I just finished another book, and since I have time today, I thought that I would blog about it. Since I'm going back to school next week, this might possibly be the last book that I blog about for awhile. I may update every now and then with something cool I learn in class, or possibly reviews about what I'm reading for my literature classes, etc. It's been fun tracking everything I've read since April, and I'm not sure how many people read this, but thanks for sticking with me!

Novel #15
Title: Water for Elephants
Author: Sara Gruen
Grade: C-
Brief Summary: Jacob Jankowski faces a hard life ahead of him when his parents suddenly die during last month of college. Because of the Depression, Jacob sees no future for himself, and he walks out of his final veterinarian exams. He jumps onto the first passing train which happens to be for The Benzini Brothers circus, and they just happen to need a veterinarian. Jacob starts working with August, the equestrian director, and his wife, Marlena, who Jacob falls for. Can Jacob keep his feelings in check and take care of The Benzini's newest performer, an elephant named Rosie?
Review: I want to be perfectly clear: I did not start reading this book because of Robert Pattinson. I will say that seeing the commercials for the movie adaptation sparked my interest in the novel, but it had nothing to do with a certain actor. Ok, now that's been made clear, I can move on. I was very disappointed in this book. The storyline at first seemed very intriguing: an old man reflects back on the summer that changed his life, which happened to be when he traveled with a circus. So I started reading, and at first it was really great. Then, about 20-30 pages in, it started to get really racy and raunchy. That's when I probably when I should have put the book down, but I didn't want to give up just for that. There were only about two more racy scenes, and I dealt with that. What really started to get to me was the treatment of the character August. August seems to have a split personality at first, and later in the book you find out why. Now, I know that back in the 1930's, there wasn't a lot of sympathy for people with mental or emotional disorders. But wanting to kill a man because he has a disorder is not cool, and this is what happens when August, Jacob, and Marlena have a falling out. Jacob seems to be a caring man, and then all of a sudden, he wants to kill a man, even after he finds out that August has problems. That really ruined the book for me after that, because the one character that I felt sympathetic got a really crappy ending, while the other two characters had a better ending. I just felt like August's character was stereotyped, and I did not like it at all. There could have been much better writing on Gruen's part. I did like the ending chapter however, just because it ties old Jacob back to the beginning of his journey, and I love when authors finish a story that way. Other than that, I am really surprised and can't believe this novel is a New York Times Bestseller; it probably has something to do with Robert Pattinson.

Man, I didn't realize how far behind I was in my blogging! Here are my most recently read novels.

Novel #14
Title: Where the Heart Is
Author: Billie Letts
Grade: B-
Brief Summary: Unlike most superstitious people, Novalee Nation hates the number 7; it has always been unlucky for her. Case in point: while she is seven months pregnant, and 17 years old, her boyfriend leaves her stranded at a Walmart in a small Oklahoma town. Finding nowhere else to go, and finding that the store has everything she needs, Novalee lives in the Walmart. As she begins to explore the town more, Novalee befriends the townspeople and builds strong relationships, which help her on a journey, in which she learns about love and friendship.
Review: Once again, I have found a book where I actually liked the movie adaptation instead of the actual book. I picked this book up thinking "Well I liked the movie, so why not?" and put it down thinking, "Ok, I should have just stuck to the movie." The story tended to drag a little bit, especially because at points in the story, Letts describes what is happening to Willy Jack, Novalee's boyfriend/baby daddy. For me, I wasn't all too interested in his story. I'm not sure if this was Lett's attempt for us to feel sympathy for his character, but I definitely felt he got his in the end. There were some cute parts, some sad, but for the most part, the story just felt like it was going on forever and ever. I did like, however, that Novalee's character starts off as a pleasing pushover into a stronger and determined young woman; this could have been done in a hundred page shorter novel, though.

