i'm da party poopa

“The Devil in Silver” by Victor LaValle

3.5/5

My review: 

Although this is a well-written book (with the expected amount of mistakes before editing), and while I was heavily interested in the story, I couldn’t bring myself to give it more than 3 stars. The random switching between POVs was unnecessary, I felt, and gave me the impression—especially at the end—that the author was trying to bide his time for some reason. Of course that increased my anticipation, but it made me a little irritated as well. Who cares about this rat’s life story? Not me! (Or at least, not in this book.) Then there was the case of the ending—the big reason I didn’t give this book a higher rating. I liked the way the book ended, but at the same time, it was too expected. The writing also felt very rushed, which made it hard to get through the last chapter. Finally, my biggest pet peeve of all was The Devil. I wanted this book to be a thriller, but unfortunately, was very disappointed with the antagonist.

Grow Up by Ben Brooks

4/5

My review:

I liked the book because, even though at times I scoffed at the character’s immaturity, that’s what happens when you’re a teenager—you’re immature and you do stupid things. Plus, there wouldn’t really be a story if the character never did anything stupid, right? I was really surprised at how well-written the book was at times. Although not a deep book, it was hilarious, and the writing swept me into Jasper’s world and left me nostalgic for my own risk-taking adolescence. However, near the end the writing seemed almost sloppy and choppy, like the author was trying quickly to get the book finished. I didn’t like that abrupt change of pace—that’s really my only complaint.

5/5

My review:

I’m not usually into stories under this genre, but I’m so glad I followed my gut and kept reading! For one, never once was I ever bored by what was going on. Two, in conjunction with that, there were a lot of nice twists and surprises to keep you going. And finally, I loved the humor—mostly Clark’s. Even though with some of the jokes you can tell this is a book geared mainly towards men, I absolutely loved the mystery/action of it all.

“I Have Iraq in My Shoe” by Gretchen Berg

4/5

My review:

Full of humor, this book definitely perked me up during finals week. While it’s probably not rated very high on the scale of a travel guide, if you’re a Sex in the City kind of girl who has a passion for collecting shoes and toying with the idea of finding a soul mate in a foreign land, then yes, by all means, read this book. And for anyone looking for a travel guide, might I suggest giving up and reading this book instead? You’ll laugh far more often, learn a couple cities’ names, and multiple ways to say “Thank you.” All very important information. You might even find a friend along the way—a friend by the name of Gretchen, a travel guide who can point you to the best shoe sale and the best overpriced cafe.

Skinnydipping by Bethenny Frankel

3/5

My review:

Considering it’s basically a fictional version of Bethenny’s life, I liked the book. However, the contest section was extremely long, which is understandable since that’s what most of the book is about, but on the other hand, did we really need to know what type of dessert she decided to put on the menu? The one big flaw of the book (for me), and the reason I didn’t give it a higher rating was because of how obsessive the character is about her weight. As someone in recovery of an eating disorder, this was not the best thing to read, and in fact, took a lot of willpower for me to continue reading. Fortunately, she eventually eases off the, “Wow, I just won’t eat for a week!” binge later in the book which made for a much better read.
If you’re looking for something as witty as Bethenny Frankel, with details about her life mixed into a pot of fiction, this would be a good book to read. I particularly loved the ending, and the very last sentence gave me goosebumps. 

I just finished the book “Courtney Comes Clean” by Maer Roshan. 

3.5/5

My review from Goodreads:

I’m going to keep this review short and simple: I liked the book. Until I realized how short it was and how much the author left frayed. I felt like I had become friends with Courtney with the interview narrating. After reading the book, I did a bit of research on Courtney which I otherwise would have never gone into, which was a bit of a challenge but interesting all the same. What can I say? She’s an interesting person who does and says interesting things. I share her love for fashion and men, and to be honest, I wouldn’t mind talking to her even if it DID require bipolar Twitter conversations (I’m not using bipolar here as a stigma—I’m using it because Courtney could very well have bipolar disorder). Enough said. If you’re interested in Courtney, more so than Kurt or their daughter, then give this a read. If anything, you might learn something you wouldn’t have pegged to be attributed to Courtney.

(via coprophagic-deactivated20120427)

“Voices of the Dead” by Peter Leonard

4.5/5

You can read my review here

“Filaria” by Brent Hayward

4/5

The first thing I noticed was how high the diction was. A lot of the words are archaic, adding to the tone of the book. Some of the words are just weird. And some of the words are made up. Everything you could ask for in a sci-fi novel! The grammar was impeccable, and I absolutely love this writer’s style. Even though I’m not typically interested in description pertaining to environment or place, it’s almost impossible to understand sci-fi without understanding the world the characters are living in (or in this case, worlds?) A lot of the metaphors also caught me off guard, but in a good way. Most were so original that I literally had to sit there in a silence for a few moments to completely absorb what I had just read. 

Read the rest of my review here

“A Greyhound of a Girl” by Roddy Doyle

4/5

Loved this one. I’ll post my favorite quotes from it whenever it’s released. 

You can read my review here

Harbor (2011) by John Ajvide Lindqvist

“From the author of the international and New York Times bestseller Let the Right One In (Let Me In) comes this stunning and terrifying book which begins when a man’s six-year-old daughter vanishes.One ordinary winter afternoon on a snowy island, Anders and Cecilia take their six-year-old daughter Maja across the ice to visit the lighthouse in the middle of the frozen channel. While the couple explore the lighthouse, Maja disappears — either into thin air or under thin ice — leaving not even a footprint in the snow. Two years later, alone and more or less permanently drunk, Anders returns to the island to regroup. He slowly realises that people are not telling him all they know; even his own mother, it seems, is keeping secrets. What is happening in Domaro, and what power does the sea have over the town’s inhabitants?”

First of all, I really enjoyed the story. I wouldn’t necessarily classify it as “horror,” although it does intertwine a bit of the supernatural with fantasy into the realm of general fiction. Secondly, I was so surprised (pleasantly) that there were VERY few grammar mistakes—it seemed like the only mistakes I found were probably because the ideas were lost in translation. Finally, I have not read a book where the author uses so many metaphors to display ideas, descriptions, etc. of ordinary strength while turning them into something miraculous, something that can only make you shake your head at the clever wit of the author. One of the metaphors which really grabbed me had to do with absentmindedly admiring your fingers and how at point, you stare at them so long that it is not unlike being possessed. I really didn’t have any flaws with this book except for the fact that it was 500 pages—I think Lindqvist could have told the story in about 300 pages and it still would have dealt the same blow. Speaking of which, the ending was what I expected to happen and for once, I was glad of that, even if I did hold my breath the entire time.

4/5