prize and but at the same time the whole setting seemed strange. I think it’s because this is a dark book. People keep telling my teenage years are hard and if you have bad parents they are harder in the middle of her dark life Heather has the game which is even darker but since she has lived all her life in the dark she isn’t that much afraid. She is just afraid enough to not be insane. Even so I am not quite sure if she wasn’t truly insane because you see this novel has tigers in it.

Good book by an author we truly enjoy but not one of my favourites.

You can read the story of the origin of the game Panic if you click here and follow the links.

 Cat / Ki

Known bookaholic and writer on free weekends. Cat loves books and everything that's related to them. Sometimes she has feelings and opinions about books and the world and she writes about them in her blog Encruzilhadas Literárias. She also has a personal GoodReads account and she believes the world is a better place for it (AKA no more repeated books from relatives as gifts). She lives in the UK and can often be found either in Waterstones or the Charity Shops.

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Review: If, by David J. Smith

If:  

A Mind-Bending New Way of Looking at Big Ideas and Numbers

by David J. Smith

Format: Hardback / paperback / ebook

Nr of Pages: 40

Expected publication: August 1st 2014 by Kids Can Press

Synopsis:

If the Solar System's planets were shrunk down to the size of sports balls, and Earth were the size of a baseball, what size would the other planets be? If your lifespan was represented by a pizza divided into twelve slices, how many slices would represent your time spent in school? These questions and more are explored in this innovative and visually appealing book about very big concepts made accessible when scaled down to kid-friendly size.

Rating: 4/5

Review:

For some of us visualizing number can be tricky for instance I remember having a friend in college that couldn't picture numbers on their own, she couldn't visualize 8, she had to visualize 8 pencils or 8 flowers so she could be able to do her math. I know she would loved the possibility to read this book when she was young. I can image it would have made her notion of space, time and numbers a lot easier.
Large numbers can be very confusing so this book tries in a simpler way to help children visualize them. Large numbers like the time that as passed since the creation of the universe or the number of people that are alive today and in which continents became easier to learn once you start seeing them as a measuring tape or slices of pizza.
I quite enjoyed the illustrations in the book and the approach the author took to some of the themes. Did you know that if the whole story of earth was a two hour movie, humans would only appear in the last two seconds? Well neither did I! I find this kind of trivia quite fascinating and both interesting to children and adults alike. I have actually broken the ice at a party with that question. People find it fascinating and because it's easy to understand it makes it easy for people to engage in a conversation.
A very interesting book that I do recommend to read as a family since everyone will benefit from it!

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Review: Doll Bones, by Holly Black

Doll Bones

by Holly Black 

Edição/reimpressão: 2014 

Páginas: 256 

Editor: Random House Children's Publishers UK

Burble:
My name is Eleanor Kerchner. You can call me the Queen. I died in 1895. Now it's time to play.
Zach, Alice, and Poppy, friends from a Pennsylvania middle school who have long enjoyed acting out imaginary adventures with dolls and action figures, embark on a real-life quest to Ohio to bury a doll made from the ashes of a dead girl.
[It's depressing how I can't seem to be able to find a good resume of this book!]

Rating: 4/5

Review:

I received this ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

For years my sister Gaby has been asking me to read the Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black. She has begged, pleaded and blackmailed me into reading them without success several times. It’s not that I wasn’t curious about Holly Black’s writing it was just that her books seemed to be for a young audience and although I do love children’s fiction I just never felt the pull towards them. This changed when I read about Doll Bones and got curious about the story.

Holly Black has weaved an amazing web where history, change and growing up all mingle together in a quest that will leave you wondering. Our reluctant heroes have been friends for years and they have grown together but now they are without noticing slowly growing apart. The game they have been playing forever where they are pirates and thieves and all other sorts of wonder characters in their world of make belief  is suddenly taken by heartache and their friendship is almost shatter until a ghost of a girl asks for their help.

I have to admit that I like this type of books, the ones that mixture reality and supernatural but that always leave you to wondering. Was it all make believe? Was it really a ghost? I liked the way Holly Black just left the question hanging and even our heroes weren't sure of the truth.

