A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

My Ratings:
Vocabulary:  *****
Ingredients: *****
Satisfaction: ***** 
Lexile Level: HL460L
Genre:  Historical Fiction
My Opinions: This might be the first book I have ever given full five out of fives for all three categories. I loved every page of it and it was a great source of historical information from the French Revolution. While reading this for English, we were actually studying about the French Revolution in History; therefore, it was a great academic tie because not only was I learning the facts, but Dickens' writing helped me delve into the feelings of the French men and women during this time. 

It was the best of times and worst of times in London and Paris as this family's story takes the reader through duality, resurrection, and the revolution. Several characters such as Dr. Manette, Charles Darnay, and Sydney Carton are recalled to life in several ways as the turmoil erupts in various fashions.

The story is divided into three books and the first two books spill the details about all the characters and untold secrets by Dickens. By the third book, every detail comes together to explain the crazy and random, i.e., abhorrence of the Manette family by Madame Defarge or the story behind Dr. Manette's imprisonment. Dickens provides us with the puzzles in the first two books and later pieces them together to provide the reader a clear visual of the whole plot line. Just reading the last book gave me chills. 

It is really long but is extremely worth reading. I highly recommend this book for any student looking to read a book for an English project. Great source of vocabulary and literary devices. However, before reading this book, I recommend just brushing up the history behind the French Revolution because there are many terms in the book which would require some outside knowledge to understand. 

Overall, please just READ IT!:) Let me know what you think by commenting!

One Step Too Far by Tina Seskis

My Ratings:
Vocabulary:  *****
Ingredients: *****
Satisfaction: ***** 
Lexile Level: N/A but I would say around 1000HL, recommended for young adults and above
Genre:  Realistic Fiction
My Opinions: A happy marriage. A beautiful family. A dream home. A lawyer. Emily Coleman. She has a pretty perfect life. The next day, she decides to leave her familiar past for London and loses herself in the city as a woman named Cat. She finds a new home in North London and a fun-loving friend named Angel. Cat has buried her past and lies about her history and who she is. However, she is constantly reminded of her past during the day and night making her feel guilty for what she has become. But the shocking revelation only comes after she takes things one step too far.

This is a tough one. I loved the beginning of the book. Each chapter was from a different character's point of view. This technique allowed me to understand more about each character's history and their reasons for their current state. I could clearly understand all of them. The philandering father of Emily. The hard-working mother of Emily. The drug-addict and alcoholic twin sister, Catherine. The beautiful and lovable Ben. The care-free Angel. The troubled and messed up Emily. 

After reading the beginning, I thought to myself of how perfect of a life Emily had. Why in the world did she have to give it up? She trades her job as a lawyer for a receptionist position at an advertising agency. She trades her healthy habits for secretly consuming cocaine in the restroom periodically. It just did not make any sense. As I kept reading, I came to realize the events and people who just broke Emily. I started tearing up at some parts. Cat was Emily's way of reconstructing herself even though Emily yearned for her old life. Her process takes the wrong turn at one point and leaves her getting bailed out of jail by Ben, her husband.

After this point in the book, everything was really fast and was pretty confusing because of all the details dumped into the pages. If Seskis had not overdone the ending, I feel like I could have given this book a full five stars. Not because I couldn't understand it, but it was just too quick and overwhelming in comparison to the slow-paced beginning where the reader was able to grow accustomed to the plot. Maybe the fast paced ending was Seskis' way of conveying the message of how quickly and easily things can fall apart. Who knows! I would recommend this book for school projects as well as a leisure read.

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.

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