Getting By

Hello!! I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season! I know I am. I recently have picked up more hours at the bookstore so I can help out with all the shoppers. It's been a great season so far! This is a review for The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness. So Patrick Ness is a big name author and this is his most recently released book. I really enjoyed it and I hope this review helps you choose your next read.

An overview:
What if you aren't the chosen one, the one who is supposed to fight the zombies and vampires? What if you're just ordinary and are just trying to get on with your life. Mikey just wants to live his life. He wants to go to prom and wants to confess his undying love for his best girl friend. How can he do it when these extraordinary things just keep happening? Sometimes you just need to find your own magic in life.

This book was hilarious. I really enjoyed the sub-plot going along with it that was at the beginning of each chapter. At first I was kind of weirded out by it, but then everything came together full-circle. It was a very enjoyable read. My overview didn't quite do it justice. I had started it before, but put it down for another and I'm glad I picked it back up. Mikey has to deal with a lot of stress and his friends Henna and Jared and his sisters are all there to help him get through it. It's such an interesting dynamic throughout the novel and I love how it just works and that they're always so supportive of each other. Mel's strength and her ability to stand on her own makes me smile. At one point she even tells Mikey to back off because she can take care of herself. It was pretty awesome.

Okay so the cool thing about this one is that the jacket (on the US edition) is glow in the dark! I was just walking with it in the dark and I thought "I shouldn't be able to see this right now," but then I realized it was glow in the dark. That was super cool. It's also a really awesome cover. Under it there, the cover is this really pretty teal with a deer on it of course :) I highly recommend this for anyone who is up for something a little different.



Happy reading!
Sophie :)

What If...

Hi! For this post, I'm going to review Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin, which I received in my subscription box from Uppercase (see previous post for a review on that). I have to say that this was super exciting to get. It was my first one and I couldn't wait to see what was inside. This is one of the best books I've read all year, definitely up there with All the Bright Places and Mosquitoland (look under my name for respective reviews).

So this was an alternate history book. It's set in the early 1950s and written as if the Axis powers had won World War II. Each year Hitler and Hirohito hold a cross-continental motorcycle race. It starts in what was previously known as Berlin and winds down through northern Africa and eventually ends in Tokyo. Ten of the best racers from each empire compete to win this harrowing race and the winner gets to attend the Victor's Ball and has a private audience with Hitler himself. It's told from the perspective of a death camp survivor, Yael. Yael was relentlessly experimented on and can now skinshift which allows her to take on the features of any other female she sees. The resistance wants her to enter the race under the charming and ruthless Adele Wolf. Adele raced under her twin brother's name and won - revealing her true identity at the finish line. Yael must masquerade as Adele and win the race - ultimately to kill Hitler and allow the resistance to grow and overthrow his regime. A few curveballs enter when Adele's brother Felix enters and a former love interest of Adele's also competes.

This was an extremely gripping story. Right off the bat, the story opens with Yael entering the concentration camp with her mother. I love all the action and Yael's fierce character. She has to navigate her way through Adele's life without anyone suspecting her true identity. This is tough especially because Adele's brother knows Adele so well. Yael herself struggles to find who she truly is. It has been years since she has seen her own face because of the years of skinshifting that has helped her survive. The whole idea of a motorcycle race was very unique and fun. I like how they have to rough it in between check in spots and that anything goes out in the open. Honestly, Yael is awesome. She's extremely independent and strong but also isn't afraid to show her soft side. I love her. I also liked the idea of Felix and Luka (the love interest) entering the mix. It just made the tension 10x higher. They also proved to be very dynamic characters, too. I also liked Adele herself. Adele is the fearless girl that seems like she's up for any and every thing. Her spunk is something that is truly captivating. I couldn't put this down (I finished in 2 days - oops!) it was super good. I can't wait for the second book to come out!!

Alright, this is a pretty long-winded review so I'll finish where I am. I've said my piece and I'm pretty satisfied with it.

Happy reading!
Sophie :)

A New Me

Hello, guys!! So this book I read in two days. I didn't even realize it only took that amount of time, it felt like a week! Ah, it was super good, too! This review is for Every Day by David Levithan. Previous to this I had read Will Grayson, Will Grayson co-authored with John Green, but I don't think I've read anything else by him. Anywho, I had picked this book up after having a bad day so I bought it 'cause I wanted to treat myself.

Here's a summary:
Every day a new person. Every day A must learn how to adjust to the new body it is placed in. A's soul travels body to body every day. One day A spends a day in the body of a boy named Justin. This day A finds her. A finds Rhiannon. And nothing is the same again. It's hard because A knows but she doesn't know. A wants to put roots down now. It's hard travelling day by day, nothing constant.

