By Edith Wharton
This is a tale of a young lady whose driven by chronic ambition to have anything she currently doesn't possess. She will stop at nearly nothing to get what she wants, with hardly any regard - though without maliciousness, either - to other people's wellbeing.
This book took me a while to finish because it is fairly long (don't remember how many pages exactly, as I returned the book to the library and cannot find the edition I read online) and the language deserves full attention. I really enjoyed some paragraphs. [300-400 pp. (?)]
Link to book
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
Saturday, May 7, 2016
Attack of the Growling Eyeballs
By Lin Oliver
Illustrated by Stephen Gilpin
Book 1 of Who Shrunk Daniel Funk. This is an amusing story of a kid who gets shrunk after eating his great grandmother's goulash. He discovers that he actually has a permanently shrunk twin brother, and with him Daniel experiences daily life from a different perspective, one that is more adventurous. I enjoyed the kid's voice and his funky facts, but hoped to get a clearer idea of what Daniel really wants or how the events affected his life at a deeper level. Of course, I am not a 3rd grader, so I might have been looking for something that's not supposed to be there. I found the illustrations delightful. [CB; 147 pp.]
Link to the book series.
Illustrated by Stephen Gilpin
Book 1 of Who Shrunk Daniel Funk. This is an amusing story of a kid who gets shrunk after eating his great grandmother's goulash. He discovers that he actually has a permanently shrunk twin brother, and with him Daniel experiences daily life from a different perspective, one that is more adventurous. I enjoyed the kid's voice and his funky facts, but hoped to get a clearer idea of what Daniel really wants or how the events affected his life at a deeper level. Of course, I am not a 3rd grader, so I might have been looking for something that's not supposed to be there. I found the illustrations delightful. [CB; 147 pp.]
Link to the book series.
Monday, April 25, 2016
Cannery Row
By John Steinbeck
A series of stories based on the author's memories and friends in Cannery Row in Monterey, CA (despite the disclaimer at the beginning that all the characters are fictional). There are many funny and sad moments in this book, and All the characters are portrayed with love, despite their many shortcomings. It is well written and enjoyable. The introduction, though it took me a while to go through, was well worth the read. [185 pp.]
Link to book
A series of stories based on the author's memories and friends in Cannery Row in Monterey, CA (despite the disclaimer at the beginning that all the characters are fictional). There are many funny and sad moments in this book, and All the characters are portrayed with love, despite their many shortcomings. It is well written and enjoyable. The introduction, though it took me a while to go through, was well worth the read. [185 pp.]
Link to book
Saturday, April 16, 2016
In Mike We Trust
By P.E. Ryan
Yes, I chose the book because it was right next to the Sara Ryan's books, and I liked the cover. It was pretty good. Some parts seemed to be a bit contrived, but overall it was pretty entertaining, and discusses some important issues. It's about Garth, a high school student who recently came out to his best friend and mother. The latter didn't take it all that well, and so Garth feels relieved and comfortable when his uncle comes to visit. But pretty soon the lies begin and complications follow. [YA/ 336 pp.]
Link to book.
Yes, I chose the book because it was right next to the Sara Ryan's books, and I liked the cover. It was pretty good. Some parts seemed to be a bit contrived, but overall it was pretty entertaining, and discusses some important issues. It's about Garth, a high school student who recently came out to his best friend and mother. The latter didn't take it all that well, and so Garth feels relieved and comfortable when his uncle comes to visit. But pretty soon the lies begin and complications follow. [YA/ 336 pp.]
Link to book.
Monday, April 4, 2016
Northanger Abbey
By Jane Austen
It's been a while since I read a classic, and I believe I haven't even read one since I started my writing classes, so I wanted to examine a few writing issues in classic novels, especially after reading a book that jumped through POVs liberally, which is something often done in classic, by using omniscient POV. But, to my surprise, this novel used a pretty close third person POV. I've read many of Jane Austen's books, and have always liked her observations of society and human nature. I loved the subtext in this book and the wittiness with which she displays hypocrisy and greed. [251 pp.]
Link to book.
It's been a while since I read a classic, and I believe I haven't even read one since I started my writing classes, so I wanted to examine a few writing issues in classic novels, especially after reading a book that jumped through POVs liberally, which is something often done in classic, by using omniscient POV. But, to my surprise, this novel used a pretty close third person POV. I've read many of Jane Austen's books, and have always liked her observations of society and human nature. I loved the subtext in this book and the wittiness with which she displays hypocrisy and greed. [251 pp.]
Link to book.
The Rules for Hearts
By Sara Ryan
A sequel to Empress of the World, this book is told from the point of view of Battle, Nic's friend and lover, a year after their summer adventure. Since we learned in the first book that Battle has a brother who ran away from home and disappeared, it only made sense that we'd want to know what happened with that. I was a little disappointed there wasn't more frequent and earlier mention of Nic and the nature of their relationship (though it became clearer toward the end). All in all, I'm glad I only read these books after both of them had already been published. [YA, 222 pp.]
Link to book.
A sequel to Empress of the World, this book is told from the point of view of Battle, Nic's friend and lover, a year after their summer adventure. Since we learned in the first book that Battle has a brother who ran away from home and disappeared, it only made sense that we'd want to know what happened with that. I was a little disappointed there wasn't more frequent and earlier mention of Nic and the nature of their relationship (though it became clearer toward the end). All in all, I'm glad I only read these books after both of them had already been published. [YA, 222 pp.]
Link to book.
Empress of the World
By Sara Ryan
A wonderful YA novel about Nic, a girl with some security and sexual orientation issues who goes on a summer camp of gifted youth and learns much more than the subject matter of the course she signed up to. I liked the book enough to get its sort-of-sequel, The Rules for Hearts. [224 pp.]
Link to book.
A wonderful YA novel about Nic, a girl with some security and sexual orientation issues who goes on a summer camp of gifted youth and learns much more than the subject matter of the course she signed up to. I liked the book enough to get its sort-of-sequel, The Rules for Hearts. [224 pp.]
Link to book.
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