BOOK REVIEW | TEACHING MY MOTHER HOW TO GIVE BIRTH BY WARSAN SHIRE

Title: Teaching My Mother How To Give Birth
Author: Warsan Shire
Published: 2011
Language: English
Pages: 37
Rating: 4/5

'Teaching My Mother How To Give Birth' is a poetry collection by Kenyan-born Warsan Shire.

I am really interested in reading more poetry and this was high on my list of poetry I wanted to read. This did not disappoint at all. The poetry was powerful, gripping and beautiful. Some of the poetry I liked more than others, but most I loved.

One of my favorite parts was:

"You are her mother.

Why did you not warn her,

hold her like a rotting boat

and tell her that men will not love her

if she is covered in continents,

if her teeth are small colonies,

if her stomach is an island

if her thighs are borders?

What man wants to lie down

and watch the world burn

in his bedroom?

Your daughter ’s face is a small riot,

her hands are a civil war,

a refugee camp behind each ear,

a body littered with ugly things.

But God,

doesn’t she wear

the world well?"

EXPLANATION

Hi lovely readers!

As you may have noticed, this blog has been lacking some blog posts and the blog posts have been lacking pictures. In this post I quickly want to explain the reason and tell you what you can expect on my blog the coming months!

So the reason that I'm not blogging as regularly as in the summer is because school and internship started again. It is taking loads of my time, and I need to re-enter the circle that is school/work life again. Once I'm back in the rhythm I can almost guarantee there will be more posts, but for now, you'll have to do with a little less. The lacking of photo's, is basically because my camera broke down. Luckily it is at the store at the moment, and they are gonna check if they can fix it (fingers crossed), but that's the reason for no photo's.

From October 15th to October 24th I will be flying to America to go on a cruise and travel to Mexico, Jamaica and Haiti. This means that in that week there will be a even fewer posts. After that I have a busy month filled with loads of tests, and in November hopefully, everything will finally settle and get back in to the regular schedule.

I think that is everything for now. If you have any questions, down below is where you can leave them!

BOOK REVIEW | BOY MEETS BOY BY DAVID LEVITHAN

Title: Boy Meets Boy
Author: David Levithan
Published: 2003
Language: English
Pages: 185
Rating: 3/5


"This is the story of Paul, a sophomore at a high school like no other: The cheerleaders ride Harleys, the homecoming queen used to be a guy named Daryl (she now prefers Infinite Darlene and is also the star quarterback), and the gay-straight alliance was formed to help the straight kids learn how to dance. When Paul meets Noah, he thinks he’s found the one his heart is made for. Until he blows it. The school bookie says the odds are 12-to-1 against him getting Noah back, but Paul’s not giving up without playing his love really loud. His best friend Joni might be drifting away, his other best friend Tony might be dealing with ultra-religious parents, and his ex-boyfriend Kyle might not be going away anytime soon, but sometimes everything needs to fall apart before it can really fit together right."

I wasn't planning to pick this up anytime soon, but when this got chosen as the bookclub pick in one of my bookclubs, I picked it up anyhow. I went into this booking knowing that it contained quite the unrealistic LGBT-utopia, but that didn't matter to me. I just saw this as a light and entertaining read.

And both it was. The LGBT-utopia in this book was as said before, unrealistic. Although it didn't bug me, I can understand why this is a thing that make me people like this book less. For me this was definitely a nice, light read and definitely something I would recommend to pick up, when in a reading slump.

I wasn't to impressed by anything, but overall it was fun to read this. I definitely liked the fact that this is quite a diverse read. 

BOOK REVIEW | DIARY OF AN OXYGEN THIEF BY ANONYMOUS

Title: Diary of an Oxygen Thief
Author: Anonymous
Published: 2006
Language: English
Pages: 151
Rating: 2/5

"Hurt people hurt people. Say Holden Caulfield was an alcoholic and Lolita was a photographer's assistant and somehow they met in Bright Lights Big City. He's blinded by love. She by ambition."

I was intrigued to read this when I saw the first page of this book pass by on Twitter. "I like hurting girls. Mentally, not physically. I never hit a girl in my life. Well, once. But that was a mistake. I'll tell you about it later. The thing is. I got off on it. I really enjoyed it." 

I was so curious about this book, and what it had to offer. I wanted to find out what sort of sick person thought this thing, and the reason behind his feelings. But this book was one disappointment. Our main character was super annoying. Ninety-five percent of the time he was pitying himself, the other five procent he was talking about how much he enjoyed hurting women. 

The only reason that this is a 2-star read instead of a 1-star read is because of the way this book was written. It is a fiction, but I felt like I was reading a non-fiction. I find it really impressive that one can make such a horrible character, and make him feel so real. 