Okay, I don't know what else to say in the overview without giving too much away so I'm going to leave it there. This was super interesting to read. It is hard to describe A because the soul travels to a new body irregardless of gender but always around the same age. I flew through this though and it was well written. I enjoyed the many bits of wisdom A had to offer because of it's unique point of view on life. I felt that although A kept moving around in different situations I could still relate to some of the things A felt.

One thing I always wondered was how Rhiannon felt the entire time. It must have been odd to have someone come up to you and say that they change bodies every day. I suppose I won't have to wonder too much because good ol' David Levithan wrote Another Day which is a companion to it written in her point of view. I want to read it but I don't know what I'll think. I hope it's as good.

Okay, I'll keep it short and sweet! Happy reading!
Sophie :)

Beauty Queens and Red Lollipops

Hi, guys! Going for a third post of the night. I have been super behind on these, but I promise I will do my best trying to keep up in the following months. It has been and continues to be super busy with school and work so bear with me here! This review is for Dumplin' by Julie Murphy. I had heard a lot about how fabulous this book is and it was even chosen as a book for the September OwlCrate box dubbed Leading Ladies. Intrigued and very trusting of the world of Bookstagram, I picked this up whilst in Chicago on a college tour. (How could I not stop by a book store while visiting? There are so many I couldn't pass up the opportunity to support locally!!) Anyway, I just finished the last few words in that hilarious, sweet book.

Here's my version of an overview:
Willowdean Dickson is a fierce fat girl and she doesn't give a hoot what others think of her. Sure she may be a heavy girl but hey, that doesn't mean she should not be one single bit proud of who she is. Her mother, former Miss Blue Bonnet in her tiny town of Clover City, is thin and still fits in the dress she won in years ago. Willowdean is compatriots with the wonderful and sassy Ellen Dryver and it seems that nothing could really go wrong. Until Willowdean meets the gorgeous Bo from Holy Cross. They work together at the local fast food restaurant and it seems that maybe Bo may be looking for more than just friends. This turns Will's life upside down and causes her to question who she really is. Her insecurities rise to the surface and in a defiant act to prove - to whom, she isn't sure - that she is Willowdean and she is fabulous, she enters the coveted pageant with an unlikely gang to stir up the twiggy so-called perfect images of beauty.

I loved Willowdean. She was hilarious and her insecurities are something that everyone can relate to. Okay that being said, she did frustrate me a little bit at the beginning but she was such a good character overall that I can't help but root for her. I love that she wasn't afraid to be who she was and that s=nothing seemed to stop her. But the version of herself that she thought she was turns out to be someone completely different but that's okay. We must accept our true selves for others to want to accept them too. Her story is funny like Mim's but not in the same way. In Mim's story, it's a bit of a cynical outlook but I like how Willowdean tries so hard to be positive but knows that we can't always be happy with ourselves. We all look at ourselves in the mirror and what we see is totally different than what others perceive. One of my favorite quotes from the book is about faking confidence. She acknowledges how hard it is to put on that facade and that it's okay not to fake it. Sometimes asking for help is the best we can do for ourselves.

I also was in love with this cover design, too.  It was perfect for what the whole story was about and I loved the back of it even more (I snapped a pic of it and posted it on our Instagram. You can check it out there if you'd like. I love the Dumplin' pose too. It's sassy but also very sweet and it fills you with confidence. At least that's how I feel about it. There's something to be said for those who work it and can command a room just by walking in. It's kind of enchanting and whatever they do, they do it with so much confidence that those around them just are enraptured with them.

Anyway, it was a very lovely read from Julie Murphy. I hope to read her first novel Side Effects May Very soon! I need to get my hands on a copy!

Happy reading and enjoy your weekend!
Sophie

I am Mim Malone

Hello! I was recently asked to read Mosqitoland by David Arnold by my boss and I FREAKING LOVE IT. It was one of the best books I have read in all of my reading career. I could not help but laugh and cry and smile the entire time I read this.

A quick synopsis here:
Mary Iris Malone, better known as Mim, has been dragged from her beloved Ashland, Ohio to Mississippi by her father and his new-found wife. Her parents recently split and her father dropped Breaking News on her head then dragged her to Mississippi to start a new, "perfect" family. Her mom remains in Ohio but moves to Cleveland. When Mim catches word that her beautiful, Brit mother is sick someone and in need she hops a Greyhound bus north, toward her mom and toward her past. Through the detours and the odd ball characters that board the bus, Mim rides anxiously, awaiting the moment for her reunion with her mother so that she can be there when it is most needed.

