Book Nerd Blog . com

The first time I went to New York City was back in May, when I went to see “How to Succeed…” with my mom. As soon as I stepped into Times Square, I was in love with it. There’s just something about all the tall buildings, crowds of people and the rush of traffic that I love. I live in a sort-of small town in New Jersey, so I guess that’s why I love the city so much. There’s a lot of farmland and deserted roadways around here. A few weeks ago, in early November, I went to New York City for the second time for my best friend’s birthday. We just walked around and shopped, just took in the city and its surroundings. It was so much fun.
I went to NYC again on Saturday with my family. We went to the Radio City Music Hall to see the Rockettes Christmas show. The Radio City Music Hall itself was beautiful; it was a lot bigger than I expected it to be. I thought the show itself was cute, and it kind of got everyone in that holiday mood. I have taken dance classes for about twelve years of my life, so I really liked the Rockettes. I like any theater performance, really. After we went out to lunch, my family and I got in a taxi and went to the 9/11 memorial. The memorial was nothing like I had expected it to be. There were two reflection pools/waterfalls, which took place in and represented where the two Twin Towers used to be. Seeing all of the names listed around the edges of the memorials was extremely emotional. I saw some people crying and there were roses placed by some names. It was just terribly heartbreaking.
On a lighter note, after we left the memorial we went to Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum. There were at least five floors filled with different wax models of famous celebrities. At first, it was quiet eerie, actually. The wax models looked so real, I thought they were actual people! I think there were a few times where I bumped into one of them and said “sorry” or “excuse me”. There were hundreds of different celebrities, ranging from Lady Gaga to Justin Bieber, Elvis and Marilyn Monroe, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, President Obama and Ernest Hemingway, and so much more.
My trip to New York City was so much fun and I had a great day with my family.

My Rating 3 stars

Just when it seemed impossible….I actually dislike a Chuck Palahniuk book. The book is about a song, the “culling” song and when this song is read aloud, whoever hears it dies. The main character is a journalism who is researching cases in which babies and young children have died because their parents read them the song before they went to bed. No one knows about the song besides a few people. Eventually, the main character starts using the song without purpose. He was basically killing people left and right: anyone who ticked him off or just got in his way. That’s basically as far as I got in the book. I just couldn’t go any further. It was so boring I didn’t even want to finish reading. It was also so confusing and it mentioned things – like ‘haunted’ houses and a retail business – I wasn’t even sure how those things fit in with the main plot (or what the main plot was, for that matter). I know, I say that ever Palahniuk book is confusing in the beginning, but for some reason I just couldn’t finish reading this one. This past month was really busy and I think what I needed was a book that was easy to read when I actually had time to read, and this just wasn’t doing it for me. I actually was intrigued by the plot, so I think I’ll eventually go back and read it again someday.

My Rating: 4 stars

*Don’t read if you haven’t read the previous book*

After Mia’s accident, she and Adam were on the rocks. She was accepted into Julliard and had a promising career playing the cello, and Adam’s band finally kicks it off with a hit album. Mia is off to New York and Adam lives in LA. Suddenly, Mia stops answering Adam’s phone calls, texts, and emails. Three years later, Adam is still brewing over why Mia randomly called it off when everything still seemed to be okay. His band, Shooting Star, was doing fantastically: they had another hit album – which Adam basically wrote himself and was basically all about Mia – and they were set to tour around the world. By chance, when Adam is New York by himself the couple gets back together again for one last night. As they explore Mia’s new home, New York, they reconnect and relive the past and open up to each other – and the future.
I’m so glad there was a sequel to If I Stay. I felt like we definitely needed to see how the accident and everything with Mia affected someone she loved and someone who loved her. Adam was the perfect main character for this book. He was only Mia’s boyfriend, but he loved her family too. It really shows how tragic events not only affect certain people, but the people around them too. The only thing I didn’t really like was the whole cliché ‘rock star who wants a normal life’ thing that was going on with Adam. He complains a lot about the paparazzi, groupies and interviews. It’s kind of over used and expected from a main character that is a ‘rock star’. But I also like that aspect, because it shows how two different people – Mia, a cellist, and Adam, a guy in a rock band – can be together and bond over their mutual, yet still somewhat different love for music. I think that is my favorite part of both of the two books, besides the fact that it is beautifully written. I love how music is a main component and it influences the all the characters differently.

