Alexandria of Africa by Eric Walters

Haha, after I finished writing the review for Born to Rock I picked this up and read the whole book, so now, here I am! My internet was down but I fixed it up, that’s why the previous post was just posted about 10 minutes ago. This book may have been short, but it definitely is an amazing story, I couldn’t put it down at all. Well…..maybe for one itty bitty pizza pretzel.

Spoiled, bratty, and annoyingly used to getting her way, Alexandria has lived her whole life getting what she wants, and depending on her father’s money. When she shoplifts and is faced by an extremely unhappy judge, she is sentenced to go to a juvenile detention center. But there is another option….to go to a diversion program in Kenya, to build schools. Faced with a whole new world that she could never have imagined or have even cared about before. Will Alexandria finally realize that what she wants isn’t always what she needs?

Not only does this story tell of a reality that some readers may never knew existed – just like Alexandria didn’t….but it also tells the story of how her experienced transformed her. It may be a bit cliché; the rich girl going to Africa and learning to open her eyes and see what’s around her for once, but it’s inspirational nonetheless, and so much more than a story told again and again.

The novel was fast paced and right to the point, which was very appreciated. Like I mentioned before, I really couldn’t put it down, maybe it’s the fact that going to Africa and volunteering is something that I have always wanted to do, and that I love Africa with all of my heart. BUT that is besides the point. I think that the story just developed in all the right places and events happened at the right times, everything matched up. It was almost like gravity, pulling you in to read and read and read.

There is nothing bad in the writing that sticks out like a sore thumb, or anything that bothered or confused me, maybe that’s why I liked it so much….usually there is one thing.

Anyways, as you probably know Walters is a pretty well known writer, who has written many books. Here is his site, take a look at his other novels. http://www.ericwalters.net/razorside/executeUseCase.do?useCaseId=1129689095013330

For those of you who are interested in Africa, or the diversion programs that help build schools and supply fresh water, I have a special video for you. Eric Walters thanked Free The Children in this novel, so I here you are.

There are plenty more where that came from, just go to the website. www.freethechildren.com

I'm going to give this book a 4 out of 5.

Chow Mr. Cow,

MRR

Born To Rock by Gordon Korman

WOW. On the border line of June here. But this was a short read, so I was able to finish it in pretty much one day. I am sure that if you love books as much as I do, then you love bookstores, like chapters. I am part of irewards system, and you can go on to online website and there are reviews for each book, and you can make your own lists, reviews, and recommendations. You just need to make an account and then explore a little. Here is my profile if you want to see what it looks like. Take a look, it’s pretty snazzy. http://community.indigo.ca/profile/Meggles/445991.html

Leo, a successful Young Republican thought that he had his future in his steady, reliable hands. Then his scholarship is taken away and he learns that his biological father is the most famous person in the history of punk – King Maggot. Leo ends up becoming a roadie for the Purge tour, and ends up getting in a lot of trouble while simply just trying to have some bonding time with his newly discovered Dad (who really isn’t as angry as a person that he seems). How will Leo manage to squeeze enough money to pay for his scholarship to Harvard, when his father is the biggest and angriest lead singer of all time?

After reading the first couple chapters of this book, I thought for sure it was about this crazy kid with a split personality that liked debating politics with other people. That probably is what you would think too, because the first chapters give you the most horrible impressions of the book. So my advice to you on this one, is keep on reading, or GET PAST THE CRAP. Because it really is about the rock and roll roadie life, not about this nerdy kid that sounds like he is going to have an asthma attack at any minute.

This book was meant to be short, and it explained and conveyed many things very well, but one part was so random that I didn’t even know where it came from. It was the whole liking somebody that Korman seemed to have trouble writing about. I mean, I knew the main character was going to end up falling for his best friend, it’s just predictable because it always happens. But it came out of nowhere, and when finally it was explained, it didn’t even seem real. It was in first person writing form, but the writing didn’t explain much about it. Maybe Korman hasn’t had a crush/lover before…or he sucks at writing about it – I don’t know.

