Category: Must Reads

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The Help: Kathrynn Stockett

So I’m like the zillionth person to recommend this book, but it’s true what they say. It’s a great book. It will make you cringe and shudder when you realize what black people went through just 50 years ago. It’s crazy and insane to think this was “normal”. So incredibly sad. But I think it’s a must read for people and it’s a great story. It flips between 4 people’s points of view and I must say, it’s fantastic. You need to read it! I haven’t seen the movie yet as it hasn’t come out here in Belgium yet, but I’m planning on it.

Anyways 5 stars and recommend it!

Summary:
In writing about such a troubled time in American history, Southern-born Stockett takes a big risk, one that paid off enormously. Critics praised Stockett’s skillful depiction of the ironies and hypocrisies that defined an era, without resorting to depressing or controversial clich√©s. Rather, Stockett focuses on the fascinating and complex relationships between vastly different members of a household. Additionally, reviewers loved (and loathed) Stockett’s three-dimensional characters—and cheered and hissed their favorites to the end. Several critics questioned Stockett’s decision to use a heavy dialect solely for the black characters. Overall, however, The Help is a compassionate, original story, as well as an excellent choice for book groups. 

Paperback: 544 pages Publisher: Berkley Trade; Mti Rei edition (June 28, 2011) Language: English ISBN-10: 0425245136

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Eden: Keary Taylor

Okay, one of my favorite books I’ve read in 2011. It’s sort of like a machine zombie apocolypse. Sounds strange, but I’m telling you, you’re going to like this book!

I won’t give anything away, but it’s good and you should read it.

Totally recommend with 5 stars.

Summary:
Eve knew the stories of the Fall, of a time before she wandered into the colony of Eden, unable to recall anything but her name. She’s seen the aftermath of the technology that infused human DNA with cybernetic matter, able to grow new organs and limbs, how it evolved out of control. The machine took over and the soul vanished. A world quickly losing its humanity isn’t just a story to her though. At eighteen, this world is Eve’s reality. In their Fallen world, love feels like a selfish luxury, but not understanding what it is makes it difficult to choose between West, who makes her feel alive but keeps too many secrets, and Avian, who has always been there for her, but is seven years her senior. The technology wants to spread and it won’t stop until there is no new flesh to assimilate. With only two percent of the human population left, mankind is on the brink of extinction. While fighting to keep Eden alive, Eve will discover that being human is about what you will do for those you love, not what your insides may be made of. And even if it gets you killed, love is always what separates them from the Fallen.

Reading level: Young Adult Paperback: 420 pages Publisher: CreateSpace (June 3, 2011) Language: English ISBN-10: 1463525966

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Birthmarked: Caragh O’Brian

This was one of my more favorite books I’ve read in 2011. It may be because I had a baby and the protagoinist is a midwife? I’m not sure, but I enjoyed the book. It took a bit to get going, but once it did, I really enjoyed the characters and the dystopian world they live in.
The second book in the trilogy comes out next month and I’m really excited about it!
I will give it 4 stars and recommend it!

Summary: It’s been 300 years since Lake Michigan became Unlake Michigan; the “cool age” is only hazily known to residents of Wharfton, a small village that sits alongside the walled city of the Enclave. Gaia is 16 and works in Western Sector Three with her mother delivering babies, “advancing” the first three per month to live a better life inside the city. It’s a wrenching routine Gaia doesn’t question until her parents are mysteriously arrested by Enclave authorities. Gaia’s rescue attempt is fraught with peril—the burn scar on her face marks her as a “freak” who would never be allowed into the Enclave’s exclusive gene pool—and soon she herself is tossed into a cell with other female physicians. Although the setup suggests speculative fiction, O’Brien’s concerns are corporeal; her impulsive and spirited heroine (who even resists, yes, romance) is the kind readers adore. The facts behind inbreeding and the numerous birthing scenes will give this an added appeal to science-minded teens. Continual revelations push this toward an ending that hints at more to come.

  • Reading level: Young Adult
  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Square Fish (October 11, 2011)
  • Language: English
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2011 Summer Reading List:

In preparation for our upcoming R&R, I have compiled my summer reading list. Now to just get the hundred dollars I need in order to purchase all these books 🙂 Oh the life of an avid reader!
Just click on the links to go to Amazon to read the summaries if you are interested. I’ll of course post my thoughts on them once I’ve read them all!

                

                

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The Lost Hero: Rick Riordan

Okay, this book was awesome! I read the entire Percy Jackson series and although, yes, it was quite juvenile, I totally got into it (it gets less juvenile as the books progress in classic HP style). I’ve always had a soft spot for Greek Mythology and I just really enjoyed the series and the characters and was sad when after 5 books, the series concluded…

OR SO WE THOUGHT 🙂

Riordan seriously brought it in this book and also brought it as far as page count goes. This book isn’t one of the tiny ones he’s written earlier, it has some girth to it and I really appreciated that.

If you enjoyed the Percy Jackson series, you’re going to love this beginning to a new series. I just wish I would have found out about this book after the 2nd one was already out because I wish I could have started on it immediately!

5 stars and totally recommend!

Amazon Summary:
Readers longing for a return to Camp Half-Blood will get their wish in the first novel of the Heroes of Olympus series, which follows Riordan’s popular Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and includes some of the same characters in minor roles. The new cast features Jason, Piper, and Leo, teen demigods who are just coming to understand and use their unique abilities as they learn how much depends upon their wits, courage, and fast-developing friendship. Setting up the books to come, the backstory of a master plan to unseat the gods is complex but is doled out in manageable bits with a general air of foreboding. Meanwhile, the action scenes come frequently as the three heroic teens fight monstrous enemies in North American locales, including the Grand Canyon, Quebec City, Detroit, Chicago, Omaha, Pikes Peak, and Sonoma Valley. Flashes of humor lighten the mood at times, but a tone of urgency and imminent danger seems as integral to this series as the last. With appealing new characters within a familiar framework, this spin-off will satisfy the demand for more.

  • Hardcover: 576 pages
  • Publisher: Hyperion Book CH; 1st edition (October 12, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 9781423113393