Sick in the Real World

Hey peoples, this is RR reporting from.. well, who are we kidding, I'm not actually going to tell you.
I am sick. Have been since six this morning. Lotsa ickiness. But I have had a lot of spare reading time on m'hands. Since I woke up, I've completed the following list:

SICKY PERSON TO DO LIST
(Special Holiday Edition - oh, yeah. Christmas book review coming up soon.)

1. Watched Bad-but-Good TV show. (CHARMED, what! Power of Three! Prue! Piper! Phoebe!)
2. Brushed teeth. (Oh, the forbidden luxury. Ya gotta be sick to truly understand how delicious clean teeth are.)
3. Eaten candy canes. (Yummmm.... best candy ever. Also, these are stale. Chewy. Freaking awesome...)
4. Read Marcelo in the Real World, by Francisco X. Stork. (I read fast.)


So, moving on from my general ick factor, a review!
Marcelo in the Real World! By Francisco X. Stork!
Marcelo Sandoval is that around seventeen, and he's labeled as autistic, even though he does not technically fit under the Umbrella of Autism (or so the book says). He's fairly high-functioning, enough so that when his father demands he enroll at the regular high school in the fall or work at his law firm's office for the summer, it's not crazy hard for Marcelo to adapt to the routines of the office. At first, he starts off in the mail room, working under (get yer minds outta tha gutter!) Jasmine, an apparently gorgeous girl (Marcelo doesn't get "hot" or "beautiful" or even "remotely good-looking", so we have to rely on hearing how horny Dad's Partner's Jerky Son is for Jazzy). Then one day, Marcelo finds a picture in the trash - his father's firm is defending a company being sued for their windshields injuring people when they break, instead of shattering into millions of tiny, safe pieces as advertised. The picture is of a girl, of Hispanic descent, with half a face. The other half of her face is shrunken, burnt, and deformed. Marcelo connects with the picture, and the girl in it, and starts to investigate, wanting help her.
Jasmine was pretty much what I expected: callous, but reasonable, nice but not in a romantic or touchy-feely way.
Marcelo was okay. Kind of hard to connect with, but it was hard to tell if he was written that way on purpose as a symptom of his personality, or if the writing was just a little off.
I'm glad I read it - it was a nice distraction from Ickiness. But I have to say that I don't actually remember a heck of a lot of the plot, the legal stuff wasn't engaging enough, and several plot pieces felt like they never got picked up again. A one-time read, for sure.

Yours from the front line of the Holiday Ick War,
Radical

I am Le Messenger

Okay. So a couple days ago I was wasting time Googling things WHEN - I saw this link for a list of teen romance novels. Yes, yes it sounds bad. Lots of pimply sexual tension and kissing. But this was some Serious List Action.
And so I naturally reserved everything on it, because it actually looked pretty legit.
So the first book off the list I got from the beautiful, bountiful downtown library was I am the Messenger, by Markus Zusak. It's quite possibly one of the coolest and most frustrating books I have ever read.

COOL THINGS ABOUT I AM THE MESSENGER:
1. It is set in Australia. I challenge you to find Australia uncool.
2. The main character is named Ed Kennedy. Ed. Kennedy. I don't know why his name is neat-sounding, it just it.
3. Ed Kennedy (Zoh My God, I figured it out: His first name is in his last name. Maaaadness!) is an underage cab driver. (I guess you have to be twenty to drive "cabs" in Oz.) He's nineteen.
4. The book starts off when he and his friends are in a bank. And it is being robbed. Bank robberies do, in reality, suck, but in theory they are cool.
5. Ed is sent Mysterious Messages written on playing cards, specifically aces.
6. The messages lead him to find people who need to be helped.
7. There's a party in a church. A legit party, with music and free beer.

FRUSTRATING THINGS ABOUT I AM THE MESSENGER:
1. There is actually only one thing I found really frustrating: The ending.
Throughout the book, Ed et al are all "Who is sending these f*#&ing cards". And they do find out.
KIND OF.

