Review: Where it Began

So it's been about 4 months since my last post, and I sincerely apologize. I've been extremely busy with work, theatre, and school and I'm finally getting the chance to breathe a little. I read Where it Began about 2 months ago, but I wanted to do a quick review and start posting again.

Where it Began by Ann Redisch Stampler is about Gabby, a high school senior, who has just gone under an extreme makeover. Her senior year she rises to popularity and dates her dream guy, Billy Nash, the most popular boy at her school. However, one night Gabby wakes up on the ground in the middle of nowhere next to Billy's crashed BMW with his car keys in her hand. The problem? She has no memory of how she got there.

The majority of the book is focused on Gabby's legal trouble and her struggle to make her life "perfect" again. However, she has been blind to reality and her life may never have been as perfect as it once seemed.

I enjoyed this book. I was a little thrown off by the cover, because the cover suggests "beach read for teen girls" and this was more "my life is falling apart legally and in every other aspect"; so, fair warning. I liked Ann's writing style and I felt the story was original. I was slightly surprised at the ending, but it was also expected. I read this book in a few hours, so if you're looking for an interesting read one day, pick it up.  The best part about this book for me was the writing style, at times the story drags, but the story is also a little indulgent because Ann's writing grabs you and you want to know what happens to Gabby.

5-Book Rating System

I give Where it Began:

3 out of 5 books!

Book cover from Good Reads 

Book animated images from photobucket.com

Christmas Books & Book News!

I hope you all had a great holiday! I thought I'd do a post to share with everyone the books that I got for Christmas!

1. Drama: An Actor's Education by John Lithgow
2. Sybil Exposed by Debbie Nathan  
3. Bunheads by Sophie Flack
4. The Fire by James Patterson
5. Lucky Break by Esther Freud
6. Acting For The Camera by Tony Barr
7. The Happiness Project (Journal)
8. 1001 Things Every College Student Needs to Know by Harry H. Harrison Jr.
9. An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin
10. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding
11. Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey by Bob McCabe

I'm so excited to read all of these! I already read Bunheads and I'm currently working on Drama, it's great so far. 

I also wanted to share some book news that got me super excited. One of my favorite authors, James Dashner, will be writing a prequel to The Maze Runner series called:

The Kill Order

The Kill Order is to be published in August of 2012. I cannot wait! 

Read James Dashner's announcement of the prequel on his blog: Here! 

Hope you all have a great start to the new year!

Till next time! :)

Books Image © Camra Godwin

Drum roll animation from Photobucket

Review: Bunheads

          Happy New Year to everyone! Here is my first post of 2012, and it's my new year's resolution to read more and post more often!

          For Christmas I received the book Bunheads by Sophie Flack (I saw it advertised in a magazine). I finished the book in a day. It was so interesting that I instantly fell in love with it. My mom's even reading it right now and when she's done I'm going to let my friends read it (then I'll probably read it again!).

           Bunheads is about 19-year-old Hannah Ward who is a corps member of the Manhattan Ballet. This book gives a huge insight to the world of ballet. I have always respected dance, but I never fully realized how much these dancers commit themselves to their profession. It's very incredible.
           Filled with the right amount of friendship, dedication, work, and love, Bunheads is a light read with a deeper meaning. Author Sophie Flack has a beautiful writing style. As a performer myself, I often find it hard to put into words the emotions one has during performing. Sophie Flack describes those emotions perfectly. Even though I do theatre, I could really relate to the drive of these dancers. Also, if you don't know anything about ballet, don't worry! The author fully explains almost everything so by the end of the book you'll feel like a mini-expert on the world of ballet.

I highly recommend this book and I'm extremely excited to see what Sophie will write next! 

5-Book Rating System

I give Bunheads:

5 out of 5 books!

          Author Sophie Flack also sells her own artwork available for purchase on her website: Here!
          You can also follow her on twitter: Here!




What books did you get for the holidays?
Comment on this post and maybe I'll read them as well!


Till next time! :)

Book cover from Danza Ballet

Book animated images from photobucket.com

Review: The Death Cure

If you haven't read The Maze Runner or the second in the series, The Scorch Trials by James Dashner, stop everything right now and run to the nearest bookstore and pick up a copy.
I recently finished The Death Cure which is the third, and final, book in the trilogy. It's due to come out October 11 (so you have plenty of time to read the first two).

