8 Aug 2012
8 Aug 2012
8 Aug 2012
29 Jun 2012
29 Jun 2012
12 Jun 2012
29 May 2012
24 May 2012

Interesting Decisions…

Hello everybody!!

I have some new things coming up soon!!  It’s what I have been working on for about a week now and hopefully it will turn out great!  I am trying something new and completely different from what I usually do, but I think it will be fun and a bit more interesting than what I am doing currently. 

My reviews will not be the usual written reviews, but video reviews starring me!  I have joined YouTube and am setting up my channel.  In these videos I will focus on one book that I have read.  I will discuss and give my opinion of the book.  I have decided to make it my Summer Project and I will have to think whether I will continue doing it after this summer or not.  But for right now this is the plan and I would completely love it if you would watch!

I will be posting my first video tomorrow after 3 pm.  It will be an introduction video about this blog, the channel, and me.  I aim to make this experience more personal and full of fun, so I hope you join me!!!

Peace, Ali

22 May 2012

An Abundance of Katherines: Review

Oh, it feels so great to read all day long!!  I finished rereadingAn Abundance of Katherinesby John Green today so I decided to write a review since I read it before I started this blog. :) enjoy

From Goodreads:

“When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton’s type happens to be girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact. He’s also a washed-up child prodigy with ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a passion for anagrams, and an overweight, Judge Judy-obsessed best friend. Colin’s on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which will predict the future of all relationships, transform him from a fading prodigy into a true genius, and finally win him the girl. Letting expectations go and allowing love in are at the heart of Colin’s hilarious quest to find his missing piece and avenge dumpees everywhere.”


Now to review:

I liked the book the first time I read it, but I always thought that the main character, Colin Singleton, was a bit dramatic.  I understand that he has been dumped a lot; I just feel that it is his own fault.  As a reread it I felt more and more annoyed with Colin.  I guess since I’m older and have had more experience in the dating department than when I first read this book.  I think that he is too self-obsessed or mature to even think about dating; but that is only my personal opinion and really has nothing to do with the book as a whole.  I kept getting more and more upset and then I slowly realize that there is more to the book that I definitely did not get the first time I read it.  As I read, bits of Colin’s story remind me of my own relationships in the past and I could understand him more.  

What I especially liked about this book was how real Colin and all of the rest of the characters felt.  They all have very relatable personalities that drew you in.  I have to say this is not my favorite John Green book, that would have to be The Fault in Our Stars, but it is a very good book! 

Next John Green book that I will be rereading is:

Happy happy summer reading!!!

Peace, Ali

5 May 2012
BY THE TIME YOU READ THIS, I’LL BE DEAD by Julie Anne Peters Daelyn Rice is broken beyond repair, and after a string of botched suicide attempts, she’s determined to get her death right. She starts visiting a website for “completers”— www. through-the-light.com. While she’s on the site, Daelyn blogs about her life, uncovering a history of bullying that goes back to kindergarten. When she’s not on the Web, Daelyn’s at her private school, where she’s known as the freak who doesn’t talk. Then, a boy named Santana begins to sit with her after school while she’s waiting to for her parents to pick her up. Even though she’s made it clear that she wants to be left alone, Santana won’t give up. And it’s too late for Daelyn to be letting people into her life…isn’t it? National Book Award finalist Julie Anne Peters shines a light on how bullying can push young people to the very edge. This book is one of the most depressing books I have ever read.  Right from the title you know it is not going to be a very feel-good book, but I bought it and I felt that I had to read it!  I do not like the main character, Daelyn Rice, especially in the beginning of the book.  Later on I understood more of why she was suicidal.  But, I still felt she did one thing wrong: not telling her parents everything.  In the book, she was constantly bullied about being fat and this main thing drove her to want to die.  Other aspects of her decision are discussed in the book, slowly, as she become a bit stronger. I understand that bullying drives people to do crazy things, and feeling very bad thoughts about themselves, but I feel that this could be prevented.  I commend Julie Anne Peters’ in-your-face method of spreading the message, but I think she could have done it better.  I felt that the book did not do enough to promote more ways of dealing with bullying.  There were parts of the book where you could see the changes in Daelyn, but not enough for my liking.  I did like the ending, but I wish there was more.  I wanted to check back and see how she was doing!  It is a very emotional story, and very descriptive.  That is the main thing I did not enjoy one bit.  This book is not for everybody!  There are detailed instructions on how to successfully go through with suicide, which I think is definitely not necessary for a book trying to prevent suicides.  In my opinion, there has to be a better book that gets the point across and is more inspirational for readers.  I just felt horrible the whole time I was reading! I do not recommend this book!  There are parts of the book that are semi-happy; like the guy she meets and kind-of befriends her.  But that even gets messed with.  The main thing that bothered me was how she was completely oblivious to the love her parents have for her and the hope that pops up many times!  It was too sad for me, but if you are interested go ahead and read it. Peace, Ali

