en-US Sat, 20 Apr 2024 07:49:43 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 3 309 J.K. Rowling 0439554934 Taylor C 5 favorites 4.47 1997
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Taylor C
average rating: 4.47
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/20
date added: 2024/04/20
shelves: favorites
review:

]]> 5907 Written for J.R.R. Tolkien’s own children, The Hobbit met with instant critical acclaim when it was first published in 1937. Now recognized as a timeless classic, this introduction to the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, the wizard Gandalf, Gollum, and the spectacular world of Middle-earth recounts of the adventures of a reluctant hero, a powerful and dangerous ring, and the cruel dragon Smaug the Magnificent. The text in this 372-page paperback edition is based on that first published in Great Britain by Collins Modern Classics (1998), and includes a note on the text by Douglas A. Anderson (2001).]]> 366 J.R.R. Tolkien Taylor C 5 favorites
I will say this however, I love this story so much, I read it as a kid (circa 2002, somewhere in there when LOTR movies were being made), I've watched Jules Bass' animated version of The Hobbit, I've seen the movies the moment they were released, and I just now listened to the audio book narrated by Rob Inglis.
Which, by the way, I HIGHLY recommend listening to the audio version. Inglis changes his voice for all thirteen dwarves, Bilbo, Gandalf, elves, trolls.. the whole nine yards! Every single character sounds different, and it adds to the charm of this book.

The way Tolkien translates his story has charm, consistency, and it's appealing to the senses. Imagine the movies were never made. This story is still so visually appealing to the senses and mind; it'd be impossible to not feel fear, hunger, and joy while reading. The dinner scene in the beginning is by far my favorite part. I wish I could have sat down to eat with the dwarves, followed Bilbo around helping him, or sat with a glass of red wine chatting with Gandalf.

Overall, you can't go wrong reading this novel. :)]]> 4.29 1937
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Taylor C
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1937
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/10
date added: 2024/04/10
shelves: favorites
review:
How do you give a rating for The Hobbit. I mean, seriously... it's too legendary to touch, too common to even fathom a proper review!

I will say this however, I love this story so much, I read it as a kid (circa 2002, somewhere in there when LOTR movies were being made), I've watched Jules Bass' animated version of The Hobbit, I've seen the movies the moment they were released, and I just now listened to the audio book narrated by Rob Inglis.
Which, by the way, I HIGHLY recommend listening to the audio version. Inglis changes his voice for all thirteen dwarves, Bilbo, Gandalf, elves, trolls.. the whole nine yards! Every single character sounds different, and it adds to the charm of this book.

The way Tolkien translates his story has charm, consistency, and it's appealing to the senses. Imagine the movies were never made. This story is still so visually appealing to the senses and mind; it'd be impossible to not feel fear, hunger, and joy while reading. The dinner scene in the beginning is by far my favorite part. I wish I could have sat down to eat with the dwarves, followed Bilbo around helping him, or sat with a glass of red wine chatting with Gandalf.

Overall, you can't go wrong reading this novel. :)
]]> 18667059
Dicen que Dorothy encontró el modo de volver a Oz. Dicen que se hizo con el poder y que éste se le subió a la cabeza. Y ahora nadie está seguro.

Me llamo Amy Gumm... y soy la otra niña de Kansas. He sido reclutada por la Revolucionaria Orden de los Malvados. Me han entrenado para luchar. Y tengo una misión: Dorothy debe morir.]]> 469 Danielle Paige Taylor C 5 favorites I'm a list person so here goes:

Pros
1. If you like Retellings, you should give Dorothy Must Die a try. It's a constant battle for Amy to recognize Good vs. Wicked. If I was thrown into a situation like that, yeah I'd also have a hard time picking a side based off the original story I knew of The Wizard of Oz.

2. Star is the most amazing creature in this whole story! Even being a rat, you can't help but fall in love with her.

3. I enjoy the descriptions and details in this book. It took me to a place so imaginative, it would be impossible to not follow Paige on her journey through Oz.

4. Chapters are slightly on the shorter side. It makes me feel more accomplished as I'm reading. I also feel like I can sneak in a quick chapter through out my day without having to stop dead center in a chapter.

Cons
1. I'm slightly a little too old for this book. It is a YA novel. However, the story-line was WAY too intriguing not to give it a try. And I'm glad I did. I wanted to keep reading chapter after after without stopping. But when I would get distracted is when there were paragraphs explaining what was going on.
It was sometimes too explained. I actually skipped/skimmed a page here and there because it was too lengthy. And the wording was too obvious at times.

2. If you're looking for a book for your 10 year old and don't mind murder and cussing.. go for it. Let them have it! Haha!
If you're 24-years-old like me, and like The Wizard of Oz and don't mind cheesy, obvious moments.. then go for it too. Like I stated before, the story-line is so intriguing that it was impossible for me not to give it a try.

