Book Travelling Thursday – A book that deserves more love

Book Travelling Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by The girl who read too much and Danielle’s Book Blog.

Rules: 

• Pick a book related to the weekly theme that is announced in the group's Goodreads page (if you want to join, click here) in the beginning of each month. 
• Write a post in which you include pictures of the original cover, the cover from your country, your favorite cover and your least favorite cover.
• Share the post in the creators' related post(s) or in the Goodreads group.

This week’s prompt is: There’s still more love to share… Choose a book that deserves more love.

My choice is:

The End of the Affair

by Graham Greene 

Everything is perfect about this book but I don't know many people who read it. This is an adult novel set during World War II that tells the story of a love affair in a very intresting fashion. 

The narrative structure in this book is everything. I have never seen anything like it, it is truly unique. The first half of the novel is narrated by the male protagonist, Bendrix, who tells us the story of his affair with Sarah, the wife of a friend, up to the point when it ended. 

Why did it end? Bendrix doesn't know the answer until one day he finally puts his hands on Sarah's diary. Her summary of the past events makes everything clear. All the while Bendrix believed he had been part of a love triangle but it turns out he was wrong. It wasn't Sarah's husband who took her away from him. It was someone who would forever be out of reach.

• Above on the left you can see the cover of the first edition. 

• I put my favourite cover in the middle. I think it is simple enough but it reflects the content of the novel.

• And to give an example of an ugly copy, the last one is my Hungarian edition.

Let me show you another cover which I find very pretty but I don't understand:

This is what I would call a misleading cover because I don't find any connection between the story and the image that dominates this front cover. Maybe I just don't remember enough to make the connection but the cards seem so out of place here... Anyway, at least it looks nice.

 What book do you think deserves more love than it gets? Tell me in a comment below!

WWW Wednesday #1

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words. 

WWW stands for three questions: 

1. What are you currently reading?

 The Painted Man (The Demon Cycle  #1)

by Peter V. Brett

Synopsis:

As darkness falls after sunset, the corelings rise – demons who possess supernatural powers and burn with a consuming hatred of humanity. For hundreds of years the demons have terrorized the night, slowly culling the human herd that shelters behind magical wards –symbols of power whose origins are lost in myth and whose protection is terrifyingly fragile. It was not always this way. Once, men and women battled the corelings on equal terms, but those days are gone. Night by night the demons grow stronger, while human members dwindle under their relentless assault. Now, with hope for the future fading, three young survivors of vicious demon attacks will dare the impossible, stepping beyond the crumbling safety of the wards to risk everything in a desperate quest to regain the secrets of the past. Together, they will stand against the night. 

I think the beginning of this book bears some vague similarities with the movie called 'The Village' that I recently rewatched. Although here there are demons that try to attack the people each night, not porcupine-looking monsters. They just grow out of the ground after sunset. Kinda creepy. It is a thrilling read so far.

2. What did you recently finish reading?

Days of Blood and Starlight (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2)

by Laini Taylor

Synopsis: 

Art student and monster's apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is—and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it.

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou must decide how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days of Blood & Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life.

While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope.

But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream?

Read my review here.

3. What do you think you'll read next?

This is always a hard question because I'm a mood reader but what I'll most likely start pretty soon is:

The Cider House Rules

by John Irving

 Synopsis:

Homer Wells' odyssey begins among the apple orchards of rural Maine. As the oldest unadopted child at St Cloud's orphanage, he strikes up a profound and unusual friendship with Wilbur Larch, the orphanage's founder - a man of rare compassion and an addiction to ether. What he learns from Wilbur takes him from his early apprenticeship in the orphanage surgery, to an adult life running a cider-making factory and a strange relationship with the wife of his closest friend...

I have never read a John Irving novel before and I definitely want to start with this one because I've seen it everywhere and heard great things about it.

The questions are answered, my part is done here but I want to hear about you too!

What is it that you are currently reading, you've just finished and you're about to read?

Leave me links or answers in a comment below if you feel like to!

Valentine's Day recommendations

 Since this is the day of love I thought I'd share 3 favourite relationships of mine: two literary and one popular culture related pair that I absolutely adore.  

Along with them let me recommend things to watch and listen to; in case you don't have much time to read today.

So here we go:

Couple No1:

Let's start with a classic from the 19th century...

Margaret and Mr. Thornton 

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

Goodreads

Guys, seriously, forget Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy for a second and consider this adorable couple. Mr. Thornton is a mill-owner, seemingly cold and hard just like the industrial north but he is all heart inside. And Margaret, fierce Margaret, sweet as the flowery south; a truly determined and smart female protagonist. When they meet they are like fire and water. But do they tame each other eventually? Hell, yes. I guarantee your will cheer for them throughout the book.

In case you'd rather watch a series today:

Check out the 2004 mini-series featuring Daniela Denby-Ashe as Margaret and Richard Armitage as Mr. Thornton.

Couple No2:

An LGBTQ romance

Maurice and Alec

Maurice by E. M. Forster

Goodreads

If you are more up to a M/M romance today pick up Maurice by E. M. Forster. I could go on and on about how much this book means to me, this was the first LGBTQ classic I ever read. 

