Angels by Billy Graham

I have had this book on my shelf in my room for years and have never had the desire to pick up a book until this year and read. Religion is a touchy subject for many, but I think this is the case due to the fact that it is not completely understood by everyone. Yes, there are many who have gone to church every Sunday and praised in worship services.... BUT do they truly understand why there is religion, why there are so many different denominations, why they chose the be Baptist, Catholic, Jewish, Mormon, etc. I grew up in a Baptist family and went to West Hampton Baptist. After growing up in this atmosphere, I realized why a church does not seem too appealing to those who do not ALREADY believe. It is a very judgmental place to be for someone who is not fully self confident in their own beliefs. This year....maybe two weeks ago I was a victim of this "judgy jan" nature of a church. MY OWN CHURCH in which I picked out for my family to attend after leaving West Hampton.... it hurt my feelings and surprised me. My mom was helping in the nursery with the same "great " group of ladies she always does. I came to say "hey " and Courtney the head of nursery asked me where I was planning to attend college next year. I told her JMU and that I was super excited about my decision. Her response was less than expected. She bluntly stated that JMU was a BIG party school and that a person in her family went to visit there and became engrossed in the negative atmosphere. My mouth dropped and my mom saved me from being ugly by correcting Courtney and setting her facts straight. Anyways, while I was in this situation, I had to pause and think about what I needed to say to Courtney. I drove home with no music blaring... quiet... and slow. VERY unusual. But I went home and read Angels.  I read that there are angels that look out for believers and their actions. I think that maybe an angel was looking out for me while I was at church in this awful situation. I was glad that I was able to calm myself with this book. It was a little more structured and very "Biblical Biblical" but it got  me through the rest of my Sunday. :) Needless to say I finished it quickly.

Unearthly by cynthia hand

So I finished Unearthly by Cynthia Hand and I have to honestly say that it wasnt my favorite. I liked the beginning and where it seemed to be going within the first half of the book... but I lost my interest and could basically see the end and where the adventures were leading. But it did remind me of the Hunger Games. The adventures through family tribulations and unnatural happenings. The angelic symbols within the book was kind of cool but it seems to simple and not as dynamic as I would have hoped. I think I have become very picky about the books I read after reading the Hunger Games. Still, I am very much in love with them and plan on re-reading them this summer and of course taking them with me to college to spread the love and excitement on my hall at JMU!

Quotes continued...

"I try to get moving, to get out of the street, but my legs are shaking so badly I can't walk right. There's a man on the sidewalk,gawking at me. I give him the finger and stumble home."

"When you can write music that endures, bravo. Until then, keep wuiet and study the work of those who can."

"I want the key. The key to the universe. To life. to the future and the past. To love and hate. Truth. God."

"The whole goddamned world's fat as hell."

"Genius isn't a team sport."

"It has a shiny buckle with PRADA on it, which is Italian for insecure."

"You've had too much sweet stuff and now you are craving something bitter."]

Revolution quotes

"It feels better than his dad's whiskey, better than his mom's weed. Because for just a few seconds, someone else hurts too. For just a few seconds, I'm not alone."

"She never faces school without a buzz. Nobody does. we need to have something, some kind of subsatance-fueled force field to fend off the heavy hand of expectation that threatens to crush us like beer cans the minute we set foot in the place."

"We attend St. Anselm's, Brooklyns most prestigious privat school. We're special. Exceptional. We're supernovas, every single one of us. That's what our teachers say, and what our parents pay thirty-thousand dollars a year to hear."

"I play until my fingertips are raw. Until I rip a nail and bleed on the strings. Until my hands hurt so bad I forget my heart does."

"We"re in the twenty-first century now, and it's hook up or shut up."

"The smile slides off her face, hits the floor, and shatters."

"Because the gray world I've managed to live in for the past two years has started to turn black around the edges."

"It's all about the pain, isn't it? The truancy, the bad grades, and now you've even found a way to use your beautiful music to inflict pain on yourself."

"Bleeding for Bach was no big deal."

"Mail is for lesser mortals."

"I can taste blood in my mouth, but I don't care. all I care about is the guitar."

"Americans are like little children-easily swindled."

to be continued... there are plenty more that I want to share with you. I wish the class was longer. the bell is going to cut me off from blogging for the second time in a row!

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

This book has been absolultely amazing. After reading the Hunger Games I thought that I would never find another book or group of books that would hold my attention and keep my interest. Revolution has been an eye-opener. The book is told through the eyes of Andi, a senior in high school, who lives with her psycho mother. andi's life turned upside down when her brother died. The book is about her life after the death in her family. Her father was gone most of the time due to his job but the stroy started to roll when he came back to take andi away to Paris and get her life back on track. Throughout her journey she was very sarcastic about life. Revolution is filled with great quotes that are harsh yet very relevant to this century. I decided to blog about all the interesting quotes I found. Hopefully you like this! :)

I am running out of time. Tommorrow I will list and explain all the exciting quotes :)

James Patterson's Witch and Wizard: The Gift

Wisty and Whit Allgood's adventures continue in second book, The Gift. The One Who Is the One relentlessly hunts the two in their journey through the corrupt world that they live in. The are many rules that to be impossible even in the fiction world controlled by the New Order. Things of pleasure that I take for granted are not allowed such as books, music, movies, and even some forms of education. The plan of the New Order is to reform the population to be strictly unified under The One Who Is the One. People live for him and do only what they are instructed. Whit and Wisty are caught up in the madness of this reformation and find themselves under The One's watchful eyes and are captured and taken to the "school" to be processed, decontaminated, and "educated" in the New Order's ways. While at school, their journey becomes even stranger. They are filed in with many other children, even some of their old friends. They are rewarded with chocolates. Wisty is tested here when she oversteps her bodies boundaries and almost O.D.'s on the scrumptious sweets. Whit is entangled with the fight to save his parents while keeping his sister healthy and ready to scramble up the School for the benefit of keeping their Gifts and saving their family. The whole idea of the world that Wisty and Whit live in reminded me of the Chinese government and the rules they have in place about certain TV shows, music, religions, and books that their citizens can be involved with. I wonder what inspired Patterson to create such a world of blockades only different because it reads through the perspective of teenage siblings.

