Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of the best books in its genre. So many YA romance novels like to over-dramatize stuff with their boyfriends and friends and family, but the issues discussed in this book are things that really happen to people.

Although trivial teenage problems really happen to teenagers too, in this case, all the teenage characters; Payton, Sean, her best friend Jac... Grady might be an exception, aren't prone to drama. I thought the author did a really great job with character development, and all the characters really came to life for me.

This book shows a sensitive and uplifting, though somewhat bittersweet, picture of how people cope with loss and disease, and also fear, because in some cases, the fear of the situation is actually worse than the situation itself. What Payton and Jac does for Miss Marietta was very moving too, and I'm glad for Miss Marietta's mini-story in the book.

I especially loved the whole Focus Object concept and how it helped Payton get through her fears for her father. I also loved that it was thought up by her guidance counsellor, Ms. Callahan, when she was going through a hard time. I thought it was a very real portrayal of real problems of real people. =)

The Curiosity by Stephen P. Kiernan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was an incredibly great read, I enjoyed it immensely. I liked that the author made the whole scientific part of the story entirely plausible.

The whole premise is just intriguing; bringing back a man who has frozen in hard ice for over a hundred years. Bringing a frozen body back to life is not all that unbelievable, because it has happened in real life. In fact, many times, though I can't account for the accuracy of the articles.

However, bringing back a person who has been frozen for a hundred years... now that's interesting! It's like Sleeping Beauty, but after the kiss. You know how the story ends after "...and they lived happily ever after"? This is the story of what happens after. Well, not really.

Jeremiah Rice's story is as far from Sleeping Beauty as you can get, and he was brought back by science, not a kiss. Obviously though, we can't help but be curious about how people who lived in the 20th century would think about our technology-filled lives now. All the cars, airplanes, computers, iPhones, wide-screen TV... it would be overwhelming to take in all at once.

Not to mention, of course, the huge culture shock itself; the immodest fashion nowadays compared to way back when, the vulgar everyday language a lot of us speak in without thinking twice, the fact that there's actually a black president now when a hundred years ago, blacks were seen as slaves.

Seeing these things through Jeremiah's eyes are interesting, sure, but there's more to the story than that. The story is told in a few other POVs, one which was told in a second-person narrative and influenced my feelings of the character very much, and there are other characters who I really feel for as well.

This is definitely one of my favorite books in 2013. I thought it was very well-written, and honestly, I can't praise the whole second-person narrative POV enough. It just made me take a step back and really look at the person who was "speaking". It looks like this might be made into a movie as well, and I look forward to watching it on screen.

The Light Bearer by Donna Gillespie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I first read this book in 1994, and I've loved it ever since. Initially, I re-read this book every year, but in the last five years, I've only read this book twice.

I've had so many new books to read that I don't need to re-read as much as I used to, but once in a while I would miss Auriane and Marcus, and want to read about them again. This time, I wanted to savor the story and read it slowly, I wanted to study Donna Gillespie's writing and maybe learn something from her.

But as I read, I forgot about the writing and got engrossed in the story. When I remembered, I would try to concentrate on the writing again, but then forget again as the story pulled me in. Eventually, I just gave up trying to study anything and just enjoyed reading the book.

That's how good Gillespie's writing is, that's how good the story is. It makes you forget everything else except the story. Everything else fades away.

The Light Bearer has been a favorite book ever since I was just 11 years old. There are many things I love about it, but among what I love most is that it features a very strong female protagonist, Auriane, who was a huge influence for me as I was growing up. I also love Marcus, and I love how wise they both were. I love how they outsmarted their enemies, how they solved their problems, and I love how exciting the whole thing was.

This is one of the most underrated books I know, and I wish more people would know about this book and read it. It's amazing.

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am a Chinese Malaysian, born about a hundred years after the period this story takes place, and even I, jaded as I am about the state Malaysian is in now, find The Ghost Bride fascinating.

