So I figure many many of these books will never be mentioned by anyone except me but here they are:
The Blue Castle, L.M. Montgomery: I love this book with all my heart. I really really need to buy myself a new copy because my current is in really bad shape. This book is about a women named Valancy Stirling who is diagnosed with a terminal heart condition. Up until this point she is single and under the rule of her mother and strict family. When she hears this news, she finally breaks free of her family and goes to work for a outlaw in her town, and eventually marries a man who is shunned from the community because he is "peculiar." This book always gives me a case of the warm fuzzies. You must read it if you eve have the chance!
The Last Summer of You and Me, Anne Brashares: Seriously a Great Great Book! This book is one of my favorites because of the emotions that the readers actions invoke in you. It centers on the lives of Sisters Riley and Alice, and their best friend paul. The title has so many different connotations that I will let you reach on your own. But, definitely take a stab at it!
Redeeming Love, Francine Rivers: I was down in San Diego last summer before I had even head of this book. I actually spent 4 hours on the beach reading the first half of it, and let me say once you start reading it you WILL NOT be able to put it down. Trust me on this, I watched one of my closest friends read the whole book yesterday. It is that good! This is one of those books that truly stops and makes you think. The book is supposed to be a mirror to the book of Hosea in the bible, and let me tell you it is fantastic! Set during California's gold rush it focuses on a girl named Angel and a man who loves her so deeply (Michael Hosea) he will do anything to bring her back. Must must must read!
So these are just 3 of my favorites and I will post some more eventually, but I did just discover bargain books on Amazon, so I will be shopping now!
-Jess
20.1.10
Oh dear!
Oh Book Blog I have ignored you for so long! I have a new goal to return to you more frequently! So some good reads:
Days Of Gold: Jude Deveraux: If you like Scottland and love stories this is definitely a good read for you. I do like myself a good love story, however I did feel that this one lagged somewhat. It was a little meager in the villain plot, and I do feel like the four year gap was a tad too long. Also there was some really surprising love connections at the end, and it felt like the author was just trying to have all of the characters have a happy ending. I mean I like myself some happy endings, but I feel as if the author was just reaching for straws at the end. You'll understand if you read it. Overall thought I would say it's a decent book to read, it was entertaining, and I don't regret reading it. :)
Next up: The Vampire Diaries The Return: Nightfall. This was an epic disaster. Not only is there a huge discrepancy between time periods (the first books take place in the 90's, new books now suddenly take place in present day) but also come on leave the series alone! LJ Smith you are a smart author, why are you putting your readers through more pain by making Elena choose between the two brothers again!? Also why why why whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy can Damon not remember Matt's name. He definitely knew it in the first four books. This book made me mad. If you like the Diaries, don't ruin the series for yourselves and stay away from the newer ones.
The Lace Reader, Brunonia Barry: So I read this, and yes it was beautifully written, however it was confusing as heck! The ending was definitely a twist and made you wonder what the heck is going on? I didn't know whether to think of the main character as just plain crazy or severely messed up. I don't even know what to make of this book. I'll give it a second read and update if I feel like I was way off base in my judgments about it first.
The Help, Kathryn Stockett: Honestly when I picked up this book I really thought it was going to be about Cinderella's mice. Boy I was wrong. This was a fantastic book. Discussing the trials of black maids in Jackson, Mississippi in the 60's this was an awesome story. It was original and I truly felt like I knew every character in the book. It also made me want to literally punch the white ladies in the book. I also thought it was fantastic how they had kind of a calendar girl-esque thing going with calling the white employers ch. 1, ch. 2 You get my drift. Overall this is my recommendation for this post!
Happy reading!
Days Of Gold: Jude Deveraux: If you like Scottland and love stories this is definitely a good read for you. I do like myself a good love story, however I did feel that this one lagged somewhat. It was a little meager in the villain plot, and I do feel like the four year gap was a tad too long. Also there was some really surprising love connections at the end, and it felt like the author was just trying to have all of the characters have a happy ending. I mean I like myself some happy endings, but I feel as if the author was just reaching for straws at the end. You'll understand if you read it. Overall thought I would say it's a decent book to read, it was entertaining, and I don't regret reading it. :)
Next up: The Vampire Diaries The Return: Nightfall. This was an epic disaster. Not only is there a huge discrepancy between time periods (the first books take place in the 90's, new books now suddenly take place in present day) but also come on leave the series alone! LJ Smith you are a smart author, why are you putting your readers through more pain by making Elena choose between the two brothers again!? Also why why why whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy can Damon not remember Matt's name. He definitely knew it in the first four books. This book made me mad. If you like the Diaries, don't ruin the series for yourselves and stay away from the newer ones.
The Lace Reader, Brunonia Barry: So I read this, and yes it was beautifully written, however it was confusing as heck! The ending was definitely a twist and made you wonder what the heck is going on? I didn't know whether to think of the main character as just plain crazy or severely messed up. I don't even know what to make of this book. I'll give it a second read and update if I feel like I was way off base in my judgments about it first.