First off, Mim is HILARIOUS. Oh my gosh, she made me laugh so hard sometimes. The way she perceives life and the way she analogizes it is hilarious. The story is splashed with letters to an Isabel, providing an outlet for Mim to tell her story to another person and as a sort of journal/stress reliever. I love the way everything comes full circle in the end. There are definitely some moments that horrified me but I loved the way Mim's character was sassy and didn't take crap from anyone. She is Mim Malone and she is not okay. But that's okay. Admitting that we're not okay is the first step toward trying to get better. We need to acknowledge that we can't do it all on our own sometimes and that we need help. There are many life lessons that I learned from Mim, too. This was a very quotable book.

Like this right here. I mean, she is so funny but she finds herself throughout this trip. I'm just going to have to let this book marinate a little bit. (Yeah that was a reference, read the book if you want to understand it!!)

David Arnold is some sort of writing god I swear. He is already one of my favorite authors. I hope he continues to write because honestly, this is definitely one of my favorites. It has you on edge the entire time. This book is also nominated to be one of the best YA books of the year on Goodreads. So if you're have an account there, you should definitely check it out.

Happy reading!
Sophie

Becoming a Chameleon

Hi!! I also forgot to blog about this one too. I read this over the summer and I loved it and it was super cute. Sophie Kinsella's Finding Audrey was a beautiful read and super sweet. It was a very cute premise and I'm glad I had picked it up at Costco.

What the book was about:
Audrey used to be in school. She used to have a few close friends. She used to go out and go to the store with her mum and hang out with her friends. But now, she can't even make eye contact with other people. She wears dark sunglasses that cover her eyes and make her feel safe and she lets people see her when she wants them to. She stays at home and sometimes if she has an episode, she has to hide away in  her room. Then one day, her brother brings his friend, Linus, over for a gaming team. And Audrey kind of freaks out. Okay, really freaks out. But that's okay because she can only let him in if she wants to. Linus starts to become something more than just a gaming teammate to Audrey's brother and more of a friend to Audrey. With him, she feels almost... normal.

So I picked this book up at a Costco because I felt like I couldn't possibly leave without purchasing a cheap book. I mean, come on - 40% discount? Yes, please! Anyway, the cover was beautiful, too. (Hey, you can't tell me you haven't judged a book by its cover before, can you? If you say yes, you're lying.)

Is that not the cutest cover design? It's very fitting for it, too! Anyway, I loved the character development of Audrey and of her brother. At first her brother (bless him, I can't remember his name) seems like a typical teenage guy but he eventually develops into a nice young man. Audrey's own tendencies reminded me of how it's hard to open up to new people in our lives, especially after we've been hurt so badly by those we thought we were our friends. From what we as readers get from Kinsella, all we know is that she was bullied so badly by her "friends" that she got social anxiety so bad that she doesn't leave her flat much. At first I was a bit irked that we didn't know exactly what happened, but in the end I realized that not know made the book stronger. It doesn't matter what happened, it matters that it happened and now Audrey has to deal with the consequences of other people's actions. We need to remember that people are fragile and that we need to be kind like Linus and extend our hands to those struggling with things like this.

Okay, I'll get off my soap box. Happy reading!

Sophie

Bringing Humanity Back

Hey, again! I have also recently finished Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. She was selected as a finalist for the Pen Faulkner Award and as the Michigan read by the Michigan Humanities Council (or something like that, I can't remember the exact names). I also had the chance to meet her in person and go to a reading for this book. It was wonderful and I was super awkward but she was the first author I met in person and I got my first book signed!

Here's my overview:
Jeevan Chaudhary is a EMT in training. He has his whole life ahead of him with his cranky girlfriend and a quiet life in Toronto, Canada. He is quietly sitting in the audience of a performance of King Lear when the famous actor Arthur Leander collapses on stage of a heart attack. Wanting to help, Jeevan rushes on stage and attempts to save Arthur's life but to no avail. That night the flu swept through the city and the rest of the world, causing civilization to come to a grinding halt within a matter of weeks.

Twenty-six years later, pockets of humanity remain alive and functioning. A troupe of musicians and actors move through what was formerly northern Michigan and Canada performing Shakespeare's treasured works. They are called the Traveling Symphony and they bring happiness and distraction to the cities they visit, providing a brief respite from the harsh world they now live in. When the Symphony arrives in St. Deborah by the Water, a city they had been hitting in their route for years, they find that it has changed drastically. A man who claims he is a prophet runs the city now and threatens the way of life for the small band of travelers.

