The Dark

Authored by: Marianne Curley

Book TWO! The first thing I noticed about book two in the "Guardians of Time" trilogy was the focus of the chapters. In book one, The chapters alternated between Ethan and Isabelle. In book two, they alternate between Arkarian and Isabelle. This bothered me at first because while Ethan was still a character in the book, I didn't get to see what was in his head like I was used to, and I liked the focus on him, he is a very likable and important character. The second problem I had with it was that I was in Arkarian's head, which was weird because he's a wise 18-looking 600+ year old man and so I didn't want to read about his fears and heartache and about the things he didn't know.

The second thing I noticed about book two was that the author assumed the reader had not read book one, and so Isabelle explains everything that is learned from book one and it's a bit annoying.

Having said that- the good stuff. We learn of Arkarian's past (should I make sure I'm spelling his name right? I really don't feel like it...). We meet his mother and learn of his father.

Am I getting ahead of myself? In book two, Arkarian is KIDNAPPED by the immortal that runs the Order of Chaos. With Arkarian gone, the Guard starts losing more missions and the present world begins to change for the worse. The reason why the order all of a sudden became so powerful was because the Immortal was angry at the guard for killing (/seriously altering the being of) Marduke. Added to the stress of saving Arkarian, Ethan's mother's depression has turned for the worse and there is reason to worry about her killing herself. And we get to find out why she hasn't recovered, after all these years!

Again, like book one, book two is filling with a quickly progressing story line and is never dull. Love interests are progressing the way they should, the Guard's immortal pulls another cheap move like he did at the end of book one (I won't elaborate) and another person changes sides. I am eager to read book three, to see how it all ends. Again, I highly recommend this trilogy. The books are pretty short at around 300 pages, much easier than the small print 600+ page books from the last series I read, but just as good! :)

The Named

Authored by: Marianne Curley

This was the first book in a while that interested me almost from the start. The prologue was interesting, and I guess necessary, but once I got into the first real chapter, I was hooked.

The Named is a trilogy which focuses on a group called The Guard which guards against the Order of Chaos. Both groups are led by immortals. The Order of Chaos goes back in time (or rather, humans have a misunderstanding of how time works) to change history which results in Chaos, which makes the Chaos Immortal more powerful. The guard goes back in time to stop the Order from succeeding. The book alternates point of view from Ethan, a boy who had been in the guard since his sister was murdered and Isabel, a new recruit who's powers have just begun to show.

The book moves at a very fast pace and there is a lot of action. Ethan is at the end of his training and becomes Isabel's trainer. Also they have quests to the past as well as to the place where the prophecy is written. Along with the action, there is also that bit of romance for example, at one point Isabel is killed in the past, leaving behind her real body in the real world and her soul to wander the middle world. But there is hope. She can be retrieved if she hears her name called by her soul mate before she reaches the bridge.

So id you want a fast paced novel that is easy to read and easy to get into and are committed to reading books 2 and 3 as well then I would highly recommend it. I guess the only downside is that the main characters are teenagers with hero complexes and big egos. And stupid Isabel at the end was too concerned for her brother and was being annoying because she was supposed to be saving someone else. *sigh*

Also- Spoiler alert -

Ethan does get his wings at the end even though he was supposed to never be able to have them which is kind of annoying. I don't think he really needs them. He's not even the main focus of book two.

Evil for Evil

Authored by: K.J. Parker

Evil for Evil is the second book of the Engineer series by K.J. Parker. Now Duke Valens needs to find a way to save himself from the Mezentines while Ziani pursues his own plan. Valens decides to make a marriage alliance while lamenting that he is both closer and further away from his true love. And he does silly things for love again.

Anyway, I realized why i got confused every time I saw the word "realize" in the book because it's spelled "realise" and it throws me off every time...

But anyway, the second novel is just as intense as the first one. So much happened and I don't want to give anything away but the war continues, who is in power changes hands (although that's at book 3 i believe)... And we learn some terrible things about Ziani's apprentice. I think everyone should read these books. They're amazing...

Bookends

Authored by: Jane Green

Aahhh... the fabulous Jane Green has done it again. This time she's created a great protagonist in the frizzy-haired Cath (like Cathy, but with 100x fewer cliches). Cath is having a good life, living in her messy flat, going on Sunday brunches with her best friends Simon, Josh and Lucy.
Oh but something's missing from Cath's life. She's bored with her job, has a poor self-image, and to top it off her love life is non-existent. So... when Lucy convinces Catherine to fulfill her dream and open up a bookshop... you get Bookends. And then Cath meets James, the handsome real-estate agent/artist... ooh!

I loved all the characters in this book--even the enemies. They were all very specially their own person, and there is not a chance you would forget about any one of them while you were into the story. Cath is the normal one, the one who so devoted to her friends she sometimes forgets to take care of herself. Si is the gay best friend who is a hopeless romantic and is always ready with a snarky comment or a makeover idea. Lucy is the bright ray of sunshine who is a genius in the kitchen, Josh is her doting husband, who tries to keep all his problems to himself (oh and they have a demon child). Then there's Portia, their old university friend, who is beautiful and elegant but broke their hearts way back then and got cut off from the group. Even the assholes were well-developed. You really really hated the assholes.

The story is mainly about Cath but all the other main players have their own stories which are equally important. The characters learn a lot about themselves and each other so they grow closer. This book is wonderful. It has everything: funny moments and sad moments, old friends and new loves, twists and turns, relationship troubles and troublesome strangers. It's really all about following your heart and sticking with the people you love. Please read it (or any other Jane Green novel you can get your hands on!)!

Planet Janet

Authored by: Dyan Sheldon

Dyan Sheldon is the author of Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, which was adapted into a movie starring Lindsay Lohan. I haven't read that book, so I can't compare, but I don't think we'll see Janet on the silver screen anytime soon (although one of those tween stars might be good choices... Selena Gomez? Miranda Cosgrove?).

Janet, a young teen who finds her life to be so shallow, is about to dive in to her Dark Phase with her best friend Disha. She's constantly being driven mad by her family, and can't get the hang of this love thing. While Janet's biggest dilemma is what color to dye her hair, she doesn't see the real problems going on around her. She gets annoyed when her family says it, but Janet really is on her own little planet. Janet's world ends at the tip of her nose, and her carelessness is getting her into trouble...

*warning... there may be some spoilers*

I enjoyed reading Planet Janet. It's in a diary form, which I always love. It was funny but it also had some tender moments. Sheldon paints a classic picture of irony with Planet Janet: Janet believes that other people are very shallow and uncaring but it is really her who can't be bothered to actually listen to what they're saying. Instead of being concerned about her parents, she just tunes out their arguments, counting them as a daily nuisance. Her brother is an art student of some renown, but she doesn't realize that his work is important until she invites his stalker in the house. Janet's two guy friends are vying for her attention, but she only has eyes for an older boy who isn't interested.
This all makes for a fun story, but it's also a problem. Janet really being on her own planet maybe ironic and all but the girl is so careless. If not for her few, sweet moments of sanity, she would be unlikeable. (She definitely isn't someone you'd be friends with in real life.) But perhaps we aren't supposed to identify with this protagonist. Perhaps we are supposed to just laugh at her.

I'll stop complaining. I thought Planet Janet was a good book. It was funny and quick to read (and, I said this before but, DIARY FORMAT! always love that.) I enjoyed it. I've just found out there's a sequel. Would I read it? Yes. I'm interested to see what happens to everyone... and I'm hoping Janet has matured.

Devices and Desires

Authored by: K.J. Parker

This is book one of The Engineer Trilogy. I had jury duty and correctly figured that I wasn't going to be put on a case, but instead be left to sit and read so I grabbed some books from the library. I hadn't been there in forever and the selection sucked but I found this large book and a few others. This one, I correctly identified as the most interesting. It begins with a teen boy, son of the Duke in one, i guess I'll call it a kingdom. There are three Kingdoms (or three that matter) Two are rival related enemies that had just recently signed a peace treaty and the third is this extremely technologically advanced place. And by technologically advances I mean they produce the best armor, have the best weapons, they make plates and basically whatever you can thing to do with metal they make it perfectly. So then the story goes on that Orsea's kingdom attacks the advanced ones and lose but it's all good timing for this one guy who made an advancement on one of the technologies, which is not allowed. He escaped from prison and followed Orsea home. Then naturally, stuff happens.

I really thought this book was amazingly well thought out. So planned. You see things happening and wish the lines of communication were more open so they wouldn't easily succumb to defeat but you know who the characters are, and what they're going to do. I really don't like Vaates, the prison escapee. He's apparently the protagonist though. I really like Valens and hope that he can work things out... Anyway, great book. There's a ton of war and hunting and planning things I don't too much care about but Parker makes it a page turner. I was not bored at all in jury duty. Sometimes I'd look up from the book and feel like I was being sucked out of another world. It's that good.

