Please finish the book

Hey, guys!

So, I read this book a couple of months back at my brother's recommendation. Let me explain to you guys what a big deal that is. Bottom line, my brother isn't a huge reader. So when he recommends a book to his older sister (who practically has her own library in her bedroom) there's a good chance that said book is going to be good.

Another thing, the books my brother usually recommends are by John Green. So, yes, he recommended The Fault in Our Stars to me and, yes, it was amazing. And this review is a book by John Green and is just as famous as TFiOS. Yes, I'm talking about Looking for Alaska.

The story takes place in the South at a boarding school for high school students. That's where Miles starts as a freshman, and where he meets the Colonel (his roommate), Tamaki (no one can catch the fox), and, of course, (the beautiful, the interesting, the crazy) Alaska Young. Miles is now dubbed "Pudge" and actually has friends. Friends who love pranking.

Seriously, when they're not hanging out and being rebellious teenagers, they're thinking of what pranks they're going to pull on the popular jerks. And, of course, there's the ultimate prank.

But you'll have to find out about that on your own.

Anyway, Pudge isn't usually the one with a lot of friends. So when he meets the Colonel, Alaska, and Tamaki, he tries his best to keep up with them. And that means getting in on their prank plans. Even if it means getting in trouble. And starting unfavorable habits. Not that it's a bad thing, but it's something that I wouldn't do. (Because I am a goody-goody-two-shoes. And I'm not just saying that because my family reads this blog . . . really, I'm not.)

And now for Alaska. Like I said: beautiful, interesting, crazy. Easy to fall in love with. So of course she has a boyfriend.

But she has a pretty tragic past and that's where the crazy part comes in. No, she's not actually crazy, I only use that term loosely. She's just moody and can be a bit of a witch, which is understandable. But she has betrayed some people when it suited her best, which is less understandable to her friends.

Anyway, yeah, tragic.

So, of course it's sad. Be forewarned. I mean, it doesn't come as much of a surprise. For one thing, it is John Green. For another thing, you can kind of see the sad part coming.

Now, the reason for the title of this post: please finish the book, because my brother didn't. He says that the ending was dragged out and that the last few pages weren't worth reading. But I actually read it and I say that it is worth reading to the end. Sorry, it's just one of my pet peeves when someone doesn't finish the ding-dong book.

I recommend it as a coming-of-age book for teens and young adults (I'm not going to recommend it for the little ones, because there is alcohol and drugs and sexual content). Just a good reference for the future: if my brother recommended it to me, then it's usually worth reading. Like I said, he's not much of a reader, so if he likes a book then it has to be good.

Hope you enjoyed this review. I apologize if it's shorter than others that I have written, but it's hard to judge length when I'm working on a computer with a bigger screen (because my laptop is a five-year-old piece of crap). More posts to come in the following days. Comment with a book title you are dying for a review about or with a title for a list you really want me to write.

Happy reading!!

I got a good one, guys

Hey, guys!

Sorry that I haven't posted in the past couple of days, but I was breezing through another of my library books: Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi . . . okay, I was playing Farcry 3 too. But I've only ever played it once! And the second time doesn't count; I hadn't finished the game that time. It just wiped my game when I was so close to finishing.

But what can you do? That's why I'm playing a game. Like I said before, once I find a game I like, I play it until I'm sick of it.

I'm getting off track, though. I promise I'm not writing another post about video games. My mind just gets away from me sometimes.

Anyway, back to Ship Breaker. It's a young adult sci-fi novel, and it actually reminds me a bit of James Dashner in that it is action-packed and grips you until the very last page. Otherwise, Bacigalupi's voice is entirely different from Dashner's, although their main characters are a bit similar.

Also, there isn't a weird monster/genetic alteration thing around every corner. The only one of those present in Ship Breaker are the half-men, which are genetically engineered animals built to be bodyguards, a combination of human, dog, tiger, and hyena DNA.

So anyway, I'm getting off topic again.

The main character is Nailer, son of a dead mother and an abusive drunk and addict of a father. So, essentially, Nailer's only family is his lifelong friend and boss, Pima, and her mother, Sadna. Nailer lives on Bright Sands Beach as a ship breaker. This means that he works in a crew to dismantle old ship that have washed up on the beach and to scavenge them for their reusable parts.

While heavy crew works with sledgehammers to work the old iron and steel that can be smelted and recycled, Nailer works light crew. He's so small that he can fit in the old ventilation system to collect the copper wires to make his quota. It's a dangerous job, but you don't want to get cut off the job and have to turn to harvesting your own body parts for money.

After injuring himself on the job, Nailer has caught a lucky break. A huge storm rolls in from the sea and keeps his crew out of work, meaning that he has a chance to heal up before he has to go back into the ducts.

But he doesn't realize until the storm is upon them that the hurricane is a city-killer. Huts are swept off the beach like they're nothing and the citizens are forced to move to high ground for shelter for two days.

While searching for food along the beach, Nailer and Pima cross over to an island during low tide and come upon a wrecked clipper ship. For ship breakers, that means one thing: scavenge. Aboard the ship, they find all kinds of pickings: gold, brass, and silver that can be smelted on the beach as long as they're smart and claim the scavenge for themselves.

