4 Weeks of Summer - Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book - The Mowgli Stories

I don't know why, but lately, I seem to be having a bit of bad luck when it comes to audiobooks. I'm not sure why. I have a blogpost about this coming up in the next 7 days or so - keep eyes peeled for that.

So, when Felicity from Midas PR asked if I wanted to listen to this, an full cast dramatisation of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book - The Mowgli Stories, I decided just to go for it. With the stars involved in this - Bill Bailey, Richard E Grant, Celia Imrie, Colin Salmon, Martin Shaw, Bernald Cribbin and Meera Syal to name by a few. Plus, this was created to raise funds for the Zoological Society of London to raise awareness that animals that inspired The Jungle Book are under threat from extinction.

When the wolves discover a tiny man-cub, they take him in to save him from the man hating tiger, Shere Khan. As the man-cub, Mowgli, grows and is taught by Baloo, the bear, and hunts with Bagheera, the panther, he learns the ways of the jungle. But Shere Khan is cunning and will buy his time...

I have to admit this, I thoroughly enjoyed myself listening to this. I had my doubts when I started listening (it took me a while to get use the Martin Shaw and Richard E Grant doing the voices of Shere Khan and Kaa), but once I found my stride, I sped through this. It only took me three days to listen to it from start to finish. And there were a few times I relistened to sections, just because...

The production was this was very good and though, while there were times the background effects and the noise of the large group of man felt odd to me, it wasn't that much of a distraction from the story. If anything, it helped to show that Mowgli has grown up in the jungle and knows little about the world of man.

What I found surprising was how different this was to Disney's The Jungle Book. While we had the same characters, the story was completely different and the character's interaction was completely different as well. In Disney's Jungle Book, Kaa was, up to a point, an villain and helped (up to a point) Shere Khan. And yet, in this version, Kaa had no interaction with Shere Khan. He taught Mowgli in the same way Bagheera and Baloo did. It was a very interesting learning curve.

But I think people will like this version of The Jungle Book. I can't wait to see what's next for Audible London...

4 Weeks of Summer - Monster

I got a copy of this book back in March at the UKYA Blogger Awards. I know, it's been a while, but compared to some other books I have on my TBR pile, this hasn't been in my TBR pile for long.

After rereading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and not ready to reread Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix just yet as part of my Harry Potter 2015 Reread Challenge, I looked through some of my books and, unsure what to read next, made my other half pick my next read out of handful of books, based on the first sentence and, when down the last 3, read the last line and chose this.

Nash thinks fighting to become Head Girl at boarding school Bathory would be the biggest battle of her life. But that was before her brother vanishes. That's before she's left trapped in the school with some other students - a mix of misfits. That's before the snow storms hit, leaving them trapped. That was before the only adult looking after them vanishes without a trace. That's before fear of The Beast of Bathory begins to grip them...

Something dark is outside the school, wanting to come in. Or is the thing the girls fear already within the walls of the school...

Ok, am going to be honest with you. I am very torn over it. I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped, but there are good points to this book.

Let's deal with the good points first. When we were first told about this book, it was sold using the tapeline "Malory Towers meets I Know What You Did Last Summer". And this does work. If you are a fan of Lois Duncan's I Know What You Did Last Summer or James Dawson's Cruel Summer, this would work for you. It has a gentle hints of boarding school drama and mythology but as the story moves forward, it slowly turns darker and tense. And I really liked the writing style. The writing is one of the weird reasons I read this story.

However, I have problems that I am wondering if am about to fall into a reading slump and wondering if I am being harsh with this. But... ok... here's the thing... it never grabbed me. I liked the writing, yes, but there are other factions to making a story work. I don't know why, but I thought this was very slow - if you're going to say the Marton goes missing on the back, it should happen quite quickly, right? Nope. It happens around the halfway point. And when there were plot twists, it felt like there was no clues to lead us to this point. Or, if there was, it was so subtle, you missed it (and if this is the case, CJ works this brilliantly).

I think my main problem is that I never cared. I never cared that this characters were in danger, nor did I feel that these characters were in mortal peril. I never cared for any of the characters so I never worried about them. I need to care for characters in whatever situation they find themselves in, whether it's a love situation, a family situation or a life-or-death situation.