I also liked how our heroes were all different and came from different types of households. (YEY For Diversity in YA) The make believe world of Alice and her friends was amazing and now I am craving the opportunity to read more of the adventures of Will and everyone else on board of the Neptune’s Pearl.

I believed that Holly Black made a fantastic description of what it is to play the game of make believe, I used to play with my siblings and like our heroes I played it until I was 12/13. The mind of a child is a wonderful place where worlds are born and collide; it is the true never ending source of entertainment.

Although some people found the book creepy I would say that it was spooky at times but not necessarily creepy also children tend to live on spooky and creepy things it’s us the adults that tend to forget how much of it it’s actually part of a child’s live.

To finish I would like to say that I am now headed to the bookstore to get my hardcover version of this book because it’s truly amazing and my future children will forever thank me for the opportunity of reading it. A solid 4 starts and a reading that I would recommend. 

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Review: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

by E. Lockhart 

Edição/reimpressão: 2009 

Páginas: 345 

Editor: Disney-Hyperion

Burble:

Frankie Landau-Banks at age 14: Debate Club. Her father's "bunny rabbit." A mildly geeky girl attending a highly competitive boarding school.
Frankie Landau-Banks at age 15: A knockout figure. A sharp tongue. A chip on her shoulder. And a gorgeous new senior boyfriend: the supremely goofy, word-obsessed Matthew Livingston. Frankie Landau-Banks. No longer the kind of girl to take "no" for an answer.
Especially when "no" means she's excluded from her boyfriend's all-male secret society. Not when her ex-boyfriend shows up in the strangest of places. Not when she knows she's smarter than any of them. When she knows Matthew's lying to her. And when there are so many, many pranks to be done.
Frankie Landau-Banks, at age 16: Possibly a criminal mastermind. This is the story of how she got that way.

Rating: 4/5

Review:

Once in a while I get my hands on a book that I read in one go. It’s became rarer and rarer that I do so because books are becoming bigger and some plot lines are becoming quite predictable making me bored quite easily. I picked up Frankie because her book was recommended by GoodReads in the “if you read and loved that you will love this” section. So I added Frankie to the list and eventually bought the book at a Charity Shop.

Last Friday I was all alone at the office and didn’t have much to do so when I finished my work load I picked up the book so I would look busy. It was definitively a bad move since I couldn’t put it down. I read it all the way home in the bus and continued to read as I had my tea. I finished it around 7pm and knew my world would never be the same.

I really can’t explain what it was that Frankie did to me. There was just something new and refreshing in the narrator’s voice, and something completely unexpected in the storyline. Mainly I think because the book starts off as a typical high school romance and suddenly it’s not. Out of the blue this secret society appears as well as   Frankie’s feminist older sister, Zara, along with some pranks, e-mails and a very intelligent girl who won’t take a chauvinist “no” for an answer.

Nothing is what it seems in this book, at a point I was fairly certain we would get a love triangle but that was completely dismissed two pages after. Frankie’s adventures and her own growth as she explores this new world that opened up for her but at the same time closes her off are the same adventures most girls have when they grow and suddenly start getting attention from boys.

Another thing that makes Frankie’s adventure so interesting is how a nice girl ends up becoming an evil genius and although one might argue that Frankie was always a genius and that she didn’t become an Evil Overlord it’s interesting to see her journey through her teenage years, and how she finds herself half pushed into, half embracing the situations that destiny (and the boys) puts in front of her.

An unique and interesting coming of age book that I recommend for intelligent girls that won’t take a “no” for an answer.

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Review: White Cat, by Holly Black

White Cat [Curse Workers #1]

by Holly Black

Format: Hardback / paperback / ebook

Nr of Pages: 32

Publisher: Gollancz 

Synopsis: 

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers--people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, all by the slightest touch of their hands. Since curse work is illegal, they're all criminals. But not Cassel. He hasn't got the magic touch, so he's an outsider--the straight kid in a crooked family--as long as you ignore one small detail: He killed his best friend, Lila. Now he is sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat. He also notices that his brothers are keeping secrets from him. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of one huge con game, he must unravel his past and his memories. To find out the truth, Cassel will have to outcon the conmen...

