These Books Among Us

The Ordinary Seaman by Francisco Goldman (400 pages) Date Read: 24 October 2015 My Rating: 2 Stars Synopsis: The Ordinary Seaman, the second novel from acclaimed writer Francisco Goldman is a lyrical and spellbinding story of hope, despair, and the promise of love. The ordinary seaman is Esteban, a 19-year-old veteran of the war in Nicaragua, who has come to America with 14 other men to form the crew of the Urus. Docked on a desolate Brooklyn pier, the Urus is a wreck, and the men, without the means to return home, become its prisoners. Esteban, haunted by the loss of his first love in the war, gradually works up the courage to escape the ship and start a new life in the city. His story and those of his shipmates come to life, illuminating the conflicts and triumphs of the human heart. My Review: I did not enjoy this novel. I felt like it dwelt too long on the little aspects that didn't really mean much in the whole of the story. The temporality of the story was co

Hi guys!!! So if you are a regular reader of my blog, I would first like to thank you for that!! My blog is now over 1 month old!!! I am so excited and happy that I started doing this blog! I would like to warn you that I am doing NaNoWriMo this year!! Yay!! So because of this, I won't really be able to read that much. (Plus, school is super hectic and I haven't had time to read anything fun at all in a while.) So if you don't see that many posts in the next month or so, don't be worried! I am fine!! I will try to make posts, both reviews and more fun and personal posts as much as I can over this time. If you guys want to talk to me about anything recommend me your favorite books, or ask me to review any specific books, feel free to leave comments below!! Have a wonderful week, I hope to chat at you soon! XOXO Dana

Close Range by Annie Proulx (285 pages) Date Finished: 14 October 2015 My Rating: 3.5 Stars Synopsis: From the Pulitzer Prize-winning and bestselling author of The Shipping News and Accordion Crimes comes one of the most celebrated short story collections of our time. Annie Proulx's masterful language and fierce love of Wyoming are evident in these breathtaking tales of loneliness, quick violence, and the wrong kinds of love. Each of the stunning portraits in Close Range reveals characters fiercely wrought with precision and grace. These are stories of desperation and unlikely elation, set in a landscape both stark and magnificent -- by an author writing at the peak of her craft. My Review: I enjoyed reading this, mainly from a craft perspective. I am not the biggest of fans of the Western stories, but the characters and their actions really came alive from her descriptions and I felt like I learned a lot. While I didn't enjoy reading all of the stories, there w

Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario (306 pages) Date Finished: 11 October 2015 My Rating: 4 Stars Synopsis: An astonishing story that puts a human face on the ongoing debate about immigration reform in the United States, now updated with a new Epilogue and Afterword, photos of Enrique and his family, an author interview, and more—the definitive edition of a classic of contemporary America Based on the Los Angeles Times newspaper series that won two Pulitzer Prizes, one for feature writing and another for feature photography, this page-turner about the power of family is a popular text in classrooms and a touchstone for communities across the country to engage in meaningful discussions about this essential American subject.    Enrique’s Journey recounts the unforgettable quest of a Honduran boy looking for his mother, eleven years after she is forced to leave her starving family to find work in the United States. Braving unimaginable peril, often clinging to the sides a

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson (266 pages) My Rating: 5 Stars Date Finished: 7 October 2015 Synopsis: The graphic novel debut from rising star Noelle Stevenson, based on her beloved and critically acclaimed web comic, which Slate awarded its Cartoonist Studio Prize, calling it "a deadpan epic." Nemeses! Dragons! Science! Symbolism! All these and more await in this brilliantly subversive, sharply irreverent epic from Noelle Stevenson. Featuring an exclusive epilogue not seen in the web comic, along with bonus conceptual sketches and revised pages throughout, this gorgeous full-color graphic novel is perfect for the legions of fans of the web comic and is sure to win Noelle many new ones. Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloi

The Romance of Tristan and Iseult - Joseph Bedier (96 pages My Rating: 4 Stars Date Read: 3 October 2015 Synopsis: A tale of chivalry and doomed, transcendent love, The Romance of Tristan and Iseult is one of the most resonant works of Western literature, as well as the basis for our enduring idea of romance. The story of the Cornish knight and the Irish princess who meet by deception, fall in love by magic, and pursue that love in defiance of heavenly and earthly law has inspired artists from Matthew Arnold to Richard Wagner. But nowhere has it been retold with greater eloquence and dignity than in Joseph Bédier’s edition, which weaves several medieval sources into a seamless whole, elegantly translated by Hilaire Belloc and Paul Rosenfeld. My Review: This was an interesting classic Romantic story. The Romance of Tristan and Iseult is incredibly sad but also telling of how the ideas of courtly love were perceived in that time period. I really enjoyed getting a glimpse into

