Tagged: literature
The Best and Worst of June
Well, it’s that time of month again. The time for the recap of my 5 best and 5 worst posts of June. The statistics are wildly different than they were when I did my May recap, as you’ll notice. So here are the five best articles, not counting my homepage or site announcements.
1. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
3. The Hunger Games and Ancient Rome
4. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
5. The White Queen by Philippa Gregory
It’s hard to believe The Giver is right up there because school’s been out in America for a month, which is where most of my traffic comes from. But what’s really surprising is that The White Queen cracked the list while The Hunger Games and Ancient Rome article fell to third place. Now, here are the surprising five worst articles of June:
1. Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
2. YA Release Dates to Look Forward To
4. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
5. Isabel: Jewel of Castilla by Carolyn Meyer
What’s surprising about the five worst articles and book reviews is that not one of them appeared on my May list, which means that the worst articles are at least rotating every month. However, I’m surprised none of the Pauline Gedge books appear on the list because she’s not exactly a well-known author outside of historical fiction circles. C’est la vie.
I Need Your Help
Okay, so my little sister’s birthday is coming up and I have absolutely no idea what to get her.
Here in my household, books are usually pretty common. Usually I’ll pick her up one of the books I read and liked but is still age appropriate for her. She is only twelve and a half after all. Unfortunately, she’s already read all of the age-appropriate books I own! That’s where you come in.
I desperately need some book recommendations! She’s pretty mature for a twelve-year-old, having read The Hunger Games trilogy, the Darkest Powers trilogy as well as some of Pauline Gedge‘s novels. She loves fantasy and historical fiction, especially when there’s royalty involved, although she’ll read anything she can get her hands on.
However, please tell me of any mature content in your recommendation, which includes language, violence and sexuality. If you can, please tell me the extent of the mature content as well (explicit, brief, mild, etc).
So, do you know any good books for her? Please tell me in the comments below!
What is Your Favourite Genre?
My favourite genre is a definite toss up between historical fiction and fantasy fiction. Yes, I know I complain about fantasy a lot, but there is a lot of unique stuff out there when you look. But what I want to know is, what’s your favourite genre? And if you have time, why is it your favourite genre? Please vote and tell me in the comments below!
The Best and Worst of May
I’m going to try something new here. On the first of every month, I’ll recap my most viewed and least viewed posts in case you’re curious as to what people are actually looking at on my site. So here are the five best posts last month:
1. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
2. The Hunger Games and Ancient Rome
3. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
4. Son of the Mob by Gordon Korman
5. Specials by Scott Westerfeld
I’m actually not at all surprised this time, aside from the fact that Flowers for Algernon has surpassed my popular cheat-sheet on allusions for The Hunger Games novel study. But it’s not really all that surprising since Flowers for Algernon is another popular novel study book. It probably won’t stay on top in June because school is going out. Now, here are the worst posts of May (excluding site announcements):
1. Run Like Jager by Karen Bass
2. Scroll of Saqqara by Pauline Gedge
3. The Many Diseases Found in Fiction (YA Fiction in Particular)
4. The Seven Songs of Merlin by T. A. Barron
5. Seer of Egypt by Pauline Gedge
Again, not really surprising, but notice that two out of the five books are by Pauline Gedge. I guess both she and ancient Egypt aren’t nearly as popular as I thought.
Guest Posting and Other Site-Related Information
So I got it into my head that next month, June, is going to be History Month here on The Mad Reviewer. What does that mean? Well, it means for one month I’m going to review only historical fiction and non-fiction history books that I love. Trust me, there’s going to be something for everyone here, even if you think you don’t like history. Some of my book reviews will be on books that got my dear little sister interested in history (for the full story, click here) as well as historical fiction books that I truly enjoyed. There’s going to be a lot of Carolyn Meyer, some Philippa Gregory, some Kathryn Lasky and even a Jack Whyte book review, so stay tuned! These books will take you to ancient Egypt, Tudor England, WWII, ancient Britain, Viking Scandinavia and many more places you’ve never even dreamed of.
I’m guest posting yet again! This time, it’s over at ForTheLoveOfBooks in which I review another fairytale retelling. This time it’s a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. It’s aptly named Beastly and was a truly spectacular fail. I guess Alex Flinn needs to take a leaf out of Marissa Meyer’s book. If you’re interested in seeing me completely trash a book, here’s a link to the review: Beastly by Alex Flinn.