My Rating: 5 stars

Devon was a fifteen year old, straight-A student and her school’s soccer star with Olympic dreams and was more mature than her own mother. That is, until ‘That Night’ happened. Everything changed so quickly. The night Devon gave birth in her bathroom, in panic and desperation she threw away her baby in the trash can outside her apartment. Now she’s in a juvenile detention center, charged with attempted murder. She could face a life in prison if she’s tried as an adult. But does Devon even deserve that punishment? All of our answers determine on whether you believe Devon’s story: she didn’t even know she was pregnant, and she was so buried in denial that she was even unable to recognize the obvious signs of pregnancy.
I think one of the main reasons I picked up this book in the first place was because of is extremely alarming topic. I mean, what other book could you say is about a teen mom who throws her baby away in the trash? There is seriously not many other books like it. Also, it’s on such a controversial topic, I just had to see where the author went with this one. At first, it was kind of hard to get into. I got really frustrated because Devon relived her story through flashbacks, and I just really wanted to know what happened. But in the end, I liked how Devon revealed her memories through flashbacks, because it kept me interested. This is definitely a book that gets you thinking. What would you have done if you were in Devon’s position? What would you think if you were her best friend or one of her classmates? Is what she did wrong? Did she plan on killing her baby? Throughout the story, I had an unbelievable amount of questions. Really, After is just an extremely complex and well thought out book.

My Rating: 2 stars

This review is definitely going to be difficult to write, because I really didn’t get that far into the book and it was really, really confusing. Okay, so first off, this book is written in second person (hence the title “You”). I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that was completely second person, and I definitely give Charles Benoit props for that because that couldn’t have been easy. But, I don’t know, it didn’t really do much for me. It was kind of hard to follow along and lost my interest easily. I think I just barely read 100 pages and not much happed. The description of the book didn’t tell much about the plot and I was really unsure of where the whole book was going. I guess it’s one of those books that you have to read all the way through to understand, and most of my favorite books are like that, but I couldn’t continue on with this one. “You” had gotten a lot of good reviews from other authors and readers, it just didn’t click for me. Maybe one day I’ll go back and read it again.

My Rating: 5 stars

Ingrid didn’t leave behind much. But after she took her own life at a young age, she left her journal to her best friend, Caitlin. Now Caitlin is alone, struggling to find hope and deal with the loss of her best friend. Caitlin relives moments from the past, good and bad, through Ingrid’s journal entries, photographs and drawings. Caitlin learns to broaden her horizons and embrace her talents. She encounters first love and realizes that her friendship didn’t die with Ingrid. Her memory will live on. She uses the journal as a tool and reaches out to all of those who loved Ingrid, showing that the best way you can move on is to talk about it.
I didn’t think I would like this book at first. I honestly just randomly picked it off a shelf at the library. But I’m so glad I did. I think we’re all so used to those books who focus mostly on the people who are suffering from depression and who are suicidal, and they never really tell the stories of how things like that effect the people around them who love them. This is why I thought this book was so intriguing and eye-opening. Caitlin’s point of view was unlike any other in books I’ve previously read. I couldn’t ever imagine what I’d do if I lost one of my close friends. It took me a while to figure out the title though. I think it has to do with Ingrid’s passion for photography. Like saying “hold still” before snapping a photograph. That’s all I could come up with. Although “Hold Still” had me struggling to hold back tears in the middle of English class, it’s one of those books that I will never forget.

My Rating: 4 stars

Misty Wilmot was once a promising young artist. Now she drinks too much and works as a waitress in a hotel. Her husband is in a coma after a suicide attempt. He was a contractor, and now his clients are threatening Misty with lawsuits over a series of mysterious and disturbing messages they’ve discovered on the walls of the houses he built and remodeled. When Misty’s inspiration and artistic talent finally returns, she finds herself a pawn of a large conspiracy that threatens many lives. Inspired and confused, Misty uses her artwork, her husband’s past and his weird messages to figure out exactly what’s going on.
I will admit: this was definitely not one of my favorite books by Chuck Palahniuk. There were points where I kind of get bored of what was going on and some parts where I honestly lost interest. The ending, as I expected, was confusing, but still made the novel better. The ending made up for all the parts in the middle that I didn’t like. It seems to me that Palahniuk likes repetitiveness. There were so many phrases and quotes used over and over. He used the phrase “Just for the record…” more times than I could count. I guess that’s one thing I like about him though; how he always makes connections with things in his books, even if it’s just simple phrases. While this is still an enjoyable novel, I’d definitely say it is not as good as Fight Club or Invisible Monsters.

