A Boy and a Bear in a Boat: Review

Another book on my Carnegie 2013 hitlist is A Boy and a Bear in a Boat by Dave Shelton.

This is the fifth of the 2013 Carnegie books which I have read and is another good read. Nowhere near as impressive as Wonder or as thought provoking as The Weight of Water but it was, for reasons which I can’t quite fathom yet, unputdownable.

Premise

The books follows Boy and Bear (yes that is what they are called) and their adventure (if one can call it that) in a small wooden boat. Got it? Yeah, you found that much out from the title, I know.

At the opening Boy is boarding the boat on his way to… well… erm… I don’t actually know where.

Let’s just skip the premise shall we… read the title… that’s enough of a premise.

What’s good about it?

The experience.

It doesn’t have crazy cliff hangers or heart pumping action but it makes you really care about these characters. The relationship between the characters is what drives the novel and I think that anyone reading this will be able to see a relationship of their own mirrored in that of the main characters.

This book celebrates the moment and has a great feeling of positivity surrounding it. It is great for younger children as it teaches them about sharing, forgiving, being resilient to setbacks. These are messages proliferated in the old bed times stories but which are perhaps forgotten in much modern children’s literature. It is a story about the journey.

It is also good for adults. It allows us to have a chuckle at the smaller things in life. The disagreements, the delays, the hiccups along the way.

 

What turned me off?

The problem with this book is that you are sometimes left wondering what the point of it is. It sort of feels like it’s been written without a point and that it’s reminding you of things which you already knew but just hadn’t thought about in a while. I suppose that could be a good thing though – the book is making us stop and smell the roses.

I’m not quite sure who this book really is aimed at. The title and the cover won’t really appeal to adults and it’ rather a fat book for a struggling reader to attempt. I get the feeling that children will turn their noses up at the book for being too childish but young children won’t manage it on their own.

Who is it for then?

I think the ideal audience for this book are parents who read to their children. That’s all parents right? PLEASE tell me that’s all parents. Perhaps if you don’t read to your children this is a place where you could start?

A fun journey and a sweet and touching portrait of two friends. Probably not one to qualify for a second reading though.

 

 

When did ‘Predictable’ become a dirty word?

I’m currently reading ‘On The Road’ by Jack Kerouac. I was having a little break from reading and unloading the washing machine. As I draped my dresses over the drying rack I was thinking about the genre of the book – road trips. It’s obviously described as being a fairly revolutionary book and one which “characterised the Beat generation”.

So there’s me thinking about how, even only 50 pages in, I’m rather enjoying the book so far and that perhaps road trip books are something I should think about reading more often. I then thought about the only other road trip book I’ve read in the past year (probably longer) which was ‘Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour’ and another thought came tootling into my head.

I bet most people would describe ‘Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour’ as being trashy and predictable, wouldn’t it be funny if I went around saying it’s better than Jack Kerouac’s ‘On The Road’… ha, yeah, I could annoy SO many people by saying that. Lol.

Obviously this was a rather mundane thought which briefly grazed the pink mush in my head. But it led me to a more interesting thought – why are people SO down on ‘Predictable’?

Predictable Holidays

Everywhere I look these days there is someone on a far flung ‘trip-of-a-lifetime’ to a destination chosen because it was the one they could afford to go to that the least of their friends had already visited. No-one wants to go on a ‘predictable’ holiday these days. Despite the fact that somewhere which is popular is probably popular for a good reason, young guns of the 21st century shun the ‘predictable’ fun. I blame facebook.

Predictable Jobs

Films, books, conversation – everywhere you turn ‘predictable’ jobs are being rubbished. Take Thomas Anderson (aka Neo) from the Matrix… I mean, ok so it all worked out pretty awesomely as a film but why was he SO sad about his predictable job? Sure, he was bored shitless but that’s probably just because he was a boring person. No job is boring unless you make it boring.

Predictable Entertainment

Books and films are the worst offenders here. Or at least the snooty critics who poohpooh ‘predictable’ are. Why is it so bad for a book to be predictable? Do we always have to be surprised? Does something always have to be new? Can anything really be new anymore anyway or do we just repackage forgotten things as new and hope that no-one notices?

So this is my question to anyone who has an answer. When did ‘predictable’ become a bad thing?

SOMETIMES I LIKE PREDICTABLE OK? Can I say that I like ‘predictable’ or is it just too unpredictable for the world to imagine? Who knows?

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY (FCBD)

Wow! This is amazing and I just had to share.

What a brilliant idea – free comic books on the first Saturday in May. Great way to start the summer!

 

http://www.freecomicbookday.com/Home/1/1/27/992

247 Tales is back with a bang!

Reblogged from 247 Tales:

The competition kicks off again today with a fantastic Monster theme, spearheaded by the brilliant Jon Mayhew.

Who's Jon Mayhew? Visit our Author page to find out!

Check out Jon Mayhew's story below and his Month of Monsters for inspiration, our rules page for competition guidelines and our facebook page to discuss your ideas.

