Finishing A Countess Below Stairs

Although at times this book seemed to drag on a bit, it picked up so nicely at the end that it really made up for the relatively slow parts. In other words, in relation to the book as a whole, the ending was definitely the best part. That's all I'll say though. If I go into any details, I'll likely give away the ending. I also believe that one of the reasons I enjoyed it as much I did is because of the way it intertwined an element of romance in with the the historical fiction. Continuing with the idea of romance--specifically forbidden love--I think that the message of A Countess Below Stairs it to follow your heart. I don't want to give the book away, but people get themselves entangled in nearly irreversible webs because they're following other people's expectations. For example, Anna, a Russian countess, flees Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution and starts to work at a mansion of the Westerholme family in England to help support her family. Inevitably, she falls in love with the young Earl of Westerholme, Rupert, but can't do anything about that because every one around her believes she is merely a maid. Likewise, Rupert is caught up in being engaged to a rich woman he doesn't really love because people expect upper class citizens to intermarry.

A Good Historical Fiction Read...

Finishing Hunted

I love this series! However, it's still not as good as the Twilight Saga. :) I've just devoured all the books so far--I've basically just done final book entries on them. Being part of the House of Night series, this book has some similar messages to the other books in the series. However, a different one really stands out to me: in life there will be temptation, and trying to resist that temptation because of the effect it would have on ones you love is sometimes the hardest challenge of all. Through Hunted, Zoey is constantly confronted with this predicament. The temptation she experiences affects her much more deeply than she thought it would or wants it to, and yet she can't help feeling tempted by it. Giving into this temptation would involve greatly people she cares about--physically, mentally, emotionally.... I'm not going to say anymore because I don't want to do anything that may spoil this amazing book. One of the reasons I think I enjoy this book is because of all the genres compiled into it. There's romance, fantasy, adventure all weaved together into a twisted, intricate plot that I'm hoping to on cover more of in the next book, Tempted. (The fact that the message that I came up with deals with temptation and the next book is called Tempted is a sheer coincidence.)

Final Blog of Quarter

Sitting here and looking back over my blog entries, I've noticed that a lot of my thoughts in blogs have regarded characters' nature and express sympathy or empathy for them. This ranges from the complex friendship between Zoey and Aphrodite in the House of Night series to the extreme compassion I felt towards the people who lived--and many who ultimately died--during the Holocaust. In addition, since many of my entries are final blog entries, many deal with my reflection on the book I read and what I believe the message of a book is. Overall, I've enjoyed blogging because it has stimulated me to think and analyze books even more. Furthermore, it's given me a chance to organize and express my thoughts.

My goal for blogging during the second quarter is to have a larger diversity of ideas that I write about. For example, instead of focusing a lot of characters' nature, I may try to incorporate more a specific, crucial moment in the book into my blog or relate the book to an external source (a global event, a local occurrence, something in another book...). As I blog I would like to continue to reach a deeper insight into the book I am reading; putting thoughts into words and something concrete really helps to make things crystal clear. I think that my blogs are as detailed as they can be without giving the book away. I truly disdain when anyone tells me anything about a book I am or might be reading, so I try not to be hypocritical and give away the smallest amount of information about the book as I can while still fulfilling the blog requirements. Lastly, I am interested in what I have to say; if I wasn't, my blogs would likely sound as if a robot wrote them. However, I think I would get even further involved and excited if I was able to do more to personalize the appearance of my blog.

Finishing Untamed

In relation to this book as a whole, Untamed ends on a suspenseful note. In this cliffhanger Zoey's entire world is flipped upside-down--the whole House of Night series pretty much does a 180. Regardless, I believe Untamed's message is very clear: no matter what, you have to follow what you think is right. Zoey confronts this by choosing to take an immensely difficult, but righteous, path in which she must turn her back on her school. However, she knows this is her goddess', Nyx, will. Her other choice would have been easier, but it would have involved passively letting evil take over and ultimately result in the world coming to a chaotic war. Sounds fun doesn't it? I won't go into any more detail because I would spoil the series up to this point.

