The Pemberley Reader Has MOVED!

Official Notice:

The Pemberley Reader has officially moved to Tumblr! 

I am pumped for this move, as I think it will create more of a chance for a real community to form. I am also excited for a new review layout, which are quicker and easier for you all to read, share, and like! 

So, without further ado, please go check out The Pemberley Reader at its new home: 

http://thepemberleyreader.tumblr.com/

If you're not a Tumblr member, please sign up and give us a follow. Its easy to do, and there are a lot of other amazing book blogs to follow all over the site. Hope to see you all there! 

Your Pemberley Reader,

Acacia 

Book Review: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Synopsis: Going to college in Nigeria during a time of political upheaval is, to say the least, difficult. There are strikes every other week and education is not necessarily a priority at the moment. Encouraged by family and her boyfriend, Ifemelu takes the chance to go America to finish her schooling. There, she starts anew, struggling through new experiences that she has never had to deal with in Nigeria. America is convoluted and messy and not the kind of place she thought it was going to be, and struggling to keep her head above water, she ends up cutting off those she cares about most, including her boyfriend Obinze. Eventually, she uses these new struggles and experiences to begin a blog that takes off faster than she could have anticipated. Meanwhile, Obinze, who can't get a visa to join Ifemelu in America, goes to England, where he has his own struggles. Eventually gaining himself a fortune back in Nigeria, he marries, but cannot stop thinking about Ifemelu. As the two work through their own personal difficulties and struggles, can they also work their way back to each other?

Review: This novel is so multi-faceted that I don't even know where to begin. From the love story, to the issues of mental health, to the most raw and truthful look at race in America today, this novel has something for everybody.

Like everything from Adichie, the writing is fluid and beautiful, keeping the pace and the tone at the perfect place throughout the novel. The way she weaved the past and the present together in this novel was perfection. The characters were the a realistic mix of strengths and flaws, making them so relatable.

Ifemelu's struggles in America were heartbreaking to read, but her triumphs were so inspirational. Her blog posts were perhaps my favorite pieces of the book, as they often showed an intensely real look at what its like to be a POC in America, both born here and immigrating here. The social commentary in this novel is enough to make you question the ways of society and feel the necessary need to get up and make a change.

The romance, though central to the story, took a back seat to all of the social commentary. This story, though it follows a young couple, their beginning, separation and eventual reunion, truly is so much more than a love story. It is about America, Nigeria, men, women, love, hate, sex, race, class, mental health, home, family, friends, and so much more. It covers such a wide range of topics, integrating and intersecting them in such a realistic way that it mirrors real life to a tee.

I highly recommend this novel to all of you. Anyone looking for a contemporary look at race in America should read this. Anyone wanting to read a book that will make them laugh and cry should read this. Anyone wanting to read a book that is capable of making them feel both hope and discomfort should read this. Really, everyone should read this.


Rating: 5 out of 5 Cups of Tea

How To Deal: Finding Time To Read While In College

How does one find time to read when there is so much going on in college? School, work, social life. Where in the world is there time to pick up and finish a book?

This is a serious problem I struggled with throughout my first year of college. It wasn't until my sophomore year that I really started being able to read what I saw as an adequate amount while attending college. The following are five things that I have done in order to make more time to read:

1) Have books to read.
When I went to college, I brought three boxes of books with me. This was perhaps the first thing that I did right when I went to college. I've gotten through only a small amount of the ones that I brought up to Seattle three years ago, but I had books to read. I didn't have to worry about going out to buy books if I didn't have the money or time. I had them with me. This year I only brought up a single box of books with me, and I have slowly been going through them. Having these books, even if there's only twenty instead of fifty of them, has let me finish one book and immediately start the next. What I'm getting at is, get a personal library. It's worth it.

2) Read books that interest you.
This may seem self-evident, but one doesn't usually get through, or at least get through quickly, the books that they dislike or find boring. It can even put them into a reading slump. This often happens to me, and for a long time I didn't allow myself to put down books I hated. Only in the last few years have I realized that sometimes putting down a book that is keeping me from actually wanting to read is worthwhile. Also, trying to buy or acquire books that only sound super interesting is a good idea. If when you get it you think, this may be good, I'll read it a few months after these next few, you probably will never read it. My advice: get the books that you want to stop everything else to read immediately.

