The Literature Book by DK Publishing, Sam Atkinson

Summary
A global look at the greatest works of Eastern and Western literature and the themes that unite them, for students and lovers of literature and reading.

The Literature Book is a fascinating journey through the greatest works of world literature, from the Iliad to Don Quixote to The Great Gatsby. Around 100 crystal-clear articles explore landmark novels, short stories, plays, and poetry that reinvented the art of writing in their time, whether Ancient Greece, post-classical Europe, or modern-day Korea.

As part of DK's award-winning Big Ideas Simply Explained series, The Literature Book uses infographics and images to explain key ideas and themes. Biographies of important authors offer insight into their lives and other writings, and a section on Further Reading details more than 150 additional works to explore.

Discover masterpieces from the world's greatest authors, and explore the context, creative history, and literary traditions that influenced each major work of fiction with The Literature Book.

Series Overview: Big Ideas Simply Explained series uses creative design and innovative graphics, along with straightforward and engaging writing, to make complex subjects easier to understand. These award-winning books provide just the information needed for students, families, or anyone interested in concise, thought-provoking refreshers on a single subject.

Impressions
A mix between a history book, an encyclopedia and Santa's gift bags !

From Mythology to contemporary literature, you travel through time and discover authors from around the world. Of course, there is a lot of classics but I've enjoyed the diversity of the sources. You will find books from Asia, Russia, France, UK and the US.

I've also appreciaped the colorful construction of the pages. You always have a focus on a special book with a bio of it's author as well as the period where it was written. The historical background, the political, historical or social influences that lead to a specific literary current.

It's very well explained and if you want to know more you have a section called "further reading" to discover or rediscover new authors and books of this same movement or period.

Quotes are also used to illustrate a topic or to enhance the text.

It's a very pleasant book that can be read countless time. You will always find something for you in it if you are a book lover.
You can read it for the pleasure, to improve your knowledge about the classics or just to choose a good friends to go on adventures with.

Since I have already read "The Sociology Book" in the same collection, I may add that these books are easy to understand and perfect to keep around.

Great collection!

Source
*Arc provided by Edelweiss
I received this book in exchange of a fair and honest review.

Uptown & Downtown by Alan Bortman

Uptown & Downtown: Old Skool Paintings on NYC Subway Maps by Alan Bortman
Summary
New York graffiti writers who cut their teeth painting trains in the '70s and '80s transfer Old Skool street art to a more permanent, collectible medium in this book, using transit maps, instead of subway cars, as canvases. 

GHOST, T-KID, QUIK, REVOLT, BLADE, SHAME125, COPE2, SKEME, and others decorated ordinary 23" x 32" MTA maps with their personal tags and graphics echoing the heyday of New York train graffiti. 

Sixteen sections, one for each writer, feature a total of more than 100 maps, as well as brief statements about the painters' artistic evolution and style. Like a dynamic "piece book," or sketchbook, this collection is an exclusive sampling of the painters' signature strokes and tags in portable form. 

In fact, many of the artists featured here have used subway-map art as a springboard from the fleeting genre of train-tagging to the sturdier platform of the international art gallery circuit."

Impressions
Full of great graffitis !

If you like street art and graffiti, you will appreciate this book. It let a huge place to the art. Lot of pieces bought by private buyers are offered to your eyes and they are impressive.

If the art is well shown off, I would have liked to know more about the artists. Sure, there is a bio but a very short one. Like the sobriety of the design but I would have loved more words.
Idem for the introduction to the graffiti on the NYC transit system. I like to read, even if the illustrations are awesome.

Perfect, if you want to enjoy only the art.

Source
*Arc provided by Edelweiss
I received this book in exchange of a fair and honest review.

Extraordinary October by Diana Wagman

Summary
October is an ordinary girl. From her plain looks to her average grades, there seems to be nothing special about her. Then, three days before her eighteenth birthday, she develops a strange itch that won’t go away, and her life is turned upside down.

Suddenly, she can hear dogs talk, make crows fly, and two new and very handsome boys at school are vying for her affections. After she starts “transplanting” herself through solid rock, October learns that she is not ordinary at all, but the daughter of a troll princess and a fairy prince, and a pawn in a deadly war between the trolls and the fairies.

Now October will have to use all of her growing powers to save her family, and stop a mysterious evil that threatens to destroy the fairy world.

In the fantastical vein of authors such as Julie Kagawa and Holly Black, Extraordinary October takes us on a magical journey from the streets of Los Angeles to the beautiful and mythical underground fairy kingdom.

Impressions
 Entertaining!

Actions, betrayals, fairies, trolls, transplanting, blood and a lot of running to escape. I haven't been able to put the book down once I've strated it. It was really a cool read to enjoy secrets and imaginary adventures.

Of course, it has reminded me of The Iron Fey series by Julie Kawaga and of Harry Potter with Dolores Umbridge. Less magical and with more pace, it's the perfect mix to escape into fantasyland while still be plausible.

October lacks of confidence in herself and has trust issues but with all the secrets and betrayal, she can be certain of anything after learning who she really is.

As for the two males "prince charming", they make mistakes and are not so charming. In reality, it's why it was a cool one. Nothing is black or white and October is a great positive heroine.

I've appreciated this story and the author creativity.

Source
*Arc provided by Edelweiss
I received this book in exchange of a fair and honest review.