BOOK REVIEW | SAVE ME, KURT COBAIN BY JENNY MANZER

Title: Save Me, Kurt Cobain
Author: Jenny Manzer
Published: 2016
Language: English
Pages: 272
Rating: 3/5


"On a ferry departing Seattle, Nico encounters a slight blond guy with piercing blue eyes wearing a hooded jacket. Something in her heart tells her that this feeling she has might actually be the truth, so she follows him to a remote cabin in the Pacific Northwest. When she is stranded there by a winter storm, fear and darkness collide, and the only one who can save Nico might just be herself. Nico Cavan has been adrift since her mother vanished when she was four—maternal abandonment isn't exactly something you can just get over. Staying invisible at school is how she copes—that and listening to alt music and summoning spirits on the Ouija board with her best friend and co-conspirator in sarcasm, Obe. But when a chance discovery opens a window onto her mom's wild past, it sparks an idea in her brain that takes hold and won't let go."

I was really excited to read this book and actually pre-ordered it way back when it came out in Spring. The reason I was drawn to this book, was as you might guess, Kurt Cobain. When in high school, I also, had a stage where there went no day by, when I wasn't listening to Nirvana - or any other grunge or rock music for that matter.

I always have been interested in him, and have watched some documentaries about him, so when I heard about this book I pre-ordered it. Now that I read it, I can't say that it lived up to my hopes.

I had quite the struggles with our main character Nico(la). In this book she makes a whole bunch of big discussions, and for me as reader, it was very annoying to see that she wasn't thinking about the consequences and feelings of other people. 

What I did like were all the facts about Kurt that were in it. As I mentioned I find him quite interesting and I now know some more facts about him, which I didn't know at first. 

It is not a story I would re-read and I also wouldn't really recommend but you can always give it a go!

BOOK REVIEW | ISLA AND THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER BY STEPHANIE PERKINS

Title: Isla and the Happily Ever After
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Published: 2014
Language: English
Pages: 339
Rating: 4/5


"Hopeless romantic Isla has had a crush on introspective cartoonist Josh since their first year at the School of America in Paris. And after a chance encounter in Manhattan over the summer, romance might be closer than Isla imagined. But as they begin their senior year back in France, Isla and Josh are forced to confront the challenges every young couple must face, including family drama, uncertainty about their college futures, and the very real possibility of being apart. "

Isla and the Happily Ever After is the last in this companion serie consisting of three books, and I definitely liked this one the best. First of all I absolutely adored Isla, I thought she was a lovely and sometimes relatable girl. I also absolutely adored Josh, he was cute and definitely fit in the image of what my imaginary boyfriend would look and act like.

This is in my opinion a typical book for it's genre, and this is not in a negative note at all! It is super cute, fluffy, easy to read and enjoyable!

One thing that did annoy me, is that one point some characters are 'feeling depressed'. I think that this term should have not been used. The way the characters feelings were described, I wouldn't say they were depressed, they were just not feeling to great. I think that when you use a term as depressed you really need to think twice. Are your characters really depressed or are they sad?

Overall I really liked this series, I am definitely planning to re-read them. I think I might pick up Anna and the French Kiss next year, because I read that one already over two years ago.

NEW ON MY WISHLIST | II

BOOK REVIEW | MY LADY JANE BY CYNTHIA HAND, BRODI AHSTON AND JODI MEADOWS

Title: My Lady Jane
Author: Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows
Published: 2016
Language: English
Pages: 491
Rating: 4/5


"Edward (long live the king) is the King of England. He’s also dying, which is inconvenient, as he’s only sixteen and he’d much rather be planning for his first kiss than considering who will inherit his crown. Jane (reads too many books) is Edward’s cousin, and far more interested in books than romance. Unfortunately for Jane, Edward has arranged to marry her off to secure the line of succession. And there’s something a little odd about her intended. Gifford (call him G) is a horse. That is, he’s an Eðian (eth-y-un, for the uninitiated). Every day at dawn he becomes a noble chestnut steed—but then he wakes at dusk with a mouthful of hay. It’s all very undignified."

The storyline hooked me instantly, it sounded fascinating and I was very intrigued to see how the writers had rewritten history. 

The characters we meet are all so lovely, especially our main characters Gifford, Edward and Jane. You almost instantly like them reading the first chapters about them, and grow on them even more as you continue the book. Most of the other side-figures were also lovely! 

The sarcasm and humor that was used in this book was on point. It was used at the right timing, and it had the right amount of it throughout the whole book.

For me the downside was the ending, where the whole book took it's time to build up, I felt like the ending was rushed. Way to rushed, I think for that reason the ending was a lot less action packed and exciting as it could have been.