It's interesting to remember how people lived back then, before Malaysia was Malaysia, when it was still Malaya and under the British rule, how the various immigrants and cultures intersect.

What I enjoyed most is imagining how this story could have very well been my own family's story. Not the ghost bride part, of course. It is a rare occurrence in itself, but I believe by the time my own grandfather migrated to Malaysia, the practice of marrying a living person to a dead one had all but disappeared. I have heard of a recent case of a marriage between a dead Chinese couple though.

No, what I could imagine was the family intrigue, the head of the house with his many wives and concubines, the many children spawned between the wives and concubines, the family politics as the wives and children all try to win their husband/father's favor. The competition between the wives to produce a male heir, the hatred and jealousy between each wife and their children.

My own grandfather had three wives and a concubine. My father, the youngest son of the Second Wife, had 7 siblings by his own mother. I am not sure of how many children my grandfather had with his First and Third Wives, but there were many. His concubine produced one son.

Although I have heard many stories about my father's childhood, this book really brought to life my imagination of how my grandfather and his family lived, and I assure you, it was a lot more dramatic and quite frankly, uglier, than the family dynamics in the book. My uncle's second wife actually chased my mother around the house with a kitchen knife.

However, let's get back to the book; I loved the whole Ghost Bride theme, Yangsze Choo's depiction of the Chinese's beliefs about the different levels of Hell and burning offerings to the dead ancestors. I love how Choo brought the ghost dimension, the Plains of the Dead, and all the other ghostly denizens to life (no pun intended).

It felt a little bit like Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, and is written just as well as Neverwhere was, perhaps even better. But I might be biased. However, Neverwhere is one of my favorite Gaiman books, and this is me giving really high praise to The Ghost Bride. I can't recommend this book enough.

It's amazing and I loved it.

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Scarlet is the second book in the Lunar Chronicles series, I read the first book, Cinder, last year for a book club, and I loved it. Of course I had to read Scarlet!

Cinder, obviously, is a retelling of Cinderella, and Scarlet is a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. All the important elements; the red hood, the grandmother, and the wolf, are still intact, but the story is told so very differently. Cinder's story is continued here as well, though it has gone beyond the original Cinderella story.

Well, truth be told, the first book, Cinder's story, was already way beyond the original Cinderella story. Cyborgs, aliens (well, Lunarians anyway), mind control, genetically modified creatures... it was so wonderfully creative and I thought Cinder's story was very masterfully crafted.

This second book, Scarlet, weaves Red Riding Hood's story into the already creative plot. It turns out Scarlet's grandmother is the pilot who smuggled Princess Selena, and Wolf is part of a pack of genetically modified soldiers who was working for the evil Lunar Queen Levana to find the Princess.

Wolf isn't all that bad though, I really liked him, even from the beginning. I liked the dynamic between Scarlet and Wolf, fleshed out so much more than from the old fable. Scarlet is another great addition to the cast of strong female characters.

What I liked about the Lunar Chronicles is that the female characters aren't portrayed as weak, stupid females who sit around waiting for their prince to come rescue them, but instead take charge of their own fate and make their own choices, and the way Marissa Meyer puts them all together into this remarkable world is just amazing to read!

I'm looking forward very much to the next books in the series, Cress, which is based on Rapunzel's tale, and Winter, which is based on Snow White. I can't wait to meet the new characters, and I can't wait to find out more about the old.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I haven't read such an enjoyable book in a long time. It was fresh and unique, and I really like all the different elements of the story.

It feels like some kind of historical novel when you first start the story and enter the old bookstore, a mystery with the puzzle solving and members of a secret society, then it becomes somewhat sci-fi with all the talk about Google and immortality, and then comes fantasy with the heroes trying to save the mission; the rogue, the wizard, and the warrior. I loved how the author put them all together.

Clay was a great protagonist, an anti-hero of sorts because he didn't really set out to do much except try to impress the girl, but in the end, he really rose to the occasion and saved the day.

