May72012
1) I am sorry for my hiatus, I have been reading, but am behind on blogging about my books because well, real life got in the way!
2) I may continue to be behind con season is coming, I am taking a summer class, and well yea. (If you are at Ascendio or Leaky PM me I’d love to meet you and talk about awesome books and authors!)
3) OK I LOATHE modern poetry. Or I thought I did. Levithan made me love something yet again that I was not prepared to love. Realm of Possibility is about 20 teenagers in 1 high school and how their lives overlap. It is written in blocks of 4 poems. These range from prose, to song lyrics, to just simple amazingness. I kept reading and couldn’t put it down. I loved how the characters overlaped. I loved the real issues surrounding class, gender, race and sexuality were discussed in a light, yet serious and adult manner. Again he didn’t dumb things down just because he is writing for the YA audience. I get so peeved by authors who do this, who think the YA audience isn’t ready for serious issues. So many YA books cover these topics better than the adult novels. The NYTBS list is full of adult fluff and crap, yet these YA books which some don’t consider a real genre are filled with real, hard hitting issues and are so poignant and powerful that it blows my mind. I read these books (Levithan, Green, Johnson, Perkins in particular) and just want to cuddle them and appreciate them and make everyone read them.
SOOOOOO even if you aren’t in to poetry, but are interested in social issues, romance, and just a great read I can’t recommend this book enough!
March272012
Maureen Johnson never disappoints! (Thank goodness!!!) I was a little skeptical when I read the premise of the book, Demons, Satan, high schoolers…I was wary to say the least. However, Johnson like always, expertly weaves an engaging tale of good vs evil, right vs wrong, friendship, love, loyalty and a bit of the supernatural!
The suspense in the novel is expertly crafted, you never know what will happen next. Her characters while seeming shallow are nothing but. She developed Jane and Allison expertly. They are girls most people could identify with, sure they have some extraordinary things happen, and they go to a prep school, but their hopes of popularity and being liked, anyone can identify with. These hopes, their own insecurities lead them down a dangerous path. While we may not have run-ins with the supernatural on a daily basis, women and girls always have a desire to fit in, they always have self doubt, they pick themselves apart when they don’t fit the media image of perfection. We all have our own demons we struggle with, sure they may not be the Demons Johnson writes about, but they can destroy us, our friendships, our relationships just as easily as the Demons Johnson wrote about.
It really was a great novel on accepting yourself, accepting your friends, if you can look past the supernatural and accept that those real live demons Johnson wrote can live within you if you aren’t careful. Either way, it is a wonderful quick and fascinating read. I couldn’t put it down!
March242012
This novel beyond lived up to my expectations. I fell in love with Perkins with her novel Anna And The French Kiss (thanks to John Green) so I just knew I had to read this one too. It seriously did not disappoint. Sure it was lacking British/French/European flair, but I LOVED IT!
Anna is dating Max…who is a bit too old for her and her fathers, well they don’t like it or him at all! Then Anna’s life gets turned upside down when she gets new…well kind of new neighbors in her San Fran neighborhood. It’s a story of love, friendship, family and finding (and loving) yourself! Anna is a bit eccentric, but she loves it that way, even if everyone around her doesn’t. She finds out who and what really matters to her. I could easily identify with aspects of many of the characters. This is key for me, I love being able to identify with the feelings or hopes and dreams of the characters I am reading, it makes one so much more involved in the story. I love having all the feels!
It was AMAZING to see Anna and St Clair show up in this book! I got all giddy inside just seeing the two of them again. I honestly can’t praise this book enough. Perkins gave the readers amazing well developed characters, love, friendship, identity struggle, family struggle, showed us sometimes people can change, and a wonderfully delicious plot. She also reminds us all to love ourselves and what makes us different (nerd or otherwise) and without going out and saying it, it’s totally a DFTBA book!!!
I just wish I could find a guy who acts like St. Clair or Cricket Bell! Perkins gives guys a lot to live up to!!!
If you love romance, or you loved Anna And The French Kiss, or even if you just want a good story filled with interesting characters you can identify with, this is so the book for you!
March232012
I kept having this strange feeling of deja-vu as I began reading Wasserman’s novel Hacking Harvard. I still can’t figure out where I’ve seen the beginning part of the plot before (the movie Perfect Score comes to mind?) Anyways, I enjoyed the book a lot. The characters were…okay. I couldn’t relate to any of them, or even relate any of them to any of my friends. I could relate to the idea that the college admissions system is flawed, but that is as far as I got.