They aren't very surprised when they find corpses floating on board, but when they find a girl trapped under her furniture and still breathing, Pima and Nailer are torn between slitting her throat to take her jewelry and letting her live and collecting a reward.

What will Nailer choose? What role will this girl play in his life? Read and find out. You know how much I hate spoilers.

I definitely recommend this book for anyone who loves sci-fi. My boyfriend read it before I did and recommended it to me. And I loved it. So why not give it a shot.

Hope you guys enjoyed this review. Check in again within the next couple of days for another review or list. Next on my reading list is the last library book I took out, which is The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Chris Wooding. Then I'll finish reading Life of Pi by Yann Martel and Pet Sematary by Stephen King. And many more to come after that.

Happy reading!!

Finally!

Hey, guys!

What did I tell you? Just finished The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath this morning. I know it probably took longer than it should have since the book was only just under two hundred and fifty pages, but like I said before, last week was a doozy.

So, The Bell Jar is the story of Esther Greenwood. She is an English major entering her senior year at a prestigious girls' college on a scholarship and the story starts with her trip to New York, courtesy of a women's fashion magazine (you know, for job experience and probably job searching).

As you can see, despite her relative lack of wealth, Esther is privy to much opportunity. Educated, employed. Not to mention being courted by Buddy Willard, a medical student whom Esther had her eye on. For a while, he didn't even spare him a glance, but now his mother is expecting Esther to be her soon to be daughter-in-law.

But once she gets to know him, Esther realizes how hypocritical, smug, and arrogant Buddy really is. And how concerned with image her mother is. After her trip to New York and after being turned down for a prestigious and grueling writing course is when Esther stops sleeping. And eating. And reading and writing and caring.

It's also when she becomes fascinated with death.

So, yes, The Bell Jar is a story about depression and mental illness and women. It was a little hard to get into at first since I was plunked into a story about a young woman interning for a fashion magazine and taking advantage of the New York night life. I was actually warned about the beginning of the book by one of my friends, that the beginning was a bit of a strange start and hard to get into.

Aside from that, The Bell Jar is well-written and an intriguing story about social expectations and misconceptions about mental illness (especially in women) and treatment of mental health patients during the time period (the book was written during the seventies). The book also reveals, of course, the challenge that sufferers of depression face every day, from pretending they are all right to thoughts of suicide to the ordeals of treatments at asylums.

The Bell Jar is a novel, so it is fictitious. But Sylvia Plath did suffer from depression and took her own life in 1963 at the age of thirty. So, although the events in the book didn't really happen (as far as I know), the book is written in such a way as to sound personal and practically autobiographical.

And suffice it to say that it is a good book; the same friend who warned me about the beginning also told me to power through the strange beginning because it is a good book that is worth the read.

I would recommend Plath's novel to those who are coming of age, particularly high school and college students. The age group differs because my brother read it (well, half of it) in high school before I had even touched it and it didn't appeal to him; he said it was confusing. So, I think that it really depends on the reader.

This is not the first book I read about depression and women sufferers in particular. I have actually already written an outline for a review on Willow Weep for Me: A Black Woman's Journey Through Depression by Meri Nana-Ama Danquah, so if you guys would like me to post that review, I would be more than happy to . . . even if you guys didn't say anything of the like, I will post it anyway.

Anyway, definitely give The Bell Jar a chance just to see if you like it. Go ahead. I dare you.

Check in again either tomorrow or in the next couple of days and I will post a review for Willow Weep for Me, perhaps another book, and maybe a list or two.

Happy reading!!

Video Games

Hey, guys!

I promise I'm almost done with The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. But in the meantime, how about the first list? So, since I've been in the mood to play video games lately, I thought I would make a list of my favorite video games. No, I haven't been playing much lately (ya know, because of my reading and blogging), but I have wanted to start playing some of my favorites again. So, here are my top 5 favorites.

1) Alan Wake

Yes, my all-time favorite is a horror game about a horror writer battling the darkness. Famous writer Alan Wake is experiencing writer's block and goes on vacation to Bright Falls with his wife, Alice. After getting into a fight, Alice disappears. The last thing Wake remembers is seeing his wife in Cauldron Lake and jumping in after her before he wakes up behind the wheel of a crashed car at night.

In his efforts to get his wife back, Wake must battle monsters called Taken. The Taken are normal people who have been taken by the Dark Presence. Armed with a flashlight, flares, flashbang grenades, a revolver, and some heavier fire power, Wake is prepared to do anything to save his wife.

Great plot, confusing ending, but awesome game play. Not really a shooter game, but you do get to shoot stuff. Very plot-driven. Cannot wait for news about the sequel. Absolute favorite. Highly recommended.

2) Farcry 3

When I said earlier that I really feel like playing a video game, this is the one I've been talking about. The company that created this game has just released the first five minutes of Farcry 4, which looks amazing.

So, basically this guy named Jason Brody is on some sort of vacation/spring break with his two brothers (Grant and Riley), his girlfriend (Liza), and his friends (Oliver, Keith, and Daisy). At one point they go sky-diving and land on Rook Island, which is full of pirates. Not the "Ahoy!" kind of pirates that love rum and treasure. I mean the kind of pirates who deal in drugs and human trafficking.

