May Wrap Up…

Welcome to my May Wrap Up. I had a great reading month, finishing 9 books (5 books off my TBR). I also received 8 ARC’s this month, and I continued my new goal of reading 1 Shakespeare play, as well as 10 Brother’s Grimm fairy-tales.

I have reviews up or coming up for these books so as usual this is just going to be a brief run down on each book I read.

Without further ado, let’s get into my May Wrap Up..

Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales by The Brother’s Grimm: I am so glad I finally finished this book. It has taken me a while but it was so worth it. I loved pretty much all the tales in this book and the illustrations were creepy and awesome. The perfect addition to my collection.

Cape May by Chip Cheek: I really wanted to love this book but something about it just didn’t work for me. I didn’t really care for any of the characters, and there conversations and behaviour just annoyed me, making it hard for me to care about what was going on with the story.

Fing by David Walliams: This book was fantastic. I am a massive fan of David Walliams’ books and this one did not disappoint. The partnership between David Walliams and Tony Ross is a match made in heaven. I don’t have a bad word to say about this book.

Fashionista by Maxine Beneba Clarke: I don’t really know what to say about this book. It didn’t really do anything for me. Some of the illustrations were really creative but other than that I didn’t really take anything away from it.

This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp: This book was amazing. I was hooked from the first page and I could not put it down. I loved the way the story was written, I loved the characters and I really felt what was happening every minute of the story. An absolute must read.

Mama’s Boy by Dustin Lance Black: This was an amazing and powerful memoir. I laughed, I cried and I finished this book with hope for a better future. I am so glad that I read this book and I honestly believe we could all learn something from it. This book is a must read for everyone.

Think Big by Kes Gray and Nathan Reed: This book was wonderful. The story was sweet and fun and the illustrations were fantastic. I can see this becoming a must loved bedtimes story for young readers and their families.

Blood River by Tony Cavanaugh: This book was awesome. I love a crime book that keeps me on the edge of my seat. This book was so perfectly written. The story was interesting, the characters were great and the setting was perfect. I loved the twists and turns and I really loved that it was able to surprise me. So glad that I read this book.

Allegra In Three Parts by Suzanne Daniel: I loved this book. The story was interesting, the writing was beautiful and I adored the characters. I am so glad I read this book. A great book to end the month on.

Shakespeare: I read 1 Shakespeare play in May. I read the following Shakespeare Play This Month:

The Second Part Of King Henry The Fourth

Brother’s Grimm: I am happy to say that I have now completed the Complete Works of The Brother’s Grimm. I read the following 16 Tales in order to complete the collection this month:

The Devil And His Grandmother

The Grave Mound

Old Sultan

The Three Aprentices

Doctor Knowall

The Blue Light

The Three Army-Surgeons

The Spirit In The Bottle

The Three Sons Of Fortune

The Cunning Little Tailor

The Fisherman And His Wife

The Riddle

The Beam

The Goose-Girl

St Joseph In the Forest

The Rose

That’s it for my May Wrap Up. I hope you all had a great reading month. Let me know what you guys read this month in the comments section.

Until my June Wrap Up…

Happy Reading…

❤ Gem

Taylor Swift Book Tag…

Welcome one and all to another Wacky Wednesday post. Today I am partaking in the Taylor Swift Book Tag. I hope you all enjoy this quick little tag.

So without further ado, lets jump straight in:

 

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together!

Pick a book or series that you were pretty sure you were in love with, but then wanted to break up with.

The Southern Vampire series by Charlaine Harris

Red!

Pick a book with a RED cover

Simon vs The Homosapien Agenda by Becky Albertalli

The Best Day!

Pick a book that makes you feel nostalgic

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Love Story!

Pick a book with forbidden love

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

I Knew You Were Trouble!

Pick a book with a bad character you couldn’t help but love

AIDEN – The Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Innocent!

Pick a book that someone ruined the ending for

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Everything Has Changed!

Pick a character from a book who goes through extensive character development

Harry Potter and most of the characters from the Harry Potter series

You Belong With Me!

