Bloggin 'Bout Books Blog

Ellen Hopkins' Perfect is a fantastic companion novel to Impulse . While Impulse tackles the world from the viewpoint of three teens who have ended up in a psychiatric hospital, Perfect tackles the world from the view of four teens who are struggling with the kind of behaviors that can eventually lead to a psychiatric hospital. Cara has parents who demand perfection, and she's been striving for it too. Then she finds herself falling in love with a girl. But her boyfriend seems like the perfect guy. Sean, Cara's boyfriend, is an all-star baseball player. He gets a little help from the pharmaceutical world. Kendra is an aspiring model who just wants to be a size two and can demonstrate the control needed to get there. Andre has fallen in love with Kendra's sister, Jenna. Jenna likes to party a little too much, and also, her father is a racist--a pretty big problem when Andre's black. Over all, I enjoy the way Hopkins writes. I don't read many novels ...

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is probably one of the best books I've ever read. I first read To Kill a Mockingbird in my sophomore year of high school. And it was amazing. I loved it when I read it then. But almost 10 years have passed, and my book club decided to read it, so I sat down Thursday and read it all over again.  And I think I loved it even more this time. There's basically three parts to this story: the first and main part is the childhood of the main character Jean Louise "Scout" Finch. This book was originally published in 1960, but it was set during the 1930s. Scout is a hell of a main character to come out of that time combination. She's sassy and relentless. She's damn near fearless. And she is exactly the opposite of what good society considers a little lady to be. The second part of the story is the tale of Scout's neighbor Boo Radley. He's a shut-in who has become more or less a town legend. Nobody has seen him i...

I wanted to love The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling , but mostly I just felt ambivalent (and a little angry). I'll be the first to admit that I read it because Rowling wrote it. In fact, the reason it took me so long to read is because I didn't think the story itself sounded that enthralling, but come on, she created Harry Potter!! Of course, I'll love something she writes. Ehhh, maybe not. First of all, The Casual Vacancy starts really slow. Like glacial speed. Even 150 pages in, I was hoping it would pick up. Then there are the characters. If I was going to make any allusions to Harry Potter in the review of the book, it'd be this: The town of Pagford is full of Vernon Dursleys. It's like the worst place on earth.  I hope there isn't actually a Pagford (it's okay, I just checked and there isn't. Bless Google) because if there was no one would be able to live there. Frankly, part of the reason I kept reading was because I wanted these characters ...

Specials by Scott Westerfeld is the third book in the Uglies series.  According to my Goodreads (uhmmm friend me ? if you want?), it took me over four months to finish this book. It's 384 pages. It's not a hard read. So why did it take me so long that I could have read 3 pages a day and finished it in the same time? I mean, it talks about self-harm and it talks about consent regarding one's own body, I should be crazy about this book! But I'm not. I actually don't really like this series much at all. But I'm determined to see it through at this point. I don't think it addresses being female well. I think Tally has a huge case of special snowflake syndrome. By this time in the series, I'm sick to death of her going back and forth on whether she wants the cure or doesn't want it. I'm sick of her and Shay's relationship. I don't think it's an accurate view of female friendships. I'm sick of Tally and her boy of the ...

CINDER!!!! OMG CINDER!! Seriously guys. Marissa Meye's Cinder is so good. I realize I'm like a trillion years behind on this band wagon (or like two years but that's like a trillion in book land), but if you're like me and you haven't read this one yet, get on it! This is a fantastic retelling of Cinderella, but it's also so much more than that. Let me break it down for you. 1. This is a four book set and although each book appears to focus on a different character, it doesn't leave the other characters behind. In fact, Cinder's story isn't finished in the first book. 2. This definitely veers sci-fi over fantasy. I guess the cyborg part should have given that a way, but I was still struck by how sci-fi it was. Cause I usually don't read much sci-fi, but this one is amazing. 3. This is set in the future in New Beijing. And although Meyer doesn't come out and say it, I think it's pretty safe to say that all (or most) of the...

