May-End Bookshelf pt. 2

I had to split this into two posts because I finished THIRTEEN books these past couple weeks.
Look back one to see the first 7. :)

The Lost Boy by Dave Pelter

This is the 2nd book in Dave Pelzer's series about his life growing up in an abusive household. While A Child Called It focused on his early childhood in his mother's house, The Lost Boy deals on his middle years, while he's living in foster care.

It tells about his bouncing around from foster family to foster family. It talks about the trial against his mother and how he felt during it. It explains the fact that he still felt some sort of loyalty to his mother, even though he hated her for everything she did to him.

Another heartbreaking story, but it makes me want to read the next one (and his brother's books).

5 out of 5 stars.

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This Star Won't Go Out by Esther Earl

Okay, I have so many feelings about this book. And I know I probably have the "unpopular opinion" about some of it.

1. I don't get why it was published. Did I learn anything new about cancer? No. I learned about the Harry Potter Alliance, an internet group called Catitude, John Green, and nerdfighteria. I didn't learn anything about cancer aside from the fact that the kind Esther had was not normal for children.

2. John Green flat out says in the beginning that Esther is NOT the inspiration behind The Fault In Our Stars and he already had started that book before meeting Esther. So why is her cancer story any more important than some other kid? Yes, she met John Green. Yes, they became friends. But it almost seems like her parents used that fact to get their kid's journal published.

3. About 75% of the book is just other people saying how kind, caring, and compassionate Esther is. While I don't doubt that, I don't see why it needs said 1,000 times in one book. I get it.

4. Everyone also says that they were shocked Esther was so young. When they chatted with her online, they thought she was older. Sure, she may have loved like someone wiser beyond her years, but one look at her writing style and I knew she was a middle schooler. You're not fooling anyone and if you honestly thought she was 20 something then wow....

5. Okay, so the Harry Potter Alliance won $25,000 "with Esther", but riddle me this. Your favorite author meets a child who is sick with *insert disease here* and this kid happens to be a part of this organization which is trying to win money to *insert good cause here*, so your author writes a blog post/posts a YouTube video/etc. about this and the organization wins. Did that sick kid win the money? No. No offense to Esther, because I'm sure her story did inspire some people.... but I also guarantee there were people who watched John Green's video, thought it was awesome that he wanted the Harry Potter Alliance to win and voted for them that way, with no significance to Esther.

It was a decent book. I'll give it that. But there were just so many things that also really bugged me about it. I don't see how this book was able to win a Goodreads award. I don't know why it was published in the first place, aside from the fact that Esther was friends with John Green.

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My Story by Elizabeth Smart

This book was nuts. 

Since I was only around 8 years old when this happened, I have no memory of ever hearing about it, especially details. But wow, it was shocking.

This is Elizabeth Smart's story of the time she was kidnapped from her Mormon, Utah home by a religious fanatic. She spent 9 months tied up, living in the mountains, being raped by a man who claimed his name was Immanuel and he was "sent by God".

This book seriously gave me the creeps because I know that it truly happened and that this guy is not the only one out there who has done this stuff to young girls, and who continue to do things to young girls. 

I applaud Elizabeth for her bravery for publishing this book and having the courage to tell all of the horrible things that happened to her. 

4.5 out of 5 stars.

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The Giver by Lois Lowry

This was another re-read because my 7th graders needed to read it.

The Giver is a story of a different type of society, which promotes the idea of "sameness". Everyone is the same. They follow the same, strict rules. The community is run very precisely. Partners are chosen for you, instead of you getting to marry for love. Birthmothers give birth to children, who are raised in nurturing centers for the first year, before being placed in a household. Children get their bikes at a certain age, etc. 

At 12 years old, things start to change. At this point, children are assigned jobs in their community. They may work at the house of the Old, the fish hatchery, etc. 

Jonas is selected to be the next "Receiver of Memory". With this position, Jonas receives the truth about life "before" (how it is now). 

This is my 2nd time reading this book and I liked it even more than the 1st. I may have to re-read the rest of the series. 

4 out of 5 stars.

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Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
by Harriet Jacobs

This book was written by Harriet Jacobs, a slave. She tells about her life living as a slave in the 1800s. It's interesting in the fact that it was a book by a slave (which was unheard of) but also by a woman.

