Past Shelfari Reviews: Messenger by Lois Lowry

*Note*- Past Shelfari Reviews may not be written in the same language as regular postings due to being intended for a different audience in its original context.

Messenger (Book 3 in The Giver Trilogy)

by Lois Lowry

available for purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Half Price Books

This is the third book in the "Giver" trilogy. This book takes the first took books and finally brings them together. At the beginning of the book it appears Lowry doesn't want you to fully understand that we are dealing with the characters from the first books and then she suddenly opens it up that these are those characters. This story focuses largely on Matt (Matty here) from the 2nd book in the series. This book is my favorite of the three because of how Lowry blends the three characters from the books together. She does so seamlessly. There is no moment in this book that you feel that she is trying to force characters into actions that make no sense, which sometimes happens in a book that is part of a trilogy because the author wants certain characters to end up somewhere together. Lowry is able to make it seem organic that they all meet because of the stories that she has told in the previous volumes. 

I admire the social commentary aspect of these books because Lowry is able to tell the reader that as a society we need to care for each other without necessarily beating us over the head with it. She does so in a subtle fashion that makes you almost think it is your idea to want to change the world while reading this book. Lowry often in the series shows us that we have to have our feelings, skills, and desires, but that we should use these things to help other people that we come across. She does all this while creating a fantastical world that one wishes that they could explore. I admire Lowry for creating a book series that can teach young readers that values are important and that each life has an importance regardless of age or ability. 

Until next time... Stay Optimistic!!!

Past Shelfari Reviews: All For One by Ryne Douglas Pearson

*Note*- Past Shelfari Reviews may not be written similarly to regular postings on the site due to being originally written for a different audience. 

All For One

by Ryne Douglas Pearson

available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. (Not available at Half Price Books)

This wasn't one of those "OH THIS IS THE BEST BOOK I EVER READ" type of books, but it was entertaining. Sometimes a book doesn't have to be a high-brow read. Sometimes it is a book that you just want to read for a bit of downtime between something more serious. The main issue I had with this book was that the writer made it fairly obvious from almost the beginning what was going on. I predicted what had happened almost 5% into the book and even told my partner so that someone would know I wasn't making up that I figured it out that early on.

The steps to get to understanding why the individual did what they did in the book though is interesting and part of what makes this a fun read. It isn't ever going to be a classic by any means, but who needs every single book they read to be a classic. Sometimes I just want to read pure mystery drivel. A book that you are on the edge of your seat wondering "WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT?" and this book does that. You want to know what is going to happen and where the story is going to ultimately lead to.

I would not recommend this book to everyone, but anyone that wants to read a mystery that is easily solvable, but has interesting characters should definitely give this book a shot. I was going to see what else this author has written, but it appears that they have primarily wrote a lot of government thrillers, which is simply not my cup of tea, but this one is anything but that.

Until next time... Stay Optimistic!!!

Past Shelfari Reviews: Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

Gathering Blue

by Lois Lowry

Available for purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Half Price Books

This is the second book in the "Giver" trilogy. Most trilogies have a very specific connection through every single book, but this book seems like it does not connect to the original book "The Giver", but that does not make it a bad book. In my opinion this book is actually in many ways superior to the other because this has more approachable characters. The characters here seem to be genuinely nicer and not as melancholy as the characters in "The Giver", but this is largely due to the differences between the two cities that are the focus points of each. In this one we are in a more wooded, secluded type of town than what is in the other.

Lowry is able to create a world of secrets, intrigue, lies, and hope that seldom is fully expressed by lesser authors. Here she is able to make us believe every single moment and we feel we are taken on the journey with Kira into becoming the caretaker of the robe. I also love the character of Matt in this book. He is a fun character and one that is full of heart. I admire him in the story because he is obviously someone that shows a lot of love and concern for his friends. He is something that I hope to be in all of my encounters with people.

Gathering Blue is a book about discovering your true talents and how you can change the world. It is also about learning that not everyone that you think tells you the truth does and that sometimes you have to look under the surface to discover what someone truly is. This book truly showcases the human experience and would be a great read for anyone that takes it on.

Until next time... Stay Optimistic!!!

On my last day...

While I was waiting on my flight I purchased two more books to read. The flight was greatly delayed, but at least I had some great reading material between these and some of the other books I had bought on the trip.

The two I purchased were:

Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett

and 

Flora Segunda by Ysabeau S. Wilce

I already started Flora Segunda because it sounded like an interesting read. They both can be purchased  at whatever bookstore website you prefer. :-)

Past Shelfari Reviews: The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

*Note*- Past Shelfari reviews may not be written in the same language as regular postings due to originally being published for a different audieince.