And the head honchos, Vaas and Hoyt, have captured the happy bunch of college kids and are prepared to ransom them and then sell them into slavery. Jason manages to escape, however, and with the help of the native islanders and their leader, Citra, Jason is prepared to go the distance to save his friends.

First-person, deals in skill points. Usually, I cannot keep up with the whole skill-point system, but this version is extremely simple so that even I can keep up. Again, great plot and enjoyable to play. Also highly recommended.

3) Bulletstorm

Dishonored soldiers take revenge on their former leader and end up stranded on a hostile planet. Not the best situation. It's a first-person shooter game, and you get to play as Gray. His companions are Ishi (the only surviving member of your team who had to become a cyborg in order to survive) and Trishka (a Final Echo soldier who Gray takes as hostage so that she can lead him and Ishi to an escape pod that will take them off of that planet).

Another skill points system based off of how you kill people and how often. Pretty sweet when you think about it. Use the points to buy new weapons, upgrades, and ammo. Very manageable.

The game is rated M. The characters swear a lot and make tons of inappropriate jokes, it's violent, and it's funny as hell. I actually never finished the game myself, but I did watch my brother play the whole game before I tried it for myself. I am a fan.

4) Avatar: The Game

If any of you have seen James Cameron's film Avatar, then you get the basic plot of this game. Your name's Ryder, you are a soldier who just arrived on Pandora and is going to be part of the Avatar program. You interact with some of the native tribes of Na'vi and learn what the military is all about and you abandon ship to join the underdogs.

I must say that I first played this at the end of my freshman year of high school and I was obsessed with this game. And when I find a game I like, I usually play it until I'm sick of it, which is why I can no longer play this game in particular. In all honesty, I did the same thing with Alan Wake. It got to the point where I know nearly all the spots where a Taken will show up and try to kill you.

But I'm getting off topic. Avatar is a great game, the graphics are pretty awesome, and if you saw the movie, loved it, and love gaming then you'll love this game.

5) Kingdom Hearts 2

This is the last game on my list because it is the last one I played, I really liked it, and if I don't include this game on my list, my boyfriend will be heartbroken. (We had a deal that he would play Alan Wake if I played Kingdom Hearts 2).

It's from the makers of Final Fantasy and has a lot of the characters from that series, so if you liked those games, then you'll like this game. And if you like Disney, then you will like this game as well. You play as Sora and, with Donald Duck and Goofy, you travel to different worlds to defeat the Heartless. (By different worlds, I mean Agrabah from Alaadin, Beast's Castle from Beauty and the Beast, and Halloween Town from The Nightmare Before Christmas, among others.) And you don't necessarily have to play the first game to play this one (I didn't and I was fine).

My only complaint about this game is about weapons and specials and attacks and gah! Remember what I said about Farcry 3 having a skill points system that I could handle? I couldn't even find the right menu for this game and I wouldn't have known what to do about it even if I did. So I left that for my boyfriend to play with.

Other than that, fun game with a compelling plot. I love plot-driven games.

So, guys, how was my first list? Did you like it? Hate it? Wanna make your own list based off of the topic I chose? You can let me know all of that and participate in the latter in the comments section. Just please be respectful.

Check back soon for a review for The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath . . . I'm getting close!

Happy reading!

Monday Throwback

Hey, guys!

I know, I'm being very bad. I haven't written a post in a couple of days now, and after last week, I really don't have much of an excuse. But like I said, it's a lot easier to find time to write outlines of reviews than it is to find time to write them.

And, yes, I know that sounds totally lame. But it's even worse when the battery in my laptop is shot and causes my computer to shut off at regular intervals. And, yes, that happens while I'm writing a post. In fact, it just happened and I had to write the previous sentence over again. You see what I mean?

Anyway, I'm making progress on The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. After that I have two more library books to read, and after that I can finish Pet Sematary by Stephen King . . . I hear that that one's uber creepy.

So, for now, I thought I would write a review for a book I read back in middle school. I was about twelve when I read this (and I didn't have such a heart of stone back then) so I did cry when I read the book. I'm not sure if I would cry if I were to read it now. Maybe not, since I know what happens. Then again, I knew what would happen at the end of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green and I still cried like a baby when I saw the movie.

Anyway, the book I'm talking about now is So B. It by Sarah Weeks. If I recall correctly, it is an excellent book. But it is sad.

It's about a girl named Heidi who is the child of a mentally challenged mother. They live in an apartment together next door to their neighbor, Bernadette. Bernie is practically their care-giver, since neither Heidi nor her mother have anyone else.

But Heidi isn't content with what she has. Because her mother is only able to say a few words, Heidi knows little about who she is or where she came from. Heidi doesn't know who her father is or when her birthday is. In fact, as far as she knows, her mother's name is So B. It, since that is all she says when asked.

There are so few things her mother can say that they can be listed on a sheet of notebook paper. One of these words is "soof."

