aladdin Archives - Journeys Are My Diary

Book Review – A Whole New World by Liz Braswell

May 26, 2016 by Bel

I have SO many book reviews to write now as I’ve been lucky enough to catch up on loads of reading recently. I also have my Paris 3 Day diary to write over the next few days. However I really wanted to share this particular book review quickly, as A Whole New World (A Twisted Tales) is very topical right now!

This book had been on my Amazon wishlist for quite some time, in hardback, along with Once Upon a Dream (by the same author). However it seems to have gone somewhat viral over the last few weeks, as the paperback appeared both on Amazon and more specifically in Morrisons, for only £3.50! I was lucky enough that Chris bought it for me and I managed to get to read it immediately, due to a very long car ride to Paris this weekend just gone!

If truth be told, I started the book in the bath on Thursday night, but only the first few chapters. I then started to read it on the journey from London to Maidstone, then from Folkestone to Calais (over the tunnel) and Calais to Paris. I did in fact complete the book in this time. I have to admit I really enjoyed it, despite seeing on Goodreads that many people didn’t like it.

First of all, I want to start by saying, Disney own the rights to this book so be prepared for it to be VERY Disney. The book starts with an introduction to Aladdin, his life and of course Agrabah. It mimics the original animated movie almost exactly, but in words and with more description, than you perhaps get in the movie itself. For me, I liked this. I love Disney, I love the movie and I had no objection to the first quarter of the book being pretty much exactly the movie. However the point of the book is that it’s a twisted tale and without ruining it for anyone – the change occurs in the Cave of Wonders, whereby Jafar gets the lamp and Aladdin gets trapped, thus changing the storyline.

I don’t want to get into spoilers as that’s something I always avoid in my book reviews, but I’m sure you all know that if Jafar got his hands on the lamp from the beginning, it can only mean bad things! At this point, I think the book really stepped into it’s own. “A Whole New World” is not just a spin on the Disney movie, it is a story and book in it’s own right. The author is actually very clever in my opinion, to take characters and a world invented by someone else and somehow make it their own. While others have called it a rip-off or a fan-fiction, I disagree. I think it’s well thought out and really quite good. The theme is far more dark and mature than a regular Disney movie or book and I liked that. This is not a book to be read to kids, its something much more adult orientated and while it still has a happy ending, its a more realistic one than a typical “They all lived happily ever after”.

If you’re looking for something Disney, but perhaps a little more unique, I recommend you give this a go. You need to go into it open-minded though, no expectations and just let your mind fall into the new world and it’s new story, instead of drawing comparisons! Let me know what you think if you give it a read.

Wednesday Wishlist – Disney Style Books

May 18, 2016 by Bel

I have to admit that I’m super excited about this week’s wishlist, because I’ve been working on it for absolutely ages! I don’t read half as much as I’d like to as I’m always busy sewing or blogging, but if I did, I would read ALL these books I have listed and many more. This week I wanted to show off some of the many Disney/Fairytale style books that I’ve come across over the last few months. Some I’d never heard of before and others being sequels to books I already own or have read.

Disney style books

Disney is one of my favourite topics ever but I love a good spin on it too. Nearly all of these books follow that idea and so hopefully if you’re the same, you’ll like the sound of a lot of these books.

Starting off with Poor Unfortunate Souls, this book has been on my wishlist for a while now. When we visited Florida last year I discovered Fairest of All and The Beast Within, both of which I regretted not buying. However for my birthday the following month, I was lucky enough to get bought both. This third book is about Ursula and honestly she is pretty much my Villain spirit animal. It’s not released yet but I would love to own this book and add it to my collection.

As Old as Time is a similar story, it’s pre-order and not released yet. However I’ve had my eye on Once Upon a Dream and A Whole New World (Chris just bought me this a few days ago) in hardback for a while (they just got released in paperback) and now spotted this Beauty and the Beast Twisted Tale coming out soon. I have yet to read any, but I plan to start AWNW this week!

The next couple of books, Unhooked and Never Never, are both Peter Pan/Hook themed books. They both appeal to me to read, though I’ve heard nothing about them other than reading the information on Amazon. There is one on the next line down called Wendy Darling (and its a Part 1 I believe) and this is the same sort of thing. They all just sound like good books. Finally on this line is a book called Fairest and its part of The Lunar Chronicles series. I currently own Cinder which is by the same author and while I haven’t read it yet, I’m told it’s really good.