Pick your most anticipated book release

Capturing The Devil by Kerri Maniscalco

Forever and Always!

Pick your favorite book couple

Landon and Jamie – A Walk To Remember by Nicolas Sparks

Come Back, Be Here!

Pick the book you would least like to lend out, for fear of missing it too much

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Teardrops On My Guitar!

Pick a book that made you cry a lot

Where Is Daniel? by Bruce and Denise Morcombe

Shake It Off!

Pick a book that you love so much, you just shake off the haters

The Selection series by Kiera Cass

Out Of The Woods!

Pick a book couple that is so frustrating because you just need them to be together already

Rose and Demitri – Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead

 

Well that’s it for me. I hope you guys enjoyed this tag. As usual, hit me up with your answers in the comment section.

Until next time…

Happy Reading…

❤ Gem

Blood River by Tony Cavanaugh

‘Brisbane 1999. It’s hot. Stormy. Dangerous. The waters of the Brisbane River are rising. The rains won’t stop. People’s nerves are on edge. And then . . .
A body is found.
And then another.
And another.

A string of seemingly ritualized but gruesome murders. All the victims are men. Affluent. Guys with nice houses, wives and kids at private schools. All have had their throats cut. Tabloid headlines shout, THE VAMPIRE KILLER STRIKES AGAIN!

Detective Constable Lara Ocean knows the look. The ‘my-life-will-never-be-the-same-again look’. She’s seen it too many times on too many faces. Telling a wife her husband won’t be coming home. Ever again. Telling her the brutal way he was murdered. That’s a look you never get used to.

Telling a mother you need her daughter to come to the station for questioning. That’s another look she doesn’t want to see again.

And staring into the eyes of a murderer, yet doubting you’ve got it right. That’s the worst look of all – the one you see in the mirror. Get it right, you’re a hero and the city is a safer place. Get it wrong and you destroy a life. And a killer remains free. Twenty years down the track, Lara Ocean will know the truth.’

This book was amazing.

I was not expect to love this book as much as I did. I am usually not a fan of Crime stories, as I am usually able to predict what s going to happen, but this book kept me on edge and genuinely surprised me.

I loved the fact that this book took place over 20 years. This allowed us to see the characters grow and change over that time. The characters in this book were amazing. They we relatable and that made it easy to connect with them.

The crime aspect of this book was also really realistic. Seeing it all play out made for a really interesting reading experience.

Tony Cavanaugh did a fantastic job with this book. I was captivated from the first page and I found myself on the edge of my seat as the story unfolded. There wasn’t a dull moment in this book.

If you are a crime fan or you are looking for a really compelling reading experience, this is the book for you.

Blood River by Tony Cavanaugh will take you on a journey filled with twists and turns.

Good Will In Business!

Now I don’t own a business, but it is my belief that cultivating good will with your customers is the best way to succeed, especially with a small food based business.

Let’s say you buy a popular, successful cafe in a small town, you obviously want it to stay successful. So why would you do anything that is going to alienate your customers and risk losing business.

Well apparently good will means nothing to say people.

A cafe, in a small town was purchased late last year from the family that had built it into a much-loved, and popular business and now the new owners seem hell-bent on running it into the ground.

Now this cafe was family owned and run since it opened and people would drive out of their way to stop in and have something to eat. So it was a great investment for the new owners.

The new owners have no prior business experience so they wanted some of the previous owners to stay on, which suited them fine as not all of them were ready to retire. Over the following months the previous owners went out of their way to help the new owners adjust. From organising orders, rosters and even going but after the cafe had closed to tally the days takings.

The Summer is prime time for this town, so having the previous owners and employees there was a godsend to the new owners and everything was working out fine. Once the holidays ended some of the old employees were let go to make way for the new owners family.

As new employees came into the fold things started to change. The quality of the food went down, and one of the previous owners spotted the new owners selling stale and out of date food. When she questioned the new owners on it, she and all of the remaining original staff and owners bar one were fired.