BY THE TIME YOU READ THIS, I’LL BE DEAD by Julie Anne Peters


Daelyn Rice is broken beyond repair, and after a string of botched suicide attempts, she’s determined to get her death right. She starts visiting a website for “completers”— www. through-the-light.com.

While she’s on the site, Daelyn blogs about her life, uncovering a history of bullying that goes back to kindergarten. When she’s not on the Web, Daelyn’s at her private school, where she’s known as the freak who doesn’t talk.

Then, a boy named Santana begins to sit with her after school while she’s waiting to for her parents to pick her up. Even though she’s made it clear that she wants to be left alone, Santana won’t give up. And it’s too late for Daelyn to be letting people into her life…isn’t it?

National Book Award finalist Julie Anne Peters shines a light on how bullying can push young people to the very edge.


This book is one of the most depressing books I have ever read.  Right from the title you know it is not going to be a very feel-good book, but I bought it and I felt that I had to read it!  I do not like the main character, Daelyn Rice, especially in the beginning of the book.  Later on I understood more of why she was suicidal.  But, I still felt she did one thing wrong: not telling her parents everything.  In the book, she was constantly bullied about being fat and this main thing drove her to want to die.  Other aspects of her decision are discussed in the book, slowly, as she become a bit stronger. I understand that bullying drives people to do crazy things, and feeling very bad thoughts about themselves, but I feel that this could be prevented.  I commend Julie Anne Peters’ in-your-face method of spreading the message, but I think she could have done it better.  I felt that the book did not do enough to promote more ways of dealing with bullying.  There were parts of the book where you could see the changes in Daelyn, but not enough for my liking.  I did like the ending, but I wish there was more.  I wanted to check back and see how she was doing!  It is a very emotional story, and very descriptive.  That is the main thing I did not enjoy one bit.  This book is not for everybody!  There are detailed instructions on how to successfully go through with suicide, which I think is definitely not necessary for a book trying to prevent suicides.  In my opinion, there has to be a better book that gets the point across and is more inspirational for readers.  I just felt horrible the whole time I was reading!

I do not recommend this book!  There are parts of the book that are semi-happy; like the guy she meets and kind-of befriends her.  But that even gets messed with.  The main thing that bothered me was how she was completely oblivious to the love her parents have for her and the hope that pops up many times!  It was too sad for me, but if you are interested go ahead and read it.