I loved that the other characters were portrayed like characters in an RPG, each one playing an important role in a quest. They were real people living in the 21st century, don't get me wrong, but they all had their RPG roles to play in this mission, and I loved that.

This book is so quaint and modern at the same time, I loved the whole adventure. I love how different this book is, and how fun, mysterious, and smart it is. It's pretty much one of my favorite books this year. =)

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It’s really hard for me to write a review of this book without getting angry. Suicide makes me angry, and there’s just too much to say about it that I can’t put the whole thing into a review of this book.

I might one day take the time to talk about my feelings about suicide, but for now, I’ll just give everyone a break and focus on the book.

So, I really like the book, even though I have issues with Hannah “blaming” her suicide on other people. She can blame them for their stupid and thoughtless, and even criminal, actions, but it’s completely unfair to put the blame of her suicide on those actions.

Teenagers make mistakes all the time, and I have both treated my peers badly and had been treated badly as a teen. I have had my closest friends turned against me, and had things get so bad to the point that I had to change schools. I got over it, we all got over it, we grew up and we’re all friends again now. Maybe my case wasn’t as bad as Hannah’s, but there are many other people who had it worse, and they got through it too. Two different people can go through the exact same thing, but they will react differently because of who they are.

Bottom line, people don’t contemplate suicide because of what other people do to them. They do it because they can’t handle it. Does it make what those other people did right? No. But they are in no way responsible for the suicide. Responsible for being jerks, maybe, making people miserable, sure, but suicide? No.

So I don’t like Hannah, I don’t think she should’ve committed suicide, the things that happened to her aren’t even that bad, and she did have good things happen which she by choice pushed away. The part about how her parents weren’t there for her was also weak. It’s also not like she didn’t have the strength to fight back, the fact that she did what she did before she committed suicide, showed that she had the anger, the will to stand up for herself.

The fact that she shared all those thoughts and emotions *after* she killed herself is such a cop out. Suicide was her choice, she had many choices and she chose to kill herself, yet in the end, she wouldn’t even take responsibility for that one final action.

However, while I don’t like Hannah, at all, I loved the way the story was told. I loved how intense and emotional it was. I always say that I like books that make me think, but the best books are the ones that make you feel. I felt deeply with this one. Anger. Frustration. It doesn’t have to be good feelings all the time.

I could’ve given this book only 4 stars instead of 5, because I felt that all the reasons for Hannah’s suicide were really weak, but instead of blaming the author for not being able to come up with convincing reasons for Hannah’s actions, I choose to believe that he made Hannah’s reasons weak on purpose, because, let’s be honest, there’s no reason good enough for suicide.

The Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead

There’s been a huge vampire fiction resurrection in recent times, and I have to say, I was actually pretty bored with all the vampire hype, especially since I don’t think much about the Twilight series or The Vampire Diaries

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Stephanie Meyer’s or L. J. Smith’s works, and in fact, if you look through the archives for my older reviews, Meyer’s The Host is one of my all time favorite books, and L. J. Smith is one of my all-time favorite authors.

I’m also a big fan of vampire fiction, so it’s not the problem of subject matter. I guess with any story, what compels me is the characters, the way the story is told, and most importantly, the believability of the story.

Suspension of belief has been a huge topic of conversation for me lately, and sure we can say, “Hey, we’re talking about vampires here, it’s a given that the story isn’t real, so what are you going on about with believability?”

Well, you know, I’m completely willing to believe that we live in a world secretly filled with vampires, but then what?

Tell me your story; tell me what they do, tell me what’s important to them, tell me what makes them “human”, because that’s what’s important to me.

It’s been a long time since I found a vampire story I really cared about and now I’ve found it with Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy series. I honestly had no idea that I’d love it this much, but I really do!

How do I even start? In Vampire Academy, Rose is a dhampir, a half-vampire, half-human, who’s bound to Lissa Dragomir, a princess of the Moroi, the good vampires.

All Moroi are magic users, but they’re not allowed to use it for violence or protection, and that’s where dhampirs come in. Dhampirs are the Moroi’s bodyguard, against the evil vampires, the Strigoi.