Novel #12
Title: The Diary of a Young Girl
Author: Anne Frank
Grade: A+
Brief Summary:  This book is the diary of Anne Frank, a Jewish girl who hid with her family in a secret annex during the German Occupation of Amsterdam. It details the lives of the eight individuals in hiding, the on-goings of WWII, and the burgeoning adolescent life of the author herself.
Review: I have tried to read this books for years, but had never made it past the first 10 pages. I was determined this time around to make it through. And I'm glad I did. This book was amazing. Not only is this a first-hand account of the Nazi prejudices against the Jewish people, it is also gives amazing insight of human nature, considering it is written by a 13-15 year old. Even though this was written during WWII, I felt as though this was more a coming of age book than a Holocaust novel. Throughout this book, you read first hand about the struggles and self doubts that a teenage girl faces, and how she is able, by the end of the novel, to become more self assured.  It is sad to think that just a few months after her last entry, Anne died in a death camp. This girl had the beginnings of a bright future that was stifled by a war. She had a better grasp on life than most of the adults surrounding her, and she wrote about hope and happiness, which is surprising due to her circumstances. At one point in the book, she tells of how her mother suggests that when Anne feels sad, she should think about "all the misery in the world and be thankful that you are not sharing in it!" (171). Anne writes her opinion about that idea, and is one of my favorite parts of her account:
        I don't see how Mummy's idea can be right, because then how are you supposed to             behave if you go through the misery yourself? Then you are lost. On the contrary,
        I've found that there is always some beauty left--in nature, sunshine, freedom, in
        yourself, these can all help you. Look at these things, then you find yourself again, and
        God, and then you regain your balance. And whoever is happy will make others happy
        too. He who as courage and faith will never perish in misery! (171).
This is something I have slowly learned throughout my life, and Anne figured this out in a matter of years in hiding.
    Even though I read a lot, there are only a few books that have changed my life, and I will say without a doubt, that this book is one of them.

Novels #9
Title: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Author: Lewis Carroll
Grade: A+
Brief Summary: The classic tale of precocious Alice and her journey into her imaginary Wonderland. Alice meets iconic characters such as the Caterpillar, The Mad Hatter and March Hare, and the tyrant Queen of Hearts.
Review: I have always loved the film versions of Alice in Wonderland, particularly the Walt Disney version, and so I decided to give the books a whirl. I absolutely loved Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I love the idea behind the tale, that sometimes a little silliness is needed and you can't be serious all the time. Alice struggles with this idea in Wonderland. First of all, her size is constantly changing, and she faces an identity crisis. My favorite chapter was her conversation with the Caterpillar. She explains the Caterpillar her feelings by comparing it to his imminent change into a butterfly. I loved the imagery there, and the Caterpillar's blunt expressions to Alice about how she should know how she is were oddly comforting. Second, Alice quickly realizes that she is the most sensible person in Wonderland, and it makes her stand out. Whenever she tries to interact with the inhabitants and join in their fun, she gets frustrated and can't accept their funny ways. When she does start to get silly, as with her odd recitations of poetry, she goes completely off into the nonsensical, and the Wonderlandians find her to be very odd. I think Lewis Carroll was trying, in a roundabout way, to say that there needs to be a balance between serious and silly.
Novel #10
Title: Through the Looking-Glass
Author: Lewis Carroll
Grade: C
Brief Summary: Alice returns in the sequel to Adventure's in Wonderland. She goes through the mirror in her house to a new land, and she joins in a chess game in order to become a queen. She meets characters such as the Red and White Queen, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, and the White Knight.
Review: You know that myth that Lewis Carroll was high when he wrote these stories? Well, I didn't believe it when I was reading the first story, because it just seemed to be a fantasical story from a child's imagination. This story, however, makes the myth seem totally plausible. The story reminded me of those dreams you have where you'll be doing one thing, and then suddenly you're doing something totally different, and you really need to get somewhere, but you can't because all these obstacles get in your way (for instance, in my dreams, I usually need to go to the bathroom, and I can't ever get there, and then I wake up and realize that I actually really do need to go to the bathroom.) Anyway, this story is very jumpy, and if you aren't paying close attention, you get lost and have to go reread what you just read. Where I got lost in Carroll's language from the first story, I was very very bored with his language in this tale, and I just wanted the story to end. Bottom line: it was really weird, and I don't think I'll be rereading it in the future.
 