3. Romance. Some say 'Ew!' Some say 'Gimme more!' I'm more on the gimme more side. There were a few love interests. Nothing too extreme, but you were routing for Amy to make a move! That's why I love this character. She's almost like a best friend; you want to tell her when she's being dumb; you want to tell her to go for it or that she's being too obvious and should back away; you want to just hug her at times and tell her everything will be alright.

Two days ago the third book in the series came out. I'm just glad I can get to book #2 soon and actually keep up with an author for once. I hope everyone enjoys the book as much as I did. I'll see you soon for review #2!]]> 3.79 2014
author: Danielle Paige
name: Taylor C
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2016/03/17
date added: 2016/04/15
shelves: favorites
review:
I absolutely loved this book! With every review, however, there are pros and cons.
I'm a list person so here goes:

Pros
1. If you like Retellings, you should give Dorothy Must Die a try. It's a constant battle for Amy to recognize Good vs. Wicked. If I was thrown into a situation like that, yeah I'd also have a hard time picking a side based off the original story I knew of The Wizard of Oz.

2. Star is the most amazing creature in this whole story! Even being a rat, you can't help but fall in love with her.

3. I enjoy the descriptions and details in this book. It took me to a place so imaginative, it would be impossible to not follow Paige on her journey through Oz.

4. Chapters are slightly on the shorter side. It makes me feel more accomplished as I'm reading. I also feel like I can sneak in a quick chapter through out my day without having to stop dead center in a chapter.

Cons
1. I'm slightly a little too old for this book. It is a YA novel. However, the story-line was WAY too intriguing not to give it a try. And I'm glad I did. I wanted to keep reading chapter after after without stopping. But when I would get distracted is when there were paragraphs explaining what was going on.
It was sometimes too explained. I actually skipped/skimmed a page here and there because it was too lengthy. And the wording was too obvious at times.

2. If you're looking for a book for your 10 year old and don't mind murder and cussing.. go for it. Let them have it! Haha!
If you're 24-years-old like me, and like The Wizard of Oz and don't mind cheesy, obvious moments.. then go for it too. Like I stated before, the story-line is so intriguing that it was impossible for me not to give it a try.

3. Romance. Some say 'Ew!' Some say 'Gimme more!' I'm more on the gimme more side. There were a few love interests. Nothing too extreme, but you were routing for Amy to make a move! That's why I love this character. She's almost like a best friend; you want to tell her when she's being dumb; you want to tell her to go for it or that she's being too obvious and should back away; you want to just hug her at times and tell her everything will be alright.

Two days ago the third book in the series came out. I'm just glad I can get to book #2 soon and actually keep up with an author for once. I hope everyone enjoys the book as much as I did. I'll see you soon for review #2!
]]> 21787
As a boy, William Goldman claims, he loved to hear his father read the S. Morgenstern classic, The Princess Bride. But as a grown-up he discovered that the boring parts were left out of good old Dad's recitation, and only the "good parts" reached his ears.

Now Goldman does Dad one better. He's reconstructed the "Good Parts Version" to delight wise kids and wide-eyed grownups everywhere.

What's it about? Fencing. Fighting. True Love. Strong Hate. Harsh Revenge. A Few Giants. Lots of Bad Men. Lots of Good Men. Five or Six Beautiful Women. Beasties Monstrous and Gentle. Some Swell Escapes and Captures. Death, Lies, Truth, Miracles, and a Little Sex.

In short, it's about everything.]]> 429 William Goldman 0345418263 Taylor C 5 favorites 4.27 1973
author: William Goldman
name: Taylor C
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1973
rating: 5
read at: 2010/01/01
date added: 2016/04/08
shelves: favorites
review:

]]> 11235712
She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.]]> 390 Marissa Meyer 0312641893 Taylor C 5 favorites
And you really can't. I just want to pick at Marissa Meyer's brain SO badly now! And, she's a huge fangirl! Sailor Moon! Harry Potter! Cosplay! Loves cats! This woman is my spirit animal!

But anyway, more about the book.
I could NOT put this book down. Some use that phrase loosely. I literally didn't put it down. I took it to work and read pages between my boss walking around, I slept with it, I even took it to the 5 minute drive to the store!

This novel has such an appealing story-line. At first, knowing Meyers is a Harry Potter fan, while reading the first few chapters I thought to myself, I really hope she wasn't copying concepts from HP, The Hunger Games, etc. (No offense, I'm sorry for judging a book by it's cover!) BUT ITS NOT! It is thoroughly original, with research, accuracy, and creativity. It's appealing to me because it isn't all happy endings. It's a futuristic retelling of a classic. You are routing for the right people in all the right places.

It holds the back bone of Cinderella, but you aren't left feeling like you're about to read a Disney story. The whole series is a futuristic retelling of fairy tales. It has a darker side, slightly graphic with the plague, and mild romance that isn't all rainbows and butterflies like it would be if it were a Disney story. What is kept true is the stepmother and stepsisters, the glass slippers (in this case a prosthetic leg/metal foot), Iko represents the friendly mice, an annual ball, and either Dr. Erland or Cress is the "fairy godmother" (depending on how the reader wants to interpret them I suppose).

