March 28, 2009: Wintergirls

Can you believe that I have never read a Laurie Halse Anderson book before? After reading Wintergirls, I can't believe it either! What a great book to start with - I am currently reading Speak, so I can get my fill.

Wintergirls follows Lia through as she deals with Cassie's death. Cassie used to be her best friend and they were in competition with each other; each wanted to be skinnier because whoever was the skinniest won. Lia's thoughts about food, about her family and about cutting her demons out were so startling and upsetting, but they were real and that is what made this book so good. I love that she didn't sugarcoat anorexia; she made it gritty and raw and hard to read. There are points in the book where I found myself getting so frustrated with Lia. Can't she see how she is hurting herself? That is what is so scary about eating disorders, people cannot see what they are doing to themselves. It is only when Lia realized that her step-sister Emma was being affected by this, that she began to realize what she was doing.

First of all, I want to say that the cover of this book is amazing. It's very eye-catching and is something that people would pick up and read the summary. Second of all - holy crap! That was my first thought after reading this book. I don't even know how to give this book the proper kudos. I guess all I can say is - READ IT!

March 26, 2009: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

I am a little behind on recaps, so I will just give you a quick rundown here. I read Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford for the Reading Round Robin.

If I saw this book in the store, I probably wouldn't pick it up. Even after reading the dust jacket, I was hesitant to read it. I have to say that I was wrong. This book was really touching and the story flowed very smoothly. I found myself reading this book at work because I wanted to know if Henry and Keiko met again in the end. It was a sweet and touching book and I would definitely recommend that you give it a shot :)

Book Round-Up

dThis week I got some good books that I can't wait to read!

Monday:
Family Pictures by Sue Miller [Reading Round Robin]

Tuesday:
Speak: 10th Anniversary Edition by Laurie Halse Anderson [Amazon.com]
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson [Amazon.com]
Something, Maybe by Elizabeth Scott [Amazon.com]

Wednesday: None

Thursday:
Sixteen: Stories About That Sweet & Bitter Birthday by Megan McCafferty [BookMooch]
Friday: None

Saturday:
The Lazy Girl's Guide to Losing Weight and Getting Fit by A.J. Rochester [BookMooch]

March 22, 2009: The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine

I won The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine by April Lurie from Chelsea over at The Page Flipper...thanks Chelsea!

I want to start out by saying that I enjoyed this book, but the cover is kind of bizarre, right? Based on my judgment of the cover (without reading the synopsis) I thought this would be some kind of strange ghost story (like Ghostgirl) or something strange. I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly this story moved and it held my attention!

Dylan Fontaine's life is a jumbled mess. His mom ran away with another man, his father works all the time and his brother is a big stoner. Also, Dylan seems to be striking out with the ladies! This book is about Dylan Fontaine trying to figure out who he is. When his best girl friend decides to shoot a movie about him, he struggles to figure it out. Along the way he takes some risks, steps out of his shell and confronts his family issues head on.

I liked this story for the family dynamics. These guys were having such a difficult time adjusting to living without their mother/wife that it made for an interesting dynamic. This book is really nice, and I thought it had a pretty happy ending :)

Book Round-Up

Monday:
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman [Library]

Tuesday:
How to be Single by Liz Tuccillo [BookMooch]

Wednesday: None

Thursday: None

Friday:
Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles [Border's]
Twilight: Director's Notebook by Catherine Hardwicke [Border's]
A New Dawn edited by Ellen Hopkins [Border's]
Everyone is Beautiful by Katherine Center [LibraryThing]
One Perfect Day by Lauraine Snelling [BookMooch]

Saturday: None

Off Topic: I Went to see IDINA MENZEL

So I've been dying to see Idina for a long time, when I saw she was coming to Syracuse I decided to make the trip since it didn't seem she would be coming anywhere close to where I live (south of Buffalo). I'm the type of person who thinks that everything that can go wrong will, so when we made it to Syracuse and picked up the tickets, I was waiting for something to happen. Good news is, nothing did! The entire night went perfectly....seriously, best night of my life!

So my mom and I got to Syracuse around 4:30 and picked up the tickets. We went to check into the hotel and came back around 6:30 and waited in line! I was shocked to see how long the line was, but we were actually pretty close to the front. It was much longer behind us! I loved seeing all the Idina fans - a lot of people in Syracuse have good taste in music ;) They opened the doors to the theater a little early. We decided to sit on the little side balcony because the floor seats were full for about 7 rows and I am pretty short, so on the balcony we had excellent seats. Better yet, I could see Idina perfectly with no one blocking my view!