3) Realize that reading for school counts as reading. 
For a while, I didn't think about my school books and my textbooks as actual reading. It was for school, I couldn't enjoy it, right? Wrong. Now, I've found that looking at school books as just regular books leads not only to me feeling like I'm reading more, but also makes homework more enjoyable.

4) Read before bed.
Making time to read before bed is so important. Not only is this a great way to relax before bed, but it is also the perfect time to get through the book you're reading. Setting aside twenty or thirty minutes every night makes all the difference. Little by little, page by page, night by night, you will make your way through the book you read before bed.

5) Read in the in-between times. 
This has probably been the biggest implementation for me since starting college. I used to be able to sit and read for hours, but now I just don't have the time to do that. When I do take more than thirty minutes to read for pleasure, I find myself feeling guilty and anxious about the other work I could be doing instead. Picking up a book in the few free minutes you have throughout the day, though, is the perfect way to get some serious reading done without feeling guilty. I read before classes, in between class and work, during my lunch break, during the few minutes I have before meetings. Sometimes I intentionally get to class early so that I have time to sit and read for a few minutes. Even though I only get through a few pages, it is a few pages closer to finishing the book.

Well, that's my advice for reading while in college. I hope you find it helpful!

Your Pemberley Reader,
Acacia

Top 5: Most Beautiful Series Covers

Today, we talk about beautiful books, more specifically, the beautiful covers that books wear. Here are my Top 5 favorite series covers:

5) Shades of London Series by Maureen Johnson

     

I love how ghostly these books are, espicially since the main subject of these books is ghosts. These books got a bit of a remake after the first book came out, and I am so happy they did. These covers are so much more beautiful and fitting to the series than the original covers. I think my favorite has got to be The Name of the Star, just because I love the blue-green they used.

4) Shatter Me Series by Tahereh Mafi

 

These covers also got a HUGE makeover after the first book, and I couldn't be happier with them. Though the eye seems a little weird at first and doesn't necessarily go with the book, the season imagery and metaphors on each cover go beautifully with the contents of each book. Separately, I don't know if I love these, but together, they are absolutely stunning.

3) Stephanie Perkins's Books

  

Again, these covers were also redone. These were redone after the second one came out, and I had yet to read them. In all honesty, I probably never would have picked these up had it not been for the redesign. These beautiful covers hooked me and I needed them all instantly. They are each cute, but together on a shelf, just gorgeous. 

2) The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

I won't lie, I've only read the first of this series. I don't even own it, I got it from the library. After reading the first though, I think these covers are absolute perfection. Which sucks, because it's been announced that a redesign is happening. There was actually some controversy over this, because they weren't going to wait, but change them before the third one came out, but people disliked the new covers so much, that current fans convinced the publisher to wait off a bit. These covers will only be around a bit longer, replaced by far less beautiful, and far less fitting covers once the third book The Winner's Kiss comes out in paperback. Basically, I must get my hands on all of them in the coming months. 

1) Firebird Series by Claudia Gray

  

Let's just look at these for a few seconds. I mean, really look at them. They're beautiful, right? I think these are probably my favorite covers to ever exist. These covers are stunning and beautiful and magnificent and jaw-dropping and any other adjective I can think of to describe the way these make me feel. I mean, talk about aesthetically pleasing, right? Gah. I can't wait to have the completed set on my shelves. 

February Wrap-Up and March TBR

Hello, all!

It's been another month, and that means it is time to see how I liked the books I read in February and plan out what I'll be reading in March! Check it out below:

February Wrap-Up

1) Death Note Vol. 3: Hard Run by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata


I continued on with the Death Note series at the start of this month. Volume 3 was just as great as the first two volumes. I love this series so much, you guys. So many corrupt and fascinating characters, so much ambiguity and interesting twists. I highly recommend this series if you're wanting to get into mangas!

Rating: 5 out of 5 Cups of Tea


2) Jackaby by William Ritter

I have a full review of this one, here. I enjoyed it, but didn't necessarily love it, either.

