Hooked on Books~July





When I want to read, I have a largely varied method for acquiring books. Sometimes I go to the library and select a random book that looks promising. Sometimes I record the name and author of a book that looks interesting from a bookstore, typically Barnes and Noble, because I know the books there will be popular, since they only have new, bestselling books on their shelves. Then I get said book from the library. Other times I take someone elses recommendation, and I get a lot of those. 

Unfortunately, this isn't necessarily a "tried and true" method. Only about five out of fifty--10%--of the books I read are ones that I find worth recommending, and that includes plenty of books that were recommended to me. Sometimes, as is usually the case, the books include some kind of content that made me uncomfortable. In some cases, the storyline was good, but the author's writing style was terrible. Sometimes it's vice versa. Sometimes the book is terrible and I cannot pinpoint why. Sometimes I simply didn't enjoy it, and can't understand why anyone else would. 

So here I will be attempting to seek out a book or series of the month that meets most of the following criteria: 



  • Has a creative writing style 
  • Contains a well-thought out plot
  • Has at least decent character development
  • Contained clean content 
  • Bonus: Hidden Christian themes 





As most books are not perfect, I cannot guarantee that every book will meet all of the criteria. 

Also, if anybody has any recommendations, feel free to PM me through the forum! If I think your recommendation is something others will like, and it meets at least some of the criteria above, maybe I will blog about it!

(One last thing, this post is to test and see how well this is received, if you guys like it I will proceed to post monthly, outside of the normal blog posts with book recommendations. Maybe I will suggest a book this post, then, if I continue posting, I'll discuss the book on the following post (spoilers and everything) while also suggesting a new book. Let me know what you girls are thinking about this!) 




So, without further ado, July's book suggestion is...

The Giver

By Lois Lowry




Synopsis

The Giver is a dystopian YA novel that, unlike most other Young Adult dystopian novels, does not include excessive violence and other nonsense.  It follows a boy named Jonas who lives with the rest of his community in a world where everything is equal. No one is better than the others, no one is jealous of each other, and everything is fair and controlled. But there's a catch. No I can't explain the catch because that would spoil the book so go read it. ;) Then, after you've read it, you get to watch the movie, yay!




Review

If you're not one for big, thick books that require a lot of thinking, then this book is perfect. It's a short, easy-read that's addicting and thought-provoking. Stress on provoking. 


The reading style is simple, not over-done, but it's plenty. Lowry still somehow manages to give you a perfect image of the setting. 

The character development isn't amazing, but it susfices. You get a well-balanced but not too detailed idea of how everyone thinks and acts. Although Lowry may have done this on purpose. (Nope can't tell you why. READ THE BOOK.)



The plot is awesome. It seems simple enough. It is simple enough, if you don't read the rest of the series. (After this books it starts to get complicated.) This book is unique in the sense that the author left it entirely up to you whether or not you read the next three books. The ending could be a cliffhanger, depending on how you look at it. It's not like other books where you have to keep reading or you won't get any answers. Or worse, The Giver isn't like those books that leaves you with less as you finish so that you must go back for more. 

One word of warning. 
This book is a bit sad. I absolutely cannot tell you why, but it just is. But it does get better. It's not like a sad dog movie where it ends with you bawling your eyes out. Also, there is hint of some questionable content, nothing explicit though, so if you aren't comfortable reading it blindly or whatever, you can have your parents check out this website, which is perfect for things such as this: (NOTE: UNLESS YOU WANT TO SPOIL THE BOOK DO NOT READ THIS WEBPAGE PRIOR TO READING THE BOOK PLEASE HAVE YOUR PARENTS DO IT)

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/the-giver-book-1

You can also find a review for the movie on this website.

Some of the parents on there complained a lot. I'm not even sure if they finished the book from the way they worded their reviews, also, this book was on the reading list for sixth graders in school, so some of the parents didn't want their twelve year olds reading this, which I can understand. I read this when I was 12 or 13 and it was a perfect age for me. This book might even be something your parents would want to read along with you, as it's great for discussions. Lastly, the questionable content that is in there isn't in there just cuz; it's there to prove a point. It's there to show something. You can't prove something without talking about it. Also, there are several Christian themes in there which are definitely worth discussing. 

Let me know if you end up reading it, and what you thought of it! 



Ratings and Ranks:

🌟=bad
🌟🌟=okay
🌟🌟🌟=average
🌟🌟🌟🌟=good/amazing
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟=MIND BLOWING

My personal rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 
Writing Style overall rating: ðŸŒŸðŸŒŸðŸŒŸðŸŒŸ
Character development: ðŸŒŸðŸŒŸðŸŒŸ
Writing style diffuclty reading level:🌟🌟
Plot: ðŸŒŸðŸŒŸðŸŒŸðŸŒŸ
Appropriatness level (the highter the better): ðŸŒŸðŸŒŸðŸŒŸ
Christian Themes: ðŸŒŸðŸŒŸðŸŒŸðŸŒŸðŸŒŸ


Please let me know in the comments what you thought (about the book as well as the post!)!!! One last thing: I since July is almost over and this book is so short, I will post another book for August shortly.)

Thanks for reading!

God bless, Brigit





















Comments

  1. Amazing first post Brigit! Way to go!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great post!

    I haven't read the book, but my older brother did, after he had seen the movie, and didn't think it was as good as the movie (surprising, because generally the movies of books aren't as good) . However I have also seen the movie and it was really, really good. I would definitely say it's up to your parents to decide whether it's appropriate for your age to watch the movie, just because some of the slightly mature content, I didn't watch it when it came out, with my older siblings, but watched it a year or 2 later, and I don't think I would have enjoyed it, or understood it as much if I had of watched it back then ;) . (sorry, that was a really long comment, I don't usually write long comments... )
    Oh and btw when I say "your" I was speaking in general, not to you Brigit ;) . (if that made sense? :D)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, got ya. :D If I had read it at an age where I was any younger, I wouldn't have understood it, or it might have been too much for me to handle. I was lucky I picked it up at the right time.. Sometimes, when the book and movie are really close, it's really just a matter of which one you get to first. I'm more of a "the book is always better" kind of person, but I don't think the movie had actually come out yet when I read it, so I didn't have much of a choice.
      The movie was shockingly close to the book, and the one or two things that they changed didn't make it worse, in my opinion.
      .

      Delete
    2. Yeah same, I generally prefer the book to the movie. :) Oh by the way, I thought you might like to comment on the movie review on our website we did a few years ago. Its up to you ;) . : https://catholichomeschoolaustralia.com/2015/03/06/the-giver-dove-movie-reviews/#comment-11094

      Oh ok,well as I said I haven't read the book, that was just my brother's opinion ;) :D .

      Delete
  3. Nice review Brigit! I love all the books especially the second one and the movie was good too from what I remember. I haven't seen it in awhile but I might have to rewatch it soon!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment