Deadline ~ 316 pages
"You're wrong," Coach says. "I would say that to you. There are a lot of books that I think are trash. There are a lot of books I wouldn't recommend to anyone. I mean, there's a book in the Old Testament that says we're supposed to kill homosexuals. But I don't want the Old Testament banned. I'm pretty sure you can read that book and not go out and kill homosexuals, because you have other information that tells you that's not okay and because you have a brain."
This blog is going to be a bit of a spoiler, so if you've ever wanted to read this book without knowing the end, look away now.
Deadline is about a boy named Ben who finds out right before his Senior year of high school that he only has one year to live. He decides to not tell anyone about it and live that year to it's full extent.
It's the common, "What would you do if you only had one year to live?"question. Ben decides to go out for the football team, talk to the girl of his dreams, and try to change a city built on prejudice. It really does make you think what you would do.
It's not really a happy book. Here comes your spoilers. Ben does die at the end. But I'm glad he does. Not because I think he's a bad person, or I couldn't stand him, but there are a lot of books that promise death at the end and magically heal the protagonist. (Remember the movie Stranger Than Fiction?) Someone else dies too. But they didn't get a heads up. It makes you wonder if you would want to know when you are going to die, if you would tell other people if you did know, if you would try to change your past, or live out the future you don't really have. I may or may not have cried at the end. (I did. But like, one tear.)
While the book specifically mentions this song (click here) , all I could think about when reading it, was this song (click here). The second song is perfect for this book, especially the last verse.
The first half of the book is a lot of football, so if you hate sports you'll have a hard time with the rest of the book, but I encourage you to press forward. Also, if you have a hard time with swearing, this is a gentle warning. It's about high school boys, would you expect any different? I would recommend it to anyone in high school or above. It just makes you think about a lot of things in your own life, but then again, don't most books?
With 316 pages down, I had 6,255 pages left.
Now the moment you've all be waiting for... (But not really)
City of Fallen Angels ~ 424 pages
"Jace's room was as neat as ever --- bed made perfectly, the books that lined the shelves arranged in alphabetical order, notes and textbooks stacked carefully on the desk. The neatness was all very well. It was, Clary had always thought, Jace's way of exerting control over the elements of a life that otherwise might seem overwhelmed with chaos. He had lived so long without knowing who he really was, she could hardly begrudge him the careful alphabetization of his poetry collection."
Book four of the mortal instruments series, City of Fallen Angels, seems like a bit of the black sheep of the series family. All the characters are back, there are even some new protagonists. But as for the bad guys, well, there's like... two demons in this whole book. There is more fighting from the inside the group of friends than from the demonic creatures of the world.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, because I did a bad job blogging the third book, here's your summary/explanation. There are lots of races on "this" earth. There are humans, or as they're called in this series, mudanes. There are Shadowhunters, half human, half angel. There are Vampires and Werewolves and Faries, all half human, half demon called the downworlders. And then there are your demons. The shadowhunter's job is to protect the humans from the demons. The downworlders just kinda chill. And surprise surprise, the humans know nothing about it.
My favorite character is Simon, so I'm glad most of this book in the series is about him. Other than that, it was just kinda... okay. Passable, but not my favorite book of the series by a long stretch. The end of the book is supposed to be a HUGE cliffhanger, but I'm okay with it. Why? Because I saw it coming. In fact, I saw the whole ending coming. And while I'll admit that I didn't see how it would all tie together, it continues to be a book I can... well, I was going to say read like a book but... I can call what's going to happen next, which isn't a bad thing, it's just not the most surprising book ever. But at least it follows it's rules, unlike twilight.
If you like fantasy action at all, you'll like this book series. I would recommend it because it's such an enjoyable read. A good summer fiction series.
424 pages down, 5,831 to go.
Read on,
Jamie
Friday, June 24, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Paper Towns
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister ~ 368 Pages
"In the lives of children, pumpkins can turn into coaches, mice and rats into human beings. When we grow up, we learn that it's far more common for human beings to turn into rats...so now children play our family's shame as a story in the streets."
I don't think the word "book" makes one appearance in this book. But I sure as heck would like to know how many times the words "beauty" or "beautiful" are used.
I swear on my life this is like, the last retelling I'm reading this summer. I really didn't pick out all these books on purpose, and I don't think I've ever read this many in my whole life. (I usually read murder mysteries and historical fiction)
BUT, this is, in fact, another retelling. It comes from the perspective of one of the Ugly Stepsisters from the classic tale of Cinderella. I tried as hard as I could to read this book during the school year, but I only got half way through. I then placed it on my shelf and forgot about it until recently, when I was looking for more books to reread. So I started over.
If you don't like slow stories, this might not be a book for you, but if you like contemplating what true beauty is, you would very much enjoy this book. It just follows the life of Iris, the younger stepsister. This book was written by Gregory Maguire, the author of Wicked (which I assume most people know about because of the musical). I think the writing was beautiful, and I loved the last half of the book, but the first half is pretty slow. It felt like I was just waiting for what I knew was going to happen.
