A Review of Just One Year

      When he opens his eyes, Willem doesn't know where in the world he is -- Prague or Dubrovnik or back in Amsterdam.  All he knows is that he is once again alone, and that he needs to find a girl named Lulu.  They shared one magical day in Paris, and something about that day -- that girl -- makes Willem wonder if they aren't fated to be together.  He travels all over the world, from Mexico to India, hoping to reconnect with her.  But as months go by and Lulu remains elusive, Willem starts to question whether the hand of fate is as strong as he'd thought...
      The romantic, emotional companion to Just One Day, this is a story of the choices we make and the accidents that happen -- and the happiness we can find when the two intersect.

      This book was in one word, amazing.  I picked it up after having finished reading Just One Day about 1 month prior to this.  The story takes you through all the emotions of Willem and how he feels about Lulu a.k.a. Allyson.  The story shows how one day can change the course of your entire life for the better or the worst.

      I would give this book a 4.72 out of 5 stars.  Gayle Forman has very quickly been becoming one of my favorite authors and I can't wait to read even more of her books!

      Until next time,

              Alyson

A Review of The Year I Turned Sixteen

For sisters, four birthdays, and four unforgettable years.

Rose dreams of becoming a singer, but when her obligations as the oldest sister start to hold her back, she faces an impossible decision.

Sick of being the "good" sister, Daisy is drawn to a boy with a more dangerous edge and pulls away from the people who care about her most. 

Laurel must deal with the loss of someone close, but a new love in the wake of tragedy might be just what she needs.

Wither her sisters all figuring out their futures, Lily feels lost, and for the first time she must figure out who she is all on her own. 

With more than cupcakes and candles on their minds, each of the Walker sisters is in for a sweet sixteen that will change everything.

Above is the description that is on the back of The Year I Turned Sixteen by Diane Schwemm. 

This book reminded me of the way Karen Kingsbury writes her books in a very low key kind of way.  The reason I say this is because Karen Kingsbury writes in a style where she goes from one person's perspective to another in which you are always getting to hear all sides of the story no matter what is going on.  In this book however, you get 4 different perspectives but they all come from the year that the sister turns sixteen and what kind of hardships come that year, what good things come and of course, the relationships that are made. 

For the plot line, I feel like it got repetitive and predictable.  I could tell where each story was gonna lead me.  I never really felt surprised.  I felt like I had read this story 3 times before by the time I got to the fourth part.  The only separating factor between the stories is that something slightly new may occur and also their personalities were all different.  They all had different interests obviously because they are all different people, but the story lines stayed the same I thought.  They all ended up falling for "the guy" who was the cutest, most popular guy around.  They all ended up growing out of that relationship because they had to change so much to be a part of it, and then they would find the one that they really liked that had been a sincere friend throughout the rest of their story. 

Now, after saying all of this, you might be thinking, we finally have one that didn't make the 4 out of 5 stars cut!  And you're right...  This one I say gets a 3 out of 5.  I feel like this story was written better than what I could've ever done, but I feel like I could've come up with this storyline all by myself and then wrote the story and had someone proofread it and fix all the mistakes I had in it. Don't get me wrong, this book probably wouldn't have been as long if I had written it because I'm really not a great writer at all, but I feel like this is the kind of story you always read too.  But, still, I would still suggest this for a few people.  People who ,like me, are turning sixteen soon or are sixteen, or maybe even if you are younger than sixteen it may be a fun read.  But if you're older, I feel like you could definitely find something better to try out and read. 

Thanks for reading this review everyone!  Like I said, not particularly sure how much I liked this book, but it actually did keep me intrigued no matter how repetitive it got, if that does say anything at all.  I hope this review was helpful to you all and I hope you all continue to keep reading.

Until the next review,

-Aly 

A Review of The Twilight Saga: The Complete Film Archive

The Twilight Saga: The Complete Film Archive offers a fresh look at the adored films based on Stephenie Meyer's beloved book series.  Discover newly revealed secrets from the set through stories from the actors themselves --- including Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, and the rest of the glittering cast.  Go inside the phenomenon with removable script pages, reproductions of screening passes, VIP invitations, and set pieces, as well as other collectibles that make this deluxe volume a must-have for every fan.  Through new interviews with the stars and filmmakers, as well as unpublished images, the entire saga unfolds in rich detail: the beginning groundswell of Twilight mania, the frenzy for New Moon, the dramatic action of Eclipse, and the transformative conclusion of both Breaking Dawn films.  The love story between Bella Swan and Edward Cullen quickly became a global obsession, and this lushly illustrated volume captures the evolution like never before.

