Red Glass by Laura Resau

I found this book by chance while wandering the aisles of the public library looking for something to read during Christmas break. Sometimes my random picks from the library don't work out so good, but sometimes they do. This was definitely a winner.

This story starts in Tuscon Arizona and is told from the perspective of a multi-phobic girl named Sophie. In a way she kind of reminds me of a roommate I used to have who was sort of small and quiet, a little socially awkward in all the best ways. :) Sophie described herself as an amoeba in the social network of the body of society, never really belonging to any particular group. One day she and her parents are called to the hospital to try and identify a 6-year-old boy named Pablo who was the lone survivor of a party found crossing the Mexico-Arizona border. They don't recognize the boy but decide to become his foster family until they know what to do with him. After several months they locate his family in Mexico and decide to take him home. Sophie, her eccentric Bosnian war refugee aunt Dika, Dika's new boyfriend Mr. Lorenzo, and Mr. Lorenzo's son Angel all accompany Pablo on a journey to his village in Mexico. A nice little relationship forms between Sophie and Angel while Sophie learns how to overcome all of her irrational fears and embrace the good things in life, especially the good people around her.

I really loved the personal journey Sophie went on during this story. As one who grew up shy and insecure, I especially appreciated reading about how Sophie gained courage and confidence when those she loved needed her help. The writing used some beautiful imagery and actually made me cry in a few parts. I became very attached to the characters and felt Sophie's fears and pain and eventual confidence and success. I would definitely recommend this book to others.

4 out of 5 stars

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

Over the holidays I spent one night at my brother and sister in law's home. While our husbands were off playing basketball, Lori and I started talking about some of our favorite books and she asked if I've read anything by Shannon Hale. Well, I got pretty excited at that point because I LOVE Shannon Hale's books, at least the 5 that I've read (all of which can be found reviewed on this blog). She loans me her copy of Princess Academy since I haven't read it yet and I finish it within about a day and a half.

Princess Academy is about a little girl named Miri who lives in a mountain village, Mount Eskel, where everyone works in the quarry mining a special type of rock called linder. When the king's priests prophesy that the future princess will come from Mount Eskel, an obscure corner of the kingdom, an academy is set up to prepare the girls of this village to potentially become princesses. Not all of the girls want to become a princess but all are forced to work hard to refine their habits so when the prince comes to choose his bride in a year's time they will be ready.

Like all of Shannon Hales books, I quickly fell in love with her characters, especially Miri, who is a real spunky and spitfire of a girl. She grows up quite a bit during the course of this story, making up for her small size and inability to work in the quarry like everyone else by using her brain to improve the quality of life of those in her village and saving the lives of her peers at the academy from bandits. This wasn't really as good as Hales' other stories, but she still was able to weave a charming new world with believable characters. I even cried once or twice. :) Definitely would recommend this book!

3.5 out of 5 stars

Fablehaven (revisited) by Brandon Mull and comments on my rating system

I've been putting off updating my blog because I've read so much over the holiday season and I'm a little overwhelmed at writing it all down. I went to Utah for Christmas and visited with my in-laws and had a wonderful time. Unfortunately, I did not have access to the internet and thus could not stay on top of blogging about my literary adventures.

I've been wanting to reread Fablehaven for awhile now and thought that Christmas break would bee a good time for it. I'm not really going to say a whole lot about Fablehaven since I already reviewed it here. I thoroughly enjoyed reading these stories again and I think they still earned the 5 star rating I gave the first time through.

I was talking last night with my husband Chris about how we rate books vs movies. Chris says he rates books more harshly because of the time investment required to complete them, while movies can be finished within a matter of a couple hours. We discussed the different aspects that should go in to a book rating, like how interesting it is to you, depth, meaning, etc. We basically decided that rating books is really difficult. When I read a book like Fablehaven, which I loved and was fully engaged in throughout the story, I want to give it a top rating. But then I wonder, does Fablehaven deserve the same 5 star rating as a book like Jane Eyre or The Lord of the Rings? I'm sure many would disagree with me, but I say why not? I decided that I rate books on my blog based on how much I enjoy them. If I loved a book but can't necessarily pinpoint why I loved it so much or why academically it should be given a high rating, I think it's ok to rate it however I please.

