The British Tag

1. How many cups of tea do you have a day? + How many sugars?
Probably somewhere between 3 and 7 (depending on how close I am to exams), my sugar also changes. In the morning, I usually take 1 sugar to wake me up, but during the day I might take none... it depends on my mood I guess!
2. Favourite part of your roast
Gravy! Over everything... ooh and Yorkshire puddings, and potatoes (in any form)
... I've made myself hungry now...
3. Favourite dunking biscuit
Chocolate digestives (Rich teas just crumble and these don't leave anything in the bottom of your cup which is a bonus!)
4. Favourite quintessentially British pastime?
I'm not sure I'd call it a 'pastime', but I do pass a lot of time queuing for things... buses, dinner, in Tesco, handing in homeworks, getting prizes. And, so I've been told, this is an incredibly British thing to do! 
5. Favourite word?
Cahoots... it just isn't said enough!
6. Cockney rhyme slang?
I live in Northern Ireland... ain't a lot of rhyming slang over here... But as a bonus I do know the meanings of Norn Iron, banjaxed, oul-doll, banter, minger, clinker, naf, dander, lamped, pull (as in pull a guy) and windee... if that counts!
7. Favourite sweet
Jelly beans
8. What would your pub be called?
World's End - Purely because I love Simon Pegg!
9. No.1 British person
Liam Neeson
10. Favourite shop / restaurant
Primark and Nando's
11. What British song pops into your head?
Christmas Is All Around (from Love Actually)
12. Marmite.
Yuck... I can put up with a lot, but I really hate Marmite!

Realistically speaking, I don't seem that British but trust me, if you met me you'd know... my friends all say I'm the most stereotypical British person alive!
What about you guys, are you typically British?

Reading Books For School | How To

As a literature student, I'm constantly being asked how I manage to read books for school. I have a lot of friends who struggle to find interest in or motivation to read their school reading list, and so they feel they don't understand the text as well as those who've read it before.

Today I wanted to give you my tips and tricks for getting through, and more importantly understanding, your school reading list.

1. Set yourself a time schedule. How long do you have until you need the book read? Say you have one school week (5 days), you need to divide the book into portions to read each day.

There are a number of ways to do this.

1. Chapters. If the book has 15 chapters, read 3 per night etc.

2. Pages. If the book has 200 pages read 40 per night etc.

3. Percentage. This is only really possible on a kindle or ereader, as they allow you to see what percentage you are through a book. In a 5 day period, you would need to read 20% per night etc. (Note – I do understand you can work out the percentage in a physical copy of a book… but who has the time!)

Personally, I find that working by percentage gives me the most motivation, but find what works for you.

2. Don't read it alone. Have another book that you're reading for yourself, make it something light that you enjoy reading and then discipline yourself enough that you can only read it, after meeting your goal for the day in terms of school reading.

3. Download a study guide and chapter summaries. You can find these for free on websites like Sparknotes. These are great to ensure you actually understand what has happened in the book, particularly for books with interesting language, such as Shakespeare. After reading a chapter, read the corresponding summary to ensure you got the point. Also, after you've finished the book look more closely at motifs, symbols and character analysis, so you have something to contribute in class.

4. Reward yourself. Personally, my reward is being allowed to add it to my Read shelf on Goodreads, and being given the freedom to read whatever I want for a few days or weeks. If that doesn't work for you, try food or activities like going to the cinema to motivate you to read.

That's really all I got to say, this is the best way I've found to get through school books at a reasonable rate, and with as much understanding and enjoyment as possible.

What are some of the books you've been forced to read by teachers?

xx

Dystopian Novels | Top 5

Dystopian novels have recently taken over the lives of the teenage population. However, not all of these novels are works of genius. I've read my fair share of these books, and I've been both excited and disappointed by the options.

I don't want any of you to have to endure a substandard book, so today I'm going to tell you my Top 5 dystopian novels. (Note - these are specific novels, some of which fall within a series and so the whole series may have to be read in order to appreciate them.)

