Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz

Okay, I have no idea what was going through Horowitz's mind when he was writing Evil Star but it was definitely not the genius that inspired the character of Alex Rider. The Alex Rider series is so different from Evil Star that I feel like I'm reading a book by a completely different author. Stormbreaker sucked me in and I finished this book within a day, completely and utterly breathless. I was just about to give up on Horowitz but I found some strength in me to pick up this book and I am so happy that I did.

Alex Rider is a kid that I am now in love with, and this is coming from someone who is in a healthy relationship with a real human being. The way he is extremely courageous and daring all because he is practically being blackmailed into doing it. Sure he has no choice in being chosen as an M16 spy but he could very easily stink at his job but he doesn't. He has that knack for getting into the right kind of trouble, something that I have always admired about characters and dreamed that I had myself. It is people like Alex Rider and Nancy Drew that first inspired me to become a detective, a job I would easily do if I wasn't such a chicken. If you're a teenager, especially a guy, pick up the Alex Rider series. They are a great action adventure right next to any of James Patterson's Pageturners.

P.S. It's Christmas Eve so I would like to say MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HANUKKAH, HAPPY KWANZAA, and whatever other holiday you are celebrating this holiday season!!!

Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

The last manuscript written by this amazing author is just as thrilling as his earliest works. Having read Jurassic Park for a class assignment, when I saw this book on the bestseller list I knew I had to pick it up and I wasn't disappointed. The way Crichton sucks you into the privateering way of life in the New World, it's almost like the reader is taken back on another adventure with the newest Jack Sparrow, Captain Charles Hunter. The same knack for breaking the rules and the loyalty of his crew, Captain Hunter is the good version of Jack Sparrow. He even has a betrayer on his ship that reminds me of Captain Barbosa before he stole the Black Pearl away from Jack.

The action surrounding this story is out of this world but extremely believable at the same time. The expedition to gather treasure from the crown at all costs seems something the English would have done and the way Hunter manages his crew is typical yet original in all ways. I wouldn't even be surprised if Crichton got the inspiration for this novel from Captain Jack Sparrow himself. The way Crichton not only describes the action, but as well as the gruesome deaths can make almost anyone sick to their stomachs but it's this detail that keeps the story going.

I am sad to say that this author is no longer alive and this is probably the only finished manuscript that his family has found but Michael Crichton left a legacy behind him. With writing not only this novel but also Jurassic Park and many others, creating and filming the hit TV show ER, Michael Crichton is still the only writer to have had the number one book, movie, and TV show at the same time. He is missed greatly by the writing world.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

Alrighty, as a loyal Twilight fan I have to put up an honest review of the movie. Yes, I talked alot about how amazing and horrible the first Twilight movie was but this one I will speak the truth. While New Moon was 100% better than Twilight, it still wasn't what people would call a "great" movie. Kristen Stewart's acting improved but only marginally, Robert Pattinson's pain I believed 100%, and Taylor Lautner did an amazing job (might I as his body looked spectacular as well), and all the vampires, werewolves and humans did a great acting job. To me it was just Kristen who did't do the best, and it's sad because she's Bella, she's the star. Don't get me wrong, I love Kristen Stewart as person (she is a lot like me, it's kind of scary) but her acting can be better. It constantly seems like whatever emotion she's playing, whether its depressed, in love, happy, sad, or scared, it's always the same expression: blank, vacant, lost, and stuttering constantly. Hopefully Eclipse is better....

P.S. For those of you who don't know, Robert Pattinson is absolutely amazing!! I'm just saying... ;-)

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

Okay, I know I haven't written in a while but the busy schedule of a super involved student is to blame. But throughout this whole time, I tried to read Angels and Demons and when I finally finished I was amazed. Dan Brown amazed me once again with such a page turning thriller that I could hardly put it down. It is thanks to this book that I have become an amazing multitasker. Robert Langon is seriously pulled into the strangest situations that any person can be put into and while The Lost Symbol, the sequel to The DaVinci Code, is still not on my bookshelf I'm sure that adventure is just as strange and definitely not boring. The twist and turns that Brown takes you through tend to surprise you and the way he uses religion and real life facts to make story into ficiton is amazing. Obviously, if this book was based on true events, it would be a work of nonfiction but it is clearly fiction so that is how everyone should read it. I offer the same advice that I did with The DaVinci Code, read it with an open mind and just to have fun. If you are truly strong in your faith you would not have a problem with this book. At least you shouldn't. Anyway, this book is a lot less offensive to the Catholic church, it actually shines both Catholicism and Science in a positive light, but that's only if you truly analyze the book. At first glance, it looks like the book is completely against the church.

