That Was Then, This Is Now by S.E. Hinton

This book was so heart-breaking! Bryon was trying to do the right thing, and everything just falls apart for him. S.E. Hinton wrote everyone with amazing details and the emotions from this book was just so overwhelming.  I nearly cried, haha (I only cry in mind-blowing books).

The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

This was a great book! I thought it was really interesting because of all the myths and legends with all the different gods and goddesses of the world together. However, some parts with...say...intimate parts between Sophie and Josh didn't seem written sincerely to my opinion. Though the plot and action was definitely awesome! :D

“There are times when the bad and the sad could have weighed me down. But to drink life from only the good is to taste only half of it.”

Queen Eleanor (A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver)

The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer

Awesome! Totally entertaining. It was different from what I imagined.

A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver by E.L. Konigsburg

I read this for our Middle Ages novel reading. I thought it was really awesome, haha.

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

Good read! Try reading. :D

May I suggest you read? And often. Believe me, it's nice to have something to talk about other than the weather and the Queen's health. Your mind is not a cage. It's a garden. And it requires cultivating.

Hester Moore (pg. 128)
A Great and Terrible Beauty

A Great and Terribly Beauty by Libba Bray

A Great and Terrible Beauty is quite excellent. It formed the characters very well, and the humor was quite entertaining. However, I thought the plot was kind of off. I don't know...something about it didn't...glow. Good plots 'glow' when I read them, but I didn't really get the 'glow' here. However, it was awesome overall. I'm looking forward to reading Rebel Angels, the sequel. I have the whole Gemma Doyle trilogy. My sister bought them, but she didn't even read them so I'm reading them for her. Here's a good quote:

"You can never really know someone completely. That's why t's the most terrifying thing in the world, really - taking someone on faith, hoping they'll take you on faith too. It's such a precarious balance, its a wonder we do it at all."

-Gemma Doyle (pg. 397)

This book is about a girl named Gemma Doyle. Gemma is a girl who is ambitious, confident, and isn't afraid of anything.  Eventually, after being sent to Spence Academy when her mother commits suicide against a mysterious shadow creature, she meets Ann, Pippa, and Felicity. Gemma's mother is a woman part of the organization called, "the Order". The women of the Order are women that are enabled to create illusions, open portals, and guide spirits in the afterlife, and the power of prophecies. Kartik, a man from the Rakshana, and organization of men that hate the Order, is kind of like a stalker and warns Gemma not to use her powers. Gemma ignores however and she and her friends often enter a realm where everything is perfect and possible. At the end of the book, when Felicity goes crazy because a huntress from the realm of possibility tricks her into believing that Gemma is selfish and using her own powers for herself, the huntress is discovered to be one of the shadow creatures in the beginning, who is working for Circe. Circe is a woman of Spence Academy and the Order. Her original name was Sarah, and her friend was Mary Dowd, who was also part of Spence Academy and the Order, and is Gemma's mother. Sarah went too crazy with her power and basically became evil and is trying to kill Gemma. Gemma manages to get rid of the shadow monster, however Pippa dies because she chooses to stay in the realm.

Passerby by deathofrats

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

I know I've said this WAY too many times, but this is legit. Words cannot describe this book. To put it simply, it is absolutely phenomenal and beautiful. All of those details in the story, and those deep thoughts were it gets you thinking. What if its true? This book is set in the future, (somewhere after 2022) and books are illegal to keep or read. It said "This book has pores. It has features This book can go under the microscope. You'd find life under the glass, streaming past in infinite profusion. The more pores, the more truthfully recorded details of life per square inch you can get on a sheet of paper, the more 'literary' you are. That's my definition, anyway. Telling detail. Fresh detail The good writers touch life often The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. The bad ones rape her and leaver her for the flies. So now do you see why books are hated and feared? They show the pores in the face of life. The comfortable people want only wax moon faces, poreless, hairless, expressionless. We are living in a time when flowers are trying to live on flowers, instead of growing on good rain and black loam." The part where it says the comfortable people only want poreless books? It's kind of...present day. Have you seen books lately? They are all about forbidden love and unnecessary supernatural stuff. Will this happen to us? In the future? Who knows? Only time will tell. Fahrenheit 451 is now my most favorite book. Top of my list. Please read! It's astounding, and it filled me with so much emotions, and was astounding. I love, love, love this book.

Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata

This book...was absolutely heart-breaking. I cried for thirty minutes straight! I swear! "Kira-Kira" means glittering in Japanese, and that's how Lynn, the sister of the main protagonist, Katie, describes everything. These girls have dreams for the future, buying new houses, living in California...That all seemed shattered when Lynn fell ill. Katie's parents continued to struggle with money, and life was so...hard for them. When Lynn died, I sobbed like heck. Katie and her family didn't deserve that. They were so poor, and everything seemed so dreary for them...This book was inspirational. It said to never give up, despite the obstacles thrown at you. I loved, loved, loved Kira-Kira.

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

This novel....was absolutely beautiful. It...shows how cruelty from society can create such...harsh consequences...It changed my perspective of how I think know. I mean, I can't even describe what I'm thinking! This was WAY too amazing to put on words, GAH. This book teaches such an important meaning, and I hope all of you can read this. I felt so heartbroken for Hannah, and somehow hopeful, especially at the end where Clay is approaching Skye...This novel was so brilliant and just...captivating. I LOVED it.