Gateway 2012-2013 Nominee 2: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


So, as I started this book, I really didn't think I was going to like it because the main character, Sam, is just so unlikable. And I know that was the whole point of it, but still, I just didn't think I'd ever feel sorry enough for her that I could get into it. And that was disappointing because I loved the book by the same author. And it was also bad because it is one of the possible nominees for next year's Gateway books that I have to read since I am a reader/selector again. It just seemed to me like a cross between the book A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray.

However, once I got into the book, I got sucked in. Every morning that Sam woke up, I wanted to see what she would do differently. It was the whole chaos theory in action. What did Sam need to do differently, first to save herself from dying. And then, when that didn't work, and she woke up again, what was it she actually needed to fix in order for it all to end? And how would she get it fixed? In a way, it brought my thoughts back to by Jay Asher. The reason I think this, is because even though the main character is so unlikable, just seeing how each little detail of what she did, or changed, affected those around her, well I think it's something good for teens/people to read. All these titles make me think of the book , a book my school district used as kind of a theme one year for the school year. It's a book I think everyone should read at some point in their life, the younger the better. I just think sometimes, myself included, that people don't realize how something they say off-handedly or out of their own frustration can really hurt someone else in a way they never intended.

So even though I was sure I was not going to give this book any higher than 3 stars, I ended up with 4, which is pretty good for me with a character I didn't like. Once you get into it, like I said, it's hard to put down until you know how each day ends, and if what she's done will fix it.



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Feature & Follow Friday #10

Follow Friday is sponsored by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. And this week the Featured blogger on Parajunkee is ME!! I'm very excited about this, and am looking forward to all the new bloggers I will meet this week! Over on Alison Can Read the featured blogger is Once Upon a Prologue. This week's question is:

If you could change the ending of any book (or series), which book would you choose? Why and to what?

My answer to this might be a little different than what you normally see me blog about. I would have to say the first book I thought of is A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks. It is the first and only one of his books I ever read. I read it because I heard the movie was coming out, and I like to try to read the books before I see the movie. Anyway, if you've read it, or seen the movie, you know what happens at the end. This book was such a feel good book to me. The popular boy has to make up for mistakes he's made and he ends up having to work with the town's nerdiest girl. But as he works with her, he begins to really get to know her, and even fall in love with her. I loved this story, because I always felt in school like I was the nerdiest girl there. But then, it turns out she has cancer, (I think it was cancer, some deadly disease anyway), and she dies! I was so mad. I hated that this book made me feel all good inside and then jerked the rug out from under me. So I refuse to read anymore of his books.
One other book that I wasn't quite pleased with the ending was Delirium by Lauren Oliver. I didn't like that the ending wasn't any more of a happy ending. I know most dystopian novels are not, but I'd would have liked to see it with this one.

2011 Debut Author Challenge 12: Dark Parties by Sara Grant

Dark Parties by Sara Grant

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The main character of this book is Neva, and she is 16. She has lived her whole life under the Protectosphere, and feels like she is trapped. Part of the feeling comes from what her grandmother used to tell her, at least before her grandmother disappeared, and even her parents acted like her grandmother never existed. Supposedly their was nuclear war outside of this dome, and so by staying inside they are protected from the wastelands and chemicals. But to Neva and her friends, it is like a prison. So Neva and her friend Sanna plan a "dark party" to recruit their friends to do some rebellious stuff. But through this more people will disappear, and they will soon learn where their loyalties are, and if they government is really lying, and if they are, what they will do to keep their secrets and order.

I did enjoy this book, it is another in what seems to be a growing list of dystopian novels that I'm reading lately. It had some of the same elements as several that I've read though. First it had what I would call a dome called a Protectosphere over this city, state, country, not sure from the book itself, and that made me think of the Goneseries by Michael Grant. Next there were issues with reproduction it seems, or not issues exactly, but the government was trying to control it, and that reminded me of several books: Wither, XVI, and a little bit of Delirium. I liked the name of the book, although it seemed that the only mention of "dark parties" was at the very beginning of the book, and then we never really saw anything like that again. There were several things left unanswered, but as I assume from the way it ends that there will be a sequel, really has to be, hopefully those will be answered. I will read on as I said if there is another. And it is a good quick read if you like dystopian novels. I read this as an egalley from Hachette Book Group that I got on Netgalley.com.