After rereading the first half, and finally finishing it, that put 368 pages down, leaving me with 6,876 pages left.
Paper Towns ~ 305 Pages
"It became a weekend of reading, of trying to see her in the fragments of the poem book she'd left for me. I could never get anywhere with the lines, but I kept thinking about them anyway, because I didn't want to disappoint her She wanted me to play out the string...to follow the bread crumb trail until it dead-ended into her."
My summary of this book in a few words: Bad things happen to people, grass.
It's a typical teen angst book. I didn't really realize this till about half way through. The author (John Green) is very talented, but the story is just... typical.
It's from the point of view of Quentin Jacobsen, a senior in high school, who has had a crush on the girl across the street since they were little, Margo. Margo is a free spirit to say the least. She has run away from home a number of times, and she enjoys planning out elaborate clues when she leaves. So one night, she shows up at Quentin's window and tells him they are going on an adventure. They drive around Orlando doing crazy payback things and then they break into Sea World. At the end of the night, Margo says "I'm going to miss hanging out with you." and walks away to her house.
Well, low and behold, she isn't at school the next day, or the next. It turns out, she has run away again. Her parents are furious and decide to change their locks instead of look for their daughter. So Q decides it's his job to decipher the clues and bring her home.
I think this book could have been awesome. I definitely thought it was going in a complete different direction. But at the end, it's so metaphorical and about life and all that teen angst stuff, that I couldn't finish the last three pages till the next day. So it's a cute book. I really liked their night out on the town. The rest of the book is like, "Where did Margo go? I don't know! Maybe this poem will tell me!" And to tell the truth, I figured out how to find her on page 169. Thats 136 pages of me going, "You're so stupid! would you just look right in front of your face???"
I guess I'm just a little disappointed because I thought it was like a murder mystery about 150 pages in, because it gets really creepy. But then it's all angst and tears and beers and driving cross country.
So with 305 more pages down, I'm left with 6,571 pages to go.
In other news, I'm 33rd in line for City of Fallen Angels. That book better be pretty freakin awesome. Also, I don't want you guys to think that I hated any of these books. I really didn't I just tend to say what I didn't like and you can assume that everything else was good and I enjoyed. I think I just make up endings in my head, and if they aren't as good or better, I get disappointed. But once I read a book I hate, you'll know. Trust me. Well that's all for today friends. Hopefully my next blog will include the much anticipated book I've waited over a month for...
Read on,
Jamie
"In the lives of children, pumpkins can turn into coaches, mice and rats into human beings. When we grow up, we learn that it's far more common for human beings to turn into rats...so now children play our family's shame as a story in the streets."
I don't think the word "book" makes one appearance in this book. But I sure as heck would like to know how many times the words "beauty" or "beautiful" are used.
I swear on my life this is like, the last retelling I'm reading this summer. I really didn't pick out all these books on purpose, and I don't think I've ever read this many in my whole life. (I usually read murder mysteries and historical fiction)
BUT, this is, in fact, another retelling. It comes from the perspective of one of the Ugly Stepsisters from the classic tale of Cinderella. I tried as hard as I could to read this book during the school year, but I only got half way through. I then placed it on my shelf and forgot about it until recently, when I was looking for more books to reread. So I started over.
If you don't like slow stories, this might not be a book for you, but if you like contemplating what true beauty is, you would very much enjoy this book. It just follows the life of Iris, the younger stepsister. This book was written by Gregory Maguire, the author of Wicked (which I assume most people know about because of the musical). I think the writing was beautiful, and I loved the last half of the book, but the first half is pretty slow. It felt like I was just waiting for what I knew was going to happen.
After rereading the first half, and finally finishing it, that put 368 pages down, leaving me with 6,876 pages left.
Paper Towns ~ 305 Pages
"It became a weekend of reading, of trying to see her in the fragments of the poem book she'd left for me. I could never get anywhere with the lines, but I kept thinking about them anyway, because I didn't want to disappoint her She wanted me to play out the string...to follow the bread crumb trail until it dead-ended into her."
My summary of this book in a few words: Bad things happen to people, grass.
It's a typical teen angst book. I didn't really realize this till about half way through. The author (John Green) is very talented, but the story is just... typical.
It's from the point of view of Quentin Jacobsen, a senior in high school, who has had a crush on the girl across the street since they were little, Margo. Margo is a free spirit to say the least. She has run away from home a number of times, and she enjoys planning out elaborate clues when she leaves. So one night, she shows up at Quentin's window and tells him they are going on an adventure. They drive around Orlando doing crazy payback things and then they break into Sea World. At the end of the night, Margo says "I'm going to miss hanging out with you." and walks away to her house.
Well, low and behold, she isn't at school the next day, or the next. It turns out, she has run away again. Her parents are furious and decide to change their locks instead of look for their daughter. So Q decides it's his job to decipher the clues and bring her home.