I without a doubt enjoyed this book, finishing all 338 paged in around a week. It has so many emotions ranging from jubilance to mourning, betrayal to trust, rage to compassion. And yet somehow all of these emotions are woven together as smoothly as a Native American basket. Furthermore, similarly to in Chosen, I care about each character and their fate which says a lot about how incredibly well P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast have developed them.

Finishing Chosen

Compared to the book as a whole, the loose ends weren't really wound up; instead, more were created which makes me really excited to read the next book in the House of Night series, Untamed. I believe the message Chosen tries to convey is that people--specifically friends--won't always view a situation the way you want them to view it. This often leads to conflicts because people are especially narrow-minded when they're not sure who they can trust. However, true friendship will ultimately overcome this all. This is a message everyone can use in their life because it shows a basis of true friendship. Hence, many people can relate to this message and therefore to the book.

I definitely enjoyed this book! I found the plot complex, intriguing and always changing as the last thing I expected to happen happened at the time at which I least expected it. P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast have developed all the characters so well that I feel like I actually know them. I cannot wait to begin reading Untamed... actually, I think I'll begin reading it right now.

Chosen--Zoey's Key Decision

SPOILER ALERT! This blog entry reveals information regarding the first three books in the House of Night series.

Chosen is the third book in the House of Night series--which, by the way, I definitely recommend! In case you aren't familiar with the series, here's a little background information....

Zoey, the main character has been Marked. Being Marked means that you have been chosen to make the Change into becoming a vampyre. Well, hopefully you make the Change into a vampyre because if your body rejects the Change, you die. Anyway, after being Marked Zoey moves to the House of Night where all fledgings (Marked kids) live and attend school; Zoey excels far beyond anyone's expectations. However, she finds herself in a sticky situation: her mentor and the head of the House of Night, Neferet, is secretly evil.

To try to defeat Neferet, Zoey has made a crucial decision; she has decided to work along side and trust her enemy, Aphrodite. They are bonded with the common goal of revealing the true Neferet and defeating her. Zoey and Aphrodite are the only fledgings on campus who's minds Neferet can't read, so although Zoey can't confide her discovers about Neferet with her friends because Neferet would inevitably find out, she can tell everything to Aphrodite, and Aphrodite can do the same with Zoey. I'm not sure what happens from here, but I am sure that this is a catalytic decision for Zoey. Working with Aphrodite should be incredibly beneficial for both of them, and without a doubt this will change how events will occur as well as both of them as people--well fledgings. How it will change those events, though, and them as fledgings is something I can only guess at....

Finishing The Diary of Anne Frank

At long last, I have finished Anne Frank's diary. It's been an incredibly time-consuming book--taking me between two and three minutes to read a single page. Unlike any books I've ever read, the ending didn't tie together loose ends and left many things in the air; this, of course, is because Anne didn't know it would be her last entry to "Kitty" either. Reading the Afterword after finishing Anne's diary was really powerful for me. Towards the end of her diary, D Day occurred, there was very evident progress being made in favor of the Allies, and Anne's spirits were very noticably lifting. However, when I read the Afterword I found out only one of the eight people living in the Annex survived the Holocaust... after spending over two years in hiding and being so, so close to the end of the war. For example, the eight people living in the Annex were on the last transport to leave Westerbork and arrive in Auschwitz. After reading her diary and becoming attached in one way or another to all these people, this was incredibly hard to read. In addition, Anne was growing so much as a person: she went from being a semi-superficial, talkative, and, in her opinion, spoiled girl to becoming an insightful, thoughtful person who strove to improve and become the best person she could be. It's heartbreaking to read about so much potential demolished because of someone's hatred.

