Quote of the Day- The Hunger Games

Hello.

Quote of the Day: " 'You are not leaving me here alone,' I say. Because if he dies, I'll never really go home, not really. I'll spend the rest of my life in this arena trying to think my way out." 

This quote is from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I like this book, and I think this dystopian world is really fascinating, and the whole idea of the hunger games, making children kill each other is a jarring and disgusting thought. The story, told by a contestant in the games, Katniss Everdeen, is a scary, emotional journey that has you reeling at every turn.  This quote is near the end of the book, and Katniss is saying this to Peeta, the other District Eleven contestant. She makes the crowd believe that she loves him, but the question that the audience is always asking is 'Is she really in love with him? Is she just making up all of these excuses and reasons for the pretend love to cover up the truth?' I personally was asking these questions and practically begging her to give it up and admit to loving Peeta. Peeta is an awesome individual, he sort of reminds me of Ian from The Host by Stephenie Meyer, because they are both kind, handsome individuals who fall in love with the heroine. Peeta will stand by Katniss in everything and will do anything to make sure that she is safe.
I love Peeta, and think he is just what Katniss needs. However, some people do disagree with me and think that Katniss should end up with Gale, who is her best friend. Before Katniss was selected to be in the Hunger Games,  Gale and Katniss would go out every day after school and go hunting for different things, they enjoyed their time together. Gale noted that the only time Katniss ever smiles is when they are in the woods.

I give this book a four star because I think the story is definitely unique, and the reader becomes very emotionally attacked to the characters which shows good character development. My favorite part is when Katniss realizes that she doesn't want to be with out the boy with the bread. (If you want to understand - read the book!)

xoxo.
Miss Reader

Psych Major Syndrome by Alicia Thompson

Hello.

I just finished reading Psych Major Syndrome by Alicia Thompson. I really enjoyed the way this book flowed, however, I think that the heroine Leigh could have figured out her feelings a little bit more quickly than she did.

Quick Summary: Leigh is a girl who goes to Stiles college and is in love with her high school sweetheart of one year, Andrew. She is a psychology major who rooms with Ami an art major who seems to understand many things despite not knowing how to write an analytical essay. The relationship between Andrew and Leigh evolves through this novel, and not in the 'they fell even more in love way', rather the opposite actually. After Leigh's car is towed and she has no way to get home for Thanksgiving, Nathan, Andrews room mate, comes to the rescue, and drives her seven hours to her house.

This book is very similar to Back When You Were Easier To Love.  The plot is very similar and the main characters are sort of in the same position, however it is interesting to see how the two different authors handle the situation. The subtleties of the differences in the characters personalities is what made all of the difference. Leigh is so different from Joy in the way that Leigh is a psychology major and she has this weird problem with procrastination. Not unlike myself actually, however my friends usually call me the MVP (most valuable procrastinator). Joy on the other hand, is very organized and is mormon, which isn't that big a deal, and certainly adds to the cuteness factor and charm, however also reduces the amount of physical interactions where as in Psych Major Syndrome, there is quite a few scenes involving talking of sex, and mentoring teenage girls on teenage pregnancy. Overall, it was very charming and funny.  The supporting characters where very amusing too. Ami, Leigh's best friend and room mate is an artist and understands Leigh very well, she is also very opinionated on the subject of Andrew, Leigh's boyfriend. There is also Rebekah, a teenage girl whom Leigh confides in who is very cynical, and is very straight to the point.

I give this book an overall rating of three and a half stars. I think it is a very charming book with interesting character, however, I was also left wondering about a lot of things, that just seemed kind of random, like whatever happened to the twenty page paper that she wrote in Nathan's room? Or what was with Jenny, and what was going on between Sydney and Leigh? But, I still liked it and I really like Nathan, one of the sweetest guys in books, and I think that it was a crucial conversation between Leigh and Andrew, when he unknowingly tells her things about Nathan that she never knew.

Favorite Quote: "Two strangers- please tell me there was only two- mating like rabbits through the wall may have been a part of it."

xoxo.
Miss Reader

Quote of the Day - Angel Burn

Hello.

One of my favorite books is called Angel Burn by L.A. Weatherly. I love the romance and the constant danger that Willow, the half angel, and Alex, the angel killer, are always in. They want and need to be together, however, they also need to fight the angels which are corrupting and feeding off of the human race. 

