May Wrap-Up

May wasn't a very good reading month for me, honestly. But then again, being in my senior year of high school, 2013 so far hasn't been a very good reading year. Now that I'm finished with schoolwork though, I plan on reading a whole lot more! This month I only really finished two books, A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (to which you can find a review here) and Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (to which a review should be posted sometime within the next week).

A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - I was pleasantly surprised with how well I liked this novel. It was the perfect mix of quick humor and historical mystery. Love love loved it. 5/5 stars.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - Okay, so I haven't technically finished reading this yet, but I know I will by the time May ends (so midnight tonight). So far, I really enjoy this book! It has a few things that get on my nerves, like the constant use of the term "asshat" and the fact that Cline seems to repeat himself a lot in his writing. But other than that, I give it 4/5 stars so far. It better have one kickass ending.



P.S. - Happy birthday to me! I'm officially a legal adult! Crazy.

A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

"A Study in Scarlet" is the first published story of one of the most famous literary detectives of all time, Sherlock Holmes. Here Dr. Watson, who has just returned from a war in Afghanistan, meets Sherlock Holmes for the first time when they become flat-mates at the famous 221 B Baker Street. In "A Study in Scarlet" Sherlock Holmes investigates a murder at Lauriston Gardens as Dr. Watson tags along with Holmes while narratively detailing his amazing deductive abilities.

I'm going to be honest with you all here. About a year ago I went through a BBC's Sherlock obsession. I wanted to be an expert on all things Sherlock Holmes, so I went out and bought the first volume in the Bantam Classic Sherlock Holmes collection, assuming I'd finish all of the short stories and novels within a week or so. Oh, how wrong I was.

I tried to work through A Study in Scarlet for ages, but it just was never something I could make myself read. The volume collected dust on my bookshelf until about two days ago, when I finally decided to tackle the task of reading it. This time I was determined.

I'm so glad I made myself read past the first twenty or so pages. I fell in love with the smart-ass attitude of Sherlock Holmes immediately. Sure, Benedict Cumberbatch is a fine, snarky Sherlock, but nothing compared to the dialogue written in this novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

It was a bit slow at parts, but maybe that's because I already knew who committed the crime (thanks, BBC). I think what I liked most about A Study in Scarlet was the small break in the middle of the novel. It's broken up into two parts, the first part being a recollection of Dr. John Watson meeting and living with Sherlock Holmes in the midst of a terrible crime. The second, which was my favorite, started out with a third-person narrative explaining the back story of the killer, who was rescued by Mormon pilgrims in America. I'm in love with American history, so this was a really nice touch for me. Everything flowed together seamlessly, building up to an amazing ending in Watson's point-of-view.

I was not expecting to like A Study in Scarlet as well as I did at all. I definitely would recommend it to any classic or Holmes fan... or any human being period. It's instantly become one of my favorites of all time. 5/5 stars. Blew me away.

Hello world!

Chances are, if you're reading this, you have stumbled upon this blog by accident while it is under construction. Either that, or you're my mother (hi, Mom). However, if by some miracle you're actually here for the former reason, hello! I've been inspired here lately by many of my Goodreads friends to create a blog for my book reviews. I figure this is a much more fool-proof system than writing my every thought down in the book review Moleskine journal I bought last year--because honestly, who can be bothered to actually write stuff down these days? This is the technology of the 21st century! Journals are becoming blogs, books are becoming ebooks (I can't say I'm totally on board with this one though).

So if you're feeling faithful at all in this blog, please stick around.

I'll be posting reviews every time I finish a book, and I may even do a book haul every once in a while (but being a broke soon-to-be college student, I won't have much money for books in the foreseeable future. Sad life).

So with this, I bid you adieu.

Find me on Goodreads!