Noman

Authored by: William Nicholson

Final book in the Noble Warriors series. Seeker is still on his journey to destroy the Sevanters while everyone else tries to find faith now that the physical Nom is gone. Of the three books, I felt this one was a let down. I loved the first 2 and was excited to read the conclusion but I felt this book was more scattered. A lot of stuff was going on and everyone was in different places and people were being lied to all over the place. Also, Seeker seemed to lack a specific personality in this book. Maybe he didn't even have one in the first two but it seemed that in this book he was just there doing things. Also what he did to Wildman was crazy and it was obvious it would be undone. Aside from the plot and all of that, the final conclusion the "and they went of and lived happily ever after" part (It wasn't like that, but for purposes of an example) was good and respectable. But the book overall was a lot of craziness. It didn't have the same spirit as the first two, I felt.

Jango

Authored by: William Nicholson

Jango is the second book in the Noble Warriors trilogy. It begins with Seeker, Wildman, and Morning Star undergoing training in the Nom. Wildman is becoming impatient and wants to go into the garden. Morning Star is developing feelings for Wildman, and Seeker gains incredible power. Jango is just as amazing of a book at the first installment, Seeker was. We're introduced to a new character Echo who accidentally finds herself in the company of a warlord and his army, as he marches into Radiance. The new Radiant leader is still trying to destroy the Nom, and a lot of stuff happens. If you liked the first book, you'll like this one too.

The Life of Elizabeth I

Authored by: Alizon Weir

If you have ever been interested about the life of an English queen so famous that she had a period of history named after her, this book is for you. This biography is amazingly detailed and superbly written, and it will immediately pull you into the world of someone that so many have heard of yet few truly know. The author delves into the many mysteries and myths surrounding the "Virgin Queen", questioning murders and analyzing the characters, portraying all the glitter, magnificence, and darkness surrounding the Elizabethan court. You will find yourself pulled into the intrigue, and throughout it all you will get to know this elusive queen, who could be at once cunning, short-tempered, kind, ruthless, and magnificent.

We're back

Alright, Book Review's is back (hopefully, to stay) with a new name: Novel Logs! Everything else was taken, besides, I think it's cute. We also have new members, Katie (ケーティ) and Sarah will be joining us soon. I've changed the template because I deleted the old background by mistake and the whole thing was a mess. And so some of the older posts will look... redundant. But all the information is still there and clear. I've changed where the post authors's name is, its now at the top, so it wont say "review" by in the body anymore. Anyway, hopefully it's all easier and more clear. And I'll work on my grammar... We'll try to post more as well... (still pretending people are reading this). ^_^ (actually i changed my mind and review by is at the bottom of the post again. but it's still gone from the body of the body because...it doesnt need to be there twice)

The Book of Lies

James Moloney

Review By: Sasha

So I've read a lot of books for school, but haven't read much for fun recently. I started to read some fairy book but the guy was too perfect and it was painful. So I never got past the third page. So I moved on to the other book I got from the library. The Book of Lies. It's about this boy who has just been taken to an orphanage. A wizard tries to replace his memory with a false one, and a little girl who is good at disappearing into the shadows, interrupts this process. He still loses his memory, but she tells him his real name and he's like "OMG thats it" etc. And there's this whole adventure. I read it in a day like nonstop. I didn't want to get online or talk to people, this book sucked me in. And like, as I read i was guessing "oh they're this and this is going to happen" and then it was like oh no, this happened instead and this is how it is, but then i was right about this, and that turned out to be a lie and so i was right anyway, and it was great. And no i'm not going to go back to fix my grammar. So read it, get the sequal, and wait for the third book in 2009 (tear... so far away)

And this isn't a review, but i love myself for writing a seeker review because i know the next book is coming out soon and i couldn't remember the name of the series (yay me)

Persepolis

Marjane Satrapi

Review By: Shelby

I just picked up this book for two reasons:

1. it was $1

2. I like comics

Anyway this very smart comic tells the story of a girl who grew up in Iran when they were in war with Iraq and when they had taken people hostage at the American embassy.

Marji, the protagonist, is a young only child who lives with her mom and dad. She is smart and outspoken as a result of the environment of her home: her mom and dad are very opinionated and take everything with a grain of salt. also they are very modern.

Marji watches her home become like a backwards, scary place. She is young so she is torn between her love for her country and her modern ideals. She is fired up and wants to fight when she first learns of the war, but she is also proud of her relatives for being in jail because they stood up for their ideals. She even goes against her parents' wishes and protests! (very dangerous).

Marjane is still just a teenager, so she of course, has to rebel. She rebels against her parents and against the oppressive, extremist government, wearing jeans, and sneakers under her veil while singing along with Michael Jackson, Guns N Roses, and Kim Wilde.

Anyway, this may be a comic, but just because it's a comic doesn't mean it's some throwaway book. Marji tells the story of her childhood through simply illustrated anecdotes. They don't take away from the seriousness of the real-life events, they rather make them more personal... telling them from a child's point of view. So even though it's not batman, there certainly is a hero.

This book has been made into a movie, and there is also a 2nd part (comic).

hey

Hm...

Digimon 02 - Christmas Fantasy - Jogress Shinkers - Mama ga Santa ni Kiss wo Shita.mp3

Seeker

William Nicholson

Review By: Sasha

So, it's been awhile since I've written a review...

Seeker is about a boy named Seeker who wishes to join the Noble Warriors who are a group of monks that live to protest the All and Only. As Seeker turns sixteen, he is now allowed to join. But not only does the most horrible thing happen (his brother gets kicked out of the noble warriors, and is now a disgrace), but Seeker's father does not want him to join. This book also follows Morning STar, a girl who can see people's "colors" as in if their angry and other emotions. And Wildman who is...wild...These three people meet and become companions on a quest to become Noble Warriors.

This is a very great book. Everything the author writes has a purpose and it's fun to read and see how everything comes together at the end. Though this is a series, it actually has a real ending which I was happy to read. It's not often that I like endings to good books. It's long but easy to read. I would hihly reccommend this book.

Metamorphosis

Franz Kafka

Review By: Sasha

This is a short story about a guy that turns into a vermin. Many people say cockroach but that is not the authors intent. Though short, it takes a while to read. The story is mostly about Gregor's (the man-incect) family troubles.

It's interesting but unless you have to read it for class I wouldnt reccomend it. If you have to read it for class, do read it and don't sparknote it because it's not that bad.

Do Androids Dream of Electronic Sheep?

Philip K. Dick

Review By: Sasha

This book is set in a world after the final world war that left the planet earth basically uninhabitable. So most people go to mars and only a few are left on eath. Of the few on earth, most become stupid (cause of the chemicals). When you go to mars you get androids for company. Sometimes the androids (who look just like humans) get bored and kill their owners and come to earth. there's this guy who is a bounty hunter and he kills the androids who come to earth.

SO he gets this mission. And he has personal life drama. And he well anyway, its a good book. I dont want to give any spoilers because you should read it. it's very interesting.

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

Review By: Sasha

Hamlet decided if he should kill his uncle for killing his dad. he thinks and thinks and thinks some more. He kills polonius, his girlfriend goes crazy and drounds. Laertes gets mads and so hamlets uncle and laertes decide to kill hamlet. Hamlet killed laertes and his uncle. His mom dies then horatio is like "im gonna kill myself" and hamlet says "bitch, no!" and then hamlet dies. The end.

Shortcuts

Raymond Carver

Review By: Sasha

This book is a bunch of short stories. And one poem. The stories don't really end. And most of them are really wierd. It's an EXTREAMLY quick read and it's very interesting. So pick it up and read it. It wont take long. It basically stories about people's lives. Mostly about married people.

Specials

Scott Westerfeld

Review By: Sasha

This is kind of a spiler if u havent read pretties...

So this book, the final in the Uglies trilogy, takes place after tally has been turned into a special. Not only a special, but a special special, called a cutter. The horrible thing about this is that she enjoys being a special and can no longer be convinced that bad things are happening to the pretties (with the lesions and all). So the specials goal is to find the new smoke. So tally and shay free whatshisnamethattallylikes and follow him to the new smoke which is a whole city.

This is a great book which will have you on edge. During the whole book I was torn. Should she stay a special, be ugly, pretty, what! So its good. Read it.

Pretties

Scott Westerfeld

Review By: Sasha

This is the second book in the Uglies trilogy. This book takes place afterTally agrees to get turned pretty in order to test the drug that removes the lesion. Problem is, her new pretty boyfriend take one of the pills too. ANd gets sick!

This is a really great book. Quite upsetting with what happens to David. But after you read this, you'll really want to read the third one. Which I will review next.

Heart of Darkness

Joseph Conrad

Review By: Shelby

Heart of Darkness is a ridiculous story about a ridiculous guy who travels down the Congo River to meet some other ridiculous english guy who lives in a jungle. The first guy (Marlow) is telling his story on a boat, to some other boat-people who are ridiculous enough to listen to him. Anyway, after he tells about Africa, he tells about going to see Kurtz's (second guy's) fiancee, in Europe. She is ridiculous because she is still waiting for him.

Anyway, it was written by a ridiculous Pole who (ridiculously) thinks he is english. Chinua Achebe called him a racist so he must be.

It was an ok story i guess but you really had to read some parts over and over again before you get the slightest idea of what Marlow is talking about. We had to read it for the katabasis theme thingy. Reading Dorian Gray was my katabasis.

