Review: Eleanor and Park

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor is the new girl in town. She has bright red hair and dresses in old, baggy men's clothing. Park is the only Asian in school, and is the unfortunate person who sits with Eleanor on the bus. For weeks the two sit next to each other without talking and keeping a good amount of space between them. Then, Park notices that when Eleanor is looking down, she is not staring into her lap. She is reading Park's comic books.

The relationship between the two quickly grows. Eleanor cannot stop thinking about Park, and Park can't get enough of Eleanor. They share comics, swap music, and feel that the other's hand is the most amazing thing to touch. The two hang out after school and roll their eyes lovingly at one another. The relationship is not all happy, though. Eleanor is made fun of in school, which not only hurts her, but angers Park to the point of fighting. Also, Eleanor hides that her stepfather is emotionally abusive towards her, and is physically abusive to her mother, from Park. The abuse from all corners eventually takes its toll, and Eleanor asks Park to help her escape.

Eleanor and Park was full of sarcasm and teenage angst. It was not so over-the-top to be annoying, though, and I did end up liking both characters. The book goes back and forth between Eleanor and Park's perspectives, which gives readers a chance to get to know both of them and see what each thinks about different situations. For instance, Eleanor was horrified when she had to leave gym still wearing her uniform (her clothes were flushed as a prank), and even more horrified that Park saw her in the hallway in said gym uniform. However, Park was, put simply, turned on. How fun!

Looking back on what I just wrote, the book may seem kind of annoying. But it wasn't. I promise. I liked it and couldn't put it down. Well, I did, but I was hungry. Anyway, I liked reading about the title characters and their complicated high school love. It had a bit of a Perks of Being A Wallflower feel, possibly because of the descriptions of confusion caused by teenage romance (Does he/she like me? I can't believe he/she likes me. What they hell would he/she ever like me?).

I don't think I'm being very convincing on the subject of my liking this book and why someone should read it. My words are not working. That mean that you (the few and the proud who read this) should just go read the book and draw your own conclusions. I enjoyed it. The end.

Review: Number the Stars

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

Annamarie Johansen and Ellen Rosen are best friends. They are growing up in Copenhagen during World War 2, and there are Nazi soldiers on every street corner. This is becoming increasingly difficult for the Rosen family, who are Jewish. When a store owned by a Jewish family is closed, the Rosens and Johansens become worried, but when they find out that soon all Jews will be 'relocated,' the families know it is time to take action.

Review: Montefiore's Goddaughter

Montefiore's Goddaughter by Elisabeth Brooks

 Montefiore's Goddaughter  by Elizabeth Brooks is about the adventures of Abigale Crabtree. The thing that is different about Abigale's adventures, though, is that they do not stop when she falls asleep. In fact, that is when the real adventures begin: in the dream world of Traumund.

Since Abigale was little, she has always been able to escape to her dream world. She has a group of friends, made up of humans and animals, and her stuffed bear Boris. The friends congregate in a magical tree that keeps them safe from the giant cannibals who roam the dream forest, and is a place full of stories and fun. That is, until an evil creature that Abigale did not dream up enters her world, and demands she surrender herself to the King of Traumund.

Review: Would You Eat Your Cat?

Would You Eat Your Cat? by Jeremy Strangroom

I won this book from a Goodreads.com giveaway. I entered said giveaway because of the book title and cover photo. That little cat is so cute! But when I got the book and saw that it had to do with ethics, I started thinking I should stop picking my books based on the cuteness of the cover and actually read the description. However, everything turned out okay in the end. 

Would You Eat Your Cat: Key Ethical Conundrums and What They Tell You About Yourself was a little book with a lot of punch. It asked insightful questions about morals and ethics, gave a kind of humorous scenario for readers to chew on, and then provided different ways to look at the situation along with real world scenarios. I discussed some of the ethical conundrums with others and it sparked a bit of discussion. Everyone liked the pictures.

Books that I Don't Like

As I was running today, I was thinking about the books I have been reviewing for this blog. For the most part, they are positive reviews; not many about books I didn't like. So I thought about it, and I realized that either I don't review books I did not like, or I just don't finish reading them. Life is too short to read books that one does not enjoy. This happened to me as I was reading The Witch's Daughter by Paula Brackston. I got a little over 100 pages into it and I realized that picking up the book felt more like a chore than entertainment. I didn't connect with the characters, I felt the plot was slow and boring, and I really did not enjoy the dialogue. It annoyed me. So I ditched it. Plain and simple. After I came to this realization (most of my realizations and best day dreams happen when I'm running), I decided to post about 5 books that I have read, or started to read, and did not like.

Double Review: Insurgent and Quiet

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World
That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cai

Today I am doing something I have not done before: reviewing two books in one post. The reason is that I have a lot of books to catch up on as I was reading Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain and Insurgent, the second book in the "Divergent Trilogy" by Veronica Roth, I kept drawing connections between the two. 

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

The two books are very different. Quiet is a non-fiction book about, well, the power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking. What initially drew me to this book is that I am an introvert, and I often feel that my extroverted peers are going to be more successful than me simply because they talk a lot. Cain does reinforce that yes, talking loud and fast is important in our culture, but there are many successful people who are introverted. Also, many times introverts are more productive and become more successful than their extroverted co-workers. Some amazing people that I share my introvertedness with are (in no particular order):

J.K. Rowling
Bill Gates
Sir Isaac Newton
Those guys who created Google
Albert Einstein
Rosa Parks
Mahatma Gandhi
Al Gore
Eleanor Roosevelt

Review: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

I had no idea what The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz was about. I read it because I needed a book for a reading challenge and I happened to get this one for free from World Book Night. You may ask, “Why didn’t you just read the blurb on the back of the book?” Well, instead of a blurb there was a list of books that were featured in World Book Night. Then you may ask, “Why didn’t you look at reviews online, or the GoodReads description?” and to that I would answer, “‘Cause I didn’t.”

That being said, I liked it.