Tag / paperback

by Erik McManus | Breakeven Books

Book Review: Critical Critters

I was recently sent a copy of Critical Critters by Ralph Steadman and Ceri Levy from @Storgy and Bloomsbury Books. The book is about the animals all over the world that are on the endangered species list and are in need of saving.

Critical-Creatures

Ralph brings the animals to life through his intricate watercolour artwork and Ceri brings all the facts to the table that are justified with thorough research and a genuine exploration of the species.  The way these two can tell a story about each specific species and makes it interesting to read is amazing. I will admit that when I first looked at this book proof, I thought “Oh no, not another textbook”. But after I started to read, I found myself wanting to know each and every thing about all the different species in danger and how I could get involved to help.

I also enjoyed how they had a little side narrative going throughout the entire book. Ralph and Ceri would banter back and forth while they were in the process of creating the book and it gave the reader insight into how some of their ideas took shape.

There are so many species in this world and every single one has a different way of life. One quote really stuck out to me because it shows that we do take the natural world for granted.

Perhaps we refuse to accept their intelligence because we would then feel guilt for everything we have done to them.

 

The book did take a little while to get through but that only goes to show how many species are in danger and that the ecosystem needs our help to maintain the peace so to speak. We are the main reason a lot of these species are in danger in the first place. All the resources and websites that can help with protecting the ecosystem and different habitats are posted in the back of the book.

Overall, it was a very informative book with a comedic twist on the scientific side. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to know more about endangered species and why they are on the endangered list.

Book Rating: 4/5

You can also see the post on the STORGY website!

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by Erik McManus | Breakeven Books

What is your favourite quote from a book?

Well this will be a short and sweet post since I just have to say which quote I like. The quote I chose is from The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. You will hear more about this book from me, that I can promise. I really enjoyed this book and the fact that it is a true story about the author’s life growing up makes it even better because she went through a lot.

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“Things usually work out in the end.”
“What if they don’t?”
“That just means you haven’t come to the end yet.”
Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle

This quote speaks true to me because I firmly believe that it does all work out in the end. When we encounter bumps in the road or feel like we are at a breaking point, it is all part of the journey that leads us to an ending worth getting to. But is the ending really worth it if you don’t have to fight to get there? The journey is full of ups and downs but they are challenges we go through and will shape us to be who we are.

Alright, that’s enough deep talk for me. Let me know what your favourite book quote is in the comments!

by Erik McManus | Breakeven Books

What book do you love and hate at the same time?

This is a tough one because there are not a lot of books that I love and hate but if I had to choose one then I would say that the book that I love and hate at the same time would be Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver.

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Synopsis: For popular high school senior Samantha Kingston, February 12—”Cupid Day”—should be one big party, a day of valentines and roses and the privileges that come with being at the top of the social pyramid. And it is…until she dies in a terrible accident that night.

However, she still wakes up the next morning. In fact, Sam lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she ever imagined.

I love this book for the fact that it plays with time in a loop and the main character keeps repeating the same day over and over again until she can figure out how to fix it. Pretty much anything involving time-travel or time looping with cause and effect scenarios will have me hooked. I hate it because of how long it takes her to figure out what is wrong and how to fix it (and the fact that it came to this whole looping of time for her to realize how brutal she was to people and what she didn’t notice before). The ending was acceptable though so I do come back to liking it there.

I will give you a break if you can’t think of a book you both love and hate but if you do, make sure to comment so we can talk about it 🙂

by Erik McManus | Breakeven Books

What book makes you laugh?

Alright, so I know that these technically aren’t books, but they are graphics novels and these have made me laugh so hard that I snorted and spit out my drink. I present to you the Deadpool Complete Collections Vol 1 & 2 !

The art style is phenomenal and the way the writer portrays dead pool as this cocky mercenary that has no regard for trivial things and just does what he wants when he wants is just too good to be true. There are lots of side characters that Deadpool meets along the way and other recognized superheroes that he either comes into combat with or teams up with. Between these two graphic novels, there are about 15-17 issues.

I would recommend these to my fellow superhero nerds out there. They will give you a laugh and get you that much more excited for Deadpool 2 (which should be coming out in 2018).

Now let me know what book makes you laugh in the comments down below. Talk to you later bookworms!

by Erik McManus | Breakeven Books

What book makes you happy?

