Imagoala

Menagerie (Menagerie #1) by Rachel Vincent Blurb: When  Delilah Marlow visits a famous traveling carnival, Metzger’s Menagerie, she is an ordinary woman in a not-quite-ordinary world. But under the macabre circus black-top, she discovers a fierce, sharp-clawed creature lurking just beneath her human veneer. Captured and put on exhibition, Delilah is stripped of her worldly possessions, including her own name, as she’s forced to “perform” in town after town. But there is breathtaking beauty behind the seamy and grotesque reality of the carnival. Gallagher, her handler, is as kind as he is cryptic and strong. The other “attractions”—mermaids, minotaurs, gryphons and kelpies—are strange, yes, but they share a bond forged by the brutal realities of captivity. And as Delilah struggles for her freedom, and for her fellow menagerie, she’ll discover a strength and a purpose she never knew existed. Review: Rommily knew that she understood more of the world than it underst

The Start of Me and You  (The Start of Me and You #1) by Emery Lord Blurb: Can  you plan happiness?  It's been a year since Paige's first boyfriend died in a swimming accident and it's time she rejoined the real world. So she makes a plan:  1. Date a boy (long-standing crush Ryan Chase seems like the perfect choice) 2. Attend parties (with best friends by your side: doable) 3. Join a club (simple enough, right?) 4. Travel (might as well dream big) 5. Swim (terrifying. Impossible) Review: " Sometimes  we get it wrong the first time. But you only have to get it right once." This  totally hit the spot for me. The dynamic between Paige and her family/her friends was just so sweet and I totally loved it and then the addition of the love interest, who was such a genuinely nice person as well, just tied everything together perfectly. I totally saw a majority of the plot coming but, as Max says himself, sometimes the journey is the bes

Regarding the Pain of Others  by Susan Sontag Blurb: Twenty -five years after her classic On Photography , Susan Sontag returns to the subject of visual representations of war and violence in our culture today. How does the spectacle of the sufferings of others (via television or newsprint) affect us? Are viewers inured--or incited--to violence by the depiction of cruelty? In Regarding the Pain of Others, Susan Sontag takes a fresh look at the representation of atrocity--from Goya's The Disasters of War to photographs of the American Civil War, lynchings of blacks in the South, and the Nazi death camps, to contemporary horrific images of Bosnia, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Israel and Palestine, and New York City on September 11, 2001. In Regarding the Pain of Others Susan Sontag once again changes the way we think about the uses and meanings of images in our world, and offers an important reflection about how war itself is waged (and understood) in our time. Review:

The Return of the Native  by Thomas Hardy Blurb: Tempestous  Eustacia Vye passes her days dreaming of passionate love and the escape it may bring from the small community of Egdon Heath. Hearing that Clym Yeobright is to return from Paris, she sets her heart on marrying him, believing that through him she can leave rural life and find fulfilment elsewhere. But she is to be disappointed, for Clym has dreams of his own, and they have little in common with Eustacia’s. Their unhappy marriage causes havoc in the lives of those close to them, in particular Damon Wildeve, Eustacia’s former lover, Clym’s mother and his cousin Thomasin. The Return of the Native illustrates the tragic potential of romantic illusion and how its protagonists fail to recognize their opportunities to control their own destinies. Review: To  be loved to madness–such was her great desire. Love was to her the one cordial which could drive away the eating loneliness of her days. And she seemed to lo

Die Wilden Hühner und die Liebe (Die Wilden Hühner #5) von Cornelia Funke Zusammenfassung: Liebe  is schön, aber gar nicht so einfach! Das müssen auch die fünf wilden Hühner einsehen. Sprotte ist zwar weiterhin glücklich in den Pygmäen Fred verliebt, aber ihre Mutter kann sich nicht entscheiden, ob sie wieder heiraten soll oder nicht. Und das geht Sprotte ganz schön auf die Nerven. Die schöne Melanie ist immer noch in Willi verknallt, Trude entdeckt ihre Vorliebe für schwarze Locken und Frieda muss sich mit einer Wochenendfreundschaft herumärgern. Wilmas erste Liebe aber ist die komplizierteste von allen! Was daraus wohl wird? Rezension: Liebe  ist eben genauso ungerecht verteilt auf dieser Welt wie Regen. Die einen kriegen entschieden zu viel davon ab und die anderen zu wenig. Der letzte Teil einer wirklich entzückenden Reihe. Ich habe mittlerweile eigentlich wirklich alles über die Reihe gesagt, was es zu sagen gibt, werde mir aber Mühe gegeben die wichtigs

