Raven Black

Raven Black is another msyter/thriller novel by Ann Cleeves. The novel is one of a series of four different novels which all star detective Jimmy Perez. Anyways, it is set in Shetland, Scotland, and the visual description of it is amazing enough. Now, the summary of the novel is as follows: Catherine Ross is a 16 year old girl who has been murdered. All fingers are pointed towards the town "retard" Magnus Tait as the murderer, although detective Perez wants to go through all possible solutions in order to find out who really committed the murder. The author takes you on an adventure throughout the novel, where you keep guessing who could possibly be the murderer- and every time, your guess could be different. I personally really liked the novel. I liked it for a few different reasons. One, because of the way the author familiarizes you with Shetland and its traditions, making you want to visit the actual place. And two, because of the fact that you are constantly on the edge of your seat guessing who the killer is. The only downside of the novel that I found was its length. I believe it could have been a tad bit shorter. The extra detail made you want to read faster, and because of that, you could have lost the true flow of the novel. Anyways, overall, I really enjoyed this read. And I think you really would too.

Black Sheep

Hahaha, I am seriously obsessed with mystery/thriller novels. Hm, it's been a while since I've posted a blog entry, but that's because school had surrounded me completely. Anyways, back to the topic at hand. Black Sheep is a mystery/thriller novel by Arlene Hunt. It's an amazing novel, really. It's got a lot of suspense which starts from the first few chapters when a girl's body is found. The basic plot of the novel is that a man by the name of David Reid has been found drowned in a canal. Most people, such as the police, are considering it an "accident". Not the victim's brother however. James Reid believes his brother was murdered, therefore he hires the help of QuicK Investigations, which include Sarah Kenny and John Quigley, in order to uncover what really happened to David Reid. Along the way of their investigation, the private detectives uncover a lot of different things that contributed to the ultimate death of David Reid. And yes, the body of the dead girl is also one of them. Taking place in Dublin, Ireland, the grammar of the novel is a tad bit different, although I found it rather amusing. Anyways, the novel was quite a thrilling one. I admit I'm a sucker for mystery novels, but the thing that I loved most about this one were its characters. The characters were written in such a nice way that you simply take a strong liking to them. Overall, I really liked the novel, and if you like what you see up there, I'm sure you will too.

The Promised Land

The novel The Promised Land by David Hewson is a rather awesome novel. Before reading the novel, I read a few reviews of it online, and most people trashed the book pretty badly, calling it things such as a "B grade movie". That obviously made me not want to read it, but I did so in the end anyway. No matter what grade of a movie the novel was compared to, or how many cliches it had, I loved it. The novel itself is a mistery/thriller. Drug dealers, murder, all of that good stuff thrown together obviously makes the end product of a novel into a cliche, but despite all of this, I thouroughly enjoyed it. The novel deals with the main character, ex-cop Bierce who has been charged and found guilty of the two brutal murders of his own son and wife, which he doesn't even remember due to memory loss. At the last minute of his execution, he is magically taken out of the prison and is let go to live the rest of his life. From there on, his adventure starts where he embarks on a journey with a young female by the name of Alice to unravel the events of that fateful day. Pretty awesome isn't it? Yeah, that's what I thought. It's full of cliches and all of that stuff, but really, who cares? I liked it, and that's all that matters. Btw.. if you liked the summary, you should check it out!

The Beauty of Bikes

Who doesn't love bikes? Only those that can't ride them, that's who, lol. I personally love bikes and biking itself. It's just so awesome. If you don't have your driver's license yet, then you ought to go biking instead. Besides, biking is so much more fun. You can feel the wind going through your hair at full speed, and that just feels so good. True they don't go too fast, but they can go at a pretty fast speed. And anyways, going too fast can be dangerous. Now the thing that fascinates me about bikes is that they work on two wheels only. It's rather interesting, the way gravity works, I suppose. The downside, you could say, about bikes is the learning part. It's the most nerve wracking part ever, because learning how to bike is just so darn hard. I remember when I was learning how to bike, and when I finally did learn, it was the best freaking feeling ever. It's definitely worth it in the end.

Mac vs PC

Mac vs Pc, the battle of the computers. If I was asked which I prefer more, I would, without a doubt, say PC. Mac computers are, well, shit. At home I have a PC, Windows XP to be precise. I also have to use Mac computers every now and then for work, and well, I just don't like them. So what exactly is it that I don't like about them? Hm. First off, I don't like Mac computers' mouses. If you pick them up, off of the mouse pad, they will not work. Now about the computer itself. I absolutely hate, hate, hate, how you don't have the option of right clicking. With a PC computer, you have the option of right clicking which makes everything so much more easier. Also, I'm not a huge fan of how Mac computers don't have a "Start" button. What else.. Oh. With a Mac computer, there are only so many internet windows you are able to open, but with a PC, the choice is unlimited. Honestly speaking, I just don't like the overall layout of Mac computers. Also, I've been using one of them for a while now, and I am still learning, where as with a PC, you learn much more faster. So in the end, PC's defintely win the battle for me.

The Magic of Cell Phones!

As far's I'm concerned.. everyone, and I mean everyone, even ten year old kids, have cell phones now. Cell phones- I consider them to be magic in a little rectangular box. They never cease to amaze me, and I always find myself wondering how the hell they work. One thing I don't understand though is why 10 year old kids need them... Then again, they have a lot of other things at their disposal as well, so why not a cell phone too? I have one as well! But I happen to be a grown, very mature, if I may say so myself, teenager. The one thing I hate about them, however, is the hassle of carrying them. And then every once in a while, you experience this mini heart attack when you pat your pocket, and the devil isn't there, but then two seconds later, you find it and scold yourself for being such an idiot. Yeah, that's what I hate. They're way too high maintenance. And then imagine if you do actually lose it. Someone could make some serious long distance calls, and then you'd be on a run for your money. All negative things aside though, you really do have to marvel at how convenient they are. I mean, you can obviously make calls, play games, but damn, now, you can also surf the net, and all that amazing stuff. This is exactly why I think they are magic.

Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies.. I had to read this awful book in grade 10..or 11. I don't remember. But anyways, it was pretty awful. Why, you ask? Well, to begin with, the plot simply was not captivating, not to a grade 10 or 11 student anyways. Honestly speaking, I only remember one character from the book: Piggy. And that is when you know how bad the book is. When you can't even remember more than one character from it. If memory serves me right... the book itself was about a bunch of students whose plane crashes on an island, stranding them all there. From there on, they have to fend for themselves by hunting for food and making shelter, bla bla bla. I keep wondering what the chances of all the adults on the plane dying are... I mean, it's highly unlikely if all the students survive. The book itself may have recieved hundreds or even thousands of awards for the literature or whatever, but to me, the book was rather dirt. All I can say is, if you are a teacher teaching English, then please do substitute the novel with something else. It is better if you chose a different, more interesting novel; I'm sure your students will enjoy it much, much more. Because personally, I did not enjoy the Lord of the Flies at all.