So here's to Fablehaven and keeping it's 5 stars!

The Pop-up Book of Phobias by Gary Greensburg

I saw this book at Barnes and Noble the other day and thought it was hilarious. I just had to share...

Arachnophobia: The fear of spiders. (this is one of my personal fears)

Glossophobia: The fear of public speaking (also one of my personal fears)

Acrophobia: The fear of heights

Mysophobia: The fear of germs

Thanatophobia: The fear of death

Coulrophobia: The fear of clowns.

Dentophobia: The fear of dentists.

There was another page on claustrophobia, the fear of closed spaces, and it made you feel like you were in a crowded elevator. Even the page wouldn't open all the way to increase the sensation of being closed in. It was a pretty brilliant page and I'm sad I couldn't find a picture of it. Pretty awesome book!

I feel funny giving this a rating, seeing as how it's so different from the books I usually write about on this blog. But still, this was pretty amazing and it gave me a good laugh. As far as pop-up books go, I think this one takes the cake.

5 out of 5 stars

The Hunger Games; Catching Fire; Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Wow. I just finished the final book in The Hunger Games trilogy this afternoon and I'm not entirely sure how to blog about it. I was recommended these books months ago and told that I HAD to read them because they were amazing. I put off reading them primarily because they were never available at the library and I always had something else to read. My mom was the first person to recommend them to me, she heard about them from her book club. Then my sister Teresa read them and advised that I have all three books on hand when I started because the story is continuous and we all know how frustrating it is to finish a cliffhanger ending and not have the sequel available. So when I visited my family for Thanksgiving I was able to borrow all three books at once since my dad had recently purchased them. I read the first 2 chapters of The Hunger Games on Sunday night after coming home from Thanksgiving with the family and knew right away that these books were going to be a dangerous read with my upcoming full-time work week. I finished book 1 Tuesday evening, Catching Fire on Thursday evening, and Mockingjay on Saturday afternoon (today). I read for a few minutes in the morning before going in to work, during my hour lunch break, my evening work out at the gym, and for about an hour or so after dinner before bed. These were some intensely difficult books to put down.

I don't want to tell much about the plot because I don't think I could do it justice and I also don't want to give anything away for those who are currently reading them or will soon do so in the future. If you'd like a plot synopsis you can read about it here for The Hunger Games, and just do a little snooping on Google and you can easily find reviews for Catching Fire and Mockingjay. But just as a warning, I probably will end up giving things away unintentionally, so if you really don't want any spoilers whatsoever you should probably stop reading now.

There are a few things that I've been thinking about since I finished reading. For one, I am impressed by how much I care about the characters Collins created in her story. I felt genuine anxiety when Peeta was captured, sorrow when Finnick was killed, amusement with Haymitch, inspired by Katniss' courage, fear when I could see no way out for the heroes. Katniss, who is the voice of the story, became an especially real character, almost like a best friend or a sister, or perhaps myself in some strange, alternate reality. I often became frustrated by her inability to see her relationships with others clearly and her ineptitude in communicating her feelings to those she cares most about. I really, really love Peeta. Collins did a beautiful job in developing his character and relationship with Katniss. I think I was somewhere toward the end of book 1 when I decided that I really wanted Katniss to fall in love with Peeta, even though we had been briefly introduced to her best friend Gale (who I was initially rooting for as the love interest) before the hunger games started. There were also several minor characters who were introduced briefly in the beginning and after making multiple brief appearances throughout took on a great significance toward the overall story. Particularly Darius, the redheaded Avox girl, Madge, Greasy Sae, Rue... I loved Collins' use of her characters to tell the story.

Upon my completion of Mockingjay I felt like I had read a story of deep significance, though I can't really put in to words what it is. Sort of making me want to take more interest in politics, but while also making me think about all the good things I have in life. It reminded me a bit of the gladiator games in ancient Rome, how people took entertainment in forcing people to fight to the death. Collins was inspired by the Greek myth of Theseus, where the city of Athens was forced to provide boys and girls to be killed by the minotaur. The idea of taking pleasure in watching children kill each other was a horrible one to deal with. In fact, there were a lot of horrific things that Katniss and the others had to experience. I can't imagine having to live the kind of life that was common in Panem.

