March Rewind

Slated by Teri Terry

I really liked this book. There were things that bugged me, like the relationship between Kyla and Ben. Not their whole relationship, but it seemed a bit forced. It seemed like Kyla wanted a friend and Terry just made her want to be with him. I’m labouring under the delusion that Kyla can think for herself without the author. Anyways. I liked the concept, I like the fact that Kyla is quite cool. It annoyed me that there was an age-limit on slating. And that it was 16, why not 18? The book is basically about a girl who has done something horrible and been slated, which means all her memories and all her personality is taken away and she’s adopted by another family. Normally Slated people are all sort of loopy and blank and smile-y, but Kyla seems to be more snarky and aware. I really liked the book. I liked the creepy undertones, I like the backstory of people being taken away and it being all creepy. It’s awesome. Looking forward to book 2.

The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

Yes, people have been telling me to read this for a very long time. Different people have been telling me it’s awesome so I finally had to read it. I say it like it’s a chore. It wasn’t. It was a lot of fun. It’s very Douglas Adams-y. I feel like a lot of stuff happened and I was a bit confused sometimes. I really liked it though. I think I shall read more, maybe I’ll figure out more stuff. I really liked Twoflower, or, I like him, and find him extremely annoying. A lot like Rincewind to be fair. Twoflower is all bubbly and interested, but sometimes you want people to panic, and then you can be panicked together. Two thumbs up.

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

I’ve read about half of it, and I’m sort of annoyed with it. I like the story, and I like some of the characters, but I don’t particularly like the writing. I don’t like his world building, too much info dumping in the beginning. And he seems to be trying to write high fantasy, but he isn’t capable and he shouldn’t try then. Also, like Sarene says, she is overextending herself. There is too much stuff going on, and it’s all coming at you too fast, he should pace himself better, and I don’t know, not throw out all this stuff at the same time. He’s made a very complex world, and throwing all of it at people at the same time makes it very annoying. So, I don’t know what I feel. I’ll try to finish it, because I want to know what happens. So I’ll just ignore my annoyances and finish it up.

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

It’s sort of a difficult book to say anything about. It’s obviously an interesting account of the war, and it’s interesting to hear it from the perspective of Anne. It is also deeply heart-breaking to read about her hoping to get out and becoming a journalist and writer when you know what is going to happen. It’s also interesting to watch Anne grow and see what kind of person she grows into. Which also makes it hard to think about how it’s going to end. I really liked it, and I thought it was interesting, and surprisingly well-written for a teenager, although I realize it might have been edited and cleaned up slightly, it’s still impressively written for someone who was so young. I really loved it, and I like reading non-fiction, and I liked this.

Moranthology by Caitlin Moran

This is a book with a collection of Newspaper columns that Caitlin Moran has written. I quite like this format of book. I’ve read three Charlie Brooker books based on the same concept. I like it because I suck at remembering that these people write one column per week, and I can read them all at once. In Moran’s case I also get to read explanations about the columns. I think I like Moran because I think she sounds like an absolutely awesome person to hang out with. I think I would love hanging out with her, and I can fantasize about out little friendship and think about the things we would talk about. I’m not insane by the way. I really liked it. I think her writing is funny, good and she covers such a wide array of topics it’s always interesting. Also it’s fun to read someone else’s opinion on something you yourself love. In conclusion, big thumbs up.

Ny Grunnlov (New Constitution) by Are Kalvø

Are Kalvø is one of my favourite humans. He is a writer, comedian, journalist and all-round awesome dude. Also I met him once and acted like something of an idiot and he was super nice. I realize that to others I might not have seemed very idiotic, but to me I did seem idiotic. Basically I asked him to sign something, he signed and I bowed. Which is not something you do unless you meet royalty. He sort of chuckled and bowed back, so I love him. This book celebrates, I guess, the fact that Norway has had a constitution for almost 200 years, since 1814, but bemoans the fact that it isn’t very up to date. Therefore, and also because Kalvø would quite like to be able to tell his grandchildren that he did something of substance, he writes a new one. Basically the 1814-constitution was written by about 100 guys in Eidsvoll, in the South-East of Norway, men, who got drunk, carried horses and barred Jews from the kingdom. They also decided that only men over the age of 25, who also owned land, were allowed to vote. A bunch of people weren’t even represented, because it’s quite far from the northernmost part of Norway to Eidsvoll, so they didn’t make it. Are Kalvø makes 6 paragraphs, and he asked the people what they would like for him to put in the constitution. And he proves that people in general are quite nice. It’s hilarious. I like his writing. He makes me laugh out loud. He also made me think, which is a wankish thing to say, but it is true. I really like that a guy thought: you know what, our constitution is a bit old, I should make a new one. He also made a flag, and a new national costume. He’s a wonderful human. All the thumbs up.