Bachmann: ‘We Must Ban Falafel’ in School Lunches

Bachmann: ‘We Must Ban Falafel’ in School Lunches | The Daily Currant

Review: The Left Hand of Darkness

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



A groundbreaking book. Ms Le Guin has a gift of really putting you in the protaganists shoes in this book. the isolation, desperation, and hopes of a man far from home given a job that is close to impossible. A terriffic read that has stood the test of time.



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Review: Give a Boy a Gun

Give a Boy a Gun by Todd Strasser

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



An obvious and over the top anti-gun screed devoid of balance or understanding. Filled with little footnotes of usually long debunked studies that reinforce the claim that guns are intrinsically evil. Somehow the gun it to blame for everything. Really as big a piece of crap as I have read in a long time.



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Review: Hero-Type

Hero-Type by Barry Lyga

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This was both fun and thought provoking. What defines a hero? What defines patriotism? Do we as a culture really enjoy building people up only so we can tear them down. A quick and easy read that will make you think. I enjoyed it very much.



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Beer Determines Your Politics? | Out in Left Field with Pat Johnston

Beer Determines Your Politics? | Out in Left Field with Pat Johnston

Review: One Second After

One Second After by William R. Forstchen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



One of my very first favorite genres was post-apocalyptic. This didn't disappoint. Frighteningly plausible and well researched. This book actually made you wonder why nobody has tried this on us, I was impressed by how believably things fell apart and the various ways different groups tried to keep things together. A good and exciting read.



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Review: Saving June

Saving June by Hannah Harrington

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I'm starting to get worried about the sheer number of teen suicide and violence related books people are recommending to me and when I read them I love them. Not a subject actually that I would have thought I would enjoy. However they seem to make me feel my problems are a lot less than I used to think.

This book takes place, in the beginning and end, my home state of Michigan and I always enjoy knowing some of the places they mention. The characters were believable, the situations too. I found it gripping and hard to put down.

I really cannot say a lot more without giving away things that are better left to be found when you read it. You should read it. It is a wonderful book and I am going to buy this authors next book soon.



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Review: 10 Weeks

10 Weeks by Jolene Perry

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



An interesting book. YA introduced me to the idea of books with multiple authors writing from multiple points of view. This was interesting because it takes the same time frame at the same location and shows it from three different points of view. all three protagonists are very different, and yet I can see them as friends in the circumstances of the book. i found myself caring about all three, and even more about a small character that appears only in one of the stories. I'd like to see Paloma's book someday. A worthy and fun read.



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Review: Thirteen Reasons Why

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



This was an amazing book. I just plain loved it. It was written in a unique way, I will not tell you how and destroy the surprise. The story it tells is heart-achingly real and profoundly emotional. It would be a mistake to start this book without an adequate supply of Kleenex. I'd also recommend having a lot of time, I did not put this book down for more than 2 minutes from start to finish. It has also left me with a very serious book hangover. Go get it.



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Review: The Story of Us

The Story of Us by Deb Caletti

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This book really perplexed me. I was hoping for more. I've now read 4 books by Ms Caletti, loved two, and a big "meh" on the other twp. Sadly this was a "meh".

Like Indigo Skye by the same author most of the characters in this book were shadows, cardboard cutouts, or right out of central casting. Not real to the reader in any way, and you didn't really care all that much about them. There was nobody in this book that I liked, or disliked enough to make it interesting.

I find this perplexing because in her books Stay and The 6 Rules of Maybe it was completely opposite. This woman can really write, but seemingly only when the mood strikes her. In between she just churns out passionless formulaic drek. It makes me something less than excited to grab another one of her works.



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Review: Hate List

Hate List by Jennifer Brown

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



A disturbing and profoundly moving book. I read this in one sitting. In keeping with my policy to never give spoilers I will just say this was as great an insight into the mind and life of a player in a major tragedy as I have ever read. The characters in this book were believable and fully realized. No cardboard cutouts, the good people had flaws and the bad people had redeeming qualities just like in real life. My highest recommendation. I read this in one sitting because I simply could not put it down.



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Colleen Hoover paperbacks now in stores!

  My friend Colleen Hoover has her books out in paperback now at Barnes and Noble and other major stores!  If you haven;t read SLAMMED and POINT OF RETREAT yet run to the store and grab them.  Terrific books you cannot put down.



http://colleenhoover.com/signed-books/


PAPERBACKS « Colleen Hoover

Review: Ten Miles Past Normal

Ten Miles Past Normal by Frances O'Roark Dowell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I loved this book. A friend told me to check it out. It looked a little young, but it really wasn't. A wonderful book about finding yourself and becoming comfortable with not being like everyone else on the planet. I give it my highest recommendation, it was quirky, fun, and deeply moving in its own way.



