Holiday Hiatus

Over the last couple months I haven't been the greatest blogger ever, but I still tried to keep at least semi-regular updates on reviews and whatnot.

However, due to the holiday season, finals, and just overall business, I plan on keeping this blog at a standstill until the end of December.

I still plan on reading, writing reviews, and keeping up with reading everyone else's blogs. However, any reviews or features I come up with before January will be kept to myself. That way, I'll have some backup material in case I go into another slump.

Anyways, that is all for now. Happy Holidays to everyone, and if there are any other college students out there reading this... good luck with finals!

<3
Jane

The Direputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

After reading some of E. Lockhart's previous books, I was slightly skeptical about starting this one. Not to say that her other books were bad... just not the best out there.

However, I have to say that I rank this book next to Dramarama. Meaning to say, it is one of her best (that I've read).

I won't spend much time summarizing, but basically this book is about a girl in a very elite boarding school. Frankie is not popular, but not a total reject. She somehow manages to snag the hottest guy in school, but there is a problem: he is keeping things from her. All she wants is to be a part of his inner circle of friends. And that's where the fun begins...

I loved the mysterious element of this book. It starts out in a confusing way, but it definitely captured my attention. I wanted to know how this seemingly innocent girl and, I hate to say it, goody-two-shoes, turned into a rebellious wild child. Like Frankie, I also found myself wanting to know just what was going on with the popular guys in the school.

I also enjoyed the tackling of a serious social issue, even if it was addressed in a fun and light-hearted way. The idea of men vs. women's rights is a tough one to address in today's society. There are feminists, and there are men who feel like it's the woman's job to support the man. Women are considered to have equal rights, and yet they only make .78 to every $1 a man makes in the same profession (information found here; let me know if anyone knows of a better source or more accurate information), and women are also widely considered to be the weaker sex, and face abuse and harassment.

Although this review isn't going to focus only on women's rights, although that is a very good topic.

I enjoyed this book because of it's portrayal of this issue. Frankie wants nothing more than to be a part of her boyfriend's club, but he refuses to open up to her because of her gender, despite the fact that she has proven herself to be his intellectual equal. I feel that in the end Frankie learned something: that being a woman means not letting a man tell you no, even if that means letting a man go. This is a lesson to learn, because no woman should be treated as less than equal by any man.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book because of the very interesting story, the humor, and the important message. I think that all young women should read this book because of it's touching on that one important issue.

Audio Books

Today, I had a great idea.

I was in the library looking at books, and I noticed the audio book section. And I thought: what if I listened to a book while I was working out?!!

I have recently started working out, and my biggest problem with it is that working out for a long period of time can get extremely boring. And I thought that an audio book would help solve my problem! I could put it on my phone and listen to it while on the elliptical. It's a perfect solution :)

Howeverrr I put it in my CD drive and... it turns out my CD drive is broken. I thought it might just be that Audio Books are different than regular CDs, but that is not the case... I tried one of my regular CDs and that didn't work either.

*sigh* And so now there goes my perfect plan.

Anyways, what are YOUR opinions on audio books??

In My Mailbox: 11/07/10

Information about In My Mailbox can be found here on The Story Siren's blog!

These past few weeks have been AMAZING as far as books go.

Here is what I have gotten:

[[For Review:]]

1. Emma and the Vampires by Wayne Josephson

I'm looking forward to reading this, it seems interesting. I'm also curious how I'll like it seeing as how I've never read the original Emma.








2. Jane Eyre: A Readable Classics Novel by Wayne Josephson

My idea for this is to read this book and Jane Eyre simultaneously. I'm not sure how that will work out, but it is a goal of mine. :)









[[Won:]]

3. Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

There are no words to describe how excited I am to get started on this! However, I'm saving it for Christmas vacation, because I'll need some good books to read.

Odd: The Kindle edition of Nightshade is more expensive than the hardcover. Now THAT'S just strange.




4. Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

More vacation reading. And once again, I'm so excited to get started! I've heard such good things about this book!








[[From Library:]]

5. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

I'm reading this now because it's a book club book and the meeting is soon, so I wanted to get it done. I've wanted to read this since it came out a couple years ago, but my experiences with E. Lockhart's books have been varied. The Boyfriend List left no impression on me, Fly on the Wall was cute and quick but had no substance, and Dramarama was a good read, the best I've read by her, but it still didn't leave me dying for more. I'm hoping that this book will help me form a more solid opinion.



6. Bruiser by Neal Shusterman

Since I finished Unwind this summer (see my favorable review here) I've wanted to read more by Neal Shusterman. When I walked into the library and saw this book on display three thoughts ran through my head: 1) Oooh pretty cover. 2) Ooooh Neal Shusterman. 3) Oooh favorable comments by Laurie Halse Anderson. And I was sold. I hope it's as good as it looks :)





So there it is! Now if I would have spread this out over the past couple of weeks it wouldn't have made me nearly as excited as looking at it all in one post :) Now I must finish some homework and get to reading!

Jane

The Forest of Hands and Teeth

I expected The Forest of Hands and Teeth to be a fantastic love story set in a post-apocalyptic world... I expected to fall in love with this book, and to rave about how much I love it and want other people to read it.

I think I am the only person I've heard of who was actually disappointed with this book. Not to say that it was overall a bad book. It was decent; it had a good story and cute romance and a not-cheesy ending. But I had a problem with it.

First of all, I had a problem with the Unconsecrated. I couldn't figure out exactly what was up with them... it wasn't until after I finished the book and read other reviews that I figured out that they are basically, in simple terms, "zombies". But even the idea of zombies doesn't seem right to me. And I felt like the idea was never explained in clear enough terms. Maybe it's because the characters didn't really understand fully themselves, but I really wanted some answers, and I just never got them.

[[Side note: It seemed like the problem of the Unconsecrated could easily have been solved. If there's a little village in the middle of a forest of Unconsecrated, and that village has been there for years and years, and the only way the Unconsecrated can grow is if they turn humans, then the obvious solution in my mind is to keep the humans away and just kill the Unconsecrated off one by one. Eventually, they will all be gone. Although I suppose that's too simple of a solution.]]

Another problem I had was with the main character, Mary. She was extremely selfish. Her only goal in life is to see the ocean. That is a fine goal, I must say, and if I were her I'd feel the same way. And I admire her ambition, but it seems like she was willing to let everyone around her suffer for that one goal.

The last problem was the ending. Mary's story seemed complete, and I was completely satisfied. But I can't help but wonder what happened to the other characters?? She seems to have forgotten everyone else entirely, and I have no idea what happened to them, and I would really like to know. Perhaps it addresses them in the companion novel, but I doubt it. Doesn't The Dead-Tossed Waves deal with different characters? Will I ever find out what happens to Mary and the others?

In conclusion, the book was a good one, but it left me guessing way too much. I was left to infer a lot of the background (although I may be enlightened a bit in the companion, but I won't know until I read it) and also left to infer a lot about the ending. I can understand why someone would enjoy this novel, because it is definitely a page-turner, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Now I wonder... having read this review, do you think I should read The Dead-Tossed Waves??

Library Card

I interrupt my nonblogging to say...

I finally got a library card!

Not to say I've never had one before. But since I moved away I haven't gotten one, which means that in order to read I've been buying books left and right. But now with my smexy new library card, I no longer have to spend money on books that I may or may not like!

I will still buy books on occasion, but I plan on using my library card as often as possible. :)

That is all!

Jane