Six Sentence Saturday v.2

Welcome to Six Sentence Saturday.
Where I try to express my thoughts on recent reads using only 6 sentences!!!!.
At the end of each review I will post a rating scale of 1-5 using the cute and original (lol) Playing Cards.
Rating Scale will be as follows:

5 Of Hearts

You Must Read This Book NOW!
4 Of Hearts

A Great Read, Put It On Your TBR.
3 Of Hearts

Glad I Read It, But No Big Deal.
2 Of Hearts

Why Did I Finish This?
Joker

Don’t Bother
(Why Did I?)
 

Book

Details Synopsis
Skellig
David Almond
Delacorte Books
©1998
Hardcover 208 Pages

When a move to a new house coincides with his baby sister's illness, Michael's world seems suddenly lonely and uncertain. Then, one Sunday afternoon, he finds something magical. A strange creature - part owl, part angel, a being who needs Michael's help if he is to survive. But Skelling is far more than he at first appears, and Michael's world changes forever...

My Six Sentences My Rating
Skellig was the first book I read by David Almond (that apparently I was missing out on before because he is a super-fantastic author.) Now I’m so glad that I checked out this particular book because it really was magical. It reminded me of reading Alice In Wonderland when I was a little kid. Skellig is the type of book that allowed me to completely throw off my “I’m a fully grown woman who shouldn’t yearn to believe in the unbelievable” costume. But (and this is a good but) not only was Skellig a great way for me personally to recapture that imaginative, child-like enjoyment, Skellig also gave me a lot of more adult things to consider, things like family, friends, responsibility and seeing the possibility of caring for things we may at first fear for their strange unfamiliarity. 5 of hearts
Other Reviews  
An Adventure In Reading
♦ As Usual, I Need More Bookshelves
♦ Becky's Book Reviews
♦ Things Mean A Lot
♦ Where Troubles Melt Like Lemon Drops
♦ You Can Never Have Too Many Books


Book

Details Synopsis
Soulless  
Christopher Golden 
MTV Books
©2008  
Paperback 320 Pages

Three mediums have gathered for a live broadcast on network television. They believe they can jointly create a massive communication network, thinning the barrier between this world and the next, and every spirit within a 300 mile radius will be able to cross over, briefly, to speak to grieving loved ones. What sounds like a miracle quickly becomes a nightmare - for 300 miles around fragments of corpses dig themselves out of the ground and seek out those they left behind with sinister intentions.

My Six Sentences My Rating
Mentions of zombies was the only reason why I picked this up, I love them, so my bookish-side convinced me I would enjoy this short YA read. Nope, not happening, I found it to be way too cliche for my taste. A little too reminiscent of a whole gaggle of familiar plotlines thrown together with a cast of cardboard cut-out characters. However, I am not the target audience for this book (it’s been a few years too many since I could fit into the YA classification.) This book might work extremely well for the intended readers looking for a quick, easy read, just not for me.
Other Reviews  
Karin's Book Nook YaReads.com


Book

Details Synopsis
Speak
Laurie Halse Anderson
Puffin Books
©1999  
Trade PB 240 Pages

Laurie Halse Anderson’s award-winning, highly acclaimed, and controversial novel about a teenager who chooses not to speak rather than to give voice to what really happened to her marks ten years in print with this special anniversary edition. Bonus material created for this edition includes a new introduction and afterword from the author, resources, and discussion guide.

My Six Sentences My Rating
Another book that I really don’t match up with in terms of target age-range, the thing with this book is that I can see that it would be a wonderfully educative read for young adults. It focuses on some pretty heavy themes, and presents them in an appropriate way that I think teens could relate to. I’d give this book a 5 ♥’s rating in terms of being a recommended read. However my own feelings are biased because of personal reasons relating to the experiences of the main character (I wanted to scream at her to deal, because that’s how I did it.)  But everyone is different and has different ways of dealing with things, and mine being the opposite of the character in this book, does not necessarily make either of us wrong. And so that’s why I gave it a 4 of ♥’s.
Other Reviews    

All About {n}
An Adventure In Reading
At Home With Books
Bermudaonion's Weblog
Bloggin' 'Bout Books
Book Nut
Bookalicio.us
Books Lists Life

Dog Ear Diary
Epic Rat
Fizzy Thoughts
Hidden Side Of A Leaf
It’s All About Books
Katrina's Reads
Leafing Through Life
Libri Touches

Mari Reads
Maw Books Blog
My Years Of Reading Seriously
Persnickety Snark
Rhinoa's Ramblings
Sharon Loves Books And Cats
Stephanie's Confessions Of A Book-A-Holic
Things Mean A Lot


Six Sentence Saturdays is fabulous review format I discovered and decided to borrow from Kailana’s blog The Written World, she had borrowed it from Staci’s blog Life In The Thumb – thanks to both of these bloggers! Trying to write a review in only six sentence is just the exercise I need (since I tend to go on and on forever without any guidelines holding me back.)



© 2008-2010 Joanne Mosher of The Book Zombie. All rights reserved.

13 comments:

Ana S. said...

I'm so glad you loved Skellig too! Almond really is amazing. And you're absolutely right about Speak: there are probably as many ways of dealing with something like that as there are people it happens too.

Elizabeth said...

YAY! I loved Skellig - ever since I discovered it, I get so excited when other people read and enjoy it too. So glad you liked it!

Kailana said...

I need to review Skellig, too, but since I have also read The Savage by him now I think I will just review them together! I really liked Skellig, too!

Ceri said...

I love this review format and you do it so well, Joanne, considering it's only six sentences. Really well-written and thought out. Skellig sounds good - I love books that can make you jump back into the childhood world again. And Speak is on my wishlist. I saw the film and kind of enjoyed it (as much as you can with that film/book). :)

Andi said...

Skellig is a great book! I actually teach it in my Children's Lit courses for college students studying to be education majors. We talk about a lot of the adult issues therein including the homeschooling vs. public schooling debate. It's a really interesting read, and my students really like it. Sadly, I haven't ever picked up another Almond book, but from what I hear his other offerings aren't much like this one.

kay - Infinite Shelf said...

Great reviews!
I'm thinking I'll have to give Skellig a try!

Lenore Appelhans said...

I know what you mean about Speak!!

bermudaonion said...

That's pretty good that you only had one dud in the bunch. I really enjoyed Speak.

Jill said...

Very impressive 6 sentence reviews! Nymeth put Skellig on my list awhile back. Looks like I'll have to bump it up! :-)

Zibilee said...

I've heard great things about Skellig, and bought a copy a couple of months ago. I haven't gotten to it yet, but I am glad to hear another voice saying it's a great read.

Care said...

Can it really be Tuesday and I'm now reading this? and a slow Tuesday it is, too, because I thought you were going to give us six WORD reviews and I was about to complain that you exceeded the limits! ha. NOW. WHERE can I get (and what exactly does it look like?) this costume you speak of: “I’m a fully grown woman who shouldn’t yearn to believe in the unbelievable” - I think this is what I'd like to be on Halloween.

B.Kienapple said...

Laurie Halse Anderson has a new one now too, Wintergirls - but again, might be a bit out of our age range. :)

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

Interesting how our own personal experiences shaped our feelings of Speak. You know from reading my review today that I personally dealt in silence and gave the book a 5. :) I think Nymeth's right, there are as many ways as dealing with things as there are people/problems.