Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac

Memoris of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin

Book Description: Diving to save a camera from a fall down a flight of stairs, high school junior Naomi Sukuse wakes with no memory of the last four years. Naomi must remember who she was and figure out who she wants to be in this story of love and second chances.


My Thoughts:
This was a quick read I just happened to come across when browsing through the library. I liked the story and it was an easy read in a weekend to past the time. Nothing super great. I'm just always fascinated by stories of memory loss and the new way of living for people with amnesia. Just imagine starting over and relearning everything. Nuts. There is also a really sweet best friendship between two characters that I enjoyed seeing play out. Love those sweet friend story lines in books. Need a quick easy read? There ya go.

The Help

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Book Description:What perfect timing for this optimistic, uplifting debut novel (and maiden publication of Amy Einhorn's new imprint) set during the nascent civil rights movement in Jackson, Miss., where black women were trusted to raise white children but not to polish the household silver. Eugenia Skeeter Phelan is just home from college in 1962, and, anxious to become a writer, is advised to hone her chops by writing about what disturbs you. The budding social activist begins to collect the stories of the black women on whom the country club sets relies and mistrusts enlisting the help of Aibileen, a maid who's raised 17 children, and Aibileen's best friend Minny, who's found herself unemployed more than a few times after mouthing off to her white employers. The book Skeeter puts together based on their stories is scathing and shocking, bringing pride and hope to the black community, while giving Skeeter the courage to break down her personal boundaries and pursue her dreams.

My Thoughts: Love at first read! I now have a new favorite on my shelves of best books ever. I really enjoyed the story from start to finish. One of my favorite things about a good book is all the detail the author can give on certain subjects. I loved the way Stockett would describe one of the maids cooking and I started craving caramel cakes after reading it. This book takes time to develop the details as well as the story. It alternates writing between three different perspectives and I loved the format. I loved being able to see some of the same events from totally different angles. It kept things entertaining. I would highly recommend this book. Awesome read!

North of Beautiful

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

Book Description:
Terra's body is very nearly perfect, except for the port-wine birthmark on her left cheek, which several surgeries have failed to remove. It is the teen's final semester of high school and she looks forward to college where she can study art and escape from her bullying, verbally abusive father. Over the Christmas holidays, Terra and her mother get into a car accident and meet Jacob, a Goth Chinese boy with a cleft lip, and his adoptive mother. The women immediately strike up a supportive friendship, while Terra and Jacob grow close. When Terra's brother, who lives in Shanghai, sends her and her mother tickets to visit, and Jacob's mother wants to try to track down Jacob's birth mother, they decide to travel together. But what about Erik, Terra's enamored but slightly clueless boyfriend? Headley's ambitious novel is written in a beautifully crafted style that flows seamlessly. The characters travel to China, where Jacob, Terra, and their mothers begin to confront their insecurities. Terra and Jacob are flawed, complex, and memorable characters. The message that true beauty and strength come from within is dominant, but this is also a moving and satisfying story in its own right.

My Thoughts:  I really enjoyed this book. Another break from the usually fantasy or sci-fi that I enjoy, this book was quite refreshing. I adored the characters and seeing their development over such hard trials life had thrown at them. It was a real feel good book watching the characters overcome things while seeing the relationship with others come to life. It's a pretty quick read with a sweet plot that I would definitely recommend!

Something Borrowed

Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin


Book Description: Rachel White is the consummate good girl. A hard-working attorney at a large Manhattan law firm and a diligent maid of honor to her charmed best friend Darcy, Rachel has always played by all the rules. Since grade school, she has watched Darcy shine, quietly accepting the sidekick role in their lopsided friendship. But that suddenly changes the night of her thirtieth birthday when Rachel finally confesses her feelings to Darcy's fiance, and is both horrified and thrilled to discover that he feels the same way. As the wedding date draws near, events spiral out of control, and Rachel knows she must make a choice between her heart and conscience. In so doing, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren't always neat, and sometimes you have to risk everything to be true to yourself.

