Once Upon a Time, Jamie had a summer long adventure. This is the story of my relationship with books during that adventure, interspersed with my reviews of the books I mention.
I speculated that Garden Valley would have a library, and it does! A very nice one too. Unfortunately, when they know that you aren't going to be there for very long (four months!), they won't let you get a library card. Crazy, I know. My heart seemed doomed to break into a million pieces. How could I ever live a whole summer without books one summer after reading ten thousand pages??!?!! Fortunately for me, I had purchased two sequels just before I left Salt Lake. A note about me; I don't buy books unless I've already read them, and love them, so that I can read them again later. So this was a strange thing for me to do. To buy two books, one of which I subconsciously knew I wasn't going to love, but I did it anyway.
Insurgent
By Veronica Roth
525 Pages
His eyes are wild with new information. Not all the Erudite are power hungry and devoid of conscience, like their leader, Jeanine Matthews. Some of them are like Caleb: fascinated by everything, dissatisfied until they find out how it works. I am glad he has found something to distract him from his grief.
"Don't you remember from our Faction History Book?" He says. "It called them the 'essential factions'-without them, we would be incapable of survival."
What a wonderful gift last summer gave me. I started all sorts of trilogies and series last summer that I get to continue as the are released. The first book in this series was Divergent. (go ahead, click on it!) I just read what I wrote for Divergent, and I think it's still right on. This being the sequel, it's hard to write anything without giving the first book away, and I don't want to do that if you haven't read these books because they are wonderful.
So instead, I'll tell you my relationship with this book. I read this book about the beginning of Fiddler on the Roof, just one of the four shows I did this summer. I played Yente, the old matchmaker. The best part about playing Yente was that I carried a large basket with me. Large enough to store snacks and books under all the cloth and still go undetected. I would read this book right up until I went on, then stored it in my basket. One time, I was so engrossed in the story and what was happening, I almost yelled out loud backstage, another time I almost missed an entrance. Luckily neither happened. But it's a testament to the (grippingness? engrossingment?) marvelous writing and plot progression. Once this book starts to roll, it really rolls. It's very hard to put down.
As I said in my review of Divergent, true fans of the Hunger Games will enjoy these books.
City of Lost Souls
By Cassandra Clare
534 Pages
Who dares to summon me? The Angel spoke in Simon's mind, in a voice like great bells sounding.
Tricky question, Simon thought, If he were Jace, he could say "one of the Nephilim," and if he were Magnus, he could say he was on of Lilith's children and a High Warlock. But he was Simon, without any titles to his name or any great deeds in his past. "Simon Lewis," he said finally, setting the spell book down and straightening up.
Where to start... This is the fifth book in the Mortal Instruments Series, so it's hard to say.
Well, here, I suppose this would be a good place to start. (City of Fallen Angels)
Followed by here. (City of Glass and Clockwork Angel)
And maybe you want to look at this one too. (Clockwork Prince)
Fhheeewwww! I don't know how I'm going to blog the last two books in these series! This is hard enough.
If you've read the Mortal Instrument Series, you should have read this book already. If you haven't, you need to start with City of Bones, the first book. If you're curious about how I reacted to this book, please, read on.
In a word, boring. In a made up word, angsty. In a sentence, the battle at the end was cool. If you like these characters, and you'd follow them no matter what they're doing, then by all means, read this book and City of Fallen Angels. If you like the first three books in the series as they are, like me, stop after City of Glass. I can't say I didn't know I was going to regret buying it, but I had higher hopes since some of her books are so good, while others fall flat. The last one fell flat, so I had hoped this one would be an upper. I suppose I'm tired of Clary and Jace at this point, and Jace isn't even really in this one. There's just too much angst in all the characters to be relatable, so I sure don't feel sorry for them. As the King once said, "A little less conversation a little more action please."
