Title: Hate List : A Novel
Author: Jennifer Brown
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-316-04144-7
Pages: 408
Why I choose this particular book: Along with an English teacher at the local high school, I help run a teen book club at my library. I'd read this book before and thought it would be a great choice for the club. October is National Anti-Bullying Awareness Month and this book is a great way to start a conversation. I
requested this through my library's
catalog and received it through inter-library loan.
Hate List is a hard read but not because of the writing, rather the subject matter is difficult to get through. The book picks up about six months after a shooting at Garvin High School. Valerie (Val) is heading back to school after her boyfriend, Nick, shot and killed several students and one teacher as well as wounding more students before shooting himself in the head. Val, in her attempt to stop Nick, was also wounded which incidentally (purposefully?) caused her to save the life of 'Miss Perfect' Jessica. Though Val's been cleared by the police for her actions leading up to the shooting Val, and most of the people in her life, still blame her for having been the mastermind behind the Hate List - a list of students, teachers, situations, actions, or whatever Val and Nick decided they hated. Val used the List as a coping device to deal with the problems she had at home and the bullies she faced at school and never dreamed that Nick would take it to such an extreme level.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Bad Girls Don't Die
Title: Bad Girls Don't Die
Author: Katie Alender
Publisher: Disney, Hyperion Books, 2009
ISBN: 978-142310876-4
Pages: 346
Why I choose this particular book: I was looking for more books to read and came across this one during a library catalog search. It seemed like a quick, creepy book. I requested this through my library's catalog and received it through inter-library loan.
Started reading: June 29, 2012 at 1:01 AM.
First impression: This may not be as creepy as I thought. It's published by Disney. Then again, you never know. The cover art is kind of disconcerting, though.
Finished reading: June 30, 2012 at 8:32 AM.
Bad Girls was alright. It's definitely a Young Adult book who's target is teenagers. The story was simplistic and the main characters weren't really developed; they were very reactionary and didn't question what was happening, they just went along with the plot. The adult characters in the book are stereotypes - the mother an overbearing workaholic, the father a man-child, the high school teacher a petty creature who treated the 'outcast' students poorly but who played nicely with the popular kids. There was almost no deviation from the stereotypes set out. Once an adult was cast a certain way that's how they stayed throughout the book.
Author: Katie Alender
Publisher: Disney, Hyperion Books, 2009
ISBN: 978-142310876-4
Pages: 346
Why I choose this particular book: I was looking for more books to read and came across this one during a library catalog search. It seemed like a quick, creepy book. I requested this through my library's catalog and received it through inter-library loan.
Started reading: June 29, 2012 at 1:01 AM.
First impression: This may not be as creepy as I thought. It's published by Disney. Then again, you never know. The cover art is kind of disconcerting, though.
Finished reading: June 30, 2012 at 8:32 AM.
Bad Girls was alright. It's definitely a Young Adult book who's target is teenagers. The story was simplistic and the main characters weren't really developed; they were very reactionary and didn't question what was happening, they just went along with the plot. The adult characters in the book are stereotypes - the mother an overbearing workaholic, the father a man-child, the high school teacher a petty creature who treated the 'outcast' students poorly but who played nicely with the popular kids. There was almost no deviation from the stereotypes set out. Once an adult was cast a certain way that's how they stayed throughout the book.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Dust and Decay (with a little bit of Rot and Ruin)
Author: Jonathan Maberry
Publisher: Simon and Schuster, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0235-5
Pages: 519
Why I choose this particular book: I read the first book in the Benny Imura series, Rot and Ruin, and needed to read this one. In general I choose this series because, of all the horror genre monsters out there, zombies really freak me out. Books are a great way to face my fear without being too visual (though sometimes my imagination is so much more graphic than movies/TV). I requested this book from my library's catalog and received it through inter-library loan.
Started reading: June 26, 2012 at 12:13 AM
Finished reading: June 29, 2012 at 12:38 AM
Since this is the second book in a series and I don't have an entry for the first book on this blog let me give a mini review about Rot and Ruin. So fourteen years after First Night, when the zombie plague began, humanity is existing within fenced-in towns with only a few souls brave enough to go into the Ruin where zombies roam free. Benny Imura has just turned 15 and in his town, Mountainside, he must find a job or lose half of his food rations. After a few unsuccessful forays into employment he finally and reluctantly settles for entering into the family business - killing zombies. His older brother, Tom, is a bounty hunter and Benny is not his biggest fan but he doesn't have many options and wants to continue to eat.
