David Golder by Irene Nemirovsky

7 Stars

*Please excuse the short review since I'm pressed for time* Even if the characters were unlikeable and the plot slightly depressing, it was so well-written that I couldn't put it down and I actually enjoyed it.

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

8 Stars*

This was my first Shannon Hale book and I only read it because my mother said it was one of her favorite books. It's not that I have anything against Shannon Hale. Who knows why it's taken me so long to read her books? Anyway, I really liked it and if Hale's other books are anything like this I will definitely be giving them a try. I liked the main character's philosophy of life (although I'm probably more like the princess in the story...) I also enjoyed the Asian-esque culture that Hale created. A fine read indeed. Also, check out Amanda's review of it here.

*I decided to start linking the "Meaning of Stars" post to my reviews so that I don't have to keep going back to read it every time*

Life...It's As Good As You Make It by Ron Woods

8 stars

This book became so big (in Japan) that I couldn't even find an image of it. Picture this:

• Thin blue hardcover book with a blue dust cover
• In big red letters it says "Life..."
• Then in yellow not-as-big letters it says "It's As Good As You Make It"
• Below that is a shadow of a person holding a trophy in the air with victory aglow. No, really, the trophy is all blingy like the sun is behind it just poking through, ie: victory aglow.

Now you have a picture of the book.

The subtitle of this book (yes, it has a subtitle. It has two apparently) is "practical advice on dealing with the past, enjoying the present, and preparing for the future". That is all the description it needs.

I'm a sap for books like this so when I saw it at my parent's house I decided to pick it up.

8 stars may be a little high if we're judging on literary mastery. What I really like about it, though, is its simplicity and lack of literary mastery. I've read lots of "self-help" books where the author feels a need to prove they are right or where they seem to be guilting the reader. This book does give suggestions but it never comes off as overbearing or preachy. I really like that instead of explaining concepts he uses fictitious life experiences to demonstrate the concepts in action. Even better, he uses a lot of the stories to promote questions, not necessarily to give answers. There were a lot of thought-provoking "ah-ha" moments in it.

Ron Wood is LDS and the book is very much written to an LDS audience. The concepts apply to those who are not LDS but he uses LDS jargon throughout. The simplicity of the writing, the short life stories throughout, the moments that made me review my internal motivations and challenges, and the fact that it is short (110 pages of large font) make it a book I hope to read again in a few years to garner new perspective.

Hooray!

There. Now we can all cheer because someone whose name does not start with the letter 'A' has posted sometime in the last 6 months.

See you in 6 months.

The Thirteenth Child by Patricia C Wrede

7 stars

Summary: Eff's father is a 7th son. Eff's twin brother, Lan, is the 7th son of a 7th son. As everyone knows, everything in life comes easier to them because they are blessed with good luck. Eff, on the other hand, is the 13th child which makes her unlucky and likely to grow up being evil and a menace. Eff's uncle never lets her forget it. She finally gets away from him when her family moves to the frontier of the wild west. There, near the Great Barrier magic spell set up by the Founding Fathers to keep Eastern Columbia (The United States) safe from magical creatures roaming the Old West, Eff struggles to overcome self-doubt and a concern that maybe her uncle was right.

Review: This is my first Patricia C Wrede book and I liked it. Its no masterpiece. It doesn't even have that fantastic of a plot and the climax is fairly short-lived. However, it is exactly what I expect a good book written for middle school kids to be. Its fun. Its creative. Its fairly fast-paced and entertaining to read.

Patricia Wrede creates an entire new history of the United States (known as Columbia in the book) where magic and all the magical creatures it brings with it have always existed. She doesn't try to explain that new history, she just acts as if its common knowledge and throws in enough information to make the world believable. Its that sort of writing that makes this book enjoyable. If I wanted to read amazing descriptions of a new world I would pick up Lord of the Rings.

Overall, the book was an enjoyable read written with creativity, good dialogue, and with interesting characters and interactions. Its a short read that would be good to pick up on a lazy summer weekend. Its something like 340 pages but with big font and easy language to follow.

Emma by Jane the Austen

6 stars (-2 because the first 300 pages are (almost) pointless)

We read this a few months ago so let me see if I can remember what its about. Rich girl thinks she's the bomb diggity. Rich girl is a brat. Rich girl tries to set up her not-rich friend with some rich dudes and fails miserably making everyone else's life...miserable...did I use that word already? Rich girl decides to be not so bratty but instead tells her not-rich friend off for liking on her man even though she would never admit he was her man. If you want to know the ending, you'll just have to read it. Better yet, watch the movie. This may be one of the few instances where I will say the movie was better.

Yeah, that about sums it up. If you can't tell, Emma is not my favorite person in the literary world. Although she is slightly higher up than Bella (of Twilight fame. As if there were any other Bella to confuse her for).

I think I like Jane Austen. She seems to be witty and writes great dialogue. However, I'm not too sure I want to read another Jane Austen book because Emma was SOOOOOOOO long. The story was alright and, as mentioned, the writing was good but every time Amanda or I started reading it just seemed to drag on...and on...and, you get the drift. In fact, when Amanda looked at our copy to tell me how long it is I was flabbergasted that its only 380-some-odd pages long. It seemed like there was so much more book while we were reading it.

I suppose that's my only complaint. It seems rather petty now that I look back on it but I very clearly remember feeling great disdain towards the first 300 pages of this book. When you're entrenched in 300 pages of blah to get to 80 pages of a good story that is well written, the clock ticks just a little bit slower. And that, my friends, is enough to knock poor Emma from her high horse.

Was I too harsh?