Hey, I can still read!

After a long hiatus (one usually calls it "school"), I've returned, and I have read, and I have conquered. Somewhat. So here are three books:

Title: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Rating: Pretty Good

Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games." The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When Kat's sister is chosen by lottery, Kat steps up to go in her place.

This is a pretty entertaining book. I love the writing in it, and it has fantastic imagery. Kat's character is generally one that is likable, although she occasionally did irritating things, but hey, nobody's perfect. This is a book I feel anyone could read, perhaps even the faint of heart. Being one in possession of a faint heart, I managed to stomach this one and even liked it.

Title: Good Enough
Author: Paula Yoo
Rating: Pretty Dang Good

(Another summary yoinked from Fantastic Fiction) Patti's parents expect nothing less than the best from their Korean-American daughter. Everything she does affects her chances of getting into an Ivy League school. So winning assistant concertmaster in her All-State violin competition and earning less than 2300 on her SATs is simply not good enough.

But Patti's discovering that there's more to life than the Ivy League. To start with, there's Cute Trumpet Guy. He's funny, he's talented, and he looks exactly like the lead singer of Patti's favorite band. Then, of course, there's her love of the violin. Not to mention cool rock concerts. And anyway, what if Patti doesn't want to go to HarvardYalePrinceton after all?

Honestly, this really was a good book to read. I was afraid the protagonist, Patti, was going to be more obnoxious than anything, but she actually was funny, easy to relate with, and had a decent story to tell. I learned more about the Korean culture (and a few recipes as well), and felt for Patti when she suffered from the pressure from her parents and the prejudice of her peers. It was a fresh new point of view, and something that actually inspired me to work harder.

Title: Uglies
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Rating: Pretty Dang Good

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.

But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world -- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

Ah. Good book. Very good. I loved reading it. The writing was very descriptive, and the character of Tally, although very frustrating at times, was definitely one I liked. Mind candy? Yes, but very delicious mind candy that has an interesting concept to think about. Read it. Love it. Crave it.

"They hugged and cried and fell to the floor."

Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusack
Rating: The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

Summary: It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still. By her brother's graveside, Liesel Meminger's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Grave Digger's Handbook, left there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found. But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up and closed down.

Due to my experiences in Austria in exploring all things World War II, I felt overexposed to that particular chunk of history and didn't want to be associated with anything involving World War II, whether it was the movie "Valkyrie," or the Diary of Anne Frank. Since I pretty much hated all things WWII, believe me when I say this book is one of the best things since sliced bread. I absolutely DEVOURED this book. Admittedly, the first reason I wanted to read it is because the main character shares my name, but it was a wonderful experience reading it. The fact that it's narrated by Death makes me look at people in a different way and realize the worth of souls. I nearly cried in this book. The characters were all real, especially Liesel. I identified with her in so many ways, one being our obsession with books and words. My only beef with the book is that sometimes the writing can be depressing, but overall, the way World War II was handled was very well-done. I highly recommend it.

Who told you you might meddle with such hifalut'n foolishness, hey?

Since I'm still really lazy and I rather enjoyed writing the last post, I've decided I'm most likely going to continue with reviewing three books at once and writing little blurbs (from now on it shall be referred to as "blurbing") instead of reviews as long as the novels themselves.

Title: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Author: Mark Twain
Rating: Best thing since sliced bread

Summary (yoinked from Fantastic Fiction): When Huck escapes from his drunken father and the 'sivilizing' Widow Douglas with the runaway slave Jim, he embarks on a series of adventures that draw him to feuding families and the trickery of the unscrupulous 'Duke' and 'Dauphin'. Beneath the exploits, however, are more serious undercurrents - of slavery, adult control - which threaten his deep and enduring friendship with Jim.

Okay. Loved this book. It's remarkably fast-paced, so there's never a dull moment, which is great for an easily distracted reader like myself. The narration takes time getting used to, but it's rather fun to read it out loud and realize that sometimes I talk the exact same way. Huckleberry is such a sympathetic character, and Jim is charming and loving. Oh, I love Jim. I can't gush enough about Jim. The writing in this book is fantastic. The plot is well-done, the imagery in my head was going wild with Huck's descriptions, and it makes me want to get on a raft myself and go on an adventure with those two. I'd be so happy doing that. Read this book. Now.

