Sophie Kinsella

I am very hesitant to create a post about this author, but I am running out of authors that I read religiously and read multiples of their books. I have tried up until this point to more or less sound slightly sophisticated in my book and author selection. I mean I know I haven’t been choosing any classics or anything because really at my age those aren’t appealing to me yet, except I do like Dostoevsky. I haven’t really had a chance to try any Faulkner of Chaucer or anything like that so maybe when I do I will end up liking them as well. I am digressing so much from my original point. Anyway, the author I have chosen is Sophie Kinsella because while I love a good book that has a message I also like to read for pure girly entertainment. It has been unfair of me to have hidden this side of myself for so long when I really am a closet teen fiction reader. I should probably start talking about Kinsella now. Her books are great. If you are looking for some lite, fun, entertainment, pick up one of her books. Her books may be catered more towards females, but heck women play football and men have long hair, so males branch out. Her most know series is the Shopaholic series and I have read all of the books in it and they are hilarious. Her characters are funny and relatable and it is an all-around good time reading it. I would recommend her books to anyone who just wants to read for pure enjoyment. She gets an 8 rating and yes, I know, everyone reading this is looking forward to the trailer I am about to post that corresponds with her book Confessions of a Shopaholic. (The movie is not as good as the book) Enjoy.

-J.

Toni Morrison

Alright so it is Spring Break. I am home finally; it is wonderful, I once again know what real coffee tastes like. My cat is staring at me while I’m trying to type this, makes things a little awkward, but I’ll do my best to continue. Toni Morrison is an author I have a little experience with; I have read four of her books and have found them to be incredible. The one that resonates strongest with me is Beloved. Morrison’s books are raw, passionate, and historical. She writes about African Americans, I’m not sure if exclusively, or if it’s just in the books I’ve read. But from my experience she writes about the African American race’s struggles historically and presently and it’s very moving. Her books are powerful, a word I use a lot but not lightly, and her stories are believable and a lot of the times upsetting and hard to swallow. I enjoy what I would call “realness” and the truth in her books, and how they make me cling on every word and want to know more. Toni Morrison gets a 9 out of 10 rating for the meaning and importance behind her books as well as the readability and entertainment they provide. I would really recommend checking out the book Beloved, it will leave you thinking about the story long after you have finished reading it. I clearly love posting trailers to go with the books I am talking about because I am posting yet another trailer to this book gone movie, and get this, Oprah stars in this movie so that is kind of cool.

-J.

Ask the Dust

It’s Friday! Meaning, it is spring break! Meaning, I am super excited to go home and see my friends and family. Now I know you’re thinking wait a minute, this blog is about reading, what is she talking about? Well just hold on a second, let me celebrate. Alright so yay Friday, and now on to the main event. I am going to be reviewing a book I read for my history class because, well, I haven’t had time to read anything else. It’s an actual novel, not like a text book or anything, so I feel it will suffice for my blogging purposes. It is called Ask the Dust by John Fante . I am not really a big fan of historical books, but this one was pretty good. It is essentially about a man living in LA in the Great Depression era around the 1930’s. He is a writer and is completely insane and struggles with his life, having high points and low points. This book reveals a lot about boosterism in LA at the time and race relations. It’s a good book to look at the historical implications of time, and what it was like to migrate to LA during the depression. But, at the same time, it was still really interesting. The main character is basically manic depressive, and can spend money and lose money like there is no tomorrow. He has what I would call a bipolar relationship with a woman that is interesting to watch unfold throughout the novel. The story’s ending is pretty dramatic, and says something powerful about that time period. I would recommend this book to someone who likes history at least a little, and to someone who enjoys analyzing stories. I give this book a 7.5 out of 10 rating. I know there’s a movie about it, I’ll link the trailer, I have not seen it, but I heard it’s pretty much nothing like the novel…

-J.

Michael Connelly

Michael Connelly writes incredible mystery thrillers. I think his books are so good because you don’t know who the killer is until he reveals it to you; it’s honestly always a complete surprise. You think you know who it is, you have a guess, but nope it’s someone completely different. And what I like about him is he’s not an author who doesn’t let you know who the killer is right from the beginning, it’s not impossible to figure it out. I hate when mystery writers make the killer some random waiter that was mentioned once in the beginning of the story, it’s not fun if you can’t figure it out. Connelly sets you up with clues the entire story and if you go back and re-read the book you realize he gave you clues telling you exactly who the killer was going to be. The beauty of his books are even though he gives you the clues, you still don’t figure it out, he’s that good. His books are interesting from beginning to end and they are true thrillers, once the action gets going you can’t put the book down. One word of caution, most of his books are about serial killers, so if you don’t like blood and psychopaths you might not want to pick one of his books up. I think my favorite that I’ve read by him so far is The Poet, but I also really like The Concrete Blonde. His books are pretty fast reads because you get so into him, I recommend reading one as soon as possible. I give him a 9 rating.

Also, a book of his has been made into a movie and is coming out recently called The Lincoln Lawyer, I’ve yet to read it, but I actually have two copies of it and I started it, so I hope I end up reading it soon. Here’s a link to trailer of the movie:

One last thing, another cool thing about his books is that there not really sequels of each other, but they all have the same characters which makes the stories even more interesting. 

-J.

