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Read more reviews and other bookish things at Wensend.com.Oh how I love this series! I took me about half a year to get through this book, but I was absolutely amazed by Martin, once again. I don’t want to give away too much of the story, so I’m just going to write down a few of my thoughts concerning the story as a whole.How can ANYONE watch the tv show without reading the books? I’ve watch the first half of the first season and yes, I like it, but the book is (as usual) sooo much better. It feels like Martin is not really creating the story, but rather observing and describing what’s happening to the characters. How can anyone with a human mind come up with a story like this? It’s not only dark and sometimes dreadful, but it’s also genius. Don’t expect this to be a happy story, because it’s not.The second volume of A Song of Ice and Fire is all about war and the throne. After the rightful king died, his son is now sitting on the throne, helped by the Hand of the King until he comes of age. But the whole kingdom is roaring and falling apart. Everywhere in the kingdom new kings are rising: the King of the North, Daenerys the queen/khaleesi from overseas and also the Baratheon brothers are not shying away from claiming the throne. Romance, treachery, conspiracies, magic, war. The kingdom is divided, but at the same time everything and everyone is coming together on the battlefield. Who’s going to win? And what does winning actually mean?Don’t expect anything to be resolved in the second book. If something’s resolved, it usually means someone died. You can view the whole story (all five books) as a great epic story and this is just one of the middle books, so there isn’t a real ending to it. I don’t mind, because I will keep reading this series. If you like your stories finished after one book, you’re going to have a hard time reading A Song of Ice and Fire.Just as I said about the first book: every character is important. Every storyline includes miniscule details that prove to be very important as the story continues. What’s not so great about this? You really have to pay attention ánd you certainly do not know what team/family you’re willing to cheer for. The Lannisters, the Starks, the Targaryens? They all have their own specialties and characteristics. Though Tyrion is still my favorite character (and Arya is a great second), I think all characters are perfectly described and Martin surely lets us get to know them better in this second book.All of this being said: I can’t wait to read the next book!

You can read this review and more reviews (and other bookish things) at Wensend.com.After reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone I got really excited to reread the second book in the series. In my mind this was one of the less great books in the series, which is why I initially rated it 4 stars on Goodreads. But I confess: this book was much more fun to read again than I expected, so I turned my initial 4 stars into a 5-star rating. What surprised me after rereading two of the first books of the series again, was the way Rowling used language to create the story. After having participated in a HP roleplaying game for a few years, I seemed to have forgotten a lot about her writing style. I thought it was much less.. childish. More than once I found myself thinking: Is Harry that big of a fool? He is so naïve and doesn’t seem to notice any danger. I sometimes wanted to yell at him: “Why won’t you just think? This is dangerous!” But maybe that’s just my inner adult speaking. ;) I really enjoyed reading this book. Compared to the first book in the series, I think this story is more coherent as a whole and all of the events fit together more logically, whereas the first book was just an introduction to the world of wizardry.

You can read this review and more reviews (and other bookish things) at Wensend.com.In my memory the story this book contains was much longer and heavier. I’ve probably made a few things up in my head, because I’ve been participating in a Harry Potter roleplaying game online since forever. I’m still in shock this book contains only 223 pages. Though that fact surprised me, I found myself really enjoying the story all over again. There’s no use in denying it: I still love this series. A few things were different in my memory, like how annoying Hermione was and how evil Snape was. I adapted my vision of them, according to what will happen in the following books. Anyway: I don’t regret rereading the first book and now I’m really excited about rereading the rest of the series.

You can read this review, more reviews and other bookish things at Wensend.com.The Great Gatsby is a perfect example of American life and society in the roaring twenties. Jay Gatsby shows us the ideals and dreams of people who want to live ‘the American dream’. People thought of America as a place where you could start over. You could be who you wanted to be. But what happens to that American dream when you actually get there? This place just turns out to be the same as the place you came from. Jay Gatsby resembles this conflict between dreams and reality. He throws great parties, has a lot of money and it looks like he is really living the American dream. But who ís Jay Gatsby? No one really knows. And Daisy, the woman he loves, may be beautiful, but she is just as shallow as everyone else and only interested in money. This romance is therefore doomed to fail. Nick Carraway, the narrator, seems like the only one who is in his right mind and comments on different issues throughout the story.What’s so great about this novel, is that at first sight it seems like just another book about shallow people, but there’s a deeper layer within the story. You spend the whole story trying to find out who Gatsby is. What are his goals in life? When you finish the story, you just end up still not knowing. Is he the good or the bad guy? And who’s fault is it that the things went this way? This novel will leave you thinking about it after you’ve finished reading the book and that’s what, in my opinion, makes it such a great story.

