Night



Night Plot Summary



This was a very intense read.  For my first memoir read I was surprised at how short it was, then I realized that was due to the fact that it spanned only a few horrific years in a teenage boy's life.  Upon reading this book I watched some biographies from the holocaust  with real video and photos.  I know that you are supposed to use your imagination in books, but putting actual footage with the tale of what happened next to each other is almost enough to make you cry.  If books do that sort of thing to you that is...while I'm not a crier this book certainly tested my limits.  To know that everyone around you is just letting you, your family, children, and neighbors suffer in such agony is ridiculous.  After hearing that they burned bodies in the middle of the town there is no way someone could not have an idea of what is going on.  Burning flesh has a very specific smell.  Not to mention the constant gunfire and sight of the deathly skinny inhabitants.  I also found it amazing, what us as humans, can become accustomed too over long periods of time and exposure.  This book goes into the past, and shows what a person can and will do to survive or to avoid pain.  I will say that, this memoir will not be scoring a decent re-read score.  That is not because the book was bad; it was good just sad and i'll have to burn some of the well described images out of my brain. 

Good for the historical buff

Rating-4

Bind, Torture, Kill the inside story of the serial killer next door

Bind Torture Kill Plot Summary

So I changed my mind, I will put my true crime books on here no matter how weird it makes me look.  This was a pretty good book.  I haven't read many true crime books so I can't really say whether it was well written or not.  This was told by the officers that worked most closely with this case so you can see the frustration they had in not being able to catch a serial killer after 20 years.  You always hear about the killer but this book helps shed some light not only on the victims, but the fear in the local area that all the women were experiencing.  To have to walk into your house and check your phone immediately, with the thought of having to run from the house if the phone is cut is horrifying.  The killer targeted a family, young women, older women, it didn't matter he had no type so the fear was in all of the community.  It was only due to his taunting that the police finally caught him.  The book has pictures of some of the evidence, the killer, crime scenes (minus the gross stuff) and photos from the trial.  Overall, it was good for a book about a bastard who no one ever suspected was able to do the horrible things he did to people.

Good for crime buffs

Rating--4  

Fallen

Fallen Plot Summary

 

So I started a new series.  I know it comes as a huge surprise but it is another teen book.  The thing is I usually pull these off a top read shelf so I don't realize that they are for teens until I  start reading them.  I did enjoy this book but I believe the author could have cut out about 100 pages in the middle of the book.  While reading I reached a point where I was like ok people I get it she is cursed get to the good stuff!!  The story sort of reminds me of the twilight series except its angels instead of vampires.  The ending was good and I think I will continue with the next book called Torment, the author did well enough that I want to know what happens next and see if the couple ever ends up together.  Being about angels, the book has its religious aspects to it, now I am nowhere near "religious" but I know the Sunday school version and that was enough.  That was something I liked, I knew that revolving around angels the subject would arise while discussing the more common stories of the bible she managed not to hammer down on the stories.  In fact there are clues all through the book about which is which in relation to good in evil if you pay  attention.  If you don't they explain it to you anyway so its not exactly necessary knowledge.  I also like the idea of what happens after someone dies.  Overall, not a waste of time read it!

Good for twilight lovers

Rating--3


Continue with series--yes

Sarah's Key

Sarah's Key Plot Summary

So here is my most recent find.  Before this I tried to read catcher in the rye and for the life of me I could not get through it so I moved on to something I found to be more interesting.  This book was suggested to me by a friend after talking about the Zookeepers Wife and a morbid interest in stories from the Holocaust.  This I will say is an excellent book.  Loved it had trouble putting it down and actually chose to read this book over watching Law and Order SVU which is an accomplishment.  It was one of those stories that your really really want it to end with ..."happily ever after", but its just not that kind of story and it would not be as good if it had.  This story starts out following a little girl in France through her horrible experience at concentration camps, hiding, loss of family in cruelest of ways.  The parallel story to this started with a journalist covering a simple anniversary story but the story comes to this journalist in a very volatile time in her life in modern day France.  After hearing the heart wrenching tale of what the French police did to all the Jews in Paris, and  more specifically this young girl, she makes it her mission to find out what happened to the little girl.  While being quite sad I would suggest this book for those who are interested in fact mixed with fiction.

Good for a historical fiction read

Rating--2 

Dear John

Dear John Plot Summary

**Terrible Major Motion Picture**

So this is the original cover art as promised but the book I bought had the movie cover on it.  I know I know I'm a traitor to my authors but I was in an airport and needed a book for a flight and that was all I could find.  Plus the guy from the movie is super hot so it doubled as eye candy.  I was able to finish it on a round trip flight to California and here is what I think.  First, I will insert my bias here, my husband is in the military and has been for 6 years so I know what these people are going through kind of.  While he was not stationed over seas I went a long period without seeing him (2 years) and all I have to say to this girl is if you really loved him suck it up pansy.  Seriously I guess the title didn't give it away for me, knowing that a dear john letter is a break up letter should have tipped me off but I was optimistic.  Bad choice quite possibly the worst book I have ever read which is why I refuse to watch the movie.  I was depressed and angry by the end of he book so I can't imagine that the movie would be any better.  I'm all for a tragedy every once in while but damn that kind of thing is so cliché it gives us other military girls a horrible name.  This was supposed to be a story about how love is found and lost so "easily"  The fact that the main characters fall in love over a two week span of awesome honeymoon period and loose it over 3-5 years of 50 weeks apart is just shocking right?  Why were they surprised that their love faded out because they were apart and had to learn about each other over letters and phone calls..  Duh! ridiculous.  I wouldn't suggest this book to any one.  I assume the movie would be the same.

