Title: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Author: Frank L. Baum Genre: Fiction Quotation: “True courage is facing danger when you are afraid.” Would recommend to: those who love adventure combined with a classic story. There’s nothing like watching “The Wizard of Oz” on a rainy Saturday curled up in bed…except maybe reading it. I instantly fell in love with “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by Frank L. Baum when I read it (I’ve even given it as a gift to a couple of people). The movie terrified me as a child (flying monkeys! Who thought that was a good idea?) But the book — the book was just perfect. I’m…
Is a Wedding Without Tears Really a Wedding?
Title: Beautiful Day Author: Elin Hilderbrand Genre: Fiction Quotation: “She waved good-bye and hurried down the street towards her family’s house, thinking again that some nights had good karma and some nights were cursed, and for a few moments, tonight had seemed like the former, but it had ended up the latter.” Would recommend to: someone looking for an easy read on the beach. (http://s1.hubimg.com/u/7877218_f520.jpg) In my most humble opinion, “Beautiful Day” was a beautiful book. I’ve read a lot of reviews of it complaining that it isn’t up to the caliber of her other books. My defense is, I haven’t read any of her other books. But this is displayed as…
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Everyone Probably Is Hanging Out Without You
I finished Mindy Kaling’s book, “Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?” recently, and I have to say I was a little disappointed. I had heard so many good things about it, and I just didn’t think it was the great. Maybe it’s because I read it so long after it was published, or maybe it’s because I’ve never gotten into “The Office”, but I didn’t like this book as much as I wanted to. (And I loved Amy Poehler’s book, so I thought I would love this too.) 1. I feel like she thinks she’s all that and a bag of chips. She would talk about episodes of “The Office” and…
Being Wild and Free
Title: Wild Author: Cheryl Strayed Genre: Memoir Quotation: “How wild it was, to let it be.” Would recommend to: those who are feeling a little lost in this big world. “Wild” is a book (and now a movie starring Reese Witherspoon) about a woman who decides to make a crazy trip — hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. You probably don’t know what the PCT is (like any normal human being): it is a trail that stretches the length of the west coast, from the Mexican border to the Canadian border. This book is a compilation of extremely honest moments that Strayed experienced while on the trail, as well as the…
Pondering Penumbra
I finished “Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore” this past weekend, and I absolutely loved it! It was the perfect mix of entertainment and suspense. Ryan has already reviewed this amazing book, but I’m going to give you five little thoughts I had while reading it. 1. How would I answer Mr. Penumbra’s questions? There are two questions asked in this book. The first is asked to Clay and his answer is contingent upon his securing a job: “What is you favorite book?” And the second is, “What do you seek in these shelves?” My first answer would be obvious, “1984” by George Orwell has been my favorite book since I read it…
A Dauntless Series
Title: Divergent Series Author: Veronica Roth Genre: Young Adult Dystopia Would recommend to: readers who like to immerse themselves in a story / fans of “The Hunger Games” I devoured these books. I haven’t been this interested in a series of books since I read “The Hunger Games”. I loved everything this series had to offer: action, love, passion, madness… It was an artfully written series that touches upon deep concepts. Although Roth may have written about genetic damage, anyone that looks deeper at the theme understands she’s really making social commentary on racism and human nature. I can’t say Tris was my favorite female character (I probably liked Christina a…
Wicked
Title: Wicked Author: Gregory Maguire Genre: Fiction Quotation: “Evil is always more easily imagined than good, somehow.” Would recommend to: anyone who understands that there are two sides to every story. Throughout my high school career, I spent a lot of time in the backs of prop closets. I was the typical theater nerd, made even worse by the fact that I preferred to be behind the scenes working on the technical crew rather than center stage. Because of my love for stage-life, I knew quite a bit about plays, including “Wicked”. You’d be hard-pressed to find a handful of teenage girls that don’t know about the popular play that originally starred Kristen Chenoweth as…
Thoughts from an Erudite
I recently finished “Divergent” by Veronica Roth, and I absolutely LOVED it. Here are my first thoughts: 1. I need to read the next two books NOW. I can’t believe how much I loved “Divergent”. I’m actually almost halfway through “Insurgent” ( the second book in the series) as I type this post. This is the first story in a long time that I have wanted to read the sequel right away. I finished it in less than four days. I tore through it because I couldn’t wait to find out what the story held. The characters grabbed my attention and the plot kept me entertained. 2. What the hell kind of…
The New Reminding You of the Old Favorites
Titles: The Narrow Road to the Deep North vs. Redeployment Authors: Richard Flanagan vs. Phil Klay Genre: Historical, narrative-style fiction Quotations: “Nor is there mention of the horror of the building of the railway. There are no names of the hundreds of thousands who died building that railway… There is no book for their lost souls. Let them have this fragment.” The Narrow Road to the Deep North vs. “There was gunfire and explosions and the mosques blaring messages and Arabic music and we were blaring Drowning Pool and Eminem. The Marines started calling it Lalafallujah. A music festival from hell.” Redeployment Would recommend to: fans of The Bridge over…
Something Wicked This Way Comes
I finished “Wicked” a couple days ago and here are my thoughts. 1. I want to see the play again. I saw the play when I was a junior in high school and absolutely loved it. The book was really similar to the play while also incorporating more complicated plot lines and themes. All the characters were the same and the basic underlying story was there, there was just more detail and added backstories, which I really enjoyed reading. 2. You forget about people’s differences in the pages of a book. It’s a well-known fact that the main character of “Wicked” (Elphaba) is green. She’s the finest definition of a…
