Point Blank, Skeleton Key, Eagle Strike, Scorpia by Anthony Horowitz

The next four books after Stormbreaker in the Alex Rider series are just as good as the first but honestly don't get any better. Point Blank and Skeleton Key are pretty much repetitions of Stormbreaker and it gets pretty redundant. The same story: saving the world, almost dying, a crazy lunatic. It is always the same thing. Eagle Strike and Scorpia change it up just a little bit more with some twists that doesn't always have to do with saving the world but more about Alex Rider's past. I guess the books are good for it's demographic, 14 year old teenage boys. But trust me, I will not be reading the other two books in the series.... I don't think I can handle another saving the world, dying, and working for M16 unwillingly plot all over again.

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.