Peace, Ali
2 notes
22 Apr 2012
OF MICE AND MEN by John Steinbeck “An intimate portrait of two men who cherish the slim bond between them and the dream they share in a world marred by petty tyranny, misunderstanding, jealousy, and callousness. Clinging to each other in their loneliness and alienation, George and his simple-minded friend Lennie dream, as drifters will, of a place to call their own—a couple of acres and a few pigs, chickens, and rabbits back in Hill Country where land is cheap. But after they come to work on a ranch in the fertile Salinas Valley of California, their hopes, like “the best laid schemes o’mice an’ men,” begin to go awry. A rarity in American letters, Of Mice and Men achieved remarkable success as a novel, a Broadway play, and two acclaimed films.” —Barnes & Noble Overview I have to begin this review with my love of John Steinbeck, more specifically his book The Grapes of Wrath.  I readThe Grapes of Wrath in my junior year of high school and loved it right from the beginning!  I am a lover of old movies, so of course I have seen the movie with Henry Fonda and loved as well.  I have also seen the movieEast of Eden, but I have not read the book (it is on my list!), and loved it.  So I have a very warm spot of John Steinbeck and had to readOf Mice and Men! It did not disappoint!  I love the way Steinbeck puts a character together.  You understand a lot about the character, but not everything so the choices they make are not things you can always predict.  The foreshadowing inOf Mice and Menis very well done and put so subtly that you know that something is going to go wrong, but you don’t know what exactly.  I love books that portray average, everyday people in their lives, that seem so similar to your own, but is completely different!  I think Steinbeck is an amazing author!  I would recommend this book to anybody; as well asThe Grapes of Wrath!   Happy Reading! Peace, Ali :)

OF MICE AND MEN by John Steinbeck

“An intimate portrait of two men who cherish the slim bond between them and the dream they share in a world marred by petty tyranny, misunderstanding, jealousy, and callousness. Clinging to each other in their loneliness and alienation, George and his simple-minded friend Lennie dream, as drifters will, of a place to call their own—a couple of acres and a few pigs, chickens, and rabbits back in Hill Country where land is cheap. But after they come to work on a ranch in the fertile Salinas Valley of California, their hopes, like “the best laid schemes o’mice an’ men,” begin to go awry. A rarity in American letters, Of Mice and Men achieved remarkable success as a novel, a Broadway play, and two acclaimed films.” —Barnes & Noble Overview


I have to begin this review with my love of John Steinbeck, more specifically his book The Grapes of Wrath.  I readThe Grapes of Wrath in my junior year of high school and loved it right from the beginning!  I am a lover of old movies, so of course I have seen the movie with Henry Fonda and loved as well.  I have also seen the movieEast of Eden, but I have not read the book (it is on my list!), and loved it.  So I have a very warm spot of John Steinbeck and had to readOf Mice and Men!

It did not disappoint!  I love the way Steinbeck puts a character together.  You understand a lot about the character, but not everything so the choices they make are not things you can always predict.  The foreshadowing inOf Mice and Menis very well done and put so subtly that you know that something is going to go wrong, but you don’t know what exactly.  I love books that portray average, everyday people in their lives, that seem so similar to your own, but is completely different!  I think Steinbeck is an amazing author!  I would recommend this book to anybody; as well asThe Grapes of Wrath!

  Happy Reading!

Peace, Ali :)
2 notes
22 Apr 2012

The Hunger Games Series Review

I finished The Hunger Games series a couple of days ago!

Here’s my Review :)

BOOK ONE: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

BOOK TWO: Catching Fire


BOOK THREE: Mockingjay


My thoughts:
I started reading the first book and in about the middle I saw the movie with my sister, which I should not have done but my sister wanted me to go with her.  The movie was pretty great, and the first book was equally amazing.  After the first book the story definitely didn’t grow.  Katniss was bearable in The Hunger Games, but as she continued not to grow as a character the books became only so-so.  Don’t get me wrong, it is a very interesting and well developed plot, but Katniss is just an incredibly annoying character.  I understand that she is going through a lot of emotionally and physically demanding experiences, but she is constantly contradicting and that completely frustrates me.  In The Hunger Games she sacrifices herself for Prim, the one person she will ever unconditionally love.  In Catching Fire and even in the beginning of Mockingjay that fact is completely unaddressed until the very end; I’m not going to ruin the story if you haven’t read it, I promise. Since I’m mentioning the end I will just say I hated it and I liked it at the same time.  I understand and finding the ending come full cirlce, but then I hate it because of that fact.  I know I must not be making sense, but it’s hard to describe it without saying what it actually is.

So, my over all opinion:

The Hunger Games was the best of the three books.