This tells about her struggles with her master, running away, trying to find freedom for her children, etc.

I believe this is the shorter version of a longer book. I re-read it with my 8th graders. It was a good book to give a look at slavery, but overall I can't say there was anything unusually wonderful about it.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

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Didn't like it. Which is unfortunate. It was definitely written for younger kids, but usually that doesn't bother me.

Bad, Badder, Baddest by Cynthia Voigt

The entire book is about Mikey and Margalo, who are trying to stop one of their parents from getting divorced. Literally, the whole book. 80% of it is them discussing it, trying to figure out what to do. Then they actually try one thing to make it stop.There's also a girl who is "badder" than the rest of them, but everything she does sounds made up.I like Cynthia Voigt as an author, I really do. But this book seems forced.

2 out of 5 stars. Barely.

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Summer Book Challenge Update
5 points: Freebie! Read any book that fits the general rules. - My Story by Elizabeth Smart (308 pages)
10 points: Read a book you have never heard of before. - She Sins At Midnight by Whitney Dineen (314 pages)
10 points: Read a book that has been on your TBR list for at least two years. - Not Afraid of Life by Bristol Palin (272 pages)
10 points: Read a book that won a Goodreads “Best Book” award in 2014. - This Star Won't Go Out (431 pages)
15 points: Read a book by an author who is completely new to you. - Suicide City by Julie Frayn (272 pages)
15 points: Read a book by an author you have read before. - Match Point by Erynn Mangnum (367 pages)
15 points: Read a book with "light" or "dark" in the title. (Or "lightness" or "darkness.")
20 points: Read a book with the name of a city, state or country in the title. - Princesses of Iowa by Molly M. Backes (464 pages)
20 points: Read a book with an animal on the cover.
25 points: Read a book that is part of a series with at least four books. -- The Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer (331 pages)
25 points: Read a book that is longer than 500 pages long. --
30 points: Read a book with an alliterative title. -- Bad, Badder, Baddest by Cynthia Voigt (266 pages)

Total: 140 points

May-End Bookshelf

Well, if you're looking for book recommendations, apparently I'm the place to be.
Since my Mid-May Bookshelf update on May 12th, I've finished 12 books.
TWELVE.
Plus I forgot to write about one in Mid-May.
So here's thirteen reviews for May-End, as well as an update on the Semi-Charmed Summer 2015 Book Challenge
(Upon further thought, I'm splitting this into two posts to save your brain. So here's 7.)

Match Point by Erynn Mangum

Match Point is the final book in the Lauren Holbrook series, which I loved from start to finish.

Lauren has always had a gift for matchmaking. But finally, the tables have been turned as her friends try to set her up with the boy she's been "dating" for a while. Will Lauren give in to the pressure to get married or will her and Ryan's plan to fake breaking up actually tear them apart?

Cute, easy to read story, with underlying Christian tones. I'd definitely recommend this series.

4 out of 5 stars.

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Rough Rowdy Reckless by Kimball Lee

This book was a short kindle book (only 67 pages) and it's about three girls who are going on a road trip together. They plan to get rough, rowdy, and reckless on their trip. They want to hook up with someone, no regrets.

Well, they each meet someone sexy and things go from there.

Definitely a bit more of an adult read.

Overall, it wasn't bad. But it was really short. I'd like to see more about each character. You only had about a chapter to hear their whole story.

2 out of 5 stars.

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Not Afraid of Life by Bristol Palin

Not Afraid of Life: My Journey So Far was written by Bristol Palin herself (with help) and it's all about her experience as a young, unwed mother while in the middle of her mother's political career.

Now, while this was going on, I wasn't exactly into politics, so I didn't really know a lot of this. Sure, I knew that Bristol got pregnant, but I didn't know about all the nasty rumors, the on-again, off-again relationship with Tripp's father, any of that. So that was interesting to read from this perspective. I didn't now all these things were happening!!

Overall, the book gave a nice perspective. You can tell it was written by somebody younger, as she kind of jumps around a lot instead of telling the story chronologically, which would have helped me a lot. 

3 out of 5 stars.