So, I was entertained for a while. (Longer than I thought for only having two books since I was in rehearsal all day and evening. By the time I got home at night, I was so tired, reading put me to sleep, so only very slow progress was made.) But that point came, as it always does, when you finish a book, and don't have another one to reach for. (Unless you're extremely fortunate and always have another book you want to read AND have access to.) One day, a new found friend saw me finishing my last book, and became very excited, apparently the library hadn't gotten this sequel in yet. I loaned it to her, asking if in exchange, she might get me a book from the library (she is a resident of Garden Valley), she agreed, and a beautiful friendship was born over books.
The Maze Runner
By James Dashner
374 Pages
No quote for this one, since it was a library book long since returned.
The maze Runner has been a popular book for quite a while now, and it seemed like it was everywhere I looked. I kept saying, "Later, I'll read that after this." So, it was the first book I asked my friend for.
The Maze runner is about teenaged boys who are stuck in a labyrinth like maze. They don't know how they got there, they don't remember their lives before the maze, and they're only hope is to solve the maze. The problem, it that there are terrible monsters in the maze at night, so during the day, runners are sent out of their safe zone they call "the glen" and try to find an exit, or a pattern, since the walls change every night.
The story revolves around Thomas, who has just woken up in the maze. He knows as much about the place as you do, so you discover it all at the same rate. He says things like, I didn't understand it, or it didn't make sense, or I was confused, A WHOLE LOT. It becomes a little frustrating after a while. We know you don't know, but we don't know either! Besides that little pet peeve of mine, this was a great book. Lots of suspense. I'd recommend it to action, fantasy, and mystery lovers.
The Scorch Trials
By James Dashner
? pages
This book opens on an attack on some kids while they are sleeping in a room. That's all I know, because that is as far as I got. I'd recommend it to myself, to finish. (Maybe someday)
Ironically, I only took two books from the library with her card, one of which I actually read. Mostly because, about this time, it was my birthday. My birthday present to myself was a day at Barnes and Noble in Boise. I bought myself a book and a strawberries and cream frappuccino, sat down, and just enjoyed myself.
The Kite Runner
By Khaled Hosseini
371 Pages
One day, in July 1973, played another little trick on Hassan. I was reading to him, and suddenly I strayed from the written story. I pretended I was reading from the book, flipping pages regularly, but I had abandoned the text altogether, taken over the story, and made up my own. Hassan, of course, was oblivious to this. To him, the words on the page were a scramble of codes, indecipherable, mysterious. Words were secret doorways and I held the keys. After, I started to ask him if he'd liked the story, a giggle rising in my throat, when Hassan began to clap.
"What are you doing?" I said.
"That was the best story you've read me in a long time," he said, still clapping.
The Kite Runner follows the life of Amir, from his childhood in Kabul, to his escape to America. But it's not about his refugee years so much as it is about his childhood.
I struggle with my thoughts for this book. I could gush for hours and days about why this book is now in my top five for sure. I could attempt to tell you every line that made my heart wrench in unexpected ways. I could try to convince you that even though it's the saddest book I've ever read, it's also the happiest. But really I just want to thank Khaled Hosseini for this masterpiece.
The reason The Book Thief is my favorite book, is because I will never forget the way it made me feel the first time I read it. The inexplicable sobbing mixed with just as strange laughter. The Kite Runner took me to that place again. It feels SO GOOD to read a book that has such deeper meaning beneath ever line, every word. Every paragraph is expertly crafted to create a beautiful story. Everything ties together, just as we as people, and these characters, are connected by some kind of tether, so are the words. The words flow so beautifully, I'd swear it's poetry.
Someday, I may write a whole blog about Kite Runner and Book Thief. For now, I hope everyone High School and above will pick up this book. Unless of course you are very very sensitive. It's not a book for the faint of heart, that's for sure. It's a cruel and horrifying ride in search of Amir's redemption, so hold on tight.
The same week, my family came up from Utah and, at my request, brought a couple of books from my house.
Gone With the Wind
By Margaret Mitchell
Pages... how many have I read or how many are there?
I have enjoyed every time I've gotten to sit down and actually read this book. But those moments are few and far between. I had misplaced the book when I came home, but recently located it again, so here's to take two!
Happy Holiday Season!
Read on,
Jamie
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