While I think some of you guys will like it and find it the perfect Winter chiller, it just wasn't for me, I'm afraid.

4 Weeks of Summer - Bones on Ice

As your guys are probably aware, I am a bit of a fan of Kathy Reichs. So, of course, when I discovered this novella, I wanted to read it. I wanted something to fly through before I returned to my Harry Potter 2015 Reading Challenge and then, after that, attack the ARCs that needed my undivided attention (which is gonna fail. I know that now).

The daughter of a powerful and wealthy family has been missed on Mount Everest for the past three years. Until the earthquake happened, no one could get to the body and bring her in to confirm it is the daughter.

And the family wants only one person to identify the body: Tempe Brennan.

Though reluctant to take the case, Tempe soon discovers that there's something wrong with the body. What if it wasn't an accident, like everything thinks?

For some unknown reason, this novella seemed meaty compared to Kathy's previous. Maybe it's me - it has been a while since I have read Bones In Her Pocket and Swamp Bones. But this novella was very interesting. Yes, it does follow the same pattern as Kathy Reichs's previous works (this could be seen as a bad thing for some people - Tempe takes a case, get too involved and, because of this, puts herself in mortal danger), but I found the whole story of someone being frozen fascinating.

Like I said, some people might not like the pattern of the story as it follows Kathy's writing pattern. But I like this pattern. What I found a tad annoying was the ending. It felt rushed for some reason.

I did like this and I think other Kathy Reichs fans will like it, as it has a sample chapter of her latest novel, Speaking in Bones. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but this might be a good place to start with you want to try Kathy Reichs out.

4 Weeks of Summer - The Lost and the Found

This was last month's Bookish Brits Book Club Book of the Month (you might have seen my review clips on the channel), but here I am, writing it up to the best of my abilities, so bear with me while I get all my thoughts and feels into this post.

Faith's whole life has been dominated by her older sister, Laurel's, disappearance. Faith was four and Laurel was six, and Faith has known no difference. The media storm around her family and herself as she grew up, saw her parents split up and trying to deal with so called friends.

Thirteen years ago, Laurel was snatched. And now... now, she has come back.

The happy ever after everyone hoped for and wanted. But what happens next? And why is Faith suddenly feeling isolated and paranoid?

Now, I have read all bar one of Cat Clarke's books and I have really enjoyed reading them. I love Cat's writing style, where she makes you sped through the book while writing from a character who you might not be so thrilled to spend time with. And this book is no different to her others. Fast pace and you will speed through the pages. I read this with 5 days (four, technically as I had a day off playing with Bagheera and spending time with my other half!) so the pacing is good and strong.

However - yes, there is a however. And it's a big however from me. As someone who reads quite a bit of crime thrillers (and watches a heck of a lot of crime TV dramas), I felt that this book was very predictable. I knew where the story was going to go almost from the word go. And it annoyed me that I guessed correctly where the story was going. It made me like the book less.

But saying that though, the last few pages redeemed the book for me. It became, in a sense, the most important part of the book, the last 3 or so pages.

While it might have been my fave Cat Clarke, it was a fast addictive read.

4 Weeks of Summer - Sabriel (#re3)

You can blame Chouett and SableCaught for this reread. We were chatting about Sabriel on Twitter a few months ago (SableCaught and I have read this series, Chouett hasn't) and we decided to read Sabriel throughout the course of July.

But I sped read as this is me, of course. This was me reading Rebecca, which I reviewed earlier in the week.

I know I really liked this book - it was my Waiting for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix book and I have very fond memories over this book (I read this so many times when I was at college).

I thought I know this book pretty well. It's one of my favourite books.

But what I found interesting about this reread was that I spotted two things.

The first is chapter seventeen. I always seem to forget about the village of Nestowe. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because it's not am exciting chapter compared to the rest of the book, but I always forget this moment. It's always quite an important because it reveals several quite important pieces of information.

The second is that this book, while being YA, is much more grown-up. There are mentions of menstruation, circumcised penis and other topics that readers would miss because of the magic involved in this world. You miss it, unless you are reading carefully.

It's always nice to reread a fave book. I think we all need to do this once in a while.