Above is the description placed on the back of this ginormous book by Robert Abele.

This book is filled with tons of information about the Twilight Saga.  I am a twihard.  I came late onto the scene by like 4 years...  but still, I LOVE twilight.  So, when I saw this book, I immediately put it on my Christmas Wish List and I'm so happy I got it!  Definitely one of the coolest books I've seen that has the "extras" in it.  In it, there is some really cool things including one of the invitations to Bella and Edwards wedding and "signed" posters in the very back of the book.  The only thing is, the posters that are signed, were ones where they printed the signatures onto the poster.  But, I still freaked out when I saw it regardless. 

So, the reason I said I was a twihard originally was this.  This had so much information in it that I didn't even know and I've watched what seems like almost every interview about this out there, watched all the "B" camera footage that are out on the Internet, and have seen all the movies and this was by far the coolest thing out of all of them.  Minus the books.  Those will always be better in my perspective.

Overall, I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars just because I know that there is obviously better books out there than this.  I also say, that if you like twilight even a smidgen that you should read this.  If you hate twilight, please just turn the other way in the store and don't even pick it up.  Your hate will be fueled for the next decade and I don't like reading negative comments only on Twilight.  But still, this was a fantastic read, it was really cool to see some more behind the scenes I hadn't seen before, and yeah.  I just really, really, really liked this book.  Haha.  You can tell I'm more passionate about twilight considering all of my other reviews can't you?  Anyway, that's my review.  Now for the "personal touch."  Haha.

So, I really enjoyed this book obviously and I hope you do too.  Also, please don't hate this whole page because I have 1 Twilight review.  I promise that is all I'm going to do considering I haven't read the actual books in so so so long.  But, there are some cool reviews on here I think so far so please go check them out!  Hopefully you will like them a lot. 

Until the next review,

-Aly



A Review of Solo:A Memoir of Hope

Hope Solo is the face of the modern female athlete.  She is fearless, outspoken, and the best in the world at what she does: protecting the goal of the U.S. women's soccer team.  Her outsized talent has led her to the pinnacle of her sport -- the Olympics and the World Cup -- and made her into an international celebrity who is just as likely to appear on ABC's Dancing with the Stars as she is on the covers of Sports Illustrated, ESPN The Magazine, and Vogue.  But her journey--which began in Richland, Washington, here she was raised by her strong-willed mother on the scorched earth of defunct nuclear testing sites--is similarly haunted by the fallout of her family history.  Her father, a philanderer and con man, was convicted of embezzlement when Solo was an infant.  She lost touch with him as he drifted out of prison and into homelessness.  By the time they reunited, years later, in the parking lot of a grocery store, she was an All-American goalkeeper at the University of Washington and already a budding prospect for the U.S. national team.  He was living in the woods.

Despite harboring serious doubts even about the provenance of her father's last name (and her own), Solo embraces him as fiercely as she pursues her dreams of being a world-class soccer player.  When those drams are threatened by her standing with-in the national team, as when she was famously benched in the semifinals of the 2007 World Cup after four shutouts and spoke her piece publicly, we see a woman of uncompromising independence and hard-won perseverance navigate the petty backlash against her.  For the first time, she tells her version of that controversial episode, and offers with it a full understanding of her hard-scrabble life.

Moving, sometimes shocking, Solo is a portrait of an athlete finding redemption.  this is the Hope Solo whom few have ever glimpsed.

Above is the description in the book Solo: A Memoir of Hope.  And like all the other books I read, this book was pretty amazing!  I loved hearing her story even if it swore more than what I wished it had.  Obviously, it helped make the story.  Also, I may be a little biased on this story because I'm a huge fan of Hope Solo and wish to be like her in goal. 

