Daily English Conversation - Hội Thoại Tiếng Anh Hàng Ngày (Kèm 1 CD) tải về miễn phí cuốn sách

Stefania Cozzolino _tefuska — I was very excited to have received The Masterwork of a Painting Elephant by Michelle Cuevas through Goodreads First Reads Giveaway. Not only is it a debut novel for a brand new author, it is illustrated by Ed Young, one of my favorite children's book illustrators (Lon Po Po; Wabi Sabi; Tsunami; Seven Blind Mice and others). I must begin by saying that I was expecting a book suitable for ages 6-12. So keeping this in mind, I began reading. Normally, I would have read the first chapter or two and then put it aside, as this is definitely not a book that will have appeal for readers as young as six. However, since it is a First Reads book, I decided that I really should read the whole thing. In many ways, Masterwork is not a children's story at all, even though the main character, Pigeon is a 10-year-old boy. I did think it is more appropriate for 9 years or 4th graders and up, although the story may appeal more to older adults. It is a quiet little story with a philosophical bent. I especially like this quote from the last chapter, "My elephant was right about feelings of love: that they float away on the wind, circling the earth forever and landing, ever so briefly, from time to time" (p. 136).

Marc Holliday marcholliday — Yet another book that falls into the 'neither good nor bad' category. Maybe I'll make a shelf for that. Anyway, the Liar Society had a lot of things going for it, and yet also felt somewhat lacking. Don't get me wrong; it's far from a bad book, but it just didn't feel fully... rounded. Not underdeveloped. The characters all seemed very well set up, and consistant. The narrator, Kate, was very believeable in her position of mourning her best friend without getting pouty and/or emo and depressed (or depressing), which is something not a lot of authors actually bother to do. The death is either a plot device, like in the case of So Shelly, or they spend the entire time moping and become entirely loathesome (as in the case of New Moon, even though Edward wasn't dead. Well, in the traditional sense of the word, anyway). But at the same time... I didn't really feel sympathetic towards any of them. I don't know why, but it was difficult to really get attached to them, or start liking them. Or disliking them. It's like there's a space between describing a person and bringing them to life, and the authors here couldn't figure out a way to get to the lifelike part. I don't know if that makes any sense, or if anyone else felt that besides me, but there you go. That's my opinion. Also, the premise was similar to that... it had it everything, but somehow missed being exciting. Judy Blundell wrote a book called Strings Attached that I felt was similar in that sense of 'has everything, but is somehow lacking'. It was a sort of murder mystery, and had enough twists and turns that it should have been exciting, and yet somehow fell flat. Maybe what was missing was sparkle. Leave it to me to point out something's non-shining-ness. But somehow, this book lacked, like... distinctive flair. I don't know. I feel like, considering the cover (which I kinda like) it should have been funny somehow, but it wasn't really too amusing. It also didn't have that 'Jaws-theme' feel that proper murder mysteries should have. Then again, maybe that's just me. So, overall, this was a very decent book (I feel like I've said that before... probably because I have). If you think it looks good, then read it. There is nothing I would say to encourage or discourage you from doing so.