• amy poehler
    Book Reviews,  Books

    Read Please

    Title: Yes Please Author: Amy Poehler Genre: Humor mixed with a little biography Quotation: “I don’t consider myself beautiful or famous, but my vagina is.” Would recommend to: those searching for guidance and appreciative of humor. There’s been a slew of books printed in recent years by great comedians, the latest of which being Amy Poehler’s “Yes Please.” I’d love to be original and tell you it wasn’t my favorite, but then I’d be lying. I absolutely loved it. I raved about it for week and recommended it to anyone who would listen to me. First let me talk about the design of the book. It’s the first thing that popped out at me as original and…

  • Books

    The Best Kind of Shopping

    Hello fellow bookworms, This past week my guest author, Ryan, was in town visiting me. Naturally we spent a little  (try too much) time in some bookstores around the area. I’m here today to show you what I bought in a mini book haul blog post. Barnes and Nobel Finds Barnes and Nobel has all these awesome displays of books ranging from beach reads to books that make you think. “This is Where I Leave You” (and the other book I picked up) was in a section of top fiction right now. I started reading it in the store and automatically fell in love with Tropper’s writing. It’s a story…

  • Book Reviews,  Books

    Which One Fails Better?

    Title: The Giver vs. Anthem Author: Lois Lowry vs. Ayn Rand Genre: Dystopian Novel Quotation: “The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It’s the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.” The Giver vs. “My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end. It is its own goal. It is its own purpose.” Anthem Would recommend to: readers who like to think about the past. Dystopian novels have always intrigued me. I find it compelling that people would right novels about what is wrong with the world to prove what humans should change about their patterns to avoid this type of world in the future. It’s a bit like…

  • Book Reviews,  Books

    Not Your Ordinary Dystopia

    Title: J Author: Howard Jacobson Genre: Dystopia Quotation: “You don’t need to have your eyes open to see things.” Would recommend to: someone who likes to create his or her own story. “J” is an interesting book. It’s different from any other book I’ve read, and I’ve read a lot of books, especially dystopian novels. But interesting does not mean bad. As you may have gathered from my “little thoughts” post about “J,” I learned a lot while reading it. Not just vocabulary or about different writing styles but about myself and my reading preferences. I liked “J,” I liked it a lot actually. But it was very hard for me to…

  • Books

    ‘J’ust Finished

    I am finished with “J” by Howard Jacobson, and here are my first thoughts upon completion. 1. My vocabulary has expanded tenfold. I rarely closed my dictionary app while reading this book.  2. This novel was not written by an American. Between the style of writing (did I mention there were a lot of big words) and the style of the novel in its entirety, I could tell fifty pages in that this book was written by someone of a different culture. Between the colloquial phrases, such as snog, the random German spattered throughout the book, and the overall style, you can tell it’s written by someone with a different perspective…

  • Books

    'J'ust Finished

    I am finished with “J” by Howard Jacobson, and here are my first thoughts upon completion. 1. My vocabulary has expanded tenfold. I rarely closed my dictionary app while reading this book.  2. This novel was not written by an American. Between the style of writing (did I mention there were a lot of big words) and the style of the novel in its entirety, I could tell fifty pages in that this book was written by someone of a different culture. Between the colloquial phrases, such as snog, the random German spattered throughout the book, and the overall style, you can tell it’s written by someone with a different perspective…

  • 24 hour bookstore
    Book Reviews,  Books

    A 24-Hour Bibliophile’s Dream

    Bibliophiles rejoice — It’s the summer book we’ve been waiting for. Title: Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore Author: Robin Sloan Genre: Fiction with a Mystery twist Quotation: “A bell above a door and the tinkle it makes. A clerk and a ladder and warm golden light, and then: the right book exactly, at exactly the right time.” Would recommend to: those who know adventure can lurk in a book on a shelf. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan is the perfect novel for the 21st-century bookworm. Sloan mixes a narrative of centuries old mystery with codes and keyboards that any nerd will appreciate, to weave his awesome tale. It all…

  • 24 hour bookstore
    Book Reviews,  Books

    A 24-Hour Bibliophile's Dream

    Bibliophiles rejoice — It’s the summer book we’ve been waiting for. Title: Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore Author: Robin Sloan Genre: Fiction with a Mystery twist Quotation: “A bell above a door and the tinkle it makes. A clerk and a ladder and warm golden light, and then: the right book exactly, at exactly the right time.” Would recommend to: those who know adventure can lurk in a book on a shelf. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan is the perfect novel for the 21st-century bookworm. Sloan mixes a narrative of centuries old mystery with codes and keyboards that any nerd will appreciate, to weave his awesome tale. It all…

  • Book Reviews,  Books

    A Satirical Comparision

    Title: Fight Club vs. Rant: The Oral Biography of Buster Casey Author: Chuck Palahniuk Genre: Satirical Fiction Quotations: “Nothing is static. Everything is falling apart.” vs. “Please, don’t kill it with big words.” Would recommend to: people who like a punch in the gut at the end of a mind-spinning novel. If you’ve ever read a book that left you questioning every word written in the entire novel, Chuck Palahniuk’s novels would be great for you. I’ve only read “Fight Club” and “Rant,” but each left me confused until the last 100 pages or so. (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/713q4LW2y0L.jpg) Probably like many of you, I hate watching a movie before I have read the…

  • Book Reviews,  Books

    We All Worry About the Bell Jar

    Title: The Bell Jar Author: Sylvia Plath Genre: Autobiographical Fiction Quotation: “I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest…” Would recommend to: someone needing to be reminded that they are not alone. (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61XpVj1wRHL.jpg) WARNING: (If you don’t already know this…) Sylvia Plath’s “The Bell Jar” is a semi-autobiographical piece of work that talks about her struggle with depression throughout her early adult life. I read “The Bell Jar” at a time in my life very similar to the main character, Esther. I had just moved to a new city (for the summer), was alone (I had no friends) and was working full-time (I had…