Rating: 3,75 Stars

Review:

I had been meaning to read something by Holly Black for quite some time now. My sister Gabriella read the Spiderwick Chronicles when she was younger and couldn’t stop saying that they were her favourite books. But as always life gets in the way, other books that you really want to read get to your TBR pile and I ended up looking at Spiderwick Chronicles thinking “do I really *really*  want to start a five book saga?”.

When I first started reading White Cat I didn’t knew that it was part of a trilogy. I was wrongly convinced that like Doll Bones this was a stand alone novel so when I brought it home from the Charity Shop and sited down reading it all happy I really didn’t knew where I was getting myself into.

Cassel is cursed and he should be after all he is a killer, he killed his best friend in cold blood when he was just fourteen. Born in a family of magic workers, Cassel’s family manage to contain the killing and now Cassel is living more or less a normal life, this is until a white cat starts to hunt him.

The Curse Workers is an elegant constructed work in which mob and magic go side by side. I enjoyed all the little details that Holly Black weaved into her story, e.g. Australia has almost 1% of curse workers because that’s where they ship them, and how the mobs were created. This is also a book about cons and I have to admit that I have a soft spot for con books/movies (*Leverage theme plays in the back*), and Cassel learned how to con from one of the best, an emotion worker, his mother.

Although you know he is a murder I think it’s easy to like Cassel, he is seventeen when the story starts and he is in a very fancy school were he studies and acts as the bookie for the rich kids. We get to follow his routine until the mysterious white cat appears and our stories starts to unfold. Cassel’s story is also a story about family, making friends and trusting your instincts.

Holly Black writing is both modern and simples, and you catch yourself turning page after page. Also she can manage to make you scared if needed and invested in her characters. Recently Holly Black associated herself with Cassandra Clara to write Magisterum a new saga that will hit the shelves in about a month or so.

I have become a fan of Holly Black’s writing, and got myself a new YA author to stalk, also I am now waiting impatiently for the library to have the second volume of this saga Red Glove delivered to the nearest branch so I can keep reading Cassel’s adventure.

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Review: Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin by Chieri Uegaki

Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin

by Chieri Uegaki

Illustrations by Qin Leng

Format: Hardback / paperback / ebook

Nr of Pages: 32

Expected publication: August 1st 2014 by Kids Can Press

Synopsis:
Hana has signed up to play the violin at the talent show, even though she's only had three lessons. Her brothers predict disaster. But Hana practices and practices, inspired by her grandfather, or Ojiichan, who played the violin every day when she visited him in Japan. As Hana takes the stage, doubt is all she can hear, until she recalls her grandfather's words of encouragement, and shows the audience how beautiful music can take many forms.

Rating: 4/5

Review:

As a former student of Oriental Studies and an avid defender of variety in books, particularly children's I couldn't miss the opportunity to read  Chieri Uegaki's Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin.
Hana is a brave girl, who after three violin lessons feels ready to sign up for the talent show even though her brothers mock her. Hana's parents seem more confident and Hana let's her grandfather's words and music inspire her as she shows the reader the value of practice and dedication.
When I was little I wanted to learn to play the violin, unfortunately I couldn't but that didn't stop me from pretending I could. Unlike Hana I didn't have a relative that played the violin but I let all the great musicians fill my house with their music and the strings have always been my favourite. However when Hana  went to Japan to see her Ojiichan, he filed the house with music of his own making and she decided to learn to play like him.
I think Hana's little adventure is a fantastic example of picking up something widely known and making it yours. It's about finding that thing that makes what you do yours and not just a copy of someone else's work. Even musicians need to find their tune and the same piece played by two different people doesn't sound quite the same and Hana shows us that she can make the strings in her violin hers and not just a copy of her Ojiichan.
Also I think this was the first time I encountered a book who had both a musical theme and a foreigner character in the title. As I said at the begin of this review I support diversity in book and this means that I like to support authors that write about diverse characters. Chieri Uegaki's Hana Hashimoto is a fantastic example because we can see different cultures and have an Asian, more specifically a Japanese main character. It may sound like it isn't too much but in 2012 only 2% of children books had a main Asian Pacific American character. This puts Hana in a very select group and makes her even more special.
If Hana wasn't special enough Qin Leng's illustrations would have helped her be. The pictures that fill this book are delicate and beautiful and a fantastic addiction to the story.
The drawings of Ojiichan's house takes us to Japan while the ones of Hana's house reflect the western world. I loved the soft colours and the magical tone of the drawings. My favourite illustration was the one of Hana playing when she was in the stage of the talent show and we can see all the sounds leaving her violin. I also enjoyed seeing Ojiichan's house and Hana sleeping in a futon.
I am now waiting patiently for August to get my hands on a hardcover edition of this book. This is a book that can't be missing from my shelves.

