Review: Tales from Outer Suburbia

Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



It reminded me a lot of the podcasts 'Welcome to Nightvale" that I'm currently listening to. Cute and strange in the best way.



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Review: Lone Wolf & Cub Omnibus, Volume 1

Lone Wolf & Cub Omnibus, Volume 1 by Kazuo Koike

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I loved this! The artwork the beautiful! The story was great too. I love the premise. Don't have much more to say...

Basically it is a manga of a rogue samurai who travels with his infant son. He's incredibly strong and kills for payment. Sometimes he even uses his son to lure his prey.

Not a book for the kids.



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Review: Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I loved Elsewhere and it's on my to re-read list, so when I saw this was by the same author, I had to pick it up.

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac begins with of course, the main character being an amnesiac after falling down the stairs at her school. She must then figure out who she is and who those around her are while navigating a high school where everyone else knows who she is and is dealing with her differences. She learns things about her own life that come to a shock and says some things to people she no longer remembers which hurts them.

It was a fun read, interesting enough that it's a pleasure to read and therefore also a very quick read. It's very cute and I think the relationships between all of the characters worked very well. The one thing that upset me was that in the very beginning when she's going through her room she finds a food diary displaying disturbingly low calorie counts with smiley faces next to them. This is not only met with indifference, but is never again mention in the book and so why even put it there at all?



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Review: Pompeii

Pompeii by Robert Harris

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I heard that a movie was coming out called Pompeii. I've always loved Pompeii so I was really excited, and in the comments for the trailer, someone mentioned this book (which the movie is not based off of though there was talk years earlier of a movie which never happened).

So that's how I came to read this book. I really enjoyed it. The beginning is a little slow and I learned more than I ever though I would about aqueducts which I'm not upset about. Actually for all the research the author put into it, it would be a great school book. Learn a lot about a civilization through a story and characters you care about.

In the middle of reading the book, I watched a British documentary about how the bodies truly came to be, and on top of that, I've visited Mt Vesuvius, Pompeii and Herculaneum before so I think that really helped my imagination bring the story to life in the correct and detailed settings (and also makes me a little biased on my opinions for all things Pompeii).

I think if you're interested in Pompeii no doubt you'll like this book, but if you're not, the beginning might come across a little boring. On top of that, I had trouble keeping track of who was who because there were so many minor characters, many of them having similar names to each other.



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Review: The Long Earth

The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



The Long Earth occurs in a time and place when humanity realizes that there are and infinite number of shadow Earths that, via a device, can be "stepped" to. The novel follows a few characters, one special man who was born on a shadow Earth and who was left there for a few minutes all alone as an infant, a man who accidentally wandered there and lived there long before anyone knew they existed, a police officer trying to understand and control the new phenomena, and a few characters who learned of the Earths after instructions to create a devise were released to the public.

I love novels and stories like this. The anime Kino's Journey, old tv show Sliders, a few of the Foundation novels, and another few stories which I can't exactly remember right at this moment. We basically get to see a lot of "what could have been's." Not only in the potential alternate developments of Earth life, but also what kind of new communities can emerge from the result.

I really enjoyed how rounded the story was. You got perspectives from so many different angles. I'm really looking forward to reading the next book!



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Review: The Omega Project

The Omega Project by Steve Alten

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Not at all what I was expecting. Well, I don't read book synopses, only tags, and the front cover mentions a rogue computer so I kind of just went off of that. Basically we start a few years after the great die off, initiated by the lack of oil, with many flashbacks to how it all happened. Then humanity regroups and searches for more sustainable energy. The time frame here I had trouble getting over, plus the number of deaths. I think it was too much death too fast (the order of who died based on income was weird), and the regrouping of society also happened too fast with technology that would never be available that quickly now, not to mention after such a massive event... and who even *wants* a holographic phone? And for old people to have adopted this technology so quickly?

But this is only the first 50-100 pages of the book, and it changes severely after that. The main character, with a number of astronauts and a super computer go to Antarctica to test a habitat that is to be sent to Aurora to mine energy resources. After a few chapters here, the character is put into and then wakes up ("allegedly" O.o) from cryogenic sleep.

Though I initially hated what came to be the beginning of the rest of the book (and which I only thought would carry on for about 2 chapters, really I should start reading synopses), as you can see I came to like it. It was imaginative and I liked the new species and the main character/s.