Maximum Ride School's Out Forever

Sometimes I feel that the first book in a series is, in a way, wasted space. Within the first book an author has to set up the details for not only the significantly shorter plot but also for the rest of the books to follow. In the Max Ride series I felt that this happened. The first book took me a while to really get attached and engulfed within the story. I did not want to give up on the series because my mom read the first book maybe a few years ago and said that she really enjoyed the younger twist... I wanted to keep reading them so I could not only have another book chat with her but also treat her to a glimpse of the following books. Well I am so glad that I did not give up hope on max ride because the second book blew me away. Max and "The Flock" journey never seemed to have a dull moment. The plot began with Fang's injury during flight. The Flock took her to the hospital sue to the severity of the injury. This was dangerous for them because the doctors would realize that they were not normal. The FBI showed up soon after their arrival. The kids meet an FBI agent, Anne, who does not seem like the usual threat while at the hospital. They find trust within her and feel safe even when she allows them to be examined. But later they come to find that Anne worked in the lab where all the members of The Flock were created. Anne's plan was to capture them and ultimately kidnap and confine them again. Then the final mind blowing reality that Max has to face is that she has been cloned. She never imagined that she would have to face herself in this war. Overall, the second book was more captivating of the two that I have read. I can't wait to continue this series next trimester. but for now I am reading the Witch and Wizard sequel, The Gift. :)

Maximum Ride vs. Witch and Wizard

Both series written by the James Patterson, an autor noted for his gut-wrenching novels, Maximum Ride and Witch and Wizard have captured my imagination into both the scientific and mystical world that Patterson reveals. Maximum Ride is a series of seven books all encompassing the journey of seven children. These children call themselves the Flock. They were rescued from The School were they were experiments made into 98% human and 2% super beings. Some have wings and can fly. Others have super vision, or the ability to read minds. The School created "Erasers" to find the escapees and bring them back to further the experimentation and research. The Flock's journey in the first novel is to rescue the youngest, Angel, from The School after being kidnapped. I enjoyed this first part of the series because I can see the future books in the series being more action packed and full of adventure. The only down side of this first book was that it was mostly trying to develop the characters and introduce them in order to build their characters further in the later books. I can definitely see the potential this series has and I can not wait to start the second book.
The Witch and Wizard kept my attention more so that the Max Ride because there was not as much "fluff" in the first book of this series. It was mystical but the dark side of the book was very similar to the Hunger Games... Two children, siblings, were arrested for having magical powers. They were unaware of these unique powers until after they were in custody along with their parents. They learned to embrace their gifts even though the government does not tolerate this type of power. The two were sentenced to execution when they turn 18 years-old. But the novel links their journeys details from their arrest until the time of their scheduled execution... This series is detailed, complex, action paced, and magical. If I read this closer to the time that the sequel was coming out I would have started The Ghost right after instead of getting into the Max Ride series. My mom bought be The Ghost but I think that I should continue investigating the Max Ride series before giving up too soon of that story-line. Then after I read the second book in Max Ride, I will then continue the other series! Lots of reading! So little time!

HUNGER GAMES NEWS!!!

I was watching MTV last night, specifically the mini show The Seven. The Seven is a show in order to report on exclusive news like new and upcoming movies like The Hunger Games. Liam Hensworth and Chloe Moretz are being considered for the roles of Katniss and Peeta. I think that both suite the characters looks.... we will have to wait and see if they actually agree to the roles.

Witch and Wizard

My mom is really enjoying our "reading chats". Finally she does not have to constantly nag me to read. She really loves that for once she can by me books for Christmas and I will actually read them... instead of just put them on my book shelf to collect dust. Witch and Wizard was the first book that I have read by James Patterson. My mom bought me some of his novels hoping that I would come to love her favorite author. Witch and Wizard was an easy read. I have found that my genre of books has the common thread of powerful female characters. I liked the "dark side" of the book battling against the ultimate doom of execution. Coupling that with the magical abilities created a perfect novel that kept me interested in reading even while i was on Christmas vacation. The magical touch was needed after reading such a harsh and grotesque book like Intensity.

Intensity

Over the break, I was a little let down when reading Intensity by Dean Koontz. Will suggested the right book when I asked for a gruesome novel. By the first thirty pages, the killer had already slaughtered a family. Koontz develops his killer, Vess in an interesting way. He speaks through the eyes of Chyna in order for the reader to see his vision of him. With her dark background, she is used to people taking over others for their own pleasure. Vess is like most of the people that she has been running away from for most of her life. He finds pleasure in humiliating, deceiving, violating, and dehumanizing his victims...all before he kills them. It was dark in short spurts throughout the novel. Even though Intensity had the overall theme that i was looking for, it was a book that I skimmed to get to the scary parts. Overall, it was somewhat boring because I had to search for the passages it was interested in instead of diving into every page.