On the middle line is a book called Once Again, its by the same as the Twisted Tales but I think it’s co-written. From what I can gather its two stories in one, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. Since I mentioned Wendy Darling above, I’ll skip on to Kingdom Keepers. This is a series that I only recently discovered and have to admit I’m thoroughly enjoying. The first book, Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark, I actually bought for Megan for her birthday, but Lily and I ended up reading as a bedtime story. Once we’d finished, I moved onto Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dawn. Since we only read one chapter a night, it does take quite some time to work our way through, however Lily was lucky enough to get bought the next 3-4 books for her birthday so we should have enough to keep us going for a while. This particular book I listed is a sort of spin-off series I believe, called Kingdom Keepers: The Return. Obviously we will be finishing our current series, before heading off into that one though.

Finally on the middle line is another book which I believe is co-written, by Riley Pearson (the author of The Kingdom Keepers) and Dave Barry. There are several books in this series too and again I haven’t read any of them, but given that they are by the author of The Kingdom Keepers, I would definitely give it a try.

Finally on the bottom row is a couple of cheeky additions. Return to the Isle of the Lost is a sequel book to The Isle of the Lost: A Descendants Novel. All I really know of the Descendants is the Disney movie that was on TV last year, which I watched with the kids, but I did buy this book for Lily and we haven’t got around to reading it yet. Given that the first book is good, then we’d probably want the sequel too! My next cheeky addition is actually Once Upon a Time (OUAT) related and though there were several to choose from, this one is my top pick. OUAT isn’t technically Disney but it’s pretty damn close so any book connected to the series is something I want to read.

Finally that leaves three books which I only found today as I was searching for last minute additions. I honestly know nothing about the three picks but the blurbs appealed so I threw them on. Disneylanders and The Disneyland Quest, remind me somewhat of the Kingdom Keepers style book. The last one, is Fairy Godmother themed and is part of a series, some of which Megan owns but hasn’t read yet (The Snow Queen and The Sleeping Beauty). The series is called Five Hundred Kingdoms and from what I can gather, all the books can be read independently.

So these are some of my treasure finds but I’d love to know if you have any other suggestions!

A birthday to plan!

May 9, 2016 by Bel

As you may or may not know, May is the month of my birthday. For whatever reason I have always loved May, even though there’s never much happening. As a sort of birthday trip, we’re all heading to Paris for the weekend of 20th-23rd, but I’m yet to plan anything for my birthday itself. Previously I’ve visited the Harry Potter Studios, had a Murder Mystery, visited the cinema (Maleficent, Tomorrowland, Pitch Perfect 2) or even gone out for dinner. This year, I’ve started to weigh up my options!

A Quiet Night In

It’s quite likely that my two best friends are available to come over in the evening, so one plan is definitely a quiet night in. Though we’ve previously had large parties, played either board games or held a murder mystery, the only people I really need to spend my birthday with are my immediate family and my two best friends. Since the girls will be in bed during the evening, a takeaway pizza from Dominos, drinking some sparkling wine (a bottle or two of these sparkling drinks) and perhaps even Cards Against Humanity, sounds like a pretty amazing way to spend a birthday evening. I’m not even too bothered if there is cake or not! Read this online article if you want to learn the difference between soda water vs sparkling water.

A Stay at The Wizard Chambers

Photo Credit: Georgian Hotel

As a family and even as a couple, we often stay away for a night or two in a hotel. For the most part we’re talking Travelodge or Premier Inn, but sometimes somewhere a little nicer. My dream stay would be in the Harry Potter style rooms, at The Georgian Hotel – in either the Wizarding Chambers or the Enchanting Chambers. To be honest I would be happy to visit the Harry Potter Studios again too and make a full wizarding weekend of it – especially since they have a Platform 9 3/4 now and they’re opening up Privet Drive for my birthday weekend. In fact, if the new theatre show (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) was out by then, I would do that too.

A Trip to the Theatre or Cinema

As you might have seen from the last option, I love going to the theatre. Last year, the weekend before my birthday, we went to see Phantom of the Opera. This year I would have loved to see Harry Potter, or even Aladdin (which opens just after my birthday). Sadly the theatre is a little out of my price range right now, so the cinema is more likely. With Captain America: Civil War just out and X-Men: Apocalypse coming out soon, I’m sure there is something we could find to watch. Alice Through the Looking Glass is also out which would be great for taking the kids.

There are lots of other things I would like to do but to be honest, heading to Paris and also Disneyland just before my birthday, is really the best treat I could ask for. I’m sure I’ll be spending the day with everyone that matters and that’s the main thing!