Alright! I really liked this novel and am glad I got to experience so much along with it. Unlike other dystopian novels, Station Eleven focuses more on the recuperation of civilization and the factor of the live/performing arts. It's a great twist on something that has been quite hot in the past couple of years (oh, hey, The Hunger Games and Divergent). There are three different stories that go on within the novel; one takes place pre-plague and two post-plague. I really liked Jeevan's story though I wish I had gotten more of it to read about it. I also liked all that had to do with the Symphony. I love the idea that someone would keep going on with music and acting and that not everything would die out. I do wonder what would stay and what would go in the event that humans were pretty much wiped out. Another good aspect of this novel is that Mandel doesn't dive into any political theories or environmental stances, I think that would take a lot away from what the main focus of the novel. It is a very hopeful novel, especially the ending. I thought it was an okay ending, but many other people that I've spoken with thought it fit it perfectly. I can definitely see that because it's an extremely positive note it ends on. Overall, it was well written and I loved seeing how all three stories intertwined. That was my favorite part, I think.

Okay, happy reading!
Sophie

Failure to Compute

Hello, bookworms! Sophie here blogging about my latest read. I recently finished A Step Toward Falling by Cammie McGovern. I got it as an ARC from my work but I unfortunately didn't finish it by the release date. However, I loved it anyway. A really great new read you should check out.

Here is my summary:

Emily is a good person. She works hard, does things for her parents, she even started a youth action committee at her school to help raise awareness on certain topics that go unnoticed. But then how did she fail to act when she saw a special-needs classmate being attacked brutally under the bleachers at a football game? Feeling guilty and like a terrible human being, Emily gets in trouble for her hand in this attack. She is forced to do community service through volunteering at a local center that holds classes for special-needs adults. She is not alone in this act, though. A fellow student and football player, Lucas, witnesses what happens to the student, but he too turns away. 

Yay, it was a wonderful novel!! You should read it. Okay, my opinion on this now. I thought it was very well written. I read McGovern's debut YA novel Say What You Will earlier this summer (you can find the review under my name on the left) and that impressed me a lot. When I heard she was coming out with another book I just had to read it. I'm happy to report that it is an amazing novel too. 

This book is told from alternate perspectives: one from the special-needs girl, Belinda; the other from Emily's point of view. I like how we get both sides of the story with this. Belinda is hilarious. I love that she loves Pride and Prejudice and the movie adaption just as much (the Colin Firth one, of course). Emily felt and did things I could definitely relate to. She means well but she sometimes comes off as pretentious and rude but she recognizes her mistakes and works hard to reconcile them. I liked how strong of a female character she was and that she was okay with being single. Sometimes it seems like the female characters are always looking for a boyfriend or that they are always going to end up with the main guy in the novel. It gets a little annoying and predictable after a while, so this was refreshing.

Alright, guys, I'll try writing again soon! Happy reading!

Sophie 

Post-Its and Prismacolors

Hi, bookworms! How have you been? School has been super busy, made it through the first month! I haven't had much time to blog but I have been reading  After Let's Get Lost I read All the Bright Places and wow was it beautiful. I'm just going to take a moment here and compose myself. It was beautifully written.

Here's an overview:
Violet Markey should not have been on the bell tower. Theodore Finch is there contemplating the possible ways of death. Somehow they seem to save each other that day on the edge. From that day forward, they develop a sort of relationship. Finch helps Violet rebuild her life. He shows her how to move on without forgetting. She teaches him the beauty of life and gives him reasons to stay. But then one day something snaps and Violet's world is shattered for the second time. She must carry herself and be her own best friend.

My opinion:
I LOVE THIS BOOK IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. I got so drawn in by the characters. Though I haven't felt the same exact way they have, Niven brought them to me. Violet is a beautiful character. I love how strong and independent she is. Her guilt is palpable but we learn a lot from her second tragedy. Finch reminded me of a mix of two people I know. (They don't exactly match up but his general disposition is on point.) I loved their little quirks and have began to take some of them on (post it notes on the walls? Yes please!) I highly recommend this. I regret waiting so long to actually read it and it definitely deserves all the hype it gets. I love how Niven advocates for the teen in this novel. Beautifully written and heart wrenching.

Happy reading!
Sophie

The Search

Hello! How have you all been? I hope everything is going well. I have not had much time to post lately because of school starting up. I have kept reading, don't worry, it just is less than I had been. I recently just finished Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid. I had bought this a while ago as an ebook and I just got around to reading it.

Here is a brief overview:
Leila is a girl that blows through towns in search of something. Each time she stops, she meets four different people and finds that she can give them help and in return, she gains a friendship. Hudson has his entire future ahead of him all planned out. Bree is running away from something and doesn't stay in one place for long. Elliot feels the heavy weight of heartbreak and is contemplating what he could do. And Sonia grapples with whether should could ever love again. Every person she meets leaves Leila with a bit more of a sense of herself. An of course there's the trip to see the gorgeous Northern Lights.

Alright!

