EXTENSIVE POST

Here is that Extensive Post I promised:

 
A kiss in Time
Alex Finn
371 pages

 Overview: Alex Finn's website

("A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn." A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Aug. 2014. <http://www.alexflinn.com/html/akissintime.html>.)

What did you do on your summer vacation?
Jack found a 300-year-old princess!
A Kiss in Time, a modern Sleeping Beauty (HarperCollins, April, 2009)

Talia fell under a spell…
Jack broke the curse.

I was told to beware the accursed spindle, but it was so enchanting, so hypnotic. . . .I was looking for a little adventure the day I ditched my tour group. But finding a comatose town, with a hot-looking chick asleep in it, was so not what I had in mind.I awakened in the same place but in another time—to a stranger’s soft kiss.I couldn’t help kissing her. Sometimes you just have to kiss someone. I didn’t know this would happen.Now I am in dire trouble because my father, the king, says I have brought ruin upon our country. I have no choice but to run away with this commoner!Now I’m stuck with a bratty princess and a trunk full of her jewels. . . . The good news: My parents will freak!

Think you have dating issues? Try locking lips with a snoozing stunner who turns out to be 316 years old. Can a kiss transcend all—even time?

My Opinion: 
 I loved it. Alex Finn always does such incredible fairy tale retelling. She did Beastly (which is a bestseller book and a movie). I loved that book too. And this book doesn't disappoint. Talia was an acquired taste, but once you started liking her you really did. And Jack was just .... no words. I really liked the book and how it ended. This isn't the best review i have done, but trust my word its a keeper.


A Dash of Magic
Kathryn Littlewood
356 pages
Bliss Series

Overview: Amazon.com

("Amazon Prime Free Trial." A Dash of Magic: A Bliss Novel: Kathryn Littlewood, Erin McGuire: 9780062084309: Amazon.com: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Aug. 2014. <http://www.amazon.com/Dash-Magic-Bliss-Novel/dp/0062084305>.)

This second book in the acclaimed Bliss trilogy mixes the down-home heart-punch of Ingrid Law's Newbery Honor Book Savvy, the always-on-the-edge-of-chaos comedy of Cheaper by the Dozen, and a humorous magic all its own to create a thoroughly original confection to please every reader's sweet tooth!
The Bliss family's magical Cookery Booke was stolen by evil Aunt Lily at the end of Bliss, the first novel in the series. Now twelve-year-old Rosemary has a chance to win it back: she challenges her aunt to an Iron Chef-style international baking competition in Paris. But the only way to beat the cheating Aunt Lily is to gather magical ingredients of her own. Together with her brothers and their talking cat and mouse, Rose races across Paris—from the Eiffel Tower to the Cathedral of Notre Dame to the Mona Lisa in the Louvre Museum—to gather what she needs to out-bake—and out-magic—her conniving aunt.
If Rose wins, the cherished Cookery Booke will return to her family where it belongs. If she loses—well, the consequences are too ugly to think about. . . .

 My opinion:

Now i will tell the truth, I really liked this book not because of all the magic items or the cookbook recipes but because of all the history. The book is set in Paris- a place full of stories. And stories is exactly what Ms.Littlewood told. I learned about the Mona Lisa, the Cathedral of Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, etc. Tons of fun cool facts in this fantasy book. Who says you cant learn from fiction books. Besides all the cool facts of history and the magical cooking battles, Rose had a huge amount of guilt this book. I understand why, but the author played it off too much. The guilt threatened to consume me. Everyone was telling her it wasn't Rose's fault, but it took too long for her to realize that. I didn't like that or how the guilt was such a big point of the story. Besides that one flaw, A Dash of Magic was a magically good book and I cant wait for the next book in the series.

 
The Tiger Princess
Sarah Renee
190 pages

Overview: The Tiger Princess.com

("Books." The Tiger Princess. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Aug. 2014. <http://www.thetigerprincess.com/saderia-series-book-1-the-tiger-princess.html>.)

Ten years ago, the tiger King and Queen of a vast forest disappeared in a mysterious fire.

No one knows how the fire started. In ten years, the truth has never been discovered. But now, ten years later, their orphaned daughter is determined to solve the mystery...

---

Ten-year-old Saderia has led a life of luxury as the Princess of the forest under the care of her persnickety aunt and uncle – though it has always had its flaws. But when her nights are troubled by terrifying dreams of the fire that took her parents, her comfortable life is turned into a race to find the truth. On a quest to solve the mystery of who killed her parents, she stumbles upon bewildering clues, secretive allies, and even magic.

Saderia is determined to solve the mystery, but as she uncovers more clues, her own life is drawn deeper and deeper into danger. She must find out the truth before time runs out – and her own fate is sealed.

My Opinion:

Now I read this book to support another child/ kid writer and I'm glad i did. The book grabbed me in. Saderia was a cub trying to be herself where no one understood her and it didn't help that she was a princess. I was able to connect to the characters and see the forest in my mind. I breezed through the book. No breaks. It held and captured my attention. I'm already on the 3rd book and there are still several more. If Ms.Sarah Renee ever sees this review, I hope she knows she is a fabulous writer and an inspiration to all. Keep writing. :<)

 
Of Beast and Beauty
Stacey Jay
391 pages

Overview: Stacey Jay's website

("Stacey Jay - Of Beast and Beauty." Stacey Jay - Of Beast and Beauty. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Aug. 2014. <http://www.staceyjay.com/of-beast-and-beauty/>.)

In the beginning was the darkness, and in the darkness was a girl, and in the girl was a secret...