Macbeth

William Shakespeare

Review By: Shelby

Anyway, Macbeth is a play about this scottish dude and some witches come up to him and they're like "hey Macbeth! You're gonna be king!" and so Macbeth thinks: Ok it's my fate... so i have to make it happen! like a dummy. So he kills the king.. and the princes flee, and Macbeth becomes king! but to keep his secret he has to kill a whole bunch of other people...

But Macbeth sucks as a king, and his wife, who was all evil before, is all weak and has gone crazy.

Then Macduff (yes another Mac... it's scotland) comes around with the old king's son, Malcolm. And they're like.. "no way man, Malcolm's supposed to be king! Macbeth's a tyrant!" so they pretty much overthrow him.

I know i gave it away but i'm just thinking probably everyone knows this story anyway. uhhhmm.....

some facts about this story:

It's really funny

When they give this play people aren't allowed to say Macbeth until it's over... it's bad luck

In Louise Rennison's Georgia Nicolson books, Georgia and her schoolmates are giving the play Macbeth. Since she can't say the name, in her diary (or whatever the hell it is) she calls it MacUseless. Which is funny, because it is.

Uglies

Scott Westerfeld

Review By: Sasha

This book takes place in a world after us modern humans nearly destory it. In this word, everyone is made pretty when they turn 16 because it lessens conflics. Or is it only te outside that matters?! (this makes sense only after you read the book)

So Tally is waiting to be pretty and meets Shay. Shay shows her fun stuff from the rusy era (our time). And then shay and tally get into an argument about shay saying she doesnt want to be pretty is childish and stuff. Then shay runs away to be ugly forever. And the Specials wont let Tally be pretty!

At first, i didnt want to read this book because I didnt want tally to stay ugly forever. I was afraid she would turn pretty. Then after what David's parents said, I was okay if she stayed ugly. But read it. The end is a cliff hanger. But its okay because there is a sequal.

It took me a while to get into the book but it's very good. Very good. I'll be reviews Pretties (the next book in the trilogy) in a few days. ^^

Beloved

Toni Morrison

Review By: Sasha

This book starts off with baby suggs being dead and the baby (not suggs) being dead. Then Paul D comes and gets rid of the ghost. So, It's a wierd book. The author uses a ton of high level words which are fine in moderation but she really packs them in there. The book is a story of an ex slave who tried to kill her children and killed one of them because she didnt want them to become slaves.

I have to say that it is a good book because it is very well written. The beginning is very confusing but once you get used to the writing style, it makes more sense. But personally speaking, I don't agree with the sticker on the front of the book saying that it's the "best piece of fistion written in the last 25 years." It's very odd and whereas the ghost makes the story a story, it did not seem like a book that would be supernatural and the way it was presented seemed forced and it was just off.

I would say that if you had to read it, it's not a big deal and it's a good book but if you dont have to read it, than there are other interesting books out there to read.

Demian

Hermann Hesse

Review By: Sasha

Book also known as Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair's Youth . It's a german book, translated. It's about a boy named Emil Sinclair. You have got to love that name. In the book, sinclair meets a boy named Demian. Demian dramatically changes sinclair's life and makes him see the world in a different way. The book is fairly short and extreamly philosopical (I really, really did not spell that right...maybe...the i looks wierd). Anyway, read it or don't/ You probably wont like it and if you do like it, you probably still dont understand the philosophy about it.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Mark Haddon

Review By: Shelby

WOAH this book is really good! It's about an autistic kid who plays detective to find out who killed his neighbor's dog, Wellington. He does this because he cares about dogs and because they think he did it. but while he is playing Sherlock Holmes, he uncovers a bigger mystery about his family that he has to solve. It's a really nice book and the style of writting is unique because it's from the point of view from an autistic kid... it's a really good book even though this kid must be like... super high-functioning... anyway. read it it's good.

I am the messenger

Markus Zusak

Review By: Sasha

This is not only good but interesting. and yes those are two different things. This book's about a young man who stops a bank robber and then gets mysterious cards in the mail that direct him to help others. Its great. Read it.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde

Review By: Shelby

WOAH! I finally read this book (for brit lit)

By le famousse Oscar Wilde, the most famous gay dude in literature, comes The Picture of Dorian Gray. And I must say I think there is a lot of homosexual (misogynistic) tendencies in this book.

I tried to read it before and thought it was so boring I couldn't get to the 3rd page. This is really a good book though. Good story, good emotions, really good characters. The writing style just got on my NERVES though. Ok. for now: Dorian Gray is a young man who is obsessed with being youthful and beautiful. One day his friend paints his portrait, and Dorian wishes he could stay as beautiful as his portrait is, and his wish comes true. Dorian grows old and does bad things and hurts others's lives, but the effects of his age and of his sin only appear in the portrait. His portrait reflects his soul.

Anyway the book is basically good, but about his writing style! The charaters are great that they have their own histories and personalities and whatever. but ok. get over it. We know Lord Henry and anyone he chooses to converse with must be exhaustingly quick and clever but come ON do we have to hear their little wit fights/banter? It's really annoying. And also. there's this part that is basically a filler while Dorian is passing his years and not getting older. It goes into all this crap detail about his hobbies. Listing all these mythological, historical, literature-...al names... BORING BORING BORING and not to mention pointless. Then there's this part describing a book and how it was written and I swear that Wilde was writing about himself. Gosh. That is cocky and annoying.

But anyway, it got on my nerves but others may like it... it's a really good book anyway. :D do read.

Gifted Hands

Dr. Ben Carson

Review By: Shelby

Gifted Hands is like the biography of a v. well-known and well-respected neurosurgeon, Ben Carson. We read this in MD Camp. Anyway it's basically about his life and is a pretty good book. It also has some surgeries that he did that were really important. At the end of the book he has a conclusion that is like his outlook, or philosophy on life, which is THINK BIG. I think i can remember what they all stand for
T: Talent, Time-management
H: Hope
I: Insight
N: Nice
K: Knowledge

B: Books
I: In-depth learning
G: God

So that's a nice thingy. This book is really inspiring. The only thing I thought that was wrong with it was that you could TOTALLY tell it wasn't written by a writer (even though i think he did get help writing it). There are grammar mistakes... and the writing style and structure are really weird. Also he uses the word niggle way too much. That is a weird word.

Boy proof

Cecil Castellucci

Review By: Sasha

This is about a girl who lives in hollywood and is "boyproof". She stays awayf from people and boys dont like her in a dating sense. Her mom's an actress and her dad does like...gore make up and monster masks and such. Then, a boy comes in town! (el gaspo). And he's smart like she is. And then she starts doing bad in her classes. Yes, because of the boy.

Anyway, the book is pretty cliche ish. It's very pbvious. it would be more interesting if it had eneded differently. I would give it a 3 out of 5 stars just because the boy girl relationship is in every other book...

though i must say, some bits of this book remind me of me. Mostly because it is in the same format that i write books. :)

Frankenstein

Or the Modern Prometheus

Mary Shelley

Review By: Shelby

OMG THIS IS A GREAT BOOK AND YOU HAVE TO READ IT RIGHT NOW. I mean it. go to your library. RIGHT NOW. Well. After you finish reading this >:3

This is about Victor Frankenstein, who is so interested in science etc, that he creates a monster. and once he creates this monster, it ruins his life. The hideous being of his creation kills people, who don't accept him, and threatens Victor, leading him and following him everywhere.

That's basically all this story is about. It's great tho yeah? it's suspenseful and v. deep: like the monster striving for acceptance and humanity and... like he's intelligent and he feels things but in the end he is still a horrible, ugly monster, inside and out. And Victor is battling within himself to: protect his family by being a coward and catering to the monster? or be brave and kill him, to protect everyone... it's... JUST READ IT. GO NOW.

also there's lots of nice vocab words.

next review will be Gifted Hands by Dr. Ben Carson (my frickin' idol, and I didn't even know he had books this is how much of a fule and a loser i am. that's right. fule.).

Golden

Cameron Dokey

Review By: Sasha

This is another one of those fairy tales retold. Dokey has written like...4 of the 9 in the series. This book is a retelling of repunzel and i loved it.


It is a love story and tells about a girl who was bald (and will forever be bald because she never grew or would grow hair). Because her mother could not love her the witch took her and raised her as her own daughter. Then the townsfolk didnt like witches so they had to flee...and such. I dont want to give anything away.


This book is a great adventure and love story. It has a great beginning, middle, and end. Of course i didn't want it to end but it was a satisfying end. (it is hard for me to be satisfied with endings as you'll know.


I strongly reccomend that people read this book. It's gor a twist...kind of. Well, it's not what your expecting. Or well, it wasnt what i was expecting. But even for those who dont really like reading, its a really fun book.

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald

(possibly)

Review By: Shelby

We had to read the book for school. This is a good book, but the characters are kinda unfortunate/snobby rich people. The narrator is a guy named Nick, and he doesn't really have anything to do with anything, but his neighbor is in love with his cousin, who's married. His neighbor, the Great Gatsby, holds all this crazy parties to try to get Daisy's (the cousin) attention. There are themes of contrast like east egg, west egg, poor, rich, old and nouveau riche, bla bla bla.

