Water for Elephants

Greg and I just happened to be at the movies one Friday night and we saw the trailer for Water for Elephants and I noticed that it was based on the novel. For some reason I love to watch movies that are made after books. However, if I see the movie, I insist on reading the book beforehand. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen was one that I knew I was going to have to read just because the trailer alone looked awesome. Turns out the book wasn't half bad either. It's based in the 1920's and it follows the lives of those working on the traveling circus, The Benzini Brothers, the Most Spectacular Show on Earth. The story and detail about the lives of people who live on a train for months at a time was fascinating. The book itself bounces back and forth from the circus life to Jacob, our lead, who is now in a rest home reliving the good ol' days of the circus life. I enjoyed the story and miss the circus now that the book is over. So want to see Ringling now! While the story itself was good, just a word of warning, the book contains some graphic language and some rather risqué moments depicting rough circus life. Now that you're aware, it made for a great read and I love the idea of the story being fiction but non-fiction at the same time as it has basis on real life circus events. Enjoy!
♥B

Butterface

I knew the term butterface sounded familiar to me somehow. I remember overhearing a couple of guys in my highschool say that girls with really pretty bodies but ugly faces were called a butterface. Meaning everything was pretty but-her-face. Anger. Wow. Some boys can be so cruel. That is actually the basic of this short story I read today. Butterface, by Gwen Hayes is about a sweet girl, Beth, who was born with hemifacial microsamia, a disease that can cause facial disfigurment. She thinks everyone only see's the scars but in reality she was born with such a mild case that no one but her really notices it. Then along comes Lucky, a soccer god on his way to great things his first year of college. He happens to hang out at the local diner where Beth works and they become friends. In a couple of weeks all of Lucky's soccer buds are hosting a Dog Dinner. A dinner all of the soccer newbies have to attend. The guy who brings the ugliest date wins a prize. Really guys? Anyways, Lucky somehow gets roped into taking Beth, but he begins to fall for the real her but can't get out of the dinner. Short but very sweet story of two people learning to be the person they have always been inside and healing old wounds. Check it out. Good read!

The Maze Runner

 The Maze Runner by James Dashner became a quick favorite! A friend of my mom's actually suggested I try this book out and I loved it! It was a quick pace book that sucked my in from page one and those are always my favorite! It had a great hook and the plot was crazy fun. Thomas wakes up in a strange place only to soon discover that he is among 50 or so other boys who woke up the exact same way. Boys have been showing up once a month in what they refer to as "the glade" for almost two years now. Outside the safety of the giant stone walls that surround them is a giant maze that seems to go on and on. The boys are desperate to find a way out and back to whatever life they came from. In the maze there are some crazy scary machine like slugs that track and kill anyone left in the maze. Thomas decides to become a "runner" (those who track the maze looking for a way out) he becomes determined to solve it and help the other boys. Soon after he starts though, he starts getting a few memories back or maybe they are just dreams that he may be responsible for getting himself into this place as well as all the other boys too. It's chuck full of suspense and I'm dying for the third book to come out. Check out the sequel in The Scorch Trials while we all await the third book release in the fall of this year.

His Eyes

If you're looking for a quick read that is sweet and simple, His Eyes, by Renee Carter is a great choice. Amy desperate to make money for the college of her dreams takes on a babysitting job for the summer. The first day she finds out he is actually her age and is blind. An awkward and angry start for the two turns into something beautiful but just in time for the crazy, although gorgeous, ex girlfriend to show up. First love see's beyond the outer beauty. (see's...haha) Anyways, it's cute and I like it.