The Book Blog

The Adoration of Jenna Fox (Read with me?)

2010-06-24T12:09:00.000-07:00

I have made a visit to my town's public library and obtained eight books, one of them a book on CD. I've also gotten 3 books at Borders and 1 at the grocery store. Basically, for this summer, I have fourteen books to read. (Yeah, I know, those don't add up, but I still don't have one of my school's summer reading books, and I have an Amazon book shipping in late August)
I've decided to start with The Adoration of Jenna Fox. Matt, it's no longer at the library since I snagged it, but it's paperback at Borders if you want to join me in reading it!

Adoration is a book about seventeen-year-old Jenna Fox. Jenna was in a coma for over a year, after being in an accident which has not yet been explained. She has been awake for two weeks. She remembers nothing of her past. She has trouble with facial expressions, saying that the only one she knows so far is a smile. She cannot read or mimic them.
Since she has woken up, she describes what has happened in the world.
"Over a year has vanished. I've gone from sixteen to seventeen. A second woman has been elected president. A twelfth planet has been named in the solar system. The last wild polar bear has died. Headline news that couldn't stir me. I slept through it all."

From this paragraph, we can conclude that Jenna lives sometime in the future. Currently we have eight planets, zero woman presidents, and a dying wild polar bear (sniffle, I love polar bears) population.
I'm on page six, and already intrigued. Ready, set, READ!

Oh Gosh! Let's Start With Of Mice and Men!

2010-03-13T12:14:00.000-08:00

So I've been completely awful about posting. The issue is that my mom has given me an ultimatum--get any more zeroes, don't go to the summer program I want. Screw my lack of motivation, I've got to go this summer! Anyway, now it's a Saturday, and homework is put out of mind until Sunday. Enough about my life, let's get some book reviews going!
I believe I last posted about The House of the Scorpion. Since then, I've finished several books... let's see
Of Mice and Men (school) by John Steinbeck
The Last Universe by William Sleator
The second Percy Jackson book by Rick Riordan (will review when done with series)
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (the second book in The Hunger Games series, which I don't know how to review without spoiling it :- (
Oh! Nearly forgot Cycler by Lauren McLaughlin.
I'm almost done with Kingdom Keepers II by Ridley Pearson.

So! Let's start with OMaM! It's of course, an American classic, a book millions of high schoolers have been made to read... and my English class has just finished it. I'm not a huge Steinbeck fan. I read his novella The Pearl last year, and I hated it. I hate Steinbeck almost as much as I hate Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451 was okay, but the ending kind of sucked and the author interview showed Bradbury to be a complete narcissist.)!
Anyway, Of Mice and Men was all right. Being forced to read a book always takes away from it a bit, but it wasn't bad. It's a novella, six chapters, a little over 100 pages. It's about, as you may know, two men, George and Lennie, who live in 1930s California. They are trying to achieve their dream of owning a small farm, where Lennie will tend the rabbits, and they'll "live off the fatta the lan'". It's got awful grammar (on purpose... and only the dialogue... it's the whole slang/way people talked), the only female is only referred to as "Curley's Wife", and to me, the main message was "there are some things in life that are out of your hands, and will consequently stop you from achieving your dreams".
Anyway, Lennie is a large man, very strong, but with the mind of a child. George is smaller and sharper. The two travel together because George took care of Lennie after his Aunt Clara died. The two are heading for a ranch near Soledad, which I found out translates into "loneliness". They had to leave their old town, Weed, because Lennie, wanting to feel soft things, grabbed on to some girl's dress. Of course, she freaked out and accused him of raping her. Yeah, they had to flee for their lives. So poor Lennie's always accidentally getting into trouble. I saw his mental condition as one of the obstacles you can't control.
Anyway, the conflict is of course that Lennie does something else bad by accident, and George has to decide to run away with Lennie, or the alternative...
If you haven't read it for school, or aren't going to, I would say you could read it. It's pretty short, probably a couple hours' read when you're not analyzing the whole damn book :- ).
Anyway, next up, The Last Universe!

