Looking For Alaska

Here we are with another John Green book, he's not going anywhere, anytime soon though because the book I am going to be starting is also by him. However, this blog is about Looking For Alaska. This book was highly recommended by all my nerdfighter friends. If you don't know what a nerdfighter is, click it!

Looking For Alaska is a nut shell is a story of Miles Halter, Pudge, from Florida who transfers to a Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama to seek his "Great Perhaps". Upon arriving he meet his roommate Chip, otherwise known as the Colonel, who then introduces him to his new found crush Alaska Young. Unfortunately, Alaska has a boyfriend, Jake, who she is deeply in love with, but it doesn't stop her from flirting with Pudge. Pudge also becomes friends with Takumi and Lara through the Colonel and Alaska. His first full semester at Culver Creek is full of fun and pranking with his new found friends. They have brought so many changes to his not so eventful life. However, everything changes one night when Alaska Young crashes into a police cruiser. She dies instantly. This dumbfounds her friends and they spend the rest of the book trying to figure out why this happened and what caused it. To finally unlock the secrets behind the mysterious, Alaska Young.

I really enjoyed this book. I'm sure that if I were more of a cryer this book would've done it for me. However, the story was very enjoyable and heart-wrenching. I did not expect most of what was thrown at me, which was good and bad. I would not recommend it for younger children due to a few as I would put "uncomfortable situations".

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

I heard a lot of hype over The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. So of course, I had to investigate for myself.

The book is a compile of letters written to a girl referred to throughout the book as "friend" from a boy under the pen name of "Charlie". He has been told this girl is someone he can let everything out to, but he changes critical details like names to protect theirs and his identities. During the course of the time he writes to this girl, he basically just lets her know how his daily life is going. Letting her know almost everything in great detail. Sometimes a little too much detail. These going the lines of talking about family, friends, teachers, and anything else he has done with them. In the beginning of the book we are drawn back to an explanation about the loss of his dear friend Michael. This affected Charlie very much. Charlie is definitely a wallflower, and does not seem to really know how to handle situations like you or I would. This effects the way that he deals with people and how he feels towards others. Regardless of the way he acts he is a compassionate person and truly holds others higher than himself. Through out the book he is constantly learning and observing others ways of life with unbiased eyes.

I do not believe the book really deserved such hype. I will admit, however, that the book was very interesting, and the book had a very good plot. But, I did not care for the bits of the book that really went into detail and basically just scanned right through those parts. This is not something I would recommend for younger readers.

Scarlett Fever...SERIOUSLY!

Okay. I do apologize for taking forever to read Scarlett Fever. It had nothing to do with how interesting the book was. It was my lack of time to read. The bookworm that lives inside of me has not been too happy about this, and since I had a three day weekend I took all the time I possibly had to sit down and finish reading Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson.

"I guess I should shower," he said. "But all these flies are following me, & they think I'm their god. I feel responsible."

Scarlett Fever, the sequel to Suite Scarlett is just as great as the first. Scarlett is still having boy problems. Quite early in the book it is apparent that Eric and Scarlett have gone their separate ways, but that she is still trying to hold on. She knows she shouldn't, but she does. Her friends are now back from their summer vacations and are all ready to face the school year. However, Scarlett is still down in the dumps. Her friend Dakota tries to keep her away from thoughts of Eric, but no matter what she tries Scarlett improvises. She may not have the real Eric, but she's upped the view count on his commercial. Mrs. Amberson is still her boss even though she is no longer living in the Hopewell Hotel. Helping Mrs. Amberson run the AAA is quite easy, until Biggs are introduced into the picture. Amberson is constantly trying to land Spencer a decent role, and finally hits something with Crime and Punishment, but maybe it's not all it was cracked up to be? Amberson also, has her eye on Chelsea the star of 'The Flower Girl' and she is destined to keep her under her watch. However, her possessive mother doesn't want anything to go wrong, but is easily swayed. Amberson convinces Scarlett to 'keep an eye, but not keep an eye' on Max, Chelsea's brother, to set Mrs. Biggs at ease. Max is a bit of a trouble maker that annoys the heck out of Scarlett, but also has a lot in common with her. Halfway through the Martin-like shenanigans surface and you feel like everything is set to roller coaster mode. How does this wild ride end? Go read the book!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The story was predictable at points, but the way it spun off was clearly unpredictable. The great characters and dialogue kept me coming back for more. However, I was VERY unhappy with the ending. She ended it abruptly. Of course, she left it opened for a third book, but I want to know what happens NOW! I highly recommend any books written by Maureen Johnson. She knows how to entertain quite well, and keeps the reader coming back for more!

