Lost in Translation

This book was fantastic! It was educational, fun to read and super fun to look at. The pages were laid out differently and illustrated beautifully for each of the different words used. I have started trying to use each of these words in my own life, as some of the things the words define are amazing. The words picked are fun to say, and interesting ideas to discuss with others. While some of the others it's hard to believe that there is a special word dedicated just to describe that certain situation or scenario. I would recommend this book highly to anyone, it's a great coffee table book and a great conversation starter. It catches your eye right away with the colorful cover and pages and interesting and intriguing title. 

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

This summer I started on a "I HAVE to read all these books that are going to be movies" spree. It was so fun for me, but for my fiance that had to go see all the movies with me afterwards, it was not fun. This was basically me and he hated me for it:

And then, when he hated the movie, I could tell him that you know what? It was nothing like the book, so you have to read the book too. I tell him this all the time, and he doesn't believe me. I also tell him: 

Every book lover knows that last part. Never EVER judge a book by its movie. I can't think of a single book that was not as good as the movie was. Okay, end rant about book adaptations into movies. 

My spree started with If I Stay this summer. This book was pretty amazing and well written. It was very sad at the beginning and the whole story made me really appreciate my family and friends all that much more. It starts out with Mia losing her entire family in a horrific car crash and then chronicles her story from there. For a lot of the book, it's Mia looking down over her body in the hospital and remembering happier times in the past with her family and friends. The whole concept of "if I stay" is whether or not Mia is going to stay with her body, or move on to the after-life with the rest of her family. The title, if nothing else, was brilliant and I loved that. Another thing I enjoyed was that even though the premise of the book was so sad and tragic, the author found ways to incorporate some funny things and at times I was laughing out loud because of the book. The whole time I was rooting for her to continue to follow her dreams no matter what, because that's what her parents would have wanted her to do. 

Overall, this is a great book and even though I thought it was going to be really dramatic and heavy material, I loved that the author made some parts of it light and uplifting. I would definitely recommend this! I also love this quote from the book: 

Buy it here on Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

Quick Review:
Title: If I Stay

Author: Gayle Forman

Pages: 304
Recommended for: Young adult girls

Summer House with Swimming Pool

I'll start off by saying I wasn't sure how much I was going to like this book. It had a very interesting summary and synopsis to read, however, when I started, I was not a fan of the characters. The first part of the book was fantastic. The characters were intriguing and I was really looking forward to this becoming a page turner. However, all of the plot "twists" were predictable and towards the second half of the book I was finding myself becoming more repulsed by the characters and having a general distaste towards the book. 

The main character, Marc Schlosser is a pretty well known and successful doctor in the Netherlands. The story begins after one of Dr. Schlosser's patients, who is a fairly well-known actor on a new HBO series, Ralph Meier dies. Dr. Schlosser comes under scrutiny because this terminal condition developed in Meier while in Schlosser's care and a possible misdiagnosis could have caused Meier's death. The story does flashbacks, setting the scene and letting us in on Meier and Schlosser's relationship and how their families shared a vacation together at a beach house.   The book takes a look at how Ralph was treated, if it was correct or if he was misdiagnosed from the beginning and how that fateful vacation could have caused everything. 

Overall, this book was fantastic at the beginning, but could have easily been 50 pages shorter with the story wrapping up quicker and making it an easier read. 

Buy it at Barnes & Noble or Amazon.

copyright Herman Koch 2014

Quick Review:

Title: Summer House with Swimming Pool

Author: Herman Koch more information on him click here.

Pages:400

Recommended for: Adults

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review. 

Cress by Marissa Meyer (Lunar Chronicles #3)

Okay, I read this book in literally a day... Come to find out... I HAVE TO WAIT A WHOLE YEAR FOR THE NEXT ONE TO COME OUT! What is this nonsense??? Cress lived up to every one of my expectations and even exceeded them. I flew through the book and was in love with all of the characters at the end. I found this meme online and thought it was entirely appropriate: 