 

 

The whole story talks about from beginning to present, Hope Solo's life now on display for everyone to read.  She tells of her hardships in her life and how she has gotten over most of them. She talks about her family, how messed up her life was (and sort of still is) and how she has become who she is today.  Honestly, I loved hearing her story and how she didn't try and sugarcoat anything.  She just went ahead and wrote her story out. 

 

 

Overall, the book gets a 4 out of 5 stars just like every other book I read it seems like.  But, I loved reading this book.  I finished it in less than 24 hours and there was never a dull moment.  I would recommend this book for anybody who either wants to read a story about some famous chic (and that's if you really don't follow sports if you would call her some famous chic) or if you are an athlete who looks up to her.  Of course, if you are younger, I would make sure to read the younger version just because I know there is some stuff in this book that your parents probably don't want you reading about. 

 

 

I hope that you all enjoyed reading this review about Solo.  I hope that it helped you find another book to read and hopefully you will love it just as much as I did. 

 

Until the next review,

 

-Aly

A Review of Coming Home

A story of faith and a forever kind of love...

The Baxters make plans to come together for a summer lakeside reunion in celebration of John Baxter's seventieth birthday.  But before the big day, the unthinkable happens.  As the Baxter Family rallies together, memories come to light in the grief-stricken hours of waiting and praying, memories that bring healing and hope during a time when darkness may otherwise have had the final word.

In a season that changes all of them, the brilliance of family love overshadows the valley of heartache.  Along the way, secrets are revealed, and the truth about the Baxter Family history is finally made known.  Ultimately, in this portrait of family love, the Baxters cling to each other and to God's promise of forever.

This stand-alone novel will serve as either a grand introduction or a beautiful conclusion in the saga of the Baxter Family.

Above is the description of the book found in the back of the paperback copy of Coming Home by Karen Kingsbury.

Coming home, as stated at the end of the description, is a beautiful conclusion in the saga of the Baxter family for me.  I absolutely loved this book.  It made me cry, a lot.  It also made me smile and made me feel content (sort of) by the end of the book.  (I say sort of because I still wish that I could read more of the Baxter family series.)

Coming home is the "sequel" to quite a few series that have the Baxter family as the main characters of this book.  The series' before this, if you are wondering, are the Redemption Series, the Firstborn Series, the Sunrise Series, the Bailey Flanigan series, and the Above the Line series.  I have read all of these series minus the Above the Line series so far and I highly recommend all of them.  :)

Now, for the actual book.  Coming home starts at the beginning of the summer focusing a chapter each on all of the siblings of the Baxter family who are planning a surprise party for their dad's seventieth birthday party.  Ashley, Kari, and Brooke all live in Bloomington, Indiana and are the three main sisters planning the party.  Erin, Luke, and Dayne all live out of town and all were going to surprise their father by coming in for his birthday.  On the day of his birthday party, every sibling was their with their family except for one.  This one sibling was stuck in traffic and was hoping to get to Ashley's house (where the party would be held) within minutes.  When all of a sudden, they are rear-ended and rushed to the hospital.  The story then follows the family through the trials of keeping their faith even when so much turmoil could come into their lives.

I overall loved this book.  I felt like I was one of the characters and going through all of this with them.  The only difference is, I don't know where my faith would be after all of this stuff had happened to me.  I would probably be in one of the darkest holes in my life.  Which is why I'm glad I hadn't been faced with this predicament myself.  I also give this book a 4 out of 5 stars and strongly encourage everyone read this book. It was amazing.  I know you guys would love it too.  Well, that is at least my hope. 

Thanks for reading my review of Coming Home by Karen Kingsbury.  I really hope that this helped you find maybe another book to read.   Please leave me any comments of books you want me to read and review.  Or any suggestions for how I can make these reviews better.  Thanks. 

Until the next review,

-Aly

A Review of A World Away

A Summer of Firsts
Sixteen-year-old Eliza Miller has never made a phone call, never tried on a pair of jeans, never sat in a darkened theater waiting for a movie to start.  She's never even talked to someone her age who isn't Amish, like her.

A Summer of Good-byes
When she leaves her close-knit family to spend the summer as a nanny in a suburb of Chicago, a part of her can't wait to leave behind everything she knows.  She can't imagine the secrets she will uncover, the friends she will make, the surprises and temptations of a way of life so different from her own.