Title: The Thief
Author: Megan Whalen Turner
Rating: Pretty Dang Good

Summary (Millions of thanks to Amazon): Gen, an accomplished thief incarcerated for stealing the king's seal, is dragged from his cell by the king's magus, who is on a quest. The prize is Hamiathes's Gift, said to be a creation of the gods that confers the right of rule on the wearer. During the quest, the magus and Gen take turns telling the youngest member of their party myths about the Eddisian god of thieves.

I don't want to tell you anything because I don't want to give away any spoilers. Just read the book. Gen's narrative is entertaining, immature, and snide. Just like me. No wonder I like it so much. I won't review the sequels, but I WILL tell you their titles: The Queen of Attolia, and the King of Attolia.

Title: Dealing with Dragons
Author: Patricia C. Wrede
Rating: Pretty Dang Good

Summary (Oh, Amazon): Cimorene, princess of Linderwall, is a classic tomboy heroine with classic tomboy strengths--all of which are perceived by those around her as defects: "As for the girl's disposition--well, when people were being polite, they said she was strong-minded. When they were angry or annoyed with her, they said she was as stubborn as a pig." Cimorene, tired of etiquette and embroidery, runs away from home and finds herself in a nest of dragons. Now, in Cimorene's world--a world cleverly built by author Patricia C. Wrede on the shifting sands of myriad fairy tales--princesses are forever being captured by dragons. The difference here is that Cimorene goes willingly. She would rather keep house for the dragon Kazul than be bored in her parents' castle.

While the characters in this story are more along the simple side, I'd have to say this is a very clever book. I liked the references to other fairy tales and the different take on wizards. The book is good for a light read, and the plot is refreshing. My favorite is the description of the Enchanted Forest. I advise you to read the entire Enchanted Forest Chronicles, either starting with "Dealing with Dragons" or "Talking with Dragons." Someone said "Talking with Dragons" is better if it's the first book you read. I'm still skeptical on that.

Girls Gone Wild

Ah. It's been a while, hasn't it? Well, that can all be explained: I'm really lazy. And sometimes I don't want to do some huge lengthy explanation why you should read a book. So for this one, I'll review a few books with a few sentences for each one. That might be better, honestly.

Title: Wildwood Dancing (the reason behind my subject title, I just couldn't resist)
Author: Juliet Marillier
Rating: Pretty dang good

This is basically a take on the fairy tale 12 Dancing Princesses. Set in early 1500's Transylvania, it tells the story of 5 sisters ages of five to sixteen, and told in first-person narrative by the second sister, Jenica. It's very well-written and the protagonist, Jena, is likable and realistic. She's protective of her sisters and has a brain, even if she isn't the beauty of the family. This novel has some deeper and perhaps darker themes to it, which renders it rather serious, but I'd still recommend it. My only beef is how gosh-danged serious it is. Lighten up!

Title: A Spell for Chameleon
Author: Piers Anthony
Rating: Somewhere between Not Too Shabby and Pretty Good

What I like about this book is how it parodies fantasy worlds. In most fantasy books (which are rather serious), there are maps of the worlds. This world? It's a map of Florida. I laughed hysterically.

In the world of Xanth, everyone has a special magic power, ranging from putting dots on the wall to holograms to invisible walls. Bink, the protagonist, doesn't seem to possess a power, and is in danger of exile. He goes on a journey to the Good Magician Humphrey to find out what his power is, although Humphrey cannot identify it. He has all sorts of adventures, makes new friends, blah blah blah. Classic hero's journey.

My beef with this story was Bink's seemingly constant thoughts of sex. I wasn't such a big fan of his views of what makes a woman beautiful: voluptuous, physical, conventional beauty. It was irritating. While the world Piers Anthony created was very clever and punny (lightning bugs aren't the most pleasant things to catch) and imaginative, the thing that pulled me in was that a friend had recommended it to me and I wanted to finish it to find out what happened. I'm not sure if I recommend it. And that was more than a few sentences. Whoops.

Title: Princess Academy
Thoughts on the cover: I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. There are other covers out there, I swear. This one doesn't do the book justice. Am I prejudiced against pink covers? Probably. They make the book look twice as girly and like a ridiculous teen novel than like the fantastic novel it truly is.
Author: Shannon Hale
Rating: Pretty Dang Good

It's Shannon Hale. Therefore, it will be good. There, I don't need to say anything else.

Okay, I'll say a few things: the story is very original. I love the protagonist, Miri. Shannon Hale has an unbelievable skill of creating characters that I actually like, and that are, well, believable. It's well-written and is delightful to read. I recommended it to my roommate and she stayed up into the wee hours of the morning reading it. Just goes to show how awesome it is. READ IT. NOW.