good for NO ONE

Rating--5

The Peachkeeper

The Peach Keeper Plot Summary

Alas I'm back, on to the next chick book that I like so much.  So, lets talk about the peachkeeper I have decided that this author likes the whole high school used to define me but now at 30 I will overcome/embrace this thing.  If I ignore that part of one of the romance stories it was a pretty good read.  Some of the heartache could have been avoided by asking and awkward but necessary question but then there wouldn't be a story that way lol.  The chase is the best part.  The story has murder, mystery, romance, and more of that gooey good stuff that makes a chick story good. Since this author is very found of the high school persona I think I will avoid her books in the future only because i'm not into that kind of read.  Used to be but i've grown out of it.  It wasn't one of those books that was like pulling teeth to get through by any means I did want to know how it was going to end without guessing, but I doubt it will be one of the stories that I keep on my bookshelf, more than likely it will end up at a used bookstore.

good read for high school girls

Rating~~5 

Water For Elephants

Water For Elephants Plot Summary

** Major Motion Picture**

So the authors website is covered in advertisement for the movie unfortunately but the synopsis is still there.  I have heard like always that the movie sucked in comparison to the book.  Upon first finishing this book I thought "that was not as great as I thought it would be.."  but after thinking about it and going over the book again as a whole I decided that I really did like it more than I originally thought.  I think my original problem was the description of the treatment of the animals in the circus.  Afterwards I realized that that was just the way things used to be back in the day.  After getting past my initial dislike of this, I could better appreciate the actual story happening.  It was the typical story and anyone who has ever read a chick book or watched a chick movie will know how this ends but the crazy things that people did for money leading up to it is quite intriguing.  I don't think it was based on a true story but it is one of those stories that you feel like could have happened or was an accurate example of what really went on behind the scenes.  I liked the way the main character developed relationships with his patients and that they take on a true character of the book.  You feel empathy for all of them like you would a human character.  The bad guy is also portrayed quite well and you just can't help to hate him.  Overall a great read not sure if I will reread it but was definitely worth your time. 

Rating~~2

Alice in Wonderland (original 1903)

Alice in Wonderland Plot Summary

This is the leather bound book from Barnes and Noble and I would say skip it just get the regular book for Alice.  This particular book include a lot of Lewis Carroll's short stories or poems.  At the time I did not realize this even though it says it on the cover. (yea I know)  I liked the book but once again its one of those books that jumps all over the place.  It was written for children but the child in this book is very smart for what is supposed to be a 5-7 year old girl.  Not the point, sorry.  The Disney film has nothing on the book I will say that.  You don't get the true chaoticness of this story from the movie.  There is a lot of poetry in this story, most of which someone in their mid-twenties has not heard of.  The only reason I knew some of this was because a very accurate Alice in Wonderland show I watched as a child with lloootttsss of big names for the time like Ringo Starr and Carol Channing singing and dancing around in costumes.  The book of course elaborates more on explanations of situations and seems to draw a better picture of what wonderland really seems to be like to a child. I find that even now I am having trouble finishing this review, it has taken me a week so it may take you a while to get through the actual book. I don't know how to do the book justice in this situation.  Its hard to explain a story with no plot lol.

Good for bed time stories for your kids

Rating--3

Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?

Does The Noise In My Head Bother You

This is the first biography that I have read and if they are all like this I'm not sure if I will adventure into this genre of book.  He was specific on what inspired him through his life and the MASSIVE amount of drugs and alcohol that passed through his system, not to mention his creativity while using it.  Even if he did not tell you about the drugs he did just the writing in the book would make that fact apparent.  This book is a tell of what long-term drug abuse can do to you over the years.  Reading this book was like trying to understand a toddlers discontinued thought process.  Trying to understand ADD and habitual drug abuse makes you wonder how much of this book is how things actually happen.  I will have to say that even though he was very creative in his music and decorating but this was a very difficult book to dredge through. I finished it because I like Steven Tyler but I would not suggest it if you don't know anything about him it doesn't really explain anything very well other than a hazy recollection and song lyrics.

