Wasn't really a horror book ... kind of disappointed

So, I was reading that horror book, you know the one I said I was going to read even though I. DO. NOT. DO. HORROR. and ... it wasn't actually a horror book. It dealt with vampires and such, but nothing scary at all. Honestly,  I am a bit bummed. As such, I am going to try again. Yep. I will find a different horror story (one with real scares) to read and report back to you asap.

I. DO. NOT. DO. HORROR.

I was scarred as a young child.  Yes, I was.  Emotionally scarred.  By my father.  By my father's love for horror stories.  Yes, indeed.  Horror stories and I DO NOT get along in any way, shape, or form.  Nope.  Not. At. All.

BUT, because my goal is to recommend ALL TYPES of books I am putting myself on the line for YOU!  I have picked up a scary book and I'm about to dive in and immerse myself into the gory, sickening details that will probably cause nightmares for the remainder of these summer days.

Just remember, I'm doing this for YOU!!

I'll be back in a few days ... hopefully still sane and functioning, to write my review.  *eek*

I'm sorry ... I just couldn't get into this book.

I really REALLY tried to get into the latest book by Alex Flinn.  Really, I did!  I enjoyed her previous book Beastly and had thought the novel Bewitching (a sort of "pre" Beastly novel) was interesting, but I just could not get into Towering.  Not. At. All.   Why?  Personally, I found the story jumped around too much, and I didn't buy the main character's interest in the mystery.

BUT that doesn't mean YOU won't like it!  In fact, we'll find over time there are a number of books that I dislike and you love as well as books that I adore and you hate!  That's one of the wonderful things about books ... while not every book is meant for every reader, every reader has a book out there meant for him or her!

Now, if you like fairy tales (Towering is a retelling of the fairy tale Rapunzel), magic, secrets, and teenage love you may very well enjoy this novel.  Mix in some unsavory people (you know, guys who are up to no good) along with a missing child ... a mystery meant to be solved is right in front of you.

Take a chance!  You may find yourself "tangled" in a good read.

Day Ten of the Ten Day Quick Recommendations: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

It's the final day of our "Ten Day Quick Recommendations"!  While that doesn't mean I won't still be recommending books this summer, it does mean that I won't necessarily post every day as I will be READING!!! READING!!! and READING!!!

For my final recommendation on this mini-tour I want to recommend The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

If there are three books that have had an impact on my life, the first two being Judy Blume's Are You There God, It's Me Margaret and Orson Scott Card's Speaker for the Dead, Markus Zusak's The Book Thief is the one that rounds out that trifecta. 

In all of history, WWII and the holocaust are the two major events that regularly influence the world around us ... from political and social comparisons that are often  made to lessons (we hope have been) learned to story lines for books and movies ...  the lives that were lived and lost during the second world war are never far from people's minds.

The Book Thief is unique in that the narrator, the "person" telling the tale, is Death himself.  Death follows the life of a young girl living and surviving during the years of WWII in war-torn Europe.  He offers her story as a gift to the reader, pulling the reader into her life, her decisions, her fate. The "it" factor of this book is that while sharing her life, he also offers insight into the lives of those around her -- other victims, other survivors, other people who are simply trying to live in a world that is changing no matter what their personal, political, or religious beliefs or convictions. 

Usually I read a book in one setting.  I sit down and read - from beginning to end - from the first word to the last.  I couldn't do that with this book.   I HAD to take breaks.  I HAD to stop reading to process the images and thoughts this story provoked.  I HAD to think and live my life beyond the book before returning to the characters and their lives.  Never before, and I truly mean NEVER, has a book had such a profound and powerful pull on me.  And at the end of the book?  I sobbed ...body-shaking-tears-pouring-crying-out-loud sobbed for twenty minutes or more.  And then, after I pulled myself together, I called a friend to tell her about the book and sobbed again.  

THIS BOOK is one book you must read at some point in your life.  Whether today or tomorrow ... whether when you are in high school, college, or beyond ... just remember to put it on your list of "must reads" and read it.  It may very well join the list of books that influence your own life.

Day Nine of the Ten Day Quick Recommendations: Ghost Stories

Day Eight of the Ten Day Quick Recommendations: Nonfiction Graphic Novels

As I've admitted in a previous post, I was never a fan of history class (or what we call Social Studies in middle school).  I just didn't get it ... the facts ... were, well, to me they were just plain dry.  I needed the "story" behind the facts!  Now, if there had been these kind of nonfiction books when I was a student, I would have been up front and center in my history class every day!

Day Seven of the Ten Day Quick Recommendations: GRAPHIC NOVELS

One of the fastest growing sections in our collection is that of Graphic Novels and Manga. 

 

* Side note: Did you know the difference between manga and anime is that one is print while the other is animation in movies and television shows?

If you are already a fan of graphic novels and/or Manga, you may already be familiar with the titles in today's quick recommendation.   Feel free to add your thoughts and own recommendations in the comments section!!

- Hikaru no Go by Yumi Hotta

- Lunch Lady by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

          

hey, wait!!!!  Is this one saying that librarians are                                                     evil???????  Agh!!  Nooooooooooo!!!

* sidenote:  Manga and Graphic Novels are found in the 700 section of non-fiction because of the ARTWORK.

- Amulet Series by Kazu Kibuishi

- Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa

Oh, and did you know that A LOT of popular novels are now being reissued as graphic novels??