A Summer of Impossible Choice
Every minute Eliza spends with her new friend Josh feels as good as listening to music for the first time, and she wonders whether there might be a place for her in his world.  But as summer wanes, she misses the people she has left behind and the plain life she once took for granted.  Eliza will have to decide for herself where she belongs.  Whichever choice she makes, she knows she will lose someone she loves.

Above is the description that is in the inside cover of the hardcover copy I have of this book. 

This book was written by Nancy Grossman.  Nancy Grossman lives in Chicago where most of this book is actually set.  A World Away is her debut novel.

This book turned about to be pretty amazing. I couldn't put it down about 1/4 to 1/2 of the way through.  It took me a few chapters to get into it but that is how I tend to get into books anyway because I'm usually still going off of a high on how the last book I read ended. 

This story starts out in Iowa with Eliza Miller and her mother getting ready for "Stranger Night" which is really just a bunch of English people coming over and eating dinner while finding out what the Amish life is like.  This story is told from Eliza's perspective and it's really a great read especially if you're into books about the Amish.  This book was really cool to read because instead of just seeing how the Amish live and some of the hardships they have there it goes through Eliza's rumspringa, which is what Amish 16 year olds call their exploring year.  (At least that's how I perceived it, though that may not be the way it was told in the book.) 

Eliza really wanted to get out of the Amish world and experience the "real" world.  While working at an inn, which was what her mother decided was what Eliza would be doing for her rumspringa, she met a lady named Rachel who wanted Eliza to come be a nanny for her in Chicago.  Eliza had to try hard to convince her parents to let her leave but when they finally did Eliza felt like she was floating on air.

While Eliza is in Chicago helping out Rachel she meets a boy named Josh who says that he will show her everything there is to know about being in the "real" world.  Over the course of the summer she gets t o make her first phone call, take her first picture of herself and go dancing for the first time.  She also finds some family secrets along the way that make it hard for her to choose where to go in the end.

Overall, I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars.  I suggest that teenage girls and possibly young adults read this as well.  It was such an intriguing book and it really made you think about that if you knew a world where there were no electronics or any of the things we consider normal here, how would it feel to be thrown into a world like ours. With me personally, I would be terrified and ask to go back home!

I hope that this review helped you out in what to read.  I really would enjoy if you guys reading this would leave me a comment on how to make these better because I want to do more reviews of books that I have read this past year but I don't want them all to sound as stupid as these.  Thanks for the help if you do comment.

Until the next review,

-Aly 

A Review of The Book Thief

It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

Above is the description in the book that Marcus Zusak wrote about The Book Thief.  First off, there was a second description of the book in my copy, that I do not currently have with me, that tells you that this book is from the perspective of death.  This is just a forewarning that if you aren't into really dark, and kind of creepy ways of telling a story that this may not be for you. 

This book is set in the time that World War II took place in a little town in Germany.  It follows the story of a girl named Liesel Meminger who's brother dies in a train of an illness that he had.  When he is buried she steals her first book, The Gravediggers Handbook.  At first, it was just a keepsake to remember the last time that she had seen her brother.  But eventually she wanted to learn to read this book.  By this point she was forced to live with foster parents, the reason I can't quite remember at this point.  She asks her foster father if he would teach her to read one night when she is woken up from a nightmare that she has every night.  During this time he started teaching her how to read and write.  Over time she got better at reading and eventually she got done with the first book.  Then, she wanted to read more.  As the story progresses it goes through her life in Nazi Germany and how she handles challenges along the way.

I personally had a really hard time putting this book down.  I loved every second of it.  Before I read this book, I read the acknowledgements in the front and it said that it was destined to become a classic.  I believe that this will be one day.  It truly should become one.  Also, I give this book a 5 out of 5 stars because of how well written this book is and how it intrigued me from start to end. I suggest that anyone thirteen and up read this book because it is that amazing and I know you would love it.  This also isn't just a book for girls.  This is definitely for mixed genders. 

Overall, I hope that you guys enjoyed this review.  I tried to do better than I did with Beneath the Glitter on this one.  But, I was also more passionate about this one than the other so that probably made a difference in what I wrote down. 

Until the next review,

-Aly