To read more about diverse books please click here.

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Amazon e a Biblioteca Paga

Há cinco dias atrás a Amazon anunciou que irá oferecer aos seus leitores um novo serviço chamado Kindle Unlimited. Este serviço propõe que através de uma taxa mensal ou anual, os leitores tenham acesso a ebooks que são vendidos através do site da empresa. O que faz da Amazon a terceira empresa a oferecer este serviço, estando este já disponível através da Oyster e do Scribd.

Vários leitores já se insurgiram contra o Kindle Unlimited que não só pretende ganhar dinheiro através de um serviço que as bibliotecas oferecem gratuitamente como também não paga aos autores tão bem como algumas bibliotecas pagam. (No Reino Unido e nos Estados Unidos as bibliotecas não só pagam mais pelos livros que compram como pagam uma taxa aos autores de cada vez que um livro é requisitado.)

Um repórter do USA Today que decidiu avaliar o serviço da Amazon concluiu que além do facto de se poder ler os livros / audio livros em 6 dispositivos simultaneamente e de a Amazon ter as melhores aplicações para leitura, não há muitos livros pelos quais escolher. Da biblioteca de 600,000 livros (dos quais alguns são clássicos já disponíveis gratuitamente e outros são livros de autores completamente desconhecidos) apenas 6 livros fazem parte da lista de 75 leituras que o repórter achou que seriam actuais e que deveriam estar presentes para o serviço ser considerado bom (por exemplo Os Jogos da Fome e Harry Potter). O repórter afirma que isto se deve ao facto de a Amazon não ter disponível livros de duas das maiores editoras americanas: HapperCollins e Simon & Schuster.

Os outros dois serviços de ebooks ilimitados oferecidos pela Oyster e Scribd (que custam os mesmos 10$ por mês que a Amazon) já oferecem 17 livros da lista e possuem livros da HapperCollins e Simon & Schuster no seu catálogo. O que os torna mais atractivos apesar de a Oyster apenas estar disponível para utilizadores Mac e o Scrib maioritariamente no pc.

O repórter acaba no entanto a sua opinião com a esperança que, tal como serviço Amazon Prime evoluiu para ter mais e melhores filmes e series, também o Kindle Unlimited evolua e possua, daqui a algum tempo, todos os livros que desejamos ler. E pensar que por 8 euros mês poderíamos ler livros acabados de editar se revela algo interessante. E se quiserem experimentar o serviço o primeiro mês é gratuito!

Num mundo que está constantemente a evoluir e depois de todos os artigos que falam das bibliotecas e que temos publicado é normal que uma pessoa se questione sobre o poder das bibliotecas e se as mesmas não estarão realmente a desaparecer lentamente.

Apesar de parecer que o desaparecimento das bibliotecas irá acontecer tenho a dizer que, pelo menos no Reino Unido, as bibliotecas já possuem catálogos on-line de onde posso requisitar ebooks e audio-books gratuitamente e que, apesar de não representarem toda a oferta da biblioteca física, já começam a rivalizar com os serviços da Amazon, Oyster e Scribd. Alem disso se ficar doente e/ou não puder sair de casa a minha biblioteca local tem um serviço de entrega gratuita de livros ao domicilio.

