The Road

Title: The Road
Author: Cormac McCarthy
Publisher: Picador
Publication date: September 26th 2006
Age group: Adult
Genre: Post Apocalyptic, Horror
Cover rating: 3/5
Content rating: 5/5

Description:

A father and his young son walk alone through burned America, heading slowly for the coast.  Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind.  They have nothing but a pistol to defend themselves against the men who stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food--and each other.

My thoughts:

Amazing, simply amazing. I'll admit, it took me a while to get into it due to McCarthy completely ignoring grammar rules. However, once the story got going, I no longer took any notice of the mechanics of the writing. The book follows the terrifying journey of a father and son as they make their way through a burned world.

I found myself completely connecting with the characters, despite the fact that we are not given their names. The story is horrifying at parts, especially when we're shown the lengths humans will go to in order to stay alive.

It's a very compelling story, and easily one of the best I've come across.

The Midnight Zoo

Title: The Midnight Zoo
Author: Sonya Hartnett
Publisher: Walker Books
Publication date: November 1st 2010
Age group: Middle Grade
Genre: Historical Fiction
Cover rating: 2/5
Content rating: 4/5

Description via Goodreads:

World War II, Eastern Europe: Tomas and his younger brother, Andrej, have fled their Romany encampment which has been besieged by the Germans; they carry Wilma, their baby sister, in a sack. In an abandoned, bombed-out town, the children discover a zoo. In it are a wolf and an eagle, a monkey, bear, lioness, seal, chamois and llama. The animals tell their stories to the children as they try to begin to understand what has become of their lives and, when they try to figure out a way to release the animals, what it means to be free.

My thoughts:


I really enjoyed this. I thought it might be too short, but it turned out to be okay. It follows three gypsy kids on the run during WW2. It's very interesting to see the two boys take on the role of their parents and provide for their younger sister- despite how annoying they find her. Andrej and Tomas end up in a zoo in a ruined village, and try to piece together what's happening to the world. It was different than anything I've read before, and a very unique tale. I enjoyed it a lot, but I found the ending a bit flimsy.

Goodreads Choice Awards 2011: WINNERS!

Today Goodreads announced the winners of their Goodreads Choice Awards. The books were voted for by Goodreads members over the past few weeks. The winners are as follows!

Young Adult Fiction winner is Where She Went by Gayle Forman:

Favourite book of 2011 is Divergent by Veronica Roth : 

The winner of the Fiction category is  1Q84 by Haruki Murakami :

Mystery and Thriller winner is Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich:

Historical Fiction winner is The Paris Wife by Paula McLain:

Fantasy Winner is A Dance With Dragons by George R.R Martin:

Paranormal Fantasy winner is Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning

Science Fiction winner is 11/22/63 by Stephen King 

Horror winner is Graveminder by Melissa Marr

Other categories:

Romance Winner is Lover Unleashed by J.R. Ward

Humour Winner is Bossypants by Tina Fey

Nonfiction Winner is The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth by Alexandra Robbins

History and Biography winner is Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Memoir and Autobiography winner is Two Kisses for Maddy by Matthew Logelin 

Food and Cooking Winner is My Father's Daughter by Gwenyth Paltrow 

Travel and Outdoors winner is Little Princes by Conor Grennan

Young Adult Fantasy and Science Fiction winner is Divergent by Veronica Roth

Middlegrade and Children's winner is The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan

Picture Books winner is When I Grow Up by Al Yankovic

Graphic Novels and Comics winner is Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead 

Poetry Winner is Horoscopes for the Dead by Billy Collins

And the Goodreads Author of the year is...

Cassandra Clare 

Unfortunately the only book I've read from the list is Divergent and Cassandra Clare's books! I was really hoping A Monster Calls would win in the Middle Grace category and I'm quite disappointed that it didn't! How about you?