Book Blog #17, The Beast Within (Last book blog post of 2015!)

The Beast Within: A tale of Beauty's Prince                                                            by Serena Valentino

Prince Adam lived a good life. He had servants, money and a castle. Girls swooned over him and he could pick any bride he wanted. He met a young girl named Circe, and he fell in love. When he finds out she is a pig farmer's daughter, he instantly rejects her. Circe and her three sisters come back for revenge. They cast a curse to make sure he can never be human again, and the world will see the judgmental beast he is. The only way to break this curse is to have the kiss of his true love, given and received. The changes are small, but soon everything in his castle haunts him, and no one ventures there any longer. When all hope is lost, Belle arrives.

I enjoyed the book quite a lot, although at some points I would be quite confused. The story was written in segments that would jump around times in his memory. It was a rather fast read, and I rarely got bored with the book, although there was some repetitive ness to it. One thing that I didn't enjoy was that it put a creepy twist on the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast, and I will never think of the movie in the same way. It also changed some parts of the storyline which made it slightly more confusing if they go together.

The prompt I chose for this week is: How did the author create at least one strong character? Describe the character and what you liked about them.

I think that the author did a good job of developing the character of the beast. This is probably because he was the main character, and the book focused on his backstory. I think that one of the reasons that he was such a strong character was that you could feel his emotions strongly in different situations, and you could see how he reacted and thought about things quite clearly. I think another of the interesting things about The beast is that you could see the progression of the curse well and how he changed throughout it.

TBR list:
Water for Elephants   by Sara Gruen
The List   by Siobhan Vivian
Speak   by Laurie Halse-Anderson

Perfect   by Ellen Hopkins

Schizo   by Nic Sheff

Book Blog # 16, Love letters to the dead

Love Letters to the Dead                                                                                                 by Ava Dellaira

Laurel's life has changed quite a bit since her sister May's death. It all starts with the English assignment of writing a letter to  dead person. She writes to Kurt Cobain, May's favorite singer. Her mother moves away and lives the life that the family had always fantasized about. She now has to switch off between her aunt and her dad. She starts to write more and more letters about her new High school experience (She changed High Schools so people wouldn't know about May.) and her friends. She writes about memories of her sister. She slowly starts to except what happened to her sister and to live her new life.

Overall I enjoyed this book quite a bit and t has a good storyline. I like that each chapter the author writes about something different that happened to may, and that there isn't a ton of repetition. he storyline is carried really well throughout and I rarely felt confused about what was happening. I feel like I really know some of the characters and that the author did a good job of making every character have a unique personality.

The prompt I chose: would this be a good movie?

I think that it would be hard to turn into a movie because it is written in letters, and she talks about her thoughts a lot. It could be interesting to do a movie with flashbacks and scenes. It could also be interesting if there were visuals to put with the book and to see the personalities come to life. Overall, I would say that it could only be a movie if it was in a way that fits Ava's writing style.


Warning: There is some language in the book, ad there are sexual references. There is also minor smoking. It wasn't bad, but in parts of it it would get a little overwhelmingly weird.


TBR list

Water for Elephants   by Sara Gruen

Endgame: The Calling   by James Frey, and Nils Johnson Shelton
Speak   by Laurie Halse-Anderson
The List   by Siobhan Vivian
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the galaxy   by Douglas Adams
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time   by Mark Haddon



Book Blog #15, Going Postal, Week #2 (Last school post of 2015!)

Going Postal                                                                                                               By Terry Prattchett

Moist Von Lipwig (Yes, you heard me, Moist) has been a criminal all of his life, (What can he say, he has people skills. Why is it his fault if they mistake glass for diamonds?). When he is caught by the law, he is sentenced to hanging. So he died. But he lived? Apparently trapdoors really are everywhere. When he woke up he was offered two options by the head of Ankh-Morpork, lord Veterinari. A, become the postmaster, or B, go through a unknown door (A giant pit, basically death). He obviously accepts postmaster. When he shows up at the post office, he realizes that it is in a worst condition than he thought. There are letters shoved in every available crevice and hallway, and no letters have been delivered for years. He starts to deliver the mail, and he constantly finds out more things he has to deal with.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It's humor helps to move the storyline along, and it only gets minorly boring several times. It goes by fast, regardless of it's length.The way the book is written also suits the story and topic very well. I think most people in our class would enjoy this book and find it funny. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to read a medium length funny book that will go by fast.

TBR list

The Graveyard Book   by Neil Gaiman

The Diary of Anne Frank   by Anne Frank

The elegant Universe   by Brian Greene

The Pact   by Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, Rameck Hunt, and Lisa Frazier Page

Perfect   by Ellen Hopkins

Schizo   by Nic Sheff

I would like to read some of the books that have been on my TBR list for a while like Water for Elephants and Love letters to the Dead over winter break. Pretty much any book that I had on my lists closer to the beginning of the year.

There is only minor cursing (Gabe could read it), and overall it seems pretty clean and like a book anyone in our class could enjoy.

Slice Of Life #1, Winnie the Pooh

Winnie The Pooh                                                                                                            Slice of Life #1

Picture from  http://www.artifactsgallery.com/art.asp?!=W&ID=18694

An eternal optimist, he always gives off the glow of the bright side of life. He is sweet (Probably because he loves honey so much) and he loves and cares about his friends. He also watches out for them. He helps people get through things.

He can also be sad and feel empathy. He understands and listens. Take for instance his interactions with Eeyore. Winnie cares about Eeyore and cheers him up. He also understands that sometimes Eeyore just needs to wallow in life's sadnesses.

All of these traits are traits of friends. I think that Winnie is very good at being nice and making friends, due to his personality. For me he symbolizes happiness, but he is also compassionate and empathetic. Two of the best things that he portrays are understanding and respect. An example of this is his interactions with Owl. Winnie knows that Owl is smart, and he respects that. He of course also has flaws, but they are minor and I am not talking about them right now.

Overall, I aspire to be like him in the ways that he treats others and in the ways that he is happy. I think that he is a great character that should be cherished and loved. I try to be like him in ways like I try to be nice and understanding to friends and the fact that I try to remain happy. I also try to be empathetic towards others, and to work towards understanding. He will always be the bear that makes me smile and laugh when mentioned. He will also always be one of my overall favorite characters (along with the rest of the occupants of the hundred acre woods).

Book Blog #14, Going Postal, Week #1

Going Postal                                                                                                                 by Terry Pratchett

Moist Von Lipwig got hung... But he lived. He wakes up in a room with lord Veterinari, ruler of the Ankh-Morpork section of Discworld. Moist is presented with the choice of either walking through a door, (actually a giant hole in the ground... basically imminent death), or becoming the Postman. He obviously accepts the job of postman. When he arrives at the post office, he realizes that every crevice is stuffed full of letters. Even the hallways and offices are filled with letters. It is his job to build the post office back up to it's former glory. He learns that the post office is "cursed". Will he return the letters and survive the "curse"?
So far I have heavily enjoyed this book. It has kept me laughing and I am constantly intrigued by the storyline. At points it can get a bit long winded, but it is mostly entertaining. It has a very unique storyline and the style in which the book is written fits very well. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a longer, funny book that is very unique. I would also recommend this to you if you would like to read something that is very far out of the box.
Warning: there is some language, although it is minor and it makes sense in the context. Overall, it didn't bother me very much.



TBR list
Eon   by Alison Goodman
I am the Weapon   by Allen Zadoff
Tiger's Curse   by Colleen Houck
Gone   by Michael Grant
The Ancient One   by T.A. Barron
I am Number Four   by Pittacus Lore
Gone With the Wind   by Margaret Mitchell