Rose & Thorn by Sarah Prineas

Summary
This beauty isn’t sleeping! Discover the true story of Sleeping Beauty in Sarah Prineas’s bold YA fairy-tale retelling filled with thrilling adventure and romance, perfect for fans of The Lunar Chronicles and The Girl of Fire & Thorns trilogy.

After the spell protecting her is destroyed, Rose seeks safety in the world outside the valley she had called home. She’s been kept hidden all her life to delay the three curses she was born with—curses that will put her into her own fairy tale and a century-long slumber. Accompanied by the handsome and mysterious Watcher, Griff, and his witty and warmhearted partner, Quirk, Rose tries to escape from the ties that bind her to her story. But will the path they take lead them to freedom, or will it bring them straight into the fairy tale they are trying to avoid?

Set in the world of Sarah Prineas’s Ash & Bramble fifty years later, Rose & Thorn is a powerful retelling of the classic Sleeping Beauty tale where the characters fight to find their own Happy Ever After.

Impressions
A nice way of revisiting a popular fairy tale!

"Only the kiss of true love can stop the curse." A famous quote that remind you instantly of "Sleeping Beauty", her adventures and curse.
It was never my favorite as I found the princess too passive and innocent. In this story, I've appreciated Rose's spontaneity as well as her positive attitude. She wants to fight her fate and believes in love being able to overcome every troubles.

Much more darker, this story is interesting. To be honest, I've found some lengths and was not really fan of some of the secondary characters. Even Griff is a grumpy boring hero. But there is something in the author writing that forces you to turn the pages to learn what will happen next...

And the ending is interesting, even if the story focus too much about the first curse.

Some great potential in the imagination and creativity of the author.


Quotes

"The teller chooses where to begin, what to leave out and what to leave in, and where to end. Every time we tell a story, it is different."

"Story was everywhere. It was everything."

Source
*Arc provided by Edelweiss
I received this book in exchange of a fair and honest review.

Platinum End by Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata

Summary
As his classmates celebrates their middle school graduation, one student's mind seems to be elsewhere. 

His name is Mirai and he has a dark secret. 
All humans deserve to find happiness, but Mirai may need some salvation from above in the form of an angel.

Impressions
A first volume interesting enough to arouse curiosity with a great ending. The plot is a bit dark with illustrations that fit well with the story. There is a lot of fluidity and intensity in the drawings.
I especially like Mirai's hair and eyes.

As for the plot, it's a battle for becoming the next God. 13 candidates. Unfortunately, some will stop at nothing to take over and be the ultimate winner!
Interesting!

Source
*Arc provided by Edelweiss
I received this book in exchange of a fair and honest review.

The Danger of Desire by Sabrina Jeffries

Summary
To root out the card cheat responsible for her brother’s death, Miss Delia Trevor spends her evenings dancing her way through high society balls, and her late nights disguised as a young man gambling her way through London’s gaming hells. Then one night, handsome Warren Corry, the Marquess of Knightford, a notorious member of St. George’s Club, recognizes her. When he threatens to reveal her secret, she’s determined to keep him from ruining her plans, even if it means playing a cat-and-mouse game with the enigmatic rakehell.

Warren knows the danger of her game, and he refuses to watch her lose everything while gaining justice for her late brother. But when she starts to delve beneath his carefully crafted façade, can he keep her at arm’s length while still protecting her? Or will their hot desires explode into a love that transcends the secrets of their pasts?

Impressions
An entertaining regency novel with great characters. Especially Delia who is daring and imprevisible for this period of time.

Even if the book and plot are pleasant, I found some length as I was curious to understand who was the man with the tattoo. The author has made me wait some time before giving me this answer. Too bad, it was wrapped out too easily.

Perfect if you want to read a romance but if you want some action, you will be dissapointed.

A good summer read to enjoy at the beach.


Source
*Arc provided by Edelweiss
I received this book in exchange of a fair and honest review.

Idiot Brain: What Your Head Is Really Up To by Dean Burnett

Summary
It's happened to all of us at some point. You walk into the kitchen, or flip open your laptop, or stride confidently up to a lectern, filled with purpose—and suddenly haven't the foggiest idea what you’re doing. Welcome to your idiot brain.

Yes, it is an absolute marvel in some respects—the seat of our consciousness, the pinnacle (so far) of evolutionary progress, and the engine of all human experience—but your brain is also messy, fallible, and about 50,000 years out-of-date. We cling to superstitions, remember faces but not names, miss things sitting right in front of us, and lie awake at night while our brains replay our greatest fears on an endless loop.

Yet all of this, believe it or not, is the sign of a well-meaning brain doing its best to keep you alive and healthy. In Idiot Brain, neuroscientist Dean Burnett celebrates blind spots, blackouts, insomnia, and all the other downright laughable things our minds do to us, while also exposing the many mistakes we've made in our quest to understand how our brains actually work. Expertly researched and entertainingly written, this book is for everyone who has wondered why their brain appears to be sabotaging their life, and what on earth it is really up to.

Impressions
Fun and interesting, I've spent a really good time reading about brain and our behaviours. From the social panics, to memory troubles or intelligence, the author decrypts the brain with fun, easy examples or scientific facts.

But don't run away, it's not boring at all! In fact, I've been turning the page eagerly. From the crosswords to see if it will strengthen our abilities to collecting odors informations, you can understand a bit better how busy our brain is. It's very interesting to pause and think about its role.

Original, fun and very cool read! I'm happy to have opened this book...

Source
*Arc provided by Edelweiss
I received this book in exchange of a fair and honest review.