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The God We Can Know by Rob Fuquay

This was a book that Daniel and I read for church. We were supposed to do a small group study with it but that kind of fell apart.

This book explores the "I am" sayings of Jesus. For example, "I am the good shepherd.", "I am the light.", "I am the way.", "I am the living water.", etc. What does Jesus mean by all of these?

I really liked this book because it made you think about the things that you read in the Bible on a deeper level. Each chapter had questions to go along with it to discuss with your small group (or just your husband!) We always had really good discussions out of these and I think we both learned something every time.

3 out of 5 stars.

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Live Original by Sadie Robertson

Live Original: How the Duck Commander Teen Keeps it Real and Stays True to her Values was another book that was clearly written by someone younger. You can just tell in the way it was written. Not that this is a bad thing, but it did take away a little bit.

I also believe this book was aimed towards someone younger than I am. It would be a great book when aimed towards pre-teen and teenage girls, but at 22 I didn't get as much out of it as I think I could have.

However, I did get some out of it. And it was good. It really did make me think about what is important to me and how I can change the world.

3 out of 5 stars. Great book, wrong age group for me.

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She Sins at Midnight by Whitney Dineen

Oh my goodness, I loved this book!

Lila works in Hollywood as an assistant. She's a hard worker, a great friend, and a lady. But, she has another side of her. She's also Jasmine Sheath, author of a new bestselling erotica novel.

She's terrified of someone finding out her secret, so when she goes home for her high school reunion, she does her best to keep quiet about it. 

However, a dramatic Hollywood starlet is trying to ruin Lila's life. She's spreading rumors and trying to get her fired.

While Lila is back in her hometown, all kinds of crazy things happen. She falls in love with the guy who inspired her novel, tries to keep her novel a secret, and tries to keep herself out of the tabloids.

This book was seriously hilarious. I loved it and I haven't laughed this hard in a while. 

4 out of 5 stars.

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Phineas L. MacGuire...Gets Slimed!
by Frances O'Roark Dowell

This was a cute little book that my 4th graders were reading. It's about Phineas (called Mac) and his quest to become the best 4th grade scientist ever.

Mac LOVES mold. He wants to make a mold museum in the school to teach everyone else how cool it is.

Meanwhile, his friend Ben wants to run for class president.

It's a bunch of crazy antics of 4th graders. Super simple read (because it's definitely meant for younger kids). I'd recommend it for someone in that age range.

4 out of 5 stars.

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Summer Book Challenge Update
5 points: Freebie! Read any book that fits the general rules. - My Story by Elizabeth Smart (308 pages)
10 points: Read a book you have never heard of before. - She Sins At Midnight by Whitney Dineen (314 pages)
10 points: Read a book that has been on your TBR list for at least two years. - Not Afraid of Life by Bristol Palin (272 pages)
10 points: Read a book that won a Goodreads “Best Book” award in 2014. - This Star Won't Go Out (431 pages)
15 points: Read a book by an author who is completely new to you. - Suicide City by Julie Frayn (272 pages)
15 points: Read a book by an author you have read before. - Match Point by Erynn Mangnum (367 pages)
15 points: Read a book with "light" or "dark" in the title. (Or "lightness" or "darkness.")
20 points: Read a book with the name of a city, state or country in the title.
20 points: Read a book with an animal on the cover.
25 points: Read a book that is part of a series with at least four books. -- The Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer (331 pages)
25 points: Read a book that is longer than 500 pages long. --
30 points: Read a book with an alliterative title. -- Bad, Badder, Baddest by Cynthia Voigt (266 pages)

Total: 120 points

April Bookshelf part 1

Only two books this time because one of them was so long and time consuming.

Big Little Lies
by Liane Moriarty

Big Little Lies is written through the viewpoints of three women - Madeline, Celeste, and Jane.

Madeline is a woman who is strong, confident, and passionate. Her ex-husband is remarried to a woman with a very different outlook on life and it seems like their daughter wants to be around her step-mother more than Madeline herself.

Celeste is a beautiful woman with a terrible secret. Her husband travels the world and brings her back really expensive gifts. With twin boys in Kindergarten, the couple is set to be the leaders of the school. But is it worth everything they have to deal with at home?