Chuck Palahniuk

I wanted to write about another author today, although I am hesitant to write about him because I don’t know too much about him or his books. I am talking about Chuck Palahniuk. I first became interested in him as a writer when someone handed me a beat up copy of his book Lullaby and said read this. I was so impressed; it was so unique to books I have read in the past. What he writes about is so different and creative and completely entertaining. I will mention that his books are definitely what I would call weird. There are some passages in his books where I literally stop reading and just say to myself what the hell. His writing can also be slightly disturbing at times, but it really just makes it that much more interesting. I have read the famous Fight Club because I had been hearing about it forever and then I heard Palahniuk wrote it so I had to try it out. It really is a great book and deserves all the praise it has gotten; I enjoyed the movie to but wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who hasn’t read the book first because I’m pretty sure it would be confusing. I am definitely planning to read as many more stories by Palahniuk as I can; I just love how different he writes and I can’t get enough of his books. He gets a 9 out of 10 rating.I have included a like to another 30 second bunny reenactment of Fight Club: 

-J.

The Shining...ish

Okay so, just noticed the time on a clock and I’ve got about 14 minutes to say what I want to say. I’ve been making some headway on The Shining and for lack of any original thoughts right now I’m going to talk about that. This book is very typical Steven King, really good writing and some horror moments thrown in every once in a while. I definitely haven’t gotten to the point where the scare factor picks up and every page you’re afraid and wanting to know more. Most of his books are like that, they start out as a lot of plot and character development that really hooks you into the story and a few creepy moments to keep you on your toes. Then the real horror starts and every page makes you want to hide under your covers. I would say so far The Shining is one of my favorite books of his and the way he setting up the plot I am so curious to see what happens next. This is a really long book, I think like a thousand pages, so it’s going to take me a while longer to finish it. I really don’t have much else to say about it, but thus far I would definitely recommend The Shining. I feel like because of my time crunch this was a sort of useless post about books so I feel like I should at least leave you with a joke or something. Ok, so here’s an English related joke:

Knock, Knock.

Who’s there?

To.

To who?

To whom.

Hope that was almost sorta funny =]

-J.

Disney Vs. Grimm

Recently I have been reading The Complete Works of the Brothers Grimm Fairytales by the Grimm brothers, and I have learned some interesting things pertaining to Disney movies. Disney sure has changed the endings, middle, and let’s not forget the beginning of a lot of their classic fairytale stories from their original versions. Let’s take for example Cinderella, in Disney’s version Cinderella’s step sisters try on a glass slipper and they don’t fit their feet so the prince knows they aren’t the right girls. In the original brothers Grimm version the one step sister cuts off her toe to fit into the shoe and the other cuts off her heel. The prince actually doesn’t even notice they are the wrong girls until he looks down and sees their feet bleeding, and then the two wicked girls get their eyes pecked out by birds and live as blind beggars for the rest of their lives. A tad different, No? Then there is the story of Snow White(ironically I am eating an apple right now), where the wicked queen orders a hunter to go out and kill Snow White and bring back her heart as proof. That already is a little dark for Disney, but the original version is even worse when the Queen requests her lungs and liver to boil and eat for dinner. Snow White is not woken up in the end by a kiss from her Prince, but actually by being carried away by his servants to the Prince’s castle and the coffin being shaken on the journey causing the poison apple to dislodge from her throat. What the prince was planning to do with a dead body in his home I do not want to know. Lastly, we have Sleeping Beauty, which really isn’t too different. Basically there are thirteen fairies instead of three and when the castle is surrounded by thorns a bunch of princes try and rescue Sleeping Beauty only  to get caught in the thorns and die horrible deaths. If these stories are interesting to you I would check out Hans Christian Anderson’s Little Mermaid which has a very different and much more sinister ending than Disney’s version.

 Here’s the link:http://hca.gilead.org.il/li_merma.html.  

The Grimm brothers are the ultimate fairytale tellers and it’s almost a shame that Disney has butchered their stories so much, but at the same time I gotta say I love Disney movies. Also, if these stories interest you I would check out an episode of my favorite show Supernatural which has an entire episode dedicated to the Grimm Brother stories. It is season three, episode five, titled Bedtime Stories. Here is a link to the promotion for that episode:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAUW7QNEt5w.

So now that I have pushed one of my favorite books on you and my favorite TV show on you, I’m going to leave you with the final thought: the fairytales in Disney movies were not made up by cheery little elves or something, they were created in order to teach a moral and are gruesome and somewhat disturbing.

-J.

Necessary Targets

I have just finished Necessary Targets by Eve Ensler. It was definitely not what I expected and slightly different from her other stories I have read. Most of her stories are either short monologues or her narrative. This book was just one play. That being said, I enjoyed this book a lot. It was more moving than I could have imagined it to be. It’s a story about a therapist and an author going to a refugee camp in Bosnia to hear the women’s post-war stories. I love Ensler’s books because she always writes about things that usually go ignored. Most people don’t examine the pain and problems that occur after the war is over. People don’t realize that just because the war has stopped does not mean the problems have also stopped. Ensler explores the psychological damage women feel after the war is over and what condition they’re forced to live in in this book. She also looks at how different people respond to these women’s stories and struggles. This play was so short, but at the same time said so much. What really moved me was some of the last lines of the play in which the therapist describes how the experience of being with the women has changed her. “I have amnesia. I am no longer hungry. I am empty. I have lost my desire. America makes no sense to me. I am after nothing…And then, what if I were to tell you I was not unhappy? No, my ambition, my need to achieve, have it, have more, was the thing that made me unhappy. Always unhappy, always longing for more. Longing to be someone, to count, to matter, to make it.” I think those words really speak about the American ideal and how people lose sight of what’s really important and what really matters. I rate this book a 10. I’ve provided a link to where you can find the book http://www.amazon.com/Necessary-Targets-Eve-Ensler/dp/082221895X.

-J.