Disclaimer: I was given a free ARC of this copy with the understanding that it would not influence my opinion or review of it at all. These are my real thoughts on the book. The Wednesday Daughters by Meg Waite Clayton is an interesting look at the relationships forged through a lifetime and what happens to them when the people involved are recovering from losses. I received an ARC of this through GoodReads probably almost a year ago now. (I am the worst! I shouldn't ever ask for ARCs because it takes me so long to read them.) I've been making my way through it for about two months -- it's kind of been a book that's been hanging around in my bedroom for when I have a couple minutes to read (it's got pretty short chapters for the most part, so it was handy to have to read there). I finally finished it last night.  I really wasn't sure how I felt about this book in the beginning. On the one hand, it had mostly female characters including a mixed-...

I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak is a wonderful look at post-high school life. It all starts when Ed Kennedy accidentally stops a bank robbery. A short time after that, an ace of diamonds arrives in the mail with three addresses on it. Ed has to find out what to do at each address. He often chooses to follow his instincts. The thing I love about Ed Kennedy is that he is so incredibly relateable. He has a shitty job, a shitty house, a dog that smells shitty, and no love life to speak of. He has a few good friends, but even those veer towards shitty. If you disliked your entire life, what would you do if a mysterious playing card ended up in your mailbox? I'd do exactly what Ed does. I'd investigate. I can't resist a good mystery and I think Zusak does a good job of having Ed be really humane. My only complaint was the ending. It didn't live up to the rest of the book. Overall, I am the Messenger is a delightful novel. Favorite Quotes: "My arms are ki...

Perfect by Sara Shepard is a great addition to the Pretty Little Liars story line. Perfect sees us rejoining Aria, Hanna, Emily and Spencer after they believe A has died. They aren't being harassed by texts, and their lives, while still on rocky ground, seem to be turning around. Of course, that relief doesn't last long. I find it really hard to review these books because I don't want to ruin any surprises. And these books just pack surprises in at every chapter. I love this series. I  devour the books--and while they might not be literary genius--frankly I don't ever see a line that I think ooooh I got to mark that line--the books are entertaining. I can't wait to read number 4! Prequel Sequel Challenge Points: 32 + 2 = 34!

Reboot by Amy Tintera  is an exciting new look at a genre I had written off. Let's face it--sometimes we have things. Like y'know, things that we love (vampires!) and things that we dislike (zombies ughhh) but occasionally there will be exceptions to those rules. Reboot is definitely an exception to my general rule. But let me be honest. Reboot isn't your typical zombie story. There's a startling lack of braaainnss and a surprising surplus of human emotions. Really, the only zombie like bit of Reboot is the fact that all the "reboots" died and then came back some time later. Reboots are supposedly victims of a disease which infects the living humans and then--if they're young--brings them back to life after they've succumbed to it. Adult reboots aren't allowed. They're killed on-site, apparently crazy. But even without "adults" reboots have a sense of hierarchy. Those that were dead longest have the most seniority, and Wren-1...

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll  is a very entertaining classic. I think everyone knows the story of young Alice who follows a White Rabbit into the world of Wonderland where everything is just slightly (or significantly) strange. For some reason, every time I've picked up Alice's Adventures before, I've put it down without making it more than 10 pages or so. But this time, I managed to finish it. It's a quirky sort of book, but I enjoyed it. It did make me think of The Phantom Tollbooth (here's my review of that classic), but I preferred Carroll's novel to Juster's. There's some great play on words and delightful misunderstandings because of homophones and characters not paying attention to each other. I think this is a worthwhile classic, but I don't actually have that much to say about it. Middle Grade March Count: 5

Half Moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer  is a fantastic middle-grade noir-esque detective tale. Colfer starts the book a little heavy in the noir language, but gradually the voice morphs to that of an actual ten year old. It totally makes sense to me because often I'll still find myself (at 23!) narrating my life in whatever style I'm currently hung up. Fletcher Moon is a ten-year old who is determined to be a private detective, obviously at some point this decision was affected by some type of detective noir movie or book. Fletcher gets entangled in the biggest case of his life because he dares to stand up to one of the biggest bad kids in town: Roddy Sharkey. Roddy's brother Red is an even worse kid and Red steals Fletcher's badge. Fletcher wants his badge back, so he agrees to investigate Red for a girl in 5th grade, April. I had started reading this book a couple years ago, but at the time, I was turned off from the language in the beginning chapters. This ti...