Wake Up Missing by Kate Messner

Happy New Year! New year. New books.

Excited to kick off the year with Wake Up Missing.

My Ratings:
Vocabulary:  *****
Ingredients: *****
Satisfaction: ***** 
Lexile Level: 660L
Genre:  Science Fiction
My Opinions: Catherine--Cat--recently got a concussion. Pounding headaches. Lost memories. Everything seems to be going downhill for this bird-lover until her mother finds a clinic called International Center for Advanced Neurology (I-CAN) which can solve Cat's problems. 

Cat arrives at the clinic located in the middle of nowhere. She will stay here for two weeks, alone. Only six patients reside at this huge place. This is when questions start occurring. Dr. Ames sounds like a friendly guy until Cat overhears an argument between him and his fellow physician, Dr. Gunther. Are they even physicians? Why is it only these six patients are admitted to this miracle hospital if other people in the world are suffering from injuries far worse than concussions? These questions lead to a discovery, a big escape, and a thrilling chase. 

It is a suspenseful book. I finished it in two days.

It is definitely an interesting plot line. I would recommend it as a nice pass time book. It could be used for school projects for middle school students and elementary students. 

Half Girlfriend by Chetan Bhagat

My Ratings:
Vocabulary:  *****
Ingredients: *****
Satisfaction: ***** 
Lexile Level: N/A (I would say it is around 800HL-1000HL)
Genre:  Romance, Psychology
My Opinions: Romantic plot line? Yes. New idea? No. Did I like the book? Yes. This again is another Bollywood type of plot line in which we have the hero falling in love with the beautiful heroine. 

It all starts on the basketball court. Riya is from a rich, upscale lifestyle who loves basketball and disapproves of the luxurious lifestyle. Madhav is from Bihar, a poor and worn down state in India, who was recruited to play basketball in St. Stephen's College. After meeting on the court during tryouts, they start hanging out together. Madhav wants more from Riya, but she sees him as a immature and naive little boy who knows nothing of love. Riya only wants to be friends with him, nothing more.

Things become more tense once Riya gives Madhav an invitation to her wedding, but Madhav refuses to go. Instead, he returns home to help his mother and the school she was running. It was in poor condition and it needed to be fixed. The Bill Gates Foundation reached out to Bihar and told Madhav if he could convince the committee during their tour in India, the school would receive a $25,000 grant. The only catch was he needed to do this in English. Madhav does not know English very well. Also, he is still recovering from the Riya-episode.

The plot picks up its pace when he sees Riya once again in Bihar! (crazy right?) In the midst of preparing for the committee presentation, Madhav once again gets tangled in a relationship with Riya (oh, not again...). It seems like it is fate to have met her again, but will it end differently?

I do have to applaud Bhagat for diverging from the cliched Bollywood romantic plot line because this story is about more than love. It is also about a man growing up and adapting to different cultures and languages as he even travels to America in search for Riya. Best of all, this book shows the importance of never giving up.

This is a great book for those interested in cultural differences and is appropriate for young adults and above.

Who loves poetry? I do!

So the last post was in August? Well, I haven't been reading lately so I don't have a book review to share with you guys. However, I have been writing a lot recently outside of school. For some reason, poetry is my go to and I entered a poem in a contest on Poetry Soup! There were several contests to choose from and the topic for the contest I chose was writing about a religion. I chose to write a poem about Hinduism and how over the years, I have gradually changed mentally to understand the meaning of faith.

All I Know about Hinduism

Squealing,
I adorned myself
with bangles
which followed my suit
as they clinked.
Combing my hair
and placing flowers
they contained the same level of energy
as I did.
Running around
thinking I was a princess
reality: the bride was the real deal.
Tripping on the hard stone floor
a gentle hand lifts me up
puts a sweet
into my tiny hands.

Five years later
I take my seat on the tile floor.
Wearing leggings and a kurta like all others 
who sit in straight rows.
Reading from the slokas on the poster
making sure we say Om
three times before starting.
Clasping both hands
we pray toevery special guide in our lives.
Understanding how each one of them has molded us.

Five years later, I sit in front of my laptop.
Wearing sweat pants and a shirt like my sister.
Worshipping daily after taking a shower does not wash away the sins.
Having a plan for the future does not mean I know what it will turn out to be.
All I do know is I have friends up there
who will listen to me and 
who will help me.
That's all I know.

10/9/2014

I am happy to say I won this contest!:)

I encourage everyone to check this site out. If you love to write poetry, entering contests is completely free and only requires you to create an account to enter. It is a site where poets from all over share their ideas. I can't wait to upload some more of my poem on this site for others to read!

