Search Results for : the gunslinger

Top 3 Reads of 2018 2

 in Book Reviews / Young Adult by

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This year definitely wasn’t my best year of book reading. I read a decent amount of books, but not all of them for pleasure, as I had a ton of reading to do for my school from my major related classes as well as Spanish literature which was so detailed and I never got to review here.

So instead of rounding up everything I’ve read, I’ve decided to just pick a few books that I really enjoyed and thought were fantastic choices for this year!

Book 1 – Forest of a Thousand Lanters by Julie C. Dao

From Amazon.com

“Eighteen-year-old Xifeng is beautiful. The stars say she is destined for greatness, that she is meant to be Empress of Feng Lu. But only if she embraces the darkness within her.

Growing up as a peasant in a forgotten village on the edge of the map, Xifeng longs to fulfill the destiny promised to her by her cruel aunt, the witch Guma, who has read the cards and seen glimmers of Xifeng’s majestic future. But is the price of the throne too high? Because in order to achieve greatness, she must spurn the young man who loves her and  exploit the callous magic that runs through her veins–sorcery fueled by eating the hearts of the recently killed. For the god who has sent her on this journey will not be satisfied until his power is absolute.

Set in an East Asian-inspired fantasy world filled with both breathtaking pain and beauty, Forest of a Thousand Lanterns possesses all the hallmarks of masterful fantasy: dazzling magic, heartbreaking romance, and a world that hangs in the balance. Fans of Heartless, Stealing Snow, and Red Queen will devour this stunning debut.”

From Amazon.com

I absolutely adored this book as it had such a strong main character and it was so different than anything I had read! Check out my pitiful review (I have no idea why it is so small…), but I definitely loved this one. 4.5/5 teacups!

Book 2 – Gunslinger Girl by Lyndsay Lay

James Patterson presents a bold new heroine—a cross between Katniss Everdeen and Annie Oakley: Serendipity Jones, the fastest sharpshooter in tomorrow’s West.

Seventeen-year-old Serendipity “Pity” Jones inherited two things from her mother: a pair of six shooters and perfect aim. She’s been offered a life of fame and fortune in Cessation, a glittering city where lawlessness is a way of life. But the price she pays for her freedom may be too great….

In this extraordinary debut from Lyndsay Ely, the West is once again wild after a Second Civil War fractures the U.S. into a broken, dangerous land. Pity’s struggle against the dark and twisted underbelly of a corrupt city will haunt you long after the final bullet is shot.

From BN.com

I loved this book so much! It was filled with adventure, once again a strong female character and the story was just so intriguing. I think this could make an incredible movie, just saying!

Find my full review over here – this is certainly one you don’t want to miss!

Book 3 – The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

“First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a “haunting”; Theodora, his lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers—and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.”

From Amazon.com

This is such a perfect read for the spooky season but honestly it’s great for any time of year. It’s simple, not too scary and a classic that everyone should read. Find my review over here!

Bonus Book – My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell

So I don’t have a review up for this book yet, but I just finished My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell. It’s a beautiful memoir and one that I absolutely love so it’s definitely one of my favorites! Definitely a book you will want to purchase.

Cowboys and Aliens (2011)

 in Interesting / Movies by

Starring
Daniel Craig – Jake Lonergan
Harrison Ford – Woodrow Dolarhyde
Olivia Wilde – Ella Swenson

Summary

“The Old West.. where a lone cowboy leads an uprising against a terror from beyond our world. 1873. Arizona Territory. A stranger with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don’t welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Ford). It’s a town that lives in fear. But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Screaming down with breathtaking velocity and blinding lights to abduct the helpless one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known. Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation. As this gunslinger slowly starts to remember who he is and where he’s been, he realizes he holds a secret that could give the town a fighting chance against the alien force. With the help of the elusive traveler Ella (Olivia Wilde), he pulls together a posse comprised of former opponents-townsfolk, Dolarhyde and his boys, outlaws and Apache warriors-all in danger of annihilation. United against a common enemy, they will prepare for an epic showdown for survival.”

– Amazon.com

Review

This was quite a strange movie. It was a mix of Transformers, G.I. Joe, John Wayne Westerns, Indiana Jones, and many other movies put together. If you just mash up some of your favorite sci-fi, action, romance movies, then you get Cowboys and Aliens. Don’t get me wrong, it was done very well and the settings were great, and the way they created the story line was very creative, but it was quite predictable. There were a few parts which made you jump and there were a few parts which you did not expect, but most of it was something you have probably seen in some other movie.

The acting in the movie was really good and what added to it was the fact that they had great actors. Anything which has Harrison Ford and/or Daniel Craig in it is going to be great.

I definitely would recommend this movie but it is for a more mature audience. I would say ok for 15 or 16 year old. No one under that age should see it because there is some bad language, shooting, creepy aliens, and some sensuality. Otherwise this was a very good movie. I would give it 4 out of 5 stars.

But what do you think?