And the Earth Did Not Devour Him by Thomas Rivera (160 pages) My Rating: 4 Stars Date Read: 27 September 2015 Synopsis: The stories in this book are are about the experiences of the poor, migrant farm worker. They depict the cruelty of the life, but also the ability of a community to come together to help one another survive. My Review: This book is split in half. The first half is written entirely in Spanish while the second half is in English. As a person who speaks no Spanish, it was cool to go back and forth from the two halves to get an understanding to what the words meant. This book gave a very interesting view into the migrant workers of the United States. Not only are there the testimonials from the people themselves, there are also little vignettes into each person's life. There are small aspects of dark humor throughout the novel. Some instances, like when the child is trying to evoke the devil by cursing at him, made me laugh while I was reading it. I re

Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge ( 448 pages) My Rating: 4.5 Stars Date Finished: 2 October 2015 Synopsis: When Rachelle was fifteen, she was good—apprenticed to her aunt and in training to protect her village from dark magic. But she was also reckless—straying from the forest path in search of a way to free her world from the threat of eternal darkness. After an illicit meeting goes dreadfully wrong, Rachelle is forced to make a terrible choice that binds her to the very evil she had hoped to defeat. Three years later, Rachelle has given her life to serving the realm, fighting deadly creatures in an effort to atone. When the king orders her to guard his son Armand—the man she hates most—Rachelle forces Armand to help her hunt for the legendary sword that might save their world. Together, they navigate the opulent world of the courtly elite, where beauty and power reign and no one can be trusted. And as they become unexpected allies, they discover far-reaching conspiracies

Coraline by Neil Gaiman (162 pages) My Rating: 4 Stars Date Finished: 31 December 2014 Synopsis: Coraline's often wondered what's behind the locked door in the drawing room. It reveals only a brick wall when she finally opens it, but when she tries again later, a passageway mysteriously appears. Coraline is surprised to find a flat decorated exactly like her own, but strangely different. And when she finds her "other" parents in this alternate world, they are much more interesting despite their creepy black button eyes. When they make it clear, however, that they want to make her theirs forever, Coraline begins a nightmarish game to rescue her real parents and three children imprisoned in a mirror. With only a bored-through stone and an aloof cat to help, Coraline confronts this harrowing task of escaping these monstrous creatures. Gaiman has delivered a wonderfully chilling novel, subtle yet intense on many levels. The line between pleasant and horrible is

The Jewel by Amy Ewing (358 pages) My Rating: 5 Stars Date Finished: 30 December 2015 Synopsis: The Jewel means wealth. The Jewel means beauty. The Jewel means royalty. But for girls like Violet, the Jewel means servitude. Not just any kind of servitude. Violet, born and raised in the Marsh, has been trained as a surrogate for the royalty—because in the Jewel the only thing more important than opulence is offspring. Purchased at the surrogacy auction by the Duchess of the Lake and greeted with a slap to the face, Violet (now known only as #197) quickly learns of the brutal truths that lie beneath the Jewel’s glittering facade: the cruelty, backstabbing, and hidden violence that have become the royal way of life. Violet must accept the ugly realities of her existence... and try to stay alive. But then a forbidden romance erupts between Violet and a handsome gentleman hired as a companion to the Duchess’s petulant niece. Though his presence makes life in the Jewel a bit brigh

Atlantia by Ally Condie (368 pages) My Rating: 3.5 Stars Date Finished: 27 December 2014 Synopsis: Can you hear Atlantia breathing? For as long as she can remember, Rio has dreamt of the sand and sky Above—of life beyond her underwater city of Atlantia. But in a single moment, all her plans for the future are thwarted when her twin sister, Bay, makes an unexpected decision, stranding Rio Below. Alone, ripped away from the last person who knew Rio’s true self—and the powerful siren voice she has long hidden—she has nothing left to lose. Guided by a dangerous and unlikely mentor, Rio formulates a plan that leads to increasingly treacherous questions about her mother’s death, her own destiny, and the complex system constructed to govern the divide between land and sea. Her life and her city depend on Rio to listen to the voices of the past and to speak long-hidden truths. My Review: This book wasn't as interesting as I thought it would be, which is really unfortunate. I

Boy Proof by Cecil Castelcci (203 pages) My Rating: 4 Stars Date Finished: 26 December 2014 Synopsis: Meet Egg. Her real name is Victoria Jurgen, but she's renamed herself after the kick-ass heroine of her favorite sci-fi movie, TERMINAL EARTH. Like her namesake, Egg dresses all in white, colors her eyebrows, and shaves her head. She always knows the right answers, she's always in control, and she's far too busy — taking photos for the school paper, meeting with the Science Fiction and Fantasy Club, and hanging out at the "creature shop" with her dad, the special-effects makeup wizard — to be bothered with friends, much less members of the opposite sex. As far as Egg is concerned, she's boy proof, and she likes it that way. But then Egg meets a boy named Max, a boy who's smart and funny and creative and cool . . . and happens to like Egg. Could this be the end of the world — at least as Egg knows it? My Review: This was a really interesting no