Novel #11
Title: If I Should Die Before I Wake
Author: Han Nolan
Grade: B
Brief Summary:  Two girls are fighting for survival. Hillary is a girl from the present day. She is part of a Neo-Nazi group and she absolutely hates Jews. She gets in a  motorcycle accident and is taken to a Jewish Hospital, where in a coma, she starts to have dreams of a different life. Chana is a Jewish girl living in Poland at the onset of WWII. She and her family live in the Lodz Ghetto, and soon she is taken imprisoned and taken to Auschwitz. She has to deal with the separation from her family and the many deaths surrounding her, and tries to keep her own at bay.
Review: This was a very interesting read. I have always been fascinated by the Holocaust and the events of WWII. Even though the stories are deeply depressing, I still love reading them. I picked up this book at the bookstore because it had an interesting premise. When I first stared reading, it took me a minute to realize that Hillary was from the present day. When I read the back of the book, for some reason I though she was supposed to also be from WWII. So, it took me a while to get into the story. Once I did, I read the book in about a day. I'll be honest, Chana's story interested me more than Hillary's did. But the intertwining of their stories was very well done, especially in the ending. When I first was reading Hillary's point of view, I didn't know if I could keep reading. This girl's point of view was written with a lot of hatred, specifically to the Jewish people, and it just made me sick. But once you start to learn more about her past and her relationship with her parents, it starts to make sense where her hatred comes from, and what it is really covering up. Chana's story goes into just enough details for the Young Adult reader wanting to learn about the Holocaust. The were the familiar, gruesome, painful details that help us remember what happened, and how it can't ever happen again. Parts of this story did made me think of The Devil's Arithmetic, just because that book has a similar story, but I still enjoyed it. 

The latest three books that I read was the Uglies Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld. Now, some of you might be thinking, "But there are four books from that series!" Well, as I get into my review you will understand why I read only the three books instead of the four. For this review, I am going to grade each book separately, and then give an overall grade for the entire series. In the future, when I read a series, I will do the same.

Novel #7
Title: Pretties
Grade: B-
Brief Summary: Tally has returned to the city and has had the pretty operation. She is having a fun time with Shay, who has also turned pretty, and is even about to become a member of a popular clique, The Crims, a group of pretties who were particularly mischevious when they were Uglies. Head of this clique is Zane, an attractive pretty who is always looking for ways to become "bubbly," or in other words, clear headed. Tally and Zane stumble upon a bit of Tally's past and realize what the operation has done to them, and they decide that they need to escape the city and return to the Smoke. Tally's past with Shay also comes to light, and Shay becomes angered by Tally and finds her own way of becoming bubbly.
Review: This book, again, focuses more on plot development than on character development. The character of Zane is a bit more refreshing, as he seems to be the only character with a mind of his own. The repetitiveness of Tally and Shay's friendship on the fritz is like deja vu. There are some new developments about the society at this time, but some of these are starting to get a bit unrealistic. Which is funny considering this is a science fiction novel. But I believe that readers are able to accept certain parts of any sci-fi, fantasy, or supernatural book before it starts to get a bit unbelievable. Such is the case with Shay's idea for becoming bubbly, which feeds into the next book. But there are still parts of this development that are fascinating, specifically with Tally's discovery of the reservation (and no, I'm not going to tell you more, in case you want to read it for yourself!)

Novel #8
Title:  Specials
Grade: C
Brief Summary: Tally has returned to the city one more time, and this time has undergone surgery to become a Special, one of the city's secret security team. She has become one of Shay's Cutters, which is a group of special Specials, who purposely cut themselves in order to keep their minds icy clear. Tally has become hell-bent on seeking revenge on the Smoke and David, for what they have done to Zane. She and Shay come up with an idea to help Zane, but inadvertently start a war between their city and another city. Will Tally be able to help Zane, take down the New Smoke and fix her mistakes as well?
Review: This book is when Westerfeld takes his dystopian society from the believable future in Uglies and the slightly less believable Pretties society, into a completely unbelievable story. The novel starts to delve into the absurd within the first couple of chapters, and keeps going until near the end, I about gave up. However, the last about 100 pages started to pick up, and I finally got the protagonist that I have been waiting for throughout this entire series. Tally steps up to the plate and becomes her own person, and it is a breath of fresh air to finally see that within the story. However, it isn't able to save the rest of the novel.