Quote: "No matter how dangerous the future might be, or how much we simply wanted to be together, not fighting the angels wasn't an option. It just wasn't." 

Quick summary: A second wave of Angels are coming to earth, and they feed off humans, the more humans we allow to come to earth the greater the risk that the human race is going to die out. Willow is a half angel who doesn't know this world exists until she uses her psychic ability to predict the future for a girl in her class, and all she sees is blackness, depression and an angel. Alex is a seventeen year old guy who is running around killing these angels, which he has been trained to do ever since he was a little boy. the angels have taken everything from him, his mother, father and brother. He is now one of the greatest angel killers alive, and he is one of the only ones alive to. He is unknowingly working for the angels, and he realizes there is something wrong when he is sent to kill Willow, a teenage girl who only half angel. Alex knows that Willow is different and that she might be the only hope for the human races survival. He will do anything to keep her safe, and he ends up falling in love with her. And Willow with him.

This book is perfectly part action, part romance. They are constantly on the run from the Angels, however they have a couple of cozy moments along the way. Neither one thinks that the other one is interested, and then the moment occurs when Alex kisses her, that they are in love, both of them together. 

Also, the characters are very 3D. They have many sides to them, and they have specific likes and dislikes. Willow loves her mother who has Angel Burn, and cars, and has a psychic ability. Alex is an Angel killer who loves the road and the rush of killing an Angel. Also, Alex is extraordinarily handsome, hot, and sexy. He definitely makes my heart stutter, and makes my breath come faster.  

I give this book 4.5 stars because I think that this book is creative and uses a classic fantasy creature and flips their role. Angels are usually guardians, the ones who are trying to save the human race, not the ones who are killing them. I love this book, it is definitely one of my favorites.

xoxo.

Miss Reader

Quote of the Day - The Host

Hello.


Quote of the day: “That's not true at all,” he disagreed. “It's not the face, but the expressions on it. It's not the voice, but what you say. It's not how you look in that body, but the things you do with it. You are beautiful."

I love this quote from The Host by Stephenie Meyer. It is one of my favorite books and this quote said by Ian, a human, to Wanda, a soul, is so just beautiful and makes me smile every time I read it. I love Ian, he is my favorite character and if I got to choose a man out of a book to marry, honestly I would choose him. He is by far my favorite ever. He is kind, sweet, and is head over heels in love with Wanda, and will do anything to protect her.  Also, I prefer The Host to Twilight, just because of the fact that the characters seem much more realistic, despite that the story is so out there. I forget where I heard the phrase, but someone described it as "the science fiction story for the people who hat science fiction" and I think that this is a ver accurate description.

Quick Summary: I honestly have no idea how to sum up this story so I am going to quote the inside cover: "Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity had succumbed.

When Melanie, one of the few remaining 'wild' humans, is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading 'soul' who has been given Melanie's body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too-vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

Wanderer probes Melanie's thoughts, hoping to discover the whereabouts of the remaining human resistance. Instead, Melanie fills Wanderer's mind with visions of the man she loves -Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she has been tasked with exposing. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain journey to find the man they both love. "

The Host is one of my favorite books of all time, it just warms my heart thinking about it. While reading it, I laughed, cried, smiled, and at times, almost threw the book across the room. I have a soft spot in my literary heart for both Melanie and Wanda, they are both extremely different and in the end, have different hearts. All of the characters from Walter, Ian, Kyle, Jamie, Jared, Jeb, Melanie and Wanda, they each have their own personality that adds funny twists and happy times, as well as the sad times. I thikn this book really shows the relationships between people are the only thing that ends up mattering. The whole world seems to be coming down around them, and because they have each other, everything is better. 
Another thing I love is the preface, its a poem called Question by Mary Swenson.

Question

Body my house
my horse my hound
what will I do
when you are fallen

Where will I sleep
How will I ride
What will I hunt

Where can I go
without my mount
all eager and quick
How will I know
in thicket ahead
is danger or treasure
when Body my good
bright dog is dead

How will it be
to lie in the sky
without roof or door
and wind for an eye

With cloud for shift
how will I hide?

Personally I think that this poem fits the book really well. I give this book a four star. I love story and the character, but the writing style is not my favorite.

Also, a song that reminds me of this book is Home by Vanessa Carlton. I think it's a beautiful song and I also think that the part where it says "With you I am home" is perfect for this book.

xoxo.
Miss Reader

Quote of the Day - Fly me to the Moon

Hello.