All controversies but aside, I truly did love this book. For everyone out there who likes a great thriller please pick up this book and read it. It is truly amazing.

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

He was a man who turned into a big cockroach and died... THE END.

Okay, I don't even know how this short story became a classic. It doesn't even make sense! I had to read this for a class and that would be the only reason I would ever read it again. This story was absolutely horrible. There was no plot, no twists and turns, no true lesson. All the main character does is turn into a cockroach, ruin his family's life, and dies. If you want to look at Spark Notes and get a summary of the book, the summary is the book! I love short stories but this is just insane! A story needs a plot and a lesson to teach to the readers or something to keep them entertained besides the fact that there is someone who turned into a cockroach. There is not even an explanation for this transformation! If you want to spare your mind, never read this story unless you have to.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

This book shocked me. I have heard many great things about Hosseini's other book, The Kite Runner, and even a few about A Thousand Splendid Suns, but never would I have thought that I would fall in love with this book the way I did. The two main characters, Mariam and Laila, are both so understanding and loving and try their hardest to get out of their tough situation in Afghanistan. Both were married young, both are bastards, and both were married to a man who abused them and wanted to kill them. Even now I'm thinking about naming my daughter Laila. These two women show how strong a woman can be in the face of danger and what it takes for a mother to protect her children.

Laila and Tariq, a couple almost like Edward Cullen and Bella Swan, were meant for each other from the time they were little kids running through the streets of Kabul. Not only that, but Hosseini does an amazing job describing Afghanistan culture that the poor little country that only passed my mind when I thought about the war truly has won a place in my heart. People need to read this book to realize that not all of Iraq and Afghanistan are on Osama bin Laden's side. Most of the people in this country are innocent and loving, only wanting to live in peace.

Hosseini truly has a great talent and the way he can surprise the reader with twists and turns that no one saw coming is absolutely amazing. He kept me on my toes throughout the whole entire book. Let's just say that someone who you think is dead turns out he never was... :)

Even for the non-readers of the world, if you can appreciate a good and heartfelt love story, you will definitely love this book as much as I did.

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

I'm a Catholic so as you can imagine this book might have caused controversy with me but believe it or not I couldn't put it down. A good writer knows the difference between fiction and non-fiction and what many readers of this book fail to realize is this book is a work of fiction. Of course there are some real facts that make it believable like the symbolism and myths of the Holy Grail but it's a work of FICTION, and that is why I read it and ultimately really enjoyed it.

This is definitely one of my favorite brainy thrillers. To keep up with Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu is a thrill of a lifetime and I enjoyed every page of it. I've heard many different stories considering this book and I decided to finally take the plunge and it turned out to be amazing. The trick to this book is to read it with an open mind. You have to open the book and leave your religion behind and just explore a little and you would be amazed as to where this book leads you.

P.S. The little part of Da Vinci's Last Supper seems very true to me. Looking at the picture myself I saw not 13 men but twelve men and one very feminine looking one forming the V of the chalice...

The Choice by Nicholas Sparks

No one has any idea how happy I am to finally find a book that had me reading through the night. I haven't read a book like that since the Deathly Hallows (the last Harry Potter book). I just couldn't help falling in love with Travis Parker and Gabby Holland just as fast as they fell in love with each other. I'm used to Nicholas Sparks' romance stories and used to the same old thing that he always does but The Choice was different. Maybe it was because I felt really connected to Gabby because she was very relatable to me, or maybe it was because I was completely attracted to Travis. All I know is this book was so sweet, so romantic, and so uplifting that it just made me smile and of course eventually cry throughout the book. I even had to restrain from laughing out loud in some really great moments. For all romance lovers out there, this is definitely something that you should pick up. It would lift up your spirits and truly make you believe in true love again. This was an amazing read and I thank Nicholas Sparks for sparking my love for books once again.