Since I have survived my first few days and the first Monday of my sophomore year, I thought now would be a good time to discuss summer reading.
I’d have to say my two favorite authors this summer were definitely Chuck Palahniuk and Jennifer Brown.
I suggest Chuck Palahniuk to anyone who asks for books to read. Although his books are almost always confusing in the beginning, they always are worth it by the end. I don’t understand how he comes up with such intricate plotlines that always fit together and make sense by the end of the book, no matter how confused I was in the beginning. It’s simply amazing.
Read my review for Invisible Monsters and Fight Club.
Jennifer Brown is that kind of author who could probably write about anything and it would be good. I love her writing style and how she brings her characters to life. Bitter End and Hate List are two of my favorite books. Both of them had me hooked from the beginning. They are both also easy to relate to and life-like because they deal with real life situations.
Read my review for Bitter End and Hate List.
This year, I was required to read two books for my Honors English class. I read Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman and The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Climbing the Stairs was probably the first required summer reading book that I could actually tolerate, although it was the opposite for the Alchemist. I didn’t like it very much.
Read my review of Climbing the Stairs and The Alchemist.
Well, I hope you all had a lovely summer, and good luck this school year!
-Bri

What was your favorite book that you read this summer? Your least favorite? What did you read for your summer reading assignment? Leave a comment!

My Rating: 5 stars

You think you know someone, but really, all you see is the exterior. We only know two things about John: his name and that he has brown eyes. We don’t know where he lives or where he goes to school. We don’t know his favorite subject…if he even has one. Nor do we know his favorite book…We don’t know him at all. As we follow John along on his journey through his everyday life, we learn more and more about him – things that his mother doesn’t even know – and we learn about his struggle to simply survive. “How can anyone who’s fighting a secret battle for his life know anyone, really? And how can they know him?”
I honestly had a hard time writing a summary for this book. I feel like you really can’t sum it up into words, you just kind of have to read it. It is a fabulous book; I enjoyed every page of it. David Klass gives John such a unique voice and imagination. His voice pulled me in and kept me wanting more and more. By the end of the book it felt like he was a real person. You Don’t Know Me definitely has a great overall message. Remember, you really don’t know anyone…and they don’t know you.

A mash between a social networking site and an interactive Harry Potter game, Pottermore is definitely something every Harry Potter fan will enjoy.
I was lucky enough to be granted early entry into Pottermore, by answering one of the “magic quill questions” back in the beginning of August. I just recently got my welcome email two days ago.
I was so excited to finally be able to enter the site after waiting a month since I registered. Pottermore was definitely more than I thought it would be (hence its name). I wasn’t expecting to be able to cast spells and brew potions. I originally had though that we’d just be going along with the books’ plotlines and learning new things that J.K. Rowling had never told us before. Along with casting spells and brewing potions, we get to collect things along the journey, hopefully getting house points while we’re at it. We actually get to experience everything that Harry did: going to Diagon Alley, buying our school supplies, buying a pet of our choice, and getting our wand (after taking a seven question quiz). My wand is alder wood with phoenix feather, ten and three quarter inches, surprisingly swishy.
And finally, what every Potterhead has wanted: we get to be sorted. The Sorting Hat itself definitely had a huge role in the Harry Potter series, especially first years like ourselves. After answering a number of questions, I was sorted into Ravenclaw, which I was quite happy with. Though, there are some Pottermore users that were sorted into a house they didn’t want, and aren’t very happy with the Sorting Hat.
I absolutely love the “New by J.K. Rowling” sections you can find while exploring Pottermore. It’s so interesting to read what she thinks about characters, how she came up with characters, and learn a bunch of things she never told us before. I think it’s great that she’s doing this for all of us, all of her fans.
This version of Pottermore is still the beta, so its early-access users are welcome to leave a comment saying what they liked the best, what they’d change, what they want to see in the upcoming adventures, etc. I think the only thing I’d change would be to add some music or sound to the chapters; maybe some music from the soundtrack or maybe voices of the characters or noises of the animals and places that you are in while exploring the chapter. Also, I spent time collecting things for house points in the first few chapters before I was sorted, and after I was sorted they didn’t count for any house points. I feel like it was a waste to put them there if they don’t count for anything.
Honestly, I can’t wait for the next books in Pottermore to open up, because for now only the Sorcerer’s Stone is open for the beta users. In October, Pottermore will be open for all to register. Don’t forget to check out the Pottermore Insider (http://insider.pottermore.com/) for the latest Pottermore updates.
…I think it’s safe to say that I believe Pottermore will take over my social life (what was left of it anyway).

Have you gotten into Pottermore? Are you still waiting for your welcome email? Will you register in October? Leave me a comment!