3 Stars | Lost in a Good Book

There’s a Bear on My Chair by Ross Collins

03 Aug 2018 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, The Picture Book Corner Tags: children's picture book, ross collins, three stars

Published: 2nd August 2016
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Illustrator: Ross Collins
Pages: 40
Format: Hardcover Picture Book
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars

We do not make a happy pair

a mouse and a bear

with just one chair

Sometimes it is the smallest things that draw me to a picture book, sometimes it is the title, other times it’s the illustration on the cover. This time it was a bit of both, the disgruntled mouse on the cover in his knitted jumper was all it took, coupled with the title and I picked it up.

The story is what it is, there is a bear on the mouse’s chair. In clever rhyme, Collins explains the many ways the mouse has tried to remove the bear from his chair. There is a style of Dahl and a touch of Seuss in the rhymes which are fun and create a great flow as you read, coupled with great visual text to help with emphasis on certain words and highlight the mouse’s frustrations.

One of the joys of reading picture books are the accompanying illustrations. The simplest expression on a character can be the highlight for me and this is no exception. The irritated mouse and the obliviously happy bear make you joyful even before you read any of the words.

The story is fun and the rhyming gives it great rhythm as you read. There was no explanation about why there was a bear on the chair, and it doesn’t really matter it’s an enjoyable read with light humour. The biggest mystery of all though, is why this mouse had a chair that was big enough to fit a bear on it in the first place. If he had done his shopping better he wouldn’t have this problem at all for the bear would not fit on his tiny mouse chair.

You can purchase There’s a Bear on my Chair via the following

Booktopia | Book Depository | Wordery

QBD | Dymocks | Fishpond

Amazon | Amazon Aust | Angus & Robertson

Artemis by Andy Weir

19 Jul 2018 2 Comments

by Amy in 3 Stars, Science Fiction Tags: andy weir, science fiction, three stars

Published: 14th November 2017
Publisher: Broadway Books
Pages: 352
Format: Paperback
Genre: Science Fiction
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars

Jazz Bashara is a criminal.

Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you’re not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you’ve got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent.

Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down. But pulling off the impossible is just the start of her problems, as she learns that she’s stepped square into a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself—and that now, her only chance at survival lies in a gambit even riskier than the first.

As someone who ADORED The Martian almost to a serious fault, I was disappointed this didn’t live up to the same feeling. Once I adjusted my expectations and stopped trying to compare it to The Martian, I enjoyed the story. Pushing past that barrier proved extremely difficult because I found myself constantly thinking back to Weir’s other work which, not only is unfair to him, but unfair to my reading experience. I kept expecting it to feel the same, to have the same likeable characters, and the same awe inspiring world.

Jazz is a character who is who normally doesn’t get up to too much trouble herself, she merely aides the illegalities of others. She is clever, too clever for what she is doing but she is stubborn and doesn’t listen when people tell her she has great potential. One of her clear character “charms” is that she is continuing her teenage rebelling well into her twenties which is something you have to get used to because it gets on your nerve a bit. I kept forgetting how old she was meant to be with her behaviour sometimes, but taken with the perspective of her whole story and experience it is slightly forgivable.

Some of Weir’s justifications for her behaviour and relationships was a bit thin, a stolen boyfriend at 17 causes a 10 year rift between friends, and a strange jealously of a fellow co-worker adds to her childish nature as well. There is nothing wrong with having an unlikable character, my only concern was that she was meant to be likeable on some level and it hasn’t hit that mark at all. But character assessment aside, once you accept who she is as a character you can focus more on the story around her.

My interest increased when I realised it was to become somewhat of a mystery. I liked the detective aspect and the problems that needed to be solved. I enjoyed the challenges Jazz faced, especially being in the unique situation of being on the moon. It added new problems and barriers, and it allowed Weir to introduce us more to this world he had created. The only downside was I felt the language was repetitive, and the delivery of information wasn’t always as seamless and natural as it could have been.

Weir has created a great world, one that works in a believable manner. It is futuristic while being grounded in a known reality, combined with a long held science fiction premise: a society on the moon with people who visit, people who live there, and people who are born there. His complicated world construction is aided once again by maps to help you picture the location of everything and get a sense of this futuristic location with logistics about the day to day life explained through plot points and exposition. The science once again came across as realistic and plausible. It didn’t feel quite so seamless and natural as The Martian, but that might have something to do with the story structure itself. Instead of Watney writing his journal and explaining his process in that form, Jazz tells us her own story in first person and it feels clunky and at times unnatural.

