Tag Archives: Easy Reading

Girls in Pants by Ann Brashares

Book Review, , , ,

Overview

Girls in PantsTitle: Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood
Author: Ann Brashares
Series: Sisterhood #3
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Chic lit, Easy reading, Strong women
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Ember
Year: 2005
5th sentence, 74th page: It was the life he had grown up in.

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Synopsis

Some friends just fit together.

It’s the summer before the sisterhood departs for college . . . their last real summer together before they head off to start their grown-up lives. It’s the time when Lena, Tibby, Bridget, and Carmen need their Pants the most.

Thoughts

This series just keeps getting better and better. It’s definitely one that will be read again and again and again. The four girls continue to grow older, confront their pasts and turn from the girls that they were into the women that they can be. Actually, pausing between books to write this review is a little like torture. Girls in Pants leaves them right on the cusp of adulthood, heading off to college (or university for us Aussies). And I can’t wait to open up Forever Blue.

Again, Carmen is forced to face her destructive tendencies. And just in time, I loved her self-destruction in the first two books (since I totally relate), but it was starting to get a little repetitive. So, finding out more about the Good Carmen was a lot more enjoyable. It also helped to send her off to the start of her adult life on a much more kiltered level. Again, Bee has to face up to emotions that she thought long buried. But this time, instead of just finding her footing and self, she finds someone else. Which was such a beautiful ending to her individual story that I was left smiling in that quiet way that you do when something just works so beautifully and sweetly.

Finally, Lena and Tibby go on two completely opposite journeys. While Lena struggles to get over her past love life and stand up for herself; Tibby tries to begin one and stop rebelling quite so hard. The reverse-parallel between the two stories works beautifully and it’s a reminder of how completely different these four young women are. Yet, how similar they are and the ways in which they’re just trying to find themselves in their new and ever growing world.

 <- The Second Summer of the Sisterhood Review Forever in Blue Review ->
Image source: Ann Brashares

The Second Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares

Book Review, , , ,

OverviewThe Second Summer of the Sisterhood

Title: The Second Summer of the Sisterhood
Author: Ann Brashares
Series: Sisterhood #2
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Chic lit, Easy reading, Strong women
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Ember
Year: 2003
5th sentence, 74th page: So what’s your project going to be?

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Synopsis

Some friends just fit together.

With a bit of last summer’s sand in the pockets, the Traveling Pants and the sisterhood of four best friends who wear them – Lena, Tibby, Bridget, and Carmen – embark on their second summer together… a summer that does not go the way they expect.

Thoughts

It was just as good as the first! No. Scratch that. It was better! Because I already loved the characters. And I had already spent one summer of tears and trials with them. So I just needed to spend another one with them. And I wasn’t in the slightest bit disappointed. Some sequels are just not all they’re cracked up to be – this one was a lot better than I had expected. And more of a surprise since I haven’t seen the movie.

As with the first Sisterhood story, each of the four girls undergo their own journey of self-discovery and growth. For Lena, it is the admittance that she is actually in love. It is her discovery that she needs to put herself out there, and she finally suffers the consequences of opening herself up. Both the good and the bad. She also finally lets her family in beyond the well-defended exterior. On the other hand, Carmen, yet again, tries to learn to curb her emotions. Lessons, it seems weren’t quite learnt from the year before. And this constant self-sabotage is honestly something that I can relate to more than anything in this series. It took me years and years and years to curb my temper, and even now, my tongue causes chaos when I open my mouth. Much like Carmen.

Finally, both Bee and Tibby struggle and fight to get over the tragedies that befell them the summer before. Both fight to find themselves in a new world where they don’t quite know how to act. One sinks into her family, and both remember their past.

 <- The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Review Girls in Pants Review ->
Image source: Ann Brashares

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

Book Review, , , , ,

Overview

The Sisterhood of the Travelling PantsTitle: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Author: Ann Brashares
Series: Sisterhood #1
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Chic lit, Easy reading, Strong women
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Ember
Year: 2001
5th sentence, 74th page: Antiperspirant rolled in all directions.

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Synopsis

Some friends just fit together.

Once there was a pair of pants. Just an ordinary pair of jeans. But these pants, the Traveling Pants, went on to do great things. This is the story of the four friends – Lena, Tibby, Bridget, and Carmen – who made it possible.

Thoughts

I never really expect a book that is related to a movie I love to be good. And vice versa (I like the Harry Potter movies, but no one will watch them with me anymore). And although one of my girlfriends said that this was a really good book, I was still really tentative. But, as my rating shows, I LOVED THIS.