Throughout the course of the novel Benny learns the truth about his own First Night story as well as what really happens out in the Ruin.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Paper Towns
Title: Paper Towns
Author: John Green
Publisher: Dutton Books, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-525-47818-8
Pages: 305
Why I choose this particular book: We have a teen book club at my library and I partner with a teacher from the local high school to run it. She choose The Fault in Our Stars by John Green as, I believe, May's book choice. I really enjoyed that book and began reading everything by John Green. I saw this at my library and checked it out.
Started reading: June 23, 2012 at 11:09 PM
Finished reading: June 25, 2012 at 11:58 PM
This book has everything a reader of Green's expects: a sensitive, clever protagonist; a girl on a mission; a fantastic supporting cast; and fun, witty dialog.
Q (short for Quentin) leads a quiet life of school, hanging out with friends, and playing the video game Resurrection. Except for one childhood trauma, Q's had a pretty 'normal' life until Margo, the girl next door, comes barging through his window at night a few weeks before they graduate high school. She convinces Q to help her take a bit of well-planned and excellently executed revenge out on some ex-friends of hers and then she disappears. Q gets caught up in trying to follow the clues Margo left behind in order to find her and bring her home. He's helped in his mission by his best friends - Ben and Radar.
Author: John Green
Publisher: Dutton Books, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-525-47818-8
Pages: 305
Why I choose this particular book: We have a teen book club at my library and I partner with a teacher from the local high school to run it. She choose The Fault in Our Stars by John Green as, I believe, May's book choice. I really enjoyed that book and began reading everything by John Green. I saw this at my library and checked it out.
Started reading: June 23, 2012 at 11:09 PM
Finished reading: June 25, 2012 at 11:58 PM
This book has everything a reader of Green's expects: a sensitive, clever protagonist; a girl on a mission; a fantastic supporting cast; and fun, witty dialog.
Q (short for Quentin) leads a quiet life of school, hanging out with friends, and playing the video game Resurrection. Except for one childhood trauma, Q's had a pretty 'normal' life until Margo, the girl next door, comes barging through his window at night a few weeks before they graduate high school. She convinces Q to help her take a bit of well-planned and excellently executed revenge out on some ex-friends of hers and then she disappears. Q gets caught up in trying to follow the clues Margo left behind in order to find her and bring her home. He's helped in his mission by his best friends - Ben and Radar.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Converstations with the Fat Girl
Title: Conversations with the Fat Girl: A Novel
Author: Liza Palmer
Publisher: 5Spot, 2005
ISBN: 0-446-69395-2
Pages: 319
Why I choose this particular book: I was cruising around online looking for a book (or five) to read and stumbled across this title. I thought it sounded interesting and requested it through my library's catalog and received it from inter-library loan.
Started reading: June 22, 2012 at 3:52 PM
Finished reading: June 23, 2012 at 5:58 PM
I was taken in by the summary the publisher provided on the back of the book. It seemed like it would be a story about two old friends, one still overweight and one who'd had gastric-bypass surgery, and how their friendship has changed because of the surgery. Wow, I thought, this is right up my alley. I've gone through this exact thing. I'd had a best friend who'd gone through that surgery, left for college in another state, and somehow managed to change her entire personality. Even better, in the story the newly thin friend was getting married and the heavy friend was dealing with being a fat maid of honor. Well that also happened to me with the same friend. She'd gotten engaged in the one semester she managed to put in before coming back. Needless to say with her changed personality, the wedding caused a lot of friction. So, perfect, this story will be great because I've been there.
Author: Liza Palmer
Publisher: 5Spot, 2005
ISBN: 0-446-69395-2
Pages: 319
Why I choose this particular book: I was cruising around online looking for a book (or five) to read and stumbled across this title. I thought it sounded interesting and requested it through my library's catalog and received it from inter-library loan.
Started reading: June 22, 2012 at 3:52 PM
Finished reading: June 23, 2012 at 5:58 PM
I was taken in by the summary the publisher provided on the back of the book. It seemed like it would be a story about two old friends, one still overweight and one who'd had gastric-bypass surgery, and how their friendship has changed because of the surgery. Wow, I thought, this is right up my alley. I've gone through this exact thing. I'd had a best friend who'd gone through that surgery, left for college in another state, and somehow managed to change her entire personality. Even better, in the story the newly thin friend was getting married and the heavy friend was dealing with being a fat maid of honor. Well that also happened to me with the same friend. She'd gotten engaged in the one semester she managed to put in before coming back. Needless to say with her changed personality, the wedding caused a lot of friction. So, perfect, this story will be great because I've been there.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Below Stairs
(Note: I've set up this post the same way I set up my book journal entries.)