Overall Grade: C+
Why?: This series started off weak, and it ended weak. There wasn't enough character development throughout the series to keep the reader interested. When I read a series, I expect the author to get better and better with each book, plot wise, character wise, and writing style wise. Westerfeld falls flat on every single one of these. He takes his believable story and turns it into a typical, bad Sci-Fi movie plot line. It was because of my dissatisfaction with the last book that I did not even want to attempt to read the fourth book in the series. I had had enough of the ridiculous storyline and characters and couldn't stomach another book like the others.

Well, it is a couple of weeks late but here are my reviews of the books I've read recently.

Novel #4
Title: Abandon
Author: Meg Cabot
Grade: B
Brief Summary: Pierce used to be a smart, driven, popular teenage girl before she died. But when she came back to life, everything changed. Her parents divorced, her best friend died, and now Pierce's mother has moved her to a little island in the Florida Keys. But moving isn't going to help Pierce escape from him, John Hayden, her personal reminder of her brush with death. A modern retelling of the Persephone and Haydes myth.
Review: Meg Cabot has always been a favorite author of mine. She is well known for writing two types of teen novels: quirky, light, romantic comedy type stories (such as The Princess Diaries series) and books that have mystical, supernatural elements but take place in the real world (The Mediator Series, 1-800-Where-R-U). This book definitely would fall under the latter category, but in an unsettling way. This book felt as though Cabot had two really good story ideas and she tried to mesh them together. The first idea is the retelling of the Persephone myth. Girl dies, King of the Underworld falls in love and holds her hostage, she escapes and he follows to protect her. That's basically the storyline, without giving anything away. So, that is a pretty cool idea, since most modern retellings these days are of fairy tales and tend to ignore the more mythical stories. The second idea is one for a great Young Adult problem novel. A girl dies but is revived and she comes back to find that her previously easy life is complicated. She has to deal with divorce, suicide, moving away from her childhood home, meeting new friends and starting a new life. I was very impressed with Meg's writing during these parts because never before have I read something of hers that was so angst driven and focused on teenage problems. It reminded me a lot of Laurie Halse Anderson and her works, and I was glad to see this shift in Meg's writing from teen romance to good, nitty gritty problem writing. The part where this story fell flat is when she tried to mesh these two ideas together. In theory, it should have worked, but in practice it didn't. I felt as though I were reading two very different stories but they were supposed to be a whole. It was unsettling, and I found that most of the time, whenever the mystical parts came in, I have completely forgotten about that part of the story and they came out of nowhere. I really hope that in her next two books (This is the first in a trilogy of books) Meg will tie it all together.

Novel #5
Title: This Lullaby
Author: Sarah Dessen
Grade: B+
Brief Summary: Remy is a skeptic when it comes to love. It isn't hard to see why when you look at her mother's previous four marriages, which includes the divorce from Remy's rock-star father. But this skepticism will be tested when she meets Dexter, a traveling musician who doesn't seem to get the message that Remy isn't interested in love. But when she starts to get to know Dexter and starts breaking all of her own rules of romance, will she become a believer, or will it just be another reason for her disbelief.
Review: Where Meg Cabot is known for her fun, light hearted teen romance books, Sarah Dessen is well known for being the best at capturing the ups and down of first love. Dessen is able to show that teenage love isn't always happy-go-lucky, but it can break your heart, and it can hurt. What I like about Sarah Dessen's books is that although the romantic storyline is always the headliner, there is always an underlying teen problem thrown in there as well. In this book, it's the issue of divorce and remarrying. Remy's mother in this book is marrying for the fifth time, and you see how it affects Remy and her brother Chris. Remy doesn't want to become like her mom, so she has become very scientific when it comes to relationships. She has rules and she knows exactly when it is the best time to get out. But this has left Remy without the ability to ever get close to anyone. The closest relationships that Remy has are with her girlfriends, and even then, she has those relationships figured out as well. She lives her life in a very organized, but cold way, as she sees that these little things will help her be in control. Enter in Dexter, the awkwardly delightful musician who at first seems like a total pain in her neck, but eventually turns out to be the one possible chance that Remy has for being in love. But because of seeing her mother's previous downfalls with love, it leaves her scared. I love how Sarah Dessen uses the underlying problem to feed into the headline problem, because she shows teens that yes, these things happen in life that we can't control, but we can't let them control our entire outlook on life. What I didn't like about this book is that it took a while to get into, and I find that with most of what I've read by Dessen. However, once you get to know the characters and you get the story, it's a fast read and is enjoyable. It'll leave you wondering what Remy will decide up until the very last moment.