After a while, enough is enough and Heidi buys a train ticket to go and find the man she thinks is her father. But what she finds is not exactly what she expects, nor is what comes after.

If you want to find out what Heidi finds (or if you want to cry like a baby the way I did when I read it as a twelve-year-old), then give this book a try. I recommend it for middle school students, and those coming of age in general. It's a pretty good read.

Oh, and get this, guys. Remember when I said that there is a list of the words that Heidi's mother can say? Well, turns out that making lists is one of Heidi's favorite pastimes. She makes lists about everything. And that gave me an idea.

If it turns out that I'm too busy to write a blog (and that I'm too lazy to write a few ahead of time), instead I will post a list.

Sounds boring, huh? But hear me out. They don't have to be boring lists. They can be lists about my favorite books, movies, songs, and foods. It could be a list of things I hate. It could be an updated bucket list. It could be a list of really awesome words. Or a list of ways to describe an emotion. Or the senses associated with a certain place. See? List-making is good for creative writing, too.

So, since it probably is a lot to ask of you guys to do a writing exercise with me and post it on the Internet (believe me, I don't blame you, guys) why not post your own lists based off of the topic I picked for my lists in the comments? That seems a bit more manageable, no?

Okay, guys, that's it for this post. Hope you enjoyed this review and hope that you like my new idea. Leave a comment if you have any feedback and requests.

Happy reading!!

I don't know why it took me so long to write a review for this book

Hey, guys!!

I am super tired from my younger brother's graduation, but I did promise a new review by today. So, I am so on it . . . and there will be more to come. Like I said in the last post: I have outlines for half a dozen reviews but busy week and no time to write them. But I shall make time.

So, it's almost tomorrow and I'm exhausted, so I figured why not write a review for one of my favorite series? And by series, I refer to the books as well as the movies. And of course I am talking about The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

If there are any of you who watch TV or regularly visit the local bookstore or library and haven't heard of this worldwide phenomenon by now, shame on you. And if you are aware of the series and haven't read the books or at least seen the movies, double shame.

The Hunger Games is set in the future North America. Instead of today's fifty United States of America, the country of Panem consists of thirteen Districts and the Capitol. That is, until the Rebellion, when the Districts started an uprising against the oppression of the Capitol. By the end of the war, District Thirteen was no more and the rest of the Districts were forced to surrender to the Capitol and sign a peace treaty.

As part of this treaty, the Hunger Games were invented. As part of these games, each of the twelve remaining Districts must reap one male and one female tribute between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in a televised fight to the death in an arena known as the Hunger Games.

Each tribute is transported to the Capitol for interviews and survival training and to be paraded before the trendy, fashion-crazy people of the Capitol. For the record, citizens of the Capitol live a life of luxury and excess while those in the Districts struggle with starvation every day. That is why it's called the Hunger Games; the winner gets a house in the Victor's Village, more money than they know what to do with, and gifts of food and oil are showered upon the smiling faces of the citizens from the victor's District for a whole year.

Some Districts have a better chance of winning the Games than others. Districts One and Two, for example, are considered the Careers, since the children are generally well-fed and are trained in combat and survival until they are eighteen and volunteer as tributes. District Twelve, on the other hand, is an outlying District with people who battle starvation every day.

This includes sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who supports her mother and younger sister, Prim, by hunting illegally in the woods bordering her District ever since her father died. Katniss knows that the Capitol is corrupt and that she shouldn't run her mouth unless she's in the woods with Gale, the only person she truly trusts.

But then, at the Reaping for the Seventy-Fourth Annual Hunger Games, Prim's name is selected as female tribute and Katniss can do nothing to stop it except volunteer herself as tribute in Prim's place.

Things look like they can't get much worse until Peeta Mellark is chosen as the male tribute. Although Katniss has never spoken with Peeta before, she owes him a debt that she can never repay if she is expected to kill him in the arena.

Although Katniss is an experienced archer and knows how to live off the land, what chance does she stand against the Careers and the other tributes? What if she encounters Peeta in the arena? Would she ever be able to kill him?

Many of you probably already know, but otherwise, read the book and find out. Seriously, tell your friends to go spoiler alert if you're considering reading the book or haven't seen the movie yet.

When I first read the series, I could not put it down for anything. Although Collins's writing style is a little peculiar, the story is enthralling and exciting. I recommend it for anybody who is into survival stories or series that include corrupt governments and misleading media.

As for the movie, it's pretty good. I absolutely love the film adaptation of Catching Fire. Awesome.

Well, for an exhausting night, this was actually a pretty substantial review. I thought that The Hunger Games would be a good choice. But that's enough for tonight. Time for bed.

Check in tomorrow or this weekend for a new review . . . I really am trying guys. Hopefully this won't happen again once school starts. Oh, and for the record, I am almost halfway through The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and then I have two more library books to go. Plus the other five reviews I have already outlined. :)

Anyway, comment if you enjoyed this review or if you're itching for a review for a specific book. Also, check out my blog regularly for new posts.

Happy reading!!

Update: Yes, I'm still alive

Hey, guys!!