I'll start at the beginning. The Maze Runner is about a boy, Thomas, who's thrown into a maze with other boys. They are part of a large experiment run by an ominous group known as WICKED. The Scorch Trials follows Thomas and his friends from the Maze in the second part of their experiment that takes place in The Scorch. The Death Cure mainly takes place at WICKED's headquarters and Denver, CO. The whole way through the series one keeps asking their self if WICKED is good, who they are, and what do these experiments mean? The series is fast-paced and thrilling. I've finished each book in one day. It's impossible to put them down!

I have to say the first book is my favorite out of the series, but I greatly enjoyed The Death Cure. It answered every question I had and provided a very satisfying ending to the series. I'm very upset that the series is over because I feel so attached to the characters! However it was a thrilling journey and I will continue to recommend this book to every person looking for a thrilling and unique series that comes into my bookstore.

5-Book Rating System

I give The Death Cure:

5 out of 5 books!

 You can go to James Dashner's blog to see if his Death Cure book tour is coming to a city near you!: Click here!
Also follow James on twitter: Here!
He tweeted the other day about his new book, and I can't wait to hear more about it!

This series is perfect for middle-school aged boys and girls to adults. (My dad enjoyed the series too!) It's perfect for readers looking for adventure and those interested in dystopian books. If you liked the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson or The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, you'll love The Maze Runner trilogy!

I loved this series and haven't met a person who's disliked them!


Till next time! :)

Countdown Generator

Book cover from Good Reads
Book animated images from photobucket.com

*Special Edition* Hurricane Post!

Today Hurricane Irene visited! She took the power out very early in the morning so I set myself to reading for the majority of the day. We had trees fall and take out power lines and branches falling everywhere. Other than that we haven't really gotten rain. It's mostly been just consistently high winds. So I figured to celebrate the power coming back on I'd do a HUGE blog post! 

I'm going to also include a short review of Lisa See's latest book, Dreams of Joy.

I finished Dreams of Joy in early July, but I've been so busy, I'm just now getting a review out!

Dreams of Joy is the second book in the "Shanghai Girls" series. It took me a while to finally get into this book and there was a slow part in the middle. However, I enjoyed the story once it started to pick up and I really liked the ending. In Shanghai Girls the escape of May and Pearl (two sisters) from Shanghai is described. In Dreams of Joy the story of May's daughter Joy returning to communist China is portrayed. I really liked this continuing of stories throughout the generations, because some of the characters in Shanghai Girls' China are reintroduced when Joy goes back to their homeland. 

I will admit that I enjoyed the first book much more, but I wasn't disappointed by the second. I think the time period is so interesting and I am honest that I did not know much about it before reading this series. 

Also, I had an interesting encounter at the bookstore that I work at.

A woman was purchasing Dreams of Joy and I told her how much I enjoyed it. She told me that she was actually friends with Lisa See and she recommended that I read her first book, On Gold Mountain. She said that book was more autobiographical of Lisa's Chinese-American family history. She also said that it was more of a basis for Shanghai Girls. I'm definitely adding that book to my reading list, because I loved Shanghai Girls. 

5-Book Rating System

I give Dreams of Joy: 

3 out of 5 books!

I also finished a whole book today! I finished James Dashner's Third Book in the Maze Runner Trilogy, The Death Cure. This is one of my favorite series! The book is actually not released until October 11, 2011, but our bookstore luckily got an ARC!

I will do a more in-depth review of this book, because I really want to increase anticipation for it's release! Expect a review in the next week or two! (Sneak Preview: I LOVED IT!!!!!!)

I also started to read the classic Pride and Prejudice for my school summer reading. I was really looking forward to reading it because I love the movie, and I'm already a fan of the book!

And, at the bookstore I picked up a copy of a new book called The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch. 

I can't wait to start reading it! It sounds a bit like that new movie coming out September 9, "Contagion". The one with Cate Blanchett and Matt Damon? Count me in!

I seem to have bit of an obsession with dystopian books and movies. I just can't help it, the stories are so unique and different!

Reviews to Come:

1. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
2. The Death Cure by James Dashner

Currently Reading:

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Books I Can't Wait to Read:

1. The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch
2. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
3. The Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
4. Love and Summer by William Trevor (a bit different from the dystopian and medieval theme) 

I'm sorry I haven't been able to post as much this summer, but I've been ridiculously busy.

I hope to be posting more this week seeing as school starts next week, but we'll see how much I can do!

Feel free to comment on what you're currently reading, I'd love to know!

Till next time!

Photo Credit: 

First book cover from Projo

Book animated images from photobucket.com

Second book cover from Good Reads

Third book cover from Amazon

Review: Water for Elephants

It has been way too long.

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer! The reason I haven't posted in so long is because I'm in two plays and working four days a week. I'm even busier than I was when I was in school! I read Water for Elephants a month (or two?) ago before the movie came out. I haven't had a chance to see the movie yet. I know many people may have already read this, but if you haven't you definitely should because this is one of the best books I've ever read.

