Should I??

Ok, I need your guys' advice. I just borrowed The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold from the library. I read the summary on the inside-cover/flappy/sleeve/thing-a-ma-jigger and the book seems like an interesting books, but I'm an infant and can't handle scary books/movies because it completely freaks me out. The general style that I got out of the inside-cover/flappy/sleeve/thing-a-ma-jigger is reminiscent of In a Heartbeat by Loretta Ellsworth. Here's what the inside-cover/flappy/sleeve/thing-a-ma-jigger says for those of you who don't know what The Lovely Bones is about:

"When we first meet Susie Salmon, she is already in heaven. As she looks down from this strange new place, she tells us, in the fresh and spirited voice of a fourteen-year-old girl, a tale that is both haunting and full of hope. 

In the weeks following her death, Susie watches life on Earth continuing without her--her school friends trading rumors about her disappearance, her family holding out hope that she'll be found, her killer trying to cover his tracks. As months pass without leads, Susie sees her parents' marriage being contorted by loss, her sister hardening herself in an effort to stay strong, and her little brother trying to grasp the meaning of the word gone.

And she explores the place called heaven. It looks a lot like her school playground, with the good kind of swing sets. There are counselors to help newcomers adjust and friends to room with. Everything she ever wanted appears as soon as she thinks of it--except the thing she most wants: to be back with the people she loved on Earth.

With compassion, longing, and a growing understanding, Susie sees her loved ones pass through grief and begin to mend. Her father embarks on a risky quest to ensnare her killer. Her sister undertakes a feat of remarkable daring. And the boy Susie cared for moves on, only to find himself at the center of a miraculous event.

The Lovely Bones is luminous and astonishing, a novel that builds out of grief the most hopeful of stories. In the hands of a brilliant new writer, this story of the worst thing a family can face is transformed into a suspenseful and even funny novel about love, memory, joy, heaven, and healing."

Any suggestions? For those of you who have read this books, is it gorey or a horror type of book? Thanks! :D

Runner's Life

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have recently begun reading Born to Run, by Christopher McDougall. The main reason that I chose to read this book is that the description talked about a mysterious Mexican tribe of super-athletes and runners. This intrigued me, so of course, I began reading! The adventure begins with the question asked by most and almost every runner: Why does [Insert body part] hurt?? In this case, the author, who is a reporter, is having heel pain. Even though I just started this book, I can already tell this is going to be a hilarious book! Here's an excerpt:
"Take any other sport, and an injury rate like mine would classify me as defective. In running, it makes me normal. The real mutants are the runners who don't get injured. Up to eight out of every ten runners are hurt every year. It doesn't matter if you're heavy, or thin, speedy, or slow, a marathon champ or a weekend huffer, you're just as likely as the other guy to savage your knees, shins, hamstrings, hips, or heels. Next time you line up for a Turkey Trot, look at the runners on your and lift: statistically, only one of you will be back for the Jingle Bell Jog."
As you can see, the author uses a unique and almost sarcastic tone. Later on, McDougall finds out about a group of people called the "Tarahumara" by conquistadors. Their real name, the Rarámuri, which translates to mean "the running people". The Rarámuri are known for their peacefulness and evasiveness. Not only that, they are some of the most ridiculous runners on the plant. For real. They can 300 miles without a second thought. That's like running 100 5Ks in a row, back-to-back. Not only that, they also run on some of the roughest terrain possible with shoes that barely qualify as shoes, much less the $100 Brooks training shoes that the majority of of our cross country team has. What is most shocking of all though, is that the Rarámuri do all of this with almost no injuries. Zip. Zilch. Nada. In any case, I'm curious as to how the author's going to find this tribe. They're super runners who don't like to be seen. I wonder how that's going to go...

Out Goes One and In Comes Another

Ok. It’s official. I am abandoning Girls in White Dresses. It just wasn’t my cup of tea, I suppose. I am now about 2/3 of the way through No Man’s Land. Now, Dov’s brother, Brian has just come home from Afghanistan. His eyes glazed over, Brian seems off, even though his family is relieved that he’s home “safe”. Dov discovers that Brian may have a drinking problem, but is too scared to ask for help. What should he do? In addition to this strange finding, Brian is also having trouble sleeping and his relationship with his fiancée may be in jeopardy. On the upside, Scarlett is promising to make an effort to be friendlier with Dov’s group of “misfits”.