I know it sounds like I didn’t enjoy it but that’s not true. I didn’t love it, but I liked it and I liked the story Weir told. The plot went beyond just a space story and it shows that people will always be people no matter their circumstance or location. There was mystery and intrigue, and there was clever science that I really enjoyed learning about and seeing put into practice.

I quite liked the ending, I think Weir redeemed himself with how he handled the final chapters. There is intrigue, mysteries, and the suspense of things not going to plan. I’d gotten used to Jazz by the end and while I actually thought there were going to be a few more surprises I enjoyed the ending. It made sense for the journey we’d been on and the story Weir was trying to tell.

You can purchase Artemis via the following

Book Depository | QBD

Dymocks | Fishpond | Booktopia

Amazon | Amazon Aust

Angus & Robertson

P is for Pearl by Eliza Henry-Jones

12 Mar 2018 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Australian Women Writers, Young Adult Tags: #aww2018, aussie books, australian women writers challenge, aww 2018, eliza henry-jones, three stars, young adult

Published: 19th February 2018
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 304
Format: ebook
Genre: Young Adult
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars

Note: I received a copy from NetGalley

Seventeen-year-old Gwendolyn P. Pearson has become very good at not thinking about the awful things that have happened to her family. She has also become used to people talking about her dead mum. Or not talking about her and just looking at Gwen sympathetically. And it’s easy not to think about awful things when there are wild beaches to run along, best friends Loretta and Gordon to hang out with – and a stepbrother to take revenge on.

But following a strange disturbance at the cafe where she works, Gwen is forced to confront what happened to her family all those years ago. And she slowly comes to realise that people aren’t as they first appear and that like her, everyone has a story to tell.

I loved the comfortable feeling of this book. I connected with the feeling of the small town and the familiarity with all the residents there. It was a different kind of story that had a lot of focus on the characters and who they were rather than any big events. I liked that what looked like key plot points came to nothing and you realise Jones has a different direction in mind for the story.

What I also liked were the slow reveals and the shifting focus, it is also a great exploration of mental health and how that is dealt with at all ages and stages of life. Jones doesn’t delve too deeply into this, it is very much shown from the outside, but that in itself is an interesting point of view.

I enjoyed the surprises and their reveals that were impactful but didn’t feel like Plot Twists. They weren’t suddenly thrown in your face but they developed gradually which I liked. It felt natural and it felt like a realistic moment of discovery rather than a sudden change in the story.

The characters are pretty wonderful as well. I liked the relationship Gwen has with her friends and the people in town. It has a great small town feeling and the friendships and the support the community provide to one another is heart-warming but doesn’t come across as cheesy.

There isn’t a great exploration of other characters, but at the same time it’s not their story and you forget to notice it sometimes. You know who they are, and Jones gives you enough that you understand their lives and who they are, but Jones doesn’t go into huge depths. This is Gwen’s story after all and Jones keeps it revolving around her.

There is a natural feeling to the way Jones writes. Conversations are natural, more information isn’t provided between characters just so a reader understands, and the events and actions of the characters are intriguing and fascinating without being unnatural or fanciful.

It says in Jones’ acknowledgements that she first wrote this book when she was 16, whether that accounts for the tone this book sets or just that she can tell a young adult story well I’m not sure. I was drawn into Gwen’s story and came out the other side satisfied and content which is never a bad way to feel at the end of a book.

You can purchase P is for Pearl via the following

Booktopia | QBD

Amazon | Amazon Aust

Boomerang Books | BookWorld

Publisher

Meet Alice (#1) by Davina Bell

05 Feb 2018 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Australian Women Writers Tags: #aww2018, australian women writers challenge, aww 2018, davina bell, our australian girl series, three stars

Published: 25th January 2012
Publisher: Penguin Books Australia
Pages: 105
Format: Book
Genre: Junior Fiction
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars

It’s 1918…and Alice lives with her big family by the Swan River in Perth, while on the other side of the world, World War I rages. Alice’s deepest wish is to become a ballerina, and when she auditions for a famous dance teacher from London, it seems as if her dreams might come true. But then there’s a terrible accident, and Alice must ask herself whether there are more important things than dancing. Meet Alice and join her adventure in the first of four stories about a gifted girl in a time of war.

