Book Review: Bummed Out City by Scott Burr

Goodreads

Book: Bummed Out City

Author: Scott Burr

Published September 23rd 2014

Rating: 4/5 stars

I got interested in this book the moment I read the synopsis. I'm very thankful to Artless Dodges Press for giving me the opportunity not only to read and review this book, but also to get to know this book. I would probably not have contact with this work otherwise. Thank you, and sorry for taking me so long to get to reading it.

It may have taken me long to pick up the book and start reading it, but when I did pick it up I read it in one sitting. I couldn't put it down before I finished it. 

The book tells the story of David, a struggling author. David had many dreams. None of them came true. His book are still not a success. More than that, he cannot find a single publisher that would accept to publish them. I thought this discussion, of life not being able to keep up with one's expactations and dreams, to be really interesting and poignant. We have all those dreams and images of what the future will be like and, most of the times, none of these dreams come true. David took it really badly, which is what leads to all his problems.

I David as a main character. He is completely annoying and self-centered. And, because of his selfishness and self-centeredness, he was a totally unreliable narrator. We could see he was trying his best to make us understand his suffering and problems and see the others as 'enemies' of his progress. And we could see him trying and failing to do so. 

I didn't think this book was plotless. I believe the mundane tasks were essential to understand David as a character and what he was trying to accomplish. 

As for the ending, I really liked it. I felt it fit with the general mood of the story, making it all raw and powerful, I think any other ending would have made the story a disservice and would not have rung as true. 

Book Review: Stolen: a letter to my captor by Lucy Christopher

Goodreads

Book: Stolen

Author: Lucy Christopher

Published May 4th 2009

Rating: 4/5 stars

The first thing I need to say is: I was not expecting to like this book at all. Don't take me wrong, it was nothing against the book itself, it just didn't sound like something I would enjoy. 
I was wrong. I liked it better than I ever thought I would. However, I didn't love it. I had problems with some aspects of the book, but I think I liked more things than I disliked, hence the rating. 

- The plot: Gemma is kidnapped from the airport of Bangkok and taken to the Australian Outback. There, she has to live with her kidnapper and try her best to survive and escape. That is it. That's the plot. The entire book is Gemma trying to deal with being stolen and taken away from any form of civilization and dealing with her feelings (bad and good) for her captor. 

I had no problems with the plot. I liked it. I liked how things took place, how the writing connected to the emotions of the narrator (who is writing a letter to her captor) and how the setting seemed to match the main character's feelings. 
Let me explain this last part: the descriptions of the place matched the emotional state of the narrator. If she was feeling angry, sad, or depressed, everything was desolated, far away, an open cage, a prison; if she was feeling happy, the land, even though desolated, was beautiful and full of hidden life. Many authors forget that how we see our surroundings is connected to how we are feeling. Christopher didn't. The language was appropriate to every situation. I really liked it. 

- The characters:

*Gemma: I think Gemma was pretty well written. Her feelings sounded believable and completely possible. She had many layers to herself and always fought to what she believed was right.

*Ty: Now Ty was the one I had problems with. Not because of what he did, because if the hadn't kidnapped Gemma there would be no book. But because he was.... not exactly what he was supposed to be. I felt he didn't fill in the role he was supposed to fill. He was too... dreamy. That's what he felt to me: a dream. It might be what the author meant: if you look back you don't see the facts how they really went, but how you, at the present, see them. And it is a different perspective. But Ty felt too unreal to me. I couldn't understand his motivations. I couldn't understand him as a character. And that was my biggest issue with this book.

- The setting: It was perfect. It felt like a living thing, another character. I could perfectly imagine the place, the driness of the desert, etc. It was the best setting for what the author attempt, mainly because it made the two characters closer, made escape near impossible and contributed to the mood of the whole book. 

Overall, a nicely written book with a somewhat bittersweet ending.

My Month in Books

January was a very good reading month. I decided that, since I will be facing the unknown that is grad school from March on, I would read as much as I could in January and February and try to make a dent on my to-read list. So, I ended up reading 17 books this month.

For this post, I would like to talk a little bit about the books I read, the challenges I participated in, and anything else book related for the month of January!

My posts

I posted a lot of pictures of my reading this month through Instagram (you can find me HERE if you are interested). I sincerely regret not joining Instagram sooner. It is a very practical way of posting pictures, updating my reading status, and finding new bookish people.

Treesofreverie Read-A-Thon

It was so hot that I had to have a glass of water at hand to be able to participate in the reading sprints :)

I participated in the 72h read-a-thon for this month, hosted by the amazing Sarha at treesofreverie.
I read two books - Heat Rises by 'Richard Castle' and Stolen by Lucy Christopher - and started reading Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.

I considered it to be a very successful read-a-thon and, taking into account how hot is was where I am, I kept a good reading pace and also managed to participate in several of the reading sprintas! I am really looking forward to other read-a-thons in the future! They are just so much fun!


2015 Book Genre Challenge

I also participated in the 2015 book genre challenge. If you don't know what that is just click HERE to get informed and/or join the fun!
The genre of the month was Fantasy, so I read two books: Finnkin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta and The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima.


Reviews

Sadly, I only wrote one review in January, and that was my review of Ender's Game and you can find it HERE.

Last, but no least, a list of the books read this month and their ratings!

1. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (4 stars)
2. The Prisoner of Heaven (Cemetary of Forgotten Books #3) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (3 stars)
3. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (5 stars)
4. Finnikin of the Rock (The Lumatere Chronicles #1) By Melina Marchetta (4 stars)
5. The Shadow in the Norht (Sally Lockhart #2) by Philip Pullman (4 stars)
6. The Hollow by Agatha Christie (3 stars)
7. The Demon King (Seven Realms #1) by Cinda Williams Chima (2 stars)
8. Elephants can Remember by Agatha Christie (2 stars)
9. Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie (4 stars)
10. The Monogram Murders (Hercule Poirot pastiche) by Sophie Hannah (2 stars)
11. Heat Wave (Nikki Heat #1) by Richard Castle (2 stars)
12. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (5 stars)
13. Naked Heat (Nikki Heat #2) by Richard Castle (3 stars)
14. The Incredible Hul: Planet Hulk Part 2 (3 stars)
15. Heat Rises (Nikki Heat #3 by Richard Castle (3 stars)
16. Stolen by Lucy Christopher (4 stars)
17. Uglies (Uglies #1) by Scott Westerfeld (2 stars)

How did you do this month? How many books did you read? Did you participate in any challenges? Let me know in the comments!!!