It is going to be awhile before I post again, because for my next books, I'm reading a series, and I want to post them all together. But, hopefully I'll finish soon and there will be a post. Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave comments, I'd love to hear your opinions.

It's been a couple of week since I last posted, and I have finished a couple of books since I posted. I've been working on some other projects/applying and interviewing for jobs, so I've been a little busy. I'm planning on posting sometime tomorrow about those books I've read. I've also decided that I'm going to put up a little piece about my influences/favorite authors about once a week. Anyway, that's just a little bit about what I've been up to.

Novel #3
Title: About a Boy
Author: Nick Hornby
Grade: A
Brief Summary: Will is a cool, up-to-date, 36-year-old bachelor living in London. His biggest worry is coming up with things to do during the day, as living off his father's wealth means he doesn't work. Marcus is a peculiar, old soul, 12-year-old boy who is being bullied at school and is worried that his mother is crying at breakfast and coming home early from work. When Will pretends to be a single father to pick up single mothers, he meets Marcus, and an unlikely friendship begins. Will teaches Marcus how to be a kid, and Marcus teaches Will how to grow up.
Review: I found a copy of this novel at the Desert Industries in Rexburg, and I got so excited. I love the film adaptation of this novel and decided that I would read the novel (and being priced at 50 cents, I couldn't pass up the deal!). As I was already familiar with the story, it didn't take me too long to catch on to the plot. What I love is that in the book, you really get a sense of Will and Marcus' characterization, as the book is written in both their points of view. You immediately get the sense of Will's slightly arrogant and conceited personality, and Marcus's interesting, simplistic, and truthful view of the world. You can't help but love both of these characters. There are moments of laugh out loud goodness. If you are a fan of the movie, you'll be a bit surprised by the ending, as it is different than the movie. However, the ending in the novel is the perfect way of showing the growth of not just Will and Marcus, but as Marcus's mom, Fiona as well. This book is endearing and a good read for those wishing to rediscover youth, and in a way, this is a coming-of-age novel, as both Will and Marcus start to act more their age at the end of the novel. However, I would not recommend this novel to anyone under the age of 16, because there is a bit of language (the author is British, enough said about that) and there are a few conversations about sex.

I have finished my first two books! To be fair, I finished the first one about a week ago and just finished the second. Anyway, I was so excited that I couldn't wait until tomorrow morning to post my thoughts about both.

In November of 2009, my sister introduced me to a series of new YA fantasy books titled The Mortal Instruments. These books were highly entertaining. The author of these books has since written number 4 in that series, adding on to the story that she had previously thought she had finished, and has also started writing a prequel series. So, without further ado, here are my reviews!

Since I'm not just a writer, but a reader as well, I thought that I would start a blog about what I'm reading and who wrote it. You'll come to find that I read A LOT of Young Adult Literature. This is because, with my emphasis in Education, I want to know what my students are reading and whether or not it is substantial literature for them to read. Some may think that when I say Young Adult Literature all they can think about is the Twilight Saga and all of the various fantasy novels that have risen from that popularity. But Young Adult Fantasy is just a genre. There are so many other types of Young Adult books that get overlooked because they aren't hyped up or popular, but these books are amazing and can actually teach young adults that yes, they are going through awkward times, but it is possible to get through them. Okay, that's enough of an explanation for right now. Maybe I'll do a post later on more of my thoughts.*

It is my goal over my summer break to get in as much free reading as I can before I return to school and have assigned reading (which I don't mind, as I get introduced to some amazing works. I love being an English Major!). So I've decided to post about what I've read and my thoughts about the book, sort of giving a review.

That is just a little bit of a run down that you're going to find on this blog. If you're interested, keep an eye open...we've got a fun, open road ahead of us!

*If you're interested in a little more about Young Adult Literature, under my "Written Works" tab, I have a research paper that I wrote about censorship of YA novels