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Bloggers, discussion, Link up |
I am participating for the first time in the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.
Each week a fellow blogger asks a question and the participants make a post answering the question. The goal is to make new friends and know more about the bloggers who are participating. So let us get with it shall we?
Question of the week
This week’s question was submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver’s Reviews and she asks
Do you sneak a peek at the number of views your posts have gotten?
Do I obsess over page views?
YES, while I don’t obsess over the numbers, I do check my page views at least once a week.
As the data and spreadsheet obsessed nerd that I am, I even note the weekly views and have plotted a graph out of it. And the graph looks good curve these days, you guys. Thanks to all your comments and shares.
How do I track my page views?
To be honest I am not an expert by any chance on Google Analytics, I use it to check the performance of the posts and understand the demographics.
Another statistics I kinda check weekly is my Alexa rank. Again I have no idea why I even follow that, except that I do.
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Let us talk
So what other blog related data do you guys follow? And if you have had figured what to do with these data, please let me know. Something good might turn out of being a nerd even. Let us chat.
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review, Thriller |
When I love a book, I give myself some time to let my thoughts brew and write my review in a day or two. Sometimes, that day comes never. That is what happens to my favorite books and I never get around to write those amazing 5 star reviews. But here I am, finally attempting to talk about one of such books – Agatha Christie’s And then there were none.
About And Then There Were None
Book Name: And then there were none
Author: Agatha Christie
Genre: Fiction – Thriller
Characters: Justice Lawrence John Wargrave, Vera Elizabeth Claythorne, Philip Lombard, General John Gordon Macarthur, Dr Edward George Armstrong, Anthony James Marston, William Henry Blore, Mr Thomas Rogers, Mrs Ethel Rogers, Emily Caroline Brent, Isaac Morris, Fred Narracott.
Setting: Devon, England, The UK
Plot summary of And then there were none
Eight strangers are invited to a private island near the coast of Devon, England by an eccentric millionaire, Mr Owen. The guests are welcomed by a cook and a butler. But their host is nowhere to be seen and they realize none of them know him well.
All they find is a framed copy of an old nursery rhyme with the tale of ten soldiers who one by one leave, disappear or die until none of them are alive. Everyone is intrigued to find ten figurines depicting the ten soldiers in their dining room.
At dinner, a voice booms that every one of them was guilty of murder and they will all be dead soon. Immediately one of them chokes on their drink and dies. And then they find that one of the figurine is broken. Soon one by one each of the guests begin dying, following theme of the childhood rhyme.
Each of them starts suspecting the other, as they are all stranded in secluded island. Who is the murderer and who survives their stay forms the rest of the book ‘And then there were none’ by Agatha Christie.
And then there were none Book review
For me, And then there were none would be one of the best mystery ever written. I read this for the first time when I was around 13 years old and it was not a surprise that I was not able to solve the whodunnit.
Incidentally, I forgot about this book for about another five years until I gave it another read in my late teens. I still didn’t solve it but that’s when I realized how much I loved it. I keep reading it once in a while and it has never lost its charm on me.
And to make matter worse (or better) it has become a sort of benchmark to compare the other mystery novels and ‘whodunnits‘. There have been numerous adaptations based on And then there were none by Agatha Christie, and frankly none of them are closer to the book.
Things that worked for me
- There are so many mini plots within the story that makes it hard to guess the murderer.
- The murders get more and more exciting as it follows an old rhyme and everyone has a theory that someone else’s involved.
- I liked the strong emphasis on ‘fair’ justice system, even if it meant eye for an eye. I understand it is a fantasy but it sounds so good.
Things that didn’t work for me
- I don’t think anyone could guess the murderer on their first read. I mean there are literally no clues, but many many red herrings, you have been warned!.
- There are so many characters that you stop feeling related to them, in a while. There are, more or less, no descriptions for any of the characters.
