This notion of self-awareness is one that is handled delicately and with it, Paolini creates a book that is far more powerful than simply a fast-paced plot driven fantasy about a war between good and evil. Eragon’s growth is one that takes him beyond the moment of his conflict to a connectiveness with the world he lives in and beyond, through the older dragons he encounters.
A review Of Falling For Me: How I Hung Curtains, Learned to Cook, Traveled to Seville, and Fell in Love by Anna David
What’s so endearing about Falling For Me is that David does not try to portray herself as perfect. She’s just like any other single woman out there, putting her best foot forward trying to fall in love—the only difference is, she’s working on falling in love with herself first.
A review of 270 by Vincent Ware
When Mbala reaches his brother with two of his wives, one falls in love with him adding to their internal struggle. The differences, jealousy and dishonesty propel these two brothers into a struggle with violence of epic proportions. This was truly the best part of the book.
The Heroic Age of Denzel: the films Antwone Fisher and Unstoppable, starring Denzel Washington
I had thought the film a lot simpler than it was—I thought it was some kind of celebration of ghetto life, but I could not have been more wrong: it is about how an abused boy joins the military and meets a navy psychiatrist who helps him to understand his past and use his anger as energy for self-improvement, and to use his loneliness as a spur to connect with a healthy branch of his family. Consciousness leads to purpose.
Heroism, after Wayne and Cooper, in the Work of Eric Bana: Eric Bana’s Love the Beast; and Joe Wright’s Hanna, starring Bana and Saoirse Ronan
Bana has been featured in an impressive panoply of films—I immediately think of Munich and Troy; Bana played an assassin with a conscience in the first and a reluctant royal warrior in the second—and it is hard to predict what Bana might do next or how that will be received or remembered.
A review of Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
These “peculiars” are certainly fiction, right? Riggs adds another layer of “Are they or aren’t they real?” by building his story around a collection of vintage photographs included throughout the novel that show images of, well, peculiar people in peculiar poses doing peculiar things.
A review of Hal Junior: The Secret Signal by Simon Haynes
Reluctant readers of all ages will enjoy this book because it’s full of cinematic action and as many sound effects as a comic strip or Matthew Riley novel (without the exploding heads and continual expletives): “zzingg”, “gadoinnnggg!” “Clatter clatter crash!”. Younger readers from about 8 or 9 will also enjoy it, identifying with Hal’s perfect combination of insouciance and curiosity.
A review of Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
While I didn’t find myself showering with my copy of Ready Player One, I did find it an enjoyable read. However, I feel that fans of virtual gaming will get far more from this story than I did. Young adult males, in particular, will eat this up. Ready Player One is Willy Wonka with balls; it’s Total Recall meets The Matrix meets the Mario Brothers. It’s scarily familiar and horribly possible.
A review of Mountains Belong to the People who Love Them by Lesley Synge
One of the key links between both sections are mountains – the linked chain between the past and present; between Korea and Australia. There is always, a great deal of respect for the native landowners – the Yugambeh people whose stories and artwork are present throughout the narrative.
A review of The Sense of An Ending by Julian Barnes
The Sense of an Ending is a beautifully crafted exploration of a character arc that happens too late to affect change. The motion from clever smugness to painful self-awareness is flawless. The absolute control of Barnes’ prose coupled with the philosophical power of his meditations has resulted in a book that’s as dense and powerful as it is readable.