The House of the Scorpion

2010-03-04T06:15:00.000-08:00

The House of the Scorpion, by Nancy Farmer, was recommended to me. I picked it up at Borders, and after finishing The Hunger Games and Airhead, began reading it.

The book's a few hundred pages, though it does drag by a little. This isn't bad, it just seems like the book should be longer, after all it crams in. It seems longer than it is, is what I'm trying to say. I think caffeine would benefit me right about now. I'm nearly falling asleep here in school...

Anyway. Back on topic. I thought it was incredible. The book revolves around Matteo Alacran, called Matt. He's the clone of a tyrant who runs a drug nation. The original Matteo, called El Patron, is about one hundred and forty the first time his name is mentioned. In the beginning of the book, Matt is cared for by Celia, who is a cook at the Alacran household. Matt wonders what goes on at the "big house" on the estate, and wishes he could escape. One day, he sees some children who live at the big house. He is desperate to play with some other children, and breaks a window. He jumps out (it's a single-story house), and cuts himself on the shattered glass. He is brought to the big house to be patched up. While the doctors stitch up his feet, they discover a small tattoo, reading Property of the Alacran Estate. This indicates that Matt is a clone. In this world, clones are considered inferior to humans, since they are usually injected with a chemical that lowers their IQ, rendering them retarded. Matt, being the clone of an extremely powerful man, was not injected with this. He is the only clone, as far as anyone knows, that has their original intelligence.
Matt is taken to a room where he is imprisoned by Rosa, a servant of the household. Rosa is a cruel woman, and she treats Matt like an animal, filling his cell with shavings like you'd put in a hamster's cage. Finally, El Patron arrives at the estate, and Matt is released, and given a bodyguard called Tam Lin, who is Scottish.
The book chronicles Matt growing up, and trying to be accepted while avoiding plots by enemies, and trying to win the girl he likes, Maria. It's an excellent read.
Er, I may add to this, but class is ending and I have gym now... aghh, seeya :- )

Lots of Books Read! First up, Airhead!

2010-03-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

Well, in the past week or so, I've read quite a few books. I've finished Airhead, The House of the Scorpion, and Cycler. I'm nearly done with William Sleator's The Last Universe.
Anyway, we'll start with Airhead, as I read that first. Airhead, by Meg Cabot, is about a tomboyish girl named Em Watts (short for Emerson), who is forced by her mother to accompany her younger, girlier sister to a store opening. At the opening, she meets singer Gabriel Luna, who is signing CDs. Another worshipped celebrity (by Em's sister and friends) to appear is seventeen-year-old supermodel Nikki Howard. Shortly before Em and her sister reach the table where CDs are being signed, there is a crash. A huge plasma screen falls on Em, crushing her.
After, Em wakes up. Tediously, the book lets her recover. In my opinion, far too many chapters and pages are devoted to this part.
In the hospital, she is visited by Gabriel, and later, Nikki's friends Lulu and Brandon. They kidnap her and bring her to her apartment. When Em returns to the hospital, they finally tell her she can go, but not before explaining her predicament. You see, when Em looked in the mirror, she didn't see herself. She saw Nikki.
At the hospital, a doctor explains to her that at the same time as Em's accident, Nikki had a brain anyeurism, making her brain dead. Em, however, had a functioning brain though her body was destroyed. So her brain was surgically put into Nikki's body.
The problem is, Em Watts can't exist anymore, since the surgery is highly controversial. She's had a funeral, and everyone except the doctors and her immediate family (mother, father, sister) thinks that she's dead. This includes Em's best friend, Christopher, whom she has a crush on. Devastated, Em decides she wants her new life as close to her old life. She enrolls at her old high school, which, of course, because of her "death", has a spot open in her class.
Being a famous supermodel doesn't make it easy for Em to get through school. She's taking her old classes, but people are constantly asking her to autograph things and sit with them at lunch. Her old nemeses, whom Em dislikes, as they're mean girls, even want to befriend her!