So, so sorry that I haven't been posting a lot lately. I know that I shouldn't have any excuses but the weekend and this week are so crazy for me: Father's Day, my and my boyfriend's nine month anniversary, work, my brother's graduation rehearsals and ceremony, my boyfriend's birthday, the Relay for Life . . . so yeah, it's been nuts and the week is only half over.

But no more excuses! (I hope.)

This post is just a little update to let you know that I will get my head out of my butt long enough to start posting again. I do have a ton of reviews already outlined; the problem was finding the time to actually write them.

But never fear! Check in later tonight (after I have some of my cousin's birthday cake) or tomorrow and I will have a new review posted. Next time I will keep an eye on my schedule. This totally shouldn't happen again. Next time I know I'll be busy, I'll write a bunch of reviews ahead of time and then schedule them to be posted on certain days.

I've actually been planning to do that for when I go back to school. You know, write three reviews every day and hopefully they'll add up over the summer. Still trying to work on that (and not get distracted by Pinterest).

Anyway, like I said, I will try my best to have more reviews posted in the coming days. Again, so sorry about that, my friends.

Happy reading!!

I sense that music is a theme here

Hey, guys!!

Much like when I was reading I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier, I blew right through Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist  by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan once I got into it. For one thing, the latter is also a quick read (less than two hundred pages). For another thing, once things got rolling it went pretty quick.

Nick is a bassist for a queercore punk band and is at a club playing a gig one night. He sees his ex-girlfriend at the club while playing the bass. Off-stage, ex-girlfriend Tris (with a new guy shadowing her) heads right towards Nick.

And what does Nick do? He turns to the girl next to him and asks her to be his five-minute girlfriend. Guess whom it is. I'll give you a hint: her name is in the title. And since she and Tris are frienemies, Norah answers Nick by kissing him.

Mission accomplished: Tris leaves him alone. So then Norah figures that Nick might be good for giving her and her trashed friend, Caroline, a ride home. Unfortunately, Nick's junker won't start.

So the guitarist in Nick's band and his boyfriend make a deal with Norah. They will take Caroline home and they give Norah fifty bucks to go out with Nick and help him get over his bad break-up with Tris. And Norah agrees; after all, she has an ex-boyfriend that she would like to forget.

This relationship with her on-again-off-again-ex-boyfriend-she'd-rather-forget was not a healthy one. Tal was a control freak who tried to make all of Norah's decisions for her, nearly destroyed her future, and is just a jerk in general. He also has too high an opinion of himself. It's no wonder that there was no chemistry between them.

Anyway, the whole book covers one night of clubbing and heartache and getting over break-ups and trying to decide what is real and worth having and what is just a waste of time.

To be honest, I had a love/hate relationship with both Nick and Norah in the beginning of the book. Nick was sweet and a nice guy, but he was so hung up over Tris that I pitied him too much to properly like him at first. And Norah, nicknamed "Sub Z" by her best friend and ex-boyfriend, was oftened described as "frigid" throughout the novel. Not to mention that many of her monologues were inner rants.

Both were still feeling the sting from bad break-ups and bad relationships in general (not to mention they're both human beings) so it's understandable (and pretty darn realistic) to have reasons to like and hate characters at the same time. We all have strengths and flaws, and isn't it a character's job to capture that essence of human nature?

So, even though I had trouble liking the characters at first, I got the message. Plus, Norah may rant and swear a lot, but she's also sarcastic half the time and she's funny. A girl after my own heart.

Would I recommend this? Yes. It's an enjoyable and quick read. Perfect for an airplane trip or long car ride. And it gets pretty philosophical about life, love, and music. So, yes, I did enjoy it and I think a lot of other people would. Especially people who like music. So give it a try. Find out if Norah will figure out her future and if Nick will get over Tris. And if Nick and Norah end up together.

I hope you guys enjoyed this review. I've got three library books left on my list to read. Not sure which one's up next on my list. I may surprise myself.

Leave a comment if you would like me to review a certain book and what you thought of this or one of my past reviews. And tell your friends :)

Happy reading!!

Strange title

Hey, guys!!

Just going to say this right now: I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier is a very quick read. Seriously, it only took me about two days to read it, but it probably would've only taken one. I was pretty busy the first day I started reading it, but I had most of yesterday to read it and I just blew through it. Not only is it only two hundred pages long, but it's a very compelling read.

It actually kind of reminds me of The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. Not only because both Holden Caufield and Alex Farmer embark on a journey that transforms them, but also because Holden and Alex share some similarities. If any of you have read both books or just one and plan on reading the other, you'll know what I'm talking about. And if you haven't read either, why not give them a try and look out for those connections?

Oops, I think my inner English teacher was showing again. Sometimes I just can't help myself.

So, what is I Am the Cheese about? I'm glad you asked.

Alex Farmer is on a journey to find his father. He knows exactly where his father is. The problem is that his father is in Rutterburg, Vermont and Alex is in Monument, Massachusetts. And he takes his bike most (if not all) of the way. Quite a bike ride.

And between the adventures of Alex's bike ride, the reader is shown some mysterious recordings of Alex speaking with a therapist about his anxiety medication, how well he sleeps. And about his past: what he remembers of his family life and Amy (his only friend).

