Evermore and Blue Moon by Alyson Noel

I've gotten into the bad habit of browsing the young adult section of the library and checking out books without more research than reading the summary on the back. If it looks even a little interesting I will probably check it out and read it. Unfortunately this has led to a rather developed taste for what I now call "junk food" literature: books that are stimulating while you are reading them but provide no real substance and leave you feeling empty and unfulfilled. These books, Evermore and Blue Moon, are the first two installments of what is to be (I believe) a 4-part "Immortals" series. I'll just say now that I have no desire to read the rest of the series.

Evermore is about a girl named Ever who loses her family in a car accident that leaves her with psychic powers; she can hear peoples' thoughts and can see their auras. She meets this tall, dark and handsome young man named Damen who, of course, she falls desperately in love with. It is set in a stereotypically chic southern California (Laguna Beach, actually) high school and there is the standard juvenile drama and conflict that eventually resolves itself to everyone's mutual interest. hooray.

Blue Moon picks up right where Evermore leaves off. Things are fabulous with Ever and Damen for awhile until a new kid comes to school and Damen becomes mysteriously ill and loses his memory of who he is (including his super awesome powers) and his love for Ever. It's up to Ever to figure out what's wrong with him, how the new kid is involved, and how to save her one true love. Again, things work themselves out in the end as should be predicted for this genre of junk food literature.

Fun and easy reads but they definitely left me feeling like I need to make some positive changes in my life, i.e. stop checking out books intended for 14-year-olds and read something substantial. I'm definitely on the hunt for some actually good books that are entertaining and worthwhile. I may re-read The Hunger Games if I can't find anything good. Any recommendations?

1.5 out of 5 stars

The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta Trapp

The hills are alive with the sound of muuuuusiiiiic! (ahhh ah ah ahhhhh)

Ok, so we've all seen the movie "The Sound of Music" about the Trapp family during the beginning of World War II. The songs have become so famous that all children know the solfegge song about do the deer and ti going with jam and bread. This beloved movie is based on the true story of Maria von Trapp and her family. This book was chosen by my book club and, while I didn't actually finish it, I would definitely recommend this story to everyone.

I think my favorite thing about the book is Maria: she is hilarious in telling how she meets Captain Von Trapp and the children and their travels and trials throughout the world. I think she would have been a very fun person to know in real life.

There were a lot of differences between the book and the movie. The movie ends after their very dramatic exit from Austria and infuses extra love stories and drama to make it more exciting. (I kept waiting for the romance between Liesl and that 16-year-old boy she liked. That particular story never came...) The book continues on for years after they leave Austria and tells of their musical group performing concert tours all across Europe and eventually in America.

I never made it to the end of the book but that was because I didn't finish in time for my book club meeting and then I got caught up in reading other books. This was an entertaining and very interesting book that provides years of information more than what the movie shows. I would definitely recommend to anyone interested in the World War II period or the Sound of Music.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful Creatures and Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

This was another book club book. I really don't have too much to say about it because even though it was fun, it didn't have a whole lot of substance. It was a page turner and I was hooked from the beginning, but now, weeks later, I don't remember very much. I think that alone speaks volumes about the book.

This was basically a Twilight remake where the girl is a witch who is coming in to her powers and coming of age. Upon her 16th birthday she will either turn light or dark. If she goes light, all the dark members of her family will die, and if she goes dark then the light family members will die. She is tormented and searching for a way to prevent killing off half her family all while maintaining a relationship with a boy she met at school. The story is told from the boy's point of view, which I actually really liked. I thought the guy was a really good character--realistic (he definitely had his flaws), relatable, and had a good sense of morals.

The sequel was like the first in that it was a page turner and didn't have much substance. Fun, exciting, easy, very entertaining, but not much to it. It was like the authors wrote these books with the purpose of making a movie afterward. The irritating part about the first story was that it had all of this intense build up to one event and then right at the end a random, unseen conflict comes up and the build up isn't even relevant anymore. The main problem just gets postponed for the sequel and you feel like you're starting the first book over again. It was kind of annoying. The sequel is just as entertaining as the first with purposeful cliffhangers to keep you reading. I enjoyed my read and will probably (if I even remember the series) read the next 2 sequels when they come out. Or not. We'll see.

I can recommend this series if you want a quick and cheaply entertaining story. It's very Twilight-esque but (in my opinion) not as good. Fun and easy read.

3 out of 5 stars

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

I have been horribly neglectful of my poor blog. I have read several books since last updating and I am resolved to blog about each of them. In order to do so I will have to make each post fairly short, which I don't think anyone would complain about.

To be honest, I never actually finished this book and I read it over a month ago so I don't remember a whole lot. This book, Stiff, by Mary Roach, was chosen by my book club. I only got about half-way through, but not because it wasn't interesting. This was a fascinating book that talks about the many diverse uses of cadavers and their importance in research and modern science. I think my favorite chapter talked about how cadavers are used in crash tests to improve car safety designs. We have cadavers to thank for giving doctors surgery practice, forensic scientists' knowledge of the various stages of decomposition to aid in identifying cause and time of death, and safer cars, along with many other things that I don't remember or didn't get to read about yet.

The author was witty and interesting. Even though I'm usually more of a fiction/novel girl, this was a very interesting non-fiction read.

3 out of 5 stars