1. Catching Fire (The Hunger Games series).

This is the second book on the Hunger Games trilogy and is by far the best of the books. This has both an amazing arena, complex characters and a fast moving plot line. It's everything you want in a novel of this type and it has the added benefit of already being transformed into a movie (for those who aren't such fans of the old paper approach!)

2. Divergent (the Divergent series)

Divergent is incredibly popular at the moment and so it's no surprise it's high up on this list. The first book is hard to beat in this trilogy, but the sequels do hold their own and are still great reads. (Although the ending is sad, and the second and third books both take a little while to get moving!)

3. The Giver (The Giver series)

I'm going to level with you, I haven't gotten around to reading the rest of the quartet, but this book is great as a stand alone. This is one of the few books where I love the writing as well as the story, The Hunger Games is another case of this. This book also has the bonus of qualifying as a ‘classic’ due to its criticism of society, in fact some of you may have even read it in school. If you want to dip a toe into the Dystopian world without committing completely, this book is nice and short so even the slowest reader in the world could have it read in a week!

4. The Kill Order (The Maze Runner series)

Now, if you've read my full review of this series, you'll know that I have mixed feelings. However, the prequel is my absolute favourite of the stories (mainly because I like the characters a whole ton better, but also because it doesn’t do a lot of the things I point out in that review) Overall, it's The Flare which I love in this series, and this is the central idea for the prequel making it an obvious choice. This one is really more apocalyptic than dystopian and is quite outbreak-esque in its content!

5. The Program (The Program series)

Now, this one is the flipside of Maze Runner. In this series, I love the writing and characters. However, the actual plot line I find a little far fetched. But once you get past that its a really good read and I can't wait to continue this series! (I have a full review if you want to know more)

So there you go, there's my top 5 dystopian novels. What about you guys, do you have any suggestions for me?

xx

The Program | Review

As with every teenager in the world, I have grown to be a great fan of the post-apocalyptic dystopian genre. However, the problem with this genre is that all the books end up being quite similar in terms of plot once you've read enough of them.

Recently, I read The Program by Suzanne Young, and thought I'd do a review for you all.

This book is set in a world where suicide has become an epidemic due to over prescription of anti-depressants in earlier generations, meaning they have become 'immune' to their effects.

The story centres around a girl named Sloane who is afraid she will become depressed and thus be admited to The Program, where it is rumoured that your memories are removed. Sloane has been surrounded by suicides, but cannot show her grief as this is classed as ‘depression’, but she also has to take care of her boyfriend, James, and ensure they are not taken away and changed.

Let's look at the concept. Personally, not a huge fan in this department. In theory it seems okay, but in the context of the book I found it became a little ridiculous. However, I did like the characters (which is high praise from me, as I’m super fussy about good characterization). This is one of the rare cases where I don’t completely hate the female lead (as I do with virtually every other book of this type) and actually like both of the guys she’s choosing from.

Not only that, but the book is also well written and does hold my interest beyond the story line. Her general writing style is one which appeals to me, and this is a rare find.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to fans of this genre. I will warn the concept of suicide being an epidemic does seem ridiculous at the start, but once you're past that initial idea it truly is a good book that I found quite enjoyable and got through really fast.

Have you read it? What did you think?

xx

The Maze Runner | Series Review

Let’s get straight into it shall we? The first thing to think about in any book is the plot. I really liked this concept generally, however I felt the first book was the weakest in this department. My favourite idea was The Flare and so naturally I preferred The Death Cure (the third and final book) and The Kill Order (the prequel to the trilogy) as they focused on this aspect the most. One small criticism, I feel like Dashner tried to incorporate too many plot points into this trilogy as the was the initial sun flares, which led to natural disasters, which led to overpopulation, which lead to the release of the virus, which led to the maze. It seemed like he tried to cram a lot into one series, rather than separate the concepts. In his defence, he did execute this well as he linked all the events, bit I still found the books to be very dense and disjointed in places.

