"A book, too, can be a star, a living fire to lighten the darkness, leading out into the expanding universe." — Madeleine L'Engle

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Title: Brave New World
Author: Aldous Huxley
Pages: 259
Published: 1932
Rating: 4.5/5
Synopsis: Huxley's story shows a futuristic World State where all emotion, love, art, and human individuality have been replaced by social stability. An ominous warning to the world's population, this literary classic is a must-read.

Review: This is one of those books that I would not have thought of giving it a chance and read it. I had heard about but it had never been in my interest to pick it up and read it for myself. If it hadn't been for school it would still be one of those books everyone talks about but that I have no idea what it's about. One sure thing that I wouldn't have gotten if I had read this book by myself was that it was a satire.

Having gotten the background and how the world works before starting the book really helped. I knew how each individual character would act and their reactions to things. The world that they have created it something like an utopia where everything is perfect, or so it seems. They are conditioned to think a certain way and do as society tells them. However, as the story progresses we see how having their own thoughts and plans can lead to something bad for that individual.

Reading this through the perspective of different characters was interesting because it allowed the reader to see things differently. There were parts were the only thing that it talked about is the perfection of their society with no desire to change things and then you get to see another character who is forming ideas for themselves that doesn't go with what society has shown to be the right thing. This allowed the reader to show just how many flaws there were in society that was supposed to be perfect.

One thing that I may not have liked was the ending. I was hoping that things would end up being different. And the part were John does what he does at the end? Yeah, I wasn't really happy about that since I was hoping that he had more control of himself since he had shown to not do what the world state had tried to make him become.

We get to see an extreme version of how things can turn out for society today if we don't realize that some of the things that we do now will lead to this world. Some of the things that we read about were kind of wrong to read about but I now understand that it was done on purpose and how we should avoid that kind of thing. It was a book that was not really enjoyable in that it was something like I normally read but it was a book that made me think more of the world around me and how things are changing.

And since this book was a satire we had to make a project on satire and this is what we came up with.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Waiting on Wednesday (15)


Title: Out of Sight, Out of Time
Author: Ally Carter
Release: March 13 2012

Goodreads Summary: The last thing Cammie Morgan remembers is leaving the Gallagher Academy to protect her friends and family from the Circle of Cavan--an ancient terrorist organization that has been hunting her for over a year. But when Cammie wakes up in an alpine convent and discovers months have passed, she must face the fact that her memory is now a black hole. The only traces left of Cammie’s summer vacation are the bruises on her body and the dirt under her nails, and all she wants is to go home.

Once she returns to school, however, Cammie realizes that even the Gallagher Academy now holds more questions than answers. Cammie, her friends, and mysterious spy-guy Zach must face their most difficult challenge yet as they travel to the other side of the world, hoping to piece together the clues that Cammie left behind. It’s a race against time. The Circle is hot on their trail and willing stop at nothing to prevent Cammie from remembering what she did last summer.

I have no idea how long I have been waiting for this book so seeing the date for its release coming closer each day makes me really happy. I can't wait to see how things work out for Cammie in this book! And Zach! Who doesn't want to see Zach more?

Sunday, February 19, 2012

In My Mailbox (51)

In My Mailbox is hosted by the awesome Kristi at The Story Siren!!


The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith
Bloodlines by Richelle Mead
The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa
Inheritance by Christopher Paolini
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Catching Fire and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Happy Reading! =)

Monday, February 13, 2012

A Season of Eden by Jennifer Laurens

Title: A Season of Eden
Author: Jennifer Laurens
Pages: 248
Published: October 2008
Rating: 4/5
Synopsis: He's my teacher. I shouldn't be alone with him. But I can't help that he's irresistible.

I let the door silently close at my back. He stared at me, and a taut quiet stretched between us. "I like hearing you play," I said, moving toward him. He turned, in sync with my slow approach. He looked up at me but didn't say anything. I rested my clammy hand on the cold, slick body of the baby grand. "May I?" The muscles in his throat shifted, then he swallowed. "Eden." My knees weakened, like a soft tickling kiss had just been blown against the backs of them. "Is it okay?" I asked. His gaze held mine like two hands joined. He understood what I was really asking. "Let me stay," I said. "Please." "You're going to get me in trouble," he said.

Review: Eden is a girl who can get everything that she wants and doesn't let things get in her way. When a new teacher arrives at the school, Eden makes it her mission to get him to notice her. They both know that this is something dangerous for them since the teacher-student thing exists between them.

Eden used to getting everything and when Mr. Christian arrives at her school she's determined to make him notice her. She doesn't stop to think about the consequences that this might have on both of them and goes on with her plan. I did see her change over the course of the book but it took me a while to understand why she did things but it's just the way she grew up.

Mr. Christian was the one who wanted to stay away from the trouble that Eden brought with her but of course he couldn't resist it. I loved that he could play the piano and had a love for classical music. I'm glad that he was able to take a hold of the things he wanted after a while and could decide and think things for what he wanted. I loved the relationship that he had with his mother and how much he cared for her.

It was a pretty short read that I enjoyed reading, especially since I had wanted to read it for so long. One thing I really enjoyed about it (and maybe why I wanted to read it) was that I hadn't read any book that had the student-teacher relationship like it was in A Season of Eden. It was definitely different than other forbidden romances and I liked that.