Rating: 3 out of 5 Cups of Tea


3) Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi


This is one of two graphic novels that I had to read for my International Fiction class. I absolutely loved it! It is a autobiographical story about Marjane's childhood in Iran, both before and after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Her family is so interesting to read about, and Satrapi tells such an interesting story with the use of her illustrations.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Cups of Tea


4) Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi

This is part two of Satrapi's story. Part of this happens in Europe with Marjane as a teenager, and the other half of it happens back in Iran with Marjane as an adult. This is definitely darker than the first, but just as amazing. Definitely recommend these books.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Cups of Tea


5) Austenland by Shannon Hale


I also did a full review of this one, which you can find here. Again, didn't love it, didn't hate it.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Cups of Tea


6) Uprooted by Naomi Novik

A full review of this one can be found here. This was a great fantasy read, and I highly recommend it.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Cups of Tea


7) Charity Girl by Georgette Heyer


To those of you who love regency romances, please, please check out Georgette Heyer if you haven't heard of her. Her books are simply beautiful. They're so much fun to read, with lots of twists and cute romances. I highly recommend her books! This is one I hadn't read before, and I'm so glad I finally got around to it. I didn't think the two characters that I wanted together would end up together, but they did, and I was so pleased!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Cups of Tea


8) I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

I loved reading this. I learned so, so much about Malala and Pakistan and the Taliban. I just feel so educated and amazed. Malala is amazing, and you should all go read her book. You will learn so much! I'm just going to go ahead and leave off with two of my favorite quotes from this. The first: "A Talib fires three shots at point-blank range at three girls in a van and doesn’t kill any of them. This seems an unlikely story, and people say I have made a miraculous recovery. My friend Shazia, who was hit twice, was offered a scholarship at Atlantic College in Wales so has also come to the UK for schooling, and so has Kainat. I know God stopped me from going to the grave. It feels like this life is a second life. People prayed to God to spare me, and I was spared for a reason— to use my life for helping people." And the second: "Education is neither Eastern nor Western, it is human."

Rating: 5 out of 5 Cups of Tea


9) Death Note Vol. 4: Love by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata

This was an interesting installment. I still enjoyed it and raced through it, but I didn't enjoy this one as much as the others. I'm excited to start the fifth volume soon, though, because this left off on a major cliffhanger.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Cups of Tea


10) Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I haven't quite finished this one yet, but I'm almost done and unless something traumatic or awful happens, I will be giving this book all my love forever and always. Expect a full review at some point soon!

Rating: Possible 5 out of 5 Cups of Tea



March TBR

1) A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

I get to buy a new book! I get to buy a new book! I have officially read 10 books from my shelf, and that means that this bad boy is mine! This is the sequel to Schwab's A Darker Shade of Magic, which I reviewed, here. I also, got to read the first few chapters of this via NetGalley, and it just made me so, so excited to get my hands on this! Seriously, Schwab is a literary genius. I can't wait to read this.

2) The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin


This is, I believe, about a man who owns a bookshop and leads a fairly quiet life. Then a child is dropped on his stoop, and he takes the child in. I've heard nothing but cute, wonderful things about this novel, and I am so excited to get started on this one! Definitely keep an eye out for a review!


3) The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg


I have no idea what this is about. The name sounded cool, and I got it for like $2.99 on Amazon one day last year. I imagine it has something to do with books (or paper of some sort) and magic, which sounds right up my alley! I'm excited to hopefully review this one, as well, so be on the look out.


4) The Awakening (and selected short stories) by Kate Chopin

Fun fact: Kate Chopin is the author of one of my favorite short stories ever: "The Story of An Hour." I've had The Awakening for years now, but I have still not read it, and enough is enough. I'm going to pick this one up and see what all the fuss is about (apparently there is/was much fuss about this book.) Needless to say, I'm excited! Also, I've decided (once again, because I'm sure this has been a thing before that I stopped doing at one point or another on accident) that I should be reading at least one classic a month, and so this goes to fulfilling that goal!

5) Evernight by Claudia Gray

This is about vampires and by an author that wrote one of my favorite YA books, A Thousand Pieces of You. So, I'm pretty excited to get to this one! I haven't really heard much about this series, so I'm excited that I'm able to go into this with no expectations.


6) The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

The Mistborn series, though I believe it has been around for a while, has been getting a lot of attention recently, and so I'm finally hopping onto the bandwagon and starting it! This is a fairly long book, so it may take me most of spring break to get through, but I'm really looking forward to it. As I said a few weeks ago, I'm wanting to get into more fantasy, and this is supposed to be some legit, intense fantasy, so I'm super excited to get reading!