I hated and loved the ending (if you read it you may understand my feelings about the ending a bit more).

Katniss is a contradicting and stagnant character that I did not like, but I understand Suzanne Collins thinking behind her.

In all it was a great story, a bit too depressing but an interesting dystopian story.

Peace, Ali

5 Apr 2012

GAME OF THRONES!!! —>Review time

“A NEW ORIGINAL SERIES, NOW ON HBO.

From a master of contemporary fantasy comes the first novel of a landmark series unlike any you’ve ever read before. With A Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin has launched a genuine masterpiece, bringing together the best the genre has to offer. Mystery, intrigue, romance, and adventure fill the pages of this magnificent saga, the first volume in an epic series sure to delight fantasy fans everywhere.

A GAME OF THRONES
A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE: BOOK ONE
 
Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. To the south, the king’s powers are failing—his most trusted adviser dead under mysterious circumstances and his enemies emerging from the shadows of the throne. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the frozen land they were born to. Now Lord Eddard Stark is reluctantly summoned to serve as the king’s new Hand, an appointment that threatens to sunder not only his family but the kingdom itself.

Sweeping from a harsh land of cold to a summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, A Game of Thrones tells a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; a child is lost in the twilight between life and death; and a determined woman undertakes a treacherous journey to protect all she holds dear. Amid plots and counter-plots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, allies and enemies, the fate of the Starks hangs perilously in the balance, as each side endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.

Unparalleled in scope and execution, A Game of Thrones is one of those rare reading experiences that catch you up from the opening pages, won’t let you go until the end, and leave you yearning for more.”

~Barnes & Noble

Yes!!! Finally finished! I don’t really know were to start… I liked it a lot, which really surprised me. I thought it was one of those really gruesome stories that was simply about violence and hate. At first it seemed to be just that, but what I didn’t expect was how much more there was to the violence and hate. There was so much going on but everything had to do with each other. The characters were all really well developed and the thing I really liked about these characters was that most of them were not completely evil or completely good. I felt that this made the characters more realistic and what made this book so popular.
All of the emotions that I felt throughout this book are way too many to list! Martin is a genius in the way that he can manipulate your feelings towards the character. A great example of this is Catelyn. I seriously hated her at the beginning of the book. I felt like slapping her at almost everything she did, especially how she treated Jon! But as the story progresses and her character is revealed and developed more, I could understand her way and I changed my opinion of her.
The thing I didn’t like, which is probably just because of my personal morals and junk, is all of the gruesome violence and the way the women were treated in general. Since I’m more of a peace and love kind of person, all of the violence and greed just did not draw me in and I cringed plenty of times. The issue of the women is one that I feel is just me being overly sensitive, but I still did not like anything Dany was going though. All of her treatment was horrible and made me very angry. She is only a girl! But then I think back to the society that this book takes place in, and then it make a bit more sense, but it does not justify it. Then I think that Martin is a complete genius writer to be able to make me feel that way about a made up story!
I really like this book, I just wouldn’t recommend it to my fourteen year old sister.

**I am definitely going to finish the series, just need a break from this story for a while. 

Have funny reading :)

Peace, Ali

18 Mar 2012

Demian BY Hermann Hesse

My boss recommended this book to me and even gave me his personal copy to read. I read Siddhartha about five years ago and really enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to reading Demian. Since I had already read Siddhartha, I felt it was very similar to it. Not really every aspect of the book, but part of the plot in both having to do with finding some kind of personal enlightenment. This doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the book, but the impact of the book was not the same since I already read Siddhartha. I personally liked Siddhartha’s character better than Emil Sinclair. He just seemed to be a boy throughout the whole story until the very very end. Also, I don’t thing any boy as young as he was in the beginning of the story would think so seriously about religion as he did. Most times children that young don’t truly understand religion of any kind. But besides that I really did like this book. One of the best written books I have read in a while! I would recommend this book for reader who enjoy emotionally and spiritually difficult books.

15 Mar 2012