In the domed city of Yuan, the blind Princess Isra, a Smooth Skin, is raised to be a human sacrifice whose death will ensure her city’s vitality. In the desert outside Yuan, Gem, a mutant beast, fights to save his people, the Monstrous, from starvation. Neither dreams that together, they could return balance to both their worlds.

Isra wants to help the city’s Banished people, second-class citizens despised for possessing Monstrous traits. But after she enlists the aid of her prisoner, Gem, who has been captured while trying to steal Yuan’s enchanted roses, she begins to care for him, and to question everything she has been brought up to believe.

As secrets are revealed and Isra’s sight, which vanished during her childhood, returned, Isra will have to choose between duty to her people and the beast she has come to love.

My Opinion:
What a book. Its another fairy tale retelling. This one is with a syfy and magic touch. That's really unique. Besides being a fairy tale retelling, the book deals with several issues like personal image, prejudice, and gender roles.That might explain why I love it so much. Most reading bowl books this year are very questionable on my should I read list, but I really like this one. A blind princess and the outcast and creepy roses; not a predictable book at all.  A must read.



The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Rebecca Skloot
381 pages

Overview: Rebecca Skloot's website

("Rebecca Skloot Journalist, Teacher, Author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks." Rebecca Skloot The Immortal Life Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Aug. 2014. <http://rebeccaskloot.com/the-immortal-life/>.)

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells—taken without her knowledge in 1951—became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization, and more. Henrietta’s cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can’t afford health insurance.
Soon to be made into an HBO movie by Oprah Winfrey and Alan Ball, this New York Times bestseller takes readers on an extraordinary journey, from the “colored” ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers filled with HeLa cells, from Henrietta’s small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia, to East Baltimore today, where her children and grandchildren live and struggle with the legacy of her cells. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells a riveting story of the collision between ethics, race, and medicine; of scientific discovery and faith healing; and of a daughter consumed with questions about the mother she never knew. It’s a story inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we’re made of.

 My Opinion:

Now I may say I love a book, but that doesn't mean that I will reread it again once I am done. When I'm enchanted with a book, I will reread it. And I am enchanted with this book. It may have taken me 3-4 years and a school summer assignment  to make me  reread it, but that doesn't mean that it enchants me any less. Henrietta Lacks has always been an interest of mine since I learned about her at science camp. The first time I read this book it satisfied my interest but now that I read and devoured it again, the fire has been relit. I loved learning about the struggles from the HeLa cells and all the sad struggles of the family. I hope thanks to the book her family is getting the money and things they deserve. I am also being called to watching the BBC documentary about her. Reading this book several years later, made it easier for me to understand, but I know that in a couple more years I will be rereading it again and discovering something else.

The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini 
371 pages

Overview:Khaled Hossieni's website

("Synopsis." Khaled Hosseini. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Aug. 2014. <http://khaledhosseini.com/books/the-kite-runner/synopsis/>.)

The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their sacrifices, their lies.
A sweeping story of family, love, and friendship told against the devastating backdrop of the history of Afghanistan over the last thirty years, The Kite Runner is an unusual and powerful novel that has become a beloved, one-of-a-kind classic.

My Opinion:

I hate this book. Its up there with Angela's Ashes. It was a summer school assignment book. If I hadn't wanted to read the book 3 years earlier, then I definitely didn't want to read it this year.
Here is a comparison I told my friend between the Kite Runner and the driving manual:

• Both are horrible and pull you in.
• You don't want to read them, but you have to.
• Plus they are being so difficult and you just want to slap the people (for the driving book it is the people who made the book:No offense to the government- the book just seems dumbed down).

Now its an interesting comparison, but a true one. The Kite Runner was horrible and not in a good way. I hated the main character; Amir was soo conceited and a horrible friend. I couldn't empathize with him at all. If you treat your best friend and nice people horrible, why should good things happen to you. Though I didn't really like the main character, I loved the secondary characters (Hassan, Baba {he was an acquired taste- i started liking him when the family got to America}, Soraya, Ali, and  Sorab). Besides Amir, I also hated Assef. The ending disappointed me. The book would have been fabulous if I had liked and could have connected with the main character. The book even became a movie. EWW!



The Interpreter of Maladies
Jhumpa Lahin
159 pages 

Overview: Amazon.com
("Amazon Prime Free Trial." Interpreter of Maladies: Jhumpa Lahiri: 9780395927205: Amazon.com: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Aug. 2014. <http://www.amazon.com/Interpreter-Maladies-Jhumpa-Lahiri/dp/039592720X>.)

 Navigating between the Indian traditions they've inherited and the baffling new world, the characters in Jhumpa Lahiri's elegant, touching stories seek love beyond the barriers of culture and generations. In "A Temporary Matter," published in The New Yorker, a young Indian-American couple faces the heartbreak of a stillborn birth while their Boston neighborhood copes with a nightly blackout. In the title story, an interpreter guides an American family through the India of their ancestors and hears an astonishing confession. Lahiri writes with deft cultural insight reminiscent of Anita Desai and a nuanced depth that recalls Mavis Gallant. She is an important and powerful new voice.

My Opinion:

This book is full of 9 short stories. I felt that some of them were unfinished or a little weird, but near the need of the book I really started to enjoy them. Since this is a book of short stories I will only tell you my favorites, but don't let that deter you from reading them all. I liked  A Real Durwan, Sexy, Mrs. Sens's, The Treatmetnt of Bibi Haldar, and The Third and Final Continent.

YEAH I KEPT MY PROMISE.

P.S. I've been reading some Teen Titan fanfiction. Beast boy and Raven romance or friendship ones to be exact. They are fabulous.