Lets take a look at Thomas. At face value, I like him. I think he was a good character who had a decent amount of development throughout the series.

This is where my praise of the characters ends. I felt like Dashner seemed to confuse character development with an overuse of racial stereotypes. For example, Newt was made incredibly British in his dialogue through his constant use of phrases such as 'bloody hell', while Jorge (from the scorch trials) was a Spanish character and called all the characters 'hermano'. I felt that Dashner over used these stereotypes or, if I'm being generous, personality quirks and mistook them for actual character development and depth.

My next point doesn't count for the whole series, but is a huge problem at the beginning of the first book. All authors use repetition to enforce an idea that is pivotal to the plot, but isn’t overly complex and wouldn’t pose a problem for an eight year old to understand. However, Dashner used the exact same phrasing to express how Thomas losing his memory was important, throughout the beginning of the book. It did annoy me when it occurred, but I was happy to find it happened less and less as the series progresses. I put this down to a growth in Dashner's writing ability and so didn't notice it in the later books, but I still think it's worth mentioning for when you’re trudging through the opening chapters.

Finally, the ending. (WARNING: SERIOUS SPOILERS AHEAD!)

In the end of The Hunger Games, Katniss chooses Peeta. In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth chooses Mr Darcy. Don't, I repeat, DON'T establish a love triangle and then kill off one of the corners! Teresa's death in the final chapters of The Death Cure meant Thomas could only be with Brenda... Why would you do this? Why would you set up a love triangle in the second book, simply to have an ending where his choice is not a choice, but rather by default. Why? (this makes me so angry that I really can’t even talk about it anymore than this!)

There we are, my thoughts and nuggets of genius (or possibly lunacy) regarding the Maze Runner. I'm sure there are other things that I liked and disliked about this series, and over all despite how negative this review sounds, I did enjoy the series and would rate it highly in comparison to some other dystopian series. What do you guys think?

xx

Summer 2014 | Reading Rundown

Over the summer, my reading rate rockets and I get through more books in a week than I do the rest of the year! I had considered doing a review for each and every one of these books, but then I thought it would be a lot easier if I just grouped them all together and gave you a list of little mini reviews. If there are any of the titles you'd like a full review on, leave me a message.

1. The Giver by Lois Lowry (4/5)

I read this book at the end of June because I knew the film was coming out in August (expect a review when I finally get to go see it!) After reading the book, I'm really excited for the movie (despite some fears over its accuracy based on the trailers). This book has both a decent plot (although it is a little slow in places) and its one where I actually liked the characters. I'm hoping to read the rest of the series soon, but I make no promises, and I would recommend this to other Dystopian nerds like myself.

2. Paper Towns by John Green (3/5)

Personally, I'm a huge fan of Green's writing style, and that's what won this book most of its points. The only character I likes was Q, and I felt like the storyline wasn't sensational. For John Green fans, this is a cult read, however if you're not a fan of his writing I wouldn't start here. Try TFIOS first, and see how you go.

3. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (5/5)

This is an amazing book, in a very crooked way. Neil Gaiman is renowned for his twisted, nightmare inducing stories, and this one I no different. However, it is extremely well writing with a good plot and interesting characters... There is little fault really. Plus, its short... I read it in a day.

4. Mockingjay (5/5)

This was a a reread. I first read this 2 summers ago and since then I've read the original Hunger Games book twice and Catching Fire 3 times. However, this is the first time I've reread Mockingjay as it was my least favourite of the books. Definitely worth reading again, I loved it so much more this time and it now ranks along with Catching Fire (one of my all time favourite books). This installment of the series definitely requires a finer eye than the first two books, and so reading it twice is almost necessary for full appreciation.