Aléem do mais as bibliotecas continuam a ser um ponto de encontro e onde outras actividades se podem desenvolver, estão também mais perto do publico e, apesar de alguns acharem que estão a desaparecer, não me parece que este seja o caso. Por aqui a única situação em que compraria uma subscrição de um serviço ilimitado de livros seria se efectivamente tivesse acesso a todos os livros que quisesse incluindo lançamentos recentes mas acredito que mesmo continuaria a comprar livros físicos.

Ki
(Catarina)
Sobre a autora:Bibliófila assumida e escritora de domingo. Gosta de livros e tudo o que esteja relacionado com eles, tem a mania que tem opiniões sobre coisas e gosta de as expor no seu blog conjunto Encruzilhadas Literárias, tem também uma conta no GoodReads e é das melhores coisas que já lhe aconteceu.

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Review: The Most Magnificent Thing, by Ashley Spires

The Most Magnificent Thing

by Ashley Spires

Format: Hardback / paperback / ebook

Nr of Pages: 38

Expected publication: April 1st 2014 by Kids Can Press

Synopsis:

A little girl and her canine assistant set out to make the most magnificent thing. But after much hard work, the end result is not what the girl had in mind. Frustrated, she quits. Her assistant suggests a long walk, and as they walk, it slowly becomes clear what the girl needs to do to succeed. A charming story that will give kids the most magnificent thing: perspective!

Rating: 4/5

Review:

This little girl's journey with her faithful assistant is one of the most relatable children's books I have ever read. The whole preparation process and the creation and even the point when she gets frustrated are so real and tangible that you are automatically transported to your own childhood and can remember a time or two when you completely lost your temper because you couldn't create something.
As a writer I know what is like to have something magnificent in your mind and not being able write it on paper. So when this little girl who has the most magnificent thing ever in her mind isn't able to create it I could relate to her frustration. It is so easy to lose perspective when you see something clearly but aren't able to give it form.
Thankfully her canine assistant has the perfect cure for frustration: a long walk. As the girl calms herself down and starts enjoying herself she realizes that maybe she wasn't that far of from succeeding and tries once again to create that most magnificent thing. This is a fantastic advice and so useful because it's a great way to deal with frustration. Maybe we can't always go for a walk but we can do something different or we can leave the problem alone for a day or two while we relax and than we can go back to it.
I particularly enjoyed the part in the story where the girls neighbours are admiring her "fail attempts" and think they are splendid while the girl just sees them as failure. When we focus on what we have on our mind and don't enjoy the ride until we get there everything can became a failure and I think it was good to show that sometimes even if we think that our art isn't at the level we wanted it to be other people will think that it is good.
A very cute book that I recommend!

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Review: My Heart is Laughing by Rose Lagercrantz

My Heart is Laughing

by Rose Lagercrantz

Illustrations by Eva Eriksson

Format: Hardback / paperback / ebook

Nr of Pages: 120

Expected publication: September 8th 2014 by Gecko Press

Synopsis:

Dani's been trying her best to stay happy ever since her best friend Ella moved away. But when some girls in Dani's class start being cruel to her, it starts a chain of rather unhappy events... 

It would all be okay if only Ella would move back.

Rating: 4/5

Review:

This book took me by surprise and I am still deciding how exactly should I start my review. If you have been following the blog for some time you probably have noticed that I love children's fiction. I truly believe that the simplest books are the hardest to write and if you can create something as delightful as Rose and Eva's My Heart is Laughing you should probably get an award.

Claudia picked this book for me out of the children's section and told me that I should read it because "it looked like my type of thing". As soon as I read the first lines and saw the cute picture that went with them I understood what she meant. This amazing little book starts with the fantastic affirmation that Dani is happy and goes on saying that she re-writes the endings of sad books so they can have happy endings as well.

Dani is a happy girl, she is practical, friendly and imaginative like all children. The thing that most astonished me about this book was how real Dani felt through out the story, it was easy to imagine that she could just pop out of the book and be a real child. We see her laugh and cry, we see her cross and forgiving, everything a child is and we see her doing it all in a day (which is something children also do). For me Dani and her friend Ella represent what most children really are and so it was ever so easy to love them and laugh at their adventure.
The adventures of our little heroine show true emotions that children will easily identify with. Approaching themes like bullying and friends moving away Dani shows us how she manage to go through them. I think this is important because it shows children that these problems are real while showing them how to address them. The way that Dani's father handled the bullying showed that it is ok to speak with your parents about it and that they will help you face it. Which is a fantastic message to get across to children.

