The Book Bubble

A book for theater nerds everywhere. I first started following the pre-production, so to speak, of this book on Tumblr, where the author posts under the username http://dukeofbookingham.tumblr.com/, and by the time the pub date dropped, I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy. Now, while my own experience starts and stops at three years of middle school plays, I really enjoyed this book. It plays on the obsessive, cut-throat culture of college theater centered around seven students, who make up the core of the department. By the end of Act 1, one of these seven will be murdered. The narrator, Oliver, weaves a tale with all the dramatic flair of Shakespeare himself; flashing between present day, and ten years ago, when the crime takes place. Oliver, accused of the murder of one of his theater-mates, unravels the events from nearly a decade prior to the cop who originally put him away, still not 100% convinced he's hearing the entire  story.  And are we? Are we, the...

   This week, I'd like to review a novella I had to read for one of my classes. It's called Passing written by Nella Larsen. This was absolutely a novella I would not have read by choice, but since I was forced to read it 3 times this semester, I figured why not give it a review. Personally, I thought it was just okay. It wasn't as magnificent as I thought it would be, but again, it's just my opinion.    Before I was allowed to read the actual novella, I was required to read the reviews and literary criticism, so I already knew how the story ended. Knowing how the story ended definitely ruined the flow of the book for me, but I had to trudge through the disappointment and read it anyway.    Written in 1929 during the Harlem Renaissance, this is a story of Race, Sexual Tension, and Jealousy.    This is a story of two women, Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry. Both women are light-skinned enough to "Pass" for white women, however, they are both...

                                        Warning - Adult Themes and Strong Language    Wow! Just, Wow! I am at a complete loss of words with this one. I just finished House of Sand: A Dark Psychological Thriller Written by Michael J Sanford. Just when I thought I knew what was going on, it threw a very hard knife right in the middle of the road - Not a fork, but a knife. The entire story, I thought I had the plot line pegged as just another psycho book about mental illness, and boy was I wrong!    It went from simple story to complete mind fuckery in just a few pages, and it just spiraled on from the very beginning right up until the very last page. This was not just another story of deception and lies... No way, this was something else entirely! I literally walked around ...

This week on my commute to work, I have been wrapping up the Audible version of Middlsex, written by Jeffrey Eugenides, and narrated by Kristoffer Tabori. The narrator's voice is going to be hit or miss with some listeners; Imagine if  Harvey Fierstein, the actor who plays Robin Williams brother in Mrs. Doubtfire, was reading to you. If it doesn't sound like your cup of tea, just pick up a hard copy of the book. The narrator of the actual story is Cal Stephanides. The twist to Cal's identity (revealed roughly three pages if that into the book so not actually a spoiler) is that Cal, born Calliope, is an inter-sex man born with  5-alpha reductase deficiency, a recessive  condition, that caused Cal to be born with female characteristics. Throughout the narrative, Cal recounts the histories of himself, his parents and his grandparents, mixing in true events from history such as the Balkan Wars and the Detroit race-riots.  Middlesex is a contemporary fa...

   So this week, I had the ultimate pleasure of reading The Maze Runner Written by James Dashner. Now you must understand, I am a huge fan of the movies, so my opinion of the book right from the beginning already was a little bias. Was it going to be as good as the movie I loved so much?    I was pleasantly surprised by the beginning of the book and how almost exact to the movie it was. Around chapter 16 though, it took a hard right into something different. The story I was used to seeing visually just changed completely, and it blew my mind. It also gave me a new found love for some of my favorite characters.  The story centers around a young man named Thomas. When Thomas wakes up in a box, surrounded by the locals properly known as Gladers, he has absolutely no idea who he is or where he is. Thomas can't remember anything! Gigantic walls towered all around him, trapping him into whatever hell he had just landed in. A hell full of only boys and young men....