The thing that I’ve always loved about the movie is that there are four distinctly different and strong young girls, but they are also seriously flawed and rely heavily on one another. That, and the fact that this is the BFF girl friendship that people dream about (I have it, and it’s as good as the movies!) But the book just highlights all of this and makes it so much more entertainingly and awesomely complex. Tibby is far more confused twisted, and less cool than the movie; Bridget more unstable and more intense and fun; Lena far less okay with her looks, but with better reasoning; and Carman, well, I just related to her ridiculously throughout the entire story. She is temperamental and feisty – I now provide warnings when I know I’m likely to blow a fuse (for absolutely no reason). I think it’s the fact that the four girls are less picturesque and cool (Bridget is even described as manly), and far more selfish as human beings that really drew me in. I could completely relate to their flaws (not their strengths) and just, just, just… no words, I loved them all that much more.

There are so many monumental and meaningful things I would love to say about this book. But even a few days after finishing it, and constantly thinking about it… I can’t find anything that does it justice. I literally read this book cover to cover (and was a little late to work) because it was that good. It has been years since I’ve done this!

 <- Sisterhood Everlasting Review The Second Summer of the Sisterhood Review ->
Image source: Another Toast

The Secret Countess by Eva Ibbotson

Book Review, , , , , , ,

Overview

The Secret CountessTitle: The Secret Countess
Author: Eva Ibbotson
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, History, Romance
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Young Picador
Year: 1981
5th sentence, 74th page: ‘She’s new,’ he said.

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Synopsis

Anna, a young countess, has lived in the glittering city of St Petersburg all her life in an ice-blue palace overlooking the River Neva. But when revolution tears Russia apart, her now-penniless family is forced to flee to England. Armed with an out-of-date book on housekeeping, Anna determines to become a housemaid and she finds work at the Earl of Westerholme’s crumbling but magnificent mansion. The staff and the family are sure there is something not quite right about their new maid – but she soon wins them over with her warmth and dedication.

Then the young Earl returns home from the war – and Anna falls hopelessly in love. But they can never be together: Rupert is engaged to the snobbish and awful Muriel – and anyway, Anna is only a servant. Or so everybody thinks . . .

Thoughts

It doesn’t matter how many times I read this novel, I fall in love every single time. After all, it’s the most beautiful love story set in picturesque England. Kind of Downton Abbey-ish, but with one of the best love stories I’ve ever read. It is simple, subtle and sneaks up on both you and Anna as you read. Honestly, you can’t help but smile as you turn the last page of the book. And, sometimes all you want to do is go back to the beginning all over again.

I’ve always struggled with reading historical fiction – I’m not really all that knowledgeable about it, and quite often, I get so bogged down in the details that I lose the story. Maybe I should really just do some research into the periods I’m reading about, but that would just take away from my time spent in the story… but I digress. Ibbotson’s work doesn’t get so bogged down about the details (in this case the years surrounding World War I) that you can’t find the story anymore. Instead, the history around World War I is just a great back drop to a story that expands the ages – like all good love stories.

So far this makes it sound like I love romances. But, mostly, I find them kind of tedious and frustrating to read. Boy meets girl, girl meets boy, love, sappy, bleugh… and, although this novel does mostly follow that pattern, there’s just that something extra that makes it interesting enough to read. Interesting enough that I have read this at least once a year since I got given it for Christmas.

 <- The Morning Gift Review A Song for Summer Review ->
Image source: Amazon

Little Gods by Holly Black

Book Review, , , , ,

Overview

Under My HatTitle: Little Gods
Author: Holly Black
In: Under My Hat (Jonathan Strahan)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, Fantasy, Witches
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Year: 2012
5th sentence, 74th page: I guess it doesn’t make much sense.

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Synopsis

As a little girl, Ellery attended church with her grandmother and imagined what it would be like if the statues of saints and angels came to life. At sixteen, she joined a Wiccan coven hoping to discover a little real magic. She and the other members of her coven travel to a distant farm where they meet up with other covens to celebrate Beltane. As the festivities get into full swing, she heads to the edge of the woods by herself, feeling disappointed that she hasn’t yet experienced any magic like what she’d dreamed of. But when a mysterious boy stops by to introduce himself, she may get exactly what she’s wanted for so long.

Thoughts

Although I’m not quite Wiccan, I do prescribe to a lot of their beliefs, and I have spent hours upon hours reading up about different covens, rites and practices. Which always makes it fun to read a story that is based around this system of being and existing. I also related ridiculously to the chief protagonist – she believes that there is something more in the world, and that she can almost feel it, it’s just out of reach.

One of my favourite things about this short story is that I thought we were heading for disaster. That the story would end with disillusionment and a return to a more “normal” life. But, luckily for me, it didn’t there was a feeling of total peace and happiness at the conclusion of this, and I was left with a smile lingering across my lips.