Sometimes the descriptions didn't really work for me. I feel like the author describes landscapes within about 5 feet surrounding the main character, and then those landscapes become something completely different two paragraphs later as the character runs forward, which make it difficult to keep up with the settings.

I liked the back and forth thinking it was real vs. a dream. I kept going back and forth on which I felt it *had* to be, which was fun.

I mean, aside from the initial time frame and how sharply the story evolves into an awesome nightmare, I still thought it was every interesting. It was very descriptive to handle all the changes and it's very much tied into real life events which I think added a lot more layers to the story. Overall it was exciting but it was like reading two different books.



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Review: Love Minus Eighty

Love Minus Eighty by Will McIntosh

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Anyone ever read the book Feed by M.T. Anderson? I had to freshman year of high school. The world set up by Love Minus Eighty reminded me of Feed, though LMF is much more complex and felt more realistic, and understood that technology doesn't degrade language - you can look up everything! But they're both about such technologically advanced futures that people are assumed to be plugged into everything constantly. Here it's through wearable devices while Feed was a brain implant.

Anyway, the novel centers around a future in which people who have sustained horrible injuries can be frozen and brought back to life, at a very high dollar amount. For those who don't have freezing insurance, if they are young and scientifically pretty enough, they can be put in the bridesicle program where if a man likes them enough, he can pay to bring them back and they have to be his bride for life. But it's another shot at life after having died.

It is a couple of chapters before you connect the characters and see where it's all going but all the characters are connected, which I also like.

The technologically advanced world is very complete, mentioning those people who shun technology, how the world is for people of different economic statuses, the people who love every bit of the technology and use it for fame, plus those average in-betweeners. The story itself was amazing - I almost don't want to say anything to give anything away for anyone who wants to read it. It's an interesting take on the idea of freezing people until technology is advanced enough to bring them back, or until they find someone rich enough to bring them back, even squeezed in some morality and religion in there. I read a lot of science fiction but while others focus on dystopian outcomes (massive changes in social structure) this felt more of a continuation of what we are now. Just us - in the future. The interactions between the characters was very organic, very believable, and you feel for everyone... well except Lorelei :)

Anyway, as a whole, it was a great and creative story. It was well thought out and well developed. I thought it was fantastic

Review: Foundation and Earth

Foundation and Earth by Isaac Asimov

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I read the first three, not thinking that I really wanted to continue as it was a chore keeping up with all the different characters and that frankly wasn't as great as I thought it would have been. But then I wound up reading the 4th book and it was amazing, and the fifth was an extension of the fourth.

I don't really like to write synopses but here it goes: To ensure that he has made the right choice in enabling the society of Gaia to extend their one-mindedness with the whole galaxy, Trevize decided to find Earth (he is insistent that his answers lie there; it's a tad weak and the ending explanation for this search is kind of flimsy too, but isn't a big enough point in the book really to not read it for that reason- it's more like how he was directed to find Gaia,). His friend Pelorat (who first told Trevize about Earth) and Bliss, from Gaia head off to search for a world which seems to have hidden itself from the rest of the galaxy.

I especially liked this one because previously, when we visited other planets, they were so similar to each other. This book showed us the vastly different spacer worlds and kind of reminded me of Kino's Journey (anime) and other books where you just get to read about cultures which are different, and I love that. Plus I really wanted to read what would happen when they found Earth. To explain to you how awesome this book was- When they entered Earth's solar system, I felt like "we" the characters and I were coming home, to my home. They had been searching for so long and they came from so far away. It was like landing in the states after having been abroad.

For the record, I hated the character Bliss. Clearly it didn't wind up ruining the book for me.

Now I will continue on to Prelude to Foundation.



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Review: The School for Good and Evil

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Amazing. As I was reading, I went back and forth mostly because of how I felt about the correlation between beauty and good that the book portrayed.

But of course you see 5 stars here.

The School for Good and Evil gives us a classic fairy tale. Children from the magic realms (children of Arthur, and well known villains) and from the village beyond the magic realm are taken to this school to learn the virtues of being good or evil. It used to be that after graduation, sometimes good students won their fairly tales, and other times evil won their fairy tales, but not anymore. Good had been on a winning streak for 200 years! Now Sophie (who thinks she is good) and Agatha (who things she is evil) are taken from the non-magical realm to the school, but not quite the school they thought they should be in. The book chronicles their journey to find where they truly belong.

