Inkheart

Cover of Inkheart

By Cornelia Funke

Well honestly my brother bought this book for me around 2 or 3 years ago but I procrastinated and finally took 2 months to finish it (gasp!)

Synopsis:
Mo (short for Mortimer), is a "book doctor"--someone who mends broken book spines, torn pages etc. However, he has a special gift, unknown even to his own daughter--he can bring fictitious characters & objects in a book to life just by reading it out loud! It is fascinating though risky business, and on one occasion, while reading out loud a book entitled "Inkheart", his wife, Teresa was stuck in the book while the characters (both the sinisters and good ones) escaped into the real world. Thus the adventure begins!

Afterthought:
Besides the engaging plot, there's no magic to the words. Definitely not in my list of favourite books. (Though it was made into a movie!)

Personal Rating: 2.0/5.0

The Lovely Bones

Image by mush2274 via Flickr

By Alice Sebold

I made a grave grave mistake by watching the movie (directed by Peter Jackson) before reading the book! But don't get me wrong, Saoirse Ronan is a SUPERB actress. Just hoping that she's still not in her prime YET. (eg look at Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen now. Not a good thing to mature too quickly; fame is quick to come & go)

I digress, but anyway here's the synopsis:
Susie Salmon (as the author said, like the fish) is a 14-year old, wildlife photographer aspirant. Just another girl with daydreams, and also a crush on Ray Singh, an Indian with a British accent (sexy!). Life seems to get better as her crush notices her as well and even slips in a love note into her Biology textbook.

But her seemingly harmless neighbour turns out to be a serial paedophile and Susie is brutally raped and murdered. She ends up in the InBetween, where she constantly gazes out from her gazebo to those still on Earth, watching and listening. The killer, George Harvey, was clever in covering his tracks and Susie, now dead, could not convey the truth to her family and friends.. or could she?

Afterthought:
It deals with the sudden and tragic loss of a loved one's life. How her family broke down after the news, and how the bits and pieces were slowly picked up and wounds gradually healed.

Compelling read! Note to self: NEVER watch the movie first. MAJOR MAJOR spoiler o.O

Personal Rating: 4.8/5.0