I'm just stunned. Ms. Meyer does a wonderful job of giving each of the characters their own personality and really taking the time to develop the characters and have you grow to love all of them. When reading the different chapters, narrated by the different characters, it is very easy to tell the "narration styles" apart and I think this is what makes the book so great. All of the characters have their chance to narrate the story and share what they are thinking. I am in love with Cress and Captain Thorne. I love that Cress seems like a damsel in distress at times, but then can totally take care of herself. I was really nervous at the *SPOILER ALERT!* card table part, where Cress saw Thorne with the other girl, but in all reality, he was just betting for a new body for Iko! Swoooon. *END SPOILER* I want Kai and Cinder to be together so bad it hurts. Queen Levana is more evil than ever and it's amazing. I can't wait to read more about her and her stepdaughter, who I'm assuming will be Winter in the fourth book. I've read some things that are suggesting that Winter will be a take on Snow White. I'm excited to see where this will go, since the stepdaughter is locked away in a tower and is going a little "crazy" talking about the bleeding walls? Ahh, I just can't wait for the next one. Marissa Meyer, why are you doing this to us! Can it just be 2015 already???

Here it is at Barnes & Noble and on Amazon. 

(You may want to wait to buy them all and read them when Winter comes out in 2015, because you will be in agony waiting for Winter if you read them all now! ;) Consider yourself warned!)

Copyright, Marissa Meyer, 2014

Quick review: 
Title: Cress (Lunar Chronicles #3)
Author: Marissa Meyer
Pages: 550 (hardcover) again, long but absolutely, uncontrollably worth every minute of reading!
Recommended for: Any and everyone!

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (Lunar Chronicles #2)

Let me just start out by saying, Marissa Meyer, we have a love/hate relationship now. (Okay, you're right, a love/hate relationship that she doesn't even know about..) I don't understand how you can wrap one story up, yet still leave me wanting more and begging for the next book. I finished Scarlet and this is exactly how I felt.

Things I loved about the book:
Ms. Meyer was able to introduce new characters, yet keep up with Cinder and Iko, then find a way to bring Scarlet and Wolf together with Cinder and Iko towards a common cause. I think this was fantastic, and I never found myself confused or not understanding what was going on with what characters. Ms. Meyer was also able to add in another badass female character without her really overshadowing Cinder and had them work together flawlessly. While Cinder and Scarlet did not always get along, I think that they still worked as a duo, trying to achieve a common goal, but each for different reasons.

I also really enjoyed that Cinder was getting used to her Lunar capabilities and was starting to learn how to use and control them. I wish that Prince Kai was seen more in this book, and I really want him and Cinder to work things out and be together already! We alllll know it's bound to happen.  I did enjoy seeing more of Queen Levana and her evil ways and dealing with Prince Kai. Even though we didn't see much of Kai, Ms. Meyer gave us a new male character to swoon over, Wolf. He is just so handsome and mysterious and so into Scarlet, I can't even. I think this is me right now:



No, but seriously. I love him. And I can't wait to see what Ms. Meyer does with him and Scarlet. They are just too cute. As my boyfriend would say, "Wolf is the strong, handsome character who is really sensitive and sweet on the inside, but he only shows that side to the girl that he falls for." I know, I know. I found myself quite the romantic. ;) He's still a keeper. 

Anyway, back to Scarlet.. I can't wait to read the next one and see how their journey continues together and incorporates the next person "Cress." Even though, as soon as the girl on the spaceship was introduced, I figured she was going to be Cress with her long, flowing, Rapunzel-like locks. 

Go out and buy these books and read them! If you want to see what I have to say about Cinder first, click here. Or, to save yourself some agony, wait until all 4 books are out and then get them. Save yourself some pain. 

Here's the book at Barnes & Noble and on Amazon.

Copyright, Marissa Meyer, 2014

Quick Review: 
Title: Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2)
Author: Marissa Meyer
Pages: 452 (hardcover) long, but SO WORTH IT!
Recommended for: Anyone! It's so good!

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Look at me, I am on a roll with 3 posts in one month? More posts than I have done all year! Maybe because it's the summer and I have less to do so that means MORE READING! This is what I've felt like so far this summer:

Okay, maybe I can't quit! But it's a better hobby than some other things! Okay now onto Cinder:

Cinder is about a girl living in a futuristic world, where Cinder is a cyborg living with her stepmother and two step sisters as their maid. Sound familiar? Yep, a futuristic Cinderella. The cool thing about this series is that Ms. Meyer took different fairy tales and rewrote them and incorporated more futuristic things as well as real life problems that fairy tale characters don't often face. Cinder is being used as a maid and fixer-upper around the house by her stepmother and stepsisters, during a time where the "plague" is taking over New Beijing. Cinder meets Prince Kai one day when he comes to get his android fixed. Soon after, she starts her adventure trying to find the cure and this mysterious "princess selene" who can stop the Lunar Queen Levana from taking over Earth. 

