Top 5 Tuesday: Creepy Characters

Hey, guys!
It’s Tuesday, that means it’s time for a bookish favorites posts. Top 5 Tuesday is hosted by Meeghan over on Meeghan Reads and is quite simple: check out the topic and write a post with your picks.
In perfect Halloween fashion, we’ll talk about some truly creepy characters today!

#1 Pennywise from It

Pennywise is the father of all creepy characters designed to haunt your nightmares. I read the book a while ago and every rendition of “It” we get in the novel is truly horrifying.

It on Goodreads

#2 Patrick Bateman from American Psycho

Gosh, I really disliked this book. After reading more of Bret Easton Ellis’ novels I realized that I just can’t deal with his writing in general. Nevertheless, Bateman certainly gave me the creeps!

American Psycho on Goodreads

Book Talk: Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Hello my lovely readers!
I finally got around to reading Elizabeth Gilbert’s famous and iconic account of her journey to finding herself. Let’s see what it’s all about and whether it’s worth the fuss!

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (Cover from Goodreads)

 

The Plot:
Liz is in a very bad place. Going through a terrible divorce which is followed by a tough break up she’s battling depression. That’s when Liz decides to make a change. She packs her bags and embarks on a journey. Over the course of a year she spends time in Italy, India and Bali, learning about the countries, the people but most importantly about herself.

 

The Rating:
I have to say, I was extremely surprised by this book. My hopes weren’t too high and I was expecting something a bit cheesy. However, what I got was an inspiring novel that provided lots of food for thought.
Liz Gilbert tells the story from a very relatable place. Her heartache, her problems, it’s all something you’ve felt in some way. She also seems like a lovely person so for a large part of the book I just wanted to give her a hug and tell her everything’s going to be alright.
But the thing is, Liz teaches us an important lesson: it will be alright in the end but you have to make it work. Nothing will ever change if you don’t make it change.

Book Talk: Holy Cow – A Modern-Day Dairy Tale by David Duchovny

Hey guys!
Today I want to review a book given to me by a very dear friend. It’s Holy Cow by David Duchovny. So let’s see how good this actor is at writing!

Holy Cow by David Duchovny (Cover from Goodreads)

 

The Plot:
The cow Elsie is on a mission. After she found out how people really treat meat, she decided to go the only place where cows are safe: India. But she’s not alone. Elsie is accompanied by two friends: the pig Shalom who wants to live in Israel and the turkey Tom who’s on his was to Turkey…

 

The Rating:
First of all, I read this book in German and I have the distinct feeling that it’s much better in English (as it is so often the case). Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this novel. David Duchovny (who as it turns out was about to get his Doctor in Literature in Yale before he started acting) wrote a witty and funny first book that I honestly hadn’t seen coming. The story is weird but yet adorable. The fact that it’s told by Elsie herself is refreshing. Holy Cow delivers an important message: animals have feelings to, you should think about what you eat. However, how the message was presented was a bit of a letdown. As I’ve said before, the book might be funnier in English (translations often ruin some of the fun) but many of the jokes were very flat and much too silly for my taste. The story would still have been funny if the tone had been a bit more serious! Especially the constant pop-culture references that felt more than forced began to be annoying after some time. In general, I thought that Duchovny had some nice ideas but the whole thing was a bit shallow. The book itself isn’t too long and several times I had wished for something a bit deeper.

Book Review: American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Hey guys!
Some time ago I did a book vs. show post on American Gods. However, I only did a mini-review on the novel, which didn’t cover all that I have to say. So let’s look into the book more deeply!

American Gods by Neil Gaiman (Goodreads Cover)

 

The Plot:
Shadow Moon’s life sucks. He just got out of jail – because his wife died. As if that wasn’t enough, turns out she had been screwing his best friend.
Where could you possibly go from here? Well, an opportunity comes up for Shadow, he meets a weird old guy named Mr. Wednesday who claims to be the God Odin, in need for an assistant…

 

The Rating:
I know, I’m a bit late with reading this novel as it was originally published in 2001. But once I started reading, I just couldn’t put it down.
What Neil Gaiman created here is first of all a cleverly drafted storyline. The plot is mysterious and you won’t be able to see through any of the twist that lie ahead. Gaiman surprised me numerous times throughout this book and I couldn’t tell which way things would go in the end.
Another major plus point of American Gods are the awesome characters. Of course, our protagonist Shadow Moon is a relatable guy who gains depth with every page, but let’s be honest, he’s not what we came for.

Book vs. Show: American Gods

Hey guys!
I’m currently catching up with last years big hits. This time I went through American Gods, both book and show. So let’s see whether it’s good!

 

The Plot:
Shadow Moon’s life sucks. He just got out of jail – because his wife died. As if that wasn’t enough, turns out she had been screwing his best friend.
Where could you possibly go from here? Well, an opportunity comes up for Shadow, he meets a weird old guy named Mr. Wednesday who claims to be the God Odin, in need for an assistant…

 

Book vs. Movie:
Let me begin with the novel. Written by Neil Gaiman and published in 2001, I am a bit late to catch up with this bestseller. However, it was 100 % worth the time I spent reading. American Gods is funny and smart. Gaiman does a great job integrating lots of information on history and different religions. You will learn many fascinating new aspects and I ended up researching lots of the stuff mentioned!
Furthermore, Gaiman does not simply come up with a list of religions, he marvelously puts all of it into a new frame thus transporting everything to the present day. You wouldn’t expect this to work out, but believe me, it’s damn close to perfect.
Moreover, the characters Neil Gaiman came up with are witty and have some of the best lines, you’ll be quoting constantly afterwards.
I basically devoured the book and was very excited to see how all of this would translate to the screen.
So let’s see what the showrunners did about all of this!

Book vs. TV Show: The Handmaid’s Tale

Hey Guys!
I just realized that I haven’t written a book vs. movie post in ages! Shame on me.
So let’s restart with one of the most widely discussed adaptation of the last year: The Handmaid’s Tale.

 

The Plot:
The Handmaid’s Tale is set in a near future were due to a mixture of pollution and diseases fertility rates dropped to an alarming level. Amidst this chaos a new totalitarian government, the Gilead, rises and brings changes. The society gets divided into different groups, each assigned a certain role. One of those new roles is the handmaid. These women are destined to bear the children of Gilead’s élite, whether they want it or not. One of those maids chronicles her old and her new life…

 

The Rating:
Let me just say upfront, I will dedicate two separate posts to the book and the TV show in specific, so stay tuned for that!
First of all, the book. Margaret Atwood’s novel is certainly intense. She gave me goosebumps throughout the entire story and I simply could not put down the book. It’s written so realistically, it’ll give you the creeps!
While reading you are both interested in finding out more as well as anxious about what is to come. I was deeply impressed and somewhat alarmed by this book. It is definitely a must read and offers a lot of food for thought.