Die Wilden Hühner und das Glück der Erde (Die Wilden Hühner #4) von Cornelia Funke Zusammenfassung: Sprotte  kann es nicht fassen: Sie soll ihre Ferien auf einem Reiterhof verbringen. Obwohl sie von Pferden nicht das Geringste hält. Zum Glück kommen wenigstens auch alle anderen Wilden Hühner mit und bald merken die fünf Freundinnen, dass an dem Spruch vom "höchsten Glück der Erde" etwas dran ist. Wer hätte gedacht, dass man sich beim Reiten so wunderbar leicht fühlt, fast schwindelig, und einem die Pferde so ans Herz wachsen können. Mit dem Herz ist das überhaupt so eine Sache. Die Jungs von der Pygmäen -Bande sind nämlich auch mit von der Partie und das hat zur Folge, dass Melanie Sehnsucht nach Willie hat und Theorien übers Küssen verbreitet. Wilma, Frieda und Trude proben "Romeo und Julia" im Pferdestall - und dann verliebt sich Frieda auch noch. Das kann Sprotte natürlich nicht passieren, glaubt sie jedenfalls ... Rezension: Es  gibt in so

Did I have to take a photo of this book in front of all the liquor in the house? Yes. The Hippopotamus  by Stephen Fry Blurb: Ted  Wallace is an old, sour, womanising, cantankerous, whisky-sodden beast of a failed poet and drama critic, but he has his faults too. Fired from his newspaper, months behind on his alimony payments and disgusted with a world that undervalues him, Ted seeks a few months repose and free drink at Swafford Hall, the country mansion of his old friend Lord Logan. But strange things have been going on at Swafford. Miracles, Healings, Phenomena beyond the comprehension of a mud-caked hippopotamus like Ted... Review: A  deranged university in Texas had paid me for the rights to all my papers. "Papers?" I had asked when approached by their Professor of Modern Poetry. "What do you mean papers?" "Hell, you know … notebooks, drafts, correspondence … papers." What kind of self-conscious and insufferably twee be

Now I Rise  (The Conqueror's Saga #2) by Kiersten White Blurb: She  has no allies. No throne. All she has is what she’s always had: herself. After failing to secure the Wallachian throne, Lada Dracul is out to punish anyone who dares to cross her blood-strewn path. Filled with a white-hot rage, she storms the countryside with her men, accompanied by her childhood friend Bogdan, terrorizing the land. But brute force isn’t getting Lada what she wants. And thinking of Mehmed brings little comfort to her thorny heart. There’s no time to wonder whether he still thinks about her, even loves her. She left him before he could leave her. What Lada needs is her younger brother Radu’s subtlety and skill. But Mehmed has sent him to Constantinople—and it’s no diplomatic mission. Mehmed wants control of the city, and Radu has earned an unwanted place as a double-crossing spy behind enemy lines. Radu longs for his sister’s fierce confidence—but for the first time in his life, he rej

The Son of Neptune (The Heroes of Olympus #2) by Rick Riordan Blurb: Percy  is confused. When he awoke from his long sleep, he didn't know much more than his name. His brain fuzz is lingering, even after the wolf Lupa told him he is a demigod and trained him to fight with the pen/sword in his pocket. Somehow Percy manages to make it to a camp for half-bloods, despite the fact that he has to keep killing monsters along the way. But the camp doesn't ring any bells with him. The only thing he can recall from his past is another name: Annabeth. Hazel is supposed to be dead. When she lived before, she didn't do a very good job of it. Sure, she was an obedient daughter, even when her mother was possessed by greed. But that was the problem — when the Voice took over her mother and commanded Hazel to use her "gift" for an evil purpose, Hazel couldn't say no. Now because of her mistake, the future of the world is at risk. Hazel wished she could ride away