7) The Color Purple by Alice Walker

I've also decided that I want to read at least one book by a POC author per month. One would think that I wouldn't have to set out to do this, but I've realized that the authors I read tend to be mostly white, so I'm going to try and put in some effort to change this! I got The Color Purple for fairly cheap a few months ago while visiting Powell's in Portland, Oregon, but accidentally left it at home during Christmas break. So, when I go home in a few weeks, I'll be able to pick this one up and count this towards this new monthly goal!

Well, that's it from me! Have you read any of these? Do you think I'll enjoy them? Let me know in the comments!

Your Pemberley Reader,
Acacia

Let's Go To The Movies: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Hello!

Last weekend, I went to see Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and it was everything that I ever hoped for. It was a fun and romantic portrayal of Pride and Prejudice that paid homage to both the 1995 and 2005 movie adaptations, but with the added bonus of zombies. It really did have everything you could have wished for:

GORGEOUS leading men? Check!


Darcy in a leather jacket and minutes later in a white t-shirt jumping into a lake? Check!


Perhaps the best portrayal of Mr. Collins ever? Check!


Oh, and let us not forget the best part: beautiful, kick-ass leading ladies that are instant squad goals: 

Seriously, this entire movie was one ridiculously amazing thing after another. Though it did divert from the Pride and Prejudice story a bit towards the end, it overall did a good job of adapting the story for what it was wanting to accomplish. The addition of zombies was fun and made for some great jump-scare moments every now and then.

This was perhaps the coolest Lizzy to ever exist. She was unapologetic like the Lizzy we all know and love, but now she has the ability to kill zombies and look absolutely gorgeous while doing so. I basically wanted every single dress that Lizzy wore the entire movie. Also, the Bennet sisters are seriously instant squad goals in this movie. They may argue, and they may tease each other, but when it comes down to it, they'll ride into any zombie church for their sisters.

My favorite scene was probably the first time Darcy proposes. It turns into a physical fight between Darcy and Lizzy, and let's just say that the sexual tension is strong in this scene. There was of course the last scene few scenes of the movie that I loved as well, which were absolute cuteness and fluff.

This movie was honestly just so much fun to watch. I do wish there would have been some things from Pride and Prejudice that they didn't cut, but they did include my favorite line (albeit out of place, but whatever) so I can't complain too much about what they cut. (My favorite line for those wondering: "I cannot fix on the hour or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun." -Mr. Darcy.)

Overall, this movie is definitely worth seeing for any Austen fan. Even if you end up not loving it, I think its a fun to experience it at least once!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Cups of Tea

Top 5: Books I've Read in University

Hello, all!

To those of you who don't know, I'm in my junior year of college. I'm majoring in English with concentrations in both literature and creative writing. This means a lot of reading. Some books I hate, some books I read simply because I have to, and some books I fall head over heels in love with. These are the top five books I've read while in college:

5) White Noise by Don DeLillo

This is about a Hitler Studies professor, his eclectic family, the "airborne toxic event" that strikes their town, and the overwhelming fear of death that some of the characters face. Laced with satire and social commentary, this novel is both hilarious and chilling. I absolutely loved reading this and even enjoyed the paper I wrote about it.

4) Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

I read this for both a Brit Lit class and a theatre class. This has got to be one of my favorite comedies from Shakespeare. It's hilarious and such a fun read. I was so glad when I read it the first time, and even more excited to read it a second time in a theatre class. We went to see a live production, also, which I loved! 

3) Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Many people read this in high school apparently, but I never did. In one of my Brit Lit classes we read this, and I instantly loved it. It was easily the best thing we read in that class. I love framing narratives, so this was perfect for me, and I also loved the moral and ethical issues of creation that were brought up in this book. I really want to reread this one again soon. 

2) Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga

I just read this a few weeks ago in my International Fiction class and fell in love with it. This is novel is amazing. Dangarembga is from Zimbabwe, and this novel talks about a young girl there who struggles to gain an education. Then her uncle takes her in to attend his mission school. This novel covers a wide range of topics, from education, to colonization, to feminism, to eating disorders. I highly, highly recommend this novel!

1) The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

This is actually a short story collection, not a novel, but still so worth reading! Adichie has quickly become one of my favorite authors in the last year. Her writing is stunning and so, so moving. Every story in this collection has something important to say, and each one is written to perfectly get readers there. If you're looking for an amazing author or even just an amazing person in general, I would definitely check out Adichie. She has a couple of tedtalks on feminism and the importance of stereotypes and single stories, both of which I also highly recommend.

Your Pemberley Reader,
Acacia