This would have been better if it were just about Nick and Jordan. They should've... nevermind.

Anyway, the characters in this story are very interesting, and i'm sure the book is interesting too it's just that I didn't LOVE it or anything. Fitzgerald dedicated it to his wife, Zelda. That is so romantic. Ish.

As I Lay Dying

William Faulkner

Review By: Shelby

Yet another book we had to read for school! This book is divided up into chapters that are basically thoughts and narrations of the characters. I'll tell you right now. the only ones that make sense are Cash, Vardaman, Addie, and the people outside the family.

Basically what happens is there's this family called the Bundrens. they are poor and they are verrrry country. The father is astonishingly lazy and an underhanded subhuman. Anyway, the mom dies, and they go on a "heroic journey" to bury her. But really they have their own agendas for the heroic journey, and no one really cares about her but Jewel, and everyone thinks Jewel is weird and crazy. I don't really know what to write about.

Sometimes this book is confusing... mostly it is funny though. "dark comedy" or whatever. Darl is very "philosophical" and sometimes his chapters will be about what is and is not or wasn't and can't be is. And it's not important to know what he's talking about.

The best characters in the book are Jewel (because he's a sexy and trouble outcast) and Vardaman (because he's a little kid and little kids are absolutely hilarious). Vardaman really warms my heart. I love him, I do. Like one time Darl was talking to him about his philosophy. it went something like this:
Darl: "Jewel's mother is a horse"
Vardaman: "but my mom is a fish so how can Jewel's mom be a horse? Darl, what's your mom?"
Darl: "i haven't got a mom. She was is so she isn't is so I am not is"
Vardaman: "But you are, Darl!"

anyway it's funny and you should read it.

the realm of possibilties

david levithan

Review By: sasha

This is a very short book which is from the point of view of about 20 different people. It takes a while to figure out who is who and there are very few words on each page. I read it in less than a day. I liked it. it was very interesting. not a gripping read but interesting. about kids in highschool. all about realtionships and stuff.

In The Shadow Of The Ark

Author Anne Provoost (translated by Jonh Nieuwenhuizen

Review By: Sasha

This book is about a girl nammed re jana. She and her father are travelling to a dessert where some crazy is building a huge boat. And they help build and stuff happenes and its a long book but its a good book. I liked it. Even though it is based on the Noahs ark thing. I dont know how true this stays to the christian story so...read it for yourself to find out.

The House on Mango Street

Sandra Cisneros

Review By: Shelby

A book we had to read for school. This book is SOOOO great. It's got to be one of my favorite books and also on the list of my favorite school-required books.

Anyway this book is a collection of little narrations that Mr. Humanities calls Vignettes. It's about Esperanza, a girl who grows up in a barrio in Chicago. She doesn't want to belong there because she doesn't want to be restricted just because she is a woman and because she's Latina. She wants to escape her little house on Mango Street, but she is destined to leave and return to her roots.

The story has a lot of symbols and motifs. Like names, windows... etc. All the women always hang out of windows because their dads or husbands don't let them leave the house (because they are male chauvanist pendejos) and that's their only way to communicate with the outside world. Esperanza doesn't want to be like them, so she tries to ignore all boys and be independent but she's growing up and starts liking boys so she has a little trouble with that. um... anyway.

This book is great...it has a great style of writing and it has classicaly powerful themes in it like gender roles and self-identity and determination. And it'll take you like a day to read it. So you'd better.

Startled by his Furry Shorts

Louise Rennison

Review By: Shelby

erlack. It looks like Rennison-sensei has once again answered the call of the horn and took a trip back to loonland. Or something. Anyway. This is the gagillionth (7th or 8th) Georgia Nicolson book and it's still funny. How does she do it?

so i'm going to be using words from teh book. yup. sorry.

In this installation of the fabby and mad world of Georgia, she is once again caught in the oven of love or whatever between the two boys: Dave the Laugh, Masimo the Pizza Eater S.G.. It is in the stars that she belongs with D the L and that he is the best male on the face of the earth and in history but since Georgia is hopelessly stupid she does not realize this and is obsessed with Masimo and his motorcycle and whatever.

Her friends are still funny. Except for Ellen, who has no reason to exist, except for saying Um, and er, and I mean for the whole population of the earth. And Georgia clearly would prefer it if she didn't. exist that is.

Also her school is putting on the play MacUseless and periodically taking away their crazy viking/bison horns.

People in England are mad crazy.


Read it because it's funny, and if you read it in public you can work on your Aurelius stoicnosity by trying not to laugh. and completely fail at it.

The Magic of Ordinary Days

Ann Howard Creel

Review By: Shelby"

Oooh Shelby has been reading! This book was really good. It was turned into a hallmark movie that they showed on CBS. Since i'm a sucker for contract/arranged marriage stories, i wanted to watch it again. That's when I found out it was a book and got the book from the library.

The story is set during World War II in .. um.. Colorado or somewhere. The protagonist, Olivia, got pregnant and so she won't shame the family, she's put into an arranged marriage with Ray Singleton, a lonely and boring farmer. Olivia is very smart and likes history and so she doesn't like being cooped up in a farm the whole day with some guy who only likes to talk about seeds and crap. She explores the farm's history and makes friends with some Nisei girls who work on the farm and live at a camp (the camp is really lax, they let them go into town and everything).

Although Olivia is very uncomfortable at first she grows used to the farm, and being pregnant, and Ray and everyone. This is a really nice book to read. Olivia is a great protagonist, and the characters are likeable, even the ones who turn out to be assholes in the end. And even though Ray has a bald spot he is a good unlikely heartthrob type character i guess. Yup. It's a good book... read it and watch the movie too! A real nice heart-warmer...er... whatever.

The Stranger

Albert Camus

Review By: Sasha

we had to read this book in class.It's very short and translated from french. It's acharacter study of a man whose mother had just died and he has to deal with his feeling about her and things happen. At first it seems like it's going to be a pretty dull book but something BIG happens.

The book is very short and very easy to read. its a good discussion book because of what happens at the end.Without giving anything away, all i can say is that you really should consider reading this book.

The Purple Emperor

Author Herbie Brennan

Review By: Sasha

This is the sequel to Faerie Wars. Now that the emperor is dead, prygrus had to be the new emporor but he doesnt want to be. Then someone is trying to kill him. Henery tries to help but his sister stole his thing to translate...you'll understand if you read it. The book keeps you on edge. kinda. Read it if you've read Fearie Wars

Crunch Time

Mariah Fredericks

Review By: Sasha

This is a novel abot the SAT! Its about a group of kids who ditch an SAT prep class and start an SAT prep group of their own. And the book is from all of the kids points of view so you get to learn about their family life. Then *el gaspo* someone cheats on the SAT!!! Who done it?! You have to read it to find out.

This was a good book. It was kind of one of those "the people are so different from eachother you'd never expect that they'd become friends cliche type of thing but its still prett origional. I havent read another book like it, anyway. It wasnt the best book i've ever read but it was funny and anyone taking the SAT should read it.

The Frog Prince

Steven/Stephen Mitchell. I think.

Review By: Shelby

ok last part!

This book is, as expected, a retelling of the story of the frog prince. I've heard the story before "there was this frog, and a princess kissed it, and it turned into a prince, and they got married" but i thought that was it but.... this is not so.

The feeling of this story is kind of like you're invisible and you're watching the princess and frog and how their story unfolds. It's like the omniscient narrator is letting you look into his binoculars. Stalker. Anyway.

The story is nice, and the princess seems really cool (she could kick Anna Percy's arse.). However, everyone seems quite pedantic. Maybe that's the right word. Well, they seem pedantic to me. I don't get why the author felt like he had to have the narrator give all these speches about how entropy and thermodynamics don't apply to the soul and love. I've heard that kind of stuff in movies so it wasn't very appealing to me in a book. I got used to it though. It's stylistic and i bet it was hard to keep up the style like that.

read? Yeah. It's refreshing. or something.

The A-List

Zoey Dean

Review By: shelby

part deux!

This book was... well it was ok. I think i got it at a thrift store, so i didn't pay more than $1 for it, so it's ok.

The A-List, by Zoey Dean is about just that: the A-List. The main character is a girl called Anna Percy. She is skinny and blonde and rich: perfect. She moves to L.A. to live with her dad and to go to an internship. On the plane, she meets this guy, and then when she gets to L.A. she meets his friends. Who all suck. They're rich and snobby, and although one girl kind of likes Anna, she is still as much as a selfish rich kid as the rest of the troupe. In these few days, Anna gets a taste of Hollywood trash-life. She really wants to shake off her old self: perfect-little-virgin-Anna.

Well. The reason this book isn't all that great to me is because I really didn't like Anna. I thought the main character was supposed to be likeable.. or at least you're with them so much that they're significant to you. I really didn't like Anna. She was too much of a forced slag and she was mean, too. Very fake. I liked the guy from The Stranger. I didn't like Anna. Also: I don't know if it was supposed to be some sort of common thread, but everyone's dad sucked. Even Anna's--especially Anna's. Except--well that's the end but it was unbelieveable.