The asked one of the old owners to stay as they sill hadn’t bothered to learn how to run parts of the business yet, she said no, as the employees that were fired were her daughter, twin sister and friends.

In fact the new owners just asked her if she would come back for a month as their daughter is going overseas and they can’t get anyone to come and work for them while she is away.

I mean, come on, are you serious. You buy a much-loved business in a small town, use its previous owners and employee to get you through the busy season, start compromising on the quality of your product and then fire the remaining owners and employees and then expect help now that you are running your business into the ground.

This whole situation makes no sense to me. Who buys a business in a small town, only to shit on its previous owners, employees and customers. Small towns operate on good will and if you throw that away, you wont be getting it back.

I am sad to see one of the best places I have ever eaten and worked at suffer like this, and I am saddened by the thought that if the new owners keep going the way they currently are, the business wont stay afloat much longer.

All I know is I wont be a patron of this cafe any more. It is no longer the cafe I know and love, and its time for me to close the chapter on it.

~>GEM<~

 

Mama’s Boy by Dustin Lance Black

‘Dustin Lance Black wrote the Oscar-winning screenplay for Milkand helped overturn California’s anti-gay marriage Proposition 8, but as an LGBTQ+ activist he has unlikely origins. Raised in a military, Mormon household outside San Antonio, Texas, Black always found inspiration in his plucky, determined mother.

Having contracted polio as a small girl, she endured leg braces and iron lungs, and was repeatedly told that she could never have children or live a normal life. Defying expectations, she raised Black and his two brothers, built a career, escaped two abusive husbands, and eventually moved the family to a new life in Northern California.

While Black struggled to come to terms with his sexuality–something antithetical to his mother’s religious views–she remained his source of strength and his guiding light. Later, she would stand by his side when he helped bring the historic gay marriage case to the U.S. Supreme Court.’

This book was amazing.

I honestly don’t know if I have enough words to describe how wonderful this book was. This candid memoir celebrates the spirit if optimism as well as being a beautiful tribute to a mother that taught him how to persevere.

Dustin Lance Black did a fantastic job with this book. I found myself deeply moved by his vivid story telling. I laughed, I cried and I finished this book feeling hopeful about the future.

Not only does this memoir cover Dustin’s life and achievements, but it celebrates the love and connections between family and community.

I truly believe that everyone can learn something from this story. I know that I did. This is one of those rare memoirs that makes you look at your own life and your own choices and ask yourself how you can be the change you want to see in the world.

Mama’s Boy by Dustin Lance Black is a powerful and moving memoir that will stay with you long after the final page.

Book Adaptation Tag…

Welcome one and all to another Wacky Wednesday post. Today I am partaking in the Book Adaptation Tag. I hope you all enjoy this quick little tag.

So without further ado, lets jump straight in:

What is the last book adaptation movie you saw?

Wonder

What book movie are you most excited for?

Ashes In The Snow

Which book movie would you NEVER watch again?

The Da Vinci Code

Is there a movie you saw that made you want to read the book, if you hadn’t yet?

Not that I can think of.

Have you ever left the theater during a movie adaptation because it was so bad?

Nope.

Do you prefer to watch the movie first or read the book first?

Read the book.

How do you feel about movie adaptations that age characters up? (ex. characters that are in middle-school, but in the movies they’re all 18). 

I guess it depends on the subject matter and how attached I am to the characters.

Do you get angry when the actors don’t look like you thought the characters looked?

If I really loved the characters, yes I do.

Is there a movie you liked better than its book?

A Walk To Remember

Name a book that you would love to see as a movie.

Secrets Between Friends by Fiona Palmer

Well that’s it for me. I hope you guys enjoyed this tag. As usual, hit me up with your answers in the comment section.

Until next time…

Happy Reading…

❤ Gem

Fing by David Walliams

‘Meet the Meeks!

Myrtle Meek has everything she could possibly want. But everything isn’t enough. She wants more, more, MORE! When Myrtle declares she wants a FING, there’s only one problem… What is a FING?