It was a short book, so I don’t have much to say but I really did like it. It made me laugh and feel frustrated and sad, and had a great ending. A really great ending actually! When you finished the book, you really did finish the book, there weren’t any crap at the end, I was just able to shut the book and know that I didn’t have to keep looking through more pages to check if they actually are part of the story. (Pet Peeve)

Haha, alright. I give this book a 3.5. I realized what I tough critic I am, but what ever. 

Have a happy last day of June, and early Canada day. GO CANADA! Is it easy to tell that I’m a proud Canadian.

Chow Mr. Cow,

MRR

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

A romance novel! A sight to see, huh? Yeah, it wasn’t bad – even though I don’t particularly like romance novels….at all. Ever. Anyways, it was kind of boring and interesting at the same time…..but we’ll get to that later. Forgive me, but this book is far to complicated to make my own summary, so I’m going to put what is on the back of the book.

“When Henry meets Clare, he is twenty eight and she is twenty. Henry has never met Clare before; Clare has known Henry since she was six. Impossible but true, because Henry finds himself displaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity from his life, past and future. Henry and Clare’s attempts to live normal lives are threatened by a force they can neither prevent nor control making their passionate love story intensely moving and entirely unforgettable. A story of fate, hope and belief, and more than that, the power of love to endure beyond the bounds of time.”                 - Audrey Niffenegger

To start this nice little review off, I just want to say that I have never taken a liking to romance novels. I find stories that are just about people falling in love, and them telling about their lives – is extremely boring to read. As a fantasy lover, it’s hard when books don’t have the spy, or the dragon, or something to keep things interesting. But I think that you can concur that from the title of the book, and the summery – this book isn’t about an ordinary couple falling in love and trying to be happy. I mean, this may be a romance novel, but the whole time traveler things made it fun to read, and as you should know that is something that is important to me. ;)

When Clare was working on her art, and the author when in to way to much detail that I had to skim, or I was reading it but it was going out one ear. That only happened two times though, so it isn’t bad at all. It was hard when you first started and you were trying to understand what all the dates meant and what was going on, because he does flash between the past, present, and future (he is a time traveler after all.). My advice is just to ignore the dates, just see how old each of the characters are and move on. All of the flashing back and forth starts to make sense, and it pieces together quite brilliantly near the end.

The thing about this book, is that it’s engaging, very well written, and everything is realistic and well placed. But it is still about this same old same old: lovers meeting parents, and then getting married, and then trying to have a baby at least seven times ( heh heh ). My point is, if you decide to read this and you’re still not sure that you like romance novels, then you might find it extremely boring. It is an emotional story though, especially near the end. SNIFF, I almost cried, (almost)

I will give this novel a, 3.5 because it was good.

This story was published in 2003, and I believe that Niffenegger has a brand new story out. (Her second one.) So, here is her website if you chickarees want to check it out! http://audreyniffenegger.com/ Sorry for being short!

Chow Mr. Cow,

MRR

City Of Bones – Cassandra Clare

Told you that it wouldn’t be long! Now that my final math exam is over with I will have plenty of relaxing warm days to put my feet up and read for hours. Summer is a time for lost of plans and going out for me, but I always seem to have those times where I am stuck with boring relatives that are all to young to do anything interesting. Those….are the times where the books come out of the backpacks. ;)

Brooklyn was where Clary grew up, with her best friend Simon, her over protective mother, and her sort of step – father Luke. Sheltered and feeling out of place (just like any other teen) Clary things that she’s just imagining things when she witnesses a strange event in one of her favorite clubs, an event that is the starting point of opening a whole window of dark secrets and a story that she would have normally just read in one of her animes. With her mother missing, her home destroyed, and a whole new world of Demons and Shadowhunters, unveiling itself before her eyes. Clary must search through her clouded memory of the past, and the false impersonations of the present to save the people that she loves from pain and betrayal.

I wish that I could overload my complaints on to you about this book in mass amounts, (I’m sure that you would love that) but I am proud to say that this book is almost….mistake free. The one things that I can make a comment about is the describing. The author really feels the need to overload with information about the buildings that the characters go into and such. It can be a bit overwhelming and hard to picture of times, but you get used to it….and the author balances it all out with her dialogue.