It was a trash novel, i guess, kinda like Gossip Girl. I still kinda want to read the sequels, just to see who Anna's going to end up with. Damn you Zoey Dean and your cliffhangers.

read? if you want, i can't stop you.

The Age of Innocence

Edith Wharton

Review By: Shelby

i might get e-yelled at by sasha for not following some sort of anal format but oh well. This is the first of three book reviews i'm going to do out of boredom and avoiding my homework.

Now. The Age of Innocence! *cue the violins*. The A of I is a novel by Edith Wharton. Its setting is in the gilded age and it's basically a classic because it's some sort of commentary on that time. The main character is Newland Archer, and basically he's a guy who can't follow his heart to save his life. He lives in high-society New York, and there are about 5 other families so those are the only people he knows. Anyway, he's supposed to get married to some chick named May. However, her cousin Ellen has just come from Europe from this divorce from some scummy Eurotrash. She and Archer predictably fall in love and oh such trouble...

We had a project on this book, and had to read some literary critics' essays to go along with it. The guy's i read said that this book is some sort of rant of Wharton's. She was mad because people were repressing change. (--this guy's name on Jeopardy is LIZARD-- ). Anyway, Edith Wharton was utterly fabulous. I read that she moved to France and wrote every morning while lying in her bed.

The girls in my group didn't like the book. Mk thought it was kinda boring, and Ad positively hated it. I think to hate this book would be the basest kind of thing a person could do.

read? yes. now.

Poison

Author Chris Wooding

Review By: Sasha

This is a very good book, it gives a great description of the setting without being nothing but descriptions. It a very nice tale and would actually make for a pretty good movie...minus the dog hide part.

This is a fantacy novel and a very good one at that. I recommend this book to people who like to read fantacy. Oh yeah, its about a girl named Posion who is on a quest to find her stolen baby sister. She meets people along the way that help her. And its kind of like a mystery because there are missing pieces to the story.

Neverwhere

Neil Gaiman

Review By: Sasha

Children beware, this one is an adult novel. It fantacy. It reminds be of the Garth Nix Keys to the kingdom books. It is set in london and they guy saves a girl and slips through the craks and no one can see him and its horrible. So he follows Door (who made him the way he is) in his Quest to get back home.

It a british novel. And the same day we discussed a brit poem in class, I read a part of the book that mentioned some evil guy that was also mentioned in the poem. Wierd. The novel is really dark but its good. I NEVER would have expected that. I mean, i knew there was a traitor but OMG. Its good.

Trickster's queen

Tamora Pierce

Review By: Sasha

This is the sequal to tricksters choice. There is much more action in this one. This book is about the begginging of a civil war to free the RAKA! And to bring a Raka Queen back on the throne. There is much more action in this one. And a love scene. O.o If you reas this one, read the first one first.

Trickster's choice

Tamora Pierce

Review By: Sasha

Ive seen hannah read Tamora Pierce books so i decided to read one. This book it think contains charatcers from her previous books (whick i have never read) but you can read it without reading the others. Because its....its a different series. Same world, different series. So anyway, this girl runs aways from becomming her moms projetc, gets captured, turned into a slave, then become a god's...servant? whatever, they (the and the god) make a deal and so she has to keep the kids in this family alive during the summer.

Its mostly talk and not a lot of action. Its really long thought it doesnt seem too long. Its a pretty fun read.

A mango-shaped space

Wendy Mass

Review By: Sasha

This book is about a girl who sees colors when she sees words or listens to music. Then she starts eigth grade and does bad in math because of the colors and tells her parents.

The book was cool because i learned that there exist people whose senses are intertwined such that they see colors and such. Another thing is that i think i boy in my writers studio has this...thing. Either that or he knows that it exists... or something...maybe i'll ask him.

It is a good book. Its a bot wierd at times. Just some things that the girl does. She seems like a good girl but then does bad things and that bothers me. But andyway, its pretty cool. read it.

Faerie wars

Herbie Brennan

Review By: Sasha

This book is about a normal boy in a normal world and then all of a sudden his life changes. His mom is gay his parents are breaking up and he finds a faerie in his old employers back hard whilst cleaning out the garage. The book is told from the faeries and the boys point of view. The characters is the real world are a bit annoying (and MC believes that they are unbelievable). The book had a sequal that i may get around to reading soon. I didnt really want to finish the book. Not because it was bad but because i couldnt get over MC saying the charatcers were unbelievable. I dont even think about thinks like that while im reading books. I dont know if that good or not.

Mystic and rider

Sharon Shinn

Review By: Sasha

This book was about a group of people travelling on a kings errand. Its was a good book. The chemistry between the characters was good. there was of course a love interest but dont read the book for the love interest. its all talk. Small and often cut short romantic bits. It a fantacy novel (I've been reading fantacy lately). The Mystic has powers. She is technically in charge of the mission but many...most...well all of her companions basically would be happy to choose not to do what she commanded.

For such a long book it didnt end very well. Throught out the book, the Mystic (i forget her name) knows that she's going to play an important role in the upcomming badness of the world that she lives in but the book ends before any ofthat happens.

Forbidden

Judy Waite

Review By: Sasha

This book is about a girl in a cult. And then...she remebers things. And stuff happenes. And it would really be fun to have a discussion about this book with people. But no one reads these books.

The shape-changers wife

Sharon Shinn

Review By: Sasha

This is a very well written book. I did like the ending on this one even though it didnt end the way most books end. And that made it good. The book is fantacy and its about a...i think the kids a wizard but he goes to be an apprentice of the shape changer who everyone is afraid of. the shape changers wife is like devoid of emotion and for a good reason whick you find out as you read the book.

The Truth-Teller's tale

Sharon Shinn

Review By: Sasha

Review:

This book is like the safe keepers secret but it does not follor the same character. It is instead about two twin girls. One who is a safe keeper, one who is a truth teller. I immediatly hated the safe keeper. She was horrible obnoxious. This made me a bit less satisfied with the book. It was a nice tale. Predictable at times, mostly annoying the way events unfolded leaving the truth-teller look like a fool. Read it or dont. Its no big deal.

Messenger

Lois Lowery

Review By: Sasha

Have you read the Giver? And ifyou have, you may have read Gathering Blue. Gathering blue contains characters from the Giver. In this book, messenger, It talks about both characters from the Giver and Gathering Blue. Itis about another, i guess what i would call and odd world, a sort of utopia.

It is a good book.I reccomend reading the giver and gathering blue first although they are not sequals and you could read Messenger just fine without reading the first two. Again, it was a good book.But the end could be summed up in two words. But i wont tell you. read the book.

The Safe- Keeper's Secret

Sharon Shinn

Review By: Sasha

The Safe-keeper's sercret is a fantacy tale that has Dream makers that make dreams come true, truth tellers that are loud and dont lie and safe-keppers that dont tell secret until it is time (and then the truth teller will say it) The book is told from Fiona. She is raised with her mother and brother. Her mother is a safe-kepper. On the night that Damiana (fiona's mom) gave birth, another child was brought to the house. It's just a good book.

This Novel is wonderful. You think you know what its about and you think that you know what is going to happen and then it changes. And then you think you know thing but you dont really. Then you say "well i could have guessed that" and maybe you could have but you didnt but even so something else is going to happen that you didnt expecty even if it was your greatest with for it to happen! I reccomend this book for all.

Valiant

Holly Black

Review By: Shelby

Holly Black came back! She was the Author of Tithe, a Modern Faerie Tale. I forget this one's subtitle... A modern tale of Faerie, i think. lol.

Anyway this one's about Val. She shaves her head and runs away to New York and meets up with these homeless kids. They do drugs and work for Folk, which are everywhere, by the way. Val starts working for a troll named Ravus. And then the Seelie court is involved and ooh can't give too much away!

This was a really good book (of course, it was Holly Black's). It wasn't a sequel to Tithe, but i takes place in the same world. Hm... The end was kind of... unbelieveable. but that's ok. I really liked the beginning. It reminded me of the beginning of a movie. right after it would roll opening credits... ha. Read this book, don't do drugs.

Witch Dreams

Vivian Vande Velde

Review By: Shelby

yeah I know Sasha already did this one but hey. whatever. I just got to read it this week.

Witch Dreams is about a girl named Nyssa. She lives during the medieval times and is the daughter of a woodworker. Oh yes. And she's a witch who can see people's dreams. And nobody likes her.

The book takes place when she's sixteen, and working in someone's house as a maid. But earlier in her life, her parents were killed, and during the book she's trying to figure out who kills them.

I thought this book was nice... too short though...there should have been more to the story!! It's like the whole thing happened in three days. There is a "romance" type bit (yes, there is a boy), but I didn't like it because it was too quickly developed... and obvious. But there is a twist that i really didn't see coming, but makes sense when you think about it. I had two suspicions about whodunnit and the book kind of hints at people... not enough for the truth to be a twist, like the other thing. anyway, it's a good book, and it's V.V.V., so read it. What's that other one i read by her? the one about the vampire dude. yeah that one was good too.