The book ends on a little bit of a cliffhanger, so I'm planning on getting the next book, Being Nikki, when it's in paperback (I try not to buy hardcover unless I'm really desperate to read the book). Anyway, I thought it was good. I was a little annoyed at one part, thinking it was going to be a shallow Gossip Girl (okay, I admit I've read that series as well) type thing, but it's more about Em trying to get her old life back and live her life in a body that was the complete opposite of her.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

2010-02-22T14:33:00.000-08:00

So I read this book for my school's book club. For the first few pages, it bored me, so I avoided reading it for a couple of days. Finally, yesterday I got into it, and oh my god, is it amazing.
The book centers around a girl named Katniss Everdeen, who lives in future North America. It's now called Panem, and is divided into twelve districts, named by number. Katniss lives in poor, coal-mining District 12, where starvation is all too common. She hunts for food with Gale, a boy who she teamed up with, and the two split their food to keep both families fed.
In the beginning of the book, an event called "The Reaping" is constantly referred to. It isn't explained until the characters gather in the district's main square for it. It's somewhat of a lottery, with each resident twelve to eighteen having their name put in, once for twelve-year-olds, and going up by one each year. Katniss, like many others, has her name put in more than required for her age, to get her family grain rations and other hard-to-come-by supplies. She allows her younger sister, Prim, who is newly twelve, to put her name in only the required one time. First, there is an opening speech by the mayor, and Effie Trinket, a representative from the Capitol, which is out in the Rocky Mountains. Two names are drawn: a girl's and a boy's. First drawn is the girl's name, which is Katniss's sister. Katniss is horrified, and immediately volunteers to take her sister's place. Next drawn is a boy in Katniss's grade, Peeta Mellark.
Katniss and Peeta are given time to say goodbye to their loved ones, and then board a train to the Capitol. They are going to be trained to fight to the death against tributes like them, from the other eleven districts.
The Hunger Games are the battle between the districts, as the Capitol's reminder that they are omnipotent. The war that turned North America into Panem left the nation divided into thirteen districts, but they rebelled. The government quelled the rebellion in districts 1-12, but destroyed 13, to show that they were all-powerful. The Hunger Games is their reminder of it.
In a way, it reminds me of the Uglies series, which is also set in a futuristic setting. If anyone's ever read Gathering Blue, the sort-of sequel to The Giver, the book starts out with a feel like it's a future reverted back to hunting and perhaps medieval times. However, in The Hunger Games, you soon see that while the character's setting is poor, they do have technology. When I visited the Wikipedia page, to see if there was any more detail about where the districts are in the US, I saw at the bottom See Also: and two of the titles listed made me think, oh, that's exactly what The Hunger Games is! A combination of Battle Royale and The Lottery. Fantastic read, and my friend's (I hope!) lending me the sequel tomorrow. I know there are at least three books planned, the third due out in late August. Unfortunately, the book's still in hardcover, but it's a worthwhile read, possibly something I'd read again.
Anyway, let me know if there's anything I should read next! I'm going to check out The Maze Runner, as a friend of mine was raving about how good it was. I should have the next mini book review up soon--it's nearly done, I just have to finish the review for The Golden Compass, my all-time favorite series.

Mini Book Reviews 2

2010-02-18T15:34:00.000-08:00

Welcome back! Here I'm going to be writing an even longer post with even more books! Hurray!
There were 4 books from the last shelf that I left off. They were Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (companions to the Harry Potter series), another Charlie Bone book, and The Library Card, by Jerry Spinelli. Jerry Spinelli's one of my favorite authors, though his books are mostly children's. If you want to read his books, I'd recommend The Library Card, Maniac Magee, Report to the Principal's Office and Who Put That Hair In My Toothbrush. The latter is one of my all-time favorites, but I believe it's out of print so it may be hard to find.
Okay. Now for the second row of books on that shelf. My mini-reviews'll never end, hahaha!