Idina came out at about 8:30 and that is the moment I started crying. It was unfortunate because she sang "I Stand" and I absolutely love that song. It's so powerful and the lyrics are so well written. So, after silently crying and trying to wipe my tears without my mom noticing, I was able to fully enjoy the rest of the concert! She sang so many great songs...I loved hearing "Here" and wish that I could have that song on my iPod! Some highlights for me were "Heartbreaker", "No Day But Today", "One" and "For Good". I know, none of these are her original songs, but her renditions were absolutely breath-taking. When Idina busted out "Heartbreaker", I got chills! I love 80's music and I have to say that she blew Pat Benetar out of the water! "No Day But Today" and "For Good" were so beautiful and the arrangements were simple. "No Day But Today" was done with her guitar player (Emerson) and it is absolutely gorgeous. "For Good" was sang acapella. I loved when Idina sang "One". I mainly loved it because Idina talked about her love for Bono and how he is on "her list". Her encore was perfect too, I loved her appreciation for her fans and the fact that she sang two songs :)

I think that what I loved most about my first Idina concert was her funny personality. I've always heard about her fun personality and her audience banter, but being able to witness it firsthand was amazing! She is truly a beautiful person. Speaking of beauty...those shoes were gorgeous! Seriously, I need a pair of shoes like that - I've been looking for two days now :)

Since I have kind of rambled on and on, I just want to end this by saying thank you to Idina for putting on a gorgeous show. I wish I could have stayed for the awards show the next day! I hope everyone else enjoyed this concert as much as I did!

March 16, 2009: Slumdog Millionaire (a.k.a "Q&A")

When BuzzSugar chose Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup for the March book selection, I was so excited! I ran out and bought the book immediately. NOTE: This novel is originally published as "Q & A"

I really loved the movie and thought it was quite beautiful, so I eagerly started reading the book. I have to say, I really did like the book a lot but it is very different from the movie. I think that is okay - I think in this case, I should view them as two separate things.

In the book, Ram Mohammed Thomas has won a billion rupees on a game show. He is an uneducated waiter from Mumbai, and has not had an easy life. He is immediately thrown into jail and questioned through the night to find out if he has cheated. His lawyer, Smita, soon realizes that every event in Ram's life has led him to win the billion rupees. It was truly his destiny.

While I see the movie as a love story, I don't view the book this way. Sure, Ram does find love and fights for his love - it just wasn't as prominent. It was interesting to see Salim in the book - he is a completely different character in the movie! That's okay!

To say that Ram has had an eventful, hard life would be an understatement. But I think that Mr. Swarup wrote it very beautifully. The images were strong and sometimes very disturbing; each chapter was a separate story, consuming the reader from the first word. Even if you haven't seen the movie, I would really recommend this book. I think that the way in which the plot unfolds is very unique and Mr. Swarup did a fantastic job!

March 15, 2009: The Writing on the Wall

The Writing on The Wall by Wendy Lichtman is a follow up to Do The Math: Secrets, Lies and Algebra. I picked up this book from the library because I was looking for a really short and easy read - luckily, I found it! I've been feeling so blah lately - I haven't really been reading much. Hopefully once spring hits, I can start reading more....maybe even sit outside and read (fingers crossed!)

Tess's life is getting complicated. She is unsure if Damien is her boyfriend, Richard keeps pulling mean pranks on her, and someone is communicating to Tess through grafitti. Tess is trying to solve the mystery of arson in her school, but will she take the grafitti too far?

I don't have too much to say about this book. I LOVE the math and that Tess can relate every problem to algebra (and you thought you'd never use algebra?!) I think that this book might be really fun for some younger readers :)

Book Round-Up

Sunday:
Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup [Target] *I loved the movie!

Monday:
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford [Reading Round Robin]

Tuesday:
Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky [BookMooch]
Cracked Up To Be by Courtney Summers [Amazon.com]

Wednesday: none

Thursday:
Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult [Amazon.com - thanks Mom!]

Friday:
Thanks to Stephanie for these books!
Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips
The Smart One by Ellen Meister

Saturday:
The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine by April Lurie [Thanks Chelsea!]

March 14, 2009: Handle With Care

WARNING: I am going to spoil this book below, so read no further if you don't want to know! Also, I will probable ramble a lot - so I apologize for that!

There are three authors that I love and I always buy their books right away - Wendy Corsi Staub, Nicholas Sparks and Jodi Picoult. I was so excited to see Jodi Picoult's new book Handle With Care so I dug right in.

I read Jodi's books because I love the controversial topics...I really like when a book gives me a circumstance that I may not be familiar with and then I am forced to put myself in that situation. What would I do? What is right? What is wrong? This book certainly brought the controversy.

This book is about Willow. She is a super-smart 6 year old, she brightens everyone's life, however, she was born with osteogenesis imperfecta or "brittle bone disease". Her mother decides to file a wrongful birth suit, but the problem with that is (beside the obvious) is that she is suing her best friend, Piper (her obstetrician). This lawsuit creates all sorts of problems between the family and raises many questions in their small town.

