The Epic Adventures of Lydia Bennet by Kate Rorick and Rachel Kiley

Hey guys! I'm back with another review! I know it's been a while since we've posted a review here so I decided to review this book I borrowed from the library a while back. This book is also based on the Lizzie Bennet Diaries webseries (check out my review to the companion book to that series, The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet, here) but it focuses more on the youngest Bennet sister, Lydia (who, coincidently, shares the same name as me so don't get confused haha).

The novel picks up after Lizzie's last vlog as Lydia tries to move on from her online scandal while preparing for college. She struggles to deal with the negative judgement and discrimination from her schoolmates as well as her own insecurities. As she tries to get her life back on track, she learns to trust others again and the importance of family.

I love how this book tells Lydia's side of the story and develops her character to become more mature. If you watched the Lizzie Bennet diaries series, Lydia was the ditzy, air-headed sister who loved clubbing, drinking and hooking up with boys. But now, she's really matured a lot and she's making a conscious effort to change the image others may have had of her before. The authors have said that they chose to focus on Lydia for this novel as they felt her story was the only one left incomplete by the end of the webseries. I'm glad they did, cos it gave me a lot of insight into her side of the story and how the scandal has affected her emotionally and mentally.

I haven't read Pride and Prejudice myself yet but from what I've gathered, Lydia Bennet wasn't a favourite character in the book for most people; she was just this frivolous wild child. So I'm glad that the webseries fleshed out Lydia's character a lot more and showed her more gullible, insecure nature. However, she still has that loud and sassy personality in her and it shows in the book as well, through her signature slang and way of speaking.

Plus, this book also features quite a bit of Mary Bennet, the Bennet sisters' cousin in this adaptation and a minor character in the Lizzie Bennet Diaries series but she's been in a lot of Lydia's personal videos on her YouTube channel. This book goes more in depth about her relationship with Lydia. Overall, it's a story about finding yourself again and becoming a better you and I highly recommend it if you enjoyed the webseries or the first book and you're curious about Lydia's development after the scandal.

Lydia

The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet by Bernie Su and Kate Rorick

Hey everyone! I'm back with my second book review, as promised. Today, I'll be reviewing this book from a webseries The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet so I thought of doing something a little different this time. In this review, I'll be raving quite a bit about the webseries since it accompanies the book.

This book is the companion to The Lizzie Bennet Diaries webseries on YouTube, which is a modern adaptation of the classic, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, in a series of vlog-style videos by the protagonist, Lizzie Bennet. It follows the three Bennet sisters Jane, Lizzie and Lydia (Mary Bennet becomes their cousin and Kitty Bennet becomes Lydia's cat) as they handle their mother's old-fashioned views of wanting to marry off her daughters. Along the way, doubts about what love really mean pop up, true personalities are revealed and the sisters eventually learn to accept one another and those around them. If you loved Pride and Prejudice, you'll definitely love this clever adaptation!

I love how the webseries has so many Easter eggs and tiny subtle references to the original classic - it still nuanced the 19th century English lifestyle and beliefs but put it in a more modern, relatable context. As someone who's not a big fan of classics and has never read Pride and Prejudice before, this webseries made me curious about the original classic and I went to do some research about it so I could understand the adapted story and the relationship between the characters better.

As for the novel itself, it acts not only as a written screenplay of what went on in the webseries episodes but it also reveals some details that were glossed over in the episodes. It lets you see the story from Lizzie's point of view and lets you see her inner thoughts and feelings that she didn't want to reveal on camera to her online audience. After reading the novel and watching the accompanying episodes, I was able to understand the whole storyline a lot better when the missing links not revealed in the videos were filled in by Lizzie's diary entries in the book. The book acts as a backstory to the events documented in Lizzie's vlogs, explaining why she said the things she said and why she did what she did in the vlogs.

The characters are also very 4-dimensional. Each character has so many layers that they reveal over time, you see different sides to them coming out and you learn so much more about who they are on the superficial level and on a deeper level. That's what makes this whole series is so good, each character is more than meets the eye and are all developing characters in their own ways. The team behind the series even made social media accounts and individual separate YouTube channels for the characters so you can see how far they went to make the characters as "real" as possible.

Overall, I highly recommend you guys check out this series and the novel as well. The way the book and the vlog series tie in so well together with the small details and add depth to the entire storyline. The webseries was created by Hank Green (if you're familiar with the stuff he does on his own or with his brother John Green, you know what to expect haha) and it's even won an Emmy in 2013 so that should be enough proof of how good this whole project turned out to be. I love how adaptations like these bring such classics to life in a modern way and it makes "nerdy" topics like these more relatable for a younger audience. Definitely a must-read for fans of the classics and casual readers alike!