Another thing to love about Dani is her positive view of life. From the first lines in the book where she says she is happy to the last ones where she says it again, Dani keeps her hopes up and although she faces bullying and gets cross manages to get over it and remain happy by deciding to do. Dani also states that she isn't always happy but that she is happy most of the time so she considers herself a happy person which is a very beautiful way to look at life.
As this book is part of a series, some of the first chapters seem a little scattered and I lost myself in the narrative. However as soon as I found out that there was another book in this series it all started to make sense, since I had started reading the series in the second volume the chapters were probably referring to information already displayed on the first volume.
Eva Eriksson's illustrations are lovely and I truly believed they enhanced the whole reading experience. Children will be delighted with the illustrations while parents read to them or when following Dani's adventures all by themselves. One specific illustration took me back to my own childhood when I read and saw the girls putting their dolls in recovery after surgery since I used to do the same!.
My Heart is Laughing stole my heart and I became a true fan of Dani and her adventures. I now have to go and get myself the first book in the series so I can have it on my shelves. This is a book I would recommend to children and parents alike.

Links for the publishers websites.
Twitter ; Facebook ; Lerner Publisher Services, Distributor ; Gecko Press Website

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Manipulação de Reviews no GR

Uma notícia chocante correu hoje de manhã o meu dash de notícias. Ao que parece, devido a um erro ou pura burrice (perdoem o meu francês), uma escritora e a sua editora foram apanhadas no GR a manipular as reviews de um livro. A história não é recente mas, pelo que entendi, ainda é desconhecida do público. (Podem ver uma das notícias originais aqui)

A escritora, Kiera Cass, autora da saga The Selection foi apanhada, juntamente com a sua editora, a "manipular" as reviews do GoodReads ao colocarem gosto em todas as boas reviews e ao convidarem os amigos a fazer o mesmo para tentarem que estas aparecessem no top e as más reviews desaparecem-se da página inicial.

No entanto, parece que Cass não foi a única autora que o fez, outros autores parecem interessados em tentar controlar a opinião pública em relação aos seus livros e alguns entraram mesmo em contacto com os reviewers para os tentar convencer a mudar a sua opinião.

Outros compraram o serviço de utilizadores para gostarem e escreverem opiniões sobre os seus livros. E os que foram mais longe, na minha opinião, chegaram mesmo a comprar o seu caminho para a tabela de "best seller do New York Times" ao simplesmente comprarem cópias dos seus livros e reviews dando a entender que o livro estava a ter boas vendas.

Ao se aperceberem disto vários utilizadores do GoodReads começaram a atacaram autores através das suas reviews. Isto levou a que o GoodReads interviesse, dizendo que as críticas deveriam ser feitas aos livros e não à vida dos autores dos mesmos. Actualmente na sua política de privacidade o GR pode e apaga qualquer crítica que em vez de ter o livro como base tenha o autor. (Leiam mais sobre isto aqui.)

Por aqui já abordamos um tema semelhante no qual nos questionamos até que ponto poderá existir uma separação entre o livro e o seu autor. Ou seja, é possível apreciar um livro por si só ou as acções do autor podem manchá-lo? A questão fica no ar, Encruzilhados.

Os artigos consultados para escrever este artigo podem ser vistos aqui, aqui, aqui, aqui e aqui.

Ki
(Catarina)

Sobre a autora:

Bibliófila assumida e escritora de domingo. Gosta de livros e tudo o que esteja relacionado com eles, tem a mania que tem opiniões sobre coisas e gosta de as expor no seu blog conjunto Encruzilhadas Literárias, tem também uma conta no GoodReads e é das melhores coisas que já lhe aconteceu.

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A Biblioteca Central de Manchester

Quem acompanha a nossa saga de vida sabe que há já algum tempo que ando animada com a inauguração da Biblioteca Central de Manchester. 

