The Giver by Lois Lowry

THE GIVER SERIES BOOK 01

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Houghton Mifflin Company

Published in 1993

ISBN 0395645662

180 Pages

PLACES TO BUY FROM:

Amazon (Hardcover)
Barnes & Noble (Hardcover)

CHECKED OUT THE BOOK FROM MY PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Review/Rating:

5 out of 5




Picture this: a world without conflict, poverty, unemployment, divorce, injustice, inequality, and even teenage rebellion. Sounds perfect, right? But for Jonas, this world is a reality. December is a special time in this community since that is when the annual Ceremony takes place, where all the children learn their new responsibilities for their new ages. Though, Jonas is frightened because the Ceremony of Twelve will mark an important change for everyone who is twelve. At the Ceremony, they will learn what their life assignment is, as determined by the community's Elders. As he watches his friends receive their life assignment, each chosen for a job where they are most suited at, Jonas has been chosen for something more special than them. He is chosen as the Receiver --- something that Jonas might regret getting since he learns all the dark secrets that his world is based on. What will he do when he learns that the people would be better off if they received what he learned?

Okay, a science fiction book, yay! Actually, I read this book back in junior high because it was one of those "required" books we had to read. I don't know if it is still required, but I hope it is since I really like this book and what it teaches.

This is one of the few books where I don't care about how much descriptions or details are used. Why? Because I like the theme of the book. Though, there are enough descriptions where it is around the theme of the book. Like the summary says, it "questions every value we have taken for granted and reexamines our most deeply held beliefs".

The book examines things like seeing colors, feelings, holidays, and making choices, and how we take it for granted since we always had them. While in the book, the government, I guess, decided to take away those things in order to create a "perfect" world. While it might be good to have peace without conflict, no poverty, no unemployment, etc, it is still important to have choices --- no matter if they are bad or good for the person.

Go read it, the book will teach you to enjoy your free will and question and make sure the government doesn't do something like this to us. >.<

Other Reviews/Author Site:

Lois Lowry
Goodreads: The Giver by Lois Lowry
Library Thing: The Giver by Lois Lowry
Rhapsody in Book Weblog: The Giver by Lois Lowry
No Rest for the Lazy: The Giver by Lois Lowry
My Love Affair with Books: The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Hittite by Ben Bova

 

The Hittite by Ben Bova

Tom Doherty Associates

Published in 2010

ISBN 9780765324023

317 Pages

PLACES TO BUY FROM:

Amazon (Hardcover)
Barnes & Noble (Hardcover)

CHECKED OUT THE BOOK FROM MY PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Review/Rating:

3 out of 5



After a long campaign against the Armenian army, Lukka is finally returning home to his wife and two sons. However, instead of finding peace in the capital of the Hatti empire, Hattusa, he finds nothing but chaos. The once great city is now engulfed in flames and men are terrorizing and looting the city of its goods, including any women they find. When he reaches his home, he finds it destroyed with his father dying and wife and sons missing. With the last words of his father that Lukka must find his two sons, he goes off with the men he commands to find them. However, when he reaches Troy, he finds himself in the middle of a war. Now, in order to get his children and wife back, he must prove himself to Odysseos. But by the time he proves himself greater than that of Price Hector of Troy and the swift warrior Achilles, will it be too late to save the loved ones he came for?

Finally, a non-supernatural book AND an adult one. I like young adult books too much. I'll try to get more adult books after I read the rest of the books I have. :) Oh, beware of spoilers in the review. ;)

This is my first compliant... not enough details or descriptions (of the characters, events, places) to make the book longer than it is now. This history fiction book starts with Lukka coming home and finding his house destroyed, his father dying, and his wife and children missing. However, from there, the author tries to quickly get Lukka and his men to Troy in order to find his wife. It skips some things like more details about everything it takes to get there, but it includes some (but not all) of the hardships --- like Lukka having to kill one of his men because the guy didn't want to go on. I found this a little frustrating since the author didn't go into that much detail about him arriving to Troy and finding it under siege. Then after getting there, the book almost automatically goes into the fighting between Troy, and Lukka proves himself there. It pretty much like I wrote in the summary. The book has details, but not enough to keep you satisfied. The chapters are like 2-6 pages each, and not enough details to make the book really worth-while.

My second compliant... I hated how whiny Helen is, but I let that go since it was a different time than it is now. Helen acts like how most authors put women leads: demands attention, blames themselves and gets pity from that, and pretty much gets whatever they want, which is getting frustrating because it is so common now.