Read more… 2 more words

One Hundred Names by Cecelia Ahern

 

Having never read any of Cecilia Ahern’s books I was unsure what to expect from this one. I must say that from the cover and the blurb, I expected something a little more sombre than I got.

The premise is this:
Both Kitty Logan’s career and personal life are in somewhat of a pickle. She is a go getting journalist who went and got her most recent story a little too fervently and when it all backfired she was left questioning not only her professional prowess but also her personal morals.
When her beloved boss dies and leaves Kitty a mysterious story to uncover, she has no option but to put her all into it and to try and uncover a part of herself which got lost somewhere on the road to journalistic glory.

What did I like?
The story introduces a brilliant range of really loveable and intriguing characters and their ordinary lives become extraordinary when put under Kitty’s lens. In the first half of the book, as Kitty tries to unravel the story reach its heart we are pulled along with her. While not an instantly likeable character, Kitty’s desperation and situation are quite real. Not every real life person is a saint and Kitty’s mistakes have been laid bare for all to see. This leads us to have sympathy with her and to identify with her on a human level.

What didn’t I like?
For me, this book didn’t ever really reach a satisfying climax, or even try to build to one. Just when the book felt like it was starting to rev up, Ahern takes her foot off the accelerator and the vehicle just drifts slowly to a halt. There is no urgency at the end of the book and while the ensemble cast is likeable, none of them get enough page space to really make it count
There were hints of romance in the book but these were unexplored, the back story of each character was left hanging without a conclusion. The message of the book seemed to be that ordinary people’s lives can make extraordinary stories, however the extraordinary stories in this novel never materialised.

I wanted this book to be enjoyable. It had a fantastic premise. Unfortunately, I just wasn’t gripped at all by the stories and at times it seemed like a chore to continue reading. Nothing in this book was terrible but nothing jumped out and made me want to turn the page either. This could have been because there were just too many things going on and that none of the relationships seemed to really move anywhere – definitely nowhere unexpected.

Divergent Begins Filming

I’m sure that, like me, many of you LOVED Veronica Roth’s Divergent and are hoping that the next book in the installment lives up to the promise of the first. Personally I wasn’t as impressed with Insurgent (the second in the trilogy) but I still have high hopes for the final installment.

Roth must feel pretty stressed out right now! I mean, a movie trilogy has already begun filming and the final book isn’t even written. I am crossing fingers that this movie series will live up the the first book but I must admit I do have my doubts although I was given hope when I found out that Kate Winslet has joined the cast as Jeanine.

If you’re interested in finding out who will be staring in the film, check out the information here:

DIVERGENT MOVIE INFO

Wonder: Book Review

Overview and Plot summary

(I’ll try to keep spoilers to a minimum but tread lightly)

Book details: Wonder is written by R. J. Palacio - http://rjpalacio.com/

This is her first novel and it an absolute corker!

Book Cover:

 

 

Protagonist: August

August is a totally normal and pretty cool kid. He ‘s clever, he has a pet dog, he enjoys having a laugh with his friends. Oh yeah, and he was born with a severe facial disfigurement which means that wherever he goes he gets stared at.

Up until now August has been home schooled by his mum. He doesn’t want to go to school. He doesn’t need school. He doesn’t need the other kids staring at him and he definitely doesn’t need pity. Wonder follows August’s first year in middle school: he has to navigate the lunch room; he doesn’t know who is a genuine friend an who isn’t; the parents of other pupils act like, well snobby old gits. The book tracks how Auggie copes with this new environment and considers life from his point of view.

What’s good about it?

Obviously a book from the p.o.v. of someone like Auggie is always going to be thought-provoking and fascinating. Especially for a teacher. What I really loved was the honesty of the characters. I particularly liked the telling of the peripheral characters who unknowingly shape Auggie’s life. His sister, Via, has her own difficulties brought on by having Auggie for a brother. Of course the concept of a child struggling with a disfigurement makes us go “Oh, how horrid”, “Poor kid”, “Imagine having to go through all that”, “If only people could see beyond it”… Well, the fact is that many people don’t see beyond these things and there are thousands of people in the world living lives like Auggie’s.

This book doesn’t attack the strange looks or whispers that Auggie receives. Auggie doesn’t always assume that these people are being mean which most of them probably aren’t. The fact is that people are intrigued and fascinated by anything different. The great thing is that the people in the book don’t pretend Auggie’s disfigurement isn’t there, they look, stare, think then get over it. They embrace it and that’s great.

This boo is also HILARIOUS! Auggie is one of the most loveable characters I have come across in years. His friends Summer and Jack are also very loveable and down-to-earth. Palacio has certainly crafted her characters with love and care.

What’s missing?

Honestly, not a lot. Well, nothing. I finished this book feeling great. It has an uplifting and hopeful ending and whilst it is heart-warming, it is also funny and managed to steer clear of cheese.

Not a bad word to say!

Read this if you liked…

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

Stuck in Neutral - Terry Trueman

Stargirl - Jerry Spinelli