The first time I read the ending, I was literally like: "WHAT THE F@*%, THIS ANSWERS NONE OF MY QUESTIONS THIS BOOK SUCKS SO MUCH ASS!!!"

Then I took a chill pill and read it again.
And again.
And again.

And I have come to the revelation that *even* if the ending is a LITTLE BIT OF A COP OUT (are you  listening to the Mind Messages I am sending you, Mark Zusak? Yeah, I thought so), this is still one of the coolest books I have read in a long, long time.
The characters all actually seemed like normal people, and Ed was/is really just a likeable, normal guy dealing with some really, really crazy stuff.

I am trying *really hard* to not leak any spoilers, so here goes: AFTER THE JUMP THERE ARE SPOILERS AND A RANT. READ AT YOUR OWN PERIL, SUCKERS.
So I'll insert my summary here:
I Am The Messenger is by Mark Zusak, a young Aussie who used to drive cabs.
It is definitely worth reading, but be prepared to slow down at the end so you fully process what is going on. The characters and (most of) the plot kick ass.
7/10, ka-ZAM!

I'm saying my adieus here also....

Sayonara,
Radical

Review: How I Live Now

How I Live Now, by Meg Rosoff, is a lovely little British novel by a lovely little British lady. Despite all that lovely little Britiness, it's solidly a part of the genre we like to call War Stories.

How I Live Now (HILN) is the story of an anorexic girl named Daisy, who is punted to England to live with her aunt and cousins when her stepmother becomes too awful to bear. While there, she becomes very close with her younger cousin Piper, marvels over the strange abilities of her cousin Isaac, is largely indifferent to Oswald, her oldest cousin, and falls In Love with her cousin Edmond.

That's right.

Cousin Love.

In England.

For some reason, though, it never becomes Truly Creepy. It just hovers at Slightly Disturbing If You Actually Think About It.

Then, in the midst of all this Cousin Bonding and Non-Creepy Cousin Love, a war explodes. Basically, Britain's main army has been lured out of the country for various reasons, and now another country or organization (who is carefully never named or identified, besides as being Not British) is not letting them back in.

!!!

WHO KNEW WAR WAS THAT SIMPLE!

Not me, that's for sure.

After brushing off that stunning tactical achievement, we are presented with the Splitting Up of the cousins: Girls with girls, boys with boys.

After various physically and emotionally harrowing adventures, the book does end fairly happy, but I will warn you:

This is not exactly a feel good read.

There are mass murders. They are gory, and awful, and heartbreaking.

There is a LOT of emotional damage, also, and the book does make a pretty good case for how hard it is for people to heal after wars.

My biggest problem with the book was that it was written very freely, without a lot of grammar. So there are run-on sentences that go on FOREVER. Even when the writing is really gorgeously (or gorily) descriptive, sometimes the odd structure can make your head a little grumbly. If you could relax, it flowed very nicely, but when just reading for a couple of minutes, it was kind of distracting.

In short, it was good. Bit of a hard read, due to Murder and Bad Sentence Structure (oops, meant Free, Loose, Poetic, Blah Blah Blah).

Avoid if even the slightest whiff of incest is really disgusting to you.

Sending kissing cousins your way,

Yours truly,

Radical

Back to Me Roots

I changed my name. Again. Honestly, I doubt that anyone is really reading this regularly, so I think it's kind of fun to just be able to do whatever.

I have no idea why I picked the above title. Being honest again, it started out as some pretentious, pain in the ass idea to write something really witty and profound about some dusty book from when I was little that I laughed, cried, and sighed over.

All of a sudden... I feel a weird pressure to write something Good, or at least made with Quality Ingredients.

But the truth is, that's not really why I'm here. I'm here 'cause I love to read. Books, blogs, magazines, postcards, advertisements, billboards, clothing, cars, busses, sky-writing... I just really like to read.

Odd how I used to dream of this blog as an Urban Movement, that would result in a Devoted Following, and of course an inevitable, highly coveted Book Deal. But when I am faced with a handful of readers, I become fogey. Stuffed up. BORING.