My third and last compliant... the ending sucked. It doesn't even have an ending where it mentions whether or not Helen, Lukka, the little boys, and his men make it to Egypt or if Menalaos catches them. I find this more "let me choke the author" worthy than the lack of details part. -____-

Now, a few good things about the book. I like how it goes into the history of Troy and Hatti and who built the Trojan horse, which not many books really do. Though, the author kind of ruins it by not having that many details and making the book go as quickly as possible. However, it is an exciting read, and it is entertaining. Though, it is frustrating. So, go ahead and read if you can live with lack of details, fast-moving, and sucky ending. :|

Oh, a few warnings. This book mentions rape, love scenes, gore scenes, etc, however, the author doesn't go into too many details about the acts --- just kind of mentions them and moves on to something else. Also, I rated it 3 three stars because of the interesting topic, but I didn't go any higher because of the lack of details and sucky ending. ;)

Other Reviews/Author Site:

Ben Bova
Goodreads: The Hittite by Ben Bova
Library Thing: The Hittite by Ben Bova
The Merry Go Round Reviews: The Hittite by Ben Bova
Imagic Reflections: The Hittite by Ben Bova

Counting on Grace by Elizabeth Winthrop

 

Counting on Grace by Elizabeth Winthrop

Wendy Lamb Books

Published in 2006

ISBN 9780553487831

240 Pages

PLACES TO BUY FROM:

Amazon (Kindle)
Barnes & Noble (Ebook)

CHECKED OUT THE BOOK FROM MY PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Review/Rating:

5 out of 5



Despite the child labor laws in 1910, at twelve years old, Grace and her best friend, Arthur, are expected to quit school and go work in the mill with her family. With the high-risk job as a doffer, Grace has to learn how to do the work right, so that her family won’t lose any pennies for their household. Grace is noticing that Arthur willingly to do anything to get out of mill, and Grace tries to stop him. She tells him that help will be coming, not to give up hope. When Lewis Hine comes, they believe their prayers have been answered. Though, will Lewis Hine be able to keep the promises he made? Will their hopes be raised by this event, only to be destroyed later?

This book shows a certain creativeness since the author uses a picture that Lewis Hine took of a child working in a mill during the 1900's as inspiration, instead of making it up from thin air. She even adds Lewis Hine into the book, which makes it even more like the actual history. It kind of read like those Dear America or Royal Dairies books. And, like those books, it includes the actual history that the author find out about the photographer and the girl in the 1910 picture.

Counting on Grace is very well written and lets us know how horrible even America's history is --- like involving child labor and how lax the law was enforce during that time. It leaves you thinking and grateful for how Lewis Hine and the Child Labor Commission changed the laws, so that children wouldn't have to work that young and get those injuries like the characters in the book.

Even though it is only a junior level book, it there is enough history, emotion, and description to get you interested and thinking about how different things actually was. So, even though this might be way below your reading level, it is a great read for your children.

Books like this, where it involves actual history, are also my favorite. :)

Other Reviews/Author Site:

Elizabeth Winthrop
Goodreads: Counting on Grace by Elizabeth Winthrop
Library Thing: Counting on Grace by Elizabeth Winthrop
Read, Read, Read!: Counting on Grace by Elizabeth Winthrop
Meeyauw: Counting on Grace by Elizabeth Winthrop

Sweetblood by Pete Hautman

 

Sweetblood by Pete Hautman

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Published in 2003

ISBN 0689850484

180 Pages

PLACES TO BUY FROM:

Amazon (Paperback)
Barnes & Noble (Hardcover)

CHECKED OUT THE BOOK FROM MY PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Review/Rating:

4 out of 5



Lucy Szabo is a teenage diabetic, and she has a very original theory about vampires. To her, they exist, but not in the usual way, she thinks original vampires were actually slowly dying diabetics before the discovery of insulin. Online, her nickname is Sweetblood, and she visits a Transylvania chat room, where "vampires" goes to discuss anything goth or vampire. However, there is one person different from everyone else that goes there and claims to be a real vampire, and she's not totally sure he's kidding. As she becomes more involved with vampires, goths, and that online guy, her life begins to turn for the worse --- failing classes, bad relationship with her parents, and even the ability to regulate her blood sugar worsens. What will happen when the online guy finds her and invites her to his strange world? Is he just a stalker? Or, is he really a vampire? Will she be able to make the choices she needs to in order to become the person she knows she is?

This isn't really a vampire book since it only really talks about theories of how the vampire legends came about.

I like how the author came up with a theory that vampires were untreated diabetics was very creative and different from anything I have heard before. Plus, it gives an awareness of how much medical technology has developed. Also, it points out how several people who would have died is still alive due to technology, so they are considered "undead". And also, it gives a sense of personal encouragement that even if you think you can't change yourself, you can if you just think about it.