The bone collectors son

Author

Review By: Sasha

This is about a chinese boy in Canada. His father had a job of collecting bones. the two don't get along very well. Its kinda of like a mystery book...I guess.

It's an okay book. I didnt like it when i first started reading it but then it got better. Lots of little sotries though. Its like.."blah blah blah, now let me tell you a story someone told me about ghosts"

The Foretelling

Alice Hoffman

Review By: Sasha

This book is by the same author of Green Angel. Green Angel was kind of wierd and so was this. These books take a while to get into, and they are not like you're regular books. these books dont fit into the same formula. This is a good book, but might not be apriciated by those who are not devoted readers.

This book is about a girl how lives in a tribe of only women. This girl's name is rain. She is the Queen daughter and the heir. These women are warriors. Always fighting. Rain's mother doesnt like her.

Witch Dreams

Vivian Vande Velde

Review By: Sasha

Remember vivian vande velde? The awsome author. I think i was doing book reviews when i read the majority of her young adult books. This book is just like all her other awsome books. Its as great as the ones before it, and yes shelby, there is a boy.*inside joke*

Thid book is about a girl in the olden days and she can see people's dreams! the book is about her uncovering the mystery to her parents deaths. And there's a twistr too! I t\kinda of knew but then i was like oh and then i was like darnit i should have seen that comming. So yeah. good book. Read it.

Inventing Elliot

Graham Gardner

Review By: Sasha

This one i believe took me two days to finish. It's about a boy who is switching schools. He used to be beat up a lot but at this new school, he wants to reinvent himself so he wont get picked on. He doesnt want to be noticed, but if he's not noticed in a good way, he'll be noticed in a bad way. And boy is he noticed at this new school.

Good book, good read. A little too much advertising of George Orwell's 1984 but i saw the movie so i knew what they were talking about. Though you dont need to read or see 1984 to get the book. The guy reminded me a little of me. Except i'm lucky enough to have gotten through school thus far without any physical abuse.

The Night Dance

Suzanne Weyn

Review By: Sasha

Do you remeber the awsome reviews of titles such as Spirited and Sunlight and Shadow? Well, all of those books come from the retold fairy tales books. I suppose it's like a prompt or something but they are by different authors, all the same publishing company, same book format, the previous books are advertized on the back of this book and well anyway, they are all great fairy tales...retold.

This particular book is a sort of King Arthur tale. A man marries a mysterious lady, has twelve daughters in less than 6 years (Twins, you see) and then she dissapears. (OOH) So the girls grow up confined in their castle because the dad doesnt want them to dissapear. Then one girl escapes! and see sees a vision of a man in battle. He is the last living knight of the round table and sent on a quest. He has to return Excalibur to the lady of the lake.

Really it is a really good book. I was worried sometimes that it would fall too much into well...the way other books go, i cant really explain what im talking about. This book is very well written. I read it in one day. I lost sleep because i wanted to finish the book. I kept saying to my self, i'll just read to the end of this chapter and then the book was almost over and so i looked at the clock and say oh well, i can just finish it now. :) Read it. Now. Go. Shoo!

The Bluest Eye

Toni Morisson

Review By: Shelby

The Bluest Eye was a really good book. A lot of kids in my class didn't like it but it was frickin' awesome.

It's about Pecola Breedlove, who has a dreadfully unfortunate life. It's also about her insufferable family who kinda makes it that way.

I don't feel like writing any more. It's really good though... Touches on some very... sensitive subjects... It's a good book for those who are mature and stuff. I sound retarded, bye.

High Fidelity

Author

Review By: Sasha

This book is about some guy, Rob, and his girlfriend has just left him. The book goes through his love of music and follows him as he tries to get his girlfriend back.

This is an okay book. We had to read it for school and it was one of the better books. There were some very funny parts in this book.

The baby Squad

Andrew Neiderman

Review By: Sasha

This book is about a time when people do not get pregnant. They do not have natural births. If you want a child, you apply for one and if you are good enough and fit to be a parent, you'll get a baby. But they're lab babies that are free of diseases and such. So in the book a woman gets pegnant in a town with a perfect record of zeo pregnancies. SO this is a big deal.
But the woman, Natalie, gets pregnant and wants to keep her child. So she takes prenatial vitamins to keep her baby healthy and such. But when a girl finds her vitamins she is in jepordy of getting caught. A series of murdurs and such happens and stuff goes down blah blah blah.

In the book they're a girl, stocker robinson. She's crazy. She's unpopular and like a sex freak always watching porn and mastutbating. uhg and she wonders why she's umpopular, but anyway, you'' come to hate her.

This is a good book and i reccomend it to...people i high school. Not really a kid book. If you likes Brave new world and the movie gattaca (Gattaka?) then you should like this book. Its very different form other book ive read. It caught me off guard quite a bit. But it was a quick read even though it looks a little long.

Refugee Boy

Benjamin Zephaniah

Review By: Sasha

This book is about a boy who is of two different nationalities. The problem is that both of those countries are at war, That means that no matter which country his family goes too, they get kicked out. So his dad took him to englad and left him there. And stuff happens.
Its an okay book.lots of people cry. some people die. blah blah. read it or dont. Its not like a must read or anything.

Jahanara: Princess of Princesses

Kathryn Lasky

Review By: Shelby

I bought Jahanara at a library sale and I've been reading it since then. I think the sale was before this summer. anyway, it's been an on and off book and I finished it yesterday.

Jahanara: Princess of Princesses Is one of The Royal Diaries books, i.e., it's about a real princess... this is historical fiction in the form of a diary. Jahanara, Begum Sahib, was the daughter of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal (Shah Jahan had the Taj Mahal built for this favorite wife of his).

I kinda forget the whole book, but her diary is about life in the Harem, and being a princess that has to be constantly protected, and she kinda feels like a prisoner. I don't know why she feels this way, really. Ok, so people aren't allowed to touch her, and she doesn't have much um... well. I don't know, there's this one entry about her bathroom, which has all these jewels in the walls, and another about julabmost (...the rose kind kinda sounds gross). Because she is the Begum Sahib, she can never get married and have kids, so she feels very different from everyone else. About this time in India, though, the British were getting involved. She had a necklace of Queen Elizabeth I, whom she admired, and she keeps thinking about this english dude with blue eyes.

I wish I could give a better review (I don't remember everthing), but it's a pretty good book. It has a really sad ending though. Like... really sad. And it's a true story. Ish. I guess. I like these kind of books: The Royal Diaries, and the Dear America books, because they have all these historical stuffs in the back.

The Crucible

Arthur Miller

Review By: Shelby

The Crucible is a play set in the 16th (or it may be the 17th, who knows.... spark it) about the Salem Witch Hunts. There's this girl called Abby, who basically wants to get revenge on John Proctor's wife, because Goody Proctor fired her because she found out they were having an affair. (I so did not give it away).

Abby's cousin is sick, and they think it's because all the girls were out in the forest practicing witchcraft. They accuse Abby at first, but then she starts naming names and so begins the witch hunt.

Abby and these other girls go around testifying with "Spectral evidence", i.e., going into fits before the "witches". Meanwhile, John Proctor and others are trying to bring real justice into the system.

We read this in class, and apparently, it's called The Crucible because each character is put through a test (like in chemistry, a crucible is a container in which you heat things to purify them. or something.). This play was written during the Red Scare, which was like the witch hunt of the 20th century. The playwright, Arthur Miller, was accused of being a communist. So this play really says a lot about America in the time it was written.

The Creature in the case

Garth Nix

Review By: Sasha

An abhorsen novella!!!!! I love the abhorsen trillogy and was sad when i had finished reading it. Then, online, i found that there was another addition called the creature in the case. I had to have it but it had onlu been realeased in England. Then at the library many months later i saw a garth nix book called Across the wall, as soon as i saw it i knew it was about Abhorsen. So I got it. The book was a collection of Garth Nix short stories plus The Creature In the Case. So....You might want to look for across the wall if you want to read it. I only read Creature In the Case because the other stories were......not about abhorsen.

I loved it! it was a great novella and i didnt want it to end! It was a quick read and i enjoyed every second of it. But of course, it is Garth Nix we're talking about.

Elsewhere / Zevin, Gabrielle

Elsewhere

Gabrielle Zevin

Review By: Sasha

It's about a girl who dies and wakes up on a ship to Elsewhere. I found this book the be very well thought out and a captivating novel. At first i was content to just reading it before school started but one evening i began to read and couldnt stop untill i was done. The autor does well to show the emotional roller coasters that being dead can cause. :) And the authors view of afterlife, Elsewhere, is very nice and im suprised no one has ever thought of it before.

I reccomend this book. Its nice, funny, and because it's so good, its a fast read. And i read it so fast, i am now out of books. Well..I have one left to read but...pfft.

Operation Red Jerico

Joshua Mowl

Review By: Sasha

This book really takes you on an adventure (especially for me because i thought it was a true story untill my curiosity got the better of me and i looked on the little info page and saw the "All the characters are from the authors imagination..." blah blah blah...) But this book is about a secret guld that had been a secret for centuries and a woman wills her stuff to her nephew and he finds her diary and all the gui;ds information and ....gives it to the world. So it is a story within a story. Its about two kids who dont know where their parents are and they have just gone to stay with their uncle on his ship where they find out about the guild.

