Giraffes & Sweet Peaches

If I am perfectly honest I have to say that I didn’t really like this book…at all.  I know I am in the minority here but this story did nothing for me. Sure he is trying to figure out who he is and he has had some traumatic things happen to him but I just don’t like him. Why does this kid cry so much? It’s like every page he is crying for some reason or another and most of the time I want to tell him to grow up. There isn’t really a range of emotion in the book either. It’s either “they were all so happy” or “they were all really sad.” And if Charlie was so smart why could he not catch on to simple social cues? And what 15 year old doesn’t know what masturbation is? I know this was the 90’s but still, come on. Another thing that kept me wondering throughout this book was how did he get into this group of Seniors so easily? These really cool older kids take on this weird freshman who cries all the time? I just can’t see it happening. I know this book has a huge following and all that and it does have some nice lines about being infinite, but that was about it. I feel like the author was trying to hard to get me to feel something that I just couldn’t feel because this kid just wouldn’t stop crying. 

I know this book has some bad reviews, but I honestly enjoyed it. The beginning is frightening and filled with questions. As you progress through the book, the answers are far simpler than most people think and were anticipating. Which I like. I can go read any book with strange questions and only minimally understand the answers because of how complicated they are. Sometimes simple things are better. While the while whole story isn’t as chilling as I would have imagined, I found it well worth the read. The ending leaves a lot up to the reader which I also enjoyed. The pictures that lay scattered throughout Rigg’s words give the book it’s character, and aid the story along. I enjoyed this book because if its simplicity and I personally think more people should enjoy it for what it is and not what they think it should have been.

Oh my, John Green. This is the story not of Margo, but of Q . They are neighbors and one night she climbs to his window and asks for a favor. They drive around all night doing crazy schanigans that teenagers do and the next morning Margo disappears. This book is broken up into three separate parts. The first part is mostly their night together, which was very entertaining. The second part of the story however was a little slow, until the very end of course. For about 120 pages Q is obsessing over finding this girl, who has been known to run away. The thought running through my head was why would he care? They may be neighbors and he may have a crush on her but they weren’t friends, so why does this matter so much. Then comes their prom night and well that part is pretty funny, and then comes part three. My goodness, I laughed so hard through out the end of this book. It was clever and heartfelt, and wonderfully epic. It is a story that everyone should read because it makes the reader stop and think about how they view other people and the world. Are we looking at windows or doors? While I feel the story lagged a little in the middle, I still hade to give this story 5 stars, because it is that wonderful and the ending makes up for it.

The Sanctuary is a story about the Prison in America. This is the continuing story of Danny and Rennee, which was started in The Priests Graveyard. Danny is in prison and is transfered to Basal, a private penitentiary. The warden is a religious man who wants to “break” Danny. Rennee is sent a box containing a finger and a note threatening Danny’s life. Rennee takes it into her own hands to try and save Danny. This like other Dekker books is a page turner. It’s full of adrenaline, and keeps you guess as to who is pulling all the strings. While I enjoyed this story I have to say that it wasn’t one of his best, and with about 100 pages left I figured most of it out. I do recommend this one to anyone who has read The Priests Graveyard, and or is a Dekker fan.

I am not sure where to start with this one. I’m not really sure why it is named after Anna. I don’t even thing half the book is about her. She is a very main character and is intertwined in everyones story but, I would say that this is a story mainly about Levin. There is so much to this book, and I feel that there are some major sections that could have been left out and you still would have followed the story with no problem. I was really surprised by the ending. So Anna kills herself and then it mentions how distraught Vronsky is but then it just moves on and finished the book with Levin. I know she was kind of crazy but I think there should have been a little something more to her death. Over all I did enjoy this book, and I will try and read it again someday. I would only recommend this book to someone who has the time to devote to it. I started this back in July and just finished it because of being so busy. So if you have the time to devote to it, read it. And plus if you do finish it then you can bring up te fact that you have read Anna Karenina, trust me people will be impressed.