I really thought that this was an okay book. Of five stars, I'd give it a three. There seemed to be a lot of hype surrounding this book and I felt that it didn't live up to the expectations the reviews gave it. Don't get me wrong, it was a good read, I just felt it a bit predictable. The characters seemed a bit underdeveloped and until the end I didn't have much an emotional attachment to any of them. Of the five stories, I liked Leila's the best. I felt the ending a bit too cliche, though, and was upset at how unrealistic the entire situation was. Many of the characters lived uncommon lives and I just felt that they weren't very relatable. Elliot was, but I felt that he was a bit lugubrious for my taste.

Thanks for sticking around, happy reading!
Sophie :)

Love Letters

Hello! How are you all today? I recently finished the sequel to a book so I decided to write a review for both. The first book is called To All the Boys I Loved Before and the second is P. S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han. I love her writing. The first book by her that I read was Shug and I loveed that one.

Anyway! Here's a description for the first book:
Lara Jean has been in love five times in her short sixteen years of life. Each time she gets over a boy, she pours her heart out in a letter to him, seals it, and stows it away in her hat box given to her by her mother never to be read by any other human being. Until she gets into a skirmish with her little sister, Kitty. When all her letters are mailed out, Lara Jean is horrified. Every boy comes to her in confusion, letter in hand. When it comes to Peter Kavinsky, things get a little complicated.

Okay, I know that was kind of a confusing overview but I promise it is a wonderful read. It was so awesome. Lara Jean is so hilarious and super relatable. I couldn't believe having all my private feelings for boys so out in the open. I also adored her hat box idea so I stole it myself ;) Lara Jean deals with a lot of pressures and struggles of being a teenager, and I personally related to her well. I felt that if I were a fictional character, she would be my twin. I also loved the bond between Lara Jean and her sisters. She and Margot go above and beyond to be the best big sisters to Kitty. Kitty is so spunky too, I love her spirit. The ending definitely left me hanging, I was dying to know more about what was going to happen to Lara Jean and Peter.

Now for the sequel (CAUTION: MAY CONTAIN SOME SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST BOOK):
This ends right where the last novel leaves off. But then it takes things and goes even further. Lara Jean and Peter have to decide what they are to each other. In this novel, they must deal with the effects of social media and jealousy. When things are starting to heat up, the fifth boy returns his letter and walks back into her life.

Alrighty! I just finished P. S. I Still Love You and it was an awesome follow up. I can't complain because it definitely tied up many things. I do wish she would've had more time to figure out who she wanted to be with but ah c'est la vie. I am in love with these books. I liked that Lara Jean had good revelations about boys and love and life. I loved loved loved Stormy. She is basically life goals. Lol she is one amazing old lady though. I am very satisfied how things ended for Lara Jean. I also like that her sisters are still big minor characters and that she isn't afraid to still rely on them.

Okay, I'll let you dig into that next book! Happy reading!
Sophie :)

My Fake Boyfriend

Hi, guys! Hope you're having a wonderful last couple days of summer or first days of school. We have yet to start school until the 8th!! Today I will be writing about The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West. I had previously read The Distance Between Us in one night because I couldn't sleep. That was an awesome read so I decided to give her other novels a chance. I also saw a lot of posts about this book on Instagram (find us @mindofaworm) and I was like, "Yeah okay sure."

My brief overview:
Gia Montgomery has great friends. Now if only they would believe her about her hot college boyfriend, Bradley. When he dumps her in the parking lot at her high school prom, Gia must find a quick fix or be toppled as queen bee. Then she notices the boy sitting in the parking lot by himself and convinces him to be fill-in Bradley. One night, a few hours, no big deal right? After it's all said and done, Gia can't stop thinking about Fill-In Bradley. If only she knew his real name. His sister decides she owes him a favor back so she must become his fake date. They actually kind of make friends. Then the real Bradley decides to waltz back into her life and screw things up.

Ah, what a great summary.

There is so much more to this novel and I really liked it. It was a really quick read and I finished it in a weekend. Gia is a very relatable girl who deals with technology and at first is very annoying. I wanted to punch her the first couple of chapters. I liked how West developed her character because Gia's faults made her less of the fake popular girl she was portrayed as. I want my own car to throw baseballs at. It'd be super relaxing! I'm left with books :) I also loved the sister who stepped in. She was freaking awesome. This book deals a lot with technology and the obsession that is taking place with it. It really made me think a lot about how much I use it and what is healthy and what is not. The ending of the book totally threw me for a loop. I thought things would end up happy and the characters would get that fairytale ending but it was better without it. It felt more real than the picture-perfect one. I liked seeing Gia screw up but grow as a person as she fixed her mistakes.

Okay, I hope this helped you find a possible new read! Happy reading!
Sophie :)

Don't Go Breakin' My Heart

Hello! Sophie here again! Today I will be writing about Love Fortunes and Other Disasters by Kimberly Karalius. I kept seeing this book in my Instagram feed and thought I'd take a chance on it. I can't say I was totally disappointed but I could kind of see where the plot was heading sooo...

