World Of Book Reviews

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Up and coming changes to the blog

Over the next couple of weeks you may notice a change in the blog. Here are the changes that I am planning on making:

1) Content/ Reviews

As many of you may know I am an eclectic reader, but recently I have noticed that I am starting to read alot more YA books, so with that in mind I have decided that this blog will be a YA only blog. I am not sure what I am going to do with my previous posts but starting from 14th September 2011, any new posts will be YA related.

All reviews that I post to this blog, from 14th September 2011, will be YA related and contain a lot more information. My reviews will now contain the following:

UK & USA book cover
Title and author
UK Publication date/year
USA Publication date/year
ISBN number
Series Title (if applicable)
Series Number Order (if applicable)
Link to publisher website
Format
Genre
Rating

2) Appearance

As I have decided to change the content of this blog I thought it needed a different look too. I am not sure how it is going to look but I am aiming to make it as appealing as I can.

3) Memes

I am going to be taking a more active role in meme's now. Again these are all going to be YA related.

I hope that you agree with the changes that I am planning to make as I really want to make this blog a success. If you have any suggestions please leave a comment.

Tuesday, 6 September 2011

Book Review: Mozart's Last Aria by Matt Rees

Mozart's Last Aria by Matt Rees
Publication Date: 2011
Publisher: Corvus
Pages: 291
Format: Hard Cover
Source: Library
Genre: Historical Crime
Rating: 5 out of 5

Synopsis from inside cover

The year is 1791 and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is enlightenment Vienna's brightest star. Master of the city's music halls and devoted member of the Austrian Freemason's guild, he stands at the heart of an electric mix of art and music, philsophy and science, politics and intrigue.

Six weeks ago, the great composer told his wife he had been poisoned. Yesterday, he died.

The city is buzzing with rumours of infidelity, bankruptcy and murder. But Wolfgang's estranged sister Nannerl, returned from the provinces to investigate his death, will not believe the gossip. Who but a madman would poison such genius?

Yet as she looks closely at what her brother left behind - a handwritten score, a scrap of paper from his journal - Nannerl finds traces of something sinister: the threads of a Masonic conspiracy that reach from the gilded ballrooms of Viennese society to the faceless offices of the Prussian secret service.

Only when watching Wolfgang's bewitching opera, The Magic Flute, does Nannerl truly understand he beloved brother once again. For, encoded in his final aria, she detects a subtly crafted blueprint for a radical new tomorrow. Mozart hoped this would determine his future. Did it seal his fate instead?

My Thoughts

Mozart's Last Aria is an historical crime novel, that is set around the time of Mozart's death in 1791. It is told from the viewpoint of his sister Maria Anna 'Nannerl' Mozart.

Although Nannerl is telling the story, the main character is Mozart himself. All the way through the story Mozart's work is mentioned. Matt Rees even includes a chapter music list at the end of the book, I found this to be very useful as it really helped me visualise the settings that the music was used in.

Even though this is an historical crime novel, it is also a conspiracy novel at the same time. It reminded me of Dan Browns The Da Vinci Code. We have Freemasons, Secret Police and characters that you don't know whether to trust or trust. The main characters in the story were all real, and this also helped bring the story to life.

Matt Rees descriptive powers are outstanding, and I really felt like I was standing in the main locations mentioned in this book, especially the Flour Market and St Michael's Church.

Mozart's Last Aria is an excellent crime?conspiracy novel that grabs the readers' attention and doesn't let go till the very end. I highly recommend this book

Monday, 5 September 2011

Introduction to my Youtube channel and Library book haul.

Lack of updates

I would like to apologise for my lack of posts over the past couple of months. The reason for this, may seem strange, is I totally lost interest in reading. No matter what I picked up I just couldn't get into anything.

This was a very frustrating time for me. I have never experienced this before and I hope I never experience it again. I have missed updating this blog and will now be making a more conscience effort to update it.

Thank you for your continued support.

Paul

Monday, 20 June 2011

Musing Mondays #2

Musing Monday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB from Should Be Reading.

This weeks muse:

Do you like movies made from books? Which ones do you think have been done well — kept mostly to the plot of the book, etc?

This is a really interesting question. I have a love/hate relationship with movies made from books, mainly because the movies dont always stay true to the book. A classic example of this is Stanley Kubricks The Shining. Although I thought Jack Nicholson did an amazing job I just didn't like the way it had been written or directed, some people may disagree with me on this.

Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter movies and The Green Mile are all examples of book to movie adaptations that I feel did the books justice.

I can't wait to see how The Hunger Games translates into a movie, hopefully it will work.

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

Its Monday, What Are You Reading is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through A World of Books. This meme is a list of the book(s) that we read last week, what book(s) we are currently reading and what book(s) we plan on reading.

Book(s) I Read Last Week

Playing in Traffic by Gail Giles (review) - library book
No Shame, No Fear by Ann Turnbull - library book

Book(s) Currently Reading

Across The Universe by Beth Revis

Synopsis from back cover

Amy has left the life she loves for a world 300 years away.

Trapped in space and frozen in time, Amy is bound for a new planet. But fifty years before she's due to arrive, she is violently woken, the victim of an attempted murder. Now Amy's lost on board and nothing makes sense - she's never felt so alone.

Yet someone is waiting for her. He wants to protect her - and more if she'll let him.

But who can she trust amidst the secrets and lies? A killer is out there - and Amy has nowhere to hide.

Book(s) I Plan To Read Next Week (these are subject to change)

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Synopsis from inside flap

There was a time when love was the most important thing in the world. People would go to the end of the earth to find it. They would tell lies for it. Even kill for it.

Then, at last, they found the cure.

Now, everything is different. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Haloway has always looked forward to the day when she'll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.

But then, with only ninety-five days left until treatment, Lena does the unthinkable.

Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder

Synopsis from back cover

KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN. DON'T GET NOTICED. OR ELSE.

I'M TRELLA. I'M A SCRUB. A NOBODY.

One of thousands who work the lower levels, keeping INSIDE clean for the Uppers. I just do my job and try to avoid the Population Control Police, who dream of recycling scrubs into fertiliser. So what if I occasionally use the pipes to sneak around the Upper levels? It's not like it's dangerous...

Well, turns out it is. Because I know every corridor, pipe and shortcut I've become the go-to girl to lead a revolution. I know if we find a gateway to OUTSIDE it'll be suicide plain and simple. But guess who likes a challenge?

I SHOULD HAVE SAID NO...