The Joy Luck Club

by Amy Tan

Available for purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Half Price Book

Tan creates endearing stories about mothers and daughters in this book. She takes us into the minds of chinese women in a way that I have never been previously exposed to in writing, which makes it very interesting to read about. The elements that she gives each character is such a human truth that you don't instantly think of the fact that these are chinese characters, but that they are people that you could bump into at the supermarket on a daily basis. Many times while reading this book I forgot that I was reading a book and not peering into the lives of actual people. To be able to create a world so focused and fine-tuned that one feels it is real is something only a skilled author can do and that is what I feel Amy Tan is.

The book takes us through many journeys of China from rich families, families broken up due to war, and to those coming to America for a better life. Each story is wrapped up beautifully, but also adds to the depth of the overall story of these women. If you want a story that speaks about powerful women without trying to intentionally make them powerful then this is a book to read because these women are real. They have true emotions and live true lives. Never do you question the motivation of any of the characters.

Tan doesn't describe scenes in my opinion, but gets us to understand the actions of the characters. She is able to make you understand to a pinpoint why a character is saying what they are in the book. Also you get a better understanding of an older generation vs. a younger generation because of this book. This truly is a gem and I look forward to reading some of her other works.

Until next time... Stay Optimistic!!!

Past Shelfari Reviews: The Giver by Lois Lowry

*Note*- Past Shelfari Reviews may not be written in the same language as regular postings due to being intended for a different audience in its original context.

The Giver

by Lois Lowry

available for purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Half Price Book

This was one of those books that I had heard about for some time but never got around to reading until now. I had read Lowry's "Number the Stars" for the Holocaust Literature course I was in during the 2012 Spring semester at Ball State University and found it to be a great read. This book, however, was far superior to that book. What Lowry is able to create here is a world that simply could be the future. She makes us believe that it is possible without being overly fluffy with her words. She choices small feelings to give to the main character through most of the story, which makes it approachable for children. It also has some rather big concepts in it about war, being the same, and other stuff that an adult would also be able to enjoy.

This book is part of a trilogy of books, which I intend to read the other two as well. This book sets the stage for a wonderful world of dealing with emotions, dealings with differences, and dealing with the humanity in all of us. Any reader who takes on this book will be challenged to look at their own belief system because they will wonder if parts of them are "sameness".

*Note*- Past Shelfari Reviews may be written in different language than other blogs as these were written before the writer started blogging officially. These were originally written for friends on the shelfari site.

Until next time... Stay Optimistic!!!

vacation all I ever wanted, vacation had to get away

From July 31 to August 6 I will be vacationing in San Francisco, CA!!! So all of this week (August 6 to the 10th) will be former Shelfari reviews, so that new content for the site is up on a daily basis. This will also get us closer towards changing the theme on Tuesday to something a bit more interesting (plan currently is it changing to accommodate LGBT reads).

Hope everyone is having an OPTIMISTIC summer!!!


xoxo,  


Optimistic Reader

Graphic Novel Reviews: Ghostlands (The Sunwell Trilogy Book 3)

*Last day of special 3-day posting*

Warcraft: Ghostlands (Book 3 in The Sunwell Trilogy)

written by Richard A Knaak

art by Jae-Hwan Kim

This volume returns to the primary plot of the first book with the heroes having to deal once and for all with Dar'Khan. Secrets are revealed, heroes have to fight, and tension ensues. This is what could have made volume 2 a substantially better volume, but I guess they needed filler so this could be the ending. This last volume is a strong story and gets us to the nice tidy bow we would hope for in a manga series. 

As mentioned, the heroes finally have to battle Dar'Khan, who was revealed to be the big bad of the series in the first volume. We discover that he has his own desires and whims outside of his willingness to serve the evil Arthas. He wants to the power of the Sunwell for himself and no one else. He wants to have perfect utter god-like power; at least as a villain he has the normal modus operandi. This is the main focus of this volume without many side events occurring. 

Ghostlands wraps up the series strongly and lets us know where characters are going after it is finished. This makes the last book interesting to read from an entire series stand-point. If this had been the only volume in the series though it probably would have been just as interesting to read. This series could have easily been condensed down to two books and been a more successful addition to the Warcraft franchise. Releasing strong merchandise only makes their trademark stronger, but by releasing a sub-par second book it takes away greatly from the first and third volumes. If I was rating the entire series together it would receive 3 Faerie points because of this. If you are a Warcraft fanatic I would recommend spending the time to read the trilogy, but if you are not and just thinking about reading it for the dragons and fantasy there is simply stronger literature out there that will be more of a pleasant read. Spend your time elsewhere.   

