Favorite Authors

Five of my favorite authors, and my top two favorite books they have written (certainly not a dis-positive list).

5.  Julie Anne Peters

By The Time You Read This I'll Be Dead










Rage:  A Love Story


4. Susan Shaw

Black-eyed Suzie

Safe



3. Lulene McDaniel

I'll Be Seeing You

Till Death Do Us Part



2. Jodi Picoult

Nineteen Minutes

My Sister's Keeper



1. Nicholas Sparks

The Rescue

Safe Haven

Review: Paper Covers Rock

Title:  Paper Covers Rock
Author:  Jenny Hubbard
Rating: 5/5

Summary:

At the beginning of his junior year at a boys' boarding school, 16-year-old Alex is devastated when he fails to save a drowning friend. When questioned, Alex and his friend Glenn, who was also at the river, begin weaving their web of lies. Plagued by guilt, Alex takes refuge in the library, telling his tale in a journal he hides behind Moby-Dick.

Caught in the web with Alex and Glenn is their English teacher, Miss Dovecott, fresh out of Princeton, who suspects there's more to what happened at the river when she perceives guilt in Alex's writing for class. She also sees poetic talent in Alex, which she encourages. As Alex responds to her attention, he discovers his true voice, one that goes against the boarding school bravado that Glenn embraces. When Glenn becomes convinced that Miss Dovecott is out to get them, Alex must choose between them.

Review:

This took me a while to read because I was constantly re-reading pages.  That isn't because it's particularly difficult, but because the author packs so much emotion and undertones into every sentence.

I spent the entire book desperately wondering what happened at the river that day and feeling so bad for Alex and all the emotional stress he carries.

This book intrigued me, and I believe it's because the narrator, Alex, was so stuck within his own mind.  Perhaps it's because I have the same habit, but it makes a book like this easy to relate to.  Otherwise how does one relate to a downing incident at an all-boys boarding school?  I certainly don't know what a situation like that is like.

Recommended to all who like young adult literature with substantial emotion and a challenging enigmatic story.

Review: Miracle

Title:  Miracle
Author:  Elizabeth Scott
Rating:  5/5

Summary:

Megan survived the plane crash—but can she survive the aftermath? An intense, emotional novel from the author of The Unwritten Rule and Between Here and Forever.

Megan is a miracle. At least, that’s what everyone says. Having survived a plane crash that killed everyone else on board, Megan knows she should be grateful just to be alive. But the truth is, she doesn't feel like a miracle. In fact, she doesn't feel anything at all. Then memories from the crash start coming back.

Scared and alone, Megan doesn't know whom to turn to. Her entire community seems unable—or maybe unwilling—to see her as anything but Miracle Megan. Everyone except for Joe, the beautiful boy next door with a tragic past and secrets of his own. All Megan wants is for her life to get back to normal, but the harder she tries to live up to everyone’s expectations, the worse she feels. And this time, she may be falling too fast to be saved....

Review:

I LOVED this book.  Not quite as much as I loved another one of her books (Living Dead Girl) though.  The author has a way of crafting her writing such that you cannot step out of the narrator's point of view. The character of Megan sucks you in immediately and the next thing you know you're on a roller coaster ride of emotions with her.

The premise for the story is simple, she has survivors guilt.  But unlike other books with the same outline, this one takes steps away from the physical aspect of such a situation.  We don't know until the end what actually happened to her when the plane crashed.  However by the time we get to that point we know so well what Megan is thinking and feeling that we're not surprised by what we learn.

There were awkward chapters for sure, but lately there hasn't been a book that lacks that.

Highly recommended to those who like to read young adult literature that slides into the dark side of human emotions.

Cover Love

I get attached to the covers of the editions I read of books and then hate their alternate covers!  So here are 10 of my favorite covers.  These are only of books I have read, and only a small selection.

10. It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini - I love how abstract it seems, yet it makes perfect sense once you read the book.

9. Such a Pretty Girl by Laura Wiess - The flower is so desolate and beautiful.  It's a perfect representation of the story and the main character.

8. Gone, Gone, Gone by Hannah Moskowitz - As you can tell, I have a thing for simplicity and symbolism in cover art.

7. Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony & Rodrigo Corral - I think I love this cover so much because this book begs to have an image of our characters.

6. Matched by Ally Condie - I think this is my favorite cover of the series, most likely because I love the dress and my favorite color is green.









5. Veil of Roses by Laura Fitzgerald - Love it almost as much as it's sequel (which is number 2 on this list).  Mostly I love how the writing overlaps the character.

4. By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead by Julie Anne Peters - I feel like she's begging for your help, and thus daring you to read the book.

3. Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott - Again it's all in the symbolism.










2. Dreaming in English by Laura Fitzgerald - Do I really have to say anything besides "beautiful"?

1. Room by Emma Donoghue - I knew before I read the book-jacket that I would want to read this story.  The fact that it's a simple painted word on the cover of an adult fiction novel wouldn't let me not read it.

Long Absence

So I haven't posted to this blog in more than a year.

Excuse:  School, life, etc.

I don't really every get a chance to read anything other than school texts these days so I'm going to attempt to post reviews for books I've read in the past and say favorite things about series and such.

Exciting, right?  Let's see if it really works.

-- Dragon