 Good for a drug induced read it might make sense then

                                                                                  Rating--5 

The Girl Who Chased the Moon



The Girl Who Chased the Moon

This book I got mostly because I wanted another book by this author(which I haven't read yet) and thought that I would sample some of her other work.  I like fantasy so this seemed to be a good choice involving a magical small town in my now home of North Carolina.  I don't remember what section of the book store I picked this up from originally, but after reading the book's love story I imagine it was placed in the junior reading section.  Not that I have a problem I'm a fan of  Harry Potter and Twilight I was only slightly disappointed to find the main relationships revolve around a high school student and the previous events in a 30 somethings teen years.  The magic of moonlight, delicious cakes (which they give you recipes too in the back), love lost, is enthralling and very hard to set aside at bed time or any other mundane task of life.  What I was mostly disappointed in, in this book was that it contained all the classic cliches of  a preteen girls fantasies.  How high school will haunt you forever and that life never moves on from it, that the bad things that happen are never really what they seem everyone is good and the power of the first kiss.  It was a nice comparison to the horrors of high school as your past and your present.  In reality women of today's world grow out of this mentality as the high school years fade away, once in a blue moon (cliche?) it is nice to relive that childish part of your life that you though would forever define you.

 

and they all lived happily ever after... ideally for teen girls but a good read and source of cake recipes ;)

Rating--4

Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights Synopsis

Known as one of literature's best love story's and since I have been wanting to get more into the classics, this was a must read for me.  I will  have to say it was quite a bit different than I thought it would be.  This was Emily Bronte's first and only published novel.  Instead of being like a Disney movie where everything is bright and shiny, this novel was dark and twisty.  It exhibited what love is capable of provoking in a person and for how long.  The center of the story centers mostly about Heathcliff and his relationships; with family with loved ones, with others.  It was a very good book if not frustrating at times.  The idea that someone could be so hardheaded and unreasonable is typical of the male sex, but maybe not this much?  I would suggest it for anyone, it may even been taught in some English classes.  The setting for this entire story seems to occur in a foggy and dark place. Which is when I suggest reading the book.

Suggested for a dreary day than this with nothing to do

Rating- 3

The Devil in the White City

Devil in the White City Plot Summary

 

I bought this book more with the idea that I would be reading about one of the first known serial killers other than Jack the Ripper.  Details about H.H. Holmes and the building of the huge worlds fair in Chicago is the basis of this book. Before reading this I never even knew about how many of  our current household items were presented at this fair, like electricity, the Ferris wheel crackerjacks, and shredded wheat to name a few.  Sometimes it is nice to see how thing originally got started and the effort put into them.  This book is very good for a historical view of the worlds fair and all the work and effort that went into creating such a grand thing in so short a time during a failing economy. It really was quite incredible how it was mastered by the main men of the time. As a book about the serial killer H.H. Holmes this is very little addressed on the issue for what is advertised.  Probably because of the lack of information but overall it was very undesirable a read on that particular subject.  It keeps mentioning his "castle" of horrors but tells very little about what it even looked like or consisted of or why they called it his castle, I found this very disappointing.  If you want to know about brilliant architecture and beating the odds then go for this book if you wanna learn about past serial killers and their history pass on this, that story was just to enthrall readers and break up the sometimes dry story of the details of the world's fair

Good for an interesting historical read

Rating~~4

Oulander

Outlander Plot Summary

The Outlander series is definitely one of my favorites.  With my series' reads, I will go through each book individually because like everything the second is rarely as good as the first.  This is the very beginning of the chick story of Jamie and Claire.  I have read this novel several times already and to my shame, I must say that whenever I re-read this book I usually skip the first 60-70 pages.  The first time you read it you should not leave out this part of the book because it gives you back story to Claire's life, but this particular author is VERY wordy and it only gets worse as the series continues the books only get thicker.  I don't particularly care for Claires first husband to begin with so that may be why I don't like the beginning of the book and I want to get to what I consider the "good part".  This is a great piece of fiction regarding a woman that goes back in time 200 years on accident and the shenanigans that she gets into trying to return to her own time.  She uses her knowledge of the future to help where she can but it tends more to bite her in the ass than anything else.  She adjusts to a much more medieval world than what she is used to and learns some very hard lessons at the expense of others blood, guts, and lives.  Mostly it is the same person getting hurt because, he pledges his life and body to her safety.(very dramatic stuff)  At times the book can be quite graphic in not only its explanation of injuries and torture but also in the sexual scenes, while this book is not harlequin romance (which I will not be adding BTW) it can get heated. The author is amazingly accurate when putting in historical activity so you know she has done her research which would explain why the sequels take so long to come out.  Overall I recommend this book for romance buffs that also can appreciate a brief history lesson.


Rating--1

The Zookeeper's Wife

The Zookeeper's Wife Plot Summary

I bought the Zookeeper's wife because I enjoy reading about the holocaust and WWII.  Hopefully this doesn't make me a bad person, since they keep publishing them I'm assuming I'm not the only one.  In reading the synopsis and the title I expected this book to be more about shuttling fleeing Jews through and around the zoo animals, as it seems this was not the case.  Most of the story happens within the zoo grounds, but for the most part the animals are not part of the story as I had hoped.  Other than that particular detail the story was very enlightening, not to mention accurate; the author's source was a diary that belonged to the actual wife of zoo personnel.  There was also eyewitness accounts  about the couple/family and various research chronicles such as newspapers, magazines and books.  I thought the extent in which this family stretched itself to help so many others was admirable.   It was a little hard to get through all the genealogies that are presented to you, some seem like there isn't much point but maybe I don't know enough about WWII and its major figures to understand who they are referring too. 

  

Rating--3