The Bookshelf

"Alive"

2015-07-14T12:20:00.001-07:00

A little disclaimer: I received the advance reader's edition of "Alive" that is pictured above at a work event that I attended. Therefore, the cover above may be different (it seems to be, looking at the Amazon picture) than those on the version sold on shelves. While this post does include some information about the very beginning of the book, there will be no spoilers, promise.

"Alive" by Scott Sigler is young adult sci-fi novel with a strong lead female character that must face many obstacles to take car of those around her and lead them to safety. I loved this book, although at the beginning I did have a little issue with it, which will be addressed, however overall I strongly recommend this book and really enjoyed reading it.

In some ways "Alive" is almost the girl version of "The Maze Runner" which put me off a little at the beginning. The characters of the two books are introduced in very similar ways. Thomas of "The Maze Runner," is introduced to readers as he is stuck in a small dark elevator-like contraption, doesn't remember who he is, and ends up in a community of boys who all arrived in the exact same manner. The main character of "Alive," Savage is introduced as she is trapped within a small, dark coffin-like box, breaks free, finds herself surrounded by others who are also trapped in boxes, and none of them can remember who they are.

However, this is where the similarities mostly end. When I picked up on the similarity in the way the characters were introduced, I was a little disappointed because I thought the whole book would be the same as "The Maze Runner" just in a different setting with different characters. Thankfully, while the two books do have some similar themes, they really are very different from each other.

"Alive" follows Savage and the others who are trapped within the building with her as they attempt to figure out where they are, who they are, what has happened to them, and how to escape. The book sucked me in and I finished it within about two days. It is full of twists and turns(the main one is huge and you'll never see it coming!), and I really enjoyed all of the characters and felt they all had very distinct well developed personalities.

With the way the book ends, I was anticipating a sequel, and was pleasantly surprised to learn that "Alive" is the first of a trilogy! I can't wait to read the next one and see what happens.

"Down Among the Dead Men: a year in the life of a mortuary technician"

2015-07-14T12:20:00.000-07:00

"Down Among the Dead Men" is an autobiography of Michelle Williams. While this is not the type of book I typically pick up, the book caught my interest, as I feel that a lot of what happens to our bodies after we die is not talked about. It is handed off to a funeral home, and then there's a funeral and that's it. No one ever sits down and talks about what happens at a funeral home or in a morgue, so I thought it would be interesting to read some books about these subjects and educate myself to an extent.

This book follows the life of it's writer, Michelle Williams, for a year. It begins with her applying for a job as a mortuary technician as a way to change up her life a bit as she wasn't completely happy in her previous job. After being hired as a mortuary technician at a hospital, Williams tells about learning the different parts of her job, and the reader follows as she is introduced to, and becomes successful at different tasks that are done in the mortuary.

This book is not merely, 'I went to work, I eviscerated some people, I went home.' Williams tells about the funny bits and getting to know and become friends with her coworkers. She also gives the reader some insight into the more surprising and/or challenging parts of her job, a motorcycle accident resulting in decapitation, "What lay in front of us was a headless body; fully clothed, but headless...Resting between his knees lay his motorcycle helmet, so it was a road traffic accident, which gave me a little clue as to what had happened to him...I looked into the visor and found myself fixated by the face behind it."

As well as a man so overweight he could not be fit into the refrigerated body storage, "Our only decent gurney had a 560 pound body on it, but was designed to take no more than 500 pounds. A larger patient in the days when the mortuary was designed was probably about 350 pounds maximum. There was absolutely no way Mr. Patterson was going to allow himself to be refrigerated and so he was going to have to stay on our gurney at room temperature until a post-mortem was ordered...Since if a body is not cooled, it starts to rot, this is what was going to happen to Mr. Patterson."

I enjoyed reading this book and getting some insight into what happens to people after they die. I would definitely recommend it if you have any interest in the subject and are not too queasy, as some bits do get a little graphic. Williams does a good job at not being too incredibly graphic, but when writing about dead and decomposing bodies, there is only so much you can sugar-coat.

Let me know what you thought about "Down Among the Dead Men" if you have read it and leave me suggestions for books to read in the comments below!

"Grace's Guide The Art of Pretending To Be A Grown-Up"

2015-03-21T18:32:00.000-07:00

"Grace's Guide" is a guidebook written by Internet person Grace Helbig. Helbig is a long-time internet enthusiast, with a very popular youtube channel "itsGrace" that has 2,048,332 subscribers( as of writing this post).

This book is in the format of friendly advice. "Grace's Guide" is composed of both list of helpful and hilarious tips, as well as a few pages in each chapter where Helbig tells stories from her past and gives the readers insight into her life and her crazy, new-media projects, work mostly from home, internet-famous, life. The chapters include; Your Professional Life, Your Social Life, Your Love life, and Your Lifestyle.