To conclude this ramble.... READ THE LUNAR CHRONICLES!! ]]> 4.14 2012
author: Marissa Meyer
name: Taylor C
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2016/03/11
date added: 2016/04/04
shelves: favorites
review:
WHY?! ....is what I was asking myself. Why did I not read this sooner!? I came across this book before, but finding it on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ once 'Winter' was released, I thought ok YES Cinderella story-line, modern and futuristic twists.. you can't go wrong!

And you really can't. I just want to pick at Marissa Meyer's brain SO badly now! And, she's a huge fangirl! Sailor Moon! Harry Potter! Cosplay! Loves cats! This woman is my spirit animal!

But anyway, more about the book.
I could NOT put this book down. Some use that phrase loosely. I literally didn't put it down. I took it to work and read pages between my boss walking around, I slept with it, I even took it to the 5 minute drive to the store!

This novel has such an appealing story-line. At first, knowing Meyers is a Harry Potter fan, while reading the first few chapters I thought to myself, I really hope she wasn't copying concepts from HP, The Hunger Games, etc. (No offense, I'm sorry for judging a book by it's cover!) BUT ITS NOT! It is thoroughly original, with research, accuracy, and creativity. It's appealing to me because it isn't all happy endings. It's a futuristic retelling of a classic. You are routing for the right people in all the right places.

It holds the back bone of Cinderella, but you aren't left feeling like you're about to read a Disney story. The whole series is a futuristic retelling of fairy tales. It has a darker side, slightly graphic with the plague, and mild romance that isn't all rainbows and butterflies like it would be if it were a Disney story. What is kept true is the stepmother and stepsisters, the glass slippers (in this case a prosthetic leg/metal foot), Iko represents the friendly mice, an annual ball, and either Dr. Erland or Cress is the "fairy godmother" (depending on how the reader wants to interpret them I suppose).

To conclude this ramble.... READ THE LUNAR CHRONICLES!!
]]> 38709
It doesn’t take long for Stanley to realize there’s more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. The boys are digging holes because the warden is looking for something. But what could be buried under a dried-up lake? Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment—and redemption.]]> 272 Louis Sachar 0439244196 Taylor C 5 favorites 4.01 1998
author: Louis Sachar
name: Taylor C
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1998
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/03/22
shelves: favorites
review:

]]> 15925 224 Nicholas Sparks 0446696110 Taylor C 5 favorites 4.16 2003
author: Nicholas Sparks
name: Taylor C
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at: 2010/01/01
date added: 2016/03/22
shelves: favorites
review:

]]> 6900
Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded. Wouldn't you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you?

Mitch Albom had that second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man's life. Knowing he was dying of ALS - or motor neurone disease - Mitch visited Morrie in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final 'class': lessons in how to live.]]> 210 Mitch Albom Taylor C 5 favorites 4.19 1997
author: Mitch Albom
name: Taylor C
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/03/22
shelves: favorites
review:

]]> 43641
Beautifully written, Water for Elephants is illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place. It tells a story of a love between two people that overcomes incredible odds in a world in which even love is a luxury that few can afford.]]> 368 Sara Gruen 1565125606 Taylor C 5 favorites 4.11 2006
author: Sara Gruen
name: Taylor C
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/03/18
shelves: favorites
review:

]]> 99561 Before. Miles “Pudge� Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps� even more (Francois Rabelais, poet). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young. She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Then. . . .
After. Nothing is ever the same.]]> 221 John Green 1435249151 Taylor C 5 favorites 3.97 2005
author: John Green
name: Taylor C
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/03/18
shelves: favorites
review:

]]> 65070 houses nodding in the heavy air, being in charge of Miss Hagerty's breakfast tray at her parents' boardinghouse, and drinking lemonade on the porch after supper. Yet this year, it's different -- Hattie's uncle Adam is coming home. Returning from a Chicago school that's just closed and whose existence is kept quiet by adult family members, Adam is a 21-year-old man with a child's mind, having a knack for talking quickly, a savant-like ability for remembering weekdays, and a passion for I Love Lucy. Hattie and Adam wind up spending precious time together -- including a visit to the recently arrived carnival with Hattie's new friend, Leila -- which makes her feel soulfully connected to her uncle, especially when he declares that she's one of the people who can lift the corners of our universe. But when Hattie takes Adam on the Ferris wheel one night, it sets off dramatic events that lead Hattie's family to strengthen its bonds and changes her life's outlook forever.]]> 224 Ann M. Martin 0439771242 Taylor C 5 favorites 4.08 2002
author: Ann M. Martin
name: Taylor C
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2002
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/03/18
shelves: favorites
review:

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