Summer Sisters

Summer Sisters
by Judy Blume



This is a post written by someone who adores Judy Blume and has read all her children's and teen novels. Having read her other books, I was really expecting a novel with actual substance, rather than just fluff fiction. The strange twisty drama I got was nowhere near my expectations. It seemed so juvenile for such a prolific writer, and this was supposed to be an adult novel! It was filled with...oh, for lack of a better phrase, trashy drama. The fact that it was slow paced and pretty dull, teeming with pointless filler, did not make a stronger case for this novel. Not to mention, whoever wrote the summary on the back of the book pretty obviously never bothered to actually read the book, so details on the ending were revealed before I even opened the book, and some of the material from the back summary never even occurred. Just do yourself a favor and stick with her more substantial teen books.

Rating: 1/5

I got this book from...:What's On My Bookshelf

Dreams From my Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

I'm so sorry for the delay in updating, everyone! It's been a crazy busy week and an extraordinarily dense book, but I did it, I made it through!

reading next: Fourth Comings by Megan McCafferty

Dreams from my Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
written by Barack Obama



While the writing style was very honest and quite powerful at points, at times it just got unnecessarily wordy and unbelievably dense. I was looking for more of a lifetime memoir, more personal thoughts, rather than what is essentially one long essay on his family roots. I wanted to hear about him, not his slightly distant family. Auma was the only one I could really tolerate. I wonder if any, if not all, of the fake names have been revealed since his presidency became a reality. I also wonder what happened to the people who at any point doubted his abilities. What are they thinking of him now? This really is the part of his story that you will definitely not get in the news. I didn't know any of this about him, other than the whole "abandoned father" bit, so this was, in that way, really enlightening. I was glad to hear his idea about having "sacred stories", life events that make us tick and provide better understanding of a person--but I don't think those were the focus of the book, as they should have been. I did enjoy reading the "six years later" bit at the end, but overall, I think maybe I should go read The Audacity of Hope and find a better story there.

Rating: 4/5

I got this book from...:Chatham University's library

The Plain Janes

The Plain Janes
written by Cecil Castellucci



First things first: I went into this without a clue that it was a graphic novel. So that was a bit of a shock when I opened it up before class and saw pictures and not as many words as I expected. The dialogue and situations (minus the Jane/Jane/Jayne/Polly Jane name coincidence) were extremely realistic and very refreshing to read. I found myself at times absolutely cheering the various Janes on and just loving the crazy situations they managed to get themselves into. The whole idea behind P.L.A.I.N. is pure genius, and I love that Castellucci was creative enough to come up with such an intriguing plot. After the initial shock, I realized that this would simply not have worked as a regular novel, and was thankful that it was presented in a graphic format. This book provides a great discussion on censorship and how pointless it can be oftentimes. The characters were very complex and well-developed for such a short book. I have two minor complaints, and that is that the plot itself was not very complex, and the love subplot was the most pathetic loveplot ever. Other than those slight issues, I thoroughly enjoyed this amazing book, and would be glad to read more YA graphic novels that don't necessary appeal to the adventure/fantasy crowd, and are just regular YA novels.

Rating: 4.5/5

Me vs. Me

Me vs. Me
written by Sarah Mlynowski



Just like Milkrun, the problem with this book was that it seemed extremely pointless. It feels like it could have been written well as a short story, but it doesn't work. Mlynowski tries to be Sophie Kinsella, but she's not. The main character acts like an immature child at times, which makes for a very flat story. Everything is ridiculously predictable and the ultimate solution is even mentioned, not just hinted at, flat out mentioned, in an earlier chapter. I think there was so much potential for a twist, such as Cam continuing a relationship with Gabby's friend, or maybe Cam having parallel lives as well as Gabby. Some of the characters and plot threads were unnecessary to begin with, given too much emphasis for no apparent reason. There is just too much pointlessness, and it's not a very interesting read.