A Biblioteca, que já estava fechada quando vim pela primeira vez a Manchester há 2 anos, abriu recentemente as suas portas mas eu aguardei pacientemente antes de a ir visitar pois os livros ainda não estavam disponíveis. Ontem quando a Biblioteca estava tão operacional quanto vai estar nos próximos tempos (ainda existem algumas obras a decorrer) fui finalmente visitá-la.

Situada na Praça de São Pedro no centro de Manchester a Biblioteca Central esteve fechada para renovações e abre agora com a campanha publicitária "Reborn", que nem uma Fénix das cinzas. Num edifício redondo de quatro pisos e cave, a nova biblioteca conta com um Media Lounge, Biblioteca Infantil, Biblioteca Musical Henry Watson, uma colecção de livros raros, um mini-museu onde podemos explorar os arquivos da biblioteca e a vida em Manchester e vários serviços da Câmara Municipal (visto que a biblioteca liga ao Edifício da Câmara através de umas pontes!).

Gostava de ter feito uma extensiva reportagem fotográfica, no entanto, era proibido fotografar na maioria dos locais. Mesmo assim, fiz o meu melhor para vos dar uma ideia da minha experiência. À foi-me oferecido um mapa da biblioteca (visto que a mesma conta com 3 andares + cave) e apesar da mesma ser circular não se enganem Encruzilhados, uma pessoa consegue perder-se no seu interior.

Entrando pela porta principal somos brindados com um hall de entrada com escadas e elevadores que conectam os vários pisos da biblioteca. Temos também um café, uma zona media para portáteis e um mini-museu, que mais pode ser considerado um arquivo interactivo onde podemos explorar a vida na cidade.

Na foto acima podem ver um pouco do museu e onde aparecem as palavras "send us a..." vários avisos iam passando em várias cores.

Devo confessar que fiquei fascinada a olhar para aquelas tiras enquanto algures na minha mente a música The future has arrived tocava. Talvez seja uma coisa mínima mas lembrou-me tanto os filmes de ficção científica que não pude deixar de ficar curiosa.

Depois do mini-museu segui para a Biblioteca Infantil que, segundo o mapa, era inspirada no conto "O Jardim Secreto". Depois de ter descido as escadas de mármore e virado há direita dei por mim a entrar numa zona de cores suaves com flores pintadas em tiras nas paredes. Com puffs coloridos, mesa de actividades e computadores a biblioteca infantil estava cheia de crianças de várias idades que liam e brincavam. Brincavam porque a biblioteca tinha projecções interactivas, no chão, um círculo imitava um lago onde podíamos ver árvores e borboletas reflectidas. Sempre que as crianças pisavam esta imagem, esta criava ondas como se a uma pedra tivesse sido atirada para o lado. O reflexo perdia-se e remexia-se até as crianças saírem do "lago" e a água começar a estabilizar de novo e o reflexo voltar. Na parede uma enorme janela cheia de borboletas e flores deixava as crianças tentarem apanhar as mesmas. As borboletas fugiam e os risos enchiam o ar.

Depois disso acabei por passear um pouco por entre as estantes e ver que livros estavam disponíveis. Encontrei uma secção de livros apenas em português visto que a comunidade de portugueses em Manchester está a crescer a olhos vistos. E depois quando me preparava para sair acabei por me perder e dar com o corredor que dava acesso aos serviços da Câmara Municipal e que podem ver abaixo.

Toda a experiência foi divertida e única e espero retornar à Biblioteca Central em breve, no entanto se não o poder fazer, posso sempre aceder ao site da biblioteca e requisitar audio-books e ebooks on-line com o meu cartão de leitora.
Podem ver mais informações sobre a Biblioteca Central acedendo ao site da mesma aqui.

Ki
(Catarina)

Sobre a autora:

Bibliófila assumida e escritora de domingo. Gosta de livros e tudo o que esteja relacionado com eles, tem a mania que tem opiniões sobre coisas e gosta de as expor no seu blog conjunto Encruzilhadas Literárias, tem também uma conta no GoodReads e é das melhores coisas que já lhe aconteceu.

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