April Book List

 So I've had a new idea for the blog! I love to read and therefore am a library junkie regular. At the end of every month, I will report here on the blog of the different books I've read, as well as a little review of each one. I love hearing other book recommendations as well as what other readers think of the books I read so feel free to comment :)

Now let me tell you, I've been having a pretty good streak with books lately.

Part of my success can be attributed to Janssen at Everday Reading for her endless book recommendation lists. I make a list of my own on my iPod before making a trip to the library so I can search for a few books that she's deemed fantastic. It makes my trips to the library much easier.

Random thought: I've been wanting to read Quiet, but I just can't catch it. I look it up at the library closer to my home, but it's checked in at the library downtown. So I go to the library downtown just a few days later, and now it's checked in at the other one. A girl just can't win. One of these days, maybe.

So here's my April list:

1. Dear Mr. Knightley : I really loved this book. And if you loved Emma, Wuthering Heights, and Pride and Prejudice, you will too. So many references! It's a story about a 20-something foster child who's been through some pretty awful stuff, as you can imagine. You watch her tear down the walls that have been hindering her for so long and break free. And fall in love, of course :)

2. Where We Belong : This one was my favorite this month! It was my first Emily Giffen book and I'm pretty sure it won't be my last. Where We Belong is a story about choices and how we can never change the decisions we've made in the past, but we can start new today. It's also about the power of family ties and how much they determine who we are, but also how they don't.

3. Attachments: This one was definitely more comical than anything else I read this month, which was just the light-hearted type of thing I needed after reading a story as heavy as Where We Belong. I will definitely be reading more from Rainbow Rowell!

4. Paper Towns : Okay, I read this in February which was a really long time ago but it was a good read so I just had to mention it. Plus, I found myself a tad busy in April and so my list is shorter than I meant for it to be. #Letsbereal. Anyway, this book was, in one word, exciting! You never knew what to expect from Margo Roth Spiegelman. I would say she kept Quentin and myself on the edge of our seats! Also, have you ever read a book about a group of friends and thought to yourself, "If I only knew these guys when I was in high school I'm pretty sure we would be best friends."? Yeah, I definitely felt that way about Q and his gang.


So there's my April book list :) I will try to read a little more in the month of May, and hopefully I will find some as good as these were!

Raving

Two wonderful things happened this past weekend. 1. I saw Catching Fire.  2. I started reading the Divergent series.

I read the first book in 2 days and the second book in 4. I could have read the second in three, but my forgetful self left my book at work last night...right on the shelf. Each book is about 500 pages. To state the obvious, they were awesome.  

This morning I arrived at work and headed to the toddler room where I start and end my days. Thankfully, my book Insurgent was right where I thought it was...in the toddler room. Another girl I work with was already in the room and my mouth dropped open when she said she had never heard of the Divergent series...or The Hunger Games.

Where have you been hiding? Under a rock?

Of course I didn't say that out loud. But seriously?


First off, the Catching Fire movie was seriously amazing. I could go on and on for hours about how close the events in the book matched exactly what I envisioned while reading the book. I was already impressed with the first book with how closely the characters matched the books' description of what the characters looked like. I think that's very important. Honestly, in the book, I hated Finnick. Like, really hated him. I didn't like him much in the movie at first, but I was able to trust him much more quickly. (Living in the book, much?) I could tell they really stepped up their game with the second movie when it came to graphics, costume, etc. The Hunger Games was super popular, so I'm sure they had more money to play with this time. People liked the characters they chose, so this one was almost given to be just as...if not more...popular.


Now for the Divergent serious. I. could. not. stop. reading. I've only read the first and second but they've been the best books I've read since the Hunger Games trilogy. I cried at the end of The Mockingjay. I don't cry at the end of a book or movie. I never had before that one.

The difference in my opinion? The Hunger Games was more emotionally enticing (hence I cried) while the Divergent series is much more involved in intellect. The Divergent series was full of so much psychology. I took a psychology class in high school and became so fascinated with how the brain works. The mind truly is an amazing thing. I have enjoyed putting the pieces together in this series, and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of the third and final book!

Who else who read this series fell in love with Tris and Four? Especially Four? Four is so strong and brave, and yet doesn't mind showing all his weaknesses in front of Tris. And then she became his greatest, and possibly only, weakness. I liked their romance more than Katniss and Peeta's.

My beef with what I've seen of the Divergent movie, like many others, is that the characters aren't what I envisioned. At all. I plan to forget my own perceptions the books' descriptions and see the movie with an open mind. It comes out in March, very close to my birthday, so I will be seeing it for sure then! I can hardly contain my excitement.

I love a good series, but who doesn't get all nostalgic when it's all over? I will attempt to savor the last book of the series while I am still ignorant of how it all ends.

While there's still much, much more to feel and discover.