Lydia

Paper Towns by John Green

Hey guys! Lydia is back!! It's been a while since I've written on this blog! Today, I'll be reviewing a book I've wanted to read for quite a while and finally managed to, Paper Towns by John Green.

I've been wanting to read this book ever since news of the movie came out and when I finally managed to get my hands on it, it didn't disappoint. This book is about a teenaged boy called Quentin Jacobsen aka Q who's had this huge crush on his neighbour Margo Roth Speigelman since young. Margo is a mysterious girl who loves adventure and has spent her childhood escaping home to wherever her impulsiveness takes her. One night, Margo crawls through Q's window and brings him on a crazy hit-and-run adventure around the neighbourhood to get revenge at her cheating boyfriend and her fake friends.

The next day, Margo disappears again and as the days go by, she still hasn't returned and Q starts getting more and more worried. But Margo is known to leave clues about where she's going so with his best friends Ben and Radar, Q is sure Margo left those clues for him and is determined to find her. On the day of their high school graduation, the three boys with Ben's new girlfriend and Margo's friend Lacey take the long drive to a non-existent "paper town" called Agloe, New York. Do they eventually find her? You'll have to read the book to find out.

I like how this coming-of-age story kind of turns into a mini mystery as the three friends try to get into Margo's mind and understand the clues she left behind. The characters in the book also all have their own individual personality types that make them memorable - Q as the introverted shy guy, Ben as the hyper, loud, slightly horny friend and Radar as the geeky one. I particularly love Margo's carefree, YOLO personality and how she's not afraid to break free from society's restrictions so she can find herself.

As expected from an author like John Green, his humour and fun personality that I get from watching his videos is clearly evident in this book. He writes from a teenager's perspective so well and I can almost imagine the characters' voices and images in my head as I read the story. That's what makes this story so much more relatable to me as a teenager as well and just brings the whole story and its characters to life.

Overall, it's a story of love, friendship and finding adventure in our everyday life, with elements of maturity and growth balanced with the somewhat frivolity of teenaged life. I'm even more curious about watching the movie now after reading this book cos I heard that it's a little different from the book and I'd like to see how they adapted the book for the movie. So that's it for my long-overdue book review, I'm in the middle of reading another book right now and I'll definitely review that once I'm done!

Lydia

A Book about Books and Reading : The Storied Life of A.J Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

I am not proud to note that it has been nearly 1.5 years since any of us contributed to this blog! Have we really not been reading at all? From what i see of Lydia and Sarah, they have literally walked out of the world of books and into the world of Youtube. I am a willing victim too, it is much more stimulating to receive the sounds, the visuals, and the wonder of internet surfing is truly tempting and alluring, hence our hiatus from our previous love affair with books. 

It is not that i have not read at all for the past year and a half, and out of those few books i did read, there were some that were truly captivating, causing me to leave temporarily the virtual world and happily hold an actual book wherever i went. Books will always be my fall-back, on occasions when i felt fearful that my brain cells were dying due to Youtube overconsumption, I found myself back at the library, thankful that my library membership never expires and the library will never run dry.

Tonight, after reading this particular book "The Storied Life of A.J Fikry" by Gabrielle Zevin, I was unusually spurred on to turn on the computer, dig out the password to the bookblog and turn in my long-overdue entry! 

I must admit that i was not really captivated by the book at the very beginning. I only borrowed 4 books  this time round, read one (not bad) and decided that two of them were poor choices and i am left with only this one book. Unwilling to discard it immediately, i ploughed on, though the first chapter was quite boring, seemingly about a brusque encounter between a book seller and a bookstore owner. There was no distinct setting and i had no idea where the story started from! I actually dozed off at my first reading….(you must be wondering why this book is worth mentioning now as i can imagine your minds drifting away from this blog. But please bear with me.)

The bookstore owner, A.J subsequently lost an apparently vintage book, Tamerlane and the storyline spirals on thereafter. The fact that i have never heard of this book, left me thinking that this book is probably beyond me and it was only due to a lack of alternatives that i decided to give it another go, the morning after. 

It seems that a great read, truly does deserve to be given a second look! Cause thereafter, the story took off - after the stolen book, an abandon baby, change in life goals, new friends, renewed ties with the lady bookseller, provided such an enthralling read that i could not put down the book and finished it at the end of the day! The plot centers around the bookstore owner, A.J and his bookstore, people who came and went, people who loved books and those who picked up the habit of reading, how he lived by principles of how to ascertain what constitutes a good book and what not.