Jane is a young, single mom who doesn't think she belongs with the rest of these women. She's new to town and is harboring an intense secret of her own.

Madeline and Celeste take Jane into their family of friends and try to teach her the way of the world. They learn her secret and try to help her solve the scandal that is going around the school involving her son.

Big Little Lies is written by an Australian author whose books I've never read before. But after reading this one, I definitely am going to look into her other books because she is fantastic! The book is really long, but I wanted to keep reading and didn't feel burdened to finish.

4.5/5 stars

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She Said Yes
by Misty Bernall

She Said Yes is a story about Cassie Bernall, a young girl who was killed during the Columbine shooting of 1999. Rumor has it (though I believe it's been disproved by now) that she was shot because Eric and Dylan (the gunmen) asked her if she believed in God and her answer was "yes".

Cassie's mom writes this story of her daughter, discussing what her high school life was like leading up to her senior year at Columbine, when her life was taken away from her. She describes the way that Cassie had her own demons to deal with - thoughts of suicide and murder, self mutilation, rebellion. Until one weekend she went to a church retreat where she was reborn into the Cassie everyone knew that day in April 1999.

Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of this book. To me it's just a biography about a teenage girl. The shooting is hardly even mentioned at all past the first chapter. Plus, as I said, they've come out and said that the "Do you believe in God" conversation did not actually take place as described by the people in this book.

Part of me just expected more out of this story (the first time I read it...this is the second) but that's also because I grew up in Littleton and know a lot more of the background information of Columbine that most people reading this story do not know.

My 7th/8th graders are seeming to enjoy it, so that's what really counts.
3/5 stars

March Bookshelf part 2

As promised, approximately 2 weeks after my last book review post, here's the books I've read since!

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Goodbye Ed, Hello Me
Jenni Schaefer

Goodbye Ed, Hello Me was an interesting read. It was a book that was suggested to me by my EDA sponsor. It's written by Jenni Schaefer, a woman who successfully recovered from an eating disorder.

This book gave quite a few good strategies for working through recovery. I found myself actually taking notes the whole time.

She talks about how to her, her eating disorder was like a controlling husband. She had to "divorce" Ed and learn to love herself in the process.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who has, or knows someone who has, struggles with eating and with their body.

3.5/5
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Choosing Charleston
T. Lynn Ocean

Choosing Charleston was another book that I randomly downloaded for free so that I would have something to read during my break at work. It's about a woman named Carly who finds her husband of less than a year in bed with the neighbor. She immediately goes back down to her parents' in South Carolina to try to sort out what to do.

While she's there she finds out that a land developer is building a store that will put her parents out of business. She also meets one of the construction workers that is working on this building and she's very much attracted to him. Her grandmother also lives at home because she is dealing with memory problems (which make for some great laughs in this story).

She knows she should be working on her marriage, but there's something about Charleston.

4/5
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Miss Match
Erynn Mangum

Miss Match was loaned to me by my friend Meghan who said that it was one of her favorite books.

Lauren is a girl who works at a photography studio, but her real life calling is playing matchmaker. She introduced her sister to the man she married and that was just the beginning.

Lauren is able to tell who should end up with who and finds fun ways to make it happen.

There's some underlying Christian themes in this book (The main character is very active in church and Bible study), which was a nice touch.

4/5
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The Problem with Crazy
Lauren K. McKellar

The Problem With Crazy focuses on 18 year old Kate. She is super excited to be leaving town and going on tour with her boyfriend and his band. However, when her dad shows up drunk to her high school graduation, plans get changed.

She finds out that her father (who had been gone for over a year) actually has a very bad illness, which is eventually going to kill him. Kate then learns that she could have inherited this illness.

All this news is too much for her boyfriend, who leaves her because he can't deal with his "crazy" girlfriend when he wants to get famous. Kate has to deal with the break up, taking care of her dad, making new friends, and the idea that she could have a deadly illness.

The only thing that threw me off about this book is that it was written by an Australian, so there were a few times where the wording would be different than what I would think. But it didn't really make it any harder to read. Just something to watch out for.

4/5
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Scrawl
Mark Shulman

Scrawl is about a young boy named Tod. Tod is known for being a bully, stealing kid's lunch money, that kind of thing.