As far as I know, there are 6 books in the series, and then a spin-off, but I’ve only read the first four books.

There are great sub-plots in each of the books, but the main story line so far (no spoilers, you can probably find all this info in the synopsis of the books on Amazon.com) is that Rose is Lissa’s guardian and protects her from any harm that might come to her. Rose met Dimitri in the first book when he came to bring them back to the Academy, and he became Lissa’s other guardian and Rose’s mentor.

He teaches Rose as much as he can about being a guardian and fighting the Strigoi. Inevitably, they fall in love, but they can’t be together as they would put Lissa’s life in danger as her guardians. So they fight their feelings as long as they can, but eventually they both give in to it.

Unfortunately, there was a Strigoi attack not long after, and Dimitri is turned into a Strigoi. Well, to the Moroi world, that means he’s as good as dead, but Rose feels that she has to kill him before she can truly let him go. So she sets off to find and kill him.

It’s all very exciting and I can’t wait to find out what happens next. I’m on the waiting list in the library system, so I have to wait a while, but not too long I hope.

What I like about the way Mead tells the story is the way it seems to have just the right combination of childishness and maturity. I feel that’s what we all as humans basically are; people trying to find the right combination between having childish fun and enjoying life, and being responsible and mature adults. It also completely applies to our behavior; when do we act mature and classy, and when do we act petty and childish?

Growing up is hard to do, as Rose and her friends find in Vampire Academy, but a lot of the times you find that growing older, even when you’re legally an adult, doesn’t mean that you’ll actually act like one. Even when you’re 80 years old, there are times when you’ll still act childish, not necessarily in a bad way.

The irony is, all the time I was reading these books, I was actually supposed to be studying for a huge exam this week! Serves me right, because I didn’t do very well in the exam! I’m just hoping that my other projects and assignments will pull me through.

But what could I do? When a story pulls you in like that, you just have to let go and go with the flow! Sometimes, escapism is more important than exams, says my childish side while my mature side disapprovingly shakes her head. I just really hope I pass! I don’t need to get an amazing grade, but please just let me pass!

 

You might also like:

Last Sacrifice Richelle Mead Best Price $9.89 or Buy New $9.89

Spirit Bound Richelle Mead Best Price $7.00 or Buy New $10.52

Vampire Academy Box Set 1-4 Richelle Mead Best Price $22.65 or Buy New $24.41

Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths by Bernard Evslin

What is the book about?Well, the title kinda says it all, doesn’t it?

What did you like most about it? I loved that Evslin wrote the stories in a way that makes them very easy to read and understand. I got really engrossed in the stories of the Greek myths, and I really like the way he connected the characters from one story to another.

I’ve read about the Greek myths before but a lot of the time I get confused with who’s who. Evslin’s book made the distinction clearer and I felt that I really learnt a lot about the Greek myths from his book.

What did you like least about it? I wasn’t happy that it’s such a small book, only slightly over 200 pages. I wanted more. There were many Greek gods, heroes, and monsters that Evslin didn’t elaborate on. Most notably, Heracles.

I realize that Heracles’ story is very long, adding his and other stories would make the book huge, and apparently that’s not what Evslin was going for. Which is what sucks, because I loved the stories so much, and the way Evslin told them, that I really wanted a lot more.

Who would you recommend it to? If you love learning about the Greek gods and Greek myths, or if you just love great stories, this is a really great book.

Any additional comments? Now I have to find out if Evslin wrote any other books (ie. *thicker* books) on the Greek myths, and if he did, I am soooooo gonna check them out. =)

Where The Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

What is the book about? It’s about a boy and his two dogs, the things they go through together, hunting coons, making miracles happen, saving each others’ lives.

What did you like most about it? The fact that it’s about the love between two dogs and their human.

What did you like least about it? The fact that it made me cry. Well, ok, I don’t really hate it. I loved it too much to hate it.