 

 

Throughout this middle third of this novel, the tension is definitely building with each of Dov’s new discoveries. A quote that I found at the end of the reading that I did today summarizes this really well. It reads, “Too many things about Brian are making me feel unsettled lately: the restlessness he can’t shake, his pre-occupation with war updates and with disturbing, violent movies, and also the way I’ve heard him pick irritably at Victoria until she leaves, crying. No to mention the empty vodka bottles I’ve seen in the trash can when I take out the garbage.” (This was really bad place for me to leave off on my reading because I can tell something big is about to happen, but I’m too tired to keep reading the book at the moment… :P) Dov’s description of Brian in this quote is very unsettling to me because he seems almost paranoid that something bad is going to happen. In the beginning of the book, Brian was depicted as a clean, popular person, but now, he’s evolved into some sort of neurotic old man (Not really, but you get my point, right?). It really is quite frightening to me, looking back on how he used to be. The author’s changing of Brian’s character is almost like they are preparing for his next move….

Oh yeah! I forgot to mention, I started reading a new novel called, Born to Run, by Christopher McDougall. I’m hoping this book goes better than the last … J

To be or not to be?

In addition to starting No Man's Land, by S.T. Underdahl, I also started a new book called Girls In White Dresses, by Jennifer Close. It talks about three girls, Isabella, Mary and Lauren, who all feel like every single one of their friends is getting married. The grapple with many emotional roller coasters as they try to get a grip on life. I wasn't really sure what to think of this book at first, and to be honest, even after reading 100+ pages, I still don't. It's written in the perspectives of the three girls and cycles between them during the chapters. I usually like it when books are written like this because it shows the same storyline but with different details and feelings. In this case, the format just made the book plain out confusing. For real. The chapters were SUPER long and I didn't really understand the plot until I was already 80 pages into the book. Also, the author drones on when they describe and that really defeats the purpose of adding description because it doesn't help the reader at all. Even though I'm only halfway into this novel, I'm not sure that I am actually going to read the rest of this book, let alone recommend it (and it's not often that I will abandon a book!). Read it if romance your thing, but I guess this book just isn't my cup of tea. To think of it, I only pick up this book because the title reminded me of the movie "27 Dresses".

Time to Embark On a New Journey

Since I recently finished Bumped, I started a new book called No Man's Land, by S.T. Underdahl.  It's about a high schooler named Dov Howard.  He is treated in his family like a disappointment and in school, like a loser. His only friends are a bunch of emo kids, much like himself. Dov's brother, Brian, is the perfect son. For real. He's the school's football star and he has just been shipped off to Afghanistan. Now, everyday, the Howard family is worrying about him. The part I had to stop reading at is about Dov in his art class. The counselor, Mr. Kerr is standing at the door with a serious face, beckoning for Dov to come. I'm so frustrated that I had to stop here because, coincidentally, I was in art class when I read this. I'm really curious as to what happened, though. I'm guessing that something bad happened to Brian, judging by Mr. Kerr's stony expression and the fact that S. T. Underdahl was ranting about how worried Brian's family was, for about 10 pages. I hope this goes better than my previous book....

Thumped Went Ker-plunk

Yesterday night, I spent all evening reading the novel, Thumped by Mega McCafferty (Yes, I read 260+ pages in one night.) . It's about a futuristic America where a Virus has broken out and threatens to eradicate the human race. As a result, the government is encouraging girls to get pregnant as early as possible and as often as possible. If a girl hasn't had any children before the age of 18, they are considered outcasts to society and the government warns them that they aren't contributing to the country. The main characters in the story are Harmony and Melody. They are identical twins who are both 17 and met each other one year ago (in the previous book that I didn't realize existed and therefore didn't read...). They are both considered Re Pros, AKA Reproductive Professionals. Essentially, they are part of the Surrogettes business and people hire them to get pregnant and have their kids. Harmony and Melody are both due on the same date and are both carrying twins. Together, they are worth millions of dollars and have just as many fans. Before they met, Harmony was raised in Goodside, which is a very conservative, church-orientated lifestyle, but she encounters trouble and wants to cross the fence and escape to the freedom of the Otherside, to live with her sister. Harmony is married under the church's eye, to Ram. Melody is partnered with Jondoe, who is the secret father of Harmony's children. There is one other secret to the story though, and with the Double Double Due Date, or D4, approaching, the truth must eventually come out. One way or another.

This book was definitely not what I was expecting. I picked out this book at my local library and I thought it Bumped had a very "cutesy" cover, all blue and pink. I didn't get the chance to read the summary so I assumed it would be about chickens or something of the sort because the cover had a cracked eggshell. I probably wouldn't recommend this book to a friend unless they were into romantic/conspiracy-related novels because I am not very interested in those books, so reading this book wasn't exactly an phenomenal experience for me. I have to admit though, the only reason I actually read the entire book is that the author pulls you in with suspense. It is written in a similar format to Flipped, by Wendelin Van Draanen. Every chapter, the story changes perspectives between the twins and often times, the chapters end in a very suspenseful way. All in all though, I wouldn't advise reading this book. My opinion may be swayed because I didn't read the first book, but unless you liked books like Matched, the Hunger Games, and Divergent, this book probably isn't for you. At least it definitely wasn't for me.