Though I watched Helbig's videos for a long time before her book was released, I was hesitant to buy it as the sudden, rapid announcements that nearly all of the successful, popular youtubers had been given book deals really put me off from reading any of them. It seemed that, all at once, people my age, or a smidge older, were being given deals to write books when they had either,

A) never seemed to have any interest in writing a book, or

B) didn't seem to be qualified.
(this obviously doesn't count for John Green duh)

It seemed as if maybe all the big youtube networks that these youtubers were signed to were just getting them all book deals as a way to make more money, and in all honesty, that's probably what a lot of youtubers have book deals. I haven't read any other youtubers books, but when and if I do, I'm expecting a lot of ghostwriting. Oops said it.

This all having been said, after a few of my friends read the book and loved it, I decided to give it a go. I was pleasantly surprised by Helbig's book. It is very clear to anyone that has watched any of her videos that the book is written in a very Grace Helbig way. Her personality and distinct sense of humor shine through and supply a lot of laughs while reading.

Grace's Guide is Grace through and through and is exactly what I expected in a book from her. It was fun, funny, and realistic. It's a book for young people, those who grew up with internet and cell phones and waste way too much time watching youtube videos, and don't spend enough time with real people.

I can't really say enough good things about "Grace's Guide." I will say that my only problem with the book is the cover. The front cover doesn't go all they way to the edge of the pages. The first page has a strip of photos that act as part of the cover and the cover is shorter to reveal that, which is a cool idea in theory. However, in practice, the pages get worn down and kind of bent at the corners since they aren't protected by the cover. As someone who works in a library and just someone who like to keep their books nice and neat, it's kind of annoying, I'm not gonna lie. But the state of the cover, doesn't effect the content within its pages, so go read "Grace's Guide!"

Here are links to Helbig's YouTube Channel itsGrace, podcast: Not Too Deep (also on sound cloud if that's your thing) and Twitter.

"Hollow City" Jacob's Adventure Continues

2014-07-25T17:08:00.000-07:00

THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST BOOK

"Hollow City" is the second book in the "Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children" series written by Ransom Riggs. The book picks up where "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" left off and follows the children's adventures.

They are on a quest to find another Ymbryne to turn Miss Peregrine back to her human form before she is stuck as a bird permanently. The kids all work together, combining their skills to overcome obstacles they encounter along the way. This book centers around their mission to find a Ymbryne and the steps they must take to do so, which includes traveling through time loops and encountering the historical turmoils that occur during the time of each loop (think all the horrors that were World War II).

To be completely honest, I preferred the first book of the series, and did not enjoy reading this one as much. While it was a decent book, it did not hold my interest as much as the first book did (once I got into the plot of the first book that is).

I think my major issue with this book was that it was all about getting Miss Peregrine switched back and the process seemed incredibly long and drawn out. Don't get me wrong, there was plenty of other things happening in the book such as defeating Wights and Hollows, but I felt that the plot could have progressed so much further within this installment of the series if switching Miss Peregrine back did not take so long. However because of a major issue that occurs when Miss Peregrine(or the bird the children thought was Miss Peregrine) is eventually turned back to her human form, leads to a cliff hanger at the end of the book I understand the choice to draw out the changing of 'Miss Peregrine.' Seeing where Riggs takes the plot in the third book will most likely make his plot choices for this book much clearer.

This all being said, if you read and enjoyed the first installment in the series, I would recommend reading this book as well. I know I will be reading the third book when it is released so that I can find out what happens to the children, I am far too invested in the characters to not read the next book. Let me know what you thought of the book, if you have read it, down below!

"Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children"

2014-07-18T18:19:00.000-07:00

THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST BOOK

"Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children" is the first book in a soon to be trilogy/series written by Ransom Riggs.

This novel was not exactly what I had expected when I picked it up, however, I greatly enjoyed it once I got into the story a bit more. The story follows a boy named Jacob who's grandfather passes away in a mysterious way. Jacob soon learns that they stories that his Grandfather used to tell him as a child may not have really just been stories after all.

Driven by the need to know what killed his grandfather, Jacob (along with his father) embarks on a transatlantic trip and gets much more than he bargained for.

Judging by the title and cover art work of this book, I did not expect the story to begin with a teenager from Florida who's grandfather seems to be crazy. I nearly gave up on the book, but after I pushed through and actually got to the part when Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is actually introduced to Jacob (and the reader), I really did enjoy the book and couldn't stop reading, I needed to know what was going on and what would happen to both the Peculiar Children and Jacob.

I definitely recommend this book, but be prepared to need read the second book (review coming next Friday) and the third book which is currently in the works.

According to IMDb, the book is in the process of being adapted for the screen, and the movie is slated to be directed by Tim Burton.

The trailer for the book can be viewed below:

"The Fault In Our Stars" Movie Review

2014-07-11T18:22:00.000-07:00

This review is definitely a bit late, but better late than never right?