Rating: 1.5/5

mugglenet.com's Harry Potter Should Have Died: Controversial Views from the #1 Fan Site

mugglenet.com's Harry Potter Should Have Died: Controversial Views from the #1 Fan Site
written by Emerson Spartz and Ben Schoen



In their return book, Ben Schoen and Emerson Spartz decide to go for an interesting Q&A debate format. As they mention in the opening (which, by the way, incorrectly names the podcast 'MuggleSpace', which gets on my nerves), many of their views will get on your nerves, and I may be paraphrasing on that one. I found myself continually asking "Did they really have to go there?" and raging at the book. I almost felt like some of the debates, if not all, would have been better off if they'd been argued by fans, leaving the end result ambiguous and up to the reader to decide, as opposed to giving definite answers. The arguments are quick, concise, and compelling, sure to keep your attention in their fun, conversational tones. It really made me wonder what JK Rowling herself would think of some of these arguments, and I almost feel like there'd be some she'd certainly disagree with, although I won't pretend to know how she thinks. I think the one argument that bothered me most of all (and there were many) was the titular one, Should Harry Potter Have Died? I don't know, I kind of feel like if you're going to name your book Harry Potter Should Have Died, that should also be the conclusion you should reach in your debate, as opposed to "Harry should have lived." Maybe that's just me.

Rating: 4/5

Good Omens

Good Omens
written by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman



This was my first experience with Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, although I'd heard plenty about both. It was, for the most part, a pretty positive one, although they aren't authors I'd immediately go rush out to get their other books. I was pretty reluctant to read this. I don't know, it feels...blasphemous in a way, even after reading it. I don't exactly regret reading it, but I do think that it needs to be taken lightly. The book itself was well-paced, with interesting writing that kept me wanting to read more. My favorite characters were Aziraphale and Crowley, and I definitely loved the banter and chemistry between the two. Adam was also a pretty fantastic character. However, I don't know about you, but I got pretty annoyed when about halfway through the book, the characters that I just named lost a lot of screen time, barely appearing at all until the very end. Huh? Aren't they the main characters? I lost a lot of the enthusiasm that kept me hooked at the beginning, because all of the interesting characters had, for some reason, received boring tiny storylines all of a sudden, leaving the readers with too many stories all over the place, not one of them particularly interesting. It became just another book that tried much too hard to be quirky and by doing so, failed to be quirky. The reader is left with an unsatisfying, predictable, and anticlimactic ending that really confused me at first, because I couldn't understand why the authors had decided to end it this way. It could have been a great book, but it unraveled and fell apart, and I'm very sad that I had to witness such a great story falling apart.

Rating: 3.5/5

A Rip in Heaven

A Rip in Heaven
written by Jeanine "Tink" Cummins



I'm so glad this wasn't one of those books where a murder occurs and it tears the family apart. The Cumminses are a great group, you can tell, the way their family only grew stronger through everything. The book reads like a mystery and memoir simultaneously, and the emotions felt by all the characters are very powerful--and absolutely interesting. The courtroom drama to it all was pretty neat, again, I was really glad it was courtroom drama and not family drama. It slightly ticked me off that it wasn't until the trial that we learned that Julie had a best friend--way to not focus on someone else this directly affected. The other thing that weirded me out was that Tink, the author, referred to herself in the third person. This would be slightly bearable, except whenever something happens that directly affected her in the story, she interjects her thoughts and draws attention to the fact that she is the one writing this, which made reading the book a little awkward and annoying at times. Tink was extremely brave to actually take the time to write this, not as a publicity stunt, but for her own personal healing as well as justice to Robin and Julie. The last two paragraphs of the book are some of the best, most powerfully honest, pieces of writing I have ever had the pleasure to read. It's a fantastic memoir that, at times, moves along a little slowly, but is well worth the read.

Rating: 4/5

(And the other thing that creeped me out? The murders, they happened on my birthday, the exact date and year.)

The Undomestic Goddess

The Undomestic Goddess
written by Sophie Kinsella



From the beginning, it's easy to detect your standard Kinsella novel. A successful woman finds herself facing some unexpected change. She falls in love, some bad event happens, they break up, and then a few chapters later, everything's peachy. Now ordinarily, Kinsella puts enough personality into the book that makes it okay, but I don't know, something was just lacking in this one. I felt like some of the characters had great potential, but were ignored, like Freya or Sam's breakdown brother, Peter. There were parts that were so predictable that it got, quite frankly, boring. It's an interesting idea, but everyone knew how it would turn out, and all the flip-flopping in the end was absolutely unnecessary. There was just too much lacking in this book, plotwise, characterwise, just overall, for it to have been a truly enjoyable read.