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green (310 pages) My Rating: 5 Stars Date Finished: 16 November 2014 Synopsis: One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two strangers cross paths. Two teens with the same name, running in two very different circles, suddenly find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, culminating in heroic turns-of-heart and the most epic musical ever to grace the high school stage. My Review: I didn't think I would enjoy this novel as much as I did. The alternating speakers gave a really cool way of storytelling. Though the main characters share the same name, they couldn't be more different. This is a really cool story about life as a teenager. I highly recommend it.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (416 pages) My Rating: 4 Stars Date Finished: 25 November 2014 Synopsis: Marcus, a.k.a “w1n5t0n,” is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works–and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting his high school’s intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems. But his whole world changes when he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison where they’re mercilessly interrogated for days. When the DHS finally releases them, Marcus discovers that his city has become a police state where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one option: to take down the DHS himself. My

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (240 pages) My Rating: 5 Stars Date Finished: 18 October 2014 Synopsis: Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot. Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author's own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney that reflect the character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live. With a forward by Markus Zusak, interviews with Sherman Alexie and Ellen Forney, and four-color interior art throughout, this edition is perfect for fans and colle

Monster by Walter Dean Meyers (281 pages) My Rating: 3 Stars Date Finished: 14 October 2014 Synopsis: This New York Times bestselling novel and National Book Award nominee from acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers tells the story of Steve Harmon, a teenage boy in juvenile detention and on trial. Presented as a screenplay of Steve's own imagination, and peppered with journal entries, the book shows how one single decision can change our whole lives. Fade In: Interior: Early Morning In Cell Block D, Manhattan Detention Center. Steve (Voice-Over) Sometimes I feel like I have walked into the middle of a movie. Maybe I can make my own movie. The film will be the story of my life. No, not my life, but of this experience. I'll call it what the lady prosecutor called me ... Monster. Supports the Common Core State Standards My Review: "Monster" was a very quick read and was interestingly set up. I enjoyed how it was written like a movie, it made it feel more re

The Marrow of Tradition by Charles W Chesnutt (400 pages) My Rating: 4 Stars Date Finished: 25 April 2015 Synopsis: Charles W. Chesnutt (1858-1932) was an author, essayist and political activist whose works addressed the complex issues of racial and social identity at the turn of the century. Chesnutt's early works explored political issues somewhat indirectly, with the intention of changing the attitudes of Caucasians slowly and carefully. However, The Marrow of Tradition marked a turning point in Chesnutt's career, with its direct and overt treatment of racism and political injustices in the South. The story of the white Carterets and the mixed-race Millers, whose lives are intertwined because the wives are half sisters, delves into a wide range of social and race issues. The novel's depiction of lynchings that occurred during the Wilmington Race Riot proved to be too controversial for readers of the time; however, Chesnutt considered it his best, and modern criti

Plessy v Ferguson: A Brief History with Documents by Brook Thomas (205 pages) My Rating: 3 Stars Date Finished: 20 April 2015 Synopsis: In 1896, The Supreme Court's Plessy v. Ferguson decision made legal a system of "separate but equal" racial segregation not overruled until 1954. Using the full text of the Court's opinion, along with a selection of responses to the ruling, Brook Thomas allows students to re-create a context of the complicated debates and conditions in which the decision took place. My Review: This was a very informative text about the Plessy vs Ferguson case. I had to read this for a Law, Society, and Literature class. It has a lot of really interesting texts about other people's thoughts on the case and essays and speeches that just happened around the time of the case. If you want to learn more about the Plessy vs Ferguson case, pick this book up and give it a read. It's pretty interesting to see what was going on in the minds of

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by James Winny (170 pages) My Rating: 5 Stars Date Finished: 6 April 2015 Synopsis: Original text along with facing-page translation. The fourteenth-century poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is one of the greatest classics of English literature, but one of the least accessible to most twentieth-century readers. This new edition of the poem offers the original text together with a facing-page translation; editor James Winny provides a non-alliterative and sensitively literal rendering in modern English, as well as explanatory and textual notes, a further note on some words that present particular difficulties, and two contemporary stories, The Feast of Bricriu and the Knight of the Sword, which provide insight on the poem. "This is the best translation of Sir Gawain. It... makes the remote world of Arthurian romance immediate to the reader." --Gordon Teskey, Cornell University My Review: I very much enjoyed this novel. Not only

