WWW Wednesdays #6

What are you currently reading?                             Right now I'm reading The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen (finally!). I can't wait, as I've been hearing many good thing about this book *taps nose*.

What did you recently finish reading?                        I just finished reading Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson. Click here for my review of it.

What do you think you'll read next?                        
I'll say it now: I tend to choose a book to read once I've finished reading the previous one. I'll pick depending on my 'mood', or 'hunch', or whatever you'd like to call it. But I have two options at the moment: Memoirs of A Teen Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin, or Beauty Queens by Libba Bray. So this is my dilemma: Which one should I pick? 

Catalyst - my book review

Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


True rating: 2.5 stars

There is one word that illustrates this book: ordinary. That word itself is as dull sounding as what Catalyst actually is.

After reading two of Laurie Halse Anderson's books (first Wintergirls then Speak), I was convinced that every single one of her novels were worth 5 stars. But I was wrong. Naivety got the better of me. This was an awesomely tedious book. To tell the truth, I was sort of glad to be able to turn the last page.

The main thing that saved this book from a 2 star review was the fact that I never got bored or skipped parts, even though I wanted to do so.

I felt that there was no depth in this book. One accident leads to another, and then...? What about Mitch? (They didn't really seem to break up.) What about the university? (We don't know what happened with that in the end.) What about Teri? (She doesn't seem to hate Kate that much.) And the BIG incident that changed everything... well, it was quite sad, I admit that, but I didn't find that it affected Kate personally.

Aside from the above, I also disliked the characters. Except for Mikey, of course. But apart from him, none of the characters were very likeable in my perspective, and there was no real background information on them. Like, I know Sara less than Kate knows Melinda.

Speaking of Melinda, as a side-note, I enjoyed her cameo role in this book. I loved Speak, so naturally I liked her guest appearance in this book, starring as herself.

There's not much else to say, but I've got Prom and Twisted on my TBR list. I'm definitely gonna read them sooner or later. I hope they won't be as disappointing as this book was...!



View all my reviews

Top Ten Tuesday #7

Top Ten Books Lauren Has On Her TBR List This  Fall   Spring (where I am it's gonna be spring, not fall!) :

1. Wake by Lisa McMann - been wanting to read this one for AGES!
2. Unwind by Neal Shusterman - I'm in need of a dystopian book as challenging as The Hunger Games.
3. Zelah Green Queen of Clean by Vanessa Curtis - I've been wanting to read this book ever since I was ten... I don't know why, but I just do.
4. Shiver by Maggie Steifvater - highly recommended by one of my non-book-loving friends, and that's saying something.
5. Entwined by Heather Dixon - I'm in love with the original fairytale that this book is based on, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, so it's absolutely necessary that I read this soon.
6. Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard - haven't watched the TV show yet, but if I love this, I will definitely watch it.
7. Unearthly by Cynthia Hand - I admit it. I don't read many angel/vampire/werewolf/fairy books, but I'd like to start.
8. Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma - need I explain why I want to read this book so badly?
9. Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin - since reading the synopsis of this book, I've really wanted to read this book. It sound awesome!
10. The Boy Book by E. Lockhart - read the first book in the series: loved it. Wanting to read the second book in the series: that should be on my 'do before I die' list.

Cover Crazy #6

This is the cover of Awaken, by Katie Kacvinsky.

• The first thing I noticed about this cover was the sunflowers inside the glass jar. Sunflowers are known for happiness. Jars are used to keep things; trap things. Happiness is trapped. As simple as that.
• The pixellation of the background is effective. It gives a surreal element to this picture. The jar of sunflowers looks so real, but the background looks almost fake.
• Fonts are a very important factor to me, especially the font for a title of a book. For example, would you find the font: Ariel very interesting for a front cover? The answer is not really. But the word 'Awaken' appears handwritten. It makes me think that this book is sentimental in some ways.

In My Mailbox #6

This week, I borrowed...

If Naomi had picked tails, she would have won the coin toss. She wouldn't have had to go back for the yearbook camera, and she wouldn't have hit her head on the steps. She wouldn't have woken up in an ambulance with amnesia. She certainly would have remembered her boyfriend, Ace. She might even have remembered why she fell in love with him in the first place. She would understand why her best friend, Will, keeps calling her "Chief." She'd know about her mom's new family. She'd know about her dad's fiancée. She never would have met James, the boy with the questionable past and the even fuzzier future, who tells her he once wanted to kiss her. She wouldn't have wanted to kiss him back.
 

But Naomi picked heads.

 Source: Goodreads

It sounds like a great book, and there have been many rave reviews about it. Can't wait!!!

Follow Friday #7

Q. In books like the Sookie Stackhouse (True Blood) series the paranormal creature in question "comes out of the closet" and makes itself known to the world. Which mythical creature do you wish would come out of the closet, for real?

A: I would choose fairies (or faeries), because they sound awesomely cool and I'd love to meet one. Don't you think they sound cool?

Award... Number 2!

I can barely believe it myself, but 'A Novella's Tale' has been given ANOTHER blogging award! This time it's from Deidra from A Storybook World.

The Best Books Blog Award

This is what she had to say about 'A Novella's Tale':


"You have a fabulous blog!... I want to award you with the Best Books Blog Award for all the hard work you do!"


Thank you so much!!!

WWW Wednesdays #5

What are you currently reading?                             I had a sudden change of heart and decided to read Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson, rather than my original choice of The Truth About Forever. I apologise for this, but I promise that I'm going to read that next. (The reason for this decision was that I didn't like the idea of reading two rather thick books side-by-side. I needed a break!)

What did you recently finish reading?                        I just finished reading Gone by Michael Grant last night. Click here for my review of it.

What do you think you'll read next?                        I am definitely going to read The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen next. You have the right to sue me if I don't.