Overall, I enjoyed this book--well diary; I got a lot of insight into the Holocaust that I never would have otherwise--I was able to see it from a primary source who wrote it while it was happening and who didn't write it solely for others to read. The downside to this was that it tended to be redundant at times and was an incredibly slow read. Nevertheless, I would recommend it to anyone who can work through the slower parts because it carries a message about the Holocaust everyone needs to hear about growing up and more thoroughly understanding the tragedies that occurred to a group of people during the Holocaust.

Pin Pointing Change-Anne Frank

As I was reading, I completely stopped short at this one part. For approximately two pages I was really amazed at how much Anne has changed throughout this book and furthermore throughout her life. She reflects upon 1942 before she went into hiding when she was always carefree; she used to be constantly surrounded by 'friends' but realizes that they were really admirers, and she would rather have true friends than phony admirers. That she would rather have "[p]eople who respect [her] for [her] character and [her] deeds, not [her] flattering smile" (210). To be able to come to that conclusion takes great maturity and insightfulness into human nature--something Anne didn't have when she first began confiding in her journal. She goes on to reflect on how in 1942 she would try to enjoy herself as much as possible but inevitably, consciously as well as subconsciously, attempted "to fill the void [that was inside her] with jokes" (210). Here Anne is able to find fault within herself; to look back on yourself and reach an inference as deep as that, for me, is just mind-boggling. As a person--on all levels including mentally and physiologically--Anne has made a full 180 twist over the course of writing in her diary.

Me Giving Advice to Anne

Knowing Anne's fate, there is so much I'd like to share with her and advice I want to give her. I'm currently at the point where it's March 1944 in the book, so I know that at this point Anne only has around five more months left to live; although I don't think I'd tell her that she's going to die as a victim of the Holocaust, I would tell her to try to make amends with people such as her mother and Mrs. van Daan. Since I'm not quite sure on how she should go about making these amends, I wouldn't be able to give her that piece of advice.... Furthermore, I would tell her that every day is precious and to treasure each day because each one's a gift. I also have the hindsight of knowing that millions of people have read her diary. However, I wouldn't mention that someday millions would have read her diary in fear of that affecting what she writes and the manner she writes it in. That's one of the aspects I enjoy most about Anne Frank's diary: she writes exactly what she thinks and doesn't worry about how people may judge her based on these thoughts. And lastly, I would tell Anne to warn everyone living and helping in the Secret Annex to be careful--to burn garbage causing smoke infrequently, to be extremely quiet, and do everything with even more caution. Who knows, maybe that advice right there could have altered history....

Book Covers

First and Final Entry for Boys R Us

Boys R Us is currently the newest novel in Lisi Harrison's series The Clique. In comparison to the book as a whole, this ends on a very different note. (However, I won't tell you what that note it because then I'd have given away the ending.) Throughout Boys R Us, the Pretty Committee ("The Clique") is in the biggest fight they've ever been in, and none of them will admit that they want to be friends again. Although this book is filled with shallow characters, it carries a message that anyone can apply to their own life--don't loose friends over things that are insignificant and try to do whatever you can to get them back. On a scale of one to ten, I would rate this book a seven. Boys R Us is one of those books I feel bad liking because it's all about gossip and status, yet I truly enjoy the book; that being said, it wasn't so good that I want to read it again and again.

First and Final Entry for My Sister's Keeper

If you've already seen the movie based on My Sister's Keeper, don't let that stop you from reading the book. First of all, as always, the book includes so much more detail and insight into what the characters are thinking and their motivations for doing what they do. My Sister's Keeper consistently throws unexpected twists until the very end; however, the final twist is by far the largest catalyst. The book picks up more and more as you go along and gets to the point when it is near impossible to put down. On a scale of one to ten I would give this book a nine; it has all the elements a book should, and for me its only flaw was not completely wrapping up all loose ends at the conclusion of the book. For people who don't like sad books that really pull at your heartstrings, I would strongly encourage you not to read this book. Finally, the most important part of this book is the message: hold onto what you have and never take anything or anyone for granted. Furthermore, you should enjoy every moment and life and live each day as though it is your last.