New Idea: Everyday I will post a quote from a favorite book,  from a book I am currently reading or a quote from someone in my life. I like to write down quotes that I find amusing, or inspirational.

So quote of the day is: "Even though there were no shortage of hotties in Manhattan, finding an age-approptiate, unmarried hottie with a good job was like getting a really great gift-with-purchase--they were only available while supplies lasted. Where as finding an unmarried, age-appropriate hottie with a good job who wasn't afraid to commit would be like locating the Holy Grail--we've all heard it exists, though we've yet to see it for ourselves." -Alyson Noel, "Fly Me to the Moon

When I read this part of the book I laughed out loud. It just warmed my heart to know that I am not the only one searching for the perfect man, and am not the only one who is not able to find him. I would give this book three stars, because it is not a terrible dense book, but the overall story has a nice plot, and quotes like this throughout the book give it a nice warm, comic feel.

Quick Summary: Flight attendant Hailey Lane is happy to be home early to see her boyfriend on her birthday, and at her apartment a surprise awaits her, one that she does not welcome. With a broken heart, she sets out onto a world wide trip, with the help of free flight passes and long layovers in beautiful places, she begins to see the world and all it has to offer her.

I thought this was a nice light funny beach read that warms the heart, and reminds us that heart break isn't always as bad as it seems and that the world is full with possibilities for each and everyone of us, we just have to take a leap of faith and hope that we find what we are looking for.

xoxo
Miss Reader

Back When You Were Easier to Love

Hello.

Back When You Were Easier To Love  by Emily Wing Smith, is a very sweet romantic book. I love the way Noah is always there for the main character, Joy, and she doesn't even really see it.

Summary: Joy is obsessed with her "boyfriend" who suddenly left with barley a goodbye to her or to anyone else. She thinks that she can't live without him and is determined to go to Pitzer, the college where Zan now goes. Apparently before Zan left, he told Noah, his best friend, to "befriend" Joy. He tries to do this, but Joy is standoffish, and wants no part in it. Then, she has an idea. Why not take Noah with her on her journey? This is exactly what she does. They make a journey to Pitzer, and Joy discovers not only who she is, but who she truly loves.

I think that this is a really sweet, just happy book. I closed the book with a smile on my face. The way the book is written is also a nice change of pace. The chapters are short with little sassy titles. They span from the current times to the past, and Joy shares enough information that the stories of the past are worthwhile, but they are kept short, so your eyes never waver from the page. Noah Talbot is the sweetest most generous boy alive. I saw what he was feeling from the beginning of our journey, and it was a delight to see how the heroine grappled with him, Zan, and their journey, all the while unconsciously finding herself.

I give this book four stars. It was a light read, but extraordinarily delightful, and Noah is definitely one of my book boyfriends (boys in books who I wish would miraculously jump off the page and become my boyfriend.)

My favorite quote of the whole book was "He looks all expectant, eager-to-please, and I know now's the time I could ask him to go on a tour of every public restroom in the vicinity and he'd do it, no questions asked."

The song that this book reminded me of was a song called "It's a Miracle" by Barry Manilow. Joy has an obsession with Barry Manilow in the book, and I thought that this song would be extremely appropriate and I like the song in general.

xoxo.
Miss Reader

Prom and Prejudice

Hello.

This weekend I read Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg, and I think that it is a fairly good book. I probably would give it a three star.

Summary: Prom and Prejudice is a retelling of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Lizzie Bennet is one of the two scholarship students at Longbourn Academy, an all girls school in New York. Prom season is starting and all of the girls are trying to get a date with one of the boys from Longbourn's brother school Pemberley. Jane is Lizzie's room mate and Charles is Jane's sort of boyfriend. Darcy is Charles friend, and slowly he falls in love with Lizzie, except that she doesn't want anything to do with him. There is an interesting twist, Lizzie loves to play the piano, and that is one of her saving graces it seems.

I think that this is a good retelling of Pride and Prejudice, although I think it was a little short and lacked description. Everything went by so quickly that sometimes despite the very straightforward writing style, was sometimes confusing.

I really enjoyed the characters and thought that they were amusing. I think it is an interesting twist how Wick is turned completely into a bad guy, he is the antagonist in the story. I didn't really expect that.

I would peg this as a good summer-beach read. Three stars.

xoxo.
Miss Reader