Until next time... Stay Optimistic!!!

Another Vacation Book Purchase

Yesterday I went with my friend, Alexis, to Half Price Books in Berkeley, California. We took the BART underground train service to get there. We decided to look around for a bit since books tend be my thing, but the lucky thing is they have a substantial media section as well. She is more of a media person than a book person. While there I purchased four books. The books I purchased are:

Peter Ellis- A Morbid Taste for Bones

Charlaine Harris- Shakespeare's Landlord

The Freedom Writers' Diaries

Robin Reardon- A Question of Manhood

I imagine I will get to the Ellis and Reardon books the quickest upon returning home. Reardon's book deals with being homosexual and Ellis's book was recommended to me by a friend to read. We will see how I enjoy each of them in the near future when I finish my reviews of them.

Until next time... Stay Optimstic!!!

Graphic Novel Reviews: Shadows of Ice (The Sunwell Trilogy Book 2)

*Special 3-day posting*

Warcraft: Shadows of Ice (Book 2 of The Sunwell Trilogy)

by Richard A. Knaak

art by Jae-Hwan Kem

The first book of this series was a nice introduction to the main story involving the bad guy of Dar'Khan, but this one suddenly veers off path. As a result of the authors veering off path this book becomes just a stand-alone flop. It does not seem cohesive to the first book in the franchise. The main reason that it gets three points instead of two is because this adheres to what can occur while playing the video game. While in-game you may suddenly have to veer off path of your main mission to take care of something that occurs in that area. In the game you may suddenly discover that a bad guy for another quest is nearby, so you go out to quickly take care of that quest. Here it does not lend itself to the story. It takes away from what could have been a pretty decent manga.

While Dar'Khan does appear in this volume as the villain near the end, the main villain turns out to be someone else. I will not spoil who it is since they are made out to be a good guy for a vast majority of the book. This sudden side villain detracts from the overarching story of the book and takes our heroes on an adventure between two warring factions: the scourge and dwarves. The leader of the scourge having obtained an orb to call the dead to life is attacking the dwarves and others. The heroes feel that they have to help them out, since they are called there trying to take off some collars placed on them. They believe there is a dwarf that will be able to help them remove them in the area. Little do they know about the fighting. 

Overall this book could have been signficantly better if Knaak had simply focused on telling more about the heroes and trying to reach Dar'Khan, but instead he does not cement a main story instead he decides to create a book that makes the series seem like it is poorly written. While I mentioned that the game does veer off this does not mean that the books/comics published in this world should do the same. Manga stories need to be somewhat cohesive, especially when I am pretty sure that the author and publisher always knew that it was going to be three volumes since they gave it the name of the Sunwell Trilogy. The author could have tightened this up a lot more and had a truly epic fantasy set in Azeroth, but instead we have a volume that falls flat on its face because it tries to be something it should not have. It is not a video game. It is a manga series explaining one aspect of the video game.

I have seen that other manga/comics have been released and I will try to read some of them to see if they are just as horrible as this second volume or if they are as interesting as the first volume was. I can only pray and hope that volume 3 wraps this up nicely, if not I do not know how I am going to stay optimistic about this series. 

Until next time... Stay Optimistic!!!

Graphic Novel Reviews: Dragon Hunt (Sunwell Trilogy Book 1)

*Special 3-day postings instead of regular content*

Warcraft- The Sunwell Trilogy: Dragon Hunt (Book 1 of 3)

Written by Richard A. Knaak

Drawn by Kim Jae-hwan

Published by Tokyopop

For many years I have been a fan of the game "World of Warcraft". I always thought I would appreciate the various additional media that Blizzard has released and I was for the most part correct. I have purchased several of the action figures and some time ago I had purchased the three books in the Sunwell Trilogy. Like almost every book I currently on I had not gotten around to reading it, but forced myself to finally complete the series because I have been trying to mark off the books that I have had around the longest. I felt it was time to get rid of these on my self and I finished them!! Over the course of the next three days I will be posting my reviews of this series instead of the other content. For one this is easier on me as I am in the middle of traveling. We will return to the regular content on August 13 (look for what next week will be on Sunday). 