But the therapist already knows almost everything about Alex's past. So why grill him? Because Alex only remembers it in bits and pieces and talking it out is the only way that Alex can remember the whole picture. The reader even gets the feeling that Alex doesn't even know why he's talking to a therapist or how he ended up where he ended up.

So why is he there talking to a therapist? Why the anxiety medicine? Why can't he sleep at night? Why does he have to work so hard to remember his mother and father? And why is Alex the cheese? What does that even mean?

Read the book and all your (ahem, my) questions will be answered :)

Seriously though, I highly recommend this book. I could not put it down. And if you enjoyed reading The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, then you'll love I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier. It's interesting and it makes you think. But again, it is really short and if you love it as much as I did then you'll blow right through it.

That's it for this review. Check in tomorrow or the day after for another review (still not sure about which book though). Next on my reading list is Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. So we shall see how that will turn out.

Happy reading!!

So many feels . . .

Hey, guys!!

It's about time I did a review for The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. It shouldn't have taken me so long, but I had just seen the movie and it definitely lived up to expectations. So if you're not interested in reading the book (shame on you!) I still recommend the movie, because it was amazing. But be forewarned that the book and the movie will rip your heart out. Seriously, I cried so much. I burst into tears sometime near the end, calmed down, and then cried even more when I got to the bathroom.

But it's okay, I knew that would happen. I stuffed a bunch of tissues in my purse. So many tears.

Anyway, many of you probably know what the story is about already, but if you don't maybe this will be the proper motivation to check out the book or go see the movie and then go cry in the corner. But don't worry, it's a funny story . . . it just has a bad habit of ripping out your heart after making you laugh.

So, Hazel Grace Lancaster, cancer patient. Diagnosed with thyroid cancer when she was a young teenager and now requires an oxygen tank to travel with her since she often gets fluids in her lungs. Forced to go to support group to combat alleged depression by being around kids her age who know what it's like to have cancer.

That's where she meets Augustus Waters. Lost his leg to cancer. Currently in remission with a high chance of survival. Confident, funny, and fond of metaphors. The one thing that Augustus is afraid of: oblivion. He wants to be remembered by all. He wants to be a hero. And Hazel Grace disagrees because oblivion is inevitable. Everybody will be dead eventually. Cheery, right?

And that's how their love story begins, my friends. Sure, Hazel Grace is reluctant at first. After all, there's not much chance that she will live long and the last thing she would want to do is hurt Gus. But it can't really be helped.

They bond, they exchange copies of their favorite books. They fall in love. They learn to live with the knowledge that they will eventually lose each other to cancer. But it still doesn't really prepare them for what happens. Does anybody else hear the sound of my heart breaking or is that just me?

But don't get me wrong, the book isn't a downer. Along with their friend from support group, Isaac, Hazel Grace and Augustus have a lot of fun together (the guys love video games).

Amazing book. Highly recommend it. The movie is amazing as well, and I recommend it for when one is not quite sure whether they want a movie to make them laugh or cry, because this movie will do both. Just have a box of tissues ready. I came pretty close to sobbing.

Well, that's it for this review. Before I end this post, I would like to inform you all that I have picked up a fresh batch of library books (five, to be exact . . . I broke my own rule for a three book limit). I have already finished one book, I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier, and a review for that will be posted tomorrow. The next book to read on my list is Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan and hopefully a review for that will be on the way soon (it looks like a short read).

Hope you all enjoyed :)

Happy reading!!

More Classics

Hey, guys!

I've been on a roll with the classics lately, so let's keep it going with Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I read this book last summer because my best friend recommended it to me because (duh) she's obsessed with it. She has shown me part of the movie with Collin Firth, but it's six hours long so I never saw the whole movie.

Anyway, if you've been reading my blog regularly and if you've read my post about The Call of the Wild by Jack London, you'll remember that as a kid, I would always try to read the classics but I never had the attention span to retain any of the story. Unlike the other two classics I reviewed, the first time I read Pride and Prejudice was last summer.

I will say that it is a little difficult to read because of the style of writing. This is primarily because the book was written in the late Eighteenth to early Nineteenth Century. This means that there are a lot of big words and a lot of long sentences that you kind of have to read and then translate into simpler terms. That's the way I think of it anyway. Aside from that, it's a pretty good story. And it's actually pretty funny, too.

All right, the story is about the Bennet family and their two eldest daughters. Since they are women, they will not inherit the home or property so in order for them to have ample support for their lives the goal of their silly, materialistic, fickle mother is to marry them off to rich men.

Jane Bennet, a really sweet girl, has her eye on Mr. Bingley. Elizabeth Bennet, proud and stubborn, makes a point of ignoring Mr. Darcy, who is also proud. To be fair, he did kind of insult her.

So, what does Mrs. Bennet do? She persuades Jane to pursue Mr. Bingley and pushes Elizabeth towards the option of marrying her moron of a cousin. And trash talks Mr. Darcy. Not that Elizabeth does otherwise. But once Mr. Darcy spends more time around Elizabeth, he realizes that first impressions aren't always correct, and attempts to court Elizabeth.

But she's not having that. She's stubborn, remember?