I've never read Little Women, first off. Okay, next book is just a movie novel type deal. Not really worth mentioning. Next, we have books from The Babysitters' Club. Someday the world will thank me for owning nearly all of these out-of-print books. Or probably not, because they're set in the nineties and not that good anyway. Haha :- )
The BFG is, of course, a Roald Dahl novel. Something I always think of from it is that the BFG (big friendly giant) says that giants don't kill other giants--humans are the only creatures that kill each other. Which isn't true. It's a sweet book.
True Stories is just one of those American Girl books that every American girl reads growing up.
Hatching Magic is about a girl named Theodora. She lives in Boston and is obsessed with dragons. I've never read the whole thing through, but it's okay.
Belle Teal is by the author of the Babysitters' Club series, Ann M. Martin. It's actually a very good book. It's set in the sixties
and revolves around the titular character, Belle Teal. Belle lives in a small, rural town, and a boy named Darrel starts attending her school. This wouldn't be significant, except Darrel is black, and there's a lot of prejudice towards him. At one part in the book, Belle and Darrel go to the school's Halloween party, dressed in head-to-toe costumes. They switch costumes, and people go the night thinking they're each other. It's horrible that they can accept Darrel when they think he's Belle, but not when they see him. Great read.
The last book is an interview with J.K. Rowling, who is, of course, the author of the Harry Potter series. It's okay, but it's not very long.

Okay. From the top, we have a Pokemon book, an Animal Ark book which I don't even think I've read, a Beverly Cleary book, and some Ghostville Elementary books. None of these are worth mentioning.
Then we have Hoot by Carl Hiaasen. We had to read Flush, another one of his books, for school once. His books are basically just about kids helping the environment. They're not as boring as they sound.
The Dive trilogy by Gordon Korman is a great set of books. It revolves around Kaz, Star, Adrianna, and Dante, four young divers called to intern at a research center in the Caribbean. They realize they've been called to look for sunken treasure, and start trying to take matters into their own hands. Very good books, actually.

So from the top, we've got some Babysitters' Club books, a My America book, which I enjoyed a little. The next book is from the Dear America series, which is a little more advanced reading than My America. This particular one is about Pearl Harbor.
Next, we have My Teacher Flunked the Planet, which is the third book in the My Teacher is an Alien series.
The next book is just a summer activity book that I only got because it came with a little, toy-sized beach chair.

These are the books that were on the top shelf, which isn't big and kind of dark. We have an anthology of the first Cirque du Freak books, which I'm going to review when I finish the entire series. There are 9 or 10 books in all.
Then we have An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green. John Green, whose books I've just started reading, is a really good author. An Abundance is about a guy named Colin who is a child prodigy. His friend Hassan convinces him to go on a road trip, where he meets a girl named Lindsey, and starts working for her mother. Colin, despite being a prodigy, has dated twelve girls, all named Katherine. Colin tries to create a formula that can predict how long relationships will last. It's a great book, and one thing I love about it is the footnotes. I love footnotes in fiction books.
Leviathan is the latest book by Scott Westerfeld. It's set in WWI era, except that history's gone a little differently. Instead of the war being Axis Powers against Central Powers, it's Darwinists against Clankers. Darwinists include the British and French, and Darwinists have engineered animals as weapons. The Clankers include the citizens of Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Germany. The book revolves around Alek, the son of the Archduke of Austria-Hungary, and Deryn, a British girl disguised as a boy, trying to serve in the Darwinist army. It's a great book, in a planned trilogy. I believe the next book comes out in the fall.
There's one book I haven't reviewed, but I have it in another photo with its sequel, so I'll get back to The Looking Glass Wars.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the second set of mini book reviews! More to follow, and let me know if there's anything you'd like me to talk about on here, or my other blog, Musings by Kara.
Keep reading (and commenting, please) and I'll keep writing! If you're reading my blog and I don't know it, please let me know and I'd be happy to follow and read your blog.

