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gabsi77's reviews
258 reviews
The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley
4.0
I think I preferred this book to it's predecessor, The Hero and the Crown. They are both wonderful though featuring fantastic heroines and an intriguing culture of people. The Damarian landscape that's portrayed is realistic and makes me wish it was somewhere I could go visit. The whole time I'm reading the book I kept wishing that I could learn to ride horses and sword fight and just experience life in the realistic seeming way that they do. The characters were all relatable with their positive attributes as well as their flaws but even so, I found that I liked them even more for the flawed aspects.
This has and I think always will be one of my favourite fantasy couples.
This has and I think always will be one of my favourite fantasy couples.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
5.0
This book has every single range of human emotion possible. Tolstoy's skill is phenomenal and the words just welcome you to devouring them.
The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment by A.J. Jacobs
4.0
I haven't read anything else by him but this one was really very funny. I started The Year of Biblical Living and what I read was also funny. His writing style is very clear and he conveys his experiences to you with humour and style.
Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board by Rick Bundschuh, Sheryl Berk, Bethany Hamilton
4.0
This book was so inspiring. I first heard about Bethany Hamilton when she was on the cover of YM magazine years ago and from then I was inspired. Since then I began learning to surf and I totally get why people call it "soul surfing". It really is a difficult thing to explain, the way it gets into you and makes you just crave the ocean and wanting to surf. This book did a pretty good job of conveying that. It showed you just how much surfing meant to Bethany and not only surfing but her faith as a Christian.
The movie came out a couple months ago but while it was out I didn't even make the connection between her and the movie. Had I realised I would have gone to watch it. That said, it's a great book to read, whether or not you surf. Her courage and faith are awesome and despite everything that has happened to her she remains a very relatable individual. If you're passionate about anything, the book will really touch you and probably inspire you to be better at whatever it is that you do.
Technically, the writing style was a little simplistic, but the book was written in 2004 so she was also a lot younger than she is now. In my head I picture the 21yo Bethany Hamilton. Also I think she's trying to reach out to everyone and that could be a reason for a simplistic style of writing.
The movie came out a couple months ago but while it was out I didn't even make the connection between her and the movie. Had I realised I would have gone to watch it. That said, it's a great book to read, whether or not you surf. Her courage and faith are awesome and despite everything that has happened to her she remains a very relatable individual. If you're passionate about anything, the book will really touch you and probably inspire you to be better at whatever it is that you do.
Technically, the writing style was a little simplistic, but the book was written in 2004 so she was also a lot younger than she is now. In my head I picture the 21yo Bethany Hamilton. Also I think she's trying to reach out to everyone and that could be a reason for a simplistic style of writing.