Right.

I do not really have anything bad to say about the movie adaptation of "The Fault In Our Stars". I feel that overall it was a great movie and that it did stand up well next to the book (which probably had a great deal to do with John Green, the author, being involved in the movie making process). While I am sure there were parts left out or shortened up to fit within the time constraints of the film, nothing huge jumped out at me as did with the "Divergent" adaptation.

Now, what did surprise me about the movie is that, wait for it..... I DIDN'T CRY. Yep thats right, not a tear was shed on my part. This is not to say that the movie did not do a satisfactory job of conveying the emotions that it was meant to, because it did. Especially if you judge the emotional impact of the movie by the heaving sobs of the woman who was seated a few seats down from me in the theater. I was very surprised that I did notary witching the movie as I did cry while reading the book. I think my lack of waterworks was primarily due to the fact that I am not someone who cries easily, as well as since I had read the book, I knew what was going to happen and was prepared for it ( don't worry if you haven't seen the book/movie I won't spoil it for you).

I think the movie was well done and the casting didn't bother me as much as I thought it would with Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort having portrayed siblings in the "Divergent" movie. It was done in kind of a chick-flick manner which I really am not a fan of, I wish it had been a bit less sappy(not sure if thats the word I'm looking for, but it will have to do), but that really just comes along with the nature of the book it was based off of. If I had not read the book, I don't think I would have ever ended up seeing the movie as I am not a chick-flick enthusiast, but overall the movie was good and didn't disappoint me when compared to the book.

"Divergent" Movie Review

2014-03-20T21:29:00.000-07:00

This Post Contains Spoilers

(long story short-it was good)

Overall, I enjoyed the movie adaptation of "Divergent." I felt that the cast did a great job of portraying their characters and that the main ideas and themes communicated in the book were also communicated by the movie. Aesthetically, the movie was great, although I did picture the Dauntless Compound differently when I read the book. Right off the bat, the Factions are visible through the clothing that everyone is wearing, additionally the Abnegation houses were exactly what i pictured when reading the novel. I was very concerned that the zip line scene would be cut from the movie(if you have finished "Allegiant" you know why) but thankfully the zip line scene made the final cut and was everything I hoped it would be.

However, as is with most book to movie adaptations, there was a loss of detail. One of the main things missing that I picked up on immediately, was that Edward did not lose his eye. The butter knife incident did not even occur. There were also some bits of the movie that were narration explaining background and reasons for things which, as a person who read the book, these were a little annoying to sit through, but they did not ruin the movie, and I can see that they would be necessary for those who have not read the book.

There were also some plot changes. When it comes to Tris' mother saving her during the attack simulation, she saves her from being executed at gunpoint rather than breaking her out of the water-filled tank as she does in the book. Additionally the shut down of the simulation occurs in the movie as Tris and Four forcing Jeanine to turn off the simulation rather than Four having monitored and then shut down the simulation as he does in the book.

Although there were differences between the movie and the book, I do not think that these differences took away any real meaning from the movie that there was in the book. I came away from the movie impressed with how much it did manage to remain true to the book, and was entertained by the entire movie. I can't wait for the "Insurgent" and "Allegiant" movies, and will honestly most likely end up seeing "Divergent" again while it is in theaters.

"Allegiant" From Tris to Four and Back Again

2014-03-19T18:43:00.001-07:00

This Post has Divergent and Insurgent Spoilers

“Allegiant” is the third and final book in the “Divergent” series written by Veronica Roth. While a overall good read, I felt a tad let down by this installment in the trilogy.

This book begins where “Insurgent” left off, with the Edith Prior video having been seen and the characters and readers knowing that those who are Divergent are meant to venture outside of the fence and into the world. “Allegiant” follows those who leave the confines of the fence into the outside world as they discover how their city was made and what has gone on in the world.

The novel is written in a different fashion than the first two books, with “Allegiant” being told from both Tris and Four's perspectives. I felt that this was not very necessary as their viewpoints were not all that different until about the middle of the book. Therefore, although the chapters were labeled with whose perspective it was, I was confused a bit in the beginning in a “Wait who's narrating now?” type of way.

In my opinion “Allegiant” moves at a much slower pace than the previous two books did, but once it picked up speed toward the end, things got quite interesting. If you have read and enjoyed “Divergent” and “Insurgent” I would recommend that you read “Allegiant,” however, I do feel that the first two books pulled me in a bit more.

Next week there will be a post chock-full of spoilers explaining my feelings on the trilogy as a whole and my reaction to the end of “Allegiant” as it left me feeling a bit uneasy.

Also, this weekend I will have a review of the “Divergent” movie! The trailers have made me feel pretty good about how the movie will compare to the book but we'll see how it all goes down this Friday!

"Insurgent": What will happen after the attack?