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

I am a huge fan of Jane Austen's work, especially Pride and Prejudice. That book was absolutely amazing for me and such a touching story. Her first work though didn't catch my attention as much. It took me three tries to even get to pg. 120 of Sense and Sensibility and I'm sorry but I can't go on any longer. I'm sure the rest of the book is fantastic but keeping up with 1811 language is tiring. Austen's use of big words and fancy ways of saying things is something that I expect but this was too much for me. I would find that I spent 10 minutes on a piece of Elinor's dialogue just trying to figure out what she was trying to say. I love my classics and I love Jane Austen but this book just wasn't enough for me. I even feel bad feeling this way but I do. It pains me that this wonderful classic just isn't for me (which by the way rarely happens). If you love this book then hats off to you but for readers who have a short attention span, don't even bother buying this book, you won't even last past the first page.

On a better note, I loved the characters, well from as much as I got to know them at least. Elinor and Marianne were absolutely marvelous and I couldn't help but fall in love with Willoughby as much as Marianne did. I'm sure if the language was simpler and there was just a little more oomph, like in Pride and Prejudice, I would have liked this book just fine. Unfortunately that wasn't the case. I still love Jane Austen and applaud her writing but this book wasn't her best work. Then again, it was her first and as Pride and Prejudice showed me, she got better with age.

Evil Star by Anthony Horowitz

Okay, I promise this is my last post for today but I really wanted to catch up on things. This book by Anthony Horowitz is pretty good. It had cool tricks and some fantasy but I definitely like the Alex Rider series better. Now don't get me wrong, the book was good but there were so many grammar mistakes. Now I know that isn't exactly Anthony's fault but I just had to put that out there. Also the book took to long to get exciting for me. Normally I can pull through a book that doesn't have a lot of action but this one was different. This book did have action but not enough to keep me reading. It wasn't until the last 50 pages that I actually got interested and didn't want to put it down. But who knows, you actually might like it.

Here is the synopsis on the back of the book: Matt thought his troubles were over when he closed Raven's Gate... but, in fact, they were just beginning. Evil forces will stop at nothing to track him down and destroy him. There's no choice but to fight back. Matt's fate - and the fate of the world - is tied to four other kids across the globe. The second is a street kid in Peru. He and Matt have never met; they don't even speak the same language. But destiny is going to throw them together as the threat of the Old Ones grows, a strange and insidious villain beckons, and another Gate suddenly comes into play....

The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

Now I am sure many of you have seen the sad romance movie version of the book but frankly this was the first time that the movie was better than the book. I mean the book itself was cute and close to the movie except for the end. I'm not going to say the ending but it really destroyed me. I wanted the sad but happy ending that the movie had but as I continued reading I couldn't help but be more disappointed. I am a huge Nicholas Sparks fan and a fan of his out of this world romances that probably never happen in real life but that was what I was looking forward to in The Notebook. I have to say that I was sadly disappointed in this novel.

Atonement by Ian McEwan

Hey everyone! I know I haven't updated my blog in such a long time but I barely have time to breathe, let alone read. But I did squeeze in some time for this amazing book called Atonement by Ian McEwan. I was first introduced to Atonement through the movie starring Keira Knightly and James McAvoy. The movie was absolutely amazing and so touching that I just had to read the novel. If I thought the movie was good, the novel is even better and fills me in on Robbie Turner's life. Plus seeing how one little mistake can truly rip apart a family and two lovers forever is heart wrenching in every way.

The story is pretty much about Briony Tallis, a 13 year old aspiring writer, who with her wild imagination sees something and lets just say deciphers it wrong. Briony witnessed her older sister, Cecilia, and family friend Robbie Turner have a little "flirtatious" moment. Not understanding the adult world, Briony thought it was an attack on her sister and with a series of events following this incident sent Robbie to jail thus ripping him and Cecilia apart. This story is one of love, crime, war, and friendship and I truly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good love story, even though it might not have a happy ending.

Shout Out to Daisy!!

OK I know this has nothing to do with books or anything related to them but I just thought this was really cool so I just had to blog about it. One of my friends, Daisy, heard about my blog and it inspired her so much that she had to start one of her own! If you check out her blog you can see that she owes it to me and I just thought that was super cool. As a writer my life's dream is to inspire people in anyway I can and to inspire Daisy really touched me. If you're reading this Daisy I just want to say that I love you and thank you for loving my blog and being inspired by it!