One day, Tod and his friends get caught doing something really bad (though you never find out what it is) and are forced to serve a detention. While his friends are outside picking up trash, Tod is forced to sit in a room with his counselor and write in a notebook. He's encouraged to write anything he thinks or feels.

Scrawl is his notebook, along with some notes from his guidance counselor. This made it really interesting, because we get to see what happens from the main character's point of view. He's brutally honest and quite funny.

3/5

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Thirteen Reasons Why
Jay Asher

Thirteen Reasons Why is about a boy named Clay who finds a box full of tapes one day. When he opens the box and starts to play the tapes, he finds out they were recorded by a girl named Hannah, who had just ended her life by suicide.

There are 13 tapes, one for each person who she claims had a role in why she chose to end her life. Everyone on these tapes will have the chance to receive the tapes and listen to them to find out what they did.

The story is told through both Clay and Hannah's points of view. The dual narrative switches between what Hannah says on her tapes and what Clay thinks as he listens to them.

Thirteen Reasons Why beautifully demonstrates the snowball effect of how the (seemingly insignificant) actions of one person can snowball out of control into something you'd never expect.

5/5

My Bookshelf

In the past, I've tried writing and posting a book review every time I finished a book.

Then, we hit a point where I was finishing a (couple) books every 1-3 days, so I decided if I wanted to be able to post anything else on my blog, that wasn't going to work anymore.

Here's what I decided instead.

I've seen multiple people do their book reviews this way.

However, they usually post once a month.

Now, I don't want a gigantic post every month that nobody will even read because it's so long, so as long as I've read some books, I plan on posting like this every two weeks or so. 

Here you have it -- Quick reviews for every book I've read since my last book review.

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When Will The Heaven Begin?
Ally Breedlove

When Will The Heaven Begin? by Ally Breedlove is a very touching story about her younger brother, Ben. Ben was born with a heart condition that threatens his life every single day. It tells of Ben growing up, the things he couldn't do and the things he had to do to try to keep his heart healthy. 

It tells about the time when Ben was 4 years old and had to be taken to the hospital, where he cheated death for the first time.

And finally, it tells about Christmas Day 2011, when Ben's soul finally entered Heaven as a final resting place. 

You may have seen Ben's Youtube video, asking us if we believe in angels and God. He did.

                                                I give this book a 5 star rating and would definitely recommend it to a             

                                                friend.

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Freedom Walkers
Russell Freedman

Freedom Walkers was a quick and easy read for me.

It's about the Montgomery Bus Boycott during the Civil Rights Movement. 

It tells us about the boycott using very descriptive words, direct quotes from those involved, and heartbreaking photographs of what was happening in Montgomery during this time. 

Easily understood, informational text.

3 stars - Only because this book isn't necessarily for entertainment and I'm not really a history buff. 

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Because They Marched
Russell Freedman

Can you tell what my middle schoolers were reading about the past few weeks?

Because They Marched is about the marches that the African American people had in Selma, Alabama in an effort to gain their right to vote. 

It begins by telling us about the teachers marching up to the courthouse and ends with the march to Montgomery, Alabama - which included Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday, and finally the successful march. It gives us a look into the Voting Rights Act and the way that these people gained the very important right to vote.

This book also uses descriptive words, direct quotes from those   involved, and fantastic photographs to illustrate what really happened during this important time in American history. 

3 stars - Again, because I'm not really one for history. Personal opinion. 

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Happy to be Alive, Because
Chelsea Jacobs

Happy to be Alive, Because is the story of Avery. She's 17 years old when her mother (who also happens to be her best friend) passes away. 

After her mother dies, she finds travel plans in her mother's room for a trip to where she (the mom) grew up. In an attempt to run away from the pain she now faces at home, Avery takes the trip.

When she arrives at this cute little beach town, she soon meets three people who quickly become her best friends as if they've known each other their whole lives. 

Eventually, she learns a secret about one of them (a cute boy, love interest, to be exact.) which makes her question if running away really was the right choice. 

4 out of 5 stars - This story was a really good story. But I'm not really a fan of the ending. And not because I don't agree with what happens...it was just very abrupt. 

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There you have it!

More soon, in about 2 weeks?