So after the Personal Reflection of this post, we'll be returning to our usual program: Books.

With stuffy affectations,

Yours truly,

Radical

Stupid Monkey

Hey mamacitas,

let's talk about one of my personal Literary Monkeys, clawing its way up my back to a prime position of right. next. to. my. right. ear: Book Guilt.

Yes, that's right. Book Guilt.

Fear it.

My Book Guilt regularly rears its ugly monkey like face when I have been indulging in a good session of Mindless Reading. You know what I'm talking about. Mindless Reads are the book equivalents of watching plotless sitcoms or cartoons instead of epically epic epics and award-winning, acclaimed documentaries. Over the last couple of months (digging back into School Work, ick) I've been imbibing in a steady flow of what I consider to be easy reads. Books that require effort, or are exceedingly Large and Intimidating, have been unceremoniously shoved to the back of the bookshelves, where herds of dust bunnies will snarl warningly at me when I forget and reach into the depths, looking for a book where neither high school nor romance is addressed. Lord of the Rings? LATER! Jane Austen? NOT NOW! Little Women? I'LL GET TO IT!

A couple of days ago at the school library, I decided to try to stop the screeching of the monkey at my NASCAR-racer-finds-lost-son-and-fiancee-they-live-happily-ever-after comfortably thin paperback pick by taking out one of the largest non-Twilight fictional books known to mankind: Anna Karenina.

BAD IDEA.

When trying to build up reading from, say, crappy romance paperbacks, one should try to move in small steps. From a romance PB to a mystery PB. From the mystery PB to a High School Hardcover (one of the first three Harry Potters, maybe). From the HS Hardcover to an Emotional Hardcover (say, a Sarah Dessen. THIS IS NOT A SLAM! I love her books with a righteous fire). From the Emotional Hardcover to a Fairly Easy to Read Classic (Little Women, anything about Anne Shirley). From easy classic, move to the Medium Classic (Austen, Tolkien). From the Medium Classic, proceed to the Hard Classics, otherwise known as Almost Anything By An Obscure Russian.

Accompany with lazy weekend afternoons and as little personal hygiene (washing, makeup, dressing) as is possible.

Yes, I see the irony in posting this on SUNDAY, the Ominous Weekend Day Because The Next Day Is Monday So What Is The Point Of Enjoying Yourself Because Tomorrow Might Just Suck. But this gives you time to prepare for NEXT weekend!

There will be more on this Lit Guilt later.

See you on the flip side,

AT/RR/AS

(all these names are starting to screw with my head. Oops! We meant our head.)

A Tragic and Unavoidable Life Event

At the beginning of last year, I stumbled on a book that has been the toast of the literary town lately: The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. Katniss Everdeen, and her romantic, political, physical, and moral struggles have captivated audiences around the world, of all ages, sizes, colours, and whatever other descriptives you can think of.

This book - the entire trilogy - has been hailed as the next great series.

Hm. Yeah.

In the last coupla weeks, I've mowed through the first two books and am anxiously waiting for the last one.

I cracked the book open with a sense of trepidation and hope: the questions that run through your head as you begin a book that's been raved about.

Will this be my next favourite book?

Is this book REALLY as good as they say?

Is this the beginning of a beautiful relationship?

(Yes, I have been single for a while. But you can't deny, a new book is a lot like meeting a new Potential Paramour.)

I mowed through the first book in a couple of hours, but my initial reaction?

meh.

MEH.

Seriously, 24 kids are sent to KILL EACH OTHER, there are complex, interesting relationships and political ties between characters, and my reaction????

"Meh."

ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGH................

Look, THG is a really cool book. But I COULDN'T ENJOY IT!

The expectations! The rave reviews! The awesome covers!

TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING.

The build up was just too much - no book could have been the epic personal journey that it was set up as.

Then I read the second one: Catching Fire.

That one actually DID disappoint at first, but after about fifty pages, it got pretty good (see that? That is me underselling the book. In all actuality, it got REALLY GOOD, but I was trying to save you from my Tragic Fate). Then, in a fire of uncertainty and unreasonable anger at epically long waiting lists at the library, I broke like a stale cookie in a toddler's clammy fist and peeked at Mockingjay's plot on Wikipedia.