Do you enjoy openly sobbing over fictional characters at 2am while your concerned husband stares in helpless confusion? Then I have an author for you. V.E. Schwab a/k/a Victoria Schwab in her younger-targeted works is the hidden gem of the YA world., though I am pleased to say over the last few years she’d been growing in popularity throughout the book world. During my days as a humble bookseller, I could not recommend her enough to customers. Her dualology, the Monsters of Verity, begins with This Savage Song. Here’s the opening line; “The night Kate Harker decided to burn down the school chapel, she wasn’t angry or drunk. She was desperate.” Kate is a character hardened by a hard world. The city of Verity is plagued by monsters, three species to be exact; Corsai, Malachi and Sunai. Each species is born from a particular, violent actions: The Corsai from non-lethal violence, the Malachi from murder and the Sunai from as born from mass destruction. The book’s second m...

From the opening paragraph of Scott Lynch's 'The Lies of Locke Lamora', first in an eventual seven book series, readers are immersed into an elegantly crafted setting. Unlike so many fantasy books, where authors oftentimes cram as much backstory about their worlds as possible for the sake of it, Lynch's wold-building flows so flawlessly in to the narrative to the point exposition is as entertaining as the core plot. Set in the fictitious Renaissance-Italianesque city of Camorr, the first book follows the misadventures of leader Locke Lamora and his small gang of petty window-thieves. Or, that's what the Gentlemen Bastards want  the rest of their criminal syndicate, known as the 'Right People' to think. The reality being, the Gentlemen Bastards are far more akin to the Oceans 11 crew then mere pickpockets. But don't tell Capa Barsavi that! There's always a job within a job, within a job, and when the countless webs begin to unravel Locke and the...

   This week I wanted to keep with the Halloween theme and read The Witch of Halloween House by Jeff DeGordick. I got it for free from the Freebooksy email I receive daily, and I wasn't quite sure what to expect from it. It's a Novella and a very easy read to say the least. I'm not sure what group of readers it was geared toward, but if I had to assume, it would fall under the Young Adult category.    I liked the story plot, and I enjoyed how the story flowed without it being super repetitive. The chapters were titled and not just a number which is something I can absolutely appreciate. It wasn't overly SyFy or fantasy based, and it had a little bit of a horror undertone to it.    The Story is based around nineteen year old Carmen and her little brother Tommy. They live in a tight-woven small town, and it's Halloween night when a child goes missing. An old woman who keeps to herself and lives in a little house on the top of the hill is accused of the c...

    Good Afternoon Bubble Bloggers - I hope everyone is doing well. I must apologize for my lack of book reviews last week and for most of this week. I had a couple assignments due for my class, and I didn't have much time for "fun" reading. I would, however, like to give everyone a little freebie website for free books. To forewarn everyone, this website I'm about to give you is very addicting! It's called - Freebooksy - and the website is Freebooksy.com.    I have over 300 books on my Kindle, most of them coming from that website. You can also sign up for a daily email which makes it all the more convenient. The books also change daily, so if you didn't find something that peaks your interest one day you may find it the day after.     I'm not quite sure when I'm going to get through all these books I have downloaded, but I can't stop downloading them. I think I need BAA - Book Addicts Anonymous! Enjoy the website, and have a great rest of the ...

   The second book I chose to read this week was Witch You Were Here (Nightshade Paranormal Cozy Mystery - Book 1) By Lori Woods . This book was mysterious, yet adorable. It's very young adult appropriate or if you're anything like me, anything having to do with magic is appropriate.    The one thing that bothered me the most though, were all the typos throughout the book. They were in almost every chapter, and it kind of killed the mood of the story just a little bit for me personally.    The story was nice, and other than the typos it flowed pretty smoothly. I chuckled quite a few times to be honest, and it was an easy read.    This is Suzy Maycomber and her sassy black cat Snowball's first adventure. It takes place in a little town called Nightshade. It's just like any ordinary town except the characters are quite, shall we say... special. When residents around town start talking about the darkness, only one person comes to mind, and his...