This was a quaint little story and the first in a series of four and part of a larger collection of stories called Our Australian Girl where various writers tell the story of young girls at various points in Australia’s history. It’s simple but sweet and it shows you what life was like during this time in Australia’s history. This story is set in a town just outside Perth in the middle of WW1 and depicts the day to day life and the impact of the war. Alice dreams of being a ballerina and has the skill to be great one day, but her responsibilities at home are important as well and the guilt she feels enjoying herself weigh on her mind.

I liked Alice; I liked her friendships and the relationship with her brother Teddy and how she cares for her family while her mother works and their father is at war. There are antagonists, naturally, and a small town mentality, and Bell has incorporated the historical references and circumstances really well making the story feel natural and age appropriate while not holding back facts.

Each story is self-contained but because it’s told through four books there is an ongoing storyline as well. Being the first book we have an introduction to Alice’s family, and an insight into 1918 life and the pressure young boys had to go and fight in the war, lest they be labelled cowards. Bell uses her characters really well in helping demonstrate the different sides of society during this time and despite the relatively simple story, it is a rather intriguing little read.

You can purchase Meet Alice via the following

Publisher | Book Depository

Booktopia | A&R Bookworld

QBD | Fishpond

Mr Stink by David Walliams

29 Jan 2018 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Audiobook, Junior Fiction Tags: Audiobook, david walliams, junior fiction, three stars

Published: October 2009
Publisher: Harper Collins Children’s
Pages: 267
Format: Book
Genre: Junior Fiction
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars

“Mr Stink stank. He also stunk. And if it was correct English to say he stinked, then he stinked as well…”

It all starts when Chloe makes friends with Mr Stink, the local tramp. Yes, he smells a bit. But when it looks like he might be driven out of town, Chloe decides to hide him in the garden shed.

Now Chloe’s got to make sure no one finds out her secret. And speaking of secrets, there just might be more to Mr Stink than meets the eye… or the nose.

I think I liked this. I did and then I didn’t then I did again. It had moments of being sweet but then it would go silly again and then weird, then it would circle back to being sweet. At best I think it was a peculiar story, one that certainly left me with a lot of questions. At the core of it Mr Stink is a homeless Mary Poppins. He comes into the lives of the Crumb family and makes it a bit better.

At the start we are introduced to poor Chloe Crumb, living in her sister’s shadow, bullied by her as well as the kids at school, and she is never good enough for her mother. We are also told about Mr Stink, the man who smells so incredibly terrible who sits on a bench all day long with his dog.

I liked the characters Walliams has created. Mrs Crumb has a touch of Hyacinth Bucket in her, while poor suffering Mr Crumb has to put up with her. Chloe’s sister Annabelle is the snobby, bratty little sister who is spoiled and adored by her mother, and seeing her be cruel to Chloe was a bit heartbreaking. There were some jokes around Annabelle I liked; especially the ones about how full Annabelle’s schedule is trying to fit in all her extracurricular activities. I also liked the camaraderie between Chloe and her dad, their small actions of defiance against her mother’s demands.

One character I never fully understood was Mr Stink. Once you get to the core of his story it is quite serious for a children’s book, Walliams goes from silly jokes, to serious moments then back to silly jokes. The seriousness came out of nowhere and I was very surprised. It didn’t feel like it had a place in this light-hearted story, but Walliams throws these moments in there a lot as it goes on, making you think there is going to be a more heartfelt direction, and there is, to his credit, but it never lasts as long and is still surrounded by these obscure and silly jokes.

Another thing that confused me was the changes in Mr Stink’s personality. Sometimes he seems like a normal homeless person, bit eccentric ok, but normal enough. But then other times he seems delusional about what year it is or how money works. It distracted from the story and interrupts your sense of trying to work out who Mr Stink is as a character. He seems to be two people without actually meaning to be, especially after you understand his personal story.

I listened to this as an audio book and Walliams narrated it with the help of Matt Lucus. They both did a great job, the story translated well to audio well and with the pair of them doing a variety of voices it was a fun listen. It had the humour that kids books have with jokes about being dirty and doing gross stuff, but it also had a little bit of heart in it as well. It is sweet but it is weird, and felt like it could have been a bit more than what it was, but that might be asking a bit much of a children’s book that was just meant to be a bit funny with a fun story.

You can purchase Mr Stink via the following

Book Depository | QBD

Booktopia | Wordery

Fishpond | A&R Bookworld