It was a good book. Not the best book ever but i ddi enjoy reading it. And the cover is cool. ^_^ which is why i got it in the first place.

The Last Chance Texaco

Brent Hartinger

Review By Sasha

This book is one of the better books that ive read. I began reading it thinking that oh, this is just some book about bad kids and in the end she wont get sent to whereever it is that she's afraid of being sent to. But no, this book is in fact more than just some book about some bad kids. Its got humor, mystery and romance and was very well written. I even liked the end!

The book is about a girl named Lucy whose been in foster care for a long time, so she knows how the whole system works. The book begins with her eneting a new foster home. At the beginning i though it seemed pretty dorky, the autors attemps at humor seemed un authentic but my thoughts soon changed. So Lucy goes to the new home and she meets and anyalizes her new housemates and knows that she has to bee good or she'll get sent to the prison like place where the really bad homeless kids go.

I highly reccommend this book, there are some clues left open (just one really) and it doesnt matter anyway but the solution to the mystery was pleasntly suprising.

One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies

Sonya Sones

Shelby

I found out about this book by going to the Amazon site in a half-attempt to try to figure out how to put the links on here (and failing). So, I knew nothing about the book.

I'm SO glad i got it.

It's a novel, and it's in my favorite type of format, like it's Diary and emails. The odd thing is that the diary (i think it's a diary) is in poetry format or something. Really cool.

Anyway, the main character, a girl named Ruby, has suffered a tragedy when her mom dies. So she has to move all the way from New England (because I can't spell Massachusets) to L.A., with her famous father, Whip Logan.

And she hates everything. Including her father, who feels the same way she does about things and she hates it when he does this.

But her father's assistant is nice, so she thinks she can deal from being away from her best friend and boyfriend and aunt (all of them turn out to be almost completely useless wastes of carbon).

But it's a really good, fast paced, funny book. You'll like it. read it.

beauty

Nancy Butcher

Review by Sasha

This book is extreamly clever. I did feel kind of bad reading about all of these vain pretty people and the one pretty person who didnt want to be pretty to please her mother, the queen. The book is basically about this Queen to has to be the most beautuful and her daughter know that she has to be ugly for her mother to like. her. Then all the pretty girls in the realm get sent to a school (don don don).

This book is an extreamly quick read. Whick was good because its not a book that i would want to read for a long time. Meaning that its was an okay book, but you also have to factor in that i was bored and had nothing else to do and i usually give books good reviews. So....read it if you're pretty.

The Keys to the Kingdom - Drowned Wednesday

Garth Nix

Review by Sasha

This is the third book in the series (I reviewed the other two a while ago). Compared to the other's its just as good as they are. The series is about a boy who gets caught up in all sorts of randomness in the House and the secondary realms. He has to free the Will to save the kingdom and from preventing his own world from messing up.

So...It's a good book and if you liked the first two, read it. ^.^

Howl's Moving Castle

Diana Wynne Jones

Shelby

Woo! I finally read this book! After a FREAKING MONTH! Gosh homework really takes away from leisure reading.

Anyway, of course you know that Miyazaki-sama made an anime called Howl's Moving Castle (i'm pretty sure that castle in the sky was by Jones as well). Well. Although that anime was frickin' awesome... my favorite Miyazaki-sama film...

THE BOOK IS SOOO MUCH BETTER!

Well, the movie is VERY loosely based on the novel. some differences: Michael is a teenager, Howl is even more dramatic, Sophie is feistier, Calcifer is... actually he's pretty much the same XD. The dog is actually good, the black doorknob goes to Wales of all places, there are no airplanes, no secret garden, and the witch does not end up being anyone's friend.

I really like the book. Jones' writing style is so cool! I absolutely LOVE Howl in this book. LOVE HIM LOVE HIM LOVE HIM. You really have to read the book to read how great he is, even without his you know what! He's so dramatic, but he really is serious sometimes and is not as dumb as people (Sophie) think he is. Still a bit cowardly though ^_^. but he is absolutely... gosh love him. And Michael is adorable. Sophie is nothing short of hilarious. She acts like an old lady! She gets all mad at Howl courting all those ladies and cuts up all his suits! lololololol.

I don't really have much to say about this book, but it is cute, funny, suspenseful, intriguing... just fantastic! A very refreshing Fantasy novel. I only wish there was more foreshadowing about Sophie and Howl's relationship... But I guess Howl would look particularly pervy taking small glances at Sophie so maybe it's better it was kept all secret-like.

READ.

THIS.

BOOK.

Wrong About Japan: A Father's Journey With His Son

Peter Carey

Shelby

Wrong About Japan is a sort of docu-book about this dude, Peter Carey, and his son, Charlie (or something).

The father is from Australia, and now they all live in New York. Charlie becomes interested in anime and manga. That's it, just ANIME and MANGA. (He also rents Kikujiro a few billion times, but it's a kick ass movie, so you can't blame him) So what does the father do? Like any good, white father he tries to see what his son is inerested in. (if you noticed that white there, i'm too chicken to take it out) So because the guy is an Australian, maybe, he's like, "Wanna go to Japan?" (THAT QUICK?!) and the kid is like "Yeah, whatever".

Rich people. Anyway.

They go to Japan, and even though he's been there before, the dad totally ruins the trip for his kid. The kid, ironically, begs his dad not to see "Real Japan", that is, Kabuki shows and torii shrines and probably well-endowed tanuki sculptures but that last one isn't mentioned. Charlie would rather go to play video games and make Gundam models and stuff. But noooooo. After telling the reader that Japan is a closed society and that gaijin will never understand, he is determined to be the "gaijin who got it." worst of all, he wants to "get it" through anime and manga.

So he gets to go to all these interviews with famous anime and manga artists. He also goes to see a swordsmith and a cross-dressing "visualist otaku". They all insist to him that manga was just developed trying to sell candy, and anime is to sell toys, or from manga. And he's still like, "but to the Japanese, aren't there parts of the anime, to which other societies are oblivious?"
"um... no. Just to sell robot toy."
"but why the obsession with robots? When the kids are in the robot, is it like they're in a robot 'womb' so they feel safe from all the 'other' kids" (in other words, do the nihonjin want a big robot mommy so they can be protected from the ignorant, evil, gaijin?
"Um... it's a toy."

So by the time they get to Kazu or Kayu or whatever the hell his name was, I'm convinced that there is actually an "it" that the nihonjin are conditioned to keep secret from all gaijin. Perhaps it is a small stillborn child floating in some sort of bluish green liquid that was frozen in the snowy snowiness of Hokkaido. Maybe not. But Carey is certain that something like this exists, so he has to go around doing interviews and keeping his poor kid from his penpal Takashi. He is annoying. Annoying to the intervewees, annoying to Charley, annoying to his connections, annoying to Takashi, and annoying to ME.

But then, Carey does something so wonderful and completely unexpected. He is really funny. REALLY funny. There were some moments that made me chuckle before but wow. When they are trying to visit Takashi (with whom I am in love) one last time, they go to the Mister Donut where he works. But the store is closed, and you read this:

      But Mister Donut was closed. Impossible. We both got out of the car and stood with our noses pressed against the glass doors. It had been open before, so how could it be closed now? I took the parcel from my son and laid it on the step.
      Charley retrieved his gift and then, from deep in a pocket of his baggy jeans, pulled out the map Takashi had drawn when he invited us to his grandmother's apartment.
      "Oh no," I thought, "no, please, no."
      But what was I to do? My only choice was to hand the driver our map. "We go," I said in perfect English.

This is very funny--I don't care what you think. It's my review. In conclusion. This was a very good book writing-wise. But I'll tell you, this Carey guy got on my LAST NERVE. You were Wrong About Japan. You lose. But the last part was great, and not becase it was the last part. But because it was funny... very cinematic. Good Job.

Stay tuned for my next review: Howl's Moving Castle by Dianna Wynne Jones. Let's see how interesting the people are when they aren't dubbed from the nihongo.

The Grapes of Wrath

John Steinbeck

Shelby

The Grapes of Wrath is a great American novel that depicts the story of a family that migrates to the west in search... of... *falls over snoring zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

No really. This book is about the Joad family. Their farm is messed up by the Dust Bowl and the bank takes it away. Or something. Anyway, they have to leave, they go to California in search of work. PROBLEM! everyone else had the same idea. So they're a-goin' to California and on the way they see how people are: good and bad. What they find out is that they're being treated like outsiders... like how immigrants to the United States were discriminated against... they're also facing discrimination. THe Joads are helped by fellow travelers along the way, and learn that some people can't be trusted.

It was a good book, but it had an odd ending because it wasn't a happy one. The conflict of the novel was not really resolved. It just ended when they were in a cabin to escape the rain, and Rose of Sharon "helped" this guy that was going to die. So they didn't find a house, or get work, but their story definitely doesn't end there. I think the novel was meant to be kind of like a peek into their lives as migrant workers in the 1930s. or whatever decade it was in.

