Memorable Books

I was going to post the book review for C.L. Polk’s debut novella, Witchmark, but then I remembered that it first has to appear in our next issue of Gamecca Magazine first which means it will have to wait until next month. It’s a contract thing. Anyway while I’m still working through Robert W. Chambers’ The King In Yellow for the next review (I’m halfway through don’t worry), I thought perhaps I should talk about books for today.

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There’s this part of me that wishes I had impeccable memory and can recall the contents of a book thoroughly enough to sound… well like a scholar. I know it sounds pretentious but have you heard people talk about books like they were literally living in them? Character names. Places. Events. Linking scenes and quotes between books to draw revelations I would have otherwise completely missed. I want that ha ha. Although in my defense, I spent way too much of my youth reading Stephen King so I could probably do that with a couple of his books (looks at the collection of The Dark Tower novels).

While I may lack that ability to fully recount a book’s contents, here are some memorable books I’ve read over the years that I remember well and still think of to this day. Some I can draw correlations across other books while others just changed my worldview:

1. The Program – Gregg Hurwitz

2. Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children – Ransom Riggs

3. Kill Baxter – Charlie Human

4. Once – James Herbert

5. Endgame – James Frey, Nils Johnson-Shelton

6. The Bachman Books – Stephen King as Richard Bachman

7. Books of Blood – Clive Barker

8. Beyond the Pale – Mark Anthony

9. Three – Ted Dekker

10. Ready Player One – Ernest Cline

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Do you have any books that have stuck in your mind or you still recall to this day? Perhaps any book that changed your mind, thoughts, world view?

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 I was emotionally distraught when I watched Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. It was nothing like the book(s). I mean… Tim Burton basically thrust us into an alternate version of the story, shorter and overly dramatic (I’m looking at you Samuel “Mr Barron” L Jackson) with a couple of plot holes I would have willfully missed if I wasn’t so preoccupied with how not like the book the movie was. I think I’ll wait for it to come out on DVD (or whatever) and re-watch it as a stand alone alternate universe.

The graphics were amazing though so well done on a visually appealing narrative.

*rant hasn’t even begun yet.

 

Monday Book Recommendations: Miss Peregrine Series

Home for Peculiar Children

Hollow City

Library of Souls

Totally loved this series. From the introduction of Jacob Portman and his formative escapades into the world of Peculiardom and it’s fascinating characters, to his ongoing journey in “Hollow City” and climatic conclusion in “Library of Souls”. It’s a journey worth diving into. What I loved most was the fact that these Peculiars were not super-powered humans who can level a city with a single blink. They are real. They are relateable. They are “kids” who have their world shaken, their future thrown in disarray and their peculiarity put in jeopardy.

You can read my reviews of each of these books here: NthatoMorakabi.com – Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

If that doesn’t convince you, perhaps this amazing trailer will. Please read the books first!? Please! The movie is still coming so you got time. Jusss doo eeet!

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On a side note, I had 0 word count this weekend so I’m kind of behind in my Camp progress. Good thing I managed to churn out that massive word count last week. Anyway, onward forth!

Wednesday Book Review: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – Library of Souls

 

Title: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – Library of Souls

Author: Ransom Riggs

Genre: Fantasy

Book procurement: Takealot.com (Online store)

Synopsis: (Goodreads)

A boy with extraordinary powers. An army of deadly monsters. An epic battle for the future of peculiardom.

The adventure that began with Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and continued in Hollow City comes to a thrilling conclusion with Library of Souls. As the story opens, sixteen-year-old Jacob discovers a powerful new ability, and soon he’s diving through history to rescue his peculiar companions from a heavily guarded fortress. Accompanying Jacob on his journey are Emma Bloom, a girl with fire at her fingertips, and Addison MacHenry, a dog with a nose for sniffing out lost children.

They’ll travel from modern-day London to the labyrinthine alleys of Devil’s Acre, the most wretched slum in all of Victorian England. It’s a place where the fate of peculiar children everywhere will be decided once and for all. Like its predecessors, Library of Souls blends thrilling fantasy with never-before-published vintage photography to create a one-of-a-kind reading experience.

Review:

This third and final novel to the Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar children trilogy, left me satisfied with how all the events concluded. Following a cliff-hanger second novel, I was keen to continue the adventures of Jacob Portman and Emma Bloom who just seem to be falling from one nightmare into the next.

The story paces itself well, like the previous novels, and it doesn’t feel impossible. Sure there were a few “lucky” breaks but the two never get through their adventure unscathed. It’s a nice break from most novels where the protagonists get away with mild scratches and enough energy to power a small village. Well not after a week of continuous running and barely enough sleep, and we experience all of these in this climatic end.

The idea of time loops and “living forever” in the age you were in that loop is such a fascinating concept for me. I would never have thought about it in that way. Also one of the key points about the “peculiar” children was their restriction to the current time line, doomed to age rapidly forward according to the years they have “skipped”. This and the very unique Jacob who can speak to Hollows, combined with new myths, an amazing machine,  surprising mysterious characters and revelation, all looping together to tie up the plots from the previous two books to make it one complete adventure.

A really great trilogy with a fascinating collection of weird and colourful photos.

Rating: An impressionable 4 out 5

December Intentions

It seems that every month as I write this pre-Month blog post, I speak of the difficulty the previous month was and all the intentions that I failed to achieve. This time, a positive recounting of the month is ahead including an amazing NaNo.

NaNoWriMo

50 000 words. 30 days. 1700 average words a day. A task that may seem gargantuan on the 1st of November and looking back you wonder how you managed (or did not).

This year I am proud to say I wrote my 50 000 words, thus making me a NaNo Winner and that was a whole week ago.  This was all possible through the massive support of my local NaNo writers who are affectionately known as the Jozi Wrimos, the supportive Write-Ins and doggedly writing during the unearthly hours of midnight and 2AM.

My novel this year is a Southern African Historical Fantasy Fiction combining African mythology and superstition with magic.

Book List

For November, due to NaNo and other things, I only purposed to read one book which I have read and thoroughly enjoyed.

Sir Terry Pratchett: The Colour of Magic (Discworld series)

For December I plan to read at least four books, one a week.

1. The Harvest Man – Alex Grecian
2. The Well – Catherine Chanter
3. Hollow City – Ransom Riggs
4. Library of Souls – Ransom Riggs

I will also be continuing the Friday Fictions continuing to refine my writing.

So drop by and journey with me through the intricacies of life, writing and reading.