Who would you recommend it to? Anyone who has a dog or who has ever had a dog. Anyone who loved “The Incredible Journey” and the movie “Homeward Bound”.

Any additional comments? I had the book for ages but never thought of reading it until I saw that the movie was going to play on TV next week. I thought I’d read the book first before watching the movie. I wonder if I’d like the movie as much.

Dear Enemy by Jean Webster

Dear Enemy is the sequel to Jean Webster’s more popular book, Daddy-Long-Legs. Daddy-Long-Legs is one of my most favorite books, and if you’ve read Daddy-Long-Legs and loved it, you’ll love this book too.

Daddy-Long-Legs featured Judy Abbott, an orphan from the John Grier Home, who was sponsored by a very rich and generous alumni, to go to college. The whole of the book then consists of letters that Judy writes to her anonymous benefactor about her life and her friends in college.

Among her closest friends is Sally McBride, who is the protagonist of Dear Enemy. Sally is asked to be the director of the John Grier Home after Judy’s husband bought it over, and this book tells the story of how Sally takes over the running of the orphanage, falls in love with the kids, and falls in love, all in letters that Sally writes to various people.

There is a certain charm to the way Jean Webster tells her stories, and although some people don’t like epistolary novels, I think these two books are among the good ones. Some epistolary novels are hard to read because of the way they’re written, but both Daddy-Long-Legs and Dear Enemy are written in short and witty chapters, with illustrations to boot!

Daddy-Long-Legs has long been a favorite since I was a little girl, and now I’ve added Dear Enemy to my exclusive list of favorite books as well.

The Music Lesson by Victor L. Wooten

If music was a religion, and some people would say it is, *this* book would be its bible!

I have never heard of Victor L. Wooten, and it was my husband, who is a musician, who bought this book.

Initially, I thought that it was some kind of autobiography of how Wooten grew spiritually as a musician, and I wasn’t really very interested in reading another musician’s autobiography, especially since I haven’t even heard of this particular musician.

Well, thing is, this book isn’t really an autobiography, or maybe it is, but you find yourself really wondering how true it is. It’s believable, yet so incredible that it you have to wonder at it. There’s so much in this book, about music and how to live your life fully and completely, and the more I read, the more I wonder, how could anyone live without music?!

The phrase “no music, no life” is true as far as I’m concerned, and I believe anyone, not just musicians, who love music should read this book. It is beautifully written, but I lack the skill to express how beautiful it is. There’s a lot to the book, I can’t describe it, I can only urge everyone I know to read it and live a richer and more musical life!

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

I’d been wanting to read this book for a long time after seeing so many people loving and recommending it.

I had no idea what the book was about though, only that it was a utopian vs. dystopian world, or something to that effect.

Well, utopia and dystopia really quite describes this book. It’s about humanity’s quest for the perfect world; always stable, always enough for everyone, and everyone happy.

Unfortunately, it’s not quite so simple. To get this particular utopia, we have to lose our freedom to think, choose, and be different. So you’ll have to wonder, is this really utopia, the perfect world? Or is it a dystopia, a hell on earth?

This is a thought-provoking read, and there are so many things I could discuss about it. Foremost on my mind, is that we’re are already living in a sort of utopia/dystopia. Not as extreme as the one that Huxley writes about, but to a degree. That is, if we recognize it.

Books like these are scary, because they’re entirely possible. It could happen if we let it. This is definitely a book everyone should read and think about.

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

I watched the movie when it came out a long time ago, thinking it was a light-hearted chick-lit. Imagine how taken aback I was when I realize the somberness and tragic nature of the movie.

It made an impact on me, but perhaps I wasn’t ready to understand it yet.

Now, many years later, I read the book, thinking that maybe I’ll get more insights about it that I missed before with the movie and my young age.

Truth is, I still don’t understand much of it, but I think it’s not really meant to be understood. Perhaps Eugenides was trying to tell us how futile it is to try to put a label on the reasons for suicides. It could be any number of factors, even the person who commits suicide may not understand what compels them to do it.