Rating: 2.5/5

The Secret of Platform 13

The Secret of Platform 13
written by Eva Ibbotson



The Secret of Platform 13 is the book everyone reads once they've finished Harry Potter and are dying for more. I first read it in a 4th grade book club, complete with brownies and all, in which I thought it was a good read, but entirely too forgettable. I still do think that Which Witch? is Ibbotson's best work by far, but this story is an engaging one as well. I could go on and on with the plentiful and slightly obvious Harry Potter parallels, so I'll spare you for now. I recommend this quirky read for children, but with slight caution. The description gets heavy at times. There is almost no in-depth characterization, with a large cast of characters that can get confusing. Worst of all, though, is the extreme predictability. The other things are minor aspects, they are obstacles that are easy to get past. It's just slightly disappointing to see that what you thought would happen from the very begin, does end up happening, no twists or anything to make it even the slightest bit more interesting than you thought it would be. This isn't to say that it's not a good read, or a boring one, just that there are minor things that might get irritating.

Rating: 3.5/5

What's Your Story: The Postcard Collection

currently reading: Such a Pretty Girl
want to read: Jaclyn Moriarty's just-finished new ghost story! But, y'know, it has to be edited and published and all that. *sigh*
reading next: Touching Darkness

What's Your Story: The Postcard Collection
contributions from various authors, Waterstone's workers, and Waterstone's customers.



While the What's Your Story? collection is a great collection of stories, I doubt many people actually used the stories as postcards. I would imagine most bought their copies for the same reason I did--J.K. Rowling's little HP-Prequel-That-Isn't. While I enjoyed the stories, I have to say, my enjoyment was severely limited by some of the authors' atrocious handwriting (YES, JKR, I am looking at you!). If you're going to write a widely-hyped story, make it legible, won't you? I was highly surprised by some of the other stories. Rowling's was great, but so was say, Lauren Child's. I'm not familiar with any of her other work, but her mini "story" was adorable, and a postcard that one could easily see themselves sending. Most amazing of all, dare I say more amazing than Rowling's Marauderlicious tale, were the Waterstone's employee/customer submitted ones. While the others were good stories, these were the ones that really had me laughing and crying and rolling madly on the floor.

Rating: 4/5

There's No Place Like Here

There's no Place Like Here
written by Cecelia Ahern



I regret to say that I received this book two years ago and just now managed to actually read it. It was my first ARC and I put it aside and it sat at the very bottom of my TBR pile for the longest time. Until this time of year, when I've been trying desperately to get everything out of that box and I finally decided to give this seemingly thick, impossible-to-get-through book a shot. Boy, do I hate myself for waiting so long to read such a literary work of genius. Remember in your school days, when teachers always told you to "show, not tell"? Cecelia Ahern does this, and does it flawlessly, with writing that is not at all awkward like much "good" writing seems to be, nor is it childish. Everything flows. All the words fit together as if they were each handpicked to play the part they are assigned. Coupled together with crazy good characterization, a plot as unique and captivating as they get, this contemporary fantasy should be a must-read for anyone considering themselves a true reader. As long as it is, I got through this book in one long sitting, absolutely refusing to put it down. Cecelia Ahern is the literary genius I have been searching for.

Rating: 5/5

Regarding the Bathrooms

Regarding the Bathrooms
written by Kate Klise, Illustrated by M. Sarah Klise



Nobody does sequels quite like Kate Klise! While the target age for these books is actually 9-12, it's one of those instances where I think slapping an age range is fully idiotic. I read the first Klise book at the age of 11, and the sequels have been so great that I just never thought to stop. These books are amazing examples of stories that can be treasured at any age. They're written as epistolary novels, entirely in letters, notes, and newspaper articles. The older reader will see foreshadowing throughout the entire novel, but will still never be able to guess the surprise ending until they've read it. And once they've read it, they'll want to read it again, and again, and again. They never get old and were made for rereads. Now, ordinarily, with the reintroduction of Sally Mander and Dee Eel (and don't you just love those names? They're all like that, too!) I would say sloppy writing, too lazy to come up with new characters, but it worked, it really worked. I'd been wondering what had happened to our favourite criminal duo and was glad to see the jail wasn't strong enough to keep their nefarious plots from continuing. I continued to love seeing the kids (and, one could argue, the adults) growing up and learning new things, leading up to a satisfying conclusion in both this book, and, in its sequel, the series as a whole.

