Matched

So this is my new favorite book of the month. If you are a fan of The Giver, you will love this story. It almost feels like it could be another part of the city in The Giver. This story is about a girl who lives in a time where cities are controlled, chance and choice have been removed. Even who they love is a pre-arranged choice. Except she want to make her own choices. She wants to pick her job, her location, and who she will love. But the Society will try to stop her every way they can. I finished it tonight and I am so sad I can't get the sequel "Crossed" until tomorrow at the library. It is a must read, it is also very clean and though provoking.

The Beyonders

This Author wrote one of my favorite children's series Fablehaven, so I had to try out his new book. This book starts out really slow. I had no idea what it was about, so that didn;t help. I didn't really get into it until it was about half over. The story is about a boy who gets sucked into another dimension of sorts, where evil reigns and heroes have been blotted out. He then chooses to be a hero and fight the evil instead of returning home. Great action scenes, not much romance, very creative. There are of course more books not yet out so you may want to wait a bit. I think it is a perfect novel for a 12 year old boy.

The other Boleyn Girl

So this book was a train wreck from start to finish. I could not put it down or look away. I don't know if I should tell everyone to read it or not. It is extremely well written, and really transports you back to the courts of Henry the 8th. I feel like I understand the history of that time from reading this story. But it is very trashy. It has everything it it, homosexuality, murder, adultery, incest, and more. You name it and this book has it, and it's actual history which is why it is hard to look away. It is actually the second in a series. I plan on reading the whole series after how well written this one was.

Ophelia

This book is wonderful!!1 What a great way to enjoy Shakespeare. If you have read Hamlet you will love this point of view. If you have not, you now will want to read Hamlet. This story is the story of Hamlet from Ophelia's perspective, with some twists. It is written in modern language, but still has a little hint of the Shakespearean play in it. My favorite part is the ending...which may surprise you if you are familiar with Hamlet. This is a great book, I want to read more of her books. She also has written one called THE DAUGHTER OF MACBETH. What a great way to introduce Shakespeare.

A Hotel on the corner of Bitter and Sweet

So this is one of our book club books that I was really excited about. The story takes place in Seattle, when the United States removed all the Japanese to camps. I think that this is a subject matter that should be shared. This book is not a biography it is a novel,which may have made me lose some interest as I got reading. While the history is very sad and interesting the novel itself is a little slow. The story line for me just did not keep my attention. However, my interest is peaked to read more about this historical event.

Memoires of a Geisha

This book is on our book club list for next year so I decided to get an early start on it. For those that don't know a Geisha is pretty much an expensive and talented Japanese prostitute. Most are sold into this position at a very young age and trained in the arts of music and dance for years before becoming a geisha. This story follows the life of a geisha. It was very fascinating to read about the culture and Japanese culture. While this book is written about an unpleasant life style it is written very tastefully. I really liked most of the book, but the ending was just sad to me. It seemed like she never found happiness to me, even after a very challenging life. But maybe my idea of happiness and the authors idea of happiness differ.

The 17 second miracle

This was our book club book for this month. It is a quick read with a great story in it. It would be in the inspirational fiction category. The story is about a tragedy that is then changed into many miracles. It is really one of those warm fuzzy books that you should read when you are having a bad day. It also has a great idea in it too keep your spirits up.

Firelight

This was a really cute story. It was clean, but had love and adventure in it. The main character is part Dragon, and is taken away from the other Dragons to live with regular humans. There she falls in love with a hunter of Dragons. Great plot. But this is only book one. My prediction is that this story turns out a little like Twilight. First book in love with Dragon Hunter, Second book in love with her betrothed dragon. Third book The choice. We will see if I am right or not, but it is one I would recommend to any young adult fiction lovers.

Second Hand Charm

This is a darling children's story. It is a fairy tale, but a new one. It is very original and refreshing. There are princesses, sea serpents, dangerous events, while still keeping it child friendly. I liked that this author did not just take a spin off of an old fairy tale. The story is completely new, and easy to read. I hear that this book is not as good as her first book (which I just got.) So read this one first then you will like it. I would say 6 and up would enjoy this story.

The Good Earth

This book was given to me by a friend after she heard of my love for China. It was very fascinating to me, I couldn't put it down. But I don't know if all would feel that way. This story takes place in China and follows a poor man throughout his life. He lives through much adversity and suffering, only to become a rich lord. It was very interesting to read about their customs, and their hardships. The treatment of women was very sad to me, even though he was not a mean hearted man. It was also interesting to read the cycle of poverty to wealth. If you love china I highly recommend it, if you don't you may find it a little slow. I do think though that it would be a good book club book. There were a lot of issues to discuss.

The Glass Castle

This is one of the few books I have read twice. I read it about 3 years ago, then after reading Half-Broke Horses, I had to read it again. I was hoping the second time it would be less disturbing after knowing a little more background. I was wrong. It was still just as disturbing. This is a true story written about the author's childhood in extreme poverty. She spent her childhood with a crazy mother, and a drunk father. They moved from place to place until she was 12 and they settled in a small town in West Virginia. Food was rare, as was clothing or heat. The most disturbing part of this book for me was the choices made by her parents. It was self imposed poverty. The mother owned a 2 carat diamond, and a house. She also inherited property worth a million dollars, with oil rights. She had a college education, and inherited a large sum of money when her parents died. She had more given to her than most people accumulate in a life time, and yet she still choose to let her children starve and freeze. After reading how hard it was for the mothers family, and how she was raised (in Half -Broke Horses) it has really made me ponder the whole nature vs. nurture. It is a hard to read story but it is one of the most well written and thought provoking stories I have ever read.