Maurice is a young man who discovers he is attracted to men but of course it is not easy to digest this fact if you live in a world where you can be arrested if you get caught kissing a lad. There is so much struggle in this book but it promotes the importance of self-discovery along with the importance of finding someone to love and this really gripped me. Maurice has to go through a lot till he finds real attachment and when he does it surprises him what a green fellow can teach him about love.

If you'd rather watch the movie:

Have you ever seen a bad Merchant & Ivory production? Because I haven't. This 1987 film is not an exception it's pure joy to watch. Also, do you remember Inspector Lestrade from BBC Sherlock? Of course you do! Surprise, surprise: Rupert Graves plays young Alec in the movie:

Couple No3:

Okay, I will be a bit of a cheat here because my last pair is not in love with each other... or at least their love is not canon. This is also not a book pairing even if one in the pair is the protagonist of many books as well as a film/series and many audio adventures. So here comes a pairing that I ship but you can interpret their relationship however you want:

The Eighth Doctor and Charlotte Pollard

Doctor Who

Yes, Doctor Who is a TV series but it is much more than that. I'm brave enough to include this pairing here because Eight and Charley had many adventures together, all of them in audio form and believe me, audio adventures are so much like audio books!

India Fisher and Paul McGann aka Charley and the Doctor

I ship Charley and the Doctor in a romantic way because it is so obvious how much they care for each other. At one point the Doctor has to choose between Charley or the Universe's survival and he chooses Charley. Yes, wow. I love their banters and that Charley often tries and succeeds in saving the Doctor from himself. They are a real dynamic duo.

If you love Doctor Who but haven't discovered the audio adventures yet I recommend to start with the Eighth Doctor main range (The first adventure is called Storm Warning).

Goodreads

So these are my Valentine's Day recommendations for you.

Stay safe, read, relax, love and be loved.

Review - Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

Title: Days of Blood and Starlight (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2)

Author: Laini Taylor

Rating: 4/5 stars

Synopsis: Art student and monster's apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is—and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it.

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou must decide how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days of Blood & Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life.

While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope.

But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream?

My Thoughts:

I know that everyone says the second book was as good as the first one but not for me. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the second one quite a lot as well but it didn’t deliver the magical atmosphere of Daughter of Smoke and Bone somehow. That’s okay though because second books rarely outshine the first ones in a series and it was still a kick-ass fantasy sequel.

The setting was different and even though I missed Prague I saw why this change was necessary. We see a lot more of Eretz in this book, the world building intensifies – I even have a little map on the first pages of my copy… I love maps in books!

Along with the new scenery quite a few new characters were introduced too, some of whom will most likely play an important part in the endgame.

I wouldn’t say the majority of the sequel was overly action packed rather there was a lot of talk of strategy and politics that served to prepare us for what’s coming in the third book.

I liked the last 30 pages the most, since the story became extremely fast paced there and the ending was full of twists and turns. Even though I’m pretty bad at reading series – in finishing them to be exact – I will definitely pick up the final book, because I have to know what happens. 

Goodreads | Amazon

 

Review – The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Title: The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books #1)

Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Rating: 5/5 stars
 

Synopsis: Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer’s son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julián Carax. But when he sets out to find the author’s other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax’s books in existence. Soon Daniel’s seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets--an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.

 

My Thoughts:

A boy, a book and a writer – this is the Holy Trinity of The Shadow of the Wind. The boy longs to untangle the yarns of a life that seems to be gone and past. He doesn’t expect to wake Laín Coubert with his meddling. He is none other than the Devil in the beloved book.

I don’t remember ever reading a novel before that was set in Spain, but despite the writer’s clear efforts to enchant me with the enigmatic representation of Barcelona I loved the Shadow of the Wind for something else: the characterization. Now, many would argue that the city itself was a character in this case, but somehow it wasn’t the component that animated the whole book for me. There were people on these pages that could have easily stepped off them. You know those books that you only come across once in a while, in which you find protagonists and secondary characters you feel you have known your entire life? Well, this is one of those pieces of writing. (God, I wish I had a friend like Fermín Romero de Torres).

I admired Zafón’s choice to hide so many parallels between Daniel and Julián in the book. They made me confused, but in a good way, because thanks to them I was dying to get to know the nature of the connection between the youth and the writer.

I was also pleased with the deliciously gothic locations (especially one) Zafón created; although not very original, it gave just the right milieu to parts of the tale. I’m usually easily creeped out by ghost stories and there was one certain part where I got the goosebumps and it was so so good.

What I wasn’t quite happy with, was the ending, because I expected something else, something more mysterious, something more on the magical realism side of things perhaps – and that kind of closure I didn’t get. The only other thing that bugged me about the Shadow of the Wind was that sometimes the narrative just didn’t seem right: you can read recollections of characters of certain events that they couldn’t have possibly witnessed. But well, it’s just a ’technical’ issue I happened to notice, it didn’t really kept me from enjoying the story.

All in all, The Shadow of the Wind is a wonderful novel and is totally worth the time it takes to read it.

Goodreads | Amazon