*Cue self-loathing*

So now, I have ruined the last book for myself (heh. But I do have the power to ruin it for my [nonexistent?] readers), and I have been left with the sad realization that no matter what I do, at some point, high expectations will not be met.

Some argue that logically, the thing to do is to have the lowest expectations possible.

I have subscribed to this Train of Thought before, and while momentarily gratifying, hope is something that we shouldn't just dismiss. When we hope, we are happy. I mean, if you have been, say, single FOREVER, you could just stay home all the time and cultivate facial hair, because you're realistically never going to meet your SoulMate. But if you get up out of bed and put on some of your favourite clothing and then go out to the library or local cafe or just for a walk - your chances of meeting someone shoot through the roof. (I hate to burst someone's bubble, but a hot Jehovah's Witness is NOT just going to show up on a day when you are wearing your cute pajamas. Seriously. I believe in fairies, but even *I* know that smokin' JH's do not coincide with Cute Days. Let it go.)

So basically, to sum up this uberlong, uberwindy and bendy post:

1. DO NOT OVERSELL THINGS LIKE BOOKS. Or movies. Or TV.

2. THG books are good books. Not great. But they are interesting, and easy to read. Also, they make you think. (RRRRGH, MUST STOP URGE TO OVERSELL!!!!)

3. Don't look up plot spoilers. It makes you feel superior and trashy. Not a good combo.

4. Hope is good. Keep it alive.

5. Buy cute pajamas. Because you never know what might happen.

6. Get outside. That's right, close this window, stand up, and vacate the premises. Breath. Smile at people.

And have a nice day.

Sincerely,

AT/RR

Something to Speak For

There are a lot of things that piss me off while simultaneously making me want to cry.

Animal abuse.

Child abuse.

Racism.

Sexism.

And one of my personal I-Despise-This-In-Particular-s:

Censorship.

In North America, every September school boards hold what are basically civilized book burnings, where they pick and choose from On High what books are suitable for our impressionable youth to intake.

This year, one of the targets is Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson.

I don't know why I haven't written about Speak before, but now I have to. People like El Ignoramus, otherwise known as Wesley Scroggins, have to be stood up to, or we will all be reading nothing but Millie Buys a Dress.

Speak is about a girl named Melinda, who is raped the summer before ninth grade. She is so traumatized, she cannot speak. She loses her friends. And she is all alone, trying to deal with something that no-one ever should.

Mr. Scroggins (known from here on as El Ignoramus, or EI) is saying that Speak, with its two sex scenes, is like pornography.

Okay, let's rewind. The sex scenes in Speak are in no way designed to get someone "hot and bothered". They are about RAPE. They are scenes of violation. Abuse.

There is nothing enjoyable about them.

Speak is a voice for all victims of abuse. It has given those who cannot speak a chance to be heard, in a way that they cannot.

Recently, a girl was gang raped by seven young men while up to a dozen people watched. She was drugged, and pictures were taken of the rapes, then plastered all over the Internet.

Girls her age are saying it was her fault, that she was on drugs, that she was willing.

That youth are so horribly ignorant on issues like consent and assault is frightening, and raises important questions about what our generation is being taught about sex. Speak is an important educating tool to talk about these issues, to teach and to learn. Banning it is like putting a gag in every victim's mouth.

Please read Speak. Read it in public, at school, in your home.

Read it sitting in front of the offices of ignoramuses like Scroggins.

Fight back by reading, and learning, and teaching.

Pissed off and sad,

AT/RR

My Name is Amy Stun, and I Read:

JODI PICOULT.

Probably every person in the free world who looks in a newspaper, library, or bookstore has heard of Jodi Picoult, most likely for her hit book My Sister's Keeper. And the thing is, her books are fairly complex. There are twists, betrayals, secrets, and double-crossings quite frequently. She has (to this intrepid reporter's view) captured the legal system almost perfectly and deftly maneuvers telling the story from multiple points of view.