5. The Kill Order by James Dashner (4/5)

I'm not going to get into too much detail, because I have a series review related to this book. However, this prequel is by far my favourite book in this series and is worth a read even if you haven't read the Maze Runner trilogy. The characters and general plot are different and so it isn't really necessary to read one without reading the other. (Note - if you do plan to read the series, save this one to the end, it spoils the mystery of the first book)

6. The Program by Suzanne Young (4/5)

Not even going to mention it, I have a full review already up... Go check it out! ;)

7. The Butcher Boy by Patrick McCabe (2/5)

This was a book I had to read for school and got a low ranking for personal reasons. The writing itself is good (although very Irish and contains alot of cursing) and the plot, despite its disturbing nature, is also interesting, you do grow to pity Francie. However, as I mentioned, it reminded me of personal things that I won't discuss here and so my enjoyment, or at least interest, was hindered.

8. Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone by JK Rowling (4/5)

This book was a let down for me after being hyped up so much. I've never read these books before and decided to give them a try. The book isn't bad by any standard, and the writing is some of the best I've seen, however the years of build up to this read mean’t I didn't come away star struck. With that said, I did like it and so I am going to read the rest of the series.

9. The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger (3/5)

Another book for school, I loved this ones ending but found the repetitive nature of the narrative a little tiring, however I see its purpose in context. I did like the characters and I'm excited to study it in more detail this year.

10. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (5/5)

NEW FAVOURITE BOOK ALERT! This is now tied with To Kill A Mockingbird (my favourite book). The mystery, the writing, the characters, the love stories... Its just superb... Even if you're not a classics person you have to try this one it’s sensational! (P.S. for those who’ve read it, am I the only one who loves Hareton?)

11. Divergent by Veronica Roth. (4/5)

Another reread, with the intention of a blog post. I love this book, and got through it in less than two days both times I've read it. It’s truly one of the greatest Dystopian books and so I'm excited now to reread the rest of the series.

12. Gone (2/5)

I really didn’t like this. Sorry! I know loads of people are in love with this series but it just seemed to be the same as Under The Dome by Stephen King and was overall just a bot weird… + it does the same thing as James Dashner and tries to shove too many plot points into one book. I don’t think I’ll continue with this series anytime soon.

There you go. What did you guys read this summer?

xx

John Green | Authors Notes

Hello everyone! Today, I want to talk to you all about the mighty John Green. Currently, I’ve read 4 of his books and so I feel I’m finally in a position to talk about him. I apologise in advance if this post has a slightly erratic format, but I’m trying a few things out so bear with me.

Books I read (in order of preference)

·         The Fault in Our Starts

·         An Abundance of Katherines

·         Will Grayson, Will Grayson

·         Paper Towns (this one’s really tied with Will Grayson, Will Grayson… but that wouldn’t have fit with my OCD eye!)

Note: I have not yet read Looking For Alaska, however I have it on my long term TBR and am hoping to have it read before Christmas, I’ll probably do a review on it then.

Style

Let’s start with the positives. John Green uses language in a way that many young adult authors fail to appreciate. He uses language that is intriguing and makes you want to read on through the dry sections, even if the plot is slow.

Plots

Let’s be honest, many of John Green’s books don’t actually have a plot (Will Grayson, I’m looking at you here) however, the one’s that do are normally quite simple. I don’t take anything away from him for this – there are a lot of authors out there who could take a leaf out of his book and calm the plot a little – I don’t mind that there’s no action, and that a lot of the plot’s tend to be based on thoughts and analysis of simple situations, rather than guns and passion. Overall, his plot lines are often refreshing, and his style makes them tolerable.

Characters

This is where everything goes wrong. John Green basically has two characters he centres every book around.

1. The outsider boy who has an analytical mind. He’s sarcastic, reclusive and generally a bit weird.
2. The ‘cool’ girl. Normally, she’s not popular, but she is usually associated with reading or indie music (making her cool to the reader and the outsider boy). This is the character who normally pulls the boy out of his shell.

Now, there are further similarities (3. The outsider boy usually has a male friend with a huge personality that allows the outsider boy to remain a recluse) but they offer a little more variation. The book which has broken away from this stereotype the most is TFIOS, as it’s characters  are different (not necessarily better, but different)

Pet Peeves

He uses metaphors way too much. Just saying. WAY too much.

