I’ve only ever read 3 books by Patrick Ness before. I liked A Monster Calls but really didn’t like The Rest of Us Just Live Here or Burn. Still, a lot of people seem to really like him. When this happens, I always wonder if I’m missing something. So, when this came up on my library’s online catalogue I decided to give it a go.
I’ve said it plenty of times before but I do worry about super hyped books. I know that everyone was raving about Piranesi when it came out but I still wasn’t ready to give it a chance. After all, I’ve read so many supposedly flawless books that just disappointed me. It didn’t even matter that Susanna Clarke had been nominated for so many literary awards. We all know that’s not always a mark of quality. The Testaments is proof of that. However, I was looking for an audiobook to keep me occupied during work and this one grabbed my eye. Why not try it now?
I’m don’t really read a lot of romance books. Not because I think they’re bad. It’s just not something that I’ve ever been bothered by. When I was younger, I used to say that I was too cynical for rom-coms and the like. Now, I think I’d probably say that there are just a few tropes that I don’t really get along with. Being on Instagram and TikTok, I regularly see people praising enemy-to-lovers narratives and I just don’t get it. It just all seems too ridiculous to me. Why do we need to make love this insanely difficult and life-changing thing? Surely, it’s actually quite a simple thing in reality? I know romance novels are an escape for many but they’re often a step too far for me. Although, I will occasionally make an exception.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy is old. How old? So old that we used to own VHS copies of all of the films. Also, it turns 20 this week. It’s been a while since I last sat down and watched any of films in the trilogy. I used to watch them all the time. Well, I used to repeatedly watch the scenes where Aragorn was a full-on hunk repeatedly. It probably didn’t do the videos any good, so I quickly upgraded to the DVDs. As tomorrow is the official anniversary of the release of The Fellowship of the Ring, I decided that it was a good time to go back to Middle Earth.
Last month, I won an ARC of this book from the Book Network and I was pretty excited. I’m not normally a YA fantasy kind of person but this sounded really interesting. I love fantasy that also situates itself in the real world, so this sounded like it could be perfect for me. Of course, my super busy schedule meant that I didn’t get around to reading it until the end of end of last month and it took me a lot longer to read it than I’d expected. Mostly because I’ve been feeling pretty bad lately. Thankfully, I managed to push through it this weekend and finally got it finished.
There’s nothing like realising that one of your childhood favourites is celebrating its 20th birthday. Talk about being forced to come face-to-face with your rapid aging! I decided to make life even harder by actually rereading the book that I first read 2 decades ago. I’ve been meaning to pick it up for a while actually. I had plans to read it last year before the film adaptation came out. But I didn’t. Then I was going to read it after the film came out so I would be able to compare the two. That never happened either. I think it probably worked out for the best as it means that I can read the first book in Eoin Colfer’s series and watch the Disney+ adaptation during the anniversary year.
In his essay The Death of the Author, Roland Barthes argued that the only way to read a book was to separate it from its author. According to Barthes, authorial context and intent wouldn’t provide insight into the meaning of the text. Instead, it would limit the amount of meaning a reader could take from it. For Barthes, the meaning of a book wasn’t dependent on who the author was but on who the reader is. As we can never really be sure of what an author intended, trying to understand a novel based on who they were as a person would always be flawed. The author, thus, becomes not a God but merely a “scriptor”. They aren’t imposing meaning but merely transcribing the message on paper for the reader to untangle themselves.
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been rewatching the whole of the Game of Thrones TV adaptation. Until season 7 and 8, it was a great reminder of how good a show it was. It’s weird to think now, that it was once one of the greatest shows ever created. It also got me wishing that George RR Martin was ready to release the next instalment in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. I can’t even remember how long ago it was that I read A Dance With Dragons. When the new book eventually comes out, I’m not going to be able to remember a damn thing that happened. Not that I’m complaining. I’d rather he take his time and do it right. If the last two seasons of the show taught us anything, it’s that it isn’t a series you can rush. I’ve often thought about going back and rereading the fifth book but it always seemed like a silly thing to do. My TBR is too big and The Winds of Winter won’t be out for ages anyway. This week I decided to get my George RR Martin fix elsewhere. I’ve tried and failed to read some of his non-ASOIAF books in the past but I just couldn’t get on board with them. So, this time I went for a related book. It’s not actually part of the same world but it’s in the right area.
In my time writing this blog, I have been lucky enough to meet a lot of great new people. I’ve been introduced to some fantastic writers and been given opportunities to read some amazing books. One of the greatest of these new connections has been with Alexis Marie Chute. Back in January 2018, I was given the chance to help reveal the cover of her first novel, Above the Star. Since then, I’ve had the chance to read every book in the series and loved each of them. The final book in the trilogy, Inside the Sun, came out in April. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic caused disruption to the book tour. When Alexis Marie rearranged the tour to be a virtual one, I jumped at the chance to become one of the stops. I sometimes feel a bit uncomfortable recommending books to people because I think it’s quite a personal thing. Our tastes are all so different and I don’t ever like forcing my opinions on people. But, I’m incredibly passionate about this trilogy. If you’re looking for something to start up during quarantine, The 8th Island Trilogy could definitely be the one for you.
Pixar has been responsible for some of the great family films that have ever been released but they have been pretty focused on sequels recently. They haven’t released an original film since 2017’s Coco and that was a massive hit with everyone. So, it’s safe to say that Onward had a lot to live up to. Pixar has never been afraid to experiment with styles and show children the harsh realities of life. Let’s not forget that Inside/Out offered a better analysis of mental health than anyone had before. Unlike Disney, Pixar is always trying to change the game and do something different. Well, they did before they decided to keep going back to the same old characters and do the same old things. Surely Onward was going to be something special. Plus, it stars Chris Pratt and Tom Holland fresh off of their Endgame high. At the very least, it was something to take notice of.
Yipee ki-yay, motherbooker 