 <- A Handful of Ashes Review Barrio Girls Review ->
Image source: Frances Hardinge

Felidis by Tanith Lee

Book Review, , , , , ,

Overview

Under My HatTitle: Felidis
Author: Tanith Lee
In: Under My Hat (Jonathan Strahan)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, Fantasy, Witches
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Year: 2012
5th sentence, 74th page: There was still a lamp burning in the lower room.

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Synopsis

Radlo is on a journey when a passerby stops him on the road to warn him not to go into the forest. He says an evil young woman with the eyes of a cat and covered in fur lives there. Thinking the man is mad, Radlo continues on his way, and when he reaches the other side of the woods, he finds a village. There, the people seems to like the cat-girl. Annoyed by all these tales he’s not even sure he believes, Radlo goads his way into meeting the cat-girl, and is shocked to find she’s real. Felidis looks exactly like the man on the road said, and she lives with dozens of cats, one of whom appears to be her favorite. Fascinated by her, he spends the night at her house, intending to leave the next day, but soon, one day turns into several, and several days into seasons. Radlo can’t seem to bring himself to leave Felidis and thinks he may be falling in love with her, but she says that she has no interest in marriage. After spending so much time with her, Radlo knows that she is a witch, but he has no idea how she works her magic. Before he finally leaves, Felidis offers to grant him a request in exchange for all he’s done for her. If she won’t give him her love, Radlo wants to know how she does magic, but the truth may surprise him.

Thoughts

One of the things that I love about short stories is the way in which they generally get turned completely on their heads. Or at least, some of the best ones – like Lee’s Felidis. A furry, clawed witch girl saves a boy. He falls a little in love. Then he finds out her truth. Which is completely unexpected and brilliant.

It took a little while for this story to gain traction, and for me to see where it was going. At the beginning of the story actually, I was finding it a little boring and fully expecting to put it down in disgust within moments. However, just at that crucial turning point, it dragged me in. Felidis was suddenly in the story with her cat companions and her mystery developed.

This was a really well written, slightly obscure short story. Unlike others, I don’t want to dive back into the world again, but I will happily read this tale again and again.

 <- Barrio Girls Review Witch Work Review ->
Image source: Frances Hardinge

The Education of a Witch by Ellen Klages

Book Review, , , ,

Overview

Under My HatTitle: The Education of a Witch
Author: Ellen Klages
In: Under My Hat (Jonathan Strahan)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, Paranormal fantasy, Witches
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Year: 2012
5th sentence, 74th page: Lizzy scoots, and her father puts the little chair from her bedroom right on the seat of the car.

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Synopsis

Lizzy Breyer’s parents take her to see the movie, Sleeping Beauty. Unlike most little girls her age who are enthralled by Sleeping Beauty and her prince, Lizzy is entranced by the wicked witch Maleficent. Her mother takes her to the toy store, where she chooses a Maleficent puppet to buy, and she imagines that it talks to her. When Lizzy’s baby sister is born, everything changes for Lizzy. She is no longer the center of attention, which makes her feel angry. As her obsession with Maleficent grows, Lizzy begins acting out at school and soon discovers an ability within herself to cause mischief and mayhem just like the witch she idolizes.

Thoughts

At the beginning of this story, I thought that it was really sweet that a young girl found solace in Maleficent when her family welcomed a new baby. After all, I totally get feeling an attachment to Maleficent – she is one of my favourite Disney villains. But, as with many short stories, it took a completely unexpected turn. And quite a sinister one.

I’m a bigger sister, so I’m sure that there were bumps in the road when, at two and a half, my baby sister came on the scene. I certainly remember there being many, many, many arguments as we grew older (they still occur frequently for that matter). But, I would never resort to witch craft to lash out at others. And (I hope), the teething issues weren’t as bad as they were for Lizzy. Since she turns from cute girl with no understanding of why she’s not the centre of attention to a slightly crazy little child. I’m actually glad the story ended on such a cliff hanger, since I don’t really want to know how it ended!

 <- Witch Work Review The Threefold World Review ->
Image source: Frances Hardinge

Barrio Girls by Charles de Lint

Book Review, , , ,

Overview

Under My HatTitle: Barrio Girls
Author: Charles De Lint
In: Under My Hat (Jonathan Strahan)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, Fantasy, Witches
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Year: 2012
5th sentence, 74th page: They keep it up for hours.

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Synopsis

Ruby & Vida consider themselves “vampire-girls” due to the popularity of a book/movie series featuring vampires. Until they meet a “vampire witch” one night and decide they don’t like her — now they’ll be witch-girls and deal with this nasty thing.

Thoughts

I’ve never quite understood the teenage obsession with Twilight. Sure, I read it when I was a teenager, I didn’t mind it (back then), but I was never obsessed with the idea of a vampire boyfriend. Or being a witch, or really any of the books that I read – I just liked the stories. So, reading about Vida and Ruby’s disenchantment with this world was really quite enjoyable. The obsession annoys me, so their departure from it was fun.