Half Broke Horses

My new favorite book of the week. This is a True story written as a novel. If you have ever Read the book "Glass Castle" then you will already be familiar with the characters. This is about her grandmother. It is not hard to read like the "glass Castle" is. This is not a story of abuse or neglect. This is a story of an amazing women that lived 100 life times during her life. She started breaking horses at 5. She lived through drought, floods, tornado's, prohibition, womens rights, and the depression. She never lost hope, her story is one of pure inspiration. I could not put it down. This is a wonderful, wonderful book. A must read.

Devoured

This is another play off of a fairy tell. This time it is snow white. It was a very interesting idea, but a darker story than most fairy tale remakes. This starts with a girl in modern day that sees her sisters ghost. She starts working at an Fairy tale amusement park to be with her boyfriend. When her sisters ghost goes crazy. She has to find out what her sister is trying to tell her, while dealing with boy problems. Doesn't sound much like Snow White I know, but if I tell you how it ties in it may spoil the story. I put it on my alright list. Not for kids under 16. Multiple references to sleeping with the boyfriend and 2 F words. Kind of sad they had to put that in there. Also it is a little on the creepy side.

Forgive my fins

This was a cute teenage version of the little mermaid in modern day. It took me a little be to get into it, but once I did I read it pretty quick. It is clean and pretty cute. The high school Drama was a little much for me. But all in all I liked it.

Beastly

So I thought I had added this but it looks like a missed a few books here and there. This is a really cute modern day version of Beauty and the Beast. How do you make this story modern? Well you just turn a punk gorgeous rich kid into a beast. Pretty far fetched but a very cute story. If you are in the mood for a fairy tail I highly recommended it. The weirdest part of the book is the internet chat group it starts with. If you think it is stupid (like I did) skip over the odd text it adds very little to the actual story. Also this book is now a major motion picture. I haven't seen it yet but I plan it.

Hex Hall

So this is a young adult series about a girl who is part demon. She is put in a school (Hex Hall) for witches who are out of control. There she finds out she is different from everyone else and falls in love with the wrong guy. It is a cute story clean language, mystery, a little action and a little romance.


Book two just came out, I finished it in about 1 day. It takes place in England during their summer term. Here Sophie finds out about the war waging on all of her kind. She must make a choice between family and love. She also gets put on the front lines of a war with out of control powers. The most annoying part about this book is the cliff hanger ending. And book three is not yet out.



If you liked this book check out the series "The Awakening" it's on this blog as well. Very similar storied. And "The Awakening has all it's books out.

Snow Flower and the Secret fan

Another China historical fiction. But I loved this book. It takes place in the early 19th century. It follows the lives of two Chinese girls through childhood feet binding. (which made me sick) arranged weddings, child raising and old age. It is so interesting to see their culture and experience it with them. It brings a lot of understanding about foot binding and what was considered beautiful. After reading it and see why they did it in hopes of better lives for their children. Even though they crippled them for life. I pretty much could not put it down. After you read it pot on here what you thought. Would you have bound your children's feet? Do you think with time that you would have been a kinder mother in law? Or do you think that that was their way of avenging themselves in their old age for the way they were treated?

Mao's Last Dancer

This book was our book club book for this month. It is kind of difficult to find at stores (at least here). So you may want to check out Amazon. There are also 2 versions of this story. One is an Adult version, one is a young adult. The Adult one has more history, and is about 200 pages longer. I read the young adult and kind of want the other one just for more info.
This story is a biography of a boy that grew up in China under the reign of Mao. It talks about the cultural revolution in China from the perspective of an 11 year old. He was then trained in ballet, and found a way out of communism. It is very well written. Lots of history. It is also being made into a movie. It is a rare glimpse into that country.

Water for Elephants

So this book was suppose to be our new book club book, but I had to veto it because of content. Warning chapter 3 is a very descriptive stripper scene. Not really appropriate for a church book club. Also it is laced with the f-word. All in all it really is on the morally low books, the plot is an affair and a murder, you get the picture. While I wouldn't recommended the book, the author's notes on the book were fascinating. She studied circus's in the 1930's. There are real photo's and some of the plot was based around actual events. The circus's back then truly were a freak show. From parasitic twins, to electrocution of elephants (no animal rights) it was graphically fascinating to me. I would recommend reading the research the author put into this book. But the book itself a little to crass for me.

Scotch Trials

So this is the second book in the Maze runner series. Number 3 is not yet out. This one follows the characters from book one through another trial, also known as the scorch. They are trying to illuminate the week, but they are not accomplishing this as quickly as I guess they would like. I liked it, and it keeps the story going but it was not nearly as good as the Maze runner.

Jane Eyre

So this was our book club for the month. I am pretty proud that I finished it really. Not saying that it wasn't really good, but it was a difficult read. A lot of description! But the story is amazing. Whenever I ask anyone about this book the say they read it in school. I didn't but I am so glad I have read it. The one thing that stands out to me in this book is the character of Jane. She has the most pure character. She is honest with others, but more importantly with herself. That quality is one that is so precious, I want to be more like that. Throughout the book she is never dishonest with herself. I highly suggest reading it if you didn't already ion high school.

The Maze Runner !! Amazing!

Ok put down what you are reading and go start this book!
So I have not been good at updating this blog, but this book had to be on here before I went ahead and added my last months worth of books. This is a new favorite! I put it on the shelf with the first Hunger Games. I seriously could not put it down. And I can put about any book down. So today we didn't do laundry, or homework, or dishes, or make dinner. You get the idea! So it is about a group of boys that find themselves in a maze with their memories wiped. They can't get out, they are pretty much self-sufficient there, but they are trapped. Then their world changes, and they have to get out! You must read this book. Then tell me how much you love it!