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Book Blogger Hop #3 and Follow Friday #1

Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love of the written word. It is sponsored by Crazy for Books. This week's question is:

If you were given the chance to spend one day in a fictional world (from a book), which book would it be from and what would that place be?

This is a hard one. I almost feel like I would like to be in the world in the book Delirium by Lauren Oliver or the world in Matched by Ally Condie. You may ask why, as these are both dystopian books. However both have something that I think I might like. In the first one, all humans are "cured" of the disease of love. I think, since I'm alone and single and getting pretty old, that if I didn't feel I needed love, then my life might be easier. Also, in both books you are usually set up with someone else that is your "match". And in that case, instead of not minding being alone, I wouldn't have to be alone. Kinda depressing reason, I know, but that's what I first thought of with this question. On a sillier note, I would like to be Bella in Twilight for a day, but when she's enjoying Edward, like their honeymoon in Breaking Dawn, as opposed to one of the battles or dangerous scenes. :-)

New this week! I keep seeing everyone who does the Blogger Hop tend to do Follow Fridays, so I thought I'd join as well. I'd like to find more book blogs, as well as get some more followers. I know because I have under 100 followers, that sometimes the Net Galley publishers won't let me have their books, so I thought I'd work on getting my followers up through this. So here goes.


Feature and Follow Friday is a blog hop that expands your blog following by a joint effort between bloggers, they also have a feature blogger chosen randomly, and to participate you must follow them as well. This is sponsored by Parajunkee. They also have a question to answer, and here is this week's question.

It's circle time. Time for us to open up and share. Can you tell us FIVE quirky habits or things about you? We all have them...

1. I keep a journal where I keep track of all the books I've read, and when I started them and when I finished them. Even if it's a book that I've read before, if it takes up reading time, it goes in the book. I like to keep track of how many books I read in a year, and I started it before I found Goodreads.com.

2. I prefer to use the bathroom at home as much as possible, because I feel like if I can't read during that time, it's such a waste of time. Silly, and weird, I know. But I hate to give up any minute that I could spend reading, when it seems sometimes I have so little time to read.

3. I have to have the light switches in certain positions. There is a light switch panel in my downstairs living room that has a switch for the light, the ceiling fan, and the stairway light to go upstairs. During the day, I need the stairway light switch to be down if the light is not on. I have a similar preference for the light switches at the top and bottom of the basement stairs. Don't know why, just prefer it that way.

4. I like to write, or at least start stories, but I never seem to finish them. I always want to put my daydreams down on paper, if not to publish, just so I could read them again when I want to enjoy them.

5. I talk to my dog and pretend she's talking back. I live alone, give me a break. :-)

Welcome to any new followers I get from this! Leave me a message and I'll come follow you as well!

Top 10 Tuesday: Books You Want Made Into Movies

I know, I know, it's Wednesday. But when I was scrolling through my blog reading list this morning, I saw this meme on other's and thought it was such a neat topic that I'd join in this week and now have something to do on Tuesdays as well. This is sponsored by The Broke and the Bookish, and I look forward to participating in this because I enjoy lists as well. Now I thought this would be fun, so let's see if I can come up with 10 books!

1. In the Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. I love this series, and since zombie movies really seem to need a good storyline anymore, I think this would be a great one to start with. And then the two sequels could make for a series of movies.

2. The Gone series by Michael Grant. I love this story about a bunch of kids left alone when all the adults, or people over a certain age just disappear. There are some great monsters and scary parts that could really draw in people.

3. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. Yes, I know they already made a movie. But I'd like them to re-do it, making it more true to the book so that they can go on and make the rest of the books into movies as well.

4. Another series I'd love to see re-done that they messed up on the very first book is Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews. That movie was so bad, they even had the mother killed at the end of the movie, thereby screwing up any chance of making the rest of the books into movies.