Rating: 5/5

Ransom My Heart

Ransom My Heart
written by Meg Cabot



I am neither a historical fiction reader, nor a romance reader. The sole reason I wanted to read this book was because of the fact that it was written by the great Meg Cabot. Cabot has written young adult historical romances (Nicola and the Viscount, Victoria and the Rogue) and I was not a fan of those. For the most part, I was completely enchanted by Finnula's story. It's great to see a romance novel that breaks romance novel stereotypes of weak, helpless women waiting for strong burly men to do everything for them. Things like this (and minor anachronisms) remind the reader that this is theoretically being written by a girl in her senior year of high school. It's a fun read, though not entirely suitable for young adults (but you just know Princess Diaries fans are going to ignore this fact and read it anyways). Everything's great until the end approaches. The wedding is skipped over, and then a weird storyline begins. I honestly believe the wedding should have been an ending with an elaborate wedding scene, and then anything after that could have served as either an epilogue or as a sequel. It felt as though it were two entirely different books, and read pretty awkwardly. There's no main idea throughout the entire book, it's two different ones (the first being 'falling in love', the second 'death threats, oh no!').

Rating: 4/5

The Library Card

The Library Card
written by Jerry Spinelli



Jerry Spinelli is an author I can never quite make up my mind about. On one hand, he wrote the absolutely brilliant Stargirl, and on the other, some of his books just fall completely flat. From the start, it seemed like he was trying too hard and bought into many stereotypes (TV crazed kids, the 'enlightenment' and snobbery that comes from books, etc) and it was just unpleasant to read. Other than the first story that did have some dimension to it, the others were pretty standard, dull pieces with nothing to make them stand out. This may have worked much better as a single story, expanding on Mongoose and Weasel's relationship as opposed to branching out and cramming four stories in one book. There's no thread connecting them other than the library card, and it just feels awkward. The section about Sonseray in particular was really hard to get through. It was written in a completely reader-unfriendly way, and I had to force my way through the dense description. Overall, I think if you're looking to read Spinelli, read Stargirl or Loser instead.

Rating: 2/5

Lost Ate My Life: The Story of A Fandom Like No Other

Lost Ate My Life: The Story of a Fandom Like No Other
written by Jon Lachonis and Amy Johnston



I'm sorry to bring up all the comparisons to Harry, A History, but the two are just so similar, both being histories of fandoms, as opposed to your standard analysis books.

Let's begin at the beginning. The foreword of this book, written by the amazing Javier Grillo-Marxuach, was one of the best parts of the entire thing. I mean, if I were you, I'd buy the book just for that. But, no worries, the rest of the book continues to be absolutely amazing. As opposed to Harry, A History, Lost Ate My Life actually focuses on the fandom as a whole, all the different aspects. Sure, there is some extended focus on The Fuselage, but that makes sense, as that is the focal point of the fandom, while in HaH, MuggleNet, half of the whole fandom, was completely cut out. Lost takes the extra time to mention all the sites (although I'm a little miffed TLE wasn't mentioned, but, y'know, considering everything else, still pretty impressive). There are moments of braggery, though, that make parts of this book very unpleasant to read. hijinks' story about meeting Bryan Burk just seems so much more down to earth than Melissa's meeting JKR. She doesn't brag, she's very humble about it, and it makes it more relatable and friendly. There are times when the book has a little too much background info, and other times when it has too much insider info, but sometimes, it manages to strike just the perfect balance between the two. And really, leaving out Penny/Desmond? Tsk, tsk. ;)

Rating: 4.5/5

Hate That Cat

Hate That Cat
Written by Sharon Creech



Hate That Cat provided a great balance of new and old. There were many great call-backs to Love That Dog, but at the same time, it establishes its identity as a new book. I was glad to see that Creech (and Jack) decided to let the Sky stuff go, and was also glad to see a book with a main focus on cats (although the 'hate' part? Not so awesome.) After Love That Dog's crashing climactic ending, Hate that Cat's ending was a bit of a letdown, but it was still a fantastic sequel.