2014-03-12T19:16:00.000-07:00

This Post Contains "Divergent" Spoilers

“Insurgent,” the second book in the trilogy by Veronica Roth, was a great follow up to “Divergent.”

“Insurgent” picks up where the previous book left off, with the city in disarray after the attack on the Dauntless Compound and Tris and company dealing with their new found Factionless status. As Tris stated at the end of “Divergent,” “I have no home, no path and no certainty. I am no longer Tris, the selfless, or Tris, the brave. I suppose that now, I must become more than either”(pg 487).

“Insurgent” follows Tris and her friends through this new world they have found themselves in and includes just as much drama as the previous novel did. Through trying to find a new faction to reside within, or joining the Factionless, dealing with situations that test Caleb and Tris' sibling ties, the book keeps readers entertained.

I do recommend this book if you enjoyed “Divergent” however, I must say that there were aspects of “Insurgent” that did get on my nerves a bit, but those spoilers will be saved for a future post.

With the upcoming release of the “Divergent” movie, I think it's safe to say we can expect an “Insurgent” movie in the future.

Do you think "Insurgent" was a good sequel to "Divergent"?

"Divergent"

2014-03-05T09:26:00.000-08:00

“Divergent” is the first in a trilogy that chronicles Beatrice Prior's life through the dystopian society in which she lives. Written by Veronica Roth, the book begins by explaining the structure of this society which is located in a future version of Chicago.

The city is surrounded by a fence and divided into five factions, each of these factions have very strict rules and expectations for their members. If you do not fit into one of these factions you become a member of the factionless, homeless and excluded from any faction and shunned by your family.

When the children of Chicago turn 16 they are given a simulation test to determine what faction they are best suited for, this may or may not be the faction they were raised in. They take the results of the test and have 24 hours before the choosing ceremony to decide which faction they wish to spend the rest of their lives in. This is where the trouble begins for Beatrice.

"Divergent" was a book that honestly started out a bit slow for me but by the third chapter I was completely involved in the story and couldn't wait to find out what would happen next. I would highly recommend “Divergent” to anyone who enjoys dystopian novels such as “The Hunger Games” as the two series are quite similar in the way of having a mysterious government and a young female protagonist.

“Divergent” has also been made into a movie and premieres March 21, 2014. The movie stars Shailene Woodley, Theo James, and Ansel Elgort. I will be watching the movie as soon as I can once it comes out, so keep an eye out for a future review and comparison of the book to the movie! You can watch the trailer for the movie below.

One thing I must say before having seen the movie is that I find the casting decision of having Woodley and Elgort as brother and sister in “Divergent” and as a couple in “The Fault In Our Stars” is a little bit strange, however it most likely will not affect either of the films negatively.

"The Fifth Wave"

2014-02-26T18:00:00.000-08:00

Aliens, An Apocalypse, and Possibly the Last Girl on Earth.

Rick Yancey's young adult Sci-Fi novel, “The Fifth Wave” is both intriguing and well written. A page turner, (much like this book) I finished it within about three days.

The book follows Cassie, a girl who to her knowledge is the only survivor of the apocalypse, on her quest to carry out a promise of saving her younger brother. The apocalypse is in it's fourth wave, and a fifth seems imminent. Alien invaders appear human, and are hunting for survivors, meaning Cassie can trust no one. The story twists and turns with multiple surprises in store for readers.

I would highly recommend this book, although it is the first in a trilogy, so be prepared to invest time in it's upcoming sequel, “The Infinite Sea” which you can preorder on both Barnes&Noble and Amazon. The sequel is available September 16, 2014.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Susannah Grant is adapting "The Fifth Wave" into a screenplay, so we can most likely plan on seeing a "The Fifth Wave" movie in the future.

The video below by Penguin gives some information about what each of the 'waves' entails:

"The Fault In Our Stars"

2014-02-19T14:19:00.001-08:00

I found the No. 1 New York Times Bestseller young adult fiction novel, "The Fault In Our Stars" by John Green to be an incredibly good book. While I have been an avid reader ever since second grade, I have never finished a book in less than two days, but I could not put this book down.

The novel centers around a teenage girl with cancer named Hazel, who finds something she never expected in the support group that her mother and doctor make her join after she is diagnosed with depression. The book follows Hazel and those she meets along the way through various pivotal life moments and experiences.

I would highly recommend that anyone read "The Fault In Our Stars." While it is not the type of book I typically gravitate toward, it is one that I thoroughly enjoyed. (I also recommend tissues, but that's all I am going to say.)

If you would like to try before you buy, you can watch John Green read the first chapter of his book on the youtube channel that he shares with his brother, Hank Green.

The movie version of "The Fault In Our Stars" premieres on June 6, 2014 and stars Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort. You can watch the trailer for the movie below.

If you have already read "The Fault In Our Stars" you can find other books by John Green here.