I really enjoyed reading about their classes, nuances of each school, and especially all their textbook titles which were adorable. This is a children's book, but it's probably more because of the traditional magic motif and the lack of type of love story that teen books prefer (which made me like it even more honestly). I thought it was great, and if your like fantasy and light, happy fairy tales you'll love this!



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Review: Seriously...I'm Kidding

Seriously...I'm Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



So this is the third comedian written book that I've read. I didn't read Ellen's previous 2 books which I assume would have had more of a "how I became famous" aspect to them like the other comedian books I've read. So it's probably not a fair comparison to say that I liked this book the most, but I did.

It's a fun quick read and I found myself chuckling quite a bit. I don't really watch the Ellen show, but I do like her humor and personality and have some general similarities such as healthy eating and not being late to functions, which made me like the book more.

Also I really played along with the meditation chapter and it was fun/ny.

I might have to go back and read her other two. :)



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Review: Ender's Game

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Finally got around to reading Starship Troopers Ender's Game, and loved it.

Ender's Game is a story of Earth after two attempted invasions by a bug like alien species. In anticipation for a third invasion, Earth takes its brightest children from their families and trains them in space to be the next commanders of the new army.


I don't have too much to say about it really. I actually wasn't too sure about how I felt about this book until I got to the end, where it all came together. Most of the time is spent with Ender's training, and the rest I don't want to give away. I can't even say that I particularly felt strongly about any of the characters. I just thought it was masterfully thought out as a whole...

I think it came together beautifully, and feel that *that* is how you end a book. Of course there was room for addition, which they did as there are three more books, but honestly it would work just as well as one stand alone novel. I don't feel compelled to read the other three (there was no strong cliff hanger), but I probably will because this one was so good.



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Review: Goliath

Goliath by Scott Westerfeld

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Book 3 in the Leviathan series, so I won't go too much into the plot. Though I will say that the main focus in book 3 is Nikola Tesla and his proposed weapon that could end the war! We travel to Japan, Mexico, and the USA, so it was fun to see all those different places, although I did prefer the second book where they mostly stayed put.

I enjoyed the series as a whole, and this book didn't take away from it. I loved seeing the loris mature and learn more, as well as Alek finally learning Deryn's secret! The end was a little underwhelming for me. I wasn't upset with it, I wasn't mad about the decision Alek made, but I still wanted more!! T_T

Obviously, I still loved the book. It's not one of those amazing trilogies with the horrible ending, that's for sure.



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Review: Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I really liked this book. Though it's sci-fi, it's much more centered on the drama between a few students from a particular school, following them as they grow up and interact with each other and the world they live in. I don't know how to describe this book, except maybe "gentle"? I think it's hard for novels which are so artistic to be so fully engaging to me at least, but this book certainly had no trouble.

It's also one of those rare cases where the movie is quite like the book. I watched the movie first, which seems to be the better route of doing things if you want to enjoy both. I'd definitely recommend the book , but at the same time, I feel that it's so much like the movie that, having experienced one, you don't need to experience the other to get the full meaning.





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Review: The Gods Themselves

The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I really enjoyed this book. I convinced my friend to buy it for me for the holidays and just now got around to reading it.

I guess first I'll say that the middle section of the book (titled "...The Gods Themselves...") was a masterpiece on its own and my favorite part. I totally didn't see the last part coming, although I did foresee some other minor things. I thought it was amazingly imaginative and well written and the characters were all adorable, I loved them all!

But it wasn't just the middle section, I did enjoy the whole book. Even though sometimes the science seems a bit off (we need the moon right?) at times, most of it was too over my head for me to notice.

The premise was intriguing- Earth is contacted by a parallel universe and together they set up a (seemingly) mutual beneficial relationship for exchanging energy. I did feel that it lost a bit of its steam in the last section, however. While I was on the Denison's side, I didn't care for the company he kept and how it seemed that everyone wanted to use him. Furthermore, I felt that Neville's pet project didn't really add anything to the story but I minor, annoying conflict. All of which makes no sense to anyone who hasn't read the book...

