I've never tried writing book reviews of any kind, so bear with me through this one, even though these aren't as much reviews as they are just me rambling on about them.
This Star Won't Go Out: The Life and Words of Esther Grace Earl
I'll admit, I only started reading Esther's book because she was a friend of John Green, but once I started reading, I was hooked.
Esther Earl was a young girl with cancer, and in 2010 she died at the age of sixteen. The book consists of her journal entries, letters, and works of fiction she wrote herself. Oh, boy. There are few things I like better than reading published journals. The interesting thing was reading one that was written recently, rather than fifty+ years ago, like usual.
The journal and letters tell the journey of Esther's life, mixing tales about wanting her first kiss and watching Doctor Who with stories about Doctor's appointments and the fear of cancer and dying constantly looming around.
Esther left an impression on me by her mentions of how she wanted to make a difference in the world and her insightful thoughts about life and death and living. It was a wonderfully refreshing book. One that made and laugh, smile, sigh, and cry (as cliche as that sounds) and I loved it and Esther both.
The Giver
The movie's trailer was pretty cool, right? But the book wasn't quite what I was expecting from seeing that trailer.
It was even better.
In a world where there's no war or pain or fear, there are also no choices, and everyone is given their assigned role in the community at age twelve. Jonas is chosen as the new Giver, the person assigned to hold the memories of the pain and pleasures of life (In order to offer advice to the community). The current Giver must transfer the memories to Jonas, and I must say, those were my favorite parts of the book, because they felt so magical when Jonas was learning how exciting and happy and sometimes hurtful the world could be when there are choices and feelings.
But I'll admit, this book wasn't a true page turner for me until it got to the last few chapters, and then I was absolutely hooked, reading as fast as I could to get to the end and see how things would turn out.
Every Day
The first word that comes to mind to describe this book is just mesmerizing, and anytime I try to write a summary, it ends up being more confusing than it actually is (and it's already a little confusing). The book jacket says Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl. so basically, even though A's in a different body everyday, he has his own memories, and some of the memories belonging to that person, too, and the next day the person tends to remember the day A was there maybe a little hazy, but they don't remember A. His rules are not to interfere and not to get attached, but suddenly, in the body of a boy named Justin, he takes off with Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon, to the beach for an afternoon, making himself break both rules. Suddenly, A's falling in love with Rhiannon, and then he's interfering left and right, causing trouble for himself along the way.
Some scenes made me kinda uncomfortable, and it's certainly a very different book than I'm used to. I teared up once, and it made me put myself in his shoes a whole lot, which is usually a good sign that a book is pretty thought-provoking.
A Christmas Carol
I'd feel a bit silly describing this story, since most people have already heard, read, or seen it. Before reading it, I knew the story because of a Flintstones episode where they put on a play production of A Christmas Carol (Fred was Scrooge, of course) and since then, I've loved the story.
After reading David Copperfield earlier this year, and falling so in love with the story and writing style of Dickens, I knew this one was a must read, and it didn't disappoint. Finally reading the story in Dickens own words excited me, and rather than being bored by the lack of surprise because I had already heard the story a million times, I was excited anytime something happened because I knew what was coming next and I couldn't wait for it to happen.
This Star Won't Go Out: The Life and Words of Esther Grace Earl
I'll admit, I only started reading Esther's book because she was a friend of John Green, but once I started reading, I was hooked.
Esther Earl was a young girl with cancer, and in 2010 she died at the age of sixteen. The book consists of her journal entries, letters, and works of fiction she wrote herself. Oh, boy. There are few things I like better than reading published journals. The interesting thing was reading one that was written recently, rather than fifty+ years ago, like usual.
The journal and letters tell the journey of Esther's life, mixing tales about wanting her first kiss and watching Doctor Who with stories about Doctor's appointments and the fear of cancer and dying constantly looming around.
Esther left an impression on me by her mentions of how she wanted to make a difference in the world and her insightful thoughts about life and death and living. It was a wonderfully refreshing book. One that made and laugh, smile, sigh, and cry (as cliche as that sounds) and I loved it and Esther both.
The Giver
The movie's trailer was pretty cool, right? But the book wasn't quite what I was expecting from seeing that trailer.
It was even better.
In a world where there's no war or pain or fear, there are also no choices, and everyone is given their assigned role in the community at age twelve. Jonas is chosen as the new Giver, the person assigned to hold the memories of the pain and pleasures of life (In order to offer advice to the community). The current Giver must transfer the memories to Jonas, and I must say, those were my favorite parts of the book, because they felt so magical when Jonas was learning how exciting and happy and sometimes hurtful the world could be when there are choices and feelings.
But I'll admit, this book wasn't a true page turner for me until it got to the last few chapters, and then I was absolutely hooked, reading as fast as I could to get to the end and see how things would turn out.
Every Day
The first word that comes to mind to describe this book is just mesmerizing, and anytime I try to write a summary, it ends up being more confusing than it actually is (and it's already a little confusing). The book jacket says Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl. so basically, even though A's in a different body everyday, he has his own memories, and some of the memories belonging to that person, too, and the next day the person tends to remember the day A was there maybe a little hazy, but they don't remember A. His rules are not to interfere and not to get attached, but suddenly, in the body of a boy named Justin, he takes off with Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon, to the beach for an afternoon, making himself break both rules. Suddenly, A's falling in love with Rhiannon, and then he's interfering left and right, causing trouble for himself along the way.
Some scenes made me kinda uncomfortable, and it's certainly a very different book than I'm used to. I teared up once, and it made me put myself in his shoes a whole lot, which is usually a good sign that a book is pretty thought-provoking.
A Christmas Carol
I'd feel a bit silly describing this story, since most people have already heard, read, or seen it. Before reading it, I knew the story because of a Flintstones episode where they put on a play production of A Christmas Carol (Fred was Scrooge, of course) and since then, I've loved the story.
After reading David Copperfield earlier this year, and falling so in love with the story and writing style of Dickens, I knew this one was a must read, and it didn't disappoint. Finally reading the story in Dickens own words excited me, and rather than being bored by the lack of surprise because I had already heard the story a million times, I was excited anytime something happened because I knew what was coming next and I couldn't wait for it to happen.