I really loved how Collins would quote or allude to things throughout all of the books; it really made the story stronger and made you pay attention to every detail. It was kind of fun to find obscure references to previous events and remember where they came from and what had happened. Her use of symbols was also fabulous; I particularly loved the theme of the mockingjay.

I think that everyone should read these books. They are moving, exciting, inspirational, sad, humorous, disturbing, and beautiful. They were all I could think about for the 5 days it took me to read them. They fully captivated me and left me happy I had chosen to take the ride.

5 stars

Jane by April Lindner

Jane, by April Lindner, is a modern retelling of Jane Eyre. I kind of expected to swear off reading Jane Eyre spin offs after reading this book, but actually it was really good! It was a surprisingly believable modern telling of possibly my favorite story of all time.

In this telling, Jane is a girl whose parents die in a car accident during her first year of college and their will left the family house and money to her brother and sister. Jane is left with nothing and is forced to quit school and take up a nanny job for the famous Nico Rathburn, a legendary rock star who has a 5 year old daughter named Maddy. Jane and Nico fall in love and almost get married, until Jane learns the truth about Nico's first wife, a schizophrenic living in his attic. Jane runs away without any money or resources and finds Diana, who offers to let her sleep on her couch. Jane stays with Diana along with her sister and brother and works at the local soup kitchen. In this version Diana, Maria, and River are not her long-lost cousins, they just turn out to be nice people who take her in.

I like how the story was told; since it was modernized I felt like I could relate to Jane in a different way from before. Like when she left Rathburn/Rochester, I started to think about what I would do in that situation: no money, no friends, no place to sleep at night, no family, no support whatsoever. And I was reminded of how incredibly lucky I am and how blessed I have been in my life to have had a wonderful, loving, and supportive family, to have gotten an education that enabled me to get a job, and to always have had a roof over my head and food to eat. I can't imagine going through life the way Jane did without any love or support.

Anyway, fun book, not entirely original but definitely an enjoyable read, especially for any Jane Eyre fans!

3.5 out of 5 stars

Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende

Well it's been almost a month since my last post, which tells you that this book was a little intense because I have definitely been working on it since I finished my last book. I was recommended this book by my lovely sister in law Allison! This was definitely not a book that I could read in a couple of days, evidenced by my taking nearly 4 weeks to complete it.

A general summary: Daughter of Fortune is about a girl named Eliza who grows up in Valparaiso, Chile and falls in love with a poor boy named Joaquin Andieta, who goes off to California during the Gold Rush. Eliza leaves her family and follows her lover to California with the help of a Chinese doctor friend Tao Chi'en.

I began this story with the knowledge that it was a love story about a girl who follows her lover to California during the Gold Rush. While it does follow this girl's story eventually, there are many other characters who are thoroughly developed that, at first, I had difficulty getting interested in. I kept expecting to jump right in to Eliza's story and had a hard time adjusting to Allende's slow and thorough style. Once I figured out that I needed to be patient and just take the book one chapter at a time I grew to really enjoy her methodical storytelling. I remember mentioning to Chris when I first started reading that I thought this had the potential to be a great book because it was taking the time to develop characters and weave a complex and beautiful story. Upon completion I think I can say that this is a mostly great book; it's definitely very good. I had a couple minor issues with the ending, but I'm rarely completely satisfied when good books end.

I gained some interesting and somewhat difficult insights into my home state of California, particularly San Francisco. San Francisco was founded during the Gold Rush, which consisted of people immigrating from all over the world with the primary purpose of getting rich quick. Once in CA, greed, violence, and racial hatred prevailed. It became a state of people looking for a new beginning, which is all fine and good, but I think that the new beginnings based off a frenzy to find gold negatively impacted the state as a whole for generations to come. The kind of people attracted to what California had to offer during the Gold Rush were under the illusion that they could become rich without working hard. They were obsessed with money and traditional humanity was lost. I think that the Gold Rush set the stage for modern California, which I love because it was my home, but it has some serious problems. It was interesting for me to read about my home state and gain a greater understanding of it's history, giving me insight into it's present.

I definitely would recommend this story to all, with the advice to be patient because all of the characters and side stories throughout the book connect wonderfully and beautifully in the end.

4 out of 5 stars