I will start with the positive. I really liked Marin's contribution to the story. Her personal journey of looking for her biological mother was touching and real to me. The way she found her mother was a true shock, but her mother's reaction was more shocking and heartbreaking. I liked that in the end, Marin was able to grow from her experience and adopt a child of her own.

I really hated Charlotte. She seemed so selfish to me, I couldn't believe that she went through with this lawsuit. It tore her family apart and her other daughter, Amelia, was falling apart before her eyes and no one ever noticed. I understand that the settlement would be very beneficial to her family, but was it worth it? She basically had to testify that had she known of the OI sooner, she would have aborted Willow. How can she say that without seeing the effect it would have on her beautiful, intelligent 6 year old daughter? To me it seems that maybe the issue should be with their insurance company not paying for their needs; maybe they could have held fundraisers for her medical equipment.

I will say that my heart broke for Willow. Can you imagine not being able to protect your child from any pain. Willow tried to be so brave, but every time she had a break I honestly wanted to cry. It really makes me thankful that I can walk without worry and we should all be thankful for this. I also felt so sorry for Amelia. She had classic signs of a troubled/suicidal teen. The drastic/sudden change in appearance should have clued her parents in. I was happy that Willow walked in on her right before she slit her wrists, but was horrified when Willow tried to do the same.

The ending RUINED the book. It was incredibly predictable and seemed to mimic My Sister's Keeper. The main difference between the books is that the ending worked in My Sister's Keeper, but not in this book. I will just say it...Willow dies in the end and it pissed me off. Not only did she die, but she died and we got no reaction from her family. The minute I saw Willow narrating the final chapter, I knew what was going to happen. I wanted an amazing, satisfying ending-an ending that makes me go "WOW! What an amazing book", unfortunately I am left with such a bitter taste. I guess my expecations were too high.

Sorry for the rambling, negative nature of my post :(

March 10, 2009: Cracked Up to Be

Wow...I have really been M.I.A lately! Eleven days into March and I just read my first book yesterday! I have heard wonderful things about Cracked Up To Be by Courtney Summers and decided to order it. When my order arrived yesterday, I opened it right up and read it all (the perks of a sick day). I was not disappointed.

Parker was a straight A student, cheerleader, the most popular girl and dating a basketball player. The novel opens with a different story and that is the story of Parker's "rehabilitation". Her school counselor is monitoring her and making sure she doesn't drink in class, makes sure all her homework is done for the week and each Friday they will meet and discuss her week. We are slowly given background into Parker's life and what has led her to the point of drinking and attempted suicide. The reveal in the end is written so well and is so upsetting/shocking that it really makes us think. I don't want to give the ending away, so I will stop the plot discussion there.

Summers writes Parker in a way that is very likeable - even though Parker is a bitch, you can't help but want to help her. This is evident from the secondary characters, as much as they may not like her behavior they all look out for her best interests and honestly want to understand her behavior. Another amazing thing about Summers writing is that I was instantly placed into the halls of my high school (even though it has been many years) and it was like I had never left. The dialogue was so authentic and the feelings were so real.

I feel that whatever I say here will not be good enough for this book. It takes some good writing for me to be engrossed in a book and read it straight through. If you pick up this book - be prepared to do just that!

Book Round-Up

Monday: None

Tuesday:
Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult [BookMooch]
Size 14 is Not Fat Either by Meg Cabot [BookMooch]
Confesions of a Reformed Dieter by A.J. Rochester [BookMooch]

Wednesday: None

Thursday:
Do The Math # 2: The Writing on the Wall by Wendy Lichtman [Library]

Friday: None

Saturday:
Behind a Mask by Louisa May Alcott [BookMooch]

February in Review

I think February was a good month for me in the Young Adult genre. I read some great books (Thirteen Reasons Why, Living Dead Girl, Coraline, My Most Excellent Year, Identical and The Adoration of Jenna Fox) and these books kind of "jump started" my YA passion. I have always loved this genre, but it kind of took a backseat recently. I think that these books really are excellent examples of this wonderful genre - it truly is for people of all ages.

I read two other books that I enjoyed this month (Target Underwear and a Vera Wang Gown and Do the Math: Secrets, Lies and Algebra). Both of these books made for light reading and were able to kind of break my rut when needed.

With the good, comes the bad. I did not like Into the Wild or English as a Second Language. Both were read for different challenges, so I am happy to cross them off my list...I just couldn't get into them!

In summary, I think that the good far outweighs the bad.....those YA books are must read!

Book Round-Up

I had a very slow week, but I don't mind! I actually sent out a lot of books for BookMooch, so hopefully some books on my wishlist become available soon :)

Monday:
A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas [BookMooch]

Tuesday: None

Wednesday:
Among the Hidden (Shadow Children #1) by Margaret Peterson Haddix [BookMooch]

Thursday: None

Friday:
Conversations with the Fat Girl by Lisa Palmer [BookMooch]

Saturday: None