An overview for you:
Fallon Dupree comes from a family of inspectors. Her parents are health inspectors, whom she believes ruin lives, and her brother is a fashion inspector of some sort. So Fallon is headed off to high school in Grimbaud, a city famous for its atmosphere of love and their love charms, especially from Zita, a charm maker whose love fortunes always come true. Fallon's parents and brother both attended school in Grimbaud and got their fortunes there, too, and are happily married. The Duprees have a history of being fated to fall in love with their high school sweethearts and then marrying young. Fallon is just as excited to fall into her family's footsteps when she is fated to never fall in love. Of course this is a bit of a bummer, I mean who would want to know that you'll die alone with a thousand animals (personally, I'd die surrounded by books but ya know, you do you), and at fourteen nonetheless. As school picks up, Fallon falls into a club of misfits who also landed unsavory love fortunes. There she discovers there may be more to Zita and her charms, and they are determined to free the city from her ironclad grip.

Okay, so that's Fallon's story for ya. Only partially of course, I wouldn't want to give away the whole story now, would I?

I got through this very fast. I liked the characters but Anais, Fallon's friend kind of bothered me. From an analytical standpoint, I could totally draw parallels between Zita and some other well-known monopolists. (Rockefeller, Carnegie, just to name a few.) I mean she had that town wrapped around her darned little finger and enjoyed it. I also could see allusions to Greek mythology with the story of the Minotaur which was pretty cool. It was well written but Fallon kind of annoyed me. But I also kind of liked her too, so I have a love-hate relationship with this book. There is a sequel coming out, I don't know when, but I'll have to read it. There were some loose ends at the end of this book and I am curious to see what will happen to the characters. I also liked Bastion. He was a cool dude, but a little to brooding for me. I hope to see Fallon grow up a little bit in this next novel too, she was a bit juvenile (weren't we all at that age? I know I was and that was only two years ago :O)

Alright, I hope this review helped! Let me know in the comments if there are any books you're looking at in particular for a review. Happy reading!
Sophie :)

A Long Lost Book

Hiiiii! Okay so my sister ordered me this off Amazon for me and when it came in the mail I literally squealed. I have been waiting anxiously since the announced publication. Especially since I love Harper Lee. Enough to name one of my cats after her. (She's adorable btw.) Go Set a Watchman has been my long-awaited book for a long time now and I was so excited to read it. I had to bring it with me to band camp so I could finish it and I finished after lights out (I'm a hard-core rebel, I know) and it was so good. Except the ending I was a little let down about. Whatever.

Here's my overview:
Jean Louise "Scout" Finch is twenty-six years old and on her way back to Maycomb for a visit from New York. Things are starting to stir up and trouble is brewing in her beloved town. During her visit she discovers things about her past she never knew about and has revelations about people she holds dearly.

Sorry for the short description but I don't want to reveal to much and that's about as much what the book jacket gives you.

I really am kind of undecided on this one. I really love To Kill a Mockingbird and my sister loves it so much she named her first daughter after Scout. This took the characters I love and my preconceived notions about them and turned them on their heads. Remember this is set in the 1950s so the American Civil Rights movement is just starting to stir up trouble, especially the NAACP. *Just a note; the NAACP was and is an African-American special interest group. They helped Rosa Parks with her case and took several legal cases to the Supreme Court like Brown v. Board of  Education which declared separate schools were not equal in quality and started to upend segregation's mentality of "separate but equal." (Forgive me for the brief history lesson, I took U. S. History last year and thought a little background into the story might help.)* Anyway, back to the book! So Scout discovers things about herself and we are kind of surprised at her naivety at some things but I still liked her. I wanted to smack her in the back half of the book but nevertheless she absolved herself in the end. Two new characters are introduced in this book too. Okay, Uncle Jack isn't new but he is  a more developed character and I liked that. He was a really cool old guy. We also meet a love interest for Scout but throughout the novel she refuses to marry him. Which was interesting to me but I could see her reasoning a bit but she was really hard on him. I am not exactly where their relationship is at the end of the novel and wish there was little bit more specificity in the matter. We also get to see Atticus again but as an old man. I actually liked the new facet of Atticus's character because it shows that we can't idolize people. As John Green says in Paper Towns, "What a treacherous thing to believe a person is more than a person." Very powerful words I would say, don't you think?

Okay, okay, I'll get off my soap box now. Happy reading!
Sophie :)

Music, Green Women, and Wuthering Heights

Hey, I haven't written in weeks I know, but I've gotten really busy. Reading even more books. Hahah but really, I've had to catch up in my summer homework (ick). SOO this review will  be about one of my new favorite author's books The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson. Really guys, she's pretty sweet.