The last Asimov book I read, The end of Eternity I felt read almost as a prequel to the foundation series (as in it could have happened in the same universe), and after finishing this (and perhaps the only way to give reason to Neville's pet project) is that it fits nicely between End of Eternity and the Foundation series, which I really like.



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Review: Eve and Adam

Eve and Adam by Michael Grant

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



It started slowly but then really picked up during the second half. Some of it was a little cheesy but in the end most of the cheesiness made for good comedy.



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Review: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I loved it. I don't really read non-fiction but I think Mindy is awesome and the title is a thought I seriously wondered about as a kid.

It's short and sweet and funny. Not reading many books like this, I actually had no idea what to expect, but I liked reading about funny incidents from her life.

Maybe reading this book will help cement the idea in my mind that she's not actually a doctor, but a writer and actress. O:)





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Review: 2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America

2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America by Albert Brooks

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



I did not enjoy this book. I just felt like the author wasn't aware of politics, and yet tried to write a whole book focused on it. Very few of the characters were believable. I read it all the way through, but it didn't get better.



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Review: Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary by David Sedaris

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I don't typically like short stories, but it was lying around, so I read it. I thought this book was hilarious.

Yes, it was gross in some places, but it was depicting animals with human thought, not human thought if they had magically turned into animals...if that makes sense.

It was a light, quick read. Cute despite the gore, surprisingly funny (I don't read blurbs for such short books), and I enjoyed it very much.



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Review: The End of Eternity

The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



The End of Eternity follows Andrew, a technician who makes small changes in the world to supposedly create a better future.

It started a little slow for where it was going, but overall, I really enjoyed it. Women weren't shown in a very good light, which I will chalk up to the times not only of Asimov but in the reality in which Andrew was living.

Like I said, it started slow, but the last 4 or 5 chapters packed quite a punch. Lots of twists and turns, and very exciting. Only one thing that happened early on in the novel suggested what was to come. I would have preferred it to be spread out a little more, but what can one do.

I especially like the shout-out to the Foundation series. The books really can go together in a way.



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Review: Foundation

Foundation by Isaac Asimov

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



In this novel a psycho-historian predicts that his Galactic empire is about to fall, which would inevitably lead to thousands of years of ignorance and stagnation of all things scientific. He proposes to compose an Encyclopedia so that the previous millenia of human knowledge does not forever dissappear, leaving them to relearn it once order is restored. Finally, he says that this encyclopedia will shorten the time of disorder to about only one thousand years. However, he also knows that his calculations don't work when individuals are knowledgeable of the outcome...

First thoughts, which have little to do with the book but I wish to say anyway: I read awhile back about a Canadian system of writing short stories that were very interconnected. I wondered what those would be like, but if they are like Foundation, than that would be amazing. So what I'm saying is, Foundation, is split into sections of stories which are all connected by following Seldon's path, but are all written in different generations with different characters. I wish I had known this ahead of time, but I caught on soon enough, and still like it. So it's not really a complaint than a surprise.

My only complaint is that Seldon appears after certain crises. So what role does he play? Apart from setting up Foundation in the first place, all he has done is verified that actions past were the correct ones. Of course, he is a historical figurehead to the characters, but they relied so much on his appearances where he's been most unhelpful.

What I did like was the strategy of the characters. It's fun watching brilliant minds have everything work out exactly to plan (which is manufactured by the author, but is great anyway). I also like that they have realized that war would lead to a prolonged period of strife and that instead they should be fostering nonviolent (although sometimes equally oppressive) actions. I'm excited to read more about the journey to the second Galactic Empire.

Also, I can imagine Firefly taking place in Asimov's Foundation setting, which is a fun thought. ^_^



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Review: Light Boxes: A Novel

Light Boxes: A Novel by Shane Jones

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Light Boxes is about a town experiencing a perpetual winter and an end to flight (birds, balloons) at the hand of February.

I enjoyed this book. It was really sweet, gentle, soothing even. Although I did at one time get confused with February.

Some of the typography decisions really worked and added to the feel of the novel, while others I could have done without. I liked more of the atypical typography than I disliked, however. The chapters start in various ways and sometimes it's first person while others there is a narrator, which I didn't feel added to the story in any other way than to make it different.

