1-20-10 My Sister’s Keeper, Jodi Picoult, Pages 1-129

I already love this book. It isn’t hard to read, and I really like the story line. I have a lot of sympathy for the main character Anna. I feel like she isn’t even loved. She was born, actually more like made, so that her organs, bone marrow, blood, and other parts could be given to her sister with leukemia. When her mom was nine months pregnant with her, her parents hadn’t even thought of a name for her. The whole family revolves around Katie, the sister with leukemia. They never even ask Anna if she wants to give practically every organ to her sister. She loves her sister and wants her to live, but she never has a say in what they do to her body. The only character I don’t like is her mom. All she thinks about is Katie because she doesn’t want her and “won’t let her” die. But in all the love she feels for Katie, Anna and the oldest child and son Jesse, are lost. One of the parts that really made me not like her mom and really feel bad for Anna was one time when they were at dinner. Anna’s dad Brian could tell that something was wrong with Anna and when he asked her, somehow the conversation ended up about Katie. They didn’t even notice that Anna had left the table, and they didn’t even see her leave. I feel so bad for her and I feel like her mom only cares what happens to her because she is the only match for Katie and the only thing keeping her alive.

1-16-10 The Pretty Committee Strikes Back, Lisi Harrison, Pages 140-265

I take that last part back. I’m not really happy with the way this ended up. They got expelled! That’s not even cool. I have no idea what is going to happen in the next book because this series is based on their adventures and drama at school. At the end, I don’t really like the character Alicia. I never really did like her, but now I’m an even bigger anti-fan. She tries to mess up relationships to get revenge for something that happened a long time ago. The thing that happened wasn’t even a significant moment to her at the time anyway. I just don’t like her that much. She is always thinking of herself no matter what happens to everyone else. My favorite character is Claire. She is herself even though she is in the clique. She has a friend who is practically rejected by her other friends, but she hangs out with her anyway. I feel like moving to town changed her, but maybe for the better. The character I like sometimes and sometimes hate is Massie. She is different depending on who she is with. She will tear someone down because her friends are expecting it, but feel bad about. Overall, I like the characters and how they clash, because it makes for a great book. I’m excited to get the next book so I can read it, right after I finish those other five-thousand books I have to read.

1-3-10 The Pretty Committee Strikes Back, Lisi Harrison Pages 1-140

It might sound lame, but these books really know how to suck you in. I’ve read the first 4, so of course I had to read this one. The Pretty Committee Strikes Back is the epitome of preppy, catty girls hating on each other and starting drama over boys. The classic high school drama movies are nothing compared to the intensity of this book. Everything is so dramatic, it’s pretty great. I feel so weird reading them because the name says it all. Pretty Committee? Yeah, that’s what they call themselves. I’m already over halfway through and I love it! The first book, The Clique, was made into a movie. I have not seen the movie, but it should be interesting (I think if I rent it, I might be shunned by my family). I do like the books though. They make my life seem so much simpler, but I think it would be fun to have this much drama. Or maybe it would be fun until I’m stuck in it. Anyway, I actually like the way this book it turning out. It isn’t too uncontrollable and I’m really starting to wonder what is going to happen next. This is the trailer for the first movie, The Clique:

12-19-09 The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger, Pages 424-536, Finished!

I can’t say that I love the ending of this book. Actually, I can’t say that I really love the book at all. The writing was unbelievably descriptive, so that was not a problem at all. But I didn’t like the ending because of who died (I know that I already said it was Henry in another entry, so if you didn’t know, sorry. They tell you like 100 pages before anyway). I don’t want to give anything more away so I won’t say anything else, but I just wasn’t very fond of the way it just sort of…stopped. As for the over-all book, it just wasn’t really my style of reading, and it randomly switched to phrases and quotes in French and German (which I don’t speak), which just threw me off and made me mad. Overall though, the book was not that bad. It was not impossible to read, but some of the vocabulary made it hard (such as the words in foreign languages). It took me an EXTREMELY long time to finish The Time Travelers Wife because it was so confusing. I had no idea what and why everything was happening for probably the first half. Also, before each story changed, it gave the ages of Clare and Henry (or just one of them), and the date, which was hard to keep up with because it was always changing. All in all, this book was good, but not the best I’ve read.

12-12-09 Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger, Pages 369-424

This book is really hard to make predictions in. You never know what is going to happen. Twist after twist throws my mind off course. I can’t count how many times I’ve had to read, re-read and re-re-read a paragraph, a sentence!  It’s crazy! But really, I can’t predict anything. I do know, however, that Henry is going to die. The thing is though, I don’t know when, how or why. I think that maybe soon I’ll find out. Not that I want him to die, but I’m eager to know and I’m not one of those annoying people who skip to the end of a book so they know the end before they read it (like some people did for Harry Potter). I don’t know if someone did on purpose or if it was an accident. I’m hoping it was an accident, but something tells me it wasn’t. He has a lot of enemies it seems, and he is always coming back the present hurt horribly. I’m also wondering if their child, Alba, is going to time travel back to where they are right now. I don’t see why not, because Henry already knows that she took after his genes. I’m excited to find out what comes next, but in a way I don’t want to know.