You can read the whole review and more reviews (and other bookish things) at Wensend.com.I adored this book. This book is inspired by Brönte’s Jane Eyre, which I haven’t read. I’m planning to read it in the future, but apart from having read a few reviews online, I’m therefore not able to make a comparison between the two books. What did I love about the book? Especially Antoinette Cosway, the main character. In Jane Eyre she is called Martha Mason. Jean Rhys wants to turn things around in this book: whereas in Jane Eyre Antoinette is described as ‘the mad woman in the attic’, WSS explains why she became that way. Living as a creole, a white person between all the black people in the Caribean, Antoinette isn’t certain about her own identity. She is mocked by the local people and doesn’t belong there, though she also doesn’t belong with the white people. But it gets worse: Antoinette marries a man who takes her identity away. He gives her another name and makes her feel like she’s crazy. All of this together makes her lose her mind, but it’s not unrealistic: this can happen to anyone in that position.

You can read the whole review and more reviews (and other bookish things) at Wensend.com.Oh, My. God. I don’t use that phrase that often, but it is the only way I can describe how I feel about this book. At first I thought “Nah, AGOT is just a hype. I’m not going to read it”. But my boyfriend started reading the series. First: he’s not much of a hype-person. Secondly: he’s currently just finished the fifth book, the last book written in this series. So to me it was obvious: this series MUST be good.So what’s the story actually about? About everything and nothing. About kingdoms, about people, about life. The title says it all: Game of Thrones. What’s a kingdom? What’s a king? What’s a throne? All these things may seem important to us, but in fact it’s all just a game of thrones. Martin describes this in a great way by just describing how people interact with each other. People make plans, people conquer, people fall in love, people die. That’s life. And life (though in a slightly different setting than we are living in) is perfectly described in AGOT. Maybe it’s dark and bitter, but we should realize we are just small little creatures. Our lives mean nothing. But at the same time actions performed by just one person can have such a great impact. It’s this correlation of actions and events that determine the destiny of a kingdom.

You can read this review and more reviews (and other bookish things) at Wensend.com.I read this book a few months ago, but it has not disappeared into the back of my mind since then. This is a story that stays with you. I never really read any mystery or thrillers, because I thought they were all the same. I forgot the plot as soon as I put the book down and picked up another book. That’s why I can read the same mystery over and over again: the stories aren’t that interesting, so I won’t remember them. With this book it’s different.Christine is just an average woman, but there’s something special about her: she forgets everything while sleeping due to brain damage. She tries to remember things and a few people are helping her, but there may be people taking advantage of her weakness. I can’t tell you any more about the story, because then I would be revealing too much of the plot, but this book was creepy. Not because of the gruesome details or heavy issues, but because you can relate to Christine. At first the book doesn’t seem much like a thriller, but when the story unravels you find yourself wondering what you would do if you were in Christine’s position and that’s what makes it so thrilling. At the end I was flying through the pages. I had to know how it ended. The book is a bit unrealistic, but at the same time realistic, because you don’t know what would happen if you lost your memory.

This short story is okay, but no more than that. The main idea is very original: siamese twins. But I think it was better to write a whole novel about it, because it is such a controversial theme. I had liked to see something more about.morality and the law system with respect to this issue.

I really liked reading this book, though I don't fully agree with Swaab. He states that we are formed by the development of our brain. There is a little truth in this, but I think he sees it too much in black and white. My opinion is: of course our brain does have some effect on who we are, but aren't we the ones who decide what we do and don't? And by deciding that ourselves, we expose our brain to different things. Those things have an effect on our brain, and that has consequences for how our body reacts. I don't think that there's no free will.

Leuk boekje met toffe vragen en antwoorden! Helaas wat weinig diepgang, maar wel leuk om tussendoor eens wat columns te lezen.

Een leuk boekje vol columns over taal. Grappig om tussendoor even te lezen, maar ik moet zeggen dat ik haar vorige boek ("Taal is zegmaar echt mijn ding") leuker en vernieuwender vond!

This book really is different from other books, just as I thought before I started reading it. I finished it in only one day and I was totally absorbed into the story. The story reminded me of a tv-show we have in Holland, called "expedition Robinson", which is based on the book Robinson Crusoë. In that show, famous Dutch people have to survive on an island. Of course they don't have to kill each other, but they have to defeat each other in different tests. I really liked this book therefore, but I think the relationship between Katniss and Peeta was a little bit predictable.