Quote: John Green

This week's quote is:

"When I look at my room, I see a girl who loves books."

- John Green

 

This quote comes from John Green's first novel Looking for Alaska, which I recently finished reading for the second time. It's an amazing book, so amazing that it's hard to believe it's his first. Anyways, in the book Alaska says this quote, and it is really unexpected. When you first meet Alaska as a character you wouldn't think (at least I didn't think) that she would be the type of person to have shelves and stacks and piles of books in her room. Yet she does. This single sentence really makes you do a double-take of sorts and makes you re-analyze how you view Alaska. Oh, John Green, how I love your awesome quotes!

 

Yours,

NutFreeNerd

Book Review: A STUDY IN SCARLET

 Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Number of Pages: 108
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Release Date: January 1, 1887

"A Study in Scarlet" is the first published story of one of the most famous literary detectives of all time, Sherlock Holmes. Here Dr. Watson, who has just returned from a war in Afghanistan, meets Sherlock Holmes for the first time when they become flat-mates at the famous 221 B Baker Street. In "A Study in Scarlet" Sherlock Holmes investigates a murder at Lauriston Gardens as Dr. Watson tags along with Holmes while narratively detailing his amazing deductive abilities."
                                                 - Goodreads.com

Very recently I took an interest in reading the Sherlock Holmes stories for one particular reason: I watched both seasons of Sherlock from BBC and fell in love with it. For those of you who don't know, Sherlock is a British television show that puts a modern twist on the original Sherlock Holmes stories. Since the episodes are based off of the books, I decided that I should probably read them. I wasn't expecting that the stories themselves would be fantastic, but that's exactly what I got. Honestly, these stories are SO GOOD!

One of the things that strikes me as unique about these stories is the Holmes and Watson duo. Holmes is such an unlikable character- he's arrogant, a bit rude, and very wacky- that I just can't help but love him. I know that sounds odd, but it's true. I love how oblivious he is to the outside world, and how he doesn't even know that the earth orbits the sun. Then you have sweet, loyal Watson, who is just as likable but in a different way. The way Sherlock Holmes always has to be busy working on a case is good for Watson, because it helps him recuperate from the war. The make the best flat-mates ever!

The other thing I love about these stories is how intricate and complex the mysteries are. Have you ever read a mystery novel and at the end when they tell you how it all worked out you feel like it was too simple? I doubt that will ever happen with these stories. There are so many little details and so much background to the criminals that by the end of the story you feel as though you have known them forever.

Everything is perfectly paced and the writing is flowy and beautiful.Honestly, these stories are amazing! I'll definitely be reading more of them.

My Rating: :0) :0) :0) :0) :0) 5 out of 5 smileys.

Would I recommend it to a friend?: YES!

Yours,
NutFreeNerd

Book Review: DEAD END

Author: Jason Myers
Number of Pages: 384
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: June 14, 2011

"All Dru and his girlfriend Gina want to do is get out of their small town of Marshall, Nebraska. With the promise of scholarships and college soon in their future, they are determined to rise above their troubled pasts and make fresh starts. But everything begins to crumble when Gina is raped by the son of the town's richest and most powerful man. The aftermath of this tragedy sends Dru and Gina into a downward spiral of secrets, corruption, and a fight for their lives. All they have left is each other--but sometimes, even that's not enough...."
                                                 - Goodreads.com

This book left me with extremely mixed feelings. The writing style is so easy to comprehend that I whipped through it in about half the time it usually takes me to read a book this size. The writing was almost too simple, like it was written for a middleschooler instead of a teenager in high school. But let's get back to the story- that's what I really wanted to talk about here.

Now, the plot of the story was fairly decent. Although I thought that the ending was a little far-fetched, the basic storyline was good- I'll give Jason Myers that much. HOWEVER, you could hardly even see the plot line because of all of the unnecessary swearing going on. I mean, it wasn't just when characters were speaking. Even the narration had an abundance of swears in it! If you're going to write with an easy writing style, at least refrain from the vulgar language.