My (not so) Mini Library--My Mini Book Reviews!

2010-02-17T12:33:00.000-08:00

I have tons of books in my room. I took pictures of all the ones on my shelves. There are more downstairs, in my sister's room, and under my bed, so this is maybe just more than half. :- )

Behold--the shelf under my nightstand. We've got My Teacher is an Alien by Brue Coville, ttfn and ttyl, both by Lauren Myracle. Then there's Peeps by Scott Westerfeld, one of my favorite authors, and The Amber Spyglass, by Philip Pullman.
MTiaA is pretty much a kid's book. It's about exactly what it sounds like.
ttfn and ttyl are the first two books in a series of 3. They're hilarious, but Myracle is definitely not an author for younger children, and I don't think that guys would like her books. They're just girl books. The cool part about ttyl and ttfn (the order they go in in the series) is that they're written in IM format, which can be good if you're not a big reader.
Peeps is a great book. Seems every author these days has a vampire book. Whatever. Peeps was written before the fad, and the "vampires" aren't exactly vampires. They're infected by a parasite that causes this. It's great how much research Westerfeld put into this, and the book is a great read. It's about a guy named Cal trying to track down his ex-girlfriends. He's got every one except the girl he was closest to, Sarah. Why does he need to do this? He's a carrier of the parasite, not affected, but he can transmit it.
Anyway, next we have The Amber Spyglass. I'll go back to that, as it's the last book in its series. As for Judy Moody... those are also kid's books, so no need to summarize them.

Now, we go to the next picture! Yes, I have too many books!

Kay. Skipping Judy Moody, as well as Invasion of the Boy Snatchers (shallow book in a series that unfortunately I've read in its entirety).
Get Well Soon, by Julie Halpern is a book about a depressed girl whose parents make her go to a mental hospital. It's funny, and an interesting read.
How to Make Four Million Dollars by Next Thursday is a really stupid book. I got it because I had read its prequel, which was, in retrospect, also pretty stupid. It's a kid's book.
How to Ditch Your Fairy, by Justine Larbalestier is an interesting book. It's about a girl named Charlie who lives in a world where people have "fairies" that help them with things. Charlie has a "good parking spot" fairy, which she hates as she can't drive and people use her to get parking spots. So as the title suggests, she tries to get rid of her fairy. I like Larbalestier's other book better, but this is still good.
Guinness World Records 2004... all I can say is don't get the paperback of this. Get the hardcover.
The next two books are in the middle of a series, so I'll go back to them when I reach book 1.
Midnight For Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo is great. It's a little bit of a kid's book, but that doesn't mean I'm not anticipating the next in the series. It's about a boy named Charlie Bone (really?) who discovers that he's "endowed" with the ability to hear what people in photographs or paintings are thinking or saying as the picture is being taken or painted. It's like Harry PotterXHeroes. Charlie starts attending Bloor's Academy, a school for children either gifted in the arts or endowed. It's a great read.

Anyway, my friend wants to come over and make a movie, so more later!

Thirteen Reasons Why to Read "Thirteen Reasons Why"

2010-02-16T10:14:00.000-08:00

Why hello few and beloved readers! Reader? Whatever. Word'll spread... whether it be today or in twenty years. Haha.
So I've just finished my high school's "One Book, One School" book. It should be kinda obvious from the name, but I'll explain it anyhow. Everyone in the school is required to read a certain book. This year, it is the lurvely realistic fiction, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher.
The book is about a high school junior named Hannah Baker, who has recently committed suicide. In the days following her untimely death, she records some cassette tapes (which are acknowledged as outdated in the book) stating the reasons why she chose to end her life.
The main character of the book is Clay Jensen, a classmate of Hannah's who had a crush on her. It's actually a dual-narrative, with Clay describing his reactions to the tapes and Hannah in italics narrating the tapes.