This novel is basically Mrs. Bennet's attempts to marry Jane off to Mr. Bingley (who's really a nice guy) and Mr. Darcy's attempts to court Elizabeth. And all the social niceties that get in the way. It's a good read, even if the language is a bit tedious. But I promise, if you have the patience, you'll get past that.

Happy reading!

Post-modern confusion

Hey, guys!!

Like I said, I will be dipping into the material I had to read for school for material for my blog, so I thought it would be interesting to do a review for The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster.

The New York Trilogy is a collection of three short post-modern detective novels (a little over a hundred pages each). I had to read this book for Popular Literature since the theme for the semester was detective fiction.

When I say that the novels were post-modern detective stories, I mean that the stories have all the tropes of detective fiction and then defy them all. It's kind of like a satire of detective fiction in general. It also means that the characters in the book are self-aware, which basically means that they know that they are merely characters in a book. So you can imagine that the books would be pretty confusing.

Like Coraline, I had to write a paper on The New York Trilogy. Can you imagine writing a paper on a book that made you feel stupid because you couldn't get it? Well, thank God for in-class discussions. Otherwise, the whole book would've gone right over my head.

So, before I go any farther with my complaints, I should probably tell you what each book is about.

The first book in the trilogy is City of Glass. The main character is Daniel Quinn, a writer of detective fiction who received a telephone call one night from a woman asking for a private detective named Paul Auster. The third time the woman calls after being informed that she had dialed the wrong number twice, Quinn decides to assume the identity of Paul Auster to solve the case and finally become a detective like the characters in his books.

After meeting with his clients under his assumed identity, Quinn has been charged with keeping an eye on his client's husband's father, who was just released from prison (for abusing his son) and is now on parole, to make sure that the former prisoner does not try to approach his son.

The second book in the trilogy is Ghosts. This time the main character is Blue, a professional private detective this time. He is hired by White to watch Black and make write weekly reports to be delivered to White. At first, Blue is excited to find out what Black is up to, except . . . he never does anything. For the most part he just sits in his apartment all day and writes. So what is he writing? And why does White want Black to be watched?

The third book is called The Locked Room, and this time it is told in first-person perspective. After years of never hearing from his childhood best friend, Fanshawe, the main character receives a letter from Fanshawe's wife one day and learns that Fanshawe has been missing for months and is most likely dead. Sophie, Fanshawe's widow, needs help from the main character to publish Fanshawe's manuscripts so that she can have money to support herself and her child.

After a few months, the main character marries Sophie and adopts Fanshawe's child as his own son and receives royalty checks for Fanshawe's books after publication. Everything is finally perfect. Or is it? Is it really worth living a perfect life if that life isn't even yours?

So, those are the plot summaries for all the books in the trilogy. But I should warn you guys: the point of this trilogy is that there is no point. That's pretty much what post-modern books are all about.

In all honesty, I enjoyed the in-class discussions about these books more than I enjoyed actually reading the trilogy itself. So, in case you're still unclear, I was not a big fan of the books. The trilogy, it seems to me, would be better suited for people who like puzzles and like to think about books with confusing plots that go around and around in circles. I hate puzzles, so it was more difficult for me. But that doesn't mean that other people won't like it. There were definitely some students in my class who enjoyed the book. So if you do like puzzles, why not give it a shot?

Okay, that's all for this post. Hope you guys enjoy my blog and that you'll comment to let me know what you think and if there are any books out there that you are just dying for me to review.

Happy reading!!

Creepy eyes

Hey, guys!!

Although I promise that I am not at a loss for new material to review, I am going to start dipping back into books I had to read for school. Because . . . well, why not?

I'm sure that many of you have probably already seen the major motion film Coraline. If you haven't, just don't tell me because I may hyperventilate. I mean, come on! It's Tim Burton!!

Anyway, Coraline by Neil Gaiman is a children's books with illustrations about a girl named Coraline who moves to a new flat with her parents and finds a door in the empty drawing room. The first time she opens it, the entryway has been bricked over to separate her flat from the one next door. The second time she opens the door when her parents aren't home, the door leads to a corridor.

Coraline goes through the door and comes out the other end into her flat as though she has gone in a circle. But, although the flat looks like her flat, and her parents look like her parents . . . except they're not.

Instead of circling back to her own flat, Coraline has entered another world where she meets her Other parents, who look just like her parents except they have buttons for eyes. Her Other parents are different in other ways, too: they cook delicious meals, the play fun games with her, and they don't work all the time.

Despite several warnings from her neighbors to stay away from the door, Coraline continues to return to the Other World. But the more she visits, the more her Other Mother wants her to stay. But the only way Coraline can stay is if she sews buttons into her own eyes.

And who wants to do that, right? You know what they say about eyes being the windows to the soul.

Unfortunately, when Coraline refuses to sew buttons into her eyes, the Other Mother isn't very willing to let her leave until she consents. During this time, all the fantastic marvels that thrilled and excited Coraline before are transforming before her very eyes into what they really are: the Other Mother's trap.

How will Coraline escape? Will she have to stay in the Other World forever?

Read the book and find out! Or watch the movie. Up to you.