Though the book is littered with many titles, none i can identify with, I do relate to the different characters in the book who have differing tastes to various book genres. Some like memoirs, some like Young Adults, others like action, romance, autobiographies, so on. It reminded me how wide and deep the literary world is, I am probably reading but a minute percentage of available books out there! I know that when i am choosing books to borrow, i do judge a book by its cover, its blurbs - some books' appeal jumps right at me, most i give them a miss. I wonder how many great reads i have missed out, how many more are out there! For the life of me, if you ever ask me what is my favorite book, i would not be able to quote a single book! I enjoy books while i am reading them, give them my full attention and then like a fluttery butterfly, move on to another book to devour, forgetting the one i just read. This bookblog actually does a vital job in recording the books that i actually felt stirred enough to pen down thoughts to, for which i am thankful for!

A.J's love for reading and books reminded me of my own love affair too. I have read, ever since i remembered, as a child, a teenager, a young adult, till now in my 40s. I am gratified that i live in Singapore where books are readily available, there will never be a shortage of books out there for any of us to lay our hands on. In the book, A.J felt threatened by the popularity of ebooks, but i think that the internet is a far bigger competitor with books for our time, attention and mindful involvement. 

Though it is very enjoyable to watch a video and see and hear the world beyond my sphere of existence, the enjoyment of reading a book cannot yet be replaced. For there is seldom as much satisfaction in randomly choosing a book off a shelf, settling down to read as and where you are, admiring the wondrous power of words that describe, stir and evoke all sorts of emotions, and then finishing it, a sense of achievement and akin to ending a journey phase. For all these revelations, i am forever a book lover and lifelong reader, come what may. I wish that Lydia and Sarah will soon renew their love for books too. May this little entry encourage who reads this too. Grab a book today!

It has been a month since i last read and very quickly reviewed the book "The Firebird" by Susanna Kearsley. In the days passed, i had made 2 other trips to the National library to snatch up whatever book of hers I could find. With great glee, i managed to lay my hands on 5 of them and took my time to savor them. The last of the lot was Sophia's Secret (also named as Winter Sea). To my utmost surprise and delight, it was one of the best books i read from the author, and upon finishing it, went on to read it another time around!! And to get even more from the book, i went online to read other reviews to see whether the book was similarly enjoyed by other readers.

Throughout the book, the names of the characters were strangely familiar sounding but i thought little of it, since i recognized it as a common theme of Susanna Kearsely, the English/Scottish history she is so expert in. But i was utterly surprised to discover online that this last book i read, Sophia's Secret (SS) is actually the "prequel" to the first book i read of hers, The Firebird (FB)!!!!! Oh my! To say the least, i am more fired up now than ever, to return to the library and try to borrow the latter book again and rehash the pleasure of reading it again and reuniting the characters, all to wondrous finale in my mind!!! This is truly an unexpected bonus and one that is surreal, much like the theme of the books i am reading! Haha, i do believe the magical dust of the books has rubbed off on me!

So, my dear friends, once again, i am inept in reviewing these books but still repetitive in asking you to head out to the library to try to find this series from this talented author and get started on this journey like i did. If you do managed to read them, may i suggest that you start with SS, followed by FB and any other books of hers in between! Do drop a line of comment here or you can pm me if you share my excitement or not so. Either way, i look forward to any of your feedback!

Jen

Excellent Read! - The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley

In the depths of my heart, i have a secret wish to be a writer! I have a dream that one day, maybe at "retirement", i shall sit myself down and write meself a novel! When i was younger, it was bound to be a romance! But as i grow older (yieks!), i tell myself that it must surely be something that has more depth, more substance - maybe a suspenseful drama, a reflective journal, a historical mystery.... to say the least, i have very little idea of what i would actually write, but it is still my dream!

I was reminded of this dream when i was reading this novel,  and was reminded again the enormousness (i checked, there IS such an adjective) of this dream, the task of writing a book. I was filled with awe as i turned the pages of this book, the multi facets of the story, the parallel dimensions of 2 stories in one book both captured my imagination and my mind! It was so informative as well as fantastical that i was swung from pleasure to pleasure. There is so much research that the writer had to do, discipline to alternate between two plots, linguistic prowess for English and its dialects  to weave such a wonderous tale of love, history, personal journey and discovery! In short, i was humbled, it will be a dream that will require more than mere wishing to fulfill!