5. I also think the Suite Scarlett series by Maureen Johnson could make for a very humorous movie. Especially if they let the author help out around the set and with the script writing!

6. Delirium by Lauren Oliver. In my love of dystopian books lately, I think this would be a great movie. There are so many scenes that would be so dramatic in a theater.

7. Another dystopian book I've really enjoyed lately is Wither by Lauren DeStefano. I can see as this is supposed to be a series, it might even make for a good tv series.

8. I do think the Chronicles of Vladimir Tod by Heather Brewer would make for a great movie, or again I could see them as a tv series. On the WB or UPN. :-)

9. I think that after Julie and Julia was such a hit, and Eat, Pray, Love too, that another memoir that would be fun would be The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure. It would be so fun to see her travel to all the different Little House on the Prairie locations and the story was so entertaining it wouldn't even have to be a documentary, it could be done as a fun movie like the two I mentioned at the beginning of this.

10. Finally, wow, there are so many that I love, trying to find one more that I think would make a good movie. I think the book Deadly by Julie Chibbaro would be an intersting historical fiction movie about Typhoid Mary. I would go see it.

Wow, I did it!

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

As you might be able to tell, I'm quite into the dystopian teen novels these days. This was another great one.

In this world, there are no wars, no fighting, everyone is peaceful. And the way to this was by curing love. Seriously, everyone gets a surgery when they turn 18 to cure them from love. The scientists have determined that love is actually a disease, amor deliria nervosa. Our main character is Lena. She is less than a year from her cure, and she is eager to get it over with. She has seen first-hand how love can destroy a family and a person's life. Her mother committed suicide because she loved. The surgery had never worked on her mother, and before they could try a 4th time, she decided to end it.

Lena's best friend seems to want to push it. And when the two of them are out running one day, they run into a little bit older boy named Alex. He says he is cured, and even has a scar in the right place. Lena is drawn to Alex, and soon, her view begins to change, as she becomes infected with the disease. In the end, she must decide whether to go on with the surgery or run away for love.

This was a good story, many surprises popped up along the way. I was, however, not happy with the ending. Or, should I say, it was a good ending, and probably very fitting, but I still wasn't happy the way it ended. I won't spoil it for you, even with the way it ended, I would still read it again, it really is good, and as I say, the ending was fitting, it worked perfectly.

The Hazards of Working at a Bookstore

Last night as I was working at the bookstore, I found myself noticing books that I wanted to read, and trying to remember to put them in my Goodreads.com account marked as to read. And I got to thinking, why don't I do something like other blogs I read, where I have a weekly, or regular type of post. At first I wanted to name it "The Day After" and every day after I worked, post the books that I saw that I wanted to read. I think I'll call it The Hazards of Working at a Bookstore, or "The Hazards" for short. What I mean by that is, if I didn't work there, there are so many books I would probably never read. I tend to have my set types and authors, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, young adult, etc. But working at the store, yes, part of it is the cover pulling me over, but then, I'll pick it up, and read the back or the inside of the dust jacket, and be kind of hooked. I don't need to buy anymore book, or check out anymore, or ask for any more ARCs, because I have about 300 books in my office that I have NOT read yet! However, it is a sickness. I think there should be a Books Anonymous group, for people like me who can't walk past a display of books without stopping to check it out. I can't, whether it be at Walmart, a gift shop, a garage sale, I have to stop.

And so, in my first "The Hazards" blog, I have two books to tell about. First is Allison Hewitt is Trapped by Madeleine Roux. It is a zombie book, and it is about Allison Hewitt of course, and her coworkers at the bookstore where she works. They become trapped because of zombies, and she uses her blog to communicate. This books sounds like it will be very humorous and I cannot wait to read it! It's paperback, so I'll have to buy it.

The 2nd book is Delirium by Lauren Oliver. First of all, I must say the cover is beautiful!! But then of course I picked it up, and it sounds really interesting. It is a YA/Teen novel. In dystopian future, you can be cured of love. How deep is that? But then once you've done it, what if you wish you could be uncured? I can't wait to read this one either. Forutnately it is a hardcover book, so I'll be able to check it out from the bookstore.