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Five Guys Took A Boy Band Anthem And Created One Of The Best Romney Parodies, Hands Down | MoveOn.Org

  Laugh out loud funny!!


Five Guys Took A Boy Band Anthem And Created One Of The Best Romney Parodies, Hands Down | MoveOn.Org

Review: Second Chance Summer

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I do not even know where to begin with this book except to say I'd give more stars if I could. A phenomenal, emotional, triumphant read. I'm immediately going to look for other works by this author. I could not put it down.

A tour-de-force on what love and family is. I cried several times during this book, and recognized parts of my past in what the characters went through. This book felt personal and as if it was a part of your own past.

I cannot imagine anyone that likes YA not just loving this book. Even people new to YA that just want to read an amazing story should run out and get this. One of the dozen best books I have read this year for certain.



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Review: Where It Began

Where It Began by Ann Redisch Stampler

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This was a very good book. Another case where if I could I would have left 4.5 stars. My only mark-down came because as an experienced reader I figured out the hook VERY early on. Younger readers might find themselves more surprised.

This is a book that I would think could be used as a teaching tool as well. An important story well told. Every character in the book was fully realized and believable. Even having figured things out early I had a hard time putting it down.



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Obama Uses Libya Debacle to Put Romney Six Feet Under

Obama Uses Libya Debacle to Put Romney Six Feet Under

The Dirty Dozen: 12 Signs you might be a member of the Tea Party | Liberals Unite

These dangerously stupid people control one of our two major national parties. . . . .

The Dirty Dozen: 12 Signs you might be a member of the Tea Party | Liberals Unite

Review: The Six Rules of Maybe

The Six Rules of Maybe by Deb Caletti

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



This is my third book by Deb Caletti. I loved the first one (Stay), liked but was disappointed with the second (The Fortunes of Indigo Skye), but loved this one too. The funny thing is I was looking for a different book by her but the library was out of them that day so I had to take this. Like Stay this contained a lot of fully realized characters. Good points, bad points, and the family dynamics in it were completely real and believable. In Skye it seemed like the vast majority of characters were just faceless zombies from central casting.

This story was believable, and really touches your emotions. I wouldn't mind someday if we got to revisit the people of this book, they were as real to me by the end of it as my own family and friends.



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Review: How to Build a House

How to Build a House by Dana Reinhardt

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



4.5 stars really. I'm not at all sure why, but this book really spoke to me. Perhaps it is because I too am a child of divorce. Perhaps it was the real way the characters were written. No cardboard cutouts in this book. No stock characters trotted out to fill space. Just a small story about a few people trying to do something nice that winds up telling a bigger truth about life. This author is now on my list to keep looking for new work from.



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Review: The Duff: Designated Ugly Fat Friend

The Duff: Designated Ugly Fat Friend by Kody Keplinger

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



There was more to this book than I expected. A real heart and soul. I was afraid it might be a little whiny about how shallow society is, but it was more about how all of us have our inner demons. Our fears, and insecurities and how we tend to let them hold us back. A really fun book in some ways, and meaningful in others. Read it.



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Review: Matched

Matched by Ally Condie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



The first in a series of now, three. This is a classic dystopian novel, well crafted and enough different from others I have read as to make it original. I am anxious to read the next two!



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Review: Saving Zoë

Saving Zoë by Alyson Noel

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Sad, somewhat predictable, but still a good read. One of the better novels I have read about a lost sibling actually. Not having ever gone through that pain myself this rang true to me. It was neither to tragic, nor too easily gotten over. It seemed quite realistic. I found myself wondering what would happen next when I couldn't make time to read. A good sign.



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Review: The Fortunes of Indigo Skye

The Fortunes of Indigo Skye by Deb Caletti

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I got this book because I loved STAY by the same author. This was not as good as stay, but it was still a fun read. It explores what changes you, your friends, and family go through when sudden fortune comes your way. It does it realistically and you come to care about some of the characters in the book. What separated stay from this though is in this book most of the secondary and tertiary characters were at best two-dimensional. While Indigo, and her Mom, and to a lesser degree her dad and boyfriend where somewhat fleshed out, almost everyone else was a basic sketch. you never felt you knew or understood them. That detracted from the book. A few more pages developing people and this would have been a great book.



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Review: One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies

One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies by Sonya Sones

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



this is my first book written in prose. Took a minute to get used to it, but I found a lot of information and emotion was given quickly. I found it a really interesting style of writing and will be looking for more books done this way. A sad, but real feeling story, characters you come quickly to care about, and even though it sounds like it is far fetched on the blurb, the author makes it utterly real. I loved it.



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Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I got this book because I saw that Emma Watson had decided she wanted to be in the movie based upon this book. I see why. written in an interesting style this book was touching, funny, sad, and with an ending that surprised me. Anything I say about the plot will give away important things. I think this is a book nearly everyone will enjoy though. I loved it start to finish.



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