The Casual Vacancy – J.K. Rowling

The Casual Vacancy by definition occurs when a high council member drops his status or dies, and in this book, everyone wants that one council chair which was so casually vacated. It is the first book by J.K. Rowling written for adults, very different to that of Harry Potter. Overall it is a great book, but it does take it’s time to read. The plot is easy to follow, but it is a 500+ pages book overflowing with descriptions and plot twists and jumbles. I gave it 3 stars not because I thought it wasn’t that good, it was simply a lot of text to get through. I do recommend this book to older teens and adults though, it is gripping and not hard to follow and has characters from ages 16 up. It’s a pretty smooth read that engages you, and really fits the genre of tragicomedy, there are some quite tragic moments as well as there being comedic ones. Harry Potter fans may not be as pleased with this book as they are with the series for this is a one time read that will not spark the needs of creating a fandom.

I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.

Quotations from the text;
“forensic cruelty” (23)
“a twitching pile of catastrophe” (47)
“they drifted, half asleep, through life” (75)
“closed in around the gaping vacuum left by death” (98)
“the papers fell, didregarded, in a smooth white waterfall onto the floor” (100)
“cocooned in concentration” (120)
“he was spider-like in his awkwardness” (170)
“disintegrate into fragile black flakes” (242)
“Things denied, things untold, things hidden and disguised.” (288)
“staring stonily into space” (371)

The Maze Runner – James Dashner

The Maze Runner by James Dashner, the first book of the Maze Runner series of dystopian fiction genre. It’s not exactly relatable, due to being set in a world different to this, yet reading this book does not take long for it is in fact very gripping. The movie is not a direct replica of the book and as well as simple fact changes, the general story line is slightly different. The character choices are however spot on due to the descriptions provided in the book. I do feel like the ending was slightly dragged on and there was not much description offered of the Creators which would have been a nice addition to it all. Overall it was an easy and pleasing read which I recommend for anyone of teenage years and up.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.

Quotes from the text;
“his memory loss was baffling in its complexity” (44)
“…life had never that way in the first place.” (356)

Go Ask Alice – Anonymous

Go Ask Alice by an anonymous author is a peculiar book n in first person by a teenage girl of 15, at the start, writing in her diary. It goes through her almost daily struggles in life with school, boys, parents and siblings, friends and foes, and drugs. It is an interesting text to read in one sitting, it is a fairly short text and it is easy to read as it is written with the first person pronoun “I” throughout all. The ending troubles me slightly, I wish it had not ended as it did for the protagonist did seem to be doing well in life with high ambitions and a loving family and (potentially) a boyfriend, this is not explained clearly in the text. Many people may not find this book appealing due to the raised issues the teen has, if one enjoys realistic books over fictional books I recommend this. However, if it is not ones cup of tea then maybe do not read it.

I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.

Interesting quotes from the book:
“infinitely small part of an aching humanity” (100)
“my room will be my whole universe” (111)
“is the school actually like a minor galaxy, with a little world for each minority group …” (119)
“jammed with humanity” (148)

The Thirteenth Tale – Diane Setterfield

This book is beautiful, and wonderfully written and the imagery descriptions are spot on, which is why I have only selected a small amount of quotes, there were many yet these stood out the most. The Thirteenth Tale is a really hard book to put down, and once it’s finished, it stays with you for a while as it seeps in. One would not expect the out come of the story that Vida Winter tells the protagonist Margaret Lea, yet despite this, the story pulls you in as if you are a by stander and watching all the action unfold.
I recommend reading this book on darker days, in the autumn, with a large cup of tea. Despite reading this in the summer, it was gloomy the few days that it took me to read this and it goes by so quickly that way. The gloomy outdoors set an adequate mood for this story engaging you further. It is also the perfect length for these gloomy times.

I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars on Goodreads, and I rarely do.

Few quotes found in the text:
“Life is compost.” (46)
“When one is nothing, one invents. It fills a void.” (117)
“You leave the previous book with ideas and themes – chapters even – caught in the fibers of your clothes, and when you open the new book they are still with you.” (291)
“I have replaced doubt with with certainity, shadows with clarity, lacunae with substance.” (316)

The Collector – John Fowles

This book is so messed up. I would not classify this book as a horror novel. The Collector is more of a traumatizing novel, fictional naturally, but really disturbing. Frederick, going by the name Ferdinand in the text, decides to collect a beautiful girl named Miranda, as he used to do with butterflies, gaining a large sum of money that’s lasting him a life time. He is not a pretty man, as Miranda describes in her diary, which is part 2 of the book. The other 3 parts are from the perspective of Fred, and have no separations what so ever. It is as if one is reading a chapter which is some 104 pages long. Not very appealing and could have been written better. However, it is a book that is written if first person all the time, using the first person pronoun “I” all the time. Quite frankly, when Fred is dictating his story, he only uses quotation marks when Miranda is speaking. It is also hard to decide who the protagonist and who the antagonist is. Despite the text being about Frederick, I believe he is the antagonist for he is hurting and going against Miranda. Yet, at the same time, Miranda is also an antagonist towards Fred. It is a never ending struggle for the both of them, and has an unsatisfying and shocking ending for the pair.

I gave this book 2 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.

Quotations that stood out while reading:
“I can sense their wild worry.” (117)
“You draw a line and you know at once whether it’s a good or a bad line. But you write a line and it seems true and then you read again later.” (129)
“indulging in wicked vanity” (145)
“You can get away with murder with words.” (159)
“The beautiful sun on the blood-red stems.” (198)
“the most beautiful things are quite independent of money.” (209)
“Sour men and wounded women.” (244)
“But it will be like being a gale of light, after this black hole.” (247)