I liked this book a lot better than Invisible Man It was a lot less... abstract. yes, I'm gonna go with that.

I, Robot

Isaac Asimov

Review By Sasha

I actually liked the book. It is a series of short stories and some of them are boring but if you stick it out and read the whole book, it's really good. Reading the book makes you not like the movie so much. The movie is nothing like the book. They kept a few characters names but other than that, no resemblance.

The biggest thing is, in the book, it never talks of a time where robots and humans live together in harmony. From the very start of the book, when susan is a teenager, people are trying to get rid of robots on earth. And since it is Susan telling the stories, she's like...70 in the book.

Dr. Calvin is so much like me. Especially in the story Liar. First of all, Susan is a robot psychologist. Also, she is so...profesional. She likes robots more than humans. And does stupid things to impress the guy she likes. Totally like me.

I reccomend this book. It is really good, And it's really funny. Great humor throughout. The whole book is like a mystery. In each chapter, something has gone wrong with a robot and needs to be fixed. Even if you didnt like the movie, you should like the book. But i do warn you, some of the chapters are dull.

Invisvisible man

Invisible Man

Ralph Ellison

Shelby

AHH! Invisible Man even in the summer, school haunts me. facking dictates everything I read.

Invisible Man is the story of a guy who realizes he doesn't really exist. He's like, i'm invisible. I still don't get it.

He lives in the 1930s. He is a college student and he's driving around one of the white trustees of the college. But he takes him too far into the boondocks and shows him things he's not supposed to show him. So the dean of the college, Bledsoe, punishes him and sends him up north to "work for some money so you can come back in the fall." The protagonist thinks he's got all these letters of reccomendation for jobs up in New York. But, alas, they are letters of "sorry you had this guy in your office and just fill him up with hope and ignore him or something" so one of the offices tells him what's really up. So he tries to find work on his own. He gets in a paint factory accident and when he wakes up he can't even remember his name. Then someone reads it off his application or something and he's like "oh yeah, sure that's it."
So then he starts living as a tenant with this lady who's too nice to let him stay there. Then he's walking along, eating some yams, and he sees these old folks getting evicted. and he stirs up the crowd around them with a speech and they start a riot or something. then he gets recruited into the Brotherhood, which is a glorified cult, in my opinion. just ready to corrupt the corrupted community. an there's this jamaican guy on a horse wearing a lion skin.

it's just crazy.

I don't know WHO he is, or WHY he's invisible. But the book's mostly about him developing himself and race relations.

it's weird. and long. but really good, i thought.

!

The Fattening Hut

Pat Lowery Collins

Review By Sasha

This is a really good book if you want to read about a tribe that fattens up thir women, circumsize them, then marry them off to old people, then one girl decides she doesnt want to to do that, and runs away. :)

I'll add the amazon link later. *I'm off to canda*

Arabian Nights

Kathryn Wesley

Review By Sasha

This is the book about the Sultan who dicided to marry a woman and then kill her the next day. The woman he married knew him as a child and wants to change him. She wants to prove that he is not a madman. To keep him from killing her, she tells him stories that she makes up.

I think this is a good book. If you dont feel like reading it than watch the movie. It was a televsion "event" on ABC but came out as a Hallmark Movie. I should get it from the library..Good book though.

Nothing to lose

By Alex Flinn

Review By Sasha

This well written book is about a teenage boy who runs away from an abusive family. His rich stepfather constantly beats the boys mother. Now his mother is on trial for killing her husband. Micheal (the boy) finds himself back in his hometown and has to decide if he sould come out of hiding to save his mother or to keep running.

I liked this book. It is a bit predictable but it's easy to read and is fairly enjoyable.

Green Angel

Alice Hoffman

Review By Sasha

This book is about a girl who lives near a city that gets practically destroyed. Her family Just happens to be there when it happens. In this book, Green has to learn to live without them and to find herself.

This book is easy to reas. It is very short. I has able to finish it in 1 or two hours one night before i went to sleep. I reccomend this book to those who like quick reads.

Pride and Prejudice

By Jane Austen

Review by Shelby

Once again I am glad for projects because I would NEVER have read this book if I didn't have to. I LOVE THIS BOOK.

This is a just a summary and I tell ALL so yeah. So don't read it all if you don't wanna spoiler.

Have you seen one of those Emma Thompson movies? Where's she's frolicking through a field in a ginormous sundress with her sister and they happen upon Mr. Embersonley or whatever his name may be, and her sister runs off to "pick flowers" or something while she's really listening to Emma and Mr. Pickingderandy have a battle of tongues (no not making out, being playfully witty to each other--flirting). Normally this
flirting outrages the two participants, but this makes them fall in love with each other.

So that's the basic whatsit (premise or whatever) for Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth Bennet, the best girl main character of all time comes from a middle-class family, with a mother who cares more about the pearls and frills and lace of her daughter's wedding dress than how happy she is standing in it.
And her dad, although he is wonderfully sarcastic and funny, doesn't really care at all, and thinks most of his daugters and his wife are silly. Anyway the gorgeous (and rich) Mr. Darcy comes to the Longerfield or Longaburn or... wherever they live with his friend Mr. Bingley and he is a super snob to everyone. But then Lizzy's sister Jane goes over to Mr. Bingley's house and gets sick along the way. So Lizzy, because she loves her dear sister, walks all the way to the house in her dress and gets all muddy and stuff. She stays there until Janie gets better. Mr. Darcy is of course there, being sophisticated. Elizabeth is quite "civil" with him, and she begins to like him, although he is very proud, and she is very prejudiced against him. Also Miss Bingley, Mr. Bingley's unwed sister, is a complete prat and she throws herself at Mr. Darcy (whose first name is Fitzwilliam and God bless Lizzy for still liking him after that) and tries to make Elizabeth look bad (which is impossible) in a most unnatractive way.

I really could go on forever. I think I will.

Anyway so there's this guy called Wickham, and he comes to their village thing. Elizabeth really likes him (like a good friend, she doesn't quite like him like him, to put it in layman's (4th grade) terms) because he's all "Yeah Darcy's mean and his dad was cool but Darcy took all my inheritance and whatever.

When Elizabeth goes back to Netherfield (i forget why) Mr. Darcy has already fallen in love with her and he proposes but he's all like "I don't care if you're poor and if I'm way out of your league, I still love you and I will stoop to your level so we can be together!" and Lizzy does NOT take that crap. So Mr. Darcy writes her a letter and he's all sorry, and Mr. Wickham is not all he seems.

Elizabeth goes on a summer trip with her aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, who are very nice and mature, unlike her own parents. She goes to Pemberly, Mr. Darcy's property. Did I say he was rich? Sprawling, i think, is the word for his place. "Neither formal nor falsely adorned" is how J.A. describes it, whatever that means. It's huge and gorgeous and whatever. They visit there and the head housekeeper gives them a tour, (even though Mr. Darcy is not home, i don't know how THAT happen, such security in those days. "yeah, the master i'n't in, but let's have a round-about shall we?" Let's give it a go. Have at it." Anyway, Elizabeth is not worried, because she thinks he will not be home for some time, but the next day, Oh Hello Darcy well hello Darcy. And even though they don't get to talk much, he sees how gentlemanly he is, and she begins to really really like him.

Even though she knows about him from Darcy's letter, when Mr. Wickham runs away with her youngest sister (Lydia, 16) she is completely knowledgeable that he is a capital-C Creep. He usually is a gold-digger guy, but he Did run away with the young and silly Lydia. Who knows what base they could've gotten on but tongues would have wagged and the Bennet's reputation would be ruined. SO Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth's tres cool uncle intervene and they make them get married (but they end up poor and unhappy but oh well).

Near the end, Mr. Darcy, comes to longerfield (or whatever) with Mr. Bingley. (And the reader is like, where the bleep is DARCY!?!? IT'S ALMOST THE END THIS BOOK BETTER END HAPPY!) So yeah, he comes. Mr. Bingley has not seen Jane for like a billion years, and they whisper a lot and get married. Then FINALLY. Lizzy and Darcy take a walk in the woods, and oh my it's so cathartic, and THEY finally get married.

OH oh. such a nice book. Sorry I gave it all away.

*(#*$(@#*&$(@*#&$ (#*@&$(#*$&@$# OKAY SPOILER OVER HAHA

In late September this year a movie is going to be released in the USA!!! (after in the UK and others... there were other movies before but WHO CARES this one's knew)

Keira Knightley is playing Elizabeth Bennet!!

KEIRA KNIGHTLEY

omg how perfect! She's ALMOST as pretty as Lizzy is (KK is quite pretty but Lizzy is probably beautiful like a Greek Goddess. And the guy playing Mr. Darcy, although not horrible looking, is nowhere near as handsome as Mr. Darcy really is (Hermes-Handsome; as attractive as Apollo and Ares put together.). And Rosamund Pike or whatever her name is who will play Jane is pretty too.

I can't see anyone else though. who cares who cares!

RIGHT I'M DONE I'M GOING TO DO MY REAL HOMEWORK NOW. CIAO.