I'll never understand why this has two titles.

Title: Sorcery and Cecilia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot
Authors: Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
Rating: Pretty good ***

This book takes place in a sort of alternate universe. It's in Victorian England, just around the Jane Austen time, but here, magic's real. It's not exactly everyday life, like Harry Potter, but it's not taboo either.

The plot is narrated through a correspondence of the two characters, Cecelia and her cousin Kate. I liked the narration, although I admit it was a trifle slow in the beginning and was harder to get into. The plot, however, is quite fun. The characters are fun and reveal little bits of truth in each letter and you find out more and wish that sometimes you could live a life like the one they have. I liked their voices, talking much like girls of that era most likely would.

It's not too deep, but it's a very fun and entertaining read. I liked their descriptions of things and the lingo is fantastic. I definitely recommend this for light reading.

Ever so goosey, goosey, goosey, goooooooooseeeeeeeeeyyyy

Title: The Goose Girl (In case you couldn't tell by the HUGE HONKING PICTURE RIGHT NEXT TO YOU)
Author: Shannon Hale
Number of Pages: (Yes, I'm adding this because I totally can, although I do wonder if it has ever been relevant to the book reader) 383
Rating: Best thing since sliced bread

Summary shamelessly stolen from Fantastic Fiction: Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, spends the first years of her life under her aunt's guidance learning to communicate with animals. As she grows up Ani develops the skills of animal speech, but is never comfortable speaking with people, so when her silver-tongued lady-in-waiting leads a mutiny during Ani's journey to be married in a foreign land, Ani is helpless and cannot persuade anyone to assist her. Becoming a goose girl for the king, Ani eventually uses her own special, nearly magical powers to find her way to her true destiny.

What makes a story good to me is if there are good characters in it. To me, the characters must be real. They must have flaws, or else they will irritate me. And believe me, they have.

Ani, however, is not one of these characters. She's shy, has a difficult time talking to people, can't stick up for herself, and is awkward. However, when her lady-in-waiting forces them to switch places and Ani is on the run to save her life, she develops strength. As a goose girl, she comes to know the workers outside the castle and the people of the land of Bayern. She makes friends for herself who genuinely like her, not people who are paid to like her.

I highly recommend this book. Shannon Hale's retelling of the fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm is well-written and enjoyable. It got me thinking and inspires me to try new things.

"She didn't just barge into my life. She barged and pushed and wedged her way into my life."

Title: Flipped
Author: Wendelin Van Draanen
Genre: Who cares? Screw genre!
Rating: Best thing since sliced bread

Summary (yanked from Amazon): Juli Baker devoutly believes in three things: the sanctity of trees (especially her beloved sycamore), the wholesomeness of the eggs she collects from her backyard flock of chickens, and that someday she will kiss Bryce Loski. Ever since she saw Bryce's baby blues back in second grade, Juli has been smitten. Unfortunately, Bryce has never felt the same. Frankly, he thinks Juli Baker is a little weird--after all, what kind of freak raises chickens and sits in trees for fun? Then, in eighth grade, everything changes. Bryce begins to see that Juli's unusual interests and pride in her family are, well, kind of cool. And Juli starts to think that maybe Bryce's brilliant blue eyes are as empty as the rest of Bryce seems to be. After all, what kind of jerk doesn't care about other people's feelings about chickens and trees?

I'm not a fan of love stories. They're unconvincing, have the most irritating and idiotic characters, and fork out cliche after cliche. Most love stories are about how the two characters overcome all obstacles to twue wuv, but they don't even describe how they fell in love in the first place. The explanation is either absent, or the explanation is fate. No, no, that would be what you call hormones. Fate is a cop-out for the author so they don't have to explain why the characters are in love or how it happened. "They just ARE, okay?!"

Ahem. End rant. Flipped is not one of those stories. This story is convincing to me. Because it's told in alternating point of view (he said/she said), you're able to see both sides of the issue and feel for both characters. They're not idiotic, self-centered jerks - they're human, and are portrayed as thus, and therefore get away with it - mostly. Bryce comes to realize in this story that good intentions mean nothing compared to the actions, and Juli grows stronger as she learns that Bryce isn't much beyond his blue eyes.

Plus, the narration is fantastic. Bryce is sarcastic and paranoid. Juli's voice has a bit of a dreamy feel to it. I found myself able to identify with both of the characters. They are incredibly well-rounded and fleshed out. I am amazed by Wendelin Van Draanen's skill. You can tell she really cares about her characters. This is a story I highly recommend.