There are numerous fantasy books out there. Some are bad and I mean BAD, nothing you can even be optimistic about. *hears the gasps from the readers* This is luckily not one of them. *hears the sighs of relief* This first book does a very nice job of setting up the team of adventurers, which seems to be an important part of the process of writing a successful fantasy story. In this volume we are introduced to all of the main players of the story and we get a nice grasp of what the ultimate storyline will be. Everything is clearly set-up and you are not going to be left scratching your head where this book should be headed.

One of the nice perks of the edition that I have (the single versions and not the ultimate edition) is the inclusion of the history of Azeroth (the name of the world in Warcraft). This makes the book slightly more accessible to a newbie of the franchise. It is easy to put all the previous pieces together of the puzzle, so you won't be lost coming into this. Spend the time reading it as well because several of the names that are contained within will come up in the pages of the manga. If you don't spend time to read the history you will be at a loss when certain names are mentioned for the first time. Save yourself the time of flipping back to read it as each is mentioned and just sit down and finish it. 

The artwork of the manga is beautiful. Jae-hwan creates beautiful landscapes that adds a rich layer to the story and helps cement it firmly in reality, but also in fantasy. It is rare that artwork is able to accomplish both at the same time, but because of his inclusion of foliage it does ground it in reality, but also the fantasy is clear when we see dragons and elves standing within. The other nice thing is that the characters are clearly defined and there is none of that "these two characters look so similar" going on in this volume. This is something that sometimes occurs in manga for some reason, but again luckily it isn't the case here. If you appreciate someone that spends time in their detaisl you will enjoy Jae-hwan's work here. 

The overall story is interesting as well. We are introduced to characters that walk in both the human world and the fantasy world. Several of the main characters are dragons that have the ability of transforming into humans. This allows them to interact with the various characters that they meet along their journey. Knaak creates a first dip into the pool of the Sunwell Trilogy masterfully. It makes you want to emerge fully and come out soaking wet!  

Until next time... Stay Optimistic!!!

Mystery Reads: When Dark Secrets Get Darker by Thomas N. Pointer, JR

"Death by the best of intentions"

When Dark Secrets Get Darker

by Thomas N. Pointer, JR

Free Giveaway Book from Goodreads

Available for the Nook @BN.com  and for the Kindle @Amazon.com

Sometimes in a murder mystery you can't guess exactly what is going on because you can't focus on the main story. That is true with "When Dark Secrets Get Darker". It is a hard read mainly because of the chosen content by Pointer. He delves into the world of sex, drugs, and other depravities of life.  My issue is primarily that this isn't a world that I would normally want to find myself walking in. It is important to know about this content before going into this book, so you don't feel obligated to read it if you are uncomfortable with the subject matter.

Pointer talks way too much about sexual escapades and attributes way too much sex to the male characters. His character of Detective Anthony Malone is the strongest example of this. He is a sexist character that showcases what is wrong with this book. I understand that males think about this topic a lot, but a book does not need to focus on this aspect to be enjoyable.  Pointer characterizes his men way too heavily here in this fashion and as a result it makes it a lesser read than what it could have been. This is the main reason for the reduction in my rating of the the book. Speaking of characterization, Pointer does his main character no favors by making him appear to be a "bad ass". He runs up on characters with his guns blazing, but as a result he comes off as a boy that doesn't know how to play in the sandbox with others. Benjamin Bishop comes across as someone that can only use force to obtain answers to his questions in an investigation, which weakens him as a likable character. That is one of the biggest flaws; there are no likable characters in the entire book.

He should have focused instead on the mystery aspect of his book. His mystery is the redeeming quality of what he has written. He could have kept the sexual aspect to the mystery because here it adds, but again in the matter of characters the sexual aspects take away greatly; weakening every single character. The mystery is interesting because you are sure what is going on until you find out you are wrong. He does a nice about face on what is going on with the killing of a seedy man. 

If Pointer writes another novel I would want him to add characters that have a humorous nature to them and also a less-sexualized personality. Try to round out the characters a little bit more. Make them enjoyable and try to add elements to the female personalities. Make the women appear to be more than just welfare moms, strippers, and just all around bad people. You need to have at least one redeeming female character to make a book enjoyable, especially when you create numerous ones that are rude and crude. There needs to be balance and Pointer has no balance with his characters.

While I may sound highly negative in my review I have to remind the reader that this is a first novel. He is able to do a lot more than other authors in their first novels. He creates a gripping mystery, which takes talent to create just the right layers. His ability to create a mystery shows that in future books he will have honed his craft. His mysteries will only get better and better. Reading this first book will show you how he will get to that place of excellence. He shows promise, but he has to take advice on improving his character set. If he does this he will be one of the masters of the genre.

Until next time... Stay Optimistic!!!