That being said, Picoult is definitely not a perfect writer. Sometimes, her "subtle" hints can be annoying, as with the her sometimes cloyingly detailed descriptions of emotions. One has to wonder occasionally at character's vivid descriptions of their feelings, pasts, presents, and futures - they don't seem like realistic representations of what people would actually do. However, Picoult always delivers an engrossing, long, and generally satisfying read ideal for planes, road trips, and weekends away or at home. And in this world of Bestsellers and Literature, Picoult delivers smart, interesting Bestsellers.

MY FAVOURITE JODI PICOULT BOOKS

1. Salem Falls

Modern-day retelling of The Crucible. Always a good read. Full of creepy teenage girls and secrets. FUN!

2. Plain Truth

Dead baby. Teenage mother. Amish farm. Seriously insane plot. It's got two of my favourite things in crime books: teen mothers, and minorities. Both people who have complicated stories and points-of-view.

3. My Sister's Keeper

NOT A FEEL GOOD BOOK. I cry so much reading this book I get dehydrated. No joke.

4. The Tenth Circle

Again, not so much a feel good read. But interesting in its portrayal of Inuit traditions and teen sexuality.

Pick one up for a weekend, chickie poos. You won't regret it.

xoxo AT/RR

Something Wicked This Way Comes...

Hey Bugs and Gurgles,
unfortunately, it's that time of year. Back to school!
In honor of this somber occasion, I present to you:

MY PERSONAL BEST BACK TO SCHOOL BOOKS

1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
Was any kid ever so happy to go back to school?

2. The Princess Diaries, Volume 1
Even princesses have to go to high school. But most princesses don't journal with a viciously truthful take on how truly absurd and unnecessary high school education is.

3. Tam Lin, by Pamela Dean
Postsecondary fairytale, anyone? Stay away from Profs named Medeus.

4. Prom Dates From Hell
There is such a thing as karma, people. Meaning that if you are a bully, or even just watch bullies without intervening, you will have your worst fears realized by a demon from Hell. Also, if you try to stop said demon, it will destroy your term paper.

5. Jane Eyre
Your school is most likely not going to cut your hair or not give you proper medical treatment. See? Someone DOES have it worse then you!

6. Kiss and Blog
Betrayal. Blogs. Bowl gloss. This book really does have it all, as two best friends set off to become popular. One does, one doesn't. The Doesn't is ditched, and writes a blog made to humiliate and bring down the Does. Delicious.

7. Any of the Artemis Fowl books
Hello, he's such a genius, he is smarter then all of his teachers, AND his shrinks. But he STILL IS FORCED TO GO TO SCHOOL IN-BETWEEN MAGICAL HEISTS. School is infinitely more boring for him then you, and he can't even figure out a way to get out of the majority of it.

8. Beka Cooper: Terrier
Do YOUR teachers send you to "fetch" drugged up, armed criminals racing through dim, dank, dusty, disgusting alleyways? No? Then stop whining, because BEKA COOPER doesn't. She just catches murderers.

9. Curse of the Blue Tattoo, by L. A. Meyer
Okay, so some of you are going to get this book and be all, "WTF! This is a SEQUEL!" But trust me. Even without the first book of super-awesomeness that the Jacky Faber series is, you can still enjoy the second book, Curse of the Blue Tattoo, where Jacky Faber, the Cockney street-child who snuck onto a Navy ship and pretended to be a boy and fell in love and faced down pirates and killed a molester and survived on a desert island alone, goes to a Boston girls' school to learn to be a lady.
Seriously, HOW COULD THIS BOOK BE BAD?
But my Point is, Jacky's school experience is most likely worse then yours. For instance, at your school, corporal punishment is no longer allowed. Jacky's school? NOT SO MUCH. Also, at YOUR school, there is no embroidery class. At JACKY'S school, they are forced to make SAMPLERS.
SAMPLERS, I TELL YOU.

That concludes my Back to School Books List. I wish you all a number of things this school year (list number 2!!!), all of which the above books have taught me that you need for a satisfactory year.