Dear Maureen Johnson,

I love your writing, it's truly magnificent. Please hurry up and write the third installment of this series, the anticipation is killing me!

Sincerely,

Sharayah

Suite Scarlett

'What now? You have no job. I have no job. Wanna play Jenga?' -Spencer Martin

Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson is an intriguing book about Scarlett Martin. Scarlett Martin is like any other regular teenage girl. There is only one difference. Her family owns and runs the Hopewell Hotel in New York City. The tradition is upon each Martin child's 15th birthday they are given a suite in the hotel to take care of. Scarlett receives the Empire Suite, a beautiful suite with a moon mirror dressing table. However, the Hopewell is not doing too well and Scarlett's parents need all of their kids to pitch in. This means that Scarlett must give up her summer, her sister Lola will have to work extra hard with her job and also working at the hotel, if her brother Spencer does not find a real acting job he is straight on for Culinary School, and Marlene is just Marlene. Upon Scarlett's reception of the suite a new hotel guest, Amy Amberson checks into the Empire Suite, and Scarlett aids to her every whim. Amberson is quite the character and Scarlett is thrown for a loop in the shenanigans that she gets involved with. Just as Scarlett loses hope for Spencer's acting career Amy Amberson steps in every step of the way saving Spencer in the nick of time, and even setting a few fireworks off between Scarlett and Eric, Spencer's co-worker/ friend.

This book was absolutely hilarious and I enjoyed every minute of it. The humor that Maureen Johnson poured into this book was absolutely entertaining. I laughed and I often felt like yelling at the book, but in the end I was very happy with the outcome. I felt the book was very in tune with all aspects of a great book, and that it really tapped into the family values, sibling rivalry, and romance of teenage lives. Maureen Johnson is a great writer, and I also recommend reading her book 13 Little Blue Envelopes. I just bought Scarlett Fever, which is the sequel to Suite Scarlett. So if Scarlett Fever is as good Suite Scarlett expect a book review soon! ;)

Paper Towns

As I was browsing through Barnes and Noble, a foreign place to me since I religiously go to Borders, I stumbled upon Paper Towns by John Green. I had heard of the book constantly via YouTube, especially since I watch the author vlog back and forth with his brother. From what I had heard on the interwebs it was a really good book, so I ended up leaving Barnes and Noble with confidence I had picked a great book.

I read the book's back cover when I got home and it seemed interesting so I automatically began reading it right then and there. I had a lot of trouble putting the book down, but with my whole schedule being wacked out I had to constantly leave the book and attend to other matters. However, I did read it whenever I possibly could.

The book begins with a flashback to when Quentin Jacobsen and Margo Roth Spiegelman were 9 and they found a dead man in their subdivision. They do know exactly what happened but they knew he was dead. "Maybe all the strings inside of him broke?" The story then shoots to their present time, high school, Quentin and Margo are no longer friends. Margo is the popular girl and Quentin hangs out with the band geeks, but is not one himself. Quentin is madly in lust with Margo from afar. Late one night Margo sneaks to his room and asks for him to take his car keys and drive her around town. Quentin at first needs to know everything that is going to proceed through the night, but she resists and he gives in anyway. They proceed to sneak out and little by little she explains her plan. They are hitting all the people who have been wrong to her. Little by little they throw catfish in cars, spray paint M's on places, and leave little notes. They even go as far as shaving off an eyebrow as well as breaking into Sea World. When Quentin gets to school he hopes to see Margo, but her car is missing. She does not show up to school and that leaves him on edge. Her parents no longer want anything to do with her. Quentin however, notices something different. He realizes she's left him clues on how to find her. He then becomes obsessed with finding where she went. He even gets his friends as well as one of her friends in on it. And they search for her far and near.

