Sara's reading log

I am a book hoarder and reader. My main genre is SF, but I also love magic realism, fantasy and general fiction. Favorite authors are Iain M. Banks, Ursula K. LeGuin, Haruki Murakami, José Saramago, Isaac Asimov, Ben Aaronovitch and more. My rating system is based on five stars. I rate books based on my expectations and what a books aims to be. This means that the brilliant 'Fahrenheit 451' gets five stars because I thought it would be good, people said it was good, and it was good, but 'A Closed and Common Orbit' also gets five stars because in its series, in its style, I really enjoyed it and was not disappointed.

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

  • Started on: 2011-07-23
  • Finished on: 2011-07-25
  • Read in: English
  • Rating: ***–
  • Genre(s): Fantasy

I first heard about this story when the movie came out a couple of years ago. When I found this book at a second-hand bookshop last week I couldn’t help but pick it up, to see what it was all about. This is the story of Meggie, a 12 year old girl, and Mo, her father. He is a book collector and book binder, and one day a mysterious character, Dustfinger shows up at their house. Then the adventure starts, and soon Meggie discovers that her father can make characters and objects from books appear in the real world when he reads out loud. This is a problem when Capricorn, a very evil character from the book Inkheart, appears and makes their lives one big adventure.
I liked the story, which was original, and yet familiar, with its crossover between our world and the book world (I am thinking about Thursday Next and her ability to read herself into the book world). However, the story felt a bit too long at its 545 pages. It seemed drawn out, and could have been condensed without losing quality I feel. But, it was a nice story and for children/young adults, I can see why they would love it. It is suspenseful without being scary. Three out of five stars.

  • Started on: 2011-07-23
  • Finished on: 2011-07-25
  • Read in: English
  • Rating: ***–
  • Genre(s): Fantasy

I first heard about this story when the movie came out a couple of years ago. When I found this book at a second-hand bookshop last week I couldn’t help but pick it up, to see what it was all about. This is the story of Meggie, a 12 year old girl, and Mo, her father. He is a book collector and book binder, and one day a mysterious character, Dustfinger shows up at their house. Then the adventure starts, and soon Meggie discovers that her father can make characters and objects from books appear in the real world when he reads out loud. This is a problem when Capricorn, a very evil character from the book Inkheart, appears and makes their lives one big adventure.
I liked the story, which was original, and yet familiar, with its crossover between our world and the book world (I am thinking about Thursday Next and her ability to read herself into the book world). However, the story felt a bit too long at its 545 pages. It seemed drawn out, and could have been condensed without losing quality I feel. But, it was a nice story and for children/young adults, I can see why they would love it. It is suspenseful without being scary. Three out of five stars.