Pardon all my musing and allow me now to share the joy of reading this book. The story revolves around 2 women from two different times, Nicola who has psychic powers and Anna, who has to escape and survive at a young age to preserve a family heritage. Both women have a past to deal with and a future to prepare for and while we view through Nicola's eyes, the life of Anna with her growth and struggles, we are still fully aware that Nicola is not insulated from the realities of her own life! It is like watching a movie of a girl watching a movie, we read and "watch" 2 life stories at one go! So addicted and spellbound i was, i took a day and a half to finish the whole book! It is certainly highly recommended and i would love to hear any comments from anyone who have the same pleasure of reading it too.

I know that I am lacking in reviewing this book in good detail but i do beseech you people out there, if you are at a loss of what to read, this is definitely the book to plug your need. The plot is clever in managing between two lives, two timelines, informative in telling the history of early Europe and suspenseful in leading the reader through the many peaks and intrigues of her characters. Read and truly enjoy!

Fresh Fiction reviewed "An imaginatively captivating trip through time."
Historical Novels Review : "Romantic, passionate and bittersweet, this intelligent, tension-laden story will sweep you away."

Jen

Suspenseful Read: The 39 Clues series by various authors

Hi guys! I know we've not been posting a lot (sorry for that) but we've been really busy these days, my sis has been preparing for this big major exam this year & my mum has been helping her prepare. I've been also studying for my Common Tests & End-of-Year exams these past few months. So I hope you all understand & apologises for being MIA for a while. Anyway, I've told them to post whenever they have time & since now it's the school holidays, we'll have more time on our hands to read & review books. So you guys may expect an entry by my sis or mum coming up soon!

Moving on, the book (or rather series) I'm recommending today is The 39 Clues series. This series is written by different authors and consists of 11 books (in the picture, book 1 is the last book while book 11 is the first one). The series mainly surround the plot of orphan siblings Amy & Dan Cahill, along with their au pair Nellie Gomez, competing against their distant relatives on a hunt for 39 Clues around the world to become the greatest Cahill in history. How did this whole thing start off? Before Amy & Dan's beloved grandma Grace passed away, she set up a challenge for all the Cahills; to take 1 million dollars or take the first Clue & start the hunt for the rest. At her funeral, this challenge is relayed to all the relatives through Grace's lawyer. Amy & Dan decide to take up the challenge, along with other fame-hungry relatives as well. From then on, they travel around the world, looking for clues based on historical figures that were apparently part of this influential Cahill family. It may seem a little complicated now so read the first book, Maze of Bones, to find out more!

Some background on the Cahills: there are 5 branches of the Cahill family; Lucians, Tomas, Ekaterinas (or Ekats), Janus & the most powerful and mysterious one, Madrigals. Each Cahill has a special characteristic that identifies what branch they're from, for example, the Janus are usually talented in the arts, having historical figures like Mozart in their branch. All the branches are at loggerheads with each other, leading to the fierce competition that Amy & Dan face during the hunt from their relatives, who use their individual skills & tactics to trick each other & get ahead in the hunt.

This book is so full of suspense & adventure that it is such an exciting read. You never know which scheming relative will come out & trick Amy & Dan during the hunt. There are also so many mysterious characters that you don't know who is good or bad. This is why I usually borrow 3-4 of these books from the library at one go so I can immediately move on to the next book & find out what comes next! I finished reading book 10 & can't wait to finish the series with book 11! For all those who like adventure & a little bit of history while using your brain to figure out the meanings behind the Clues, this is THE book for you. Once you start reading, you'll find it hard to stop!

Another interesting thing I found out about these books recently: When reading book 8, I noticed certain words or sections of a word were circled (not in pen, in the printing). If you combine all the circled words, it forms a message! How cool is that? Books 9 & 10 have symbols at the page number margins & the "guide" to decoding the coded message is somewhere in the book (for these 2 books, they were at the page with the publishing info at the start of the book & the blank pages at the end of the book). Go ahead & read the other books in the series & have fun decoding the messages!

From what I hear, there's gonna be a movie of the book coming out probably in 2014 so I'm especially excited for it. Also, after reading this series, you can check out another series, Cahills vs Vespers, about the Cahills' greatest enemy, the Vespers and there's even a new series coming up soon this October, Unstoppable, so there's a lot in stall for 39 Clues. Definitely go & check out this series & hope to hear your views on the books soon. Again, if you have any books you want us to review, please drop us a comment or email us at bookpicks4all@gmail.com. We'll be happy to hear from you! Happy reading!

Lydia