My Thoughts: Ok, so Sutton and I were in the theater with our husbands one movie night and we saw the trailer for this movie. Once I saw it was based on the novel, I had to read it. If you weren't aware, I love reading books turned into movies. I prefer to read the book first, they are 95% of the time way better! Do I even need to go into how lame the Twilight movie was....? Alas, I own them all. Back on point though. While this movie looked like a sweet Rom Com that Sut and I would surely be seeing without the husbands, the book was hugely disappointing. I was stressed the majority of the time reading it. The whole book is about Rachel who is in love with her Best friends fiance, Dex. I do not handle reading stories that are fully based around affairs, especially with your best friends beau. So I was annoyed and not satisfied with the ending. I'm still trying to decide whether the movie is even worth seeing. I ♥ the actors in it so that might save it. Who knows.  If they follow the same story line, it'll probably be super lame. Anyways, my thoughts... I wouldn't recommend it. Bummer.

Book of a Thousand Days

Book of a Thousand Days

Book Description:

When Dashti, a maid, and Lady Saren, her mistress, are shut in a tower for seven years for Saren’s refusal to marry a man she despises, the two prepare for a very long and dark imprisonment.
As food runs low and the days go from broiling hot to freezing cold, it is all Dashti can do to keep them fed and comfortable. But the arrival outside the tower of Saren’s two suitors—one welcome, and the other decidedly less so—brings both hope and great danger, and Dashti must make the desperate choices of a girl whose life is worth more than she knows.
With Shannon Hale’s lyrical language, this forgotten but classic fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm is re imagined and reset on the central Asian steppes; it is a completely unique retelling filled with adventure and romance, drama and disguise.

My Review:
It wasn't until about half way through did I even realize that this book was rewritten from the original Brothers Grimm fairy tales. I thought it sounded slightly familiar as it was sort of a cross between Rapunzel, The Prince and the Pauper and Mulan. I enjoyed it enough. It wasn't quite as exciting as I'd hoped but it would be but it was one that I had to at least finish to see how it ended.

Hollowland - the first book in the young adult dystopian series The Hollows..

Book Description: "This is the way the world ends - not with a bang or a whimper, but with zombies breaking down the back door."

Nineteen-year-old Remy King is on a mission to get across the wasteland left of America, and nothing will stand in her way - not violent marauders, a spoiled rock star, or an army of flesh-eating zombies.

My Review: LOVED IT!! OK, it may just be the fact that I'm an odd kinda gal' that loves me some horror movies and what's more classic than zombies?? I have seen just about every zombie movie so I was super excited to learn that the same person who wrote the Trylle series wrote a zombie book too! Even more exciting is that it's a series called The Hollows. This was only the first book but I loved it. I love seeing how people learn to survive in a world wide pandemic situation getting really creative with the ways the deal with the zombie. A strain of the rabies virus has started to mutate humans and turn them into ravenous monsters. When almost the whole world population is wiped out, those few survivors fight to find a way to save their race. It even involves pet lions who rather enjoy killing zombies once all there Las Vegas show owners are killed off. OK, try not to think me crazy for loving this book, but it was such an entertaining and suspenseful read. Trust me, just try it!!

Ascend

Ascend...The final chapter in the Trylle Trilogy...

Book Description: With a war looming on the horizon, Wendy’s fate seems sealed. But everything she sacrificed might be in vain if she can’t save the ones she loves.

Her whole life has been leading up to this, and it’s all coming to an end.

My Review: Sadly, the book had to come to an end. But it was an awesome end at that. Sometimes it can be a disappointment how a trilogy ends but I think Amanda Hocking did well with the series. All the loose ends were tied up. I hate not knowing what happens to some characters so she did great and addressing where everyone was at in the end. It came down to a well written climax with a happy ending. My kind of book. I would suggest the series to those who love fantasy but are a little tired of all the werewolves and vampires. This book was a refreshing take on another not so popular creature! Enjoy!