It's a quick read and it's definitely different than the majority of books out there, so if you're looking to shake up your reading habits, you can't go wrong with this novel.



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Review: Reached

Reached by Ally Condie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Since this is the third and final book of the trilogy, I'm going to skip any form of summary and go straight to my thoughts on the series, and this book.

Obviously, I was hooked after reading Matched, but only sort of. Mostly, I loved the book until I got to the final chapter. Then, I didn't know that it was meant to be a trilogy, but it really could have ended a chapter or two sooner. Despite how much I hated the end, I loved the bulk of the book enough to read Crossed.

Crossed was awful. I'm sorry, but I felt like it was pointless. It lost the charm and wonder of the first book. There was a lot of walking and a lot of poems and a lot of longing, but not much substance. It was a lot of book to accomplish only two things. I almost didn't read the third book. I gave it two stars and I was being too nice. I was disappointed. Nothing in book 1 suggested a follow up like book 2.

But when I start a series, I must finish it (unless it's a billon books long like Jacky Faber and Mister Monday, etc). So I read Reached. This book put us back into Society, where we were in the first book (I generally don't like it when books drastically change their setting, which added to my distaste of Crossed).

Cons: Firstly, I don't think it was at all necessary to go into depth how viruses spread. One, because I think everyone already knows, and two, because even if they don't they get it enough to understand the magnitude of the situation. Not only was virology explained (needlessly), but it was explained, not once, not twice, but THRICE. And the analogy they used to help people along wasn't until the third explanation, and wasn't a good analogy anyway.

This is basically one of my biggest issues through the whole series: So many words, most of it repeating things we already know, don't care about, or reprinting old poems. I'm a fan of efficiency. The length of the book felt stretched.

Pros: I really feel like this third book captured the intrigue of the first book. What I like about dystopian books is reading about a society that is not my own. Learning about their customs, and their outliers. Book three showed us a society falling apart, yet we still learned so much about it's inner workings despite that.
While others have wars and battles to overthrow their dystopian powers, it was more fitting in this society to use a virus. Makes sense. Do I think those characters should have been the most capable to fix everything? No, but they did and that's why the book's written about them. Everything that was introduced felt settled, even if I felt that some of those issues weren't pertinent to the story. :)

All and all I gave it 4 stars for recapturing all that it lost in book two, which was so far above my expectations (I had heard bad things). It ended well, no loose ends (well...), I was moved, and I was happy for the characters.



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Review: Sharps

Sharps by K.J. Parker

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Finally finished! After loving KJ Parker's Engineer Trilogy, I was delighted to find Sharps at the Library. I know about nothing about fencing, but figured it's KJ Parker, so I gave it a shot.

This book took me awhile to get into. I was worried with all of the character introductions that I didn't know who was where, why they mattered, and I surely didn't think I'd be able to keep track of them all. I almost gave up, but I always try my best to finish books that I've started, so I pushed the worries out of my mind and kept reading.

Basically, in Sharps, a fencing team is sent from one country to a country that they had recently been at war with. The idea was that the show of good faith would bring about peace, but it would seem that other people had different ideas about what their function was.

The book had plenty of laughs. The fencing, I assume was all accurate. Even though I don't know anything about fencing, I was always looking forward to the fencing scenes. I liked the characters and thought they were mostly well balanced in terms of screen time. I must say I don't quite get the point of reading from some of the officials (there were only a few scenes with them and it was a lot of stuff we already knew, I felt).

Overall, I enjoyed the story, but at times it felt like work to read. Which sounds bad, but it's probably because I read too much YA.



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Review: The Knife of Never Letting Go

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I loved this book. It took a second to get into it, but when I got there, it was a page turner.

If you like sci-fi or dystopian novels, you'll love this.

It was action packed all the way through, the concept it great. Hopefully in the next book we hear more about the Spacks...



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Review: Elemental

Elemental by Antony John

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Elemental takes place in a world after the plague has befallen. Now, people are scattered and wary of each other, fearful of catching this plague. We read about a small colony of people who can control various elements (wind, water, earth). During a storm they are attacked by pirates. The parents are kidnapped and the children (teens) plan to save them.

(Some spoilerish stuff follows)

I really like the idea of people having elements, and taken with the information provided at the end of the book, believe that it can be a really good series.