One Day by David Nicholls

I really should have know better with this one, but the movie looked interesting and I found it for $2 so I gave it a chance. Well it is a typical love story they love each other then hate each other then love each other again. The guy becomes a better person and it ends sadly. I don’t know why I try to read love stories. I always end up regretting it. Not that it was a bad book, it was a fine story but I didn’t really feel that it was any different than any other “love story” but if you like this kind of book than go for it, but I didn’t think it was all that special.

For anyone who has read Wicked, the sequel Son of a Witch is an obvious follow up. Although it doesn’t quite live up to the standards that Wicked put in place. Not that the story was bad, it just didn’t really end, or have a high point really. I enjoyed the beginning of how Magurie uses Candle’s music to tell Liir’s story up to the point that would be present day in the book. But After he leaves the farm there really isn’t much to the story. He meets up with the birds and they fly over the Emerald City. It was a little anti-climatic. I did enjoy the ending though. I won’t give anything away for anyone who hasn’t read it but, the last 2 pages are worth the first 300 and some.

“Memory is part of the present. It builds us up inside; it knits our bones to our muscles and keeps our hearts pumping. It is memory that reminds our bodies to work, and memory that reminds our spirits to work, too; it keeps us who we are. it is the influence that keeps us from flying off into separate pieces like…like this peel of orange and that clutch of pipe.” pg. 211

“Not old enough to feel like an adult, but old enough to look like one.” pg 219

Oh how I enjoyed his book. This is the second time that I have read this one and I oh how I love it. The first time I read this was my sophomore year of high school so that was like 5 years ago so I didn’t really remember that much about it. I saw the musical in Chicago when it was there the first time and the majority of the story that I remembered was actually from the musical and not from the book. I didn’t really remember how different they really were. While the musical is more romantic the book has more of a tragedy. Elphaba never gets reunited with her beloved Fyiero. Maguire is a wonderful story teller. I was a huge Wizard of Oz geek in Elementary school, and when I first heard of this book I was really skeptical about it but L. Frank Baum would be proud of the work that Maguire did with his characters. This is a must read for any Oz fan. There is so much of Baum’s original characters and ideas and that is what made me enjoy it all the more. Really this story is one of evil, and how much easier it is to believe in evil than in good simply because we see more of it in our everyday lives. I am sad that this story had to end but it really isn’t over yet I plan to read the rest of the series this summer, Son of a Witch, A Lion Among Men and, Out of Oz.

Finished The Catcher in the Rye yesterday but I honestly  don’t see what all the hype is about. Everyone that I know that has read it loves it but I really didn’t. The first 150 pages of the book were this kid whining. If I would have had the ability to reach into the book and smack him I would have. I don’t know if there is someone out there that would like to tell me why this is supposed to be such an awesome book that I will be glad to hear it but I really didn’t get anything out of it. The ending was ok but I just feel that all the whining and calling people phony was just too much for me and the ending really didn’t make up for it.

I finished Devin in the White City this morning. I don’t know if calling this a true crime novel is right but it basically is. Larkson tells the story of creating the 1893 Worlds Fair in Chicago (which being from the Chicago area was exciting) and it also tells the story of H.H. Holmes a serial killer who used the fair to gain more victims. The way that this was written every other chapter it goes back and forth between Holmes and the fair. Which I have to admit is the only way I got through about the first 50 pages, all the talk about preparing for the fair was a little tedious but it was the chapters on Holmes that made you read through them. When he finally gets to the building and then the opening of the fair the book really flys. Learning about the fair was really interesting and Holmes story was a little scary. It is hard to say that you like a book like this because of the truth behind it. It was just like when I read In Cold Blood , because what you are reading is actually true and these people are killing actual people and not just characters is something that you really have to brace your self for when reading a book like this. Overall I did really enjoy the book, I would have to say learning about the construction of the Ferris Wheel was my favorite part, but it was Holmes’s story that kept me turning pages.