The book that makes me happy is The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. I read it in college and just couldn’t help but smile. The entwined stories of a bunch of people and how they come together in this story just gives you hope for the good in the world.

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Short Synopsis: Fourteen-year-old Alma Singer is trying to find a cure for her mother’s loneliness. Believing she might discover it in an old book her mother is lovingly translating, she sets out in search of its author. Across New York an old man called Leo Gursky is trying to survive a little bit longer. He spends his days dreaming of the lost love who, sixty years ago in Poland, inspired him to write a book. And although he doesn’t know it yet, that book also survived: crossing oceans and generations, and changing lives…

The book tells you the storyline of 3 different main characters and talks about their lives and how they are all looking for love in different ways. It was beautifully written and full of kindness towards others. I love Leo’s character. He reminds me of an old man I used to deliver newspapers to when I was a kid. And the innocence of Alma just trying to get a happy ending for her mother is the sweetest thing.

This book will just make you very happy by the end and I would strongly recommend giving it a chance. It is less than 200 pages too so not a very big commitment.

You can find it on Goodreads or Amazon. If you wish to see the other topics of the book challenge, check out my post called 30 Day Book Challenge! Talk to you later bookworms.

 

by Erik McManus | Breakeven Books

Book Review: Bag Exchange

I have a new book review for you bookworms! This one is called Bag Exchange by Trishna Damodar.

Pages: 155

Here is the short synopsis:

“Tia had her whole life ahead of her, yet she felt lost. She was surrounded by people who loved her but she was still struggling with the aspect of loving herself. As she got ready to leave for Delhi, her body shivered. Would she collapse? Would she reach Delhi safely? How would she manage without her mother, Anita? The stream of questions kept flooding her brain.
Sameer loved the chat he had had with dreamy girl. He felt light after their interaction and even though he did not know exactly who she was, he was pleasantly surprised at how a stranger could make such a powerful impact on him. He brushed thoughts of her aside, reminding himself that he was wasting time thinking about a woman, and these kinds of emotions would just make him weak.
Will the paths of these two strangers intertwine? Will Tia be able to find herself again? And will Sameer ever realise how truly beautiful women are?”

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My review: This book was not exactly my cup of tea. It is a romance novel about two strangers that start talking online and then accidentally meet in an airport and take each other’s bags by mistake. They fall for each other and the story follows their relationship. The thing about this book is that it is so predictable. I called everything before it happened and didn’t feel the need to know more. There was very little description when it came to anything and it would jump to another character without any indication it was going to do so. I have read Nicholas Sparks books before and they were ok but I couldn’t seem to feel much for this one. I think it just needed a little bit more substance to keep me in it.

If you are looking for a predictable love story, then here it is. That being said, it is a feel good book that makes you want to believe in simple, easy relationships. I mean we all know that those aren’t very realistic, but that’s why its fiction right?

Book Rating: 2.5/5

This book can be found on Amazon and Goodreads and you can follow the author on Twitter!

Disclaimer: I was given this book for free to read and give and honest review.

 

 

by Erik McManus | Breakeven Books

What is the best book you read last year?

This is a hard choice because I read so many good books last year. If I had to choose one though (only day one and I already want to cheat :P), it would have to be I Let You Go by Claire Mackintosh.

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This book just pulls you in right from the get go and you feel like you know what’s happening until the whole plot flips. Not all the characters are who they seem to be and it keeps you reading to find out more. This book would be classified as a thriller as there are many parts that would creep you out if you were in the situation.

Here is a brief synopsis of the book:

“I Let You Go follows Jenna Gray as she moves to a ramshackle cottage on the remote Welsh coast, trying to escape the memory of the car accident that plays again and again in her mind and desperate to heal from the loss of her child and the rest of her painful past.

At the same time, the novel tracks the pair of Bristol police investigators trying to get to the bottom of this hit-and-run. As they chase down one hopeless lead after another, they find themselves as drawn to each other as they are to the frustrating, twist-filled case before them.”