Rating: 3.5/5

Milkrun

I'm so sorry for the lack of reviews lately. It's exam week, and despite a lovely and random burst of snow, postponing a few exams, it's still been a lot of studying (and a lot of procrastination while telling my parents that yes, indeed, of course I'm still studying).
It should get better soon, although I'm off to Pittsburgh for a college visit next week, so we'll just have to see!

Anyways.
Milkrun
written by Sarah Mlynowski



I hate to post yet another negative review (It really may seem like I take pleasure in it--but I really don't) but there's, again, not much positive to say. I figured I should give Mlynowski a try--her collaboration with E. Lockhart and Lauren Myracle (How to Be Bad) was a pretty good book. I thought Milkrun had an interesting premise and would also be interesting, but...there really wasn't a hook. Standard 20-something, living with a roommate, working at a boring office, looking for love. Nothing new, nothing special. The only difference with this book and any other in the stereotypical chick-lit genre is that this one actually had no resolution, while other chick-lit books have the huge romantic ending. Not good. If anything, it just really makes the main character, Jackie, appear like a serial-dater, to put it kindly. It's really bad, melodramatic writing for really bad, melodramatic characters. (And I still haven't been able to figure out the title. Is it a British thing?) All in all, very pointless, I do not recommend it. Stick to YA, Ms. Mlynowski.

Rating: 2/5

Time Windows

Time Windows
written by Kathryn Reiss



So it seems that most readers really enjoyed Time Windows, and I have to wonder if they've read any of Reiss's other books. For a more juvenile crowd, I suppose Time Windows would be more appealing, but for the most part, I felt that it was a lot worse than her other books. It's just not as interesting, with a lot of down-time. The big mystery doesn't really kick in majorly until halfway through the book. The characters are pretty cookie-cutter, uninteresting, standard characters, nothing special. Parts are very predictable (although some of the bigger twists at the very end, they are pretty impossible to predict). It's really just not Reiss's best work, and the ending left me cringing--worse even than the "it was all a dream" ending.

Rating: I'd say 2/5 compared to her other books, 3/5 in general.

The Worry Web Site

The Worry Web Site
written by Jacqueline Wilson


The Worry Web Site is one of those books that every child should really get to read. Mr. Speed is the ideal teacher, and he, through his ingenious website, helps many different kids in many ways. All of the characters are relatable kids that jump to life. Before I even started reading, I fell in love with the premise. The interconnectivity of all their stories adds a whole other dimension, making it so much more enjoyable to read. I was slightly hoping the end would have a worry that was just too serious, seeing Mr. Speed deal with that would have been interesting, and some more details about Mr. Speed himself would have been great, but still, amazing book. Oddly enough, my favorite 'worry' was the one that wasn't even Wilson's--it was the contest winner's!

Rating: 5/5

Shopaholic & Baby

Shopaholic & Baby
written by Sophie Kinsella



Becky Bloomwood is back... but was it worth it? I'm still pretty strong in my convictions that Ms. Kinsella should have stopped two books ago. This isn't to say that it's a weak book, it's just, like Meg Cabot has repeatedly said when asked if she'll continue Mediator/1-800, after everything eventful has happened, the convoluted situations can lead to nothing good. Kinsella has already taken the time (three books) to establish the strong bond between Becky and Luke--only to randomly (seemingly) break it in this one? Quite annoying, really. I felt like everyone's characters seemed to break a little bit, and the one relationship that I really did like the developments in, Jess and Tom, didn't really have a satisfying ending...or much of an ending or beginning at all. Will there be more books, then? It would seem like overkill, although I would personally love a spinoff focusing solely on Jess and Tom. I still did love how Kinsella wove all those stories together, eventually bringing them all back. Well done, and I was very glad to hear that Becky has a daughter--another future Shopaholic--we just couldn't have it any other way!

Rating: 4/5