A Cold Legacy by Megan Shepherd (400 pages) My Rating: 4 Stars Date Finished: 28 March 2015 Synopsis: After killing the men who tried to steal her father’s research, Juliet—along with Montgomery, Lucy, Balthazar, and a deathly ill Edward—has escaped to a remote estate on the Scottish moors. Owned by the enigmatic Elizabeth von Stein, the mansion is full of mysteries and unexplained oddities: dead bodies in the basement, secret passages, and fortune-tellers who seem to know Juliet’s secrets. Though it appears to be a safe haven, Juliet fears new dangers may be present within the manor’s own walls. Then Juliet uncovers the truth about the manor’s long history of scientific experimentation—and her own intended role in it—forcing her to determine where the line falls between right and wrong, life and death, magic and science, and promises and secrets. And she must decide if she’ll follow her father’s dark footsteps or her mother’s tragic ones, or whether she’ll make her own. Wi

Her Dark Curiosity by Megan Shepherd (432 pages) My Rating: 5 Stars Date Finished: 26 March 2015 Synopsis: To defeat the darkness, she must first embrace it. Months have passed since Juliet Moreau returned to civilization after escaping her father's island—and the secrets she left behind. Now, back in London once more, she is rebuilding the life she once knew and trying to forget Dr. Moreau’s horrific legacy—though someone, or something, hasn’t forgotten her. As people close to Juliet fall victim one by one to a murderer who leaves a macabre calling card of three clawlike slashes, Juliet fears one of her father’s creations may have also escaped the island. She is determined to find the killer before Scotland Yard does, though it means awakening sides of herself she had thought long banished, and facing loves from her past she never expected to see again. As Juliet strives to stop a killer while searching for a serum to cure her own worsening illness, she finds herself onc

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd (420 pages) My Rating: 5 Stars Date Finished: 23 March 2015 Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father's gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true. Accompanied by her father's handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward—both of whom she is deeply drawn to—Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father's madness: He has experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island's inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet know

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (383 pages) My Rating: 5 Stars Date Finished: 14 March 2015 Synopsis: This is a world divided by blood - red or silver. The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change. That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power. Fearful of Mare's potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime. But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a da

M Butterfly by David Henry Hwang (93 pages) My Rating: 3 Stars Date Finished: 8 March 2015 Synopsis: Based on a true story that stunned the world, M. Butterfly opens in the cramped prison cell where diplomat Rene Gallimard is being held captive by the French government - and by his own illusions. In the darkness of his cell he recalls a time when desire seemed to give him wings. A time when Song Liling, the beautiful Chinese diva, touched him with a love as vivid, as seductive - and as elusive - as a butterfly. How could he have known, then, that his ideal woman was, in fact, a spy for the Chinese government - and a man disguised as a woman? In a series of flashbacks, the diplomat relives the twenty-year affair from the temptation to the seduction, from its consummation to the scandal that ultimately consumed them both. But in the end, there remains only one truth: Whether or not Gallimard's passion was a flight of fancy, it sparked the most vigorous emotions of his life.

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (368 pages) My Rating: 5 Stars Date Finished: 1 March 2015 Synopsis: Oscar Wilde was already one of the best-known literary figures in Britain when he was persuaded to turn his extraordinary talents to the theatre. Between 1891 and 1895 he produced a sequence of distinctive plays which spearheaded the dramatic renaissance of the 1890s and retain their power today. This collection offers newly edited texts of Lady Windermere's Fan, A Woman of No Importance, Salome, An Ideal Husband, and, arguably the greatest farcical comedy in English, The Importance of Being Earnest. Under the General Editorship of Dr Michael Cordner of the University of York, the texts of the plays have been newly edited and are presented with modernized spelling and punctuation. In addition, there is a scholarly introduction and detailed annotation. About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of

The Ruby Circle by Richelle Mead (366 pages) My Rating: 5 Stars Date Finished: 16 February 2015 Synopsis: THEY WILL BE TESTED Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets - and human lives. Their forbidden romance exposed, Sydney and Adrian find themselves facing the wrath of both the Alchemists and the Moroi in this electrifying conclusion to Richelle Mead’s bestselling Bloodlines series. When the life of someone they both love is put on the line, Sydney risks everything to hunt down a deadly former nemesis. Meanwhile, she and Adrian becomes enmeshed in a puzzle that could hold the key to a shocking secret about spirit magic, a secret that could shake the entire Moroi world and alter their lives forever. Don't miss their unforgettable final chapter... LOVE WILL CONQUER ALL My Review: I freaking loved this book! This series was so amazing, and so was