I also liked the dynamic between the characters (Specifically Thomas's relationship with Rose and Alice, and his relationship with his younger brother). Of course I didn't like the Guardians but we didn't have to see much of them... XD

Some things that came to light at the end, I had already figured out in more of a 'this should have been explained better' way than a 'oh I bet I know it's like this' sort of way (not that I think that makes any sense to anyone). There were just some things which could have been clearer. Some things didn't seem like they should have been surprises. If someone can create fire from their fingertips, I would expect someone else to be able to keep wind at bay.

I also had a hard time believing that these Guardians who had these special powers would think that it would be better to hide a strong power than to help the wielder control it. I just think there were too many secrets. Seemed a little much with not a good enough reason for keeping them.


With secrets out in the open now, I'm excited for the next book.



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Review: The Last Book in the Universe

The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



The Last Book in the Universe takes place after the 'big shake.' There are now two classes of people, the 'normals' who live in squalor in the Urbs and the 'proovs' who have been genetically improved, and who live in Eden. The main character Spaz learns that his sister is sick and embarks on a journey to save her life.

Though it was a quick read, it took me a while to get into it. So if you start the book and aren't sure about it, I say keep going, it's worth it in the end.

I liked all the characters, especially Little Face! It's a very hopeful book with a cute message.



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Genesis

Genesis by Bernard Beckett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

First let me say, I picked this book up by chance, didn't read the synopsis, but began reading the book.

I very much enjoyed the book, but do have one complaint (and though I'll spend most of my time in this review on the complaint, it does not effect my overall rating). My complaint is that it was a sort of bait and switch. The first two chapters which detail Adam's early life have no bearing on the rest of the book. I saw the book going in a completely different way, which I'm sure is what they author wanted.

Spoilers:

I get why there was no more mention of Eve or the impact of the trial beyond aggravation among the people. These things meant nothing to the tellers of the story. The plight of the humans and their viruses. I, however was drawn in and compelled by this post-apocalyptic world and feel like he could have written the book on that. I really feel like it was two separate books and that the first two 'hours' were unnecessary means to the end of was Adam meeting Art. Well, it served as a 'red herring' but this is why I don't read mystery novels.

Having said that, I loved this book. Granted, I decided this before he met Art, I decided I would find other books by this author because it was just a gem. Even after he met Art and I realized I wasn't going to learn anything else about that which the first two hours alluded to, I still enjoyed the book.

It was engaging and well written, and now I finally understand why there's red hair on the cover! I find that short reads like this sometimes prove to be the most rewarding. Their is something special about being concise.

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Review: Breed

Breed by Chase Novak

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Breed is about a couple who desperate wants to conceive, and finally gets pregnant with the help of a doctor from some obscure European country. The process however changes their bodies and makes their kids different.

I don't watch horror films (I always have to close my eyes) and I don't typically read horror novels, but I picked this one up and thought the premise sounded interesting enough before I saw that it was supposed to be horror. I decided to read it anyway.

I thought it was a page turner and I was completely into the story all the way through. Well written good story, fun read. Not scary.

I'll never know how people decide when to classify something as 'horror.' Just because people die doesn't make it scary. Just because you say a character was scared won't make me scared... I didn't find it frightening or disturbing...I feel like the grotesque things were written more matter of factually than in a way that should make me fear for the character's safety. Nor did I ever feel any sort of time pressure to get my heart racing. *shrug*



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Review: Inferno

Inferno by Dante Alighieri

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



This translation replaced names- so many names! Added modern phrases.

I appreciate that I may not have been able to real the original(or earlier translation) so easily (well, I'm not sure, but this is the only translation I've read) but I could not accept the replacement of the names. South Park's Cartman? Please. I prefer purer translations. The the addition of modern phrases and names stuck out like a sore thumb. I would be reading easily, then get so thrown off that I had to stop.

Now, I've read this, and I don't know how much of it was from the original, and how much the translator replaced. Now I feel like I have to re-read it, with a different translation.

It wasn't written in 2013, so don't translate it like it was. Please.

What was intact, the messages and the stories, all that makes this a classic, earns my four stars. Since I'm rating this particular translation, however, I'm giving it two. If I find out later that earlier translations are written in a way that I can easily read, then I'll come back and only give it one star.