Mr and Mrs Meek will do anything to keep their darling daughter happy, even visit the spooky library vaults to delve into the dusty pages of the mysterious Monsterpedia. Their desperate quest leads to the depths of the jungliest jungle where the rarest creatures can be found. But will they ever find a FING?’

This book was wonderful.

David Walliams has done it again. I am a massive fan of David Walliams’ books so I was very excited to get my hands on this book and let me tell you, it didn’t disappoint.

David Walliams’ trademark quirkiness and naughtiness was perfectly displayed in this book leading to many genuine laugh out loud moments.

Tony Ross’ illustrations once again add an extra layer to David Walliams’ amazing story. This collaboration really is a joy to experience.

There is no question that David Walliams’ is a master story teller and his books are perfect for young readers and their families to enjoy together.

Fing by David Walliams is a must have for all young readers.

Election Take Two!

Why do I feel like I just wrote about the Election?

Oh that’s right, because I did!

The last Election post I wrote was about the State Election in New South Wales, whereas yesterday’s Election was the Federal Election. There is no difference in the voting process, so I’m not even going to bother writing about it again.

I am so over politics at the moment. Having two elections this year means that we have been flooded with politics all year.

I am so sick of seeing and hearing about politics. The lead up to this Federal Election has been much worse than the lead up to the State Election.

The posters have been everywhere, texts, phone calls and letters from candidates wanting me to vote for them. Advertising campaigns on the TV and Radio, with ads even appearing on Social Media and YouTube.

I am over it.

I am glad that the Election is finally over. Politics is always going to make the news, and I like knowing what’s going on in my country, but the amount of Politics we have had to deal with this year had been exhausting,

I am looking forward to actually seeing Politicians get stuff done instead of talking about what they are going to do.

I guess we will just have to wait and see if that actually happens.

~>GEM<~

This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

’10:00 a.m. The principal of Opportunity High School finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.

10:02 a.m. The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.

10:03 a.m. The auditorium doors won’t open.

10:05 a.m. Someone starts shooting.

Told from four different perspectives over the span of fifty-four harrowing minutes, terror reigns as one student’s calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival.’

This book was captivating.

I honestly didn’t expect this book to get to me as much as it did. Being an Australian I don’t have any experience with School Shootings so I was really interested in reading this book. I didn’t however realize just how moved I was going to be by it.

I am not usually a fan of books being told from multiple points of view, but for this book not only did it work, I think it actually enhanced the story.

I loved the fact the the story was told over the 45 minutes that the shooting took place and that the characters were all in different parts of the school, these elements really added an urgency to the story and an extra layer of panic, fear and frustration.

Have the story told from four points of view meant that we didn’t only get to know and experience this event with the four characters but also with their friends and people close in area to them whilst the shooting was taking place.

The characters that were did get to spend the most time with were so relatable and the emotional connection between the reader and the characters was completely solid and establish from the first shot.

Marieke Nijkamp did a fantastic job with this book. I honestly don’t have a bad word to say about it. I will definitely be reading it again in the future and I truly believe everyone should read this book at least once in their life.

This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp is a must read book for everyone.

Books I’ll Probably Never Read Tag

Welcome one and all to another Wacky Wednesday post. Today I have decided to do the Books I’ll Probably Never Read Tag. I have been putting this tag off for a while, as I don’t like to think about books I wont get to read, it makes me sad. Anyway I guess today is the day.

So without further ado, Lets jump right in:

A Really Hyped Book You’re Not Interested in Reading?

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

A Series You Won’t Start/Won’t Be Finishing?

The Luna Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

A Classic That You’re Just Not Interested In?

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Any Genres You’ve Never Read?

I try to stay away from high fantasy and political fiction

A Book On Your Shelves You’ll Probably Never Actually Read?

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Well that’s it for me. I hope you guys enjoyed this tag. As usual, hit me up with your answers in the comment section.

Until next time…

Happy Reading…

❤ Gem