You can follow Clare Mackintosh on Twitter and here is the link to her book on Goodreads. Stay tuned for Day 2 of the Book Challenge and tell me what the best book was that you read this year in the comments!

by Erik McManus | Breakeven Books

WWW Wednesday (Oct. 11th / 2017)

So I am trying out this new thing called WWW Wednesday. It is hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and all you have to do is answers the following three questions:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading:

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So far this book is pretty good. It was sent to me by the author to read and review and it is my first romance novel unless you count twilight from when I was in high school. Not sure if this genre is my thing but I am giving it a shot. Synopsis below:

Tia had her whole life ahead of her, yet she felt lost. She was surrounded by people who loved her but she was still struggling with the aspect of loving herself. As she got ready to leave for Delhi, her body shivered. Would she collapse? Would she reach Delhi safely? How would she manage without her mother, Anita? The stream of questions kept flooding her brain.
Sameer loved the chat he had had with dreamy girl. He felt light after their interaction and even though he did not know exactly who she was, he was pleasantly surprised at how a stranger could make such a powerful impact on him. He brushed thoughts of her aside, reminding himself that he was wasting time thinking about a woman, and these kinds of emotions would just make him weak.
Will the paths of these two strangers intertwine? Will Tia be able to find herself again? And will Sameer ever realise how truly beautiful women are?

Recently finished reading:

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This was a great read for teenagers. It was exploration into another magical world with likeable characters and a basic good versus evil storyline. You can connect with the author on their twitter @SUZANNIO . Synopsis below:

Set in both the future and present day, Spellbound Chronicles is a fast-paced children’s story with twists and turns, good versus evil, set above and below ground. Spellbound Chronicles tells the story of Larna and Aron who, while geocaching in the ancient Sherwood Forest, find themselves reluctantly pulled through time into a Sherwood of the future. Faced with the task of fighting to save an enslaved and fast-mutating race from extinction, they set out with the formidable wizard, Balgaire, and his friends to take on the might of the fearsome warlock, Mordrog. A battle for wands, destruction and kidnapping ensues, with a hint of romance thrown in, in the form of underground shape shifter Cai. As the final epic battle takes place, will Larna and Aron survive the fight long enough to return unscathed to their own time and their own Sherwood..?

What I will read next:

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This is another book that has been sent to me by the author to review. It is classified as a thriller so I am really looking forward to this one as I am a huge fan of horror and thriller movies. I have only read one thriller novel before and it had me on my toes the whole time. Synopsis Below:

One of their number carries a dark and deadly secret from their past, and has murderous plans for a fellow ex-pat. Can any of the close- knit community discover the brutal plans before they are all put in mortal danger?

 

That’s my first WWW!! Let me know what you think in the comments below! I look forward to chatting with you fellow bookworms 🙂

by Erik McManus | Breakeven Books

Spellbound Chronicles: Bloodline

New review alert everyone!!

I was sent the book Spellbound Chronicles: Bloodline by Suzanne and Eve Maguire to read and review. The book is about two children named Larna and Aron that have a fond enjoyment for geocaching. They visit their grandmother for a portion of the summer and get teleported into the future through a magical doorway in the forest. The children go through a number of trials as they fight to help their new found friends in a battle against an evil warlock.

The book has very likeable characters (my favourite character is Uncle Roger as he puts the wellbeing of others before himself) and an interesting story arc that never lets up. You are constantly moving from one part to the next and the characters are never in one spot for very long (the book can be hard to follow at times because of this).

This book is definitely for a younger audience so I would recommend this book for children up to the age of 13.  A percentage of the profits from this novel get donated to research for Motor Neurone Disease so if you want a good read for your kids and to donate to charity, this is the book for you.

Book Rating: 3.5/5

You can also find the review on Amazon and Goodreads.

Inside Out Book
by Erik McManus | Breakeven Books

Inside Out by Jack Kearney

The book is about a struggling actor named Danny who is just trying to get his shot at fame in Hollywood. However, the beginning of the book shows that he is on his way to prison and the first half is flashbacks that he is having while on his journey to the prison, telling you how he got to this point. The way that Jack Kearney makes you relate to his character is incredible and you feel such emotion for his character as he surpasses different trials in the book. All the other characters build around Danny and make for an enjoyable read while building on the plot.

You can really tell that Jack is writing from experience as he was also a struggling actor in Hollywood, so it really puts you inside his mind and how it felt to be there. If you are looking for an exciting read that will keep you coming back for more, then this is it!

The book can be found on Amazon and Goodreads.