Anyways, it's a pretty good book that points out new thinking and things like that. :)

Other Reviews/Author Site:


Pete Hautman
Goodreads: Sweetblood by Pete Hautman
Library Thing: Sweetblood by Pete Hautman
Teen Book Review: Sweetblood by Pete Hautman
NBPL Teen Book Blog: Sweetblood by Pete Hautman

The Last Sin Eater by Francine Rivers

 

The Last Sin Eater by Francine Rivers

Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Published in 1996

ISBN 0842335706

324 Pages

PLACES TO BUY FROM:

Amazon (Paperback)
Barnes & Noble (Paperback)

CHECKED OUT THE BOOK FROM MY PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Review/Rating:

5 out of 5



Even though she knows that it is forbidden to look at the sin-eater, at her Grandmother's funeral, she catches a glimpse of the sin-eater. However, either by the curiosity of little girls or a more powerful force, she decides to find the sin-eater to help her get rid of her sin. Will she be able to find what she seeks? And, will the sin-eater be able to help her? Or, will everyone be saved from this encounter?

Been over two months since I have posted this, but I'll try to make a review that is longer than a sentence. >.<

After reading Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, I decided to read another one of her books to see if I would like it. Well, I kind of like it and I kind of don't. There is more religion down your throat than Redeeming Love, but not so much that you want to stop reading it.

At first, this book kind of starts slow, but after Cadi and some people go find the sin-eater it gets a little bit more exciting. The book has a lot of details almost like her other book that I have read, and the character development is also very good. Also, in the books I have read so far from her has a sense of historical detail in them, which is also very interesting -- especially this one since I had never heard about it until I read the book.

Go read the book. It's not as interesting as Redeeming Love, but it is still well written. :)

Other Reviews/Author Site:

Francine Rivers
Goodreads: The Last Sin Eater by Francine Rivers
Library Thing: The Last Sin Eater by Francine Rivers
Working Girl Reviews: The Last Sin Eater by Francine Rivers
Reading to Know: The Last Sin Eater by Francine Rivers

The Scourge of God by William Dietrich

 

The Scourge of God by William Dietrich

Harper Collins Publishers

Published in 2005

ISBN 006073499X

334 Pages

PLACES TO BUY FROM:

Amazon (Paperback)
Barnes & Noble (Paperback)

CHECKED OUT THE BOOK FROM MY PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Review/Rating:

5 out of 5




When Attila, king of the Huns, seeks to invade Rome, he threatens the end of civilization as Jonas knows it. In order to prevent Attila from invading the Eastern Roman Empire, they dispatch a group of ambassadors to Attila's camp in order to seek peace. However, some people in that group is in a plot to get a Hun warlord to assassinate their leader, and when Attila finds out about this, he keeps Jonas hostage while killing or sending away the others. As a hostage at the Hun camp, Jonas meets a beautiful, captured Roman woman, Illana, and falls in love with her, but the problem is that she is promised to the Hun warrior that saved her during the destruction of her city. Jonas, wanting to escape with Illana, tries to come up a plan to escape with a sword, Illana, a fool and his wife, and himself --- but it fails, leaving Illana in the clutches of a very angry Attila.

With the sword, they try to gather allies to help Rome and all of civilization to win against Attila, who threatens to destroy everything they hold dear. Will they succeed --- and will Jonas rescue his love?

Okay, first of all, I love history-fiction, so, of course, I'm going to give this book a good review. :) There also might be spoilers in my reviews, but please try to ignore that. :P

I admit that I didn't know much about this time in history, but even though it is fiction, I became interested through the characters, plot, and a lot of description. ;) Though, the description of the battle scene and what the corpses looked like --- I could have gone without that. :(

There is enough description in this book to drag you into that era and get an idea of how people might have lived during the time Attila might have been alive, and also it will get you thinking what would have happen if Attila had won those deciding battles/war in history. The politics in the book were kind of blech, but it makes up the boring politics with some very descriptive battles --- to the point you just read quick over --- and some history. I haven't verified how much is actually true, but the general outlook of the plot --- minus 3 or 4 of the main characters --- is pretty accurate to what happened in history, for what we actually know from that time period.

The book begins with a prologue, but in the book, they called it "introduction". In the introduction, it begins with Jonas telling you a very general summary of what had happened to him in the past and kind of what's happening with him now. Then, after that, it goes on about the affair of Honoria and the events that Jonas was hinting about in the introduction. So, basically, it goes from the present to the past and back to the present again and then a little bit, maybe, of what will happen in the future.