THINGS I WISH FOR YOU THIS SCHOOL YEAR
1. For your teacher to have a normal person back-of-head.

2. Boobs.
Bigger, smaller, whatever.
BOOBS MAKE THINGS BETTER. Just ask Mia. And the world population of teenage boys.

3. Not to get knocked up and have to save your baby-daddy from an evil (or at least morally decrepit) professor/faerie queen.

4. An absence of hell-beings.

5. Good hair. And a hot blind dude.

6. Loyal friends.

7. Smarts.

8. Non-abusive teachers who are actually committed to getting you the education you need.

9. No crazy witch-hunters. But lots of love letters.

Bye bye for now,
AT/RR

Specialness!

The youngest generation in my family now has baby #21! So in honor of the occasion, I am going to post my favorite baby and kids books.

MY FAVORITE BABY & LITTLE KIDS BOOKS
1. Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
2. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
3. Birthday Monsters! by Sandra Boynton
4. Gold Families Don't by Robert Munsch
5. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
6. Julius, the Baby of the World by Kevin Henkes

Sending authoritative mice and monsters with hats your way,
AT/RR

Hell Yes

Alright, everybody. My personal Piles of Books contains a nice mix of classics and contemporaries, but the fact is, I only read about a quarter of them regularly. There are about twenty-five books that I frequently read whenever I have nothing else to read. Thus, I am always electrified to find a new series that I am willing to read over and over again.

Introducing my new favourite series: Maggie Quinn: Girl vs. Evil. Woo-hoo!
The series is written by Rosemary Clement-Moore, a Texan sci-fi fantasy geek. WHAT could be BETTER?
Magdalena Lorraine Quinn is basically like Buffy Summers minus the hair/makeup/wardrobe pros and super strength.
Maggie is spunky, short, has a perpetually scruffy bob, lives in sweatshirts/t-shirts/jeans, and is kind of psychic/clairvoyant (her powers are growing. Eeee! I love when powers grow).

The series is so far comprised of three books (praying for more):

1. Prom Dates from Hell: Can Maggie graduate high school, defeat a demon summoned by a vindictive nerd, accept her 'gifts', and figure out Justin, her dad's ubercute grad student.
   
2. Hell Week: Sorority girls from Hell. There is nothing else to say. Also, this book's cover is INSANELY AWESOME.
3. Highway to Hell: Kick-ass song, kick-ass book. On a Spring Break roadtrip with her best friend D&D Lisa (yes, that's Dungeons & Dragons), a mechanical break down leads to getting stuck in a ranching town where an ancient monster chupacabra is killing cattle. OR IS IT A CHUPACABRA? Dun dun duh.

For fans of Buffy, Supernatural, Veronica Mars, or even if you're a chick tired of the only fantasy having vampires in it, this is a must-read. Also, libraries have them in bunches, and they're a sleeper hit, so they're easy to get your hands on quick.

xo
RR

Bad Books, Great TV

I'm clearly not the only one who's really getting into the total-guilty-pleasure-summer-TV-show that is Pretty Little Liars. Personally, I tried reading the books, but they made me a curious mixture of inquisitive and annoyed. Also, DISBELIEVING. Hello, there's a crazy evil person texting us evil, hateful messages - LET'S CALL THE COPS, SHALL WE?
Also, what's with the cliche Poor Little Rich Girl problems? Bulimia, shop lifting, academic pressure, pressure to have sex, repressed lesbianism, unfaithful parents.... It's like Maury Povich: Upper East Side.
But I have to say, Pretty Little Liars on TV -
INSANELY AWESOME!
It's like television crack. The problems can seem contrived, yes, but they are executed flawlessly. The characters are believable, and the actors are all talented.
Okay, yes, Emily is a weak link. But her story line of Straight Girl Likes Gay Girl But Also Likes Straight Guy is enthralling, and almost makes sense.
Aria's TeacherLove/Parents Having Marital Problems story is mediocre, but Lucy Hale is a good enough actor that it works.
Hanna is reassuringly shallow and sarcastic amidst all the girlish terror, but for me, Spencer Hastings story, character, and actor are the most enthralling. Troian Bellisario is fantastic, fully taking on the character of Spencer - at no point does it feel like she is acting.
So despite a mediocre book base, PLL has evolved into a show worth watching - a Gossip Girl with murder and intrigue.

