Tj
After watching the sandman on Netflix (and being impressed), I got back into Coraline with much expectation, and I wasn't disappointed. Coraline is a dark tale told from the perspective of a child who, despite her apparent age, shows much more emotional and intellectual capacity. The novel is short at about 100 pages but tells an interesting story using simple and often fewer words.
Coraline delves into the underbelly of the mundane and normal every day and finds something abnormal or, more aptly, paranormal.
While the novel itself draws parallels to many fairy tales ( think red riding hood) and classic fantasy novels such as the wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland, it is in a way more sinister but not at the expense of being too complex.
Coraline is a dark mystery/fantasy told through a child's eyes, but not necessarily intended for children, nor is it is childish. It questions the norms of life and humanity in general but rather in a playful and offhandish way.
Spiders, Arachnids, hairy monsters!A lot of people have an irrational fear about them. Some keep them as pets; Some others get reborn as a spider. That's right. This was my second ever light novel (series) after I finished. reading [b:That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Vol. 1 36102364 That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Vol. 1 Fuse https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1503382589l/36102364.SX50.jpg 57688055]tensura. And this is probably the third ever Isekai media I have consumed. I have seen the anime overlord. So you would be right to assume I am none too familiar with the common “other world” tropes. But from my limited experience, it is as Isekai as Isekais be. Anyway, I got this book suggested from a Reddit thread and crawled myself into it. The main character ( pardon my inability to remember Japanese names also, it didn't help that most of the book was in first person and there were no conversations in which the main character was involved.) is one among the 25 or so school kids who got transported into another realm where there are monsters. This world, for our convenience and according to the Isekai norms( I am taking an educated guess here), is designed as if it is from a videogame, specifically an RPG ( This was common in other Isekais I mentioned. I have also watched a bit of Sword art online which deals with people who literally get trapped in an RPG, same as Overlord) where you attack other “monsters” to improve your skills and ultimately “evolve”. So I am a spider, so what too, like That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime occasionally mentions that since this is another world, the only rule there is survival of the fittest ( social Darwinism without the guilt ftw!). The one main difference between these two is, as the title might suggest, is one is Slime and the other one a spider (surprise). Similarities aside, one colossal comfort for me in reading this is the absence of needlessly sexualised 3000-year-olds who look like (and graphically described) they are 12. But book one of the Slime books was objectively well-written ( props to the translator?) and easy to read. Or probably I just had more expectations starting this one. Anyway, this book is an excellent start to what seems to be a promising world. Although slightly underwhelmed by it, I will be reading the next book. Thank you for listening to my ted talk.
A very cheesy romantic / mystery ( short) novel about a woman who mysteriously washes up at a private detective agency run by a very wealthy, very white American gentleman with superior genes. The woman in question is a virgin but is naturally good at the arts of sex ( because she was really into it.). She also had her memory wiped out (clean slate). So it is all very convenient for our damsel in distress (not my words) to fall for the adonis who is, did I tell you, a gentleman. The mystery is slowly unravelled as they hopelessly fall for each other and make good old-fashioned honest to god, yet very passionate sweet love to each other. Nothing builds the mood like amnesia. She a Virgin, He a Whore. Will he secure her love and trust as he slowly uncovers her and the mystery surrounding her?
One word kill give you brief introduction to Dungeons and Dragons, if you're none to familiar with it ( like me). It is a coming of age story where the teenage narrator who has a tightly knit and well diverse group of friends who get together for regular DnD sessions. The story itself hasn't unraveled even by the end of the book, but it promises great things are to come. But I don't think I'm going to follow up as it wasn't interesting enough for me. Probably it's targeted towards a younger audience?
Happy to read this before going head deep into [b:Rhythm of War 49021976 Rhythm of War (The Stormlight Archive, #4) Brandon Sanderson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1599911216l/49021976.SY75.jpg 23840265]Dawnshard gives the quick [a:Brandon Sanderson 38550 Brandon Sanderson https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1394044556p2/38550.jpg]experience in this novella which is roughly about 10-15 % size of a regular sized storm light archive book. Dawnshard introduces a strong female lead and sends her off on a quest with one familiar Herzardian with too many cousins. Again, One can't have too many cousinsThis refreshing read adds yet another member to Roshar's famed fauna, the Larkin which reminds us of a familiar household feline but of course like anything on Roshar, very crustacean thus vastly different anatomically.Dawnshard is everything we love about Brandon Sanderson: the tension the pace and the happy ending. Strong parallels can be drawn to Sanderson's other novellas such as the The Emperor's Soul
This must be one of the very first ( If I recall it right, it was) novels that I read as a child. It was just lying around because one of my cousins had it as a paper for Malayalam. Later however I read more of malayatoor's like the more popular and more Malayatoorish Yakshi and Yantram. How ever this has a special spot in my heart since like I mentioned might have been my first book.
The title in Malayalam means roots and it is a bit symbolic in a way that it talks about the ancestral roots of the protagonist. This might actually have been an autobiographical novel by Malayatoor considering like the protagonist, Raghu the author himself had Tamil-Brahmin ancestry and was a civil servant ( Civil servancy here refers to a particularly decorated and coveted level of beurocrasy in India which can be achieved (although not exclusively) by getting through a very difficult (the probably of clearing it is apparently rated at ~2%) competitive written examination and a following personal interview) Although that isn't necessary for his one other novel Yantram also tells the story of another civil servant. It was just that the author chose to articulate the story in the backgrounds he knew and experienced.
The novel in style describes the life and times of Raghu in retrospect which kind was(is?) a popular style of narrative in Malayalam. One other personal favorite of mine ‘Oru desathinte Kadha' is also written in the style of an elaborate memoir.
This wasn't exactly what I expected to be. From the title I thought it would be about how Chinese companies are disrupting (in a tad more negative way) worldwide economics. I must say the author had what in the bird culture called a pro China move going on and about how the Communist Government in China (Paradoxically, yes ) doing the right way of capitalism by putting the their hands were it doesn't belong. Although the author gives the government there in China a pat on the shoulder and powdery make up the reader could see right through it. To conclude it was informative the visible bias aside.