I'm glad to see that someone other than myself loves books and loves to write about them. Hopefully more people can see the goodness of books and writing and realize that a whole new world is just a page away.

I Couldn't Help Myself!!!

Okay I know I promised no more Twilight for a while but I just couldn't help myself!! First of all for those who do not know, director of Twilight, Catherine Hardwick is not doing the next film, New Moon. Instead a new director, Chris Weitz, was hired to do both New Moon and Eclipse movies. Also despite many rumors, Taylor Lautner was signed to reprise his role as Jacob Black in New Moon and has to gain 30 lbs in muscle to play the part.

The Twilight 2-Disc Special Edition DVD is also available for pre-order at Amazon.com. This DVD includes five extended scenes, audio commentary from Catherine Hardwick, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, three music videos (Muse, Linkin Park, Paramore), five deleted scenes, seven part documentary "The Adventure Begins: The Journey From Page to Screen", Comic-con Phenomenon featurette, and a lot more. If you're a Twilight lover I suggest you seriously pre-order this amazing DVD. I sure did!!!

P.S. New Moon begins filming this March and is due to come out this November!!!! Check out these fan made trailers for New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. They're pretty good! They contain spoilers so if you haven't read the book don't watch them!

New Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsghUBi81qY

Eclipse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKPVGg95vb0&feature=related

Breaking Dawn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l71UXPtBng&feature=related

The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Now I had to do this play because it is such a classic and one of my favorites. If you don't know who William Shakespeare is he is a poet/playwright/actor who lived in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. His story Romeo and Juliet was not originally created by him but he took the story and he made it all his own with his unique style of writing. The story Romeo and Juliet is as good as everyone says if you have the patience for it. At first it is hard to understand what the characters are saying and what is going on but I have a fool proof method as to how you can finally understand William Shakespeare.

If you have the time buy a good audio book of the play and get a copy of the play that translates some of the language harder to understand. Read the book along with the audio book and it will be a lot easier to understand. If you still don't understand what is going on I recommend renting or buying one of the many Romeo and Juliet movies out there. My favorite one is the one with Leonardo Di Caprio because it has the old English language but the setting is in modern times so you can understand the old language in a setting that you can most relate to.

Everyone in their lifetime has to give Shakespeare a try even if you don't like classics. As for other classic stories that are hard to understand, do the same that I said about Romeo and Juliet. Buy the audio book and listen as you read and if you still don't understand, get the movie version if there is one. It worked for Pride and Prejudice with me and I'm sure that it would work for you. Classics truly can open up a wonderful world of writing and storytelling. All you have to do is give them a try.

James Patterson: #1 American Thriller Writer

Now you have heard of my other two favorite authors but now is the time you heard of the most writing obsessed one of them all. Since the 1970's, James Patterson has been writing bestseller hit after bestseller hit with over 35 books published and the average of 7 books published pr year for the past three years. James Patterson first had me with his love story, Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas. This novel has such a passionate and heart warming story behind it that he had me hooked after the first page. Little did I know that romances weren't his thing, his real passion is for thriller stories. Best known for his Alex Cross series, the Women's Murder Club, and the Maximum Ride page turners, his writing keeps you hooked.

My ultimate goal is to be as successful as James Patterson. If anyone is to be as successful as this man it would be a miracle. He always captured his readers and draws them in with real and relatable characters. If you haven't read any of his books yet I suggest you start now.

I Changed My Mind

Happy New Years every one!! Now just before Christmas I finally finished World Without End and I take back some of my not so great comments from before. Okay I will admit that the book did get better after the first 400 pages. The action really started picking up with the Black Death and I just wanted to keep reading to find out what happened to everyone. But I still think that it was a little slow to start. Action did happen in the beginning but it was never something that made you want to keep reading. The two characters that I loved the most are Merthin Builder and Caris Wooler (Sister and Mother Caris later on in the book). The two characters that I could live without knowing what is going on in their minds is Ralph Fitzgerald and Brother Godwyn. Like I said before, not as bad as I originally put it so if you really want a challenge to read then go right on ahead (that is if you could actually pick up the book, 1014 pgs!)

P.S. If you thought I was crazy reading this super long book you won't want to see my next one. It is a collection of five novels of Charlotte and Emily Bronte and has over 1100 pages!! I know I'm crazy but I truly love my books.