Anyway, the book is heart-wrenching, and my heart always wants to believe that the dead person will come back to life, or not actually be dead (of course, reading Inkheart just made this worse, lol). Spoiler: she doesn't.
It makes me think about how so many teenagers kill themselves. I can understand why, and sympathize. It's not as if I've never thought about that. But I realistically know I'd never do that to myself, for a number of reasons. I mean, when things are at their worst, they can only get better, right? And I don't want to be part of some depressing statistic of people with potential who took themselves away from becoming what the could become.
So it's written by a man, obviously, but as a female, I found that he did a good job of making her thoughts real. It's not at all impossible to write a first-person book as someone of the opposite sex, and probably a good writing exercise. The whole thing feels so real, from the actions to the thoughts of the characters.
Hannah Baker gave people many chances to pick up on her plan, but I think people need to realize that others aren't always going to get their hints. There are so many reasons not to kill yourself, and while Hannah had reason to, the reasons not to were stronger. Don't let small things tear you apart. It's important to talk to people, important to talk to anyone, if you're thinking about that.

Now, as the title alludes, I'm going to list thirteen reasons why you should read this book.

13) So many people can identify with Hannah. It could be you, or it could help you understand the actions of the suicidal.
12) The scenarios are realistic. The behaviors of the students could really happen.
11) Suicide's the second or third leading cause of death among teenagers. This obviously needs to be addressed.
10) I believe that seeing Clay's reactions could convince at least some people out of killing themselves.
9) Suicide's a delicate issue. People don't want to address it because "oh, so and so would never do that". Or because it's awkward. But they could, which is heartbreaking.
8) The emotion in the book is enough to move anyone, and I think it's important for adults to see things this way.
7) The recording-reaction dual narrative is fascinating.
6) It shows you how the smallest things can affect people. You never know where your actions will lead.
5) With a map on the book jacket, you can follow along easily, which is really cool.
4) Hannah was not a stereotypical picture of a suicidal teenager. You don't have to be. She took her life in the book, and there's no going back.
3) The book is for everyone. I think between most people, there's some way to identify with Clay, Hannah, or both. Female and male points of view, different personalities... it's for a wide audience.
2) While the book is not for kids, I think teenagers and adults alike can gain something from this. We all need to be able to see things from another point of view.
1) It's a really freaking good book.

Anyway, have you read this book? Planning on reading it? Thoughts? Anything I should read next?
In a few days, my next book should be read, maybe sooner. I've actually read Cirque du Freak's book 7 between my two posts, but this is long enough, so maybe when I finish the series I'll review it.

Welcome and Everafter

2010-02-09T11:56:00.000-08:00

Hey! I'm Kara. I have another blog, http://musingsbykara.blogspot.com/, and this is my second blog. I read a lot. On this blog, I'm going to be talking about books I've read. I would say review... but I love almost everything I read, so the ratings would all be 4 and 5 stars.
Anyway, I read at least a book a week, sometimes more, so I'll probably post for each of those.
The last book I finished was Everafter by Amy Huntley. It's about a girl who dies, Maddy. Maddy finds herself in a dark, empty place, and pushes around until she sees these glowing objects. They're the objects she lost in life. When she imagines doing whatever the object was used for with it, she is transported into the scene of when she lost it. The one thing Maddy doesn't know how she lost is her life.
It was incredible. It started out a little boring (first chapter, maybe?), but got much better. You will want Maddy to be able to live, and the end is heartbreakingly bittersweet.
I think this is an interesting interpretation of what happens when you die, and I'd definitely recommend it.

Other books I've recently finished:
Freshman by Michael Gerber
The Real Real by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

Other books about what comes after death:
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (Everafter is about a teenager, this is about an old man)
Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin (her book Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac is good, too)
Everlost, Everwild, unreleased trilogy by Neal Shusterman

Anyway, I could list books all day. Have you read any of these? What did you think of them?
Also, what are some of your favorite books, and are there any you'd like me to review?

Until next time,
Kara