- Unfortunately, there is a huge plot hole which is a part of the solution. But it is kinda easy to ignore it (at least it was for me).
- The book obviously feels dated but the casual racism and sexism
might should turn you off.
Content warning
Casual racism, Sexism.
Bottom-line
I consider And then there were none as a masterpiece and I am sure everyone would love it. I can’t recommend it enough. If you are going to read only one Christie’s in your life, choose And then there were none.
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Let us chat
What is your favorite Agatha Christie novel? Have you read And Then There Were None? Let us chat about my And Then There Were None book review.
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Sunday Musings |
Hello friends
Do you remember me being obsessed with organization videos? I am out of it. I feel like I have seen every organization video out there and I can tell you everything you need to know about it. Oh, do I follow any of them? Absolutely not.
A friend from real life, you stumbled my blog (am lying I sent her the link WHEN SHE ASKED ME FOR IT) told me that I should be posting more posts with my personal thoughts and talk about them.
What do you guys say, is it alright to add in more thoughtful posts on relationships, adulthood, that may lean more than a bit on the rant side, in my book blog? Or should I have a different platform?
What I read this week:
The Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
I am still reading this and I have not finished reading it.
What I watched this week:
I finally saw the Nun in Cinemas and it was not too gory. I didn’t love it but it was kinda okay-ish. Sorry am definitely not a good movie reviewer. I also saw two other regional movies on the cinemas (yes all this week) and there were pretty decent too.
On Netflix I watched
- Chesapeake Shores – S1 & 2
- Brooklyn 99 – re-runs S1
And I kinda guessed that Chesapeake shores would be an adaptation and you know what? I was proved right.
On the blog
I made a repeat on last week success on my blog. Yes I posted 4 articles this week and I am feeling good about myself. If you have not checked it out yet, please do right away.
Around the blogosphere
I may or not have visited everyone’s blog but hey I tried my best to do it. I think I covered pretty much most of them. And here are picks for the week from the bookish blogger world.
- If there is one anticipated October releases post you have to read, then read Karla’s post here. I promise you it covers everything you and I need to know.
- I know we all love our bookish community, but let us hear it from Clo, a not so new blogger, on her view on the book blogging community.
- Looking for new bookish apps for you book clubs? This list from Bookriot will keep you updated.
That is all for this week, people.
I will be linking today’s post with Caffeinated reviewer’s Sunday post Meme.
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Let us chat
Do you want me to rant right here? What has been happening at your end? I would love to hear. Leave a link so that I can do more blog hops.
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Bookish talks, discussion |
Dani from Perspective of a Writer gave us a prompt to discuss my Favorite Stephen King Character for the week. As most of you all might guessed that it is for the love of the King of horror that I jumped on to post for this meme. Let us get on to this shall we?
While it may not be the most popular of Stephen King’s novels, Rose Madder will always hold a special place in my mind. My relationship with Stephen King has not always been smooth and it was Rose Madder that made all the difference. So it might not come as a surprise that I would choose someone from it as a character I love…. to hate.
Yes you heard it right.
I choose a character that I completely hate yet I can’t ever push to some dark corner of my mind and forget about or move on from. Intrigued? Let us talk about Norman Daniels.
Who is Norman Daniels?
Norman Daniels is the antagonist of Rose Madder. Norman Daniels was a police officer in Aubreyville and married to Rose McClendon. The story majorly deals with how Rose escapes the clutches of the masochist and malevolent Norman, making Norman play a predominant role.
What makes Norman Daniels such a remarkable fictitious character?
Norman is sexually, physically and emotionally abusive towards his wife Rosie. He beats Rosie for reading a trashy book (brace yourself, Misery’s journey) so much that causes her miscarriage. Being a cop and having cop friends makes it easier for him to get away with it.
Rose doesn’t even dare to get away from him because she knows he will find her, for about nine more years. And even when she finally runs away, he finds her as she suspected.