Water for Elephants is told by Jacob Jankowski and the book goes from him in a rest home to him as a young man in the circus. There's romance (with Marlena, a performer) and conflict (with August, Marlena's cruel and arrogant husband). There's also humor (much of it provided by Walter/Kinko a dwarf clown who performs with his dog). I do admit that I did laugh out loud in parts of the book and there were many times where I wanted to cry. This book is a wonderfully told story and the language Sara Gruen uses is so beautiful and captivating. I really had no complaints about this book. It's a very inspiring story that Jacob found a place for himself in the circus and worked hard to achieve what he wanted.

I chose to read Water for Elephants because:

1. I wanted to read it before I saw the movie
2. I heard rave reviews about it
3. I never knew much about how the circus business was in the early age.

I used to attend Barnum & Bailey circuses when I was younger and you'll find if you read WFE that circuses now are much different then circuses back then. I always love when I can learn how something started and came to be what I know so well today. It's shocking the conditions that humans and animals were kept in back then when on a traveling show.

5-Book Rating System

I give Water for Elephants:

5 out of 5 books!

Who Should Read This?

• Fans of Sara Gruen's other books
• People who love circuses
• People who want to know more about circuses
• Anyone looking for a good story that has a little bit of everything in it

I really loved this book and would recommend it to anyone. I just need to see the movie now!

Expect a review of Dreams of Joy coming this week or next.

Currently I'm reading:

Tale of Two Cities (for school)

The Last Lecture (I've been reading bits and pieces of this for a few months now)

One Day (wanted to finish it before the movie comes out in August!)

Comment on this post and tell me what types of books you're reading this summer! :)

Till next time!

Photo Credit:
Book cover from Well-Read Reviews
Book animated images from photobucket.com

Review: What Happened to Goodbye

Hello all!
It has been SO busy for me the past few months and I'm finally getting to catch my breath a little bit! :)

I just finished reading What Happened to Goodbye which is Sarah Dessen's newest novel that will be released May 10, 2011. Ten days!!

Okay I have a confession, I've never read a Sarah Dessen book before! And now that I have, I absolutely LOVE her as an author! I'm definitely going to check out some of her earlier books! My friend recommended that I read The Truth About Forever which she thinks is Sarah's best book. I'm so excited!

TFP: What Happened to Goodbye

1. This book realistically portrays the life of a teenage girl and the struggles of discovering yourself and loving others. I felt as if I could really relate to Mclean's story. Also Mclean has moved multiple times due to her father's job and I've moved a huge distance in my life. This helped me relate to Mclean because she recognizes that you are given a chance to "reinvent" yourself, but it's hard to tell if you'll be happy "reinvented".
2. The book makes you question family ethics once you learn Mclean's story. Her parents are divorced and I kept flip-flopping back and forth as to whether her mom is the good guy or not. I'm even still a bit undecided!
3. One of the only really confusing things for me in this book was I wasn't really able to tell where all the different places were. Mclean would talk about visiting her mom in one town, living in another town, and I had no mental image of where these places were in relation to each other. 
4. Deb has to be one of my favorite characters in the book. You meet her once Mclean goes to Jackson High. Deb is full of so many surprises and she's a prime example for "not judging a book by it's cover" because she's so much more under her outer layer as are many people! 
5. I really liked the tie-in of sports in this book. I'm not an athletic person, I don't play sports, but I love watching sports! Don't get me wrong, this book is not all about sports, but basketball is a big part of Mclean's life. I really liked how they dropped in some sports to add to the realistic-ness of the story. It wasn't just a cheesy, feel-good story.

5-Book Rating System

I give What Happened to Goodbye:

5 out of 5 books! 

Who Should Read This?

• Fans of Sarah Dessen
• People who enjoy a realistic story about life, love, and loss
• People who have moved will relate to Mclean
• Anyone can read this book, but it would be absolutely perfect for a teenage girl! 

I'm so glad I finally read a Sarah Dessen book! At the bookstore where I work I always recommend them to teenage girls because my friends have always enjoyed them. Now I can finally speak from experience!! (:

Also, Sarah Dessen is kicking off the release of her new book with a "What Happened to Goodbye Tour"! Check out her website to see if she's coming to a bookstore near you! Click! 

Sadly she won't be coming to a bookstore near me. :(

Anyways, next on my reading list is Water for Elephants! I really want to read the book before I go see the movie!

Till next time!

Photo Credit:

Book cover from Amazon

Book animated images from photobucket.com