Gangsters, vampires and witches make a really interesting combination in this story and the idea of growing up in a trailer park just helped to make it a little more enthralling and dark. An interesting late night read that gave me some very twisted and creepy dreams… after all, the girls ended up killing with kindness.

 <- Little Gods Review Felidis Review ->
Image source: Frances Hardinge

The Spark by Sean Williams

Book Review, , , , ,
Overview
Legends of Australian Fantasy

Title: The Spark (A Romance in Four Acts)
Author: Sean Williams
Series: The Change Companion
In: Legends of Australian Fantasy (Jack Dann & Jonathan Strahan)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Australian authors, Easy reading, Fantasy
Pace: Fast
Format: Novella
Publisher: Harper Collins Australia
Year: 2010
5th sentence, 74th page: The house-boy rushed into the room with a glass of water, which she accepted with gratitude and sipped as the fit subsided.

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Synopsis

‘The Spark’ sits midway along the timeline of the ten linked fantasy novels in the Change series – the Books of the Change, the Books of the Cataclysm, and most recently the Broken Land. Inspired by the landscapes of Williams’ childhood rather than European or indigenous Australian mythologies, Sean had no conception when he set out on this journey that the places he revisited would become such an enduring obsession. The people who occupied them, also.

His young protagonists Ros and Adi were left somewhat hanging at the end of the Broken Land trilogy, as had Sal and Shilly years before them, because the conclusion to their story lay beyond the purview of a series for young readers. Williams always intended to return, to see their knot tied, but the deeper he dove into their story the less, perversely, it became about them, or even about the landscape that originally inspired their world.

Yet in a very real way, ‘The Spark’ is the capping stone on the entire series. All the characters Williams loved are present, in one form or another, and all the motifs too. Loss, the passage to adulthood, the nursing and healing of old wounds – for me, that’s always what these stories have been about.

And love, too,  with which all can be endured.

Thoughts

I can’t get this story out of my head. And not in that irritating, it won’t leave and details are niggling away at me way. But that holy crap. That was amazing. I need to get more of these books! I want to know more about Adi and Ross. This story is epic. So now I just have to wait until I have some spare money to buy more of Sean Williams’ books…

I don’t often feel crazy about four act storylines, and the romance aspect of stories often feels tedious when I’m reading the tale. After all, boy meets girl, they fall in love, there is a problem, everything is resolved is the most standard storyline. And even the best stories do tend to read like this. But, it’s all about the journey. And for Adi and Ross, it is about the hunt for one another and true love. Reigniting the spark that has burnt between them for years.

Words that could describe the happy, warm fuzzy feeling that this novella left me with are pretty much impossible to come by. There is that feeling of happy contentment that you get when you finish a really good story. And The Spark not only left me with that, but also made the other stories I tried to read afterwards feel completely inadequate. I’m sure the feeling will eventually fade away though.

<- Crown of RowanThe Corsers’ Hinge ->

Image source: Harper Collins Australia

Rowan and the Travellers by Emily Rodda

Book Review, , ,

Overview

Rowan and the TravellersTitle: Rowan and the Travellers
Author: Emily Rodda
Series: Rowan of Rin #2
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Australian authors, Easy reading, Fantasy
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Year: 1994
5th sentence, 74th page: “Ogden does not know everything, it seems,” said Zeel.

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Synopsis

A mysterious danger threatens Rowan’s village, Rin. But who is the enemy? And what is the strange spell that is putting all the townspeople to sleep?

The Travelers, a roaming people who are friends of Rin, might be able to help, but Rowan isn’t sure he can trust them. Especially since they tell him that to find the answers to Rin’s problems, Rowan must go to the legendary, noxious Pit of Unrin, from which no living thing has ever returned.

Thoughts

The pride of the past could prove to be Rin’s undoing. That, and their unwillingness to accept anyone else of a different calibre and tradition than themselves. But, luckily for all of Rin, Rowan is there to save the day again. Again, he proves that strength and blustery courage isn’t everything, and that sometimes it is the very fear that can be someone’s best companion, and a people’s saviour.

The pride of the villagers of Rin is kind of grating in Rowan and the Travellers, but it is a good vessel through which to move the story. After all, it is their unwillingness to share and impart their gifts on their Traveller friends which leads to such distrust. In turn, the horrors that lurk in their home almost overcome the village as Rowan and Allun pursue the Travellers in an attempt to save their friends. Yet, it isn’t until Rowan willingly joins with a Zebak-Traveller that the key to the past is unearthed.

But, since this is a beautifully constructed story, discovering the horrors of the past isn’t the final step. Even when you know what lurks in the dark, how can you stop it from killing? You’ll just have to read the story to find out…

 <- Rowan of Rin Review Rowan and the Keeper of the Crystal Review ->
Image source: Booktopia