Also, I couldn't stand how Dru and Gina called each other "baby" all of the time. Seriously. After everything they said to each other they felt the need to tack on that annoying pet name. A conversation between them was like:

"Hey, baby."
"How you doing, baby?"
"Want some pizza, baby?
"Sure, baby."
"Alright, here's a slice, baby."

Now, that conversation is clearly made up by yours truly, but isn't that annoying? Especially after over three hundred pages.

Overall, this book was merely okay. It had the potential to be a great book, but the excessive swearing and the annoying habits of Dru and Gina got in the way of me being able to fully like this novel.

My Rating: :0) :0) :0) 3 out of 5 smileys.

Would I recommend it to a friend?: Not really, no.

Yours,
NutFreeNerd

Quote: David Levithan

This week's quote is:

"It is not our silence that is deafening, but all the words underneath it, yelled in our heads."

- David Levithan

 

This quote sticks out to me because it gives you a visual image of what happens when important words that need to be spoken aren't. David Levithan is an awesome writer (example: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan) and it really shows through this quote. 

 

Always,

NutFreeNerd

Book Review: UNWIND

Author: Neal Shusterman
Number of Pages: 335
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Release Date: November 6, 2007

"The Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child "unwound," whereby all of the child's organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn't technically end. Connor is too difficult for his parents to control. Risa, a ward of the state is not enough to be kept alive. And Lev is a tithe, a child conceived and raised to be unwound. Together, they may have a chance to escape and to survive."
                                                   - Goodreads.com

This book was recommended to me by a fellow book-lover, so I knew that it would be pretty good even before I started reading it. And I have to say that it was quite a good book, however it left me with some mixed feelings.

First, let's start with the positives. I really liked the dystopian future that Neal Shusterman set up in this novel. The idea of unwinding is so utterly unique that you can't help but be pulled in. The thing is, I can sort of see something like this happening in the far away, but maybe not-so-far-away future. I mean, if you live in the USA then you have probably seen all of the presidential campaigns adds on TV. One the of the important topics being considered and debated about is abortion, and when life actually begins. Unwind dives into those sorts of topics and issues and really gets to the core of them. This novel really makes you think about your morals and what you as a person believe in. However, it does it in a way that isn't preachy, which I liked.

Even though I really liked this book, it just didn't WOW me. Something was missing from it.... I just couldn't get fully into the story. The character development was there as well as the constant suspense and action, but I kept feeling like something was missing.

Overall, this was a really good book. I'll definitely be reading the sequel soon!

My Rating: :0) :0) :0) :0) 4 out of 5 smileys

Would I recommend it to a friend?: Absolutely!

Yours,
NutFreeNerd

Quote: Oscar Wilde

This week's quote is:

"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."

- Oscar Wilde

 

I like this quote because it speaks the absolute truth. Many people live their lives like zombies or robots, too occupied with worrying about the future to actually live in the present. And I know that those are stereotypical examples, but still. However, on some cases I don't necessarily think that it is the fault of the individual. Our modern-day society is so focused on what will happen tomorrow and the next day and the day after that. It is too easy to get caught up in all of this planning. I think that if more people took the time to stop obsessing over the future and actually get out there and live in the moment, the world would be a much happier place. I'm not saying that you shouldn't plan for tomorrow- just make sure that the only life you live isn't in your fantasies of years to come.

 

Always,

NutFreeNerd

NaNoWriMo!!!

Are any of you guys doing NaNoWriMo this year? If you don't know what that is, it stands for National Novel Writing Month, and it happens every November. The goal is to write an entire novel (or about 50,000 words) in just one month. This is my first year attempting it, and I was wondering if anyone else was also participating.

To find out more about NaNoWriMo you can go to www.nanowrimo.org.

Always,
NutFreeNerd