I think it was very descriptive --- I know I've said that like 200 million times, but, hey it is my review --- and didn't have that many or no holes in the plot or the time line of what was happening. The ending was an epilogue and made the plot a little bit more completed than if the author would have stopped with just what happened to Jonas and Illana. I suggest you don't read if you don't like history fiction or a little bit of gory details. :)

Other Reviews/Author Site:

William Dietrich
Goodreads: The Scourge of God by William Dietrich
Library Thing: The Scourge of God by William Dietrich

Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea

 

Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea

The Penguin Press

Published in 2007

ISBN 9781594201219

286 Pages

PLACES TO BUY FROM:

Amazon (Paperback)
Barnes & Noble (Paperback)

CHECKED OUT THE BOOK FROM MY PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Review/Rating:

2 out of 5



Sending anonymous yahoo group mass e-mails, a Saudi Arabain woman tells a story of her four friends about how they are trying to survive their country's ways on how women should behave and do things.

This book wasn't my cup of tea, but I read it so I can find out if I would like it, though, I didn't like it in the end. :P Anyways, you would like this kind of book, if you're into "girl power", love sucks, but I'll hang in there, type of books.

What I liked: The cultural information, some parts of the romance --- which is not much, and the way it was written --- yahoo group e-mails --- which is kind of original.

What I didn't like: It had information about love that should be obvious, but no woman wants to really know. It had the boringly common themes about love lives and how women go at lenghts for love, the cultural point of view was nice, but the love point and problems in the book are common pretty much everywhere, and there were too many point of view changes --- it played any-miney-money-moe with who told the part of story.

Well, if you like those types of books --- where they talk and give pity parties about love lives (bleh!) :( This book didn't have that many of my interests, but the culture parts were pretty the only things that were interesting to me. Also, I added the smut tag because it talks about sex --- a lot. ^^

Other Reviews/Author Site:

Rajaa Alsanea
Goodreads: Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea
Library Thing: Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea
Bookshelf: What We're Reading: Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea
Booklove: Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea
Lotus Reads: Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea

The Book of Names by Jill Gregory and Karen Tintori

 

The Book of Names by Jill Gregory and Karen Tintori

St. Martin's Press

Published in 2007

ISBN 0312366329

304 Pages

PLACES TO BUY FROM:

Barnes & Noble (Paperback)
Amazon (Paperback)

CHECKED OUT THE BOOK FROM MY PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Review/Rating:

1 out of 5



David Shepherd, a Georgetown University professor, doesn't really believe in religion, but that may change when he is suddenly thrown from his peaceful days into something that will threaten the world, his life, and the people he loves most. He is the chosen one that knows pretty much all of the people in The Book of Names, which if all 36 die, the world will end as we know it. When only 3 remain, he has to use his gift, whether he likes it or not, to try to save the remaining 3. While unning from a Gnostic group, he learns that he needs to trust in his own religion, himself, and the people around him that help him, in order to save the things that matter most --- the only question is will he live long enough to save the remaining 3 or will the world come to an end?

At first, I thought that The Book of Names would be like The Da Vinci Code, and in a way, it kind of was like The Da Vinci Code --- minus the excitement and mystery and clue theme to it. Another thing that is different is that The Da Vinci Code was controversial in the Catholic religion, and The Book of Names is controversial in the Judaism religion. Though, they both add what seems to be controversial or what some would some "insulting" themes to their religion, even though it is only fiction, which means it's not real, but who am I to judge someone else's beliefs and religion like that --- but I do have the right to write how I feel, so don't correct me and I won't try to correct you about our beliefs. Also, I apologize if I offend anyone in this review since religion is a "no-no" topic most of the time.

Okay, since I really didn't like this book, I'll just write why I didn't like it. It was a pretty good idea to write about, but it lack description, in-depth information about what's happening, lack of mystery and clues so that you can figure it out along with the character, and it jumps from one area to the next, almost like the authors didn't have anything better to write for the previous point of view and just wanted to get on with the book. Though, one thing I kind of like was the information on Judaism that I didn't know before. The ending, like throughout most of the book, felt rushed and not enough description.

Other Reviews/Author Site:

Jill Gregory
Karen Tintori
Goodreads: The Book of Names by Jill Gregory and Karen Tintori
Library Thing: The Book of Names by Jill Gregory and Karen Tintori
Tales of a Book Addict: The Book of Names by Jill Gregory and Karen Tintori
Book Fetish: The Book of Names by Jill Gregory and Karen Tintori
Book Journey: The Book of Names by Jill Gregory and Karen Tintori
The Zen Leaf: The Book of Names by Jill Gregory and Karen Tintori
Bonnie's Books: The Book of Names by Jill Gregory and Karen Tintori