Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson

I have just started Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson. Here is a quick excerpt that gives you a look at the book.

"I took the knife out of my pocket and cut my palm, just a little. 'I swear to be the skinniest girl in school, skinnier than you.'
     Cassie's eyes got big as the blood pooled in my hand. She grabbed the knife and slashed her palm. 'I bet I'll be skinnier than you.'
     'No, don't make it a bet. Let's be skinniest together.'
     'Okay, but I'll be skinnier.'
As you can see, these girls are pretty much demented. They believe that being skinny is such a enviable thing, that they need to starve themselves and throw up and do all these things to become these twigs.
Lia, the main character, is still anorexic, and I don't think she will ever change back. She's a bit stuck up, actually. Her friend, Cassie is dead, from what I haven't found out.
My TAGS this week is "Someone just ripped off my eyelids." She is describing how she was interrupted from her train of thought, and this shows how dramatic and straightforward she was.
I love Wintergirls so far, and I can't wait to read more.

Witch and Wizard by James Patterson & Gabrielle Charbonnet

James Patterson is a household name. His books are fast paced, smooth, and entertaining. But what do we really know about this literary icon?

First of all, he barely writes his own books anymore. He simply writes an outline, a main idea for each chapter, and the barely mentioned co-writer does all of the hard work. He outsells J.K Rowling, Dan Brown, and John Grisham, all the while he barely writes.

Also, from a reliable source who has met the author, says that "Patterson is a real jerk". I can understand. He sounds like a wealthy snob that steals all the credit.

Right now, I am almost done with Witch and Wizard, a young adult novel that came out last year. The Gift, the second in the series just came out recently. I must admit, it is highly entertaining. This is about Wisty and Whit, two sibling accused of being a witch and a wizard. This is in the distant future, where a new political system is winning all the elections, and has some primitive ways about them.

I feel uber-sorry that Gabrielle Charbonnet isn't receiving credit at all. I'm sure she is an amazing writer, and that she really worked hard for the probably little money she has.

Overall, the book is okay, quick, but not worth the twenty odd dollars you have to pay for it.

Chasing Brooklyn- Lisa Schroeder

Today I am going to review Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder.

You see, I do not usually like books written in verse, but this one changed my way of looking at verse books in a whole new light.

In case you didn't know, books written in verse are basically books written with numerous amounts of poems that tell a story. In Chasing Brooklyn,  the fantastically written poems tell the story of Nico and Brooklyn.

Brooklyn has just lost her true love, Lucca, in a car accident. She is in a state of confusion and dread, and is barely alive anymore. That is, until Gabe commits suicide.

Gabe was the surviving passenger in Lucca's car crash. Nico, Lucca's brother, is ticked off at Gabe because he was given life and he threw it away.

Nico and Brooklyn meet when Nico gets a mysterious message telling him to help her. From who? Lucca, beyond the grave. Brooklyn starts to also see a dead friend in her dreams, Gabe.

Together, Nico and Brooklyn find love, loss, and triumph in this amazing tale.

Recommended for ages 13 and up. This book is remarkable quick, you will probably finish in 1-2 days.

Twilight Series

Although I might lose every one of my subscribers for this, I have to say it.
Twilight is just plan stupid.
I will admit, I was in Twilight's trance that it puts on you, making you wish you were Bella, or a vampire that could live forever and marry Edward, and you are stuck in the phase when you feel like everything is about Twilight, but its not.
Numero Uno. The main character, Bella, is a whiny do nothing that relies on Edward to save her night and day, and as seen, when he leaves her, she is nothing, just a boring character that moans and complains about everything. Oh wait, that was pretty much what she was before.
Numero 2. The writing is TERRIBLE. I guarantee you that Stephanie Meyer is simply in this for the fame and money, definitely not for the joy of writing. If this was a college novel sent in for a grade, guess who would be failing English Lit?
Number 3. Robert Pattinson, which plays Edward, looks like the ugliest thing once you make his eyes red and his skin ghost pale. I am a Potterhead, not a Twihard, and we had Robert first, when he was attractive! Anyone here watch Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter 4? Robert Pattinson played ill fated Cedric Diggory, and his physical colors weren't absurdly warped.
Numba Fo. What kind of message does this book send? Throw your life away for a handsome guy when he could leave you at any second? Join a strange cult that sucks people's blood?  Stephenie Meyer, you really could be sending a good message, but no, you chose to write worthless entertainment when the world is slowly getting crueler.
Numero Cinco. Stephenie Meyer, you have caused about 4,876,103 friendships to end over who likes Edward and who likes Jacob. Although I find it stupid, (seeing as no one except for the little brat Bella gets them, why argue over them?) some people take this very seriously and literally think they have a chance with either Jacob or Edward, * cough* fictional character *cough*, and ruin relationships over it.

Okay, Stephenie when people look back on 2010 and see one of the top selling books is Twilight, they might decide to read it. And then the entire literary society in 2060 will think that we all were terrible writers, and will call this the "decade of arguably the worst piece of literary work of ALL TIME".

So, as 80% of you have read it, get yourself out of the TwiTrance, and read a good book!

Pretty Little Liars Series by Sara Shepard

I have only read the first four books in Pretty Little Liars, (Pretty Little Liars, Flawless, Perfect, Unbelievable) by Sara Shepard. And I would have to give it a six out of ten.
Okay, look. If you are under thirteen or fourteen, don't read this book. You won't be interested and its not that appropriate.
Anyway... this book is really repetitive.

In each book, their lives start out good. Then in the middle, it gets very screwed up. When you are 3/4 done with the each book, you think that you know who A is. Then they kill whoever they think A is, and A ends the book with a snappy comment along the lines of "I'm back."

The writing, its alright, but I wish it wouldn't have been more predictable with the layout that Sara uses.

In case you didn't know, each character has a big secret that they refuse to share, that the mysterious A knows. A stalks them, making them do certain things, sort of like extreme blackmail.

Aria had a "thing" with her English teacher. Emily is a lesbian, but has strict parents and is very self reserved. Hanna stole from a store and was threatened to be thrown in jail, but her mom starts to date the police officer. And Spencer has stolen her sister's boyfriends, and is currently in love his her sister's current one.

Overall, these girls' lives are overly dramatic, repetitive, but at least quick and entertaining.