I don’t claim to know anything about it, but still I wonder about it and strive to find reasons. We want to know why, even when we realize that we may never know the answer.

Suicide is a painful subject, especially for those left behind, but Eugenides tries to let us see it, in a roundabout way, from the points of view of the persons who commit suicide. We’ll never be able to see it, but still we try our best.

It’s a sobering and tragic story, but written very well. I think the most important thing about this book is that it forces you to think, and perhaps, talk, about a very painful subject.

The Shining by Stephen King

This is my year for King’s books! Having just read Gerald’s Game, which in my opinion is the most thrilling King book, The Stand, which is the most epic and my favorite King book, now I’ve just finished reading The Shining, which is the scariest King book!

While many of King’s books are scary in the thrilling sense, none of them scared me to the point of sleeping with the lights on. This book did.

Yes, I slept with the little light on, right after finishing it at 4am in the morning. I even woke my husband up so he could accompany me to the bathroom, which adjoins the bedroom!

I can’t help it! Monsters, serial killers, and apocalypses don’t scare me. Ok, they do, but not much. Ghosts, on the other hand, freak me out! Yikes, I can’t even write this review without getting the shivers!

Ok, very briefly now, this book is about a little boy who has the sight, called the “shining”. His father is hired to be the caretaker for The Overlook Hotel, and of course, as with every respectable hotel, it has its share of ghosts. However, The Overlook’s ghosts are a lot more sinister and dangerous than your average ghosts. So what do you get when you put a boy with the “shining” in a hotel full of malicious ghosts? A really horrifying story!

Although this was an amazing book, I’m not going to re-read it anytime soon, I can tell you that!

The Margarets by Sheri S. Tepper

I’d been a huge fan of Tepper’s ever since I read Beauty, which was one of the most amazing fairy-tale retellings I’d ever read.

Since then, I’ve read only this book and Grass, and I am so amazed by her ability to weave such complex worlds in her books.

In The Margarets, humans on Earth have exhausted Earth’s natural resources with overpopulation and indifference, to the point that the intergalactic government have decided that something has to be done to control the population, or some other entities will decide to destroy all humans instead, to preserve Earth.

Humans try to negotiate with the other beings, but the only resource they have an abundance of are people, so they export their children out as bondslaves.

Margaret is one of them… Or should I say, she is seven of them. Margaret was the only human child living on one of the colonies, and to keep loneliness away, she created six imaginary companions, who are all aspects of herself. As she grows up, one by one, these companions are separated from her.

They go on to live different lives in different planets around the galaxy, but it is crucial to the human race that the Margarets find one another again.

As I’ve said, I love Tepper’s complex worlds, she gives so much details of the background, the places, and all the different inhabitants of the planets. I also love her characters; all the Margarets, so different yet so similar, and the other colorful characters, including the vile but so interesting K’Famirs.

Because her stories are so complex, it’s sometimes hard to dive into them, but once you’re in, you’re completely engrossed, and they’re always worth it.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

This book is one of my favorite books. I haven’t done an official “poll” yet, but I would venture to say that it might be in my top 10 list of favorite books!

The first time I read this book was the year the movie came out, in 2002. I read the book before I knew the movie was coming out, and I fell in love with the book. (I hated the movie, by the way, it’s so meaningless compared to the book!)

This is a huge book, over 1000 pages, and this was the only book I’d ever devoured so intensely which was more than 350 pages long! I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat for most of the book, and even more towards the later part of the book.

There were so many twists and surprises in the story, and so much pain and anguish, but with a sort of sadism, we can’t help but watch all this happen with glee and a “Well, it serves them right!” attitude even while we are also saying “Oh, no! Oh my gosh! Oh, those poor things!”

If you haven’t read this yet, I’m jealous! You’ll get to read it and savor it the first time, because honestly, the first time’s the best. After that, the book’s still good, but since you already know what’s going to happen, it loses a lot of its shock-factor.

