Book Haul!

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo- Steig Larsson

Will Grayson, Will Grayson- John Green and David Levithan

Oryx and Crake- Margaret Atwood

It's Kind of a Funny Story- Ned Vizzini

It's Not Summer Without You- Jenny Han

If I Stay- Gayle Forman

The Summer I Turned Pretty, by Jenny Han

The Summer I Turned Pretty, by Jenny Han, is a great beach read. It doesn't take long to get into, and it flows smoothly. This was my first time reading it, though I had heard many, many great reviews. I've read Han's first book, too, Shug. I also recommend that.

The Summer I Turned Pretty is kind-of predictable, yes. I didn't read it for suspense though. I read it for the characters. Han had great character development in Shug, and I was counting on that in The Summer I Turned Pretty. Han came through. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and it was great to read after exams when I needed something light to read.

4/5 stars.

Eileen

I went to the library today and got some of the books they were trying to sell...

Everybody Loves Somebody- Joanna Scott ($0.50)
Netherland- Joseph O'Neill ($2)
All Creatures Great and Small- James Herriot ($1)
All Things Bright and Beautiful- James Herriot (Combined with All Creatures Great and Small)
Elmo Loves You!- Sarah Albee ($0.50, for when I babysit)
What Makes Flamingos Pink- Bill McLain ($1)
Girl Meets God- Lauren F. Winner ($1)
The Thirteenth Tale- Diane Setterfield ($2)
The Heidi Chronicles- Wendy Wasserstein ($1)

I'm excited to have these! It was fun getting 8 books for $9! I suggest you look at your local library for finds like these!

Eileen

If you want to read a short story I wrote...

go here! I'd love any suggestions that would make it better!

Summer Reading!

For 10th graders the required reading book is The Alchemist by Paul Coehlo and I was also supposed to choose between The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls and Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow by Falza Guene but I decided to read them first and choose afterward.

Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen

This is long overdue. So sorry. If you're mad at me I completely understand. It's been what, 2 weeks? 

Anyway, I love love  love this book. Like, adore it. 

It got slow at some points and she could have moved it a bit faster then but other than that it. was. perfect.

there's really nothing else to say...

going to watch the movie now. still not sure about robert pattinson in it.... will just have to wait and see

--Eileen

guise, i'm writing a story.

I have a confession. I finished Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen a few days ago and haven't written a review. I DO have an excuse but unfortunately its not a very good one. You see, there was going to be a book signing tomorrow with Sara Gruen and I was going to go to it. Afterwards I would have written both a review and a commentary on the book signing. Unfortunately, either Sara Gruen or Kathryn Stockett (auther of The Help, who was also going to be there) is now sick and Barnes and Noble (runners of the event) have cancelled it all together. :( You will still get your review, don't worry. I'm just bummed because (1) I really wanted to go and meet them and (2) I feel their pain. Being sick is awful!
--Eileen

The Other Room

So, as an assignment in school, I'm writing a short story! I will post it here when I'm done. Basically, a man, James, from 1864, living in Cambridge, MA, comes home from a long day in the sweatshop to eat dinner with his wife and two children. One child, Henry, is turning 4. Henry has been asking for this certain toy for months and has been told over and over that their family cannot afford it. That night, at dinner, James gets up from the table and tells his family, "I am only going into the other room." When he comes back he carries the toy Henry wanted so badly. The story ends when, 2 years later, James's wife, Alice, is comforting their children because James died. She retell's that story because it is their happiest moment and decides to put that on his grave. What do you think?

This is inspired by the real grave in the above photo.

So I just found out The Art of Racing in the Rain also has a tween version called Racing in the Rain: My Life as a Dog- now everyone can read it!

The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE
I have two dogs, both loved very dearly. So when a story told from the point of view of a dog is told well, I am automatically inclined to love it. I think if you are not aware of a dog's behavior or have never been around them much, you might not enjoy this story as I did. That being said, Garth Stein affectively, in my mind, captured the dog's brain. A great friend who you can count on for anything. I loved the unique names in this book, too. Enzo, Eve, Zöe. The characters are great and I loved getting to know them. The antagonist was particularly cruel and made the book tons more interesting than if it played a minor role.

The only draw back was the pace. It had beautiful language and great description throughout the whole book but the first half was hard to get through. It did its job though, setting up the crisisses, so no stars were taken away.

In all, this was an awesome book that will always hold a place on my bookshelf of favorites. I recommend readers at least be in high school when they read this, as, if it were a movie, it would be rated R. 5/5 Stars

EVERYONE GO! READ IT NOW!

-Eileen

Update!

I just got The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Stephen Chbosky) in the mail from paperbackswap.com! I have never read it before but I have heard it was really good. So excited!

In other news, I finished The Art of Racing in the Rain (Garth Stein) this morning and started Water for Elephants (Sara Gruen)

A review for The Art of Racing in the Rain should be up later today!

Until then,
Eileen

Hey!

I am Eileen, owner of Blogging Books on tumblr. The purpose of this is to have a place that is just for stuff originally by me. We'll see how this goes!