Title: Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir That Inspired Upstairs, Downstairs and Downton Abbey
Author: Margaret Powell
Publisher: (Original) Peter Davies Ltd., 1968 (Current) St. Martin's Press, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-250-00544-1
Pages: 212
Why I choose this particular book: I'm a huge Downton Abbey fan, I loved Upstairs, Downstairs as well as Gosford Park and other period pieces. I have my BA in history and have always enjoyed reading historical fiction along side of non-fiction works. I'd heard about this book but finally decided to read it after a friend (and fellow Downton fan) posted a picture on Facebook of a book shop window featuring a themed display- a sort of if-you-like-Downton-you'll-like-these-books type thing. I'd read a few of the books featured and enjoyed them so I thought it was time to give Below Stairs a chance. I requested it through my library's catalog and received it through inter-library loan.
Started reading: June 19, 2012 at 7:10 PM
Finished reading: June 22, 2012 at 11:37 AM
I really enjoyed the conversational, British-cheeky tone of the book. Margaret's style is very relaxed and easy. It was like listening to my grandmother telling stories of her life growing up in the twenties. I found it interesting how Margaret would comment about her family's living situation, the obvious poverty while she grew up, the lack of opportunities available to her, and be very nonchalant about it all. She accepted her past and looked for the positive aspects of life without letting it all drag her down. Her attitude may have been perspective - she wrote this book in her late fifties - or it may have just been her way to cope with it, I don't know. The only regret she seems to carry throughout her life is that, because of her family's lack of money, she was unable to accept a scholarship to become a teacher. She mentions it a few times, especially when she talks about her sons and their educations. She's very proud in the end of the book when she tells her readers that she passed her 'O' levels when she was 58 and was hoping to take the Advance levels before she turned 60.
Title: Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir That Inspired Upstairs, Downstairs and Downton Abbey
Author: Margaret Powell
Publisher: (Original) Peter Davies Ltd., 1968 (Current) St. Martin's Press, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-250-00544-1
Pages: 212
Why I choose this particular book: I'm a huge Downton Abbey fan, I loved Upstairs, Downstairs as well as Gosford Park and other period pieces. I have my BA in history and have always enjoyed reading historical fiction along side of non-fiction works. I'd heard about this book but finally decided to read it after a friend (and fellow Downton fan) posted a picture on Facebook of a book shop window featuring a themed display- a sort of if-you-like-Downton-you'll-like-these-books type thing. I'd read a few of the books featured and enjoyed them so I thought it was time to give Below Stairs a chance. I requested it through my library's catalog and received it through inter-library loan.
Started reading: June 19, 2012 at 7:10 PM
Finished reading: June 22, 2012 at 11:37 AM
I really enjoyed the conversational, British-cheeky tone of the book. Margaret's style is very relaxed and easy. It was like listening to my grandmother telling stories of her life growing up in the twenties. I found it interesting how Margaret would comment about her family's living situation, the obvious poverty while she grew up, the lack of opportunities available to her, and be very nonchalant about it all. She accepted her past and looked for the positive aspects of life without letting it all drag her down. Her attitude may have been perspective - she wrote this book in her late fifties - or it may have just been her way to cope with it, I don't know. The only regret she seems to carry throughout her life is that, because of her family's lack of money, she was unable to accept a scholarship to become a teacher. She mentions it a few times, especially when she talks about her sons and their educations. She's very proud in the end of the book when she tells her readers that she passed her 'O' levels when she was 58 and was hoping to take the Advance levels before she turned 60.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Just a test
For some time now I've been keeping a book journal. It was just supposed to be an exercise in writing. I've tried to keep diaries and journals before but I've never been able to keep up with them. For whatever reason I've actually been able to keep the book journal going. I think it may have something to do with how informal I've kept it. No two entries have the same sort of focus, just whatever inspires me in the immediate aftermath of the book. Writing down my thoughts has also helped me transition from the book back into the world (or directly into my next book, which is often the case).
I've shared some of what I've been writing with a few close friends and they've urged me to attempt a blog. I don't think I have any great insight into the books I choose to read but my friends thought the wider world might be interested in what I have to say. I guess we'll find out.
I've just started a new book and will post my thoughts when I've finished.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)