(Don't You) Forget About Me by Kate Karyus Quinn

My Ratings:
Vocabulary:  *****
Ingredients: *****
Satisfaction: ***** 
Lexile Level: N/A (I would say it is around 700L-900L)
Genre:  Mystery, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Psychology
My Opinions: It was pretty confusing at the beginning but I was able to connect the dots towards the end. When the reader first starts reading, she is completely thrown into a unique and fascinating setting. The setting is a society where no one gets sick or dies. However, there is always a price to pay because every four years, the town infects one of the teenagers to commit a horrible crime.

The main character's sister, Piper, becomes a victim to the fourth year disease and is soon sent to the Reformatory for leading many students to their deaths by making them jump over a cliff. Skylar was there to witness everything and ever since then, she has not been able to forget the past. The whispers and voices taunt her into believing the only way to get Piper back was to stop the murderous cycles of Gardnersville.

It is a book where the author will not set the scene and details for you immediately. Quinn makes the reader finish the suspenseful book in order to make his/her connections between characters, their history, and the mystery behind this town. I enjoyed it. Every chapter title is the name of a song from the '80s which I thought was pretty creative. It is a really good pass time read but I would not recommend for any high level school project reading.

The Look of Love by Mary Jane Clark

My Ratings:
Vocabulary:  *****
Ingredients: *****
Satisfaction: ***** 
Lexile Level: N/A (I would say it is around 700L-800L)
Genre:  Mystery
My Opinions: Easy to follow, creative, gets reader to act like the detective type of book. Mary Jane Clark writes each chapter from the perspective of a different character in the book, even the murderer's point of view! It all starts after Piper Donovan, aspiring actress and part-time baker, accepts an invitation to Elysium, a paradise spa and plastic surgery center, free of charge for making the wedding cake for Jillian Abernathy, daughter of the spa's owner. Piper felt as though this would be a perfect way to take a break and sort out her feelings for Jack, a handsome FBI agent. Upon arriving, Jillian's housekeeper is accidentally mutilated and later killed by a mysterious person whose original target was Jillian. This killer will do anything to stop Jillian. The question is, who is it? 

By the end of the book, I thought I had an idea of who it was because Clark does a good job of dropping hints in each chapter which helped me process all the information and come up with a possible prime suspect. I couldn't keep the book down and it is an easy and fast read. Some content may not be appropriate for all ages. However, it has the right amount excitement and description needed to keep the reader happy and busy on boring, rainy days.

Copyright (C) Bookaroma 2014

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

My Ratings:
Vocabulary:  *****
Ingredients: *****
Satisfaction: ***** 
Lexile Level: 910L
Genre:  Fantasy, Adventure Fiction, Novel, Psychology
My Opinions: At first reading the book felt like reading another adventure book where the main character must find his treasure and face challenges. But after reading it again (because it was so good), it was more than a good pass time read. It is about a boy named Santiago who is trying to find his Personal Legend. He started out as a shepherd in order to travel the world. Throughout the journey, he experiences love, learns about alchemy, and meets a merchant who didn't want to reach his Personal Legend. It is a journey where Santiago learns more about himself and the art of alchemy. Great read for deep thinkers! Not boring at all and a great read for school projects.

Copyright (C) Bookaroma 2014

Bitter Melon by Cara Chow

My Ratings:
Vocabulary:  *****
Ingredients: *****
Satisfaction: ***** 
Lexile Level: HL730L (HL- appeals to readers at a more mature developmental level)
Genre:  Realistic Fiction
My Opinions: Bitter Melon is about a Chinese girl named Fei Ting, whose name literally means stop flying. She is a daughter of a mother who regards every penny she earns as a piece of gold. Her mother is very picky and strict. No boyfriends because it would cause a distraction for her daughter. No extra curricular activities because it would become a distraction. She wants her daughter to get a high score in SAT so that she can get into UC Berkeley. Her point was that she was doing everything for her daughter. However, Fei Ting has other plans. After a schedule mix-up, she is put into speech instead of calculus where she finds out more about herself and her true feelings through expressing herself. Finding speech as a gift causes her to enroll in several competitions where she gets closer to a boy named Derek. Everything now becomes a secret in her life. The speech competitions, Derek, going to a school dance, working a summer job, not going to her expensive SAT classes, and worst of all, wanting to go to Scripps rather than UC Berkeley. She thought she could hide all this from her mom...at least until the day Theresa's mother found Fei Ting's speech trophy hidden at Theresa's home.

I could definitely relate to a lot of this. My parents are not strict like her mom. They let me go to school dances, hang out with friends, and participate in extra curricular activities. However, the same sternness when it comes to academics and getting into a top college applies to both my parents and Fei Ting's mom. Although they mean for the best for us, the pressure sometimes is too much and Chow does a great job delivering the message of speaking out the truth and being true to yourself throughout the book.

Copyright (C) Bookaroma 2014