Okay! Here's a description:
The Lennie plant is decaying. The real Lennie is also struggling with the grief that assaults her after her sister drops dead during a play rehearsal for Romeo and Juliet. As she tries to pick up the pieces of the life she thought she had, Lennie finds solace in her sister's (ex?)boyfriend Toby. And then things get a bit sticky. But then in walks musical genius Joe Fontaine (what a babe) who challenges Lennie to really go for what she wants in life.

Really though, it's a freaking awesome book. So go read it. Now!

I know that was really short, for me especially, but that's the best description I am willing to give without giving too much of the plot away.

Alright, since I really love Jandy Nelson, my opinion will probably be a little biased but even if it wasn't her, this is a freaking awesome novel. I loved how I could relate to Lennie's musical taste and her reading habits. (Sidewalk reading? Yes, please!) Anywayy, I also loved that it involved an older novel to help develop the story. I also just love Wuthering Heights but same difference right? Okay so this is gonna be a short one.

Chat again soon! Happy reading!
Sophie :)

Love Games

Hi, there! I was recently on a road trip, and what better way to pass the time (11 hours there, 12 on the way back) than to read, right?! I had been wanting to read this for a month or two so I got it from the library when I saw it: The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough. I was so excited, particularly by the concept behind it. (It kind of reminded me of Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.)

Alright, here is my overview:
Love and Death are locked into games that are, well, deadly, not only for the players but for the world, too. For years, each has chosen one player - Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra, Helen and Paris. Each time, Death wins and Love despairs at each tragedy.

Fast-forward to 1937 and Love and Death are back at it. The Game is reaching its peak and the players are getting close.

Flora Saudade is a strong, young woman, who can't seem to stay out of the sky. Flying is where she can be herself - no matter that she's African-American - and she is determined to be the next Amelia Earhart. In order to reach her dream, she must sing in the night club that she owns with her uncle.

Henry Bishop, a white boy, lives with a wealthy adoptive family amidst the Great Depression. He has his future ahead of him with a college scholarship and a prospective girlfriend that will secure him into his adoptive family and their society.

For Love to win the Game, they must choose each other above all else.

Okayyyy, enough of an overview? I thought so too. Long story short, I think it was an awesome book.

I really loved this book. Throughout the book I couldn't decide if it would be a cliche ending but it wasn't and that was awesome. I liked how Love and Death were very developed characters instead of just being narrators unlike The Book Thief (I love that book too, no hate). I especially liked the ending and seeing how they ended up. I wish I got to know for sure what happened to Ethan. But we can't always get what we want ya know?

Okay, happy reading!
Sophie :)

Two Best Friends That Anyone Can Have

Hi!! I'm glad to see someone is viewing these, so I don't write in vain.
Today I finished Oliver and Althea by Cristina Moracho. I like this book especially because of all the twists and turns it takes the reader on. I honestly did not expect the ending I got.

Here's my summary:
Best friends since they were six, Oliver and Althea know each other frontwards, backwards, inside, out. Their friendship has held strong for ten years, and lately Althea has grown to realize what her relationship to Oliver means to her - something a little bit more than that. This regrettably coincides with Oliver's new, strange disease; he has episodes where he falls asleep for weeks on end, broken up only by bouts of wakefulness in a zombie-like state. It's Oliver, but not Oliver. After his third incident right at the close of his junior year in high school, all he wants is things to go back to normal. But things have rapidly changed in the two months that he was asleep, even Althea is different. There is something that she isn't telling him, a decision that she knows will cost her his friendship. After her secret gets out, their relationship is predictably shattered. Without so much as a goodbye, Oliver heads north to New York City for a sleep study that will hopefully help him with his disease. Althea gets into her car to follow him and try to repair their relationship.

Okay, that was super long. But I hope it was good enough to catch your eye.

I really liked this book. I didn't quite know what to make of it but I had picked it up from the library on audiobook. After I started I tried to guess what would ruin their friendship but I was wrong, but partly right. (If you read it, I you will understand what I mean because you will get the characters.) I was really surprised at the ending. I really thought there would be something more definitive but it kind of left you hanging. I honestly liked the style of writing. It was light, but Althea wasn't perfect. And it's irritating when the main characters are perfect and the plot it super predictable. I was sad to get to the end. I really wanted more of the story. Does Althea go to school again? What about Ethan? (I totally ship them.) What about Kentucky/Will? I hope I haven't spoiled the book. Which I hope this has been vague enough.

Happy reading!
Sophie :)

A List

Hello, hello! I just finished Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. It was pretty good, to say the least. So I started this a while ago, but I never got the chance to actually finish it so I finally checked it out from the library (on audiobook).