Coraline is a children's book, so it is very easy to read and very short. I would recommend it for people of all ages. I had to read it for my freshman English class and write an eight-page paper on it to connect it to Freud's theory of the uncanny. So it is relevant academically. Just keep in mind that it is pretty creepy.

And if you don't want to read a book that is for children, I would recommend seeing the movie. Even though it is also a kid's movie, it still has a compelling plot, the animation is really interesting (Tim Burton, remember?), and it's also uber creepy.

Hope you enjoy Coraline (book and film) as much as I have.

Happy reading!!

Zombies?

Hey, guys!

I finally finished Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick last night and I honestly don't know whether to love it or hate it.

The book is told from the perspective of a seventeen-year-old girl named Alex who was orphaned at the age of fourteen, and shortly afterwards received news that she may be expected to suffer their fate as well. Her parents died in a crash, but not too long after, Alex was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Despite experimental treatments, the monster (as Alex is fond of calling the tumor) grew and snuffed out her sense of smell.

Some people may not know this, but the sense of smell is closely linked to the sense of taste and to memory. That means that not only did Alex stop tasting food and drink, but she also began to lose her memory. This includes memories of her parents.

After going along with the fruitless treatments, Alex decided that enough was enough and went off on her own to hike in the Waucamaw (a mountain trail) to get away and find herself. Shortly after running into a bratty eight-year-old, Ellie, and her nosy grandfather, Jack, everything goes wrong.

Something causes the animals to run around going crazy while the humans feel an intense pain in their skulls before it is over. Their electronics are fried and now Alex must deal with Ellie's complaints and inability to cooperate as they try to hike to the ranger's station after losing most of their supplies and their only map. All they have is a limited ration of food, minimal supplies, and the help of a former soldier named Tom.

But that's not all. As a result of a disaster of unknown origin, there are people who have been changed. Primarily teenagers and young adults have been affected by what Alex calls the Zap in a way that causes them to act like zombies: cannibalism and an inability to communicate or feel empathy.

Alex is also changing. After the Zap, her sense of smell has come back stronger than a dog's and, with it, her memories. But she's afraid. Since the people who have changed into cannibals are within her age group, does that mean that she is on her way to becoming just like them? Given enough time, will she take a bite out of Ellie or Tom?

You will have to read to find out. I'm kind of evil like that.

Now, the reason I absolutely love this book is that it is gripping and suspenseful and full of action. Much like James Dashner's books, you can never tell from one chapter what will happen in the next. And so many plot twists. Oh, my God, the closer I got to the end the harder it was to put the book down.

So, why do I kind of hate it? The evil, evil cliffhanger at the end of the book.

My boyfriend had read the book before I took it out at the library and he warned me about the ending. But I never would've dreamed that it would be that bad! Bick may as well have ended the book mid-sentence! I suppose that the beauty of the ending is that it leaves you wanting more.

And there is more.

Turns out that Ashes is part of a trilogy. The sequels are Shadows and Monsters and you can be sure that I will check those out at the library the next time I take my boyfriend on a library date.

As for my recommendations for the first installment? I highly recommend this book, especially if you are into survival stories, (post) apocalyptic novels, or action-packed reading. Although the ending is frustrating, the rest of the book is well worth it. I actually feel much better about the ending knowing that there is more to come.

Check back in for more posts and leave a comment if you're hankering for a review for a specific book.

Happy reading!!

Another Classic

Hey, guys!

Since the last review I wrote was for The Call of the Wild by Jack London and I had mentioned that it was similar to another classic work of literature, I thought that I would write a review for Black Beauty by Anna Sewell.

Short summary: The Call of the Wild but with horses. Okay, it's not as funny the second time, but it's still true. I'll bet that all this literature about animals being traded between various owners (some of them cruel) was a comment on animal cruelty at the time and the basic spirit of animals and the connections they share with their owners.

Black Beauty is a novel about a horse named Black Beauty for a) his dark fur, and b) his elegant and graceful demeanor. Black Beauty is sold between several humans, some of which treat him cruelly (like Buck in The Call of the Wild). In these cases, he is poorly fed and neglected until his suffering is recognized by another human. In other cases, Black Beauty forms deep bonds with his caregiver and is willing to put his life on the line for his master when he knows that his master would do the same for him.

It has been a while since I've read the book, but I remember a couple of his friends: a Shetland pony and another horse named Ginger. The part that these two play in the story is to contrast their situations and to emphasize the cruel nature of humans in certain cases.

I will say that to those animal lovers out there, this book does get sad in some places, and often it is very difficult to read because of the suffering that Black Beauty and his friends endure. But it is also a very good read for animal lovers.

If I recall correctly, I had to read this book twice because it was one of those classics that called out to me as a kid, but didn't quite keep my mind from wandering while I was reading it. I may have started out with a picture book of this story in elementary school. There was plenty of text, but I think that the pretty pictures may have distracted me just a bit. But like I said: elementary school. And short attention span.

I know that this review was pretty short, but I am still working on Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick. I am past the halfway point with that book, and it is getting really good. You can expect a review for this book in the near future, so keep an eye out. Until next time!

Happy reading!