Later haters!
RR

The Elegance of A Cliched Ending

Hey currently non-existent readers,
So this week I read the acclaimed novel by Muriel Barbery: The Elegance of the Hedgehog.
The E of the H is being hailed in Europe as a "philosophical fairy tale", "the ultimate celebration of every person's invisible part", "richly suggestive", "most astounding French literary sensation of 2007", and a "great social satire".
This all may be true, but the fact is, The E of the H is slow to start and ends with a tired excuse for an ending.
The main characters, Renee and Paloma, are both intriguing, but the plot, while possessing intriguing twists, is fairly standard.

A BASIC RECIPE FOR AN INSPIRING NOVEL
1. Take one or two lonely people. Give them boring, basic lives.
2. Follow their boring lives. Show occasional sparkles of their being unique, alive people.
3. Introduce interesting, cosmopolitan stranger. (Usually old.)
4. Add water and watch characters unfold and bloom.
5. Reveal scarring past event of character(s).
6. Tragic pitfall. Remaining characters recover slowly and beautifully.

Yeah. It's that simple.
I mean, sure The E of the H does ask some pretty complicated questions, but sometimes I just felt like the author was being pretentious, using the novel's characters to show off her philosophical and political views and knowledge.

The E of the H is still a really interesting read, but it doesn't quite live up to the rave reviews.

Rose Spinster

P. S. I changed my last name. I don't think it makes me flaky. I think it makes me interesting. Also I think it's funny.

You've Been... Jinxed

Hello, imaginary Blog People,


I have been looking through lots of books just so I could find something good to review for you guys!!! See how excited I am!!! Do you see how excited I am!!!!! EXCLAMATION POINT!



The first book I am going to review for you guys is Jinx, by Meg Cabot.

Jean "Jinx" Honeychurch is a preacher's daughter from a small town. But when something happens back home, she moves to New York to live with her aunt, uncle, and cousins.
The thing is, "somethings" are always happening to Jinx, ergo the nickname. And it's just the same in NY as back home. In NY, there's a hot boy next door, who happens to be in love with her aunt's au pair, but he's funny and sweet, and being friends is okay too, right?
But her cousin Torrance is kind of weird. It turns out that Tory believes their grandmother's crazy old story about her great-great-grandmother Branwen, who was a powerful witch. Or so Grandma said.
The story says that Branwen's descendant will be another powerful witch.
But who's the witch?
Tory?
Or the unlucky, "cursed" Jinx?
Jinx is a really fun, easy read. It's sweet and satisfying, but not heavy or dull. It's definitely more memorable then your typical romance novel, and it's even a good reread.

Till later,
Rose Read

Basic Introductions

Hi Blogverse,
my name is Rose Read. I'm a gorgeous bespectacled goddess who loves nothing better then a great book and a pair of yoga pants. I am a fairly seasoned blogger, but this is my first book blog. Rather fittingly, I write this first post in a library.
Books aren't just glue and paper and fabric and thread. They're tiny little universes, galaxies, worlds, cities, towns, streets, houses, people. No wonder an armful weighs so much. The fact is, in this modern age we sometimes forget books. TV, music, movies, radio, are all sometimes more convenient. But nothing can rival the quiet, enveloping contentment of curling up with a book, wherever and whenever. I've read books on planes, in bed, on couches, in fields, in trees, on boats, at school, at work, on buses, in pavilions, in gazebos, in cars. On occasion, I've read while walking.
The fact is, no matter how shiny and flashy and bright other forms of entertainment may be, books are the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end and the middle.
And yes, there is slight irony in my posting about books online, but I think this is less hypocrisy and more creativity.
So let there be books, dear Reader, and let us always be human enough to read them.
Rose Read