The Help, Kathryn Stockett: Honestly when I picked up this book I really thought it was going to be about Cinderella's mice. Boy I was wrong. This was a fantastic book. Discussing the trials of black maids in Jackson, Mississippi in the 60's this was an awesome story. It was original and I truly felt like I knew every character in the book. It also made me want to literally punch the white ladies in the book. I also thought it was fantastic how they had kind of a calendar girl-esque thing going with calling the white employers ch. 1, ch. 2 You get my drift. Overall this is my recommendation for this post!
Happy reading!
16.12.09
The Last Song
First of all, let's get this out in the open. I love Nicholas Sparks. Phew! I said it. Ok so The Last Song, which is currently number 12 on the New York Times best seller list, was good. I liked it, I mean it was cutesy and heart-achey, but I felt compared to a lot of other Nicholas Sparks books this one felt short. Especially since Miley Cyrus got to name the main character (Ronnie) and also play her in the movie. I have a HUGE issue with this. Not only is Ronnie not the name I would have thought to have picked, but also who would have picked Miley Cyrus? Even hearing her name makes me think of an STD. Anyway side from my Miley rant, Last Song is about a girl named Ronnie, who has a kind of screwed up past with the law and her parents divorce. Her mom forces her and her brother Jonah to go to a small beach town in North Carolina to visit their dad who they haven't seen for a few years. As predicted Ronnie doesn't want to go, accidently gets in more trouble, meets a cute guy named Will, falls in love.
Basically all the stuff Sparks is renown for is in this book. So for all you Sparks fans out there, this won't disappoint, and maybe make you want to bake cookies for your father. Anyway to end this commentary on the book, if you want to check out some stuff on the book or movie, here are some links! Enjoy!
-Jess
http://www.nicholassparks.com/LearnMore.asp?BookID=15
http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/11/17/the-last-song-movie-trailer/
P.S. Dear John looks like it will be fantastic and a major tear jerker if it is anything like the book! Be warned!
15.12.09
To make your visit worth while!
Here I am going to do a quick review on some of the books that have been recently made into movies. This way if you don't like reading you can check out the movie!
First up: The Reader. This was a fantastic book, as well as a fantastic film to go along with it. Some of the material may be somewhat unsettling since this is definitely a weird relationship since Hannah Schmidt is 21 years older than Michael Berg. But, i do feel that Schlink does an amazing job a narrating this piece almost as a ballad. Love, Loss, and Being Lost. Just fantastic.
Secondly: Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince . Of course everyone and their mother loves Harry, Ron, and Ginny, so i won't dare say a word against the book. However the movie as every true Potter fan knows did not live up to quite the expectations fans had. However it did stay truer to the book than some previous movies. Also does anyone else notice how Hogwarts keeps changing? Thoughts?
Thirdly: New Moon. My LEAST favorite book in the series. It was so depressing, and really boring to read (only because I was a hardcore Team Edward). However after the crap that was considered the first movie, I really had no hope for the second, surprisingly it was WAY better than the first one. Kristen Stewart didn't bite her lip so much, or look like she was on crystal meth (good job make-up!) and there was plenty of Taylor Lautner shirtless. However they didn't stay very close to the book, and did anyone notice what was going on with R-Patz nip in the clock tower scene?
Lastly (for now): The Lovely Bones. Now I haven't actually seen the movies, but the book was incredibly good. Sad, but really good. A lot of people I have talked to about seeing it, don't want to at all because the thought of sitting through a movie dealing solely on a 14 year old girls murder is just too disturbing, and yes the book at parts was very disturbing. But, it was also a really really good story. I will be seeing this movie and keep you posted!
Happy Reading!
-Jess
My first critique
So, I am setting up this here blog in hopes that once word is spread of my genius opinions on what i think about books that I will become uber-famous! Just kidding, ok not really.
Anyway! So the first book I would like to critique is Her Fearful Symmetry, by Audrey Niffenegger. Now I have heard glowing reviews of the Time Travelers Wife, so I figured hey why not, this seems like it would be interesting. I did not like this book at all! The story that Niffenegger creates albeit is very intricate, and tightly woven, I just could not get into it. First off she presents us with a set of twins who have the unhealthiest relationship in the world, and then brings in the dead great aunt who (spoiler alert!) in fact turns out to be their mother. That was pretty predictable honestly, however some points in the story were just head scratchers. If you read it talk to me, and we will discuss. But, in all seriousness the book was not worth the eighteen dollars paid for it. I could go on and on, however I won't.
On a slightly more positive note, for all you readers who like the mortal instruments series, author Cassandra Clare has confirmed there is to be a fourth one! yay!!!
Also for those Stephenie Meyer fans out there who have actually read her other book that does not deal with sparkly vampires, she does have plans to make The Host into a trilogy. I am actually really excited for this, because I felt like The Host had a little more substance than that of Twilight.
Check back for more updates on all things literary!
-Jess
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