View all my reviews

A Song of Ice and Fire (1,2 and 3)

George R. R. Martin

I've probably spelled names wrong...sorry. Where to start? I first read book one (A Game of Thrones)after watching season 1 of the television series. I planned to read book two before the start of season two, and wound up reading books 2, 3, and currently, half of book 4. As there are synopses everywhere, I'll only be talking about my opinions.
First, generally, really amazing storytelling. As annoying as it can be sometimes to read a whole chapter of someone's thoughts which sound like they will turn everything to rights and make the world a better place only to die, it's in a way 'realistic.' Even the first guy to charge and die in a war had hopes and dreams, and I think George captures that (Although he focuses on Nobles). While I appreciate the twists and turns, it does get old after a few times of plot twists.
Book 1: Incredible action packed, and a lot happens: SPOILERS A boy gets pushed out of a window, the main character dies, and a rude bastard child, and unrightful heir from an awful family is on the throne. And Dragons were born across the narrow sea while in the North, the cold winds are rising, and the Other's seem to be waking from their sleep.
Now I read books 2 and 3 is quick succession so I'll try my best to keep them straight.
Book 2 wasn't very eventful, but I was able to read it more quickly because it was all new to me. It seemed to be a lot of set up. Rently, Robb, Dany, the Greyjoys, and Stannis all claim king-hood of some sort. Not much happens with the dragons. A few chapters but Dany is just wandering around and destroys some temple by accident kind of. Rently *spoiler* dies uneventfully, through Stannis's Witch's powers.
I never really liked the whole Stannis story line. Didn't really care much about the onion knight. We didn't really know anything about him from book 1 and book two opened with Stannis' Maester, who after a long chapter about how old he is, dies. But you have to admit, he has a stronger claim to the throne than Rently, so I put up with the chapters.
I had a harder time putting up with Theon's chapters, because he pretty much ruins everything and gains nothing. I don't remember if it was book 2 or 3 but he destroyed so much. I suppose, as everything happens for a reason in books(supposedly), then it was at least a way to get Bran across the wall, where he needs to go to be...trained, and to make sure that Sansa and Arya had no place to return to when they became in a situation to flee.
Book 3, compared to book 2, was AMAZING. Book 2 seemed like nothing happened compared to book 3. Book 3 really get's back to the heart of the series where no one is safe and being smart and noble isn't a guaranteed win. Also, a lot more happens in the North, with the wildlings trying to get across the wall, running from the Others. Sam kills an other using an obsidian dagger, which was amazing. So happy when the weak do something useful. Book 3 reminded me why I was reading this series. Dany does some amazing things and I have pretty much nothing bad to say about book 3.
Book 4 threw me. It's in a different format than the first three books and I had a really hard time getting into it. Were faced with more new characters, 3 or 4 people from the Iron Islands, and 3 or 4 people from...oh I forget, the hot sandy place in Westeros...Where marcella is. Basically, a lot is happening, which I don't care about, and the characters I do care about seem to be non-existent. I do like book and really all of them for capturing Cersi's complete...insanity. She has a huge anger management problem. She, to use a phrase from the book, knows how the game is played, but she's trying to force the game into something else, one where she is Supreme ruler, and while she's good at it (Already being in power in the first place helped) but she's losing it. And I really really want to see her fail. She's not in control as much as she thinks she is, and that's intriguing.
I guess that's one of the series good points. Even though some characters seem to die without any point to their life or new characters being introduced too quickly, book 4 (or was it 3) from what little finger says, really got me thinking (And maybe I should have been thinking it in book 2, which is really been hit on the head in the tv series) that power isn't always where it seems. Cersi seems to be in power but...I'm sure there are a lot of people who could easily kill her when she no longer benefits their needs.
In conclusion to this...random, unfocused entry, A song of Ice and Fire is one of the best series I've read in a while. The last I read like it was the Engineer's trilogy and a lot of what I loved about that series is reflected in here, except the world of Westeros is so much more complex and it's not just a few characters calling the shots. One stupid character (*cough* Theon *cough*) could up and destroy everything, changing everything. It's quite a dynamic read. I recommend it. But...take your time reading it. The sequels take a while to come out apparently.

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.