Category Archives: 5 stars
Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors
Author: Piers Paul Read
This is a true story, and I believe you all have already heard about it. It is a tragedy, but also a demonstration of faith and hope.
4 decades ago, a chartered flight carrying a Uruguayan Rugby team and their friends/families, flying from Montevideo – Uruguay to Santiago – Chile, crashed in the Andes Mountains due to bad weather and the pilots’ error. The plane split in two, with the tail and 7 people landing far from its body. From the 45 people aboard, 33 survived the crash. This was the 13th of October 1972.
The next day, 8 more people had died from cold or injuries. The only doctor aboard had died in the crash, so two of the guys who were studying Medicine were left to try their best to treat injuries and keep people alive, even though there were no medical supplies available.
On the 11th day in the mountains, through a small radio, they discovered that the search for them had been cancelled.
The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Set in Germany during World War II, this could be another book amongst millions that explore the war period with a dramatic story on top. Huge mistake. The Book Thief is simply a masterpiece and should be in the bookshelves of every person in the world. So what makes it so special?
The Shadow of the Wind
Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafón
I’m not someone who sheds tears for a book, at least not very easily, and only a few books have made me cry – The Shadow of the Wind is one of them.
Daniel Sempere is taken by his father to a secret place called Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a library full of old and rare titles, where he must choose a book (or perhaps be chosen by one), and take care and protect it for the rest of his life. He picks up “The Shadow of the Wind”, written by Julián Carax.
Filth
Author: Irvine Welsh
Filth is, by far, my favorite Irvine Welsh’s novel. It is hilarious, depressive, revolting and disgusting, but a page-turner all the same.
Detective-Sargeant Bruce Robertson is a corrupt and sociopath “polis”, cocaine addicted, who hates everyone and plays these foul games of his with people (especially his workmates) to see them disgraced and out of his way – “how does it make you feel?” is a common question is his mind.
He is designated to investigate and solve the murder of a young black guy, which, by the way, happens in the prologue but doesn’t develop too much along the book, as the main plot is about Bruce and his sick behavior.
A Song of Ice and Fire – A Storm of Swords (book 3)
Author: George R.R. Martin
**CAUTION: IT DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE PREVIOUS BOOKS**
The longest book of the series until now (900+ pages), A Storm of Swords is by far the best of them, but also the most shocking. It doesn’t start from where the previous book finished, instead, it goes back some months earlier, so the 1st chapters overlap with the last ones from A Clash of Kings.
There are 10 main characters telling us the story: Catelyn, Sansa, Arya and Bran Stark; Jon Snow; Tyrion and Jaime Lannister; Davos Seaworth; Daenerys Targaryen and Samwell Tarly. The prologue is told by a man of the Night’s Watch and the epilogue by one of the hundred Freys.
A Song of Ice and Fire – A Clash of Kings (book 2)
Author: George R.R. Martin
**CAUTION: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE 1ST BOOK**
A Clash of Kings starts from where A Game of Thrones ended, and it is as good as the 1st book.
9 characters tell us the story now: Catelyn, Sansa, Arya and Bran Stark; Jon Snow; Tyrion Lannister; Daenerys Targaryen; Theon Greyjoy and Davos Seaworth – the latter appearing for the 1st time in the series. The epilogue is told by the maester of Dragonstone.
A red comet, shining bright day and night in the skies of Westeros, is understood by many to be a sign of their own victory, or the beginning of a new era, and so on – everyone in Westeros has a different meaning for it – while a white raven coming from the Citadel brings the news that summer is coming to an end.
A Song of Ice and Fire – A Game of Thrones (book 1)
Author: George R.R. Martin
Following my previous post about A Song of Ice and Fire, in A Game of Thrones we get to know the Starks very well, as most part of what is happening in Westeros revolves around them. We are introduced to Eddard (Ned) Stark, his wife Catelyn, their 5 children – Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran and Rickon, and also Ned’s bastard son, Jon Snow – not to mention the direwolf puppies that each of the kids get in the beginning of the book. As for the story in the Eastern continent, we are presented to Viserys and Daenerys Targaryen, the last of their bloodline.
A Song of Ice and Fire Overview – Author: George R.R. Martin
There are 7 books on “A Song of Ice and Fire”, only 5 of them published to this date. A Game of Thrones is the first one, released in 1996 – early this year HBO made a TV series based on it, and that’s how I became aware of its existence. According to what I’ve read on the internet, two days after the season’s premiere a second season was signed up, to be aired in 2012. I loved the TV series – it is so good that we watched the 10 episodes in only 2 nights, and because I didn’t want to wait until next year to know what happens, I decided to read the books.
It is my opinion, but I know a lot of people agrees with me, that usually books are much better than their adaptations to TV, as it’s not always possible to include all important details, but I was very surprised to see that HBO’s Game of Throne is very faithful to the book and very little has been left aside, and the characters are perfectly portrayed, with only minor things being different, like some hairs being curled in the book but straight on TV.
So…watching the TV series before reading the books put faces in my head, which for me was fine in this case. Normally, when I read a book and then watch the screen version, I get disappointed because I had imagined everyone so different! For the 2nd and 3rd books (A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords, respectively), which I’ve already finished, there are lots of new characters that I expect to be similar to what I’ve created in my mind, and I think this is the first positive thing I must say about the series: the author makes such a rich and detailed description of people, places, food, objects, etc, that it’s very easy to picture them.
The Hunger Games Trilogy – Catching Fire (Book 2)
Author: Suzanne Collins
**CAUTION: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE 1ST BOOK**
Katniss is back, alive, and so is Peta! Now they have to pretend they are deep in love to convince the Capitol their suicide attempt was not some kind of rebellion against the government. Anyway, the Capitol doesn’t accept this kind of behavior, so this year’s Hunger Games, being a “Quarter Quell” (every 25 years), has a twist…
I was sad and couldn’t believe it, but if the game is happening anyway, then let the game starts!
The Hunger Games Trilogy – The Hunger Games (Book 1)
Author: Suzanne Collins
Panem is a country with 12 districts plus the “Capitol”, where the government sits. There used to be a 13th district, but it was destroyed after a rebellion. The Capitol is wealthy, while the districts are very poor – although each of them is rich in some sort of commodity, like district 12 being located in a coal region, all production is sent to the Capitol – and it seems the further the district is, the poorest its residents are.
Because of the rebellion, and to control and remind everyone who is in charge, the Capitol has created the Hunger Games. It’s an annual televised event, like Big Brother, that randomly takes 01 boy and 01 girl from each district, aged 12-18, and puts them in an especially built arena to fight for their survival. From the 24 tributes – how the teens are called – only one can survive.
