Behold my shame, I’m failing my own challenge!! It’s July and I’ve only read 3/12 books from my bucket list. Shame, shame, shame! How have your bucket lists been going? Better than mine I hope.

For those not familiar with the challenge – as part of our Book Bucket List Challenge, I’m aiming to read 12 books which aren’t part of my normal review pile that I’ve been meaning to get to for a while. For more information or to sign up, click here

Book: Animal Farm by George Orwell

Pages: 113

Publication Date: 1945

Publisher: Penguin

Rating: :

Why did you include it in your Book Bucket List?: Animal Farm is one of those classic books that you always hear people mention and seem to feel it’s an important book to read so I thought I’d see what all the fuss was about.

Was it worth it?: Yes.

Brief Thoughts: Though I was really wanting to read this book I was a bit worried that my knowledge of modern history, particularly on Russian/European politics was a bit too limited to fully appreciate the message of the story. However, when you think less about what everything is supposed to be a metaphor for and just take in the story, there’s still a really strong message about society, humanity and how power can corrupt.

The last paragraph really stood out for me and as I finished it I just thought “wow”.

Would you recommend it?: Definitely. I can see now why people consider it to be such an important text. Those who are history buffs, will really enjoy this one and probably understand all the hidden meanings. For those who like me generally shy away from classics, you’ll have no problem at all with this one. It doesn’t have that complicated feel that other classics do as far as the language is concerned – the complexity is in the story.

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Want to share your bucket list review? Leave a link in the comments!

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren, inspired by Alea and explores the contents of our mailbox on a weekly basis

My mailbox this week was full of all sorts of pretty covers

For Review:

Darkness Falls by Cate Tiernan
Act of Faith by Kelly Gardiner
Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

They each look really great. I hadn’t heard much about Glow till quite recently but there seems to be a lot of excitement about it. I’m also really keen on reading the Immortal Beloved series (Darkness Falls is book 2), I’ve read Cate Tiernan’s Sweep/Wicca series and LOVED it (hello Hunter fans!!) – for those who have started the series, what do you think? That’s all for this week, happy reading!

You should never judge a book by its cover.

Sure….but they never said we couldn’t admire them. Cover of the Week pays homage to the beautiful and eye catching graphics that grace the covers of our young adult titles.

This week’s cover of the week goes to Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Release Date: October 2011

Hey Mortal Instruments fans…

Till now the only way you could get your hands on a copy of the letter Jace left Clary at the end of City of Glass was to purchase a copy of City of Fallen Angels from retailers who had the exclusive rights. Till now!

The letter is now available to view online on TMI Source and the excitement even managed to crash the site yesterday. It’s back up and running and available for your viewing pleasure here……enjoy!

“One choice decides your friends, defines, your beliefs and determines your loyalties…forever.

When sixteen-year-old Tris makes her choice, she cannot forsee how drastically her life will change. Or that the perfect society in which she lives is about to unfold into a dystopian world of electrifying decisions, stunning consequences, heartbreaking betrayals and unexpected romance.”

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You know what feels awesome? After receiving a book and skimming over other’s many positive reviews on it, glaring at them suspiciously and thinking “you guys better be right”, finding that they totally were. Which was the case with Veronica Roth’s debut, Divergent.

You know what else is awesome? A really, fat book. When it comes to books, for me the fatter the better. I’m the kind of person who’d dance in a book store singing “I like big books and I cannot lie….” to the tune of Sir Mix A Lot’s “I Like Big Butts”, because when a book is good, you want it to last. This is also the case with Divergent.

If those two facts weren’t reason enough for you to be lacing up your shoes and heading out to buy a copy I’ll explain a little more why I liked it so much….

The world Tris has grown up in the past sixteen years has been designed for one reason – to create a peaceful society. This society has been split into five different factions and at sixteen years old everyone makes a choice – stay in your faction, or switch. Tris struggles with the decision – does she stay in with her family in the same faction where she doesn’t quite fit in or do the unthinkable, become a transfer.

So often I heard Divergent being compared to books such as The Hunger Games, which for those who have read it would know that’s a big statement to make. I would agree with them though and say that even though it had certain similar elements – a strong lead, a dystopian society, plenty of action and amazing writing, I in no way felt that it was a rip off or too similar to The Hunger Games, it felt totally original. At times it also reminded me of Vampire Academy, but again, it was not a copy.

Veronica Roth does an amazing job of building up the world and setting in Divergent but also has such incredible and dynamic characters, where even the villains were fascinating to read about. There’s really not much I can fault this book on, it was heart stopping, compelling and thrilling, I was completely absorbed.

I guess if I were to nitpick the only problem I had was that each candidate seemed to learn to fight with great skill very quickly, when we only saw not much technique being taught to them before putting those skills into practice. But again, I’m nitpicking. The rest? Totally awesome, especially the last few pages.

For those wondering, yes, there’s a romance in there too. It’s not the main point of the book, but there’s enough of it to make us softies happy. I’m also happy to report that Divergent is a love triangle free zone.

After turning over the last page and knowing it was over I was filled with that familiar sense of dread when I thought about how long I would have to wait to find out what happens next. Too long.

Divergent has the perfect mix of a kick ass story, an awesome lead, a flawed society, adventure, lurrrve and plain freaking awesomeness.

Pages: 487
Publication Date: May 2011
Publisher: Harper Collins
Challenge: Debut Author
Rating: :

Teaser Quote: “Four flips the gun in this hand, presses the barrel to Peter’s forehead, and clicks a bullet into place. Peter freezes with his lips parted, the yawn dead in his mouth. “Wake. Up,” Four snaps. “You are holding a loaded gun, you Idiot. Act like it.”