But do they eventually find her? Read the book and find out!

I generally liked the plot that Mr. John Green created. Quentin transformed from cowardly to confident through the book. He was able to analyze that Margo was more than she appeared, and he grew from the experiences she'd left for him.

However, what I did not like about the book was the excess amount of cursing. I really think the book would've been better without it, but I stuck it out to read the rest of this pretty great book.

Want me to review a book? Leave a comment and I'll stick it on my list. :)

JRN 215

Pride and Prejudice and....Zombies?

First off I would like to apologize for the neglect of my blog. Who would've thought college would be so demanding. It is not that I did not want to blog, it is just I had not finished my book yet. I vowed not to blog until my book, of which I started back in the middle of September.. Yes, with much embarrassment I admit it took me practically 6 months to finish a 317 page book. However, like I said before, I have no time. Hopefully that will change, and I will make time to read. :) Onto my book review.

Pride and Prejudice has to be one of my all time favorite books, and you would not believe you how excited I was when I found my gaze upon Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith on a bookshelf at Urban Outfitters. I was absolutely shocked and knew that I must read it! However, I was low on cash and unable to buy it. Upon my 18th birthday I was so very grateful to receive it from my dear friend Katie.

I instantaneously began my embark on a similar journey that I had once experienced before, with a new zombie-like twist. The story was mostly the same, however, there were quite a few changes. Grahame-Smith definitely added to the story and altered it a lot. But I feel that his alterations were for the better. He went to quite the extent to involve the characters that were not huge contributions to the original book. Characters such as, Charlotte, Mr. Collins, and Miss Darcy. These new parts added made the sides that were left in the dark make more sense.

Here is a brief summary:

The Bennets are a family of primarily girls who are trained in the deadly arts. They have a blood oath with the King of England to serve the country to slay any unmentionables that cross their paths until they are married. When Mr. Bingley, his sisters, and his proud friend Mr. Darcy come to live in Netherfield Park, Jane Bennet is quickly drawn to Mr. Bingley and he to her. Mr. Darcy acts very prideful and does not appear to think the neighbors are worthy of his presence, causing quite the detest of Elizabeth Bennet. When some unmentionables devour the brains of some of Mr. Bingley's servants, he is peculiarly called away on business. His sisters and Mr. Darcy soon follow. Does this mean the end for Mr. Bingley and Jane's love for one another? Pick up the book and read on!

I enjoyed the Zombies and Deadly Arts references. I also quite enjoy Mr. Darcy myself. It was quite an intriguing book. I highly recommend it. Especially if you enjoy Jane Austen or Pride and Prejudice.

JRN 215

Unhappy Turnout

So I am unhappy to report that over winter break I was unsuccessful in keeping up with my blog. I found it very hard to sit down and cook/ bake something, even if it was once a week. As I was looking for new bloggers to follow for my niche for this blog I found one peculiar blogger that sat in front of my face and stared me right in the eye and said "Sharayah dear, what are you doing? Baking is just a little fun now and again! Books are your passion!" So what I've come to realization is that I am going to be changing my niche to coincide with my real passion. Plus I have not read myself a good book in a long time. I have not even been able to finish the book I got for my birthday which was way back in September. So from this blog forward I will be a book blogger.

Interesting people who found my fancy, :)

http://booksandcooks.blogspot.com/

Tara the women behind the blog books and cooks is the woman who made me realize I had the wrong niche. She blogs about books she's read and how she feels about them. Something I long to do. :)

http://books-movies-chinesefood.blogspot.com/

Another good blogger, she makes the books she reads sound very intriguing and inviting. I look forward to her future posts. :)

for JRN215