   This week I decided to read a couple books! The first one was Love Beyond Reason (A Scottish Time Traveling Romance - Book 2) Written by Bethany Claire. I actually purchased this one on Amazon for the Kindle since I loved the first book so much and I just wanted to say hello to a few familiar characters. This particular book was just as fabulous as the first book! There was so much deception and heartache, but there was also so much happiness and more magic in store for us - the readers.    It was excellently written, and you can tell the author Bethany Claire is a very meticulous writer. It was pretty perfect, and very easy to follow, especially if you already read the first book in the series!    This is Blaire and Arran's story. It brought back favorite characters like Bri, Eoin and Mary. It also brought with it some new characters - Edana, Tormod, and Baodan.    Arran makes a hasty decision in his Brother Laird Eoin Conall's absence, ...

   The book I chose to read this week was Love Beyond Time (A Scottish Time Traveling Romance - Book 1) - Written by Bethany Claire. This was another book I won for free in a book giveaway, and I'm so glad I was chosen to read it. I loved it so much, I finished the book in one night! Yeah - It was that good! Love, Lies, Magic, and Battles swirl throughout the whole book, and it was very well written.    It made me happy, it made me sad, it made me angry, and it had me guessing right up until the very end. It brought out all of my emotions while reading it. It was actually kind of an emotional overload since I read it in less than 7 hours. It was, however worth every bit of emotion I felt.    The main character Bri lives her life in a rut as a kindergarten teacher. Day by day it's the same thing, until her mother Adelle a well known archeologist, whisks her daughter away to Scotland. Together they go to work at a dig site Adelle hasn't been to in years,...

   This week I read The Importance of Being Earnest written by Oscar Wilde. It was not a play of my own choosing, instead I had to read it for a class I am taking. I would have walked right by it in a bookstore without as much as a second glance. I am so glad I got a chance to read such a classic! This was also the first play I have ever read, it has three acts and it was a surprisingly simple read! The banter was absolutely hilarious, and the seemingly unrealistic views of the characters actually do make sense in life if you look deeper into the play.    The main characters Jack and Algernon have the best love/hate relationship! I laughed almost every time they interacted in dialogue. Cecily and Gwendolen were just as great as Jack and Algernon - I loved them all. Lady Bracknell of course had the villain persona of the play, but I had to respect her on a certain level after all is said and done.    The main characters Jack and Algernon are old friend...

   The book The Golden Hairpin written by Quinhan Cece and translated by Alex Woodend was actually nothing like I pictured it before I read it. First of all I won it in a free book giveaway,  so I knew absolutely nothing about the book. Second, half of the characters' names begin with "Li". When I did actually start the book I got a little confused with the characters, but that quickly went away as I got deeper into the story.    I did however find that around chapter 9-13 the translation got a tad sloppy. Maybe the translator was tired during that particular time, but it was over all translated into almost perfect English.    My thoughts about the actual story are that it was very well written. The details were very vivid, and I could actually see the flowers and scenery in my mind as they were described. The story ended though with me wanting just a little bit more out of it!   The main character is Huang Zixia or as i referred to her t...

   Hey there my fellow readers and bloggers. I hope you are all doing well! In my blog "The Book Bubble" I will share with you my own personal opinions and reviews of the books I had previously read! I try to get through at least 1 book per week, maybe even 2, and I will give you my honest opinion on those books.    I do have a Goodreads account as well, but I feel like my reviews always get weighed down by the 3000 reviews left by others. That's why I decided to start my own blog!    Please - feel free to jump in at any time with your own thoughts or reviews on books! THE MORE THE MERRIER!    I'm hoping to recruit a couple more bloggers to give you a little more of a review selection, so bare with me until I do! For now, enjoy my reviews and happy book hunting! *Dee* *(Disclaimer - I am not receiving any payment for any of the reviews posted on this blog nor will that ever be my intention. The books I review are done so of my own freew...