The thing that I liked the most about this book is how ferocious Cinder is.  She is a great leading lady and really fights for her family and those that she loves, including her android Iko.  Queen Levana is also one of the best villians that Ms. Meyer could have made for this novel.  She is vain, obsessed with power (and herself) and willing to risk it all to make sure that Princess Selene is never seen or heard from again. This is witnessed in the stories of her burning down Princess Selene's nursery when she was just a small child. While as soon as Princess Selene was mentioned, I knew how that part was going to turn out, the story was not as predictable as I thought it would be.  The plot moves along nicely, and doesn't get slow at any points.  One thing about all of the Lunar Chronicles is that Ms. Meyer does a wonderful job leaving you wanting more and more for the next book. It was excruciating to have to wait a whole year for Scarlet to come out after reading Cinder. 

Great book! Go out and buy it at Barnes & Noble or Amazon. 

(Copyright Marissa Meyer, 2014)

Quick Review:

Title: Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1)

Author: Marissa Meyer

Pages: 390 (hardcover)

Recommended for: Young adults, both boys and girls because it has some action in it as well!

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Like many of the books I read, I got sucked into this book hard core. I could not put it down. I was also WEEPING at the end. Full on, ugly cry. So attractive, right?  After reading it, I went to talk to my mom about it, because my mom and I read the same books and then discuss them together. As I was talking to her, I almost started crying again because it was just so good and sad at the same time! What is wrong with me?!

Anyways, I would highly recommend this book. And as a plus... the movie is coming out on Friday (June 6th). I am very excited, and I am pretty sure that my mom and I are going to see it on Thursday! We are such nerds. I am ecstatic to see how the movie turns out, however, I never like the movies as much as the books. But hey, that's how life goes, right?

The Fault in Our Stars is about a girl named Hazel who has cancer. Her mother forces her to go to a cancer support group, where she has a friend named Augustus. Side note-- how cool of a name is Augustus?! Okay, so they meet and Augustus is pretending to be this bad boy and of course Hazel is interested (aren't we all!) and so they hang out, after "Gus" practically forces her to come out with him. The story takes us on the ride that is Gus and Hazel's epic romance. While the way that Hazel and Gus talk to each other is not the way that "normal" teenagers talk to each other or discuss things with each other, these teenagers are not "normal" teenagers. Although, at some points I did feel that John Green was trying to slide in a few of those "one-liners" that teenagers will be tattooing on their bodies in a moment of epic, passionate, romance, it was still a good book. And some of those one-liners really got me.  I found this meme online and think that it accurately describes this book:

So accurate, am I right?

Another thing about this book that I really enjoyed was the cast of characters chosen for the movie.  Although at first, I was not a big Shailene Woodley fan, she is really growing on me as she develops her acting skills and career more. I realize that I am no expert on anything really, but I really think she has developed so much to become good at her job! I also really like the fact that she seems down to earth and humble, much like Jennifer Lawrence (who I read she hates to be compared to..Sorry Shailene!)  One weird thing about the casting is that in Divergent, Shailene's character's brother (Ansel Elgort) is now Augustus for The Fault in Our Stars movie.  Minor details, but it's a little weird.. 

Back to the book.. SO GOOD! Go out and read it now! 

(Copyright John Green, 2014)

Buy it at Barnes & Noble or Amazon.

Quick Review: 

Title: The Fault in Our Stars

Author: John Green

Pages: 313 (hardcover)
Recommended for: EVERYONE!

The One (Selection #3) by Kiera Cass

Okay, so let me start this off by saying that I read this book in about a day. One. Single. Day.  I have been waiting so long for this book to come out and I was so excited when it did! I had pre-ordered it months in advance (much to the dismay of my boyfriend who thought I was crazy.. sorry not sorry), and was so excited when I got the email from Barnes & Noble that it had shipped.  Not only did I pre-order the book, but I pre-ordered a copy that Kiera Cass had signed herself.  How awesome is that? I was so excited!

Anyways, onto what I actually thought of the book itself.. If you have not read the first two books, I would highly recommend you do that first! You can read what I have to say on the first two here.