Books I liked

Really, the only book I’d say I liked and want to read again is TFIOS. I felt that this book could easily be studied in school because of it’s vast use of methods and powerful characterisation and plot development. I would however like to point out that I didn’t cry, but I’m made of stone.

Books I didn’t really enjoy

This is basically everything else, I’m not going to go into too much detail on this (since I love the Vlog Brothers and I love John Green… I just don’t like his books a whole lot)

An Abundance of Katherines – a little too much use of maths terminology, it made the story disjointed and meant the plot moved incredibly slowly. (But I loved the ending)

Will Grayson, Will Grayson – Expresses a crudity that I haven’t seen in other John Green books. The characters are ‘typical’ boys who use disgusting language and have conversations that, quite frankly, I despised reading and made me want to throw my kindle out the window. (However, after the first 60% it was okay… but just okay.)

Paper Towns – I hated all the characters. The plot didn’t really do it for me, and the ending didn’t make up for its flaws at all (Sorry if you love this book, but I really, really didn’t)

Overall

If you liked Paper Towns, you’ll probably like his other books too. If you like his style, you’ll make it through them all. If you can’t stand boys talking about dicks for 200 pages… don’t read Will Grayson, Will Grayson.

What do you think about these books? Are you a John Green fan?

xx

About Me

Hello everyone, and welcome to my humble little corner of the internet. I can hear the cogs whizzing around in your heads, so why don’t I just explain why on earth you’re on a blog entitled the Book Cricket?

Well, it all started one sunny afternoon… okay there is no way I going to write it in this style! Basically, my friends and I were having a discussion about jobs and careers and the rest of our lives… you know, the norm, when my friend informed me I should be a book cricket.

It was later revealed that she in fact meant book critic, and I supposed I’m that too, but the book cricket stuck… and so that is how this blog came to be.

How you found yourself on this blog is a mystery even to me, but I would just like to say that I’m glad you’re here.

This is the part of the conversation where I’m supposed to say, ‘enough about me, tell me about you!’ but that’s going to be difficult, and so I fear I’ll have to continue rattling on about myself. (The cross I have to bear!)

I live in a small town in Northern Ireland (the small part of Ireland that is actually part of the UK, and thus is often overlooked in most geography lessons). I recently turned 18 and discovered the online book blogging community, oh lets say, six months ago.

I did have one beauty blog before this which lasted for about a year however I had no followers, comments, likes and 1,000 views which indicated that nobody liked what I was posting and so decided to try something else.

I’ve always been an avid reader and so book blogging was always something that tickled my fancy, but it seemed time consuming. I was never a fan girl. I didn’t fall head over heels in love with characters. I didn’t have an OTP… but now I do.

In recent months I have been consumed by the fan girl frenzy and so I needed a way to tell the world, outside of my FanFiction (which is awesome and you should check out #shamelessplug), this blog is that place for me. This is a place where I can come and write about books, and movies and characters and authors and all things that make readers like me go all quivery at the knees.

I know you were probably looking for some video where a cricket wears a top hat, and you ended up here… and I know you most likely want to click out of this page and never think about the strange girl who has the online presence of an insect (I’m not even speaking metaphorically here!) but please, read a review, leave a comment, subscribe by email… Anything! Just let me know you’re out there!

P.S. I know this said ‘About Me’ at the top and I realise I didn’t actually tell you anything about myself so… My favourite colour is duck egg blue, I love giraffes (but elephants are better), I love to sing (and I’m not too bad, if I do say so myself), my favourite author of all time is Brian Friel (or Oscar Wilde, it depends what day of the week it is), I have the physical fitness of a 200 year old smoker (partly to do with my asthma, but mostly to do with my reading), I’m addicted to coke (as in Coca Cola… not drugs).

I’m sure there’s more but for now, that’s me!

xx