12-4-09 The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger, Pages 259-369

I can’t put my finger on any symbols in this book. I’m not saying that it’s simple, believe me. It took me until half-way through to figure out how this whole situation worked. But I just can’t think of anything like how trees were a symbol in House on Mango Street. The only thing I can relate this book to is how Audrey Niffenegger (that’s a mouthful!) is showing how difficult relationships can be, or how love can withstand anything (or close to anything). Constantly you see how Clare and Henry have a sort of unconditional love for each other. I hate to say it, but it is sort of like the relationship of Bella and Edward in the Twilight series. Both couples love each other, but they don’t really know why. In one of the parts of this book, it goes back to when Clare and Gomez were “together” one time. Clare could have stayed with Gomez (even though he was dating Charisse at the time…Scandalous!), but she didn’t. She knew that even though she had to wait 2 years to see Henry again, she still loved him and wouldn’t be able to replace him with anyone. So instead of symbolism, I think Niffenegger is trying to say something about love.

11-21-09 The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger, Pages 159-258

Obviously this book is not believable. The title explains it all; I mean even having the word “Time Travel” makes the book not real. However, in a way it makes sense. Henry explains his condition as “chrono-displacement,” which means that it’s a genetic disease that makes him disappear whenever he gets too stressed or nervous. I guess if you connect this to something medical, it could be possible, however I’m pretty sure it’s not. So, of course, the title fits. The story is about the love connection between Clare and Henry, which is really complicated. Half the time she sits around waiting for him to come back. Henry during that half is traveling around the world, but it is not leisurely. He is always being beat up or arrested for everything. A bit unfortunate for him I guess. This is a good book so far, but I just can’t get sucked in like others I have read.

11-14-09 The Time Travelers Wife, Audrey Niffenegger, Pages 55-158

I would have to say that my favorite character in this book is Charisse (who in the movie is played by Jane McLean). She doesn’t have a main part in the book, but she reminds me of a girl I know who is also Filipino. Her name is actually really similar to Charisse’s and their character traits are the same. They both have really sweet personalities and are nice to be around. I do not however like Gomez, Charisse’s boyfriend (who is played by Ron Livingston in the movie). He sort of creeps me out and seems to like Clare, the main character, a little bit more than normal. He is always a little too close to her and I feel like he is either hiding something or maybe even using Charisse to get closer to Clare. I don’t know if they have some sort of history but something smells fishy. Either way, I’m not too fond of him, but I approve of his girlfriend. I just don’t want them to get married, because if something happens to Henry, Gomez might leave Charisse for Clare, who might not even want him. I feel like he is just a bunch of drama waiting to happen.

The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger, pages 1-55

When I first started reading The Time Travelers Wife, I was very confused. It started out explaining how the main characters thing. I got an idea of the way the author, Audrey Niffenegger, narrates the story. Even though I understood her writing style, the plot was kind of confusing. It keeps switching between point of views, even though it’s mostly in Henry’s. The time periods are always changing it I have to go to the beginning of the change to see where I am in his life. I am still trying to figure out many things, such as, “why does his age change when he time travels?” and, “why does he time travel at random points in time?” These questions he can’t even answer himself, which is more incentive to read the book so I can find out.

Even though the book is pretty confusing so far, I really like it. It has a really unique plot and I have never read anything like it before. I don’t know where the storyline is leading me but I’m excited to know. I’m hoping that it gets less confusing over time, but I will just have to keep reading to find out.

Thirteen Reasons Why (Th1rteen R3asons Why), By Jay Asher, FINISHED!

I was suggested Thirteen Reasons Why by Anna. When I started it Friday night, I didn’t think anything of the fact that I could finish it that night. But I did. All 288 pages of it. I can’t explain how this book made me feel. All I can say is that I have never cried so much in a book. Ever. From the beginning, I saw how sad this book was turning out to be, but I seriously underestimated it. I couldn’t help feeling sorry for the main character, Clay, throughout the whole book. Who knew that the person he liked so much would commit suicide and leave tapes behind to thirteen people saying how they played a part in her death. I think the thing that affected me so much was the fact that he got the tapes. While listening to them, he would plead with Hannah, asking her why and telling her that he cared. That he could have helped her. That he could have saved her. But it was too late. Even now, I don’t understand why she killed herself. I know that she wasn’t happy, but it wasn’t fair to Clay. Even he knew he could have loved her.

To be honest, I didn’t think this book would have any effect on me, however after reading it I want to be a better person. This poor girl was affected by everyone and everything around her. I would never think that someone would resort to killing themselves just because of something someone did or said. It makes me sad that Clay couldn’t help her, because by the time he got the tapes, it was too late. I really loved this book, and I have been recommending it to everyone I mention it to.