The dialogue. I can tell you this, it is really amazing. No – she doesn’t have fancy words that you can’t understand, and no – there isn’t some special way that she arranged the words and made it magically spectacular. It was just how normal people talk. How people actual convey their feelings, and how different characters respond in their words. Dialogue is one of the hardest things in writing, because it’s the one thing that you want to make as realistic as possible, in most circumstances. The dialogue wasn’t flawed one bit, not even a little…it flowed so smoothly. Even when one of the characters was saying something that lasted a chapters length.

The thing that stands out most about this novel, is that even though it’s fiction, everything is so…realistic. How she writes it, and how her words convey things to the reader…it just all is in harmony. Of course, that’s not the only thing that made this book great. Let me tell you, I haven’t read a book like this in a long long time… I felt sad, and happy, and extremely frustrated while reading this book. The emotions I felt, and the twists and turns that made them happen – I can’t even explain.

Now here, my friends…is a rare moment indeed, so brace yourselves……… I GIVE THIS BOOK A 5 OUT OF 5.  Dinga Linga LING!`

And there you have it folks, a 5/5. Now, Clare has a new series coming out called something about clocks. Here is her website if you want to learn more. http://cassandraclare.com/cms/home

*ahem* YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK. Chow Mr. Cow,

MRR

The Seventh Tower by Garth Nix

Hmmm. Summer summer summer = reading reading reading. So be prepared! It's just a warning. >:] This is the series that I stopped reading because I liked 'Marked' better, but that actually wasn't the case by the end of this book. OH and lucky for you guys, this book had three volumes in it, so now you actually do get more than just the first part. How nice.

Tal has always lived in a world of darkness, and it has never been any different for him. He goes to the Lectorium like all the other good little boys and he learns the ways of the Chosen and how to pay proper respect. But when his father goes missing and his mother gets sick, Tal makes a decision that will test both his beliefs and knowledge. He climbs one of his towers to get a powerful Sunstone to save him and his family, but he is cornered by a dangerous guard, and falls off the tower - outside of the castle, and into a strange icy world.
With no food, water, or strength. Tal has to figure out a way to get back into the castle, and save his family from the destiny that they face.

I’m going to tell you this right off the bat – this series starts extremely slow. Because this is a whole new world, that is really hard to understand, there is a lot of explaining things and learning how the characters live and thing and what they believe. I was so confused during most of the first volume that I had to take a break before starting again. Another things that made the whole book a bit hard to read was the amount of creatures or monsters that the main characters encountered. The author made very detailed descriptions and it was hard to follow along, because while reading you’re trying to relate to the animals that we have in out world. It throws you off.

The writing style wasn’t outstanding, but it was pretty good. I don’t think that Garth Nix is the kind of author that focuses on his style of writing, he just tries to get the point across and that’s obviously one of the important things too.

Okay, now for the praise. The world that the author imagined and wrote about is amazing. I absolutely am in love with the way the people there live, and how two types of people see each other because of their ancestors stories. When you read this, you will definitely wonder about how it would feel to be there, living how they lived and seeing what they see. Throughout the first three volumes, things start to connect and you learn more and more until the point of excitement! I’m jealous that he created this world…..and that I didn’t.

This book was pretty darn good, and I actually am going to go out and look for the next three volumes. (Once I finish the other twenty or so book sitting on my shelf.) I’m really serious about a lot of reading this summer!!!

I will give this a 3.5 (It would have been higher but the first part was bleeeh.)

http://www.garthnix.com/ Check out this guys website….it has writing advice and a list of his books and stuff. PRETTY cool. Oh, and before I go, I have one questions. Does my usual, ‘Chow for now’ annoy you? Because when I read it I get really irritated.

Chow Mr. Cow,

MRR

Marked by P.C. Cast + Kristin Cast

WOWSA. I got more books from my friends, and this was the first out of three. I just started reading the first chapter because I was bored, but then I loved it so much that I had to keep going! I even kept reading it while I was still halfway through a different book! (That was a first) I think there is about 6 in the series now, I can hardly believe it. Mwaahahahahahaaaaaaaa. Yeah. This is one of those books that is about vampires….that all of the Twilight fan girls read just to see if there is anybody in this book like Edward Cullen. For future notice, THERE IS NOT. So, let’s begin.