I think this book could have been awesome. I definitely thought it was going in a complete different direction. But at the end, it's so metaphorical and about life and all that teen angst stuff, that I couldn't finish the last three pages till the next day. So it's a cute book. I really liked their night out on the town. The rest of the book is like, "Where did Margo go? I don't know! Maybe this poem will tell me!" And to tell the truth, I figured out how to find her on page 169. Thats 136 pages of me going, "You're so stupid! would you just look right in front of your face???"
I guess I'm just a little disappointed because I thought it was like a murder mystery about 150 pages in, because it gets really creepy. But then it's all angst and tears and beers and driving cross country.
So with 305 more pages down, I'm left with 6,571 pages to go.
In other news, I'm 33rd in line for City of Fallen Angels. That book better be pretty freakin awesome. Also, I don't want you guys to think that I hated any of these books. I really didn't I just tend to say what I didn't like and you can assume that everything else was good and I enjoyed. I think I just make up endings in my head, and if they aren't as good or better, I get disappointed. But once I read a book I hate, you'll know. Trust me. Well that's all for today friends. Hopefully my next blog will include the much anticipated book I've waited over a month for...
Read on,
Jamie
Sunday, June 5, 2011
The Looking Glass Wars
The Looking Glass Wars ~ 358 Pages
The grinning Cheshire cat. The mad tea party. He'd transformed her memories of a world alive with hope and possibility and danger into make-believe, the foolish stuff of children. He was just another in a long line of unbelievers and this--this stupid, nonsensical book--was how he made fun of her. She had never felt more betrayed in all her life.
Well, once upon a time, I went to California. I also was very busy. During that time, I didn't read anything. So I only have one book to offer for this post. It's okay though, I didn't expect to always blog two books at a time.
I promise, I don't only read rewritings, or different versions of classic stories; but this is, in fact, another one of those. The Looking Glass Wars is the "true" story of Alyss (yes, Alyss, not Alice) the Princess of Wonderland. It follows her from her seventh birthday to the age of twenty.
There is A LOT of action in this book. In fact, I don't think there are very many down moments at all. There are 56 Chapters, so they are all very short, and it's a quick read. Kind of. It took me a while to get into it. I did request the next book, (it's a trilogy) but quite honestly, I don't know if I'm going to read it. It wasn't bad. I just couldn't focus on it for very long. I think it was because I wanted to know and like the characters, but I never really got the chance to do either of those things.
If you like Alice in Wonderland retellings, I think you would like this book. The author did a TON of background work to make sure everything was historically and literarily correct. I will say, I love what the author (Frank Beddor) did with the "Cheshire cat". SPOILER ALERT. He's evil. And I love that he is. Even though I thought and hoped he would be a good guy, I liked it this way more.
So, it's a good book, just not exactly my cup of tea. With 358 pages down, I have 7,244 pages left.
I just replenished by book supply yesterday, and I may have gone a little overboard. I have five books coming form the library, and three at my house right now... hopefully I can get back into the swing of reading again. (I'm now 69th in line for City of Fallen Angels, just so you know)
Read on,
Jamie
The grinning Cheshire cat. The mad tea party. He'd transformed her memories of a world alive with hope and possibility and danger into make-believe, the foolish stuff of children. He was just another in a long line of unbelievers and this--this stupid, nonsensical book--was how he made fun of her. She had never felt more betrayed in all her life.
Well, once upon a time, I went to California. I also was very busy. During that time, I didn't read anything. So I only have one book to offer for this post. It's okay though, I didn't expect to always blog two books at a time.
I promise, I don't only read rewritings, or different versions of classic stories; but this is, in fact, another one of those. The Looking Glass Wars is the "true" story of Alyss (yes, Alyss, not Alice) the Princess of Wonderland. It follows her from her seventh birthday to the age of twenty.
There is A LOT of action in this book. In fact, I don't think there are very many down moments at all. There are 56 Chapters, so they are all very short, and it's a quick read. Kind of. It took me a while to get into it. I did request the next book, (it's a trilogy) but quite honestly, I don't know if I'm going to read it. It wasn't bad. I just couldn't focus on it for very long. I think it was because I wanted to know and like the characters, but I never really got the chance to do either of those things.
If you like Alice in Wonderland retellings, I think you would like this book. The author did a TON of background work to make sure everything was historically and literarily correct. I will say, I love what the author (Frank Beddor) did with the "Cheshire cat". SPOILER ALERT. He's evil. And I love that he is. Even though I thought and hoped he would be a good guy, I liked it this way more.
So, it's a good book, just not exactly my cup of tea. With 358 pages down, I have 7,244 pages left.
I just replenished by book supply yesterday, and I may have gone a little overboard. I have five books coming form the library, and three at my house right now... hopefully I can get back into the swing of reading again. (I'm now 69th in line for City of Fallen Angels, just so you know)
Read on,
Jamie
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