4 Weeks of Summer - Rebecca

When I asked if I wanted to be involved in this Daphne du Maurier blog tour, to celebrate the release of Rebecca, Frenchman's Creek and Jamaica Inn in the YA edition, I jumped at the chance. I've been curious to read Daphne du Maurier as she's one of those authors I've always been intrigued over. So when Poppy from Little, Brown sent me a copy of Rebecca, I was a mix of excited and a bit fearful. Nearly everyone I know who has read this seems to love this book.

Our unnamed narrator meets and falls in love with widower, Maxim de Winters. But when they marry and return to his Cornish home, Manderley, a change comes over him, and our narrator is filled with an uneasy dread. In this isolated house, she realises that she is friendless, barely knows the man she has married and, wherever she goes in that house, she is faced with the ghost of his first wife, Rebecca. And how is she met to compete with a phantom?

I must admit this from the off: this isn't my typical type of book. I realised this very early on and powered on, willing to try something new and different. Sometimes, this is a good thing to do.

This book is going to spilt you guys. You are going to either really like this tale or are going to hate it.

I can see people really like this book because of the pacing and writing, the tension that slowly builds and the psychologic elements that creep on our unnamed heroines and her doubts/fears that she is never going to meet up to Rebecca's standards (mainly through the actions of people around her, such as Maxim and Mrs Danvers). This is one of the original psychologic thrillers that I have read that tackles jealously, obsession, self doubt and self worth.

However, all those points can have the opposite effect on some of you. You might find it very slow in pacing and it lacks substance. It could been seen as quite a frustrating read.

For me, I did find it frustrating. I really enjoyed the writing and the style, but there were several moments I did want to throw the book across the room as I wanted the book to get to the story. But this was written in a different time, where setting up the mood and tone was more important than the story.

I'm glad I did read this, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. But it might be yours, so if you want to try it out, go for it.

4 Weeks Of Summer - The Princess Diaries

So, here we are. The first review as part of my 4 Weeks of Summer. And what a place to start than a summery read of The Princess Diaries.

Mia is a typical 14 year old girl living in New York. Well, so she thought. Until her father drops one huge bombshell upon her: she is a princess. Heir to the throne of the small country of Genovia. A Princess? Her? How did that happen? Not only does she have to handle this news, have her slightly bonkers grandmere teaching her princess lessons, a bodyguard that follows her everywhere, she has to also handle her her friends, her school work, the idea of her Mom dating her Algebra teacher... 

Ok, I know this has been out for a while. I know it has a huge fan following. But with news that there is an adult sequel and a middle-grade series that had been published in the past few months has got me curious. So, when I saw this on NetGalley, I couldn't resist. 

This is a fun summer read. I can very easily see why people love this series as it was a huge amount of fun. It's a fun, fast read that you could read on the beach. Mia's humour and her reaction to her life's sudden turnaround was a typical teen reaction: quite over the top. And because of this, I sniggered as sped through the book. 

However, while I enjoyed reading this, this book is a bit sugary sweet for my tastes. But I had expected this. What I found quite surprising was how different this book was to the Disney film. I know the film was inspired by this series and, later in the book series, the book pokes fun at the film with Mia hating what Disney did to her life. 

But I can see why people like this book. And it is perfect for readers aged 8 to 12, maybe even early teens, wanting a fun, fluffy summer read. Plus, it is the start of a ten book series so, this could be a series that could create a reader. 

I am intrigued to read more of Meg Cabot. Maybe I should read the second book in this series... But this was the perfect summer read and the perfect start to these 4 Weeks of Summer! 

4 Weeks of Summer

AM BACK!!! Did you miss me while I was taking July off?

No? Oh... well... Ok...

Anyway, I am back from my lovely break away from the blog and I am ready to go again! And because I have been reading throughout my month off, I am going to push two months of book reviews into one month.

AKA my 4 Weeks of Summer.

Basically, by the time we get to the end of the month or the start of September, I should be back to my normal way of reviewing, which is me reviewing books within 48 hours of finishing the books. So you get a instant reaction to the book.

So, for the next 4 weeks, you guys should get quite a few reviews (if all goes to plan). If not... well.... at least I tried to have a quiet weekend to curl up and read while having a hyper kitten and this weird British summer we're having...

Ok, so, let's enjoy the summer, the wonderful books that we have to read or that we have read and LOOK AT MY AWESOME NEW HAT!!!