Zoey has always known about the existence of vampires – just like everybody. But she also had always been just another human, trying to live her life and hoping that she wouldn’t be tracked and marked. But, a tracker does mark her and she learns to leave her old life behind and except her fate – as a vampire fledging at the House Of Night.

Little does she know, she is more powerful than any other normal fledging seen before, and she must use her power and the knowledge that her Grandmother gave to her, to figure out an unsolved mystery lying deep within the school walls.

Let me tell you something….I could barely put this book down, and thinking back – I don’t even get why, The story was very gradual and it wasn’t intense at all, but the combined writing style of mother and daughter authors is really great! Not only do you get the experienced writing of an older person, but then you also get the perspective of somebody younger, which is important in a book that is for teenagers. I actually loved the writing style, it was so great. They inserted things in brackets after the main character thought of something funny or immature, like this. (hee hee) It was just FUN!

The novel didn’t focus on much character development or anything like that, but this is only the first book out of a long series, so I can understand if there wasn’t much character development. Zoey didn’t seem like a super realistic character, but I think that might be because compared to her friends in the House Of Night, – which were all very cliché – she was very average, with not much stereo typical categories, etc etc.

To be honest, i think that they could have spent more time on the cover. Again, I know it’s only the first book but COME ON. The image is blurry and kind of ugly, and I don’t even get what is going on with her shoulder or back or whatever the thing is beneath her head. Just go to chapters and look at the book, and you can see the blur and how bad the fade is on the girl in the front. I wouldn’t be so mean if I didn’t know that they spent way more time on the other covers in the rest of the series.

Another thing that kind of bothered me was the rituals they did. I like rituals in books, they really add on to the effect of the story and of course, they are always important and essential – but I hate it when they are really long. It’s super easy to get bored when they are doing rituals in this book, because there are two that are extremely  long and you don’t even want to read it… so subconsciously you aren’t even digesting the information. You know what I mean, right?

Anywho, I give this book a 4 out of 5, I really liked it. 

 

Here is the official site. (Well, it looks pretty official.) http://www.houseofnightseries.com/

There yah go! I’m definitely DONE. This one was pretty long, which makes me happy. >:]

Chow for now,

MRR

Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard

Hello kiddies.

Oh boy that was kind of creepy. Well, on the topic of my normally weird opening sentences, I would like to say that I enjoyed this book, and I also have some trivia on it because I know that I can get somewhat boring sometimes. I am sure that most of you know, there is a TV show that is being aired in about 6 days, (which is exciting) but the idea of this book was actually supposed to be a TV show at first, but then they got Sara Shepard to write it in a book series. Interesting right? It was supposed to be a sort of ‘Desperate Housewives’ but instead with teenagers. Huh. Anywho, I shall get on with this ‘report’ and at my nice little picture, okay?

 Spencer, Emily, Aria, and Hanna all have secrets, all of which they have trusted in their closest friend Alison. When Ali suddenly goes missing, the girls can’t help but feel a bit relieved – at least their secrets were safe. But years later, when their lives are different and they are separated, the girls receive taunting messages signed by a mysterious ‘A’.

Was it another practical joke, or is Alison still alive? And worse – was she going to tell their deepest secrets, to everybody they were trying to hide them from?

The voice the author had in this book was very fun, and made the book a delight to read. This novel isn’t different from any other mystery with creepy notes and emails being sent to teenage girls, but some how that makes it much easier to read, and a little more fun. This was only the first book in the series, and I was already trying to guess who ‘A’ was, even though I know the ‘A’ will probably change throughout the series, just to make everything more confusing you know?

As a teenager myself, I could relate to most of the problems that the girls were facing, because this book doesn’t only talk about the disappearance of Alison, but also about what teenage girls go through, with their families, friends, and partners. I think that any teenage girl could relate to one quality from one of the girls, and it’s sort of comforting when you know that they go through the same sort of things too, no matter how much more extreme things are.

I don’t usually like books where all the characters are doing different things, and each chapter was about a different one of them, but I thought that the way that things were written really helped, and the way that they were previously friends contributed too.

I will give this book, a 4. 

Alright, I’m already on my next book, so a new review should be coming sometime soon, (hopefully). After that, it’s mostly second books in series, so yeah – too bad for you. >:]

Chow for now,

MRR