My brief(-ish) rundown of it all:
Clay Jensen is in love. Okay, maybe not love, but totally crushing from a distance. But there is a slight problem - his crush, Hannah Baker, committed suicide about two weeks ago. He and Hannah weren't exactly friends or even acquaintances, but her death hits him deep. One day after school, a few weeks after her suicide, Clay finds a brown paper package on his front steps. Inside are 7 tapes, 13 tracks in total - the final words of Hannah Baker. Each track is addressed to a person and tells him/her why he/she is one of the 13 reasons she killed herself. Bewildered and intrigued, Clay follows Hannah's final wishes with the tapes and desperate to know how he had a hand in her death.

Alright, I hope that was pretty decent.

I genuinely liked the story. It was a bit confusing at parts (probably because I was multitasking while I listened to it so part of my mind was elsewhere). Anyway, I really liked the concept. But let me be clear, I don't precisely think it was fair of Hannah to blame all these people for her death. That is a heavy weight to bear and it's really easy to not take any responsibility in situations that are serious and tough. Grief really changes people in different ways, really different ways and putting this sort of responsibility on people it could have really spiraled out of control.
One thing I really wanted to know were the different reactions of the other people. I was kind of surprised of Clay's reason, but I promise I won't give any spoilers. We do get a glimpse of Marcus but I wanted to know what Courtney Crimson or Jessica Davis thought or reacted. Although, I thought it was a good book I wasn't terribly impressed with it. Out of five stars on Goodreads, I gave it 4 I think. I don't know, it was just okay to me.

Anyway, happy reading!!
Sophie :)

Matchmaking Advice

Hello there!!
Today I will be writing about Emma by Jane Austen. I have recently just finished reading/listening to it (via my awesome Discman, I don't care what you think!). My favorite classic author, besides Harper Lee, is Jane Austen and the first book of hers I read was Pride and Prejudice, though I am determined to read it again because I didn't quite understand the whole thing.

Here is my summary of Emma:
Emma Woodhouse is 21 years-old and has determined never, ever to marry anyone and leave her father in a deplorable state because of his unease to change. After her governess-turned-friend, Miss Taylor, had recently been married to a neighbor and settled in Randalls, Emma was happy to have her companion so near, but found her world to be changing quite rapidly. In needing a confidante that could occupy her time that the new Mrs. Weston could not, Emma sought out Harriet Smith. By taking in Harriet, who had little claims to good society because of the mystery of her birth parents, Emma contrived to play matchmaker. Through this she encounters many miscommunications, hurt feelings, and good humor in it all. Yet in spite of her swearing off men, Emma accidentally finds herself in some quagmires herself with this thing called love.

Alright, all in all, it was a well written novel. I didn't quite like it at first. Emma was too narcissistic for my taste but as she evolved as the book progressed and I found myself kind of rooting for her. She sees her own faults and does her best to make up for her follies, especially where she unintentionally hurt her friends feelings. I loathed Mrs. Elton. She was very stuck up and vain and I abhorred her. Please note the story is set in 1800s rural England, so there's a reason that Emma and all the women characters are so confined to their homes and other things that are supposed to amuse them. Until I read the SparkNotes on this, I wasn't sure what to really make of the book. I now understand the main themes and it makes a lot more sense than it did before. It is tougher to read, for me, because classics are harder to digest for me. I really enjoy them, though, and it helps a lot for me to hear them to understand them better. (I read a little too fast I think.) Anywhoo! during the story, I could totally tell something was going on between Jane and Frank, but I wasn't quite sure the degree of their acquaintance. I will say that the foreshadowing of this is not terribly obvious but does indicate many things, so keep an eye out for that. OH! One last thing, I found Miss Bates a bit of a bore, but she is a sweet woman. Like wine, she is an acquired taste. It was a bit difficult to make up my own mind about the characters with the narrator spouting his/her own judgments, but it allowed for many multidimensional characters.

Okay, I'll stop blabbing. Happy reading!!
Sophie :)

The Mind of a Bird

For a first post by me, I racked my brain for what book would get this ceremonious title. I settled on one of my absolute favorites: a biography of a behavioral scientist by the name of Irene Pepperberg.
If you were in my 9th grade English class, you've heard me mention/rant about this book.

Quick Summary:
40 years ago.. a woman with a PhD in Chemistry from Harvard University walked into a pet shop. Her name was Irene Pepperberg, and she scooped up an African Grey Parrot, and named him Avian Learning EXperiment, Alex for short. He would go on to change the way people perceived birds. This book tells Irene's story, from her childhood through all of her scientific studies and work with Alex to the aftermath of Alex's death. Although it may not seem the most fascinating book, it is written in a way to be an intriguing and inspiring story.

Super Quick Summary: If you like birds, science, awesome women, and good writing, this is the book for you.

Signing off,
Maiya