Even though I couldn’t identify with any character, I still really enjoyed the novel. It takes place in Cambridge Mass (my old stomping grounds…yay nostalgia!) and is about a group of high school kids, pulling hacks (not pranks there is a difference) only this one involves Harvard, and their admissions process. They plan to get a slacker in to Harvard.
I was really bothered by the lack of backbone some characters had, okay most of them actually. Sure it makes the story amusing, but it still irked me. The sprinkle of romance was enjoyable and made the story that much more interesting.
It’s worth a read, and really makes you think twice about the admissions system. Why did you get in to college where you did?
March212012
I had SUCH a hard time getting through this book. I love Levithan, I really really do. I loved this book, I swear I did, but I had such a hard time reading it. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why, then today when I finished it I realized why. This book is happening…it’s happening right now. Politicians are trying to scare us, create wars, have a crap economy, they are trying to control our constitutionally given freedoms. They are trying to get ignore that this country is a government Of the people FOR the people and BY the people. Which means…well LISTEN TO THE DAMN PEOPLE.
This book made me think of the Gore Bush elections and the recount, and Florida and just…well ugh. The sad part is this book is reality.
It is a story of a gay Jewish president…well maybe president. The fight to get to office, the fight of the people of the country backing him. The story revolves around Duncan and Jimmy, their relationship and love, and their desire for Stein to be president. It is wonderfully written, it is beautiful. It scares the crap out of me though. I can see the events in the book happening around me, and continuing to the future to “protect morals.” Taking away the voice of well, everyone who doesn’t fit the heterosexual, white, Christian mold.
GO READ THIS NOW. DO SOMETHING. TAKE A STAND.
I am now going to read something quick and easy, but will be returning to this book. I just want to cuddle it to bits.
March152012
I loathe books that are written in diary format. I loathe books that use texting/internet speak. I understand these were blog posts/texts/tweets, but please, use real words!!! I also loathe books that constantly switch between two characters.
Falling In Love With English Boys is all the things I loathe. The story has so much potential to be amazing, to be wonderful. It is full of England and history and culture and mystery and romance and friendship. The premise is cute. The issues (divorce/bad parents) are real, the historical references as far as I can tell are very period accurate, the parallels between the history and the current time is something I LOVE. (OK so I am slightly passionate about using pop culture to help show how history is still relevant, how these people from history can still teach us valuable life lessons.) The execution for my personal preferences left a lot to be desired though. I just wish it was written as a novel not a back and forth comparison of a blog post to a 200 year old diary entry. I did, however, also greatly appreciate the insight in to Iraqi issues as brief as it was!
If you don’t have issues with the writing format, I could see it as an enjoyable book, filled with many good ideas and stories!
March122012
I swear I normally stay away from the mushy stuff, it is all too predictable. Flirting With Boys was indeed predictable. This is the story of Celeste, her boyfriend Travis, her best friend Devon and her family’s business the Pinyon Ranch Resort. The story is set in California, and it revolves around the resort, resort life, and obviously boys. I knew within the first few chapters who I wanted Celeste to end up with, and who she would end up with. The story was good, and there were some surprising plot twists, however, in the end I knew all along what would happen.
3/5 stars on this one only because of it’s sheer predictability. Also Celeste is made out to be stupid because boys are around, when honestly she is not stupid. This irritates me. I like seeing strong independent female characters.
March112012
I came in to this book with high expectations, John Green had been promoting it for a bit. So I finally got around to reading it, from the jacket I was expecting some horribly written teen romance set in a boarding school, yet again. What I found was an amazingly poignant story, sure there was love, and teen angst, but it went so far beyond that. I am still processing my feelings on this.
Needless to say I spent another night sleeping far too little, and reading far too much. I read it in one sitting. I just couldn’t put this book down. I love Anna, I relate to Anna. I love Etienne, love love love love love him. I want one of him for my very own. The setting, I couldn’t relate to first hand, it is only something I could dream of. I’d love to have been sent to a boarding school in PARIS!
Perkins touches on love, romance, friendship, life, death, parents, pride, mixed emotions, expectations, and how life goes on after you move, things are always changing. As someone who has moved a bit, I have found that I expect things to stay the same, yet am always surprised when they don’t. It’s part of life. It isn’t personal. Perkins reminds readers of that. I also love that she touches upon literature and what is taught in other countries versus in the US. After studying that throughout college, I know it to be true, but it still fascinates me immensely. She also works in facts about translations of books (and people) in to her story. Another passion of mine, what is lost in translations in literature.
If you like John Green…but this isn’t your normal type of book…TRUST HIM. It is wonderful.
