[Reading the Classics] A Tree Grows in Brooklyn // Betty Smith

[Source: Deconstructed from 9780060736262; © Harper Perennial 2005]

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Author: Betty Smith

Publication Year: 1943

Pages: 500

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

Verdict: A poignant reflection on the coming-of-age of a girl whose future is as fragile as it is hopeful. The discord among social classes is explored with startling realism. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is now forever in my heart, stealing a place among my top 10 favourites of all time. The sensibility of this young girl, Francie, will astound you. Her quiet unnerving strength is inspirational as well as heart-breaking.

My thoughts

It is a magnificent coming of age story.

I have always had a personal love for coming-of-age stories, which A Tree Grows in Brooklyn most definitely is. This novel is not short, and maybe you're wondering what the story is about. If I could summarise the story it would be something like: the situation in which an impoverished family in Williamsburg, Brooklyn has been placed, the circumstances that have led to the situation, and a young girl's enduring will to change things.

MBiC (12) ~ Book haul time!

MBiC is a fortnightly (*ahem*) book haul feature inspired by Kristi (The Story Siren) and Alea (Pop Culture Junkie). I love looking at book covers, and especially their colours, and that is where the idea to feature my new arrivals by their spines in accordance to their shade comes from.

~~~~~

28th of April 2013 ~ Notes

It's been a month and a half since my last book haul. This is only half of the books I've gotten. In a week or two I'll share the remaining titles (they're mostly more classics that I've bought). In this one I'm sharing my review books and recent YA I've bought/preordered. Super excited for some of these!

Note: All release dates are in the format (dd/mm/yyyy); click on images to zoom in; all book links go to Goodreads.

* = Up for swap

For Review

Thanks to...

Bloomsbury Hachette, Macmillan, Penguin and Random House!

• Wildlife - Fiona Wood - 01/06/2013 - accepted
• Steal My Sunshine - Emily Gale - 01/05/2013 - requested --> review tk
• Inferno (#4) - Sherrilyn Kenyon - 09/04/2013 - unsolicited *
• The Bone Season - Samantha Shannon - 20/08/2013 - requested ARC
• The 5th Wave - Rick Yancey - 07/05/2013 - unsolicited

Excited for all these, except for Inferno, and that's because it's just not for me. Just finished reading Steal My Sunshine - at least 4 stars from me! Review will be up sometime this coming week. The 5th Wave has been generating some really good buzz from fellow bloggers/Goodreaders, so I'll be reading that really soon. (FYI: It's on Netgalley too!) I was practically begging for The Bone Season. Read the sampler here. I'm so curious about this one and I hope it doesn't just fall into the romance arc. And as for Wildlife, I love Fiona Wood's debut so I can't see how I won't also love this.

Bought

• Catching Fire & Mockingjay (#2-3) by Suzanne Collins --> series review tk
• The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann
• Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys --> my review
• Burn Bright by Marianne de Pierres
• Ransomwood by Sherryl Jordan
• Crewel by Gennifer Albin
• Gone (#1) by Michael Grant

Just finished the The Hunger Games series last week. So good! I'll eventually get around to writing a wrap-up series review for it, once all my emotions have caught up with me. I read Out of the Easy at the beginning of this month. It was perfect (for me)! Check out my review, the link is above.

I preordered Gone for $5 through The Book Depository. It's the 'special' edition, mostly in that it's cheaper; there's also a sample chapter from the last book, Light. I actually got Ransomwood from Lisa (Badass Bookie) through a swap. All the other books not mentioned are from AllBooks4Less. I was VERY happy about getting Burn Bright - I now have the whole trilogy and I will get around to reading it soon. There's just so much dystopia still on my TBR!

Q: How many books do you read a month, on average?

Happy reading.

Share with me your own book hauls! :)

[Review] Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

Out of the Easy 

Author: Ruta Sepetys

Publication (dd/mm/yyyy): 07/03/2013

Publisher: Penguin (Puffin)

Pages: 352

Source: Bought

♪ Marina and the Diamonds - Power and Control ♪

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

My Rating: 

Powerful + unforgettable!

My thoughts

Following Ruta Sepetys’ debut Between Shades of Grey I was expecting something raw and powerful, a book that, once I’d finished reading the last page I’d feel like my life had been irrevocably changed for ever. It’s such a pleasure when expectations are met with reality which is the case here. Out of the Easy is extremely different to Sepetys’ debut novel, but one major similarity shines through—there is a bleak tone to the novel and yet there resonates a promise of hope.
   

"Decisions, they shape our destiny."

[Review] Prodigy by Marie Lu

Prodigy

(#2, Legend)

Legend | Prodigy | Champion

Author: Marie Lu

Publication (dd/mm/yyyy): 30/01/2013

Publisher: Penguin

Pages: 350

Source: For review

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

My Rating: 

A surprising sequel!

My thoughts

Quite a substantial amount of time has passed since I read Legend. I did read a recap of it and while I think it did help reorient myself into Lu's imagined world, it's definitely not necessary. Sometimes it's just better to jump right on in and I think I would have been perfectly fine had I done so. Marie Lu doesn't beat you over the head with the happenings of the previous book, but rather subtly eases you back into her story. In no time at all I was reminded of all the things I adored in Legend and I was, quite simply, hooked.