This is the third time I’m reading the book again, after about 5 years, and it’s great because I’ve forgotten much of it and can enjoy it over again, but still… nothing beats the first time.

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the back cover blurb:

Kidnappers storm an international gathering hosted by a poor Latin American country to promote foreign trade. Unfortunately their intended target, the President, has stayed home to watch his favorite soap.

The takeover settles into a siege, bringing together an unlikely assortment of hostages, including a beautiful American opera diva, a Japanese CEO who is her biggest fan and his unassuming translator. Two couples, complete opposites, fall in love, and a horrific imprisonment is transformed into an unexpected heaven on earth.

My review:

If I had to use one word, it would be “poignant”. Since luckily enough, I can use more than one word, it is a beautiful, profound, and ironic story about how a terrible situation can turn into a magical one.

Most importantly, it’s a story about people, about human nature, about how monsters can turn into angels when you get to know them and understand why they do the things they do. It’s about love, the kind of love that happens only when there are no expectations, no demands, no fear about what others may think.

There is so much to think about in this book, so much to ponder upon, so much to rejoice for and to grieve for. I am still in awe over this book, and it has won a place in my top favorite books of all time. I’m sure, many years from now, I will still love it as much as I love it now.

The Stand by Stephen King

 

Having just finished Gerald’s Game by Stephen King and The Host by Stephenie Meyer, I was in the mood for more horror and apocalyptic stories.

 

There’d been many Stephen King fans who have said that their favorite King book is The Stand, and I happened to have had this book on my shelves for a while now.

 

I realize that I’ve never really bothered to find out what his books are about, only buying the ones whose titles are familiar because of their popularity. So it happened that I had no idea what this book was about.

 

My copy of The Stand is the Uncut, Extended Edition, which is great, because I prefer to know the whole story, and is divided into three parts.

 

The first part talks about the plague and its effects, the second part talks about the aftermath and how they try to rebuild, the third part is the showdown between the forces of good and evil.

 

This book didn’t have the intensity of Gerald’s Game, and it was slow at parts, but it was nevertheless still exciting. I love the characters, and I felt their loss, their pain and confusion, their uncertainty, their fear. It’s one of the scariest, saddest, and most tragic story I’ve ever read, but at the same time, so full of hope, strength, courage, and love.

 

I believe there’s a film based on this book, and I’d be interested to watch it too. I finished this book two days ago, and I still think about the characters and wonder what happens to them.

 

It may sound strange, but the truth is, I find myself missing them as if they were real, actual friends that I haven’t seen in a long time, and I really wish they would get back in touch, or at least, I wish someone would tell me if they’re alright. 

 

That’s probably why so many people have said this is their favorite King book. I barely remember the characters in his other books, but I think the ones in this book will stay with me for a while.

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

 

This is another book that intrigued me because of another blogger’s review.

 

Ms Ulat Buku from Ulat Buku in the City reviewed this book a while ago, and I thought, hey, it sounds like a much better book than Meyer’s more famous Twilight series.

 

So I read this recently and what I thought is that it is definitely a much better book than the Twilight series. (I’ve only read the first Twilight book, and though I enjoyed it, I have no plans to read the other books in the series.)

 

In fact, I love this book so much that I think it’s one of the best books I’ve read this year. As Ms Ulat Buku said to me, Meyer isn’t the best author, but she writes compelling books, and you can’t help but get sucked into the story.

 

I don’t think that the characters are similar to Bella and Edward at all, but perhaps I didn’t read enough of the Twilight series to be a good judge of that. All I can say is that this book is beautiful, and it lingers on my mind long after I’ve finished it.

 

I especially love the storytelling sessions, and the descriptions of life on other planets. I love how the story flowed, and how the people changed, and how beautiful the love the characters had for each other were.

 

I was happy with the ending, but so sad because it was ending. I wanted more, I wanted to know where they went from there, how they were going to live, what would happen next. I wish there was more, but if there isn’t, I’ll reread this book again one day, and enjoy it all over again.