Of course, I'm going to start off with, I was SOOOO happy that they did finally end up together.  I really liked that Kiera Cass took her time getting them fully together and then threw in a little rift between Maxon and America at the very end to get you to think, dang maybe they won't end up together? I really enjoyed how she even made me like Celeste and feel bad when (SPOILER) she gets killed in the end. Another thing that I liked about the book was that America stayed true to her roots until the very end.  She fought for Aspen as a friend, and she stayed humble throughout the whole experience, not letting it change her for the worse.

Even though, overall I was happy with the ending, I feel that Ms. Cass could have done a little more with the rebel piece. The Southern rebels are mentioned, and attack the palace a few times, but they never really come into play after two appearances.  The Northern Rebels are the only ones that we grow to know and it's only their explanation of the Southern rebels that we get.  I really enjoyed that Maxon and American were sneaking around trying to help the Northern Rebels and change the way that the country is run.  I also liked that we got to know more about Maxon and the way he worked, but the book wrapped up a little too quickly.   Overall, it's a great, quick read and I really enjoyed it! It's not your typical fairy tale story about a girl coming into the royal family and falling in love with a prince, it runs deeper than that.

In case you get confused on who all of the Selected girls are, Kiera Cass has included a list on her website! Find it here. She has also announced a new novella called "The Queen" which will take us back to Queen Amberley's selection time. Read about it on Ms. Cass's website here.

Want to own it? Here it is on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

(Copyright, Kiera Cass 2014)

Quick Review:
Title: The One (Selection Book 3)
Author: Kiera Cass
Pages: 217 (ebook)
Recommended for: Young adult girls

City of Fallen Angels (Mortal Instruments #4)

City of Fallen Angels is number 4 in the Mortal Instruments series. Let me tell you, when I was starting this book, I thought wow, everyone is getting along! The war is over, everyone is alive and well and Clary and Jace finally get to be together without thinking they are brother and sister... Boy was I wrong.

So it is true that in this book the war is over and Clary is back at home training to become a real shadowhunter like her hunk of a boyfriend Jace.  Everything is fine and dandy, and Clary's mom and Luke are planning their wedding! Too good to be true right? Absolutely. All of the sudden, shadowhunters are turning up dead everywhere. Nobody can figure out who is murdering all these innocent people, and why they are only targeting shadowhunters. Poor Simon has also told his mother that he is a vampire when she finds vials of blood in his room, and he gets kicked out of his house. Clary can't ask him for help because he's clearly dealing with some of his own issues. The story feels like something you've read before, because it follows the same basic plot line as the previous books. I was kind of hoping that Ms. Clare would leave Jace and Clary to be, but of course they have their own trials and tribulations in this book again. Alec and Mangus develop together as a couple, and new demons are introduced and take on a big role in the book. The ending did catch me off guard as much as it could..

Overall, this book was not terrible. I think that as someone who hates to leave a series unfinished, it was not unbearable to read. I just wanted something a little different, maybe the characters to develop more and Clary to become less whiny. But hey, you can't have everything.

Here's the book on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

                                          © Margaret K. McElderry Books, Cassandra Clare

Quick Review:
Title: City of Fallen Angels (Mortal Instruments Book #4)
Author: Cassandra Clare
Pages: 424 (paperback)
Recommended: Young adult girls, 14-17 (or 22!)

Educational Books? People Read Those?

Happy 2014!

This post is about an educational book. It's not a fun, young adult/teen book that I usually like to read, however, this book was sent to me by my friends at Librarything, and so I read and reviewed it. The book is Exploring Critical Issues in Gifted Education: A Case Studies Approach by Christine Weber.

So here's the review:

I liked the case studies approach that this book had to offer, however, some of them were dry and hard to get through.  The book itself is very dense and offers a lot of information that might be helpful to someone who is willing to look past the dry-ness of the writing. The topic of Gifted Education is a topic that is neglected in today's society and I was really hoping that this book would help highlight some of the issues facing teachers when it comes to gifted education. This book might be have an application in a grad school program focusing on Gifted Education, but I don't think it's a book that can be read quickly without having others to discuss the case studies with.

Overall, I'm not a big fan of reading educational books for fun. This was like forcing myself to read a textbook even though I didn't have a class it applied to. If I did have a class it applied to, it may be easier to read and take from.

                                                             (copyright Christine Weber 2013)

Here's the book on Amazon.

Overall, I give it a 4 out of 5 stars because it is interesting and educational, just not my cup of tea.