He is racist, homophobic and also sexist
Norman Daniels is a crude redneck that hates more than half the population, quite literally. He hates everyone almost equally, be it women, gays, African Americans and the Jews. He bites homosexual men to death. He doesn’t think twice about killing a witness.
He is the sickest of fictional human monsters – ever
Norman Daniels makes the other Norman, from the Psycho and the Bates Motel look nice.
His favorite method of punishing men is to pop their testicles and/or bite them. He has already raped and murdered a witness and continues to punch, kick, bite and murder women and men alike as he stalks his runaway wife without remorse.
I can bet that one cannot read the opening scene of Rose Madder, that entails the scene of his beating, her miscarriage and him getting away with it, without wincing. I had to put my book down more than once to get over it.
He has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. He is one of the truest monsters not just of Stephen King’s creation but also in any book I have ever read /heard of.
He literally turns into an animal
As if this is not evil enough, he turns into a minotaur by the end of the book.
His rage and his obsession literally and figuratively changed him into a raging bull whn he finds out Rose ‘s location and that she is dating another man. He also realizes that she is supported by her lesbian friends at the women’s shelter. He murders them and rushes to Rose’s apartment where he almost kills Bill, Rose’s date.
If Norman Daniels was the worst ever, why and how did he become my favorite character?
Norman Daniels controlled the entire story
As one would expect of a Stephen King’s book, Rose Madder has its supernatural elements. While things are not picture perfect (pun intended) and the supernatural part was okayish at the best, at least for me, it was Norman that made the entire book strong.
Even when the macho Norman turns to a panic stricken human afraid for his life, I could not ignore him. The book would have worked so much better as a thriller/suspense about an abused woman and her crazy husband.
How many characters, in the entire Stephen King world of books, have had the power to make the book work even without the supernatural elements? None other than Norman Daniels, IMO.
And that to me, that is the mark of a character etched to perfection.
Who is your favorite character from Stephen King’s world? Do you have any antagonists that you cannot move on from? Have you read Rose Madder? Let us chat.
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Book Lists, Quotable quotes |
As a liberal bookworm, it is quite natural for me to have an affinity towards banned books (not banning books) and collecting quotes from banned books. Here are some that I love and cherish.
Banned Book Week
The American Library Association celebrates the Banned Book week 2018 between September 23 to 29. Of course everyone knows that, it has been the talk of the book blogger world for the past few weeks. Why am I, someone who doesn’t live in the USA , posting about it, right?
I am an Indian, who lives at Dubai and I think banning books are more relevant to me than anyone else. In India books get banned for the weirdest reasons and as a country that has just decriminalized same sex relationship mere days ago, it may not be really surprising. More often than not, random books get challenged for religious reason, so much for being a secular country.
So my enthusiasm to give a voice against banning of books and the banned book week is quite understandable.
TEN QUOTES FROM BANNED BOOKS
I am sharing the quotes I love from the books that were banned in any given point of time in the USA. Let us get on with it.
they say that time heals all things,
they say you can always forget;
but the smiles and the tears across the years
they twist my heart strings yet!
― George Orwell, 1984
I like it when somebody gets excited about something. It’s nice.
― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
Obscenity only comes in when the mind despises and fears the body, and the body hates and resists the mind.
― D.H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover
I can’t change where I come from or what I’ve been through, so why should I be ashamed of what makes me, me?
― Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give
I want anything that breaks the monotony, subverts the perceived respectable order of things.
― Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale
I opened my mouth, almost said something. Almost. The rest of my life might have turned out differently if I had. But I didn’t.
― Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner
He Who Marches Out Of Step Hears Another Drum
― Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.
― John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men
When people don’t express themselves, they die one piece at a time.
